I am highly visual in my approach to life, art and my work in marketing. I am sharing this short video that explains how visual storytelling in the form of “infographics” is transforming journalism and storytelling in the 21st Century. As I mentioned earlier in the year, I am in the process of rethinking my brand. Stories are a powerful way to communicate. Include visuals to illuminate and illustrate your story, and that is a recipe for impact with emotional punch.

I think you will enjoy this visual feast created by Francesco Franchi.

Francesco Franchi: On Visual Storytelling and New Languages in Journalism from Gestalten on Vimeo.

 

Want your next workshop to sell out?

Act like a rock star.

If you have ever tried to get tickets to your favorite band, you may have been astonished to find that all the seats were sold in just a few minutes. When well-known performers, like the Rolling Stones announce a new show, they are able to sell out scheduled performances in just a few minutes.

What’s their secret?

They have a huge fan base. When the word goes out, their fans already know them, like them, and are tuned in to consume their music and their life events.

How To Get Similar Results

You can stimulate the same kind of response for your products and services when you take these steps:

Build Your Fan base

If you have a blog you may have subscribers. But it is a common mistake that people can’t find out how to subscribe to your blog. You need to make it easy for people to subscribe to your blog. Where you place your subscribe button or form can make a huge difference in how many people take action and sign up.

If you have a Facebook page for yourself or your business, do you have have satisfied customers and supporters who like you on Facebook? Are you inviting people to “like” your page? What content are you providing to keep them engaged?

Perhaps you belong to online forums or groups. You might be posting questions or answering questions on LinkedIn.

You could upload videos, share slides, create podcasts or video casts, create a customized channel on YouTube, well, these are just a few of the social media opportunities out there. All of these channels have one thing in common, they are great places to engage in a conversation. Conversations are an exchange of ideas and through them, people connect. Connecting is just 1st step.

Grow your fan base

How can you have an ongoing relationship with your fans? You need to interact regularly. A small group of active fans is far more valuable than a big list where there is little loyalty, commitment or engagement. You need to nurture your relationships in cyberspace as well as those off line. Consistency, such as publishing new content on a regular, predictable basis can help people invest in you and build their trust in you as an expert and resource.

Capture Contact Information

Interruptive marketing (like paid commercials on radio or broadcast television, telemarketing calls) are perceived as annoying because they take you out of the experience of enjoying the story or music you were experiencing. Permission-based marketing is the new model for growing your business. It means that people who like what you have to offer, knowledge, services, or products, have given you permission to be in contact with them. On Facebook, we like people or their pages, on Twitter, we follow them, on YouTube, it is possible to subscribe a channel or to become a friend. I think you’re getting the idea. In each of these cases, there is an easy way for people to indicate that they want more of what they just consumed. There is a convenient way for them to opt in (join) your list.

Give It Away and They Will Come

Your opt in box should be prominently featured on your website. To incentivize people to opt in, you may offer something for free that is of value in exchange for their contact information. We have all willingly given our business cards away for a chance to win something valuable. The same idea works on line when you offer a free report or sample of your services in exchange for your visitors’ contact information.

“The Tim Ferris Effect”

I read a great post today on the forbes.com blog. It was about how to have a successful book launch. The author is a friend of Tim Ferriss (The 4 Hour Work Week, The 4 Hour Body). His book launch as tracked on Amazon was hugely successful because he posted as a guest on Tim’s blog. He went from being listed as 1,295 to an Amazon Best Seller at #45 on the day he posted to Tim’s blog. If you know someone with a very focused and loyal set of followers, you might consider strategies for getting to be mentioned on their blog or offering to create a “guest” post. The big guys do this all the time. When someone in the “Guerilla Marketing” stable publishes, they cross promote themselves on each others web site and email lists.

Start now to build your list and get growing!

btw – If you would like to create an action plan for building your list, see my special offer.

 

I began an outline for a book on marketing organically. I revamped my business cards with this idea in mind. During the last weeks of 2011, I began purging files from my computer, paper from my office and other items that I wasn’t using any longer. I find shedding with no longer serves me to be a meditative process. For several years I studied the art of placement, Feng Shui, and while I may not be the tidiest person, I understand the principles of flow and keeping areas clear of obstacles. Physical obstacles like clutter are manifestations of emotional obstacles. This lead me to think about marketing like growing a garden.

What’s in your Marketing Garden?

