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Will You Add? - Shine a Spotlight on Your Professional Service Firm
It is getting harder to run a business for a profit. We are faced with rising costs, lowered demand etc. Our businesses have to be super effective just to keep up.But:* How many more benefits are possible?* Will pay increases increase effectiveness?* Do more benefits really cause workers to produce more?Well there is a way to increase productivity without increasing your Overhead.We deal with doctors every day. And the number one complaint the doctors get from their patients is that their job is making them sick. And they aren't far from the truth.No I'm not saying YOU are making them sick. Their work environment is making them sick.Examples:1. We had one office where the bosses turned off the air conditioner at 5PM on Friday. They turned it on Monday at 8AM. All the workers were sic
Artistry. Every dancer interprets the music and story in her own unique way. This artistry is what differentiates truly outstanding performers and makes for a memorable audience experience. What have you done to identify and communicate your unique competitive advantage? What makes you stand out from others offering the s
One of my favorite shows is the Extreme Home Makeover. I think the show is so popular because it tells a story of how a very “in need” family gets a wonderful new home with the help of hundreds of strangers. And each week these “strangers” eat and sleep very little, to complete the home in just 7 days. And what drives these strangers to want to work so hard? Because they are helping to better the situation for a family in need. They know that they are not just pounding nails or painting a wall, they are changing the lives of others.In Leadership, it is important that we find ways to show our people that what they are doing is a vital part of the bigger picture, no matter what their role. Making people feel valued and appreciated is what a leader does. Each of us has a higher need to feel that we are contributing to the overall good of the organ
The same is true for successful marketing. When you send a brochure, run an ad, promote a website, give a talk, or just tell someone what you do, you’re on stage. But if you’ve not mastered the basics, you will not engage your audience and you risk serious injury to yourself and to your firm.
Before the Curtain Rises
Well before any performance, dancers invest time building a solid foundation. It’s this foundation – not the costumes, lighting or even music – that enables them to give a persuasive, moving performance that connects with their audience.
With effective marketing, the same sequence applies. Before the curtain rises on your attempts to attract clients, make sure you’ve mastered the basics first:
Get aligned. Dancers spend years learning how to align their body properly for balance and how to keep "knees over toes" to prevent injury. What have you done to align with your customer’s worldview? Do you really understand what keeps your clients up at night…what their real problems are, which may or may not have anything to do with what you currently offer? What are you doing to stay aligned? Do you say no to opportunities that aren’t within your niche? Do you still have a "Plan B" in case your current direction doesn’t pay off or have you fully committed to finding a good niche and making it work? How aligned are your services and pricing with what really sells in today’s market?
Build strength. Accomplished dancers may look graceful and light on their feet, but the illusion is only possible because of tremendous strength and power from within. How do you demonstrate your firm’s strength? By showing the market your authority to do good work through well-written case studies, client testimonials, bios, media appearances, and measurable results.
Be flexible. Without flexibility, dancers cannot move fully or prevent injury. The same can the same be said of your approach to serving your clients. Do you only offer one way to address a client’s needs (i.e., high-priced consulting)? If so, you’ll miss opportunities. Package what you do in several ways, at various price points.
Go slow to go fast. Dancers aren’t born being able to execute complicated choreography. Ballet dancers train for years before going "en pointe" (into toe shoes). It may not take you years, but an effective, customer-focused marketing strategy takes time to develop and launch. This doesn’t mean you avoid revenue-producing work in the meantime, it just means you take the time to work "under the radar" to craft the right approach that accelerates your effectiveness once you launch it.