This line of thinking made me look at my marketing strategies. While it is good to stretch beyond our comfort zone, practically speaking, taking on habits we think we should embrace without a strong commitment and belief in the results we want is an exercise in futility. Just because others tell you to do something, unless it is a match for who you are and what is important to you, you are wasting your time expecting yourself to be someone, or do things that do not fit you.

In gardening, there are plants that flourish in the right environment and perish in the wrong ones. Your marketing strategy is like a plant. It starts out as a seed. With care and nourishment it can grow into a healthy and productive organism. If you neglect your marketing, just like a plant it may wither and die. When you cultivate your plant, providing us the soil, sun, nutrition, and water to create an optimum environment, your plant thrives. Removing weeds and eliminating pests is part of a maintaining a healthy garden. The same is true of your business. Getting rid of the stuff and people that don’t support you is as important as attracting the right people to you. Toxic people are like weeds and can choke the life right out of you while preventing healthy growth and productivity.

Marketing is like a plant

Plants have their own schedule. They don’t care if you’re busy, they are genetically programmed to propagate on their own schedule. I finished reading a very thought-provoking book, Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, ISBN 0-393-31755-2. It is about how the rise of civilizations were in large part determined by which plants and animals were available and could be domesticated and how these factors influenced spread of people and knowledge.

As you plan strategies for growing your business make sure that the actions you intend to take on are ones you can sustain over time. Keep it simple, keep it alignment with your values, and be in integrity with your word and deeds.

Build Your Garden With Care

When building a garden, you do it in the right order if you are looking to produce a good result. The first step is dreaming about what it will be like when your job is completed. Your vision will help you stay on track during the hard work required to achieve the results you want. Your vision influences the actions you will take to make your dream come true. During the planning process, you need to evaluate where you are now, the reality of your environment, any obstacles that may be in your way and must be removed before you proceed, and the resources available to you as you move forward with your plans. Realistically assessing your time, the money, the skills, and the beliefs you hold can help you map out a strategy that makes sense and is achievable. It will help you see if there are gaps between what you desire and the skills and capabilities you have. Planning is an opportunity for you to invite and enlist the support and resources from others to help you reach your goals.

Then there is the actual work. The step-by-step actions needed to go from idea to implementation. Sometimes it is possible to do it all yourself. Other times this can be a poor strategy. In most cases I would recommend sharing your ideas with your trusted advisors and getting their honest feedback. We all have our blind spots, and sometimes the missing ingredient will be revealed through conversations with our friends and associates.

Invest in Success

If you are planning to put in a new garden, you probably would not just go out to the nursery and buy random plants and some soil and hope for the best. You would be far more likely to study what plants would do well where you live and ask for advice from the nursery to select the best ones for your space, light and budget and maintenance level. When you’re expending time, energy and cash, you are likely to be careful and considerate with your investment in your garden. Take the same approach with your marketing and like your garden it to can be beautiful and productive.

 

My friend, Patricia V. Davis, who launched the diva dive tour on Sunday book passages in Corte Madera, is a diva. Dressed in a fabulous over the top black and white big brimmed hat and Lacey Black gloves, Patricia embodied confidence, whimsy, and wisdom. Her new book, “The Diva Doctrine,” is a guidebook for young women. It began with a blog post based on a conversation with a younger woman. That single blog post generated so many comments because it touched a nerve and resonated with men and women young and old.

The message of her book is intended as a gift from someone who made mistakes, and is wiser for having lived and loved not always well, but with intention, optimism and sometimes just driven by hormones. It is intended to help the next generation avoid wasting time on the unimportant things that seem so huge when you are young.

Like Patricia, my youthful misadventures helped to make me who I am today. It would have been great to know I could have avoided so many anxious and unhappy moments if only I knew what I know now.

What I know now is the importance of expressing who I am and being less concerned about what other people think of me — because in the real world you are probably not  thinking about me, and you are thinking about yourself.

I am committed to wearing my feather boas and splashy clothes when I feel like it. And my collection of hats will stop collecting dust and sit atop my head instead. If I want people to remember me it’s okay to make a big impression. Why not have fun, be eccentric, and instead of trying to fit in, be a leader? Take a page from pop stars like Katie Perry and Lady Gaga. Like their predecessors, Cher, Madonna, and Carol Channing, you too can invent your own brand and wear it proudly. Donald Trump is the male equivalent of these pioneering personas and branding experts.

My advice, let your inner diva shine. Diva’s make up the rules. Be remembered for what’s in your heart, for being a mentor, and clearly sharing who you are and what you stand for with the world. And don’t forget your boa.