Artistry. Every dancer interprets the music and story in her own unique way. This artistry is what differentiates truly outstanding performers and makes for a memorable audience experience. What have you done to identify and communicate your unique competitive advantage? What makes you stand out from others offering the sa
The effective manager is that person who has mastered the art of delegation and empowerment. Delegation is not to be confused with dumping work on other people with a disregard for overloading them - leading to de-motivation. True delegation means giving responsibility to others - with the resources and the training to do the job.SHARE INFORMATIONWhen it comes to delegating effectively, we cannot win unless we give the employee the information to do the job. Now this sounds rather simplistic - and you might say, “Well that’s easy, I already give them information … I tell them what has to be done … they just have to go and do it.” The problem is that often we just don’t give sufficient information. It might be something simple like a restaurant manager who went out of town for a day, forgetting to give the combination of the safe to the person she
With effective marketing, the same sequence applies. Before the curtain rises on your attempts to attract clients, make sure you’ve mastered the basics first:
Get aligned. Dancers spend years learning how to align their body properly for balance and how to keep "knees over toes" to prevent injury. What have you done to align with your customer’s worldview? Do you really understand what keeps your clients up at night…what their real problems are, which may or may not have anything to do with what you currently offer? What are you doing to stay aligned? Do you say no to opportunities that aren’t within your niche? Do you still have a "Plan B" in case your current direction doesn’t pay off or have you fully committed to finding a good niche and making it work? How aligned are your services and pricing with what really sells in today’s market?
Build strength. Accomplished dancers may look graceful and light on their feet, but the illusion is only possible because of tremendous strength and power from within. How do you demonstrate your firm’s strength? By showing the market your authority to do good work through well-written case studies, client testimonials, bios, media appearances, and measurable results.
Be flexible. Without flexibility, dancers cannot move fully or prevent injury. The same can the same be said of your approach to serving your clients. Do you only offer one way to address a client’s needs (i.e., high-priced consulting)? If so, you’ll miss opportunities. Package what you do in several ways, at various price points.
Go slow to go fast. Dancers aren’t born being able to execute complicated choreography. Ballet dancers train for years before going "en pointe" (into toe shoes). It may not take you years, but an effective, customer-focused marketing strategy takes time to develop and launch. This doesn’t mean you avoid revenue-producing work in the meantime, it just means you take the time to work "under the radar" to craft the right approach that accelerates your effectiveness once you launch it.
Artistry. Every dancer interprets the music and story in her own unique way. This artistry is what differentiates truly outstanding performers and makes for a memorable audience experience. What have you done to identify and communicate your unique competitive advantage? What makes you stand out from others offering the s
The Balance Sheet for accounting is an extremely important and often used statement of entity condition. It shows the extent of entity ownership of assets, liability and equity at a given point in time. This point is the date on the statement. It is a physical representation of the 'accounting equation.' The equation states that at any point in time, the assets of the business are equal to the sum of the liabilities and owner's equity. The equation also forms the basis of the statement structure, which mirrors the three aspects of the equation. The three parts are: 1) assets, 2) liabilities and 3) owner's equity. Let's look at each one.Assets are anything that the business owns. We tend to consider assets to be land, buildings, vehicles, inventory and cash but they are also other things. The adding machines, computers, copyrights, patents, goodw
Build strength. Accomplished dancers may look graceful and light on their feet, but the illusion is only possible because of tremendous strength and power from within. How do you demonstrate your firm’s strength? By showing the market your authority to do good work through well-written case studies, client testimonials, bios, media appearances, and measurable results.
Be flexible. Without flexibility, dancers cannot move fully or prevent injury. The same can the same be said of your approach to serving your clients. Do you only offer one way to address a client’s needs (i.e., high-priced consulting)? If so, you’ll miss opportunities. Package what you do in several ways, at various price points.
Go slow to go fast. Dancers aren’t born being able to execute complicated choreography. Ballet dancers train for years before going "en pointe" (into toe shoes). It may not take you years, but an effective, customer-focused marketing strategy takes time to develop and launch. This doesn’t mean you avoid revenue-producing work in the meantime, it just means you take the time to work "under the radar" to craft the right approach that accelerates your effectiveness once you launch it.