 

This is a good time to take stock of what’s working and what’s not in your business. Here’s my list of the top five people and practices I recommend to accelerate your success and reduce stress in the coming year:

Number One:

An accountability partner. This is someone you trust and are willing to share the good and the not so good about yourself and your business. An accountability partner who will tell you the truth, be a shoulder to cry on, and who sees you clearly and is willing to be there for you and you for them is just about the most important person next to yourself in your business. You you need someone who can act as a sounding board, a cheerleader, a den mother, and sometimes just someone who will listen and not try to change you. If you’re like me you’ll go to the ends of the earth when someone else is depending on you. Meet with your buddy frequently, at least once a week, by phone or in person.

Number Two:

A trustworthy  bookkeeper. Follow the money and you’ll see where your passions are now and where your passion generates income.

Number Three:

A professional group were you feel inspired, appreciated, challenged and have fun. For me, it comes in the shape of the Bay Area Consultants Network. I’m not just a member there, I’m on the executive board, and I contribute as a board member to help shape and guide the group. I’m privileged to participate in the general meetings, hearing and interacting with great speakers each month. And I get to eat bacon for breakfast.

Number Four:

Do something fun and maybe a bit outrageous at least once a week. For me, that means singing with the rock chorus, Vox Populi. I love to sing and I get to do it for fun for about two hours every week. It lifts my heart and lifts my spirits. I can be tired and discouraged when I arrive, yet by the time I leave rehearsal, I have a light heart and have shared songs and  laughter. We are singing at a charity event in Sonoma on Thursday night, Larson Winery, 6-9pm. $25 for a spaghetti dinner, live auction and music by Vox Populi and Ten Foot Tone. For more information, to purchase tickets or make a donation, contact Jennifer Sunia at 707.888.0274 or jensunia@gmail.com.

Number Five:

Exercise your mind, exercise your heart and exercise your brain. I do all three at my health club, Parkpoint. When I’m working out I’m taking care of my body and mind. I feel happy and relaxed and this allows me to connect spirit. Of course I’m surrounded by like minded people, most of whom don’t take themselves too seriously. This helps me keep my life in perspective.

What ever you do in life, if you have someone who is on your side, helps you keep track of the money, appreciates you, and a place to laugh, and a place to be just who you are, for me that’s a good life.

 

Traction is an interesting concept

As defined by Webster’s Dictionary:

traction |ˈtrak sh ən|
noun
1 the action of drawing or pulling a thing over a surface, esp. a road or track : a primitive vehicle used in animal traction.

• motive power provided for such movement, esp. on a railroad : the changeover to diesel and electric traction.
• locomotives collectively.
2 Medicine the application of a sustained pull on a limb or muscle, esp. in order to maintain the position of a fractured bone or to correct a deformity : his leg is in traction.
3 the grip of a tire on a road or a wheel on a rail : his car hit a patch of ice and lost traction.

The word itself contains the word action. Action alone may not produce traction.The right actions will give you traction.

Picture yourself on a slippery highway rain is coming down in fact it may be cold enough that there is ice as well as rain on the road. If your tires don’t have enough tread hydroplane. When your tires are in good shape plenty of rubber and all of the gripping action that comes from plenty of tread you will have traction as you drive across the road. In the fall of 1986, I was driving the Oakville grade on my way to work. Those familiar with this road know it is particularly steep and narrow, and starts high over the Napa Valley.

It was September and we had a light rain the first of the season. This road was part of my daily commute from Sonoma to my job at the Robert Mondavi winery in Oakville. I was quite familiar with the road. The factor I was not familiar with was the oil and debris that had accumulated on the road that made the surface slick from the first rain. I just started my descent from the top of the grade into the Napa Valley. I was startled when I saw a large logging truck coming from the other direction. Reflexively I tapped my brakes and that’s when everything changed. My car lost traction and I started spinning. As soon as I realized what was happening I took my foot off the gas pedal my hands off the wheel and let the car travel on its own. In those few moments of sheer terror as they waited for the car to stop moving I realized just how important it is to be sure my car tires are up to the task of driving under any conditions.

Fortunately for me just the evening before I was watching a program on what to do if you ever are in a spin out in your car. The safety experts recommended the actions I took the very next day. They said if you are in a spin the best action to take is take your foot off the gas keep it off the brake and take your hands off the wheel. Many drivers try to over correct for this span and consequently they lock up the drive train of the car. My actions resulted in my car stopping safely on the other side of the road which happens to be at the edge of a very steep mountainside. I was able to walk away from the accident with a few bruises and scrapes but I was able to walk away. Had I tried to steer the car once it started spinning it is very likely I would have ended up a at the bottom of the mountain.