Artistry. Every dancer interprets the music and story in her own unique way. This artistry is what differentiates truly outstanding performers and makes for a memorable audience experience. What have you done to identify and communicate your unique competitive advantage? What makes you stand out from others offering the s
Basic business writing (letters, memos, emails) today is supposed to be informal and conversational. "Write more like you talk" is the advice frequently given by business writing experts. Many of the grammar rules that we learned in school either no longer apply or have been altered to fit the times. American English is based on common usage, which means that even if something is done incorrectly according to the rules, if it's done often enough and by enough people, it becomes acceptable, much to the chagrin of most high school English teachers.One rule that is “on the cusp” regards the word alright, a nonstandard form of the words all right. American Heritage dictionary defines all right as an adjective: acceptable, correct, average or fairly healthy, and as an adverb: adequately, yes or without a doubt.The us
Be flexible. Without flexibility, dancers cannot move fully or prevent injury. The same can the same be said of your approach to serving your clients. Do you only offer one way to address a client’s needs (i.e., high-priced consulting)? If so, you’ll miss opportunities. Package what you do in several ways, at various price points.
Go slow to go fast. Dancers aren’t born being able to execute complicated choreography. Ballet dancers train for years before going "en pointe" (into toe shoes). It may not take you years, but an effective, customer-focused marketing strategy takes time to develop and launch. This doesn’t mean you avoid revenue-producing work in the meantime, it just means you take the time to work "under the radar" to craft the right approach that accelerates your effectiveness once you launch it.
Artistry. Every dancer interprets the music and story in her own unique way. This artistry is what differentiates truly outstanding performers and makes for a memorable audience experience. What have you done to identify and communicate your unique competitive advantage? What makes you stand out from others offering the s
I first started in the Internet business about nine years ago or so. At the time, I was even then concerned about having already missed the boat. ECommerce has only grown since then. I started by designing a basic website called "Independent’s Day", or "IndieDay" for short. I didn’t even have a .com at the time! It was all about selling independent musicians’ CD’s. It failed miserably.The next thing I tried was a crafting site with my wife. She was into rubber stamping at the time, and so we started making stamps and selling them online. I designed most of the stamps myself, and we had a great time doing it together. She minded the craft side of the business, and I minded the online sales. We did pretty well. But my wife has very troublesome pregnancies, and so before our first was born, we decided to shut down.But in the meantime I ha
Artistry. Every dancer interprets the music and story in her own unique way. This artistry is what differentiates truly outstanding performers and makes for a memorable audience experience. What have you done to identify and communicate your unique competitive advantage? What makes you stand out from others offering the same services? Why should customers buy from you when they have a number of choices? What about your offer, price, guarantee or standard sets you apart and how do you demonstrate that?
Expert instruction. In any sport or art form, exceptional performers receive expert instruction, feedback, and coaching. Dancers rely regularly on classes, instructors, mirrors, feedback from partners, video, and critics’ reviews to continuously improve and refine their performance. What are you doing to refine yours?
Rehearsal. Only after getting aligned, building strength, developing flexibility, learning choreography, and expressing artistry is a dancer ready to rehearse for an actual performance. When you’re ready to take your strategy to market, make sure you’ve tested it first. This means trying out your positioning statement informally at networking events, writing an article or two and getting feedback, conducting a small amount of telephone research with people in your target market, and so on.
Before you spend the money to develop a new logo, print new business stationary, design new brochures, revise your website, or go on a sales call test and rehearse your message. When you start getting a "that’s for me!" response from your audience, you’re ready for the spotlight.
On Stage & In the Spotlight
Once you’re on stage, your hard work and preparation pay off. However the marketing process continues:
Lights, camera, action! Being in the spotlight means it’s time to shine. The dancer’s hard work pays off, enhanced by music, lighting, sets, costumes and makeup. The same is true of how you present your message to the market. Your website, brochures, talks, published articles, how you introduce yourself when networking, and the sales process are simply vehicles for communicating the fundamentals you’ve put in place before the curtain rises. If you start with them, without the basics outlined above, you risk looking foolish and off the mark when it comes to connecting with your audience.
Connect with your audience. Being on stage doesn’t guarantee that a dancer will engage the audience. You’ve gotta work it! At a recent repertory performance of amateur dancers at Joy of Motion, a local dance school, the audience enthusiastically hooted and hollered as the Street Jam dancers fully engaged them with their energy, funk, attitude, and huge smiles of joy. The audience fed off that energy and, in turn, motivated the dancers to give their best. What are you doing to build and sustain a relationship with your clients? Are
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