Your marketing activities may resemble an out-of-control spin. One moment everything is fine and the next finds you in danger. If you assume you have control over the situation when in fact tools enter vehicle are in poor repair and have put you into danger. Granted it’s not likely that you’ll find yourself in mortal danger as I did, but he could be risking the health and success of your business when you lack useful systems and the proper tools to give you traction in your marketing actions.

The five things that will give you traction in your marketing

One: a written plan

Two: schedule time for marketing

Three: measure your results

Four: follow-up consistently with the people you meet

Five: do something positive everyday

Sounds simple doesn’t it? Want to know a secret–it is. What happens to most of us is that we get busy doing and delivering services and we forget the importance of making a plan, a scheduling time to execute the plan, measuring our results, and while we may be busy networking how many of us consistently follow up with the people we met so our investment in networking returns dividends. The last piece, do something positive every day, is there to remind us what we think influences what we do.

Keep yourself from a marketing spin out by incorporating these five simple practices. You will be pleasantly surprised at your results when you start with a plan, purposefully take time to focus on marketing, you measure your results, and grow relationships by following up with people you meet, and every day you put your mind in a positive space and take positive action. Do this, and you are sure to gain traction from your purposeful actions.

 

Valuable expertise on demand – rich business content and presentations | myBrainshark.

There are many ways to add video and share it on the web. My Brain Shark offers some unique and free options.

If you are a Powerpoint user you already know most of what you need to know to use My Brain Shark.

One feature that is different from other services I have found, you can use your telephone to record a audio track for your slides. No need to buy a microphone or worry about learning how to use it, just follow the dial in instructions and you are ready to record.

This could be a way for you to post a real “Audio Logo” on your web site.

 

6 Secrets to Successful Schmoozing- Yahoo! HotJobs.

This article is by my friend, Susan RoAne, author of “How to Work a Room.” Before I met Susan, I was painfully shy. 15 years ago, I saw her demonstrate how to make connections with a room full of people, one person at a time. We reconnected this past year through another mutual friend. I was delighted to share her mingling expertise with the Bay Area Consutlants Network as one of our presenters last year.

Because of what I learned from Susan, I find it easier to connect with people everywhere.

Thanks for making a big difference in my life.

 

The 10 Most Addictive Sounds in the World | Fast Company.

I was listening to the radio this morning and heard that the most addictive sound is that of a baby giggling. It is one of 10 sounds that trigger our brains.

Martin Lindstrom, the noted market researcher and author of two outstanding books on customer behavior: buyology and brand sense, posted this article to Fast Company. It is all about the sounds we know, love and remember.

For years, I have encouraged clients to record memorable voice messages. I get comments on my voice mail greetings. The sound of your voice is part of your brand. How do you sound to the ears of your prospects and clients?

Most of us have five senses, yet over 80% of all marketing communication is aimed at our sense of sight.

What opportunities do you have to use sound to attract and engage your audience?

I recommend starting with your “audio logo” also known as a elevator pitch.  It is a sound bite. If it is done right, it catches the attention of your intended audience and triggers their interest to know more about how you can help them.

Sounds good to me.

 

I attended the kickoff meeting of the North Bay Webify Your Business Meetup, www.northbaywebify.com. The group follows a format and tips published by Patrick Schwerdtfeger in his book, Webify Your Business, Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed (available at www.Amazon.com). You can also get these tips as individual e-course by signing up for them at www.WebifyBook.com (if you are patient).

Meetups are great for connecting with people who share your interests. There are thousands of meetups and you can find one or more that matches your passion and geographical location. Visit www.meetup.com to find a meetup that fits you.

My friend, Karen Clark took on the leadership role for this meetup. It is a complement to her new business, My Business Presence,

Karen has been using social medial to build her business. She recognized that her knowledge was something of value and wanted to share this with others. I leader my own meetup focusing on marketing conversations and brainstorming.

The Webify meetup is a form of mastermind group. Time to network, share, and declare your goals for the coming week. The beauty of this format is that we are coming together with a focus. The structure is to have a face to face discussion on one aspect of the web each week. We work on small steps to build a big web presence.

The act of setting a goal is only half of the equation for success. Follow through is the place where most people fail, they make plans but don’t take action. Engaging in conversations with accountability partners can make the difference. Making a commitment in front of others strengthens our resolve to get it done.

Small steps lead to big wins.