Friday, September 25, 2009

What do you speak on again?

"An expert is somebody who is more than 50 miles from home, has no responsibility for implementing the advice he gives, and shows slides." Edwin Meese


What do you speak on?

Most new speakers would answer, "Whatever you will pay to hear." While the attitude is great, the answer is not. You have to make a few decisions. It is too easy to locate a good speaker these days. People no longer want to hire a speaker. They want to hire THE EXPERT. Are you THE EXPERT?

You cannot afford to be a Jack of all trades and a master of none. While there are some truly talented speaking professionals, most of the successful ones focus on a single concept. Some will take it a step further and focus on a single concept for a single industry. Finding your niche is a sure way to find your target audience and establish yourself as THE EXPERT.

You also have to know what you speak on and be able to verbalize it. Sound silly? You would be amazed at how many professional speakers can't answer that question. You must be clear and concise. If it takes you more than 6 minutes to explain it or you use trendy jargon, you've already lost me. I'm off some where in my head singing show tunes. Your description should get AND keep my attention. If you do it right, I will be able to repeat the information later.

Most of the time it comes down to strategic planning. Decide which topic works best for you and how you want to present the concept to an audience. If you're a speaker, the information is in you. Now all you have to do is get it out.




Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Your Doll Collection Freaks People Out

This is taken from the blog of Glenn Phillips with Real Source. Don't know Glenn? You should.


Glenn Phillips (Management, Coach, Speaker)
http://glennphillips.activerain.com/post/881147/your-doll-collection-freaks-people-out-


To view the photo that goes with this blog, please check out the link provided.


Your doll collection freaks people out!
Memorable? Actionable? Immediate?
Does your marketing material meet these three important tests?
If not, I hope you're not surprised when your material generates little action or response.
In my post, Does your marketing material FAIL... and you don't even know it? I mentioned this sign for storage units. It was such a good example it merited further discussion of how it meets the important tests.

Face it, storage units are BORING and FORGETTABLE. Even people that need them don't always think about using them.

This sign is great for many reasons that most marketing material fails.


To begin with, it is not about the storage unit... it is about the customer! No explanations of the value of storage units or where they are located or what size units they have. Customer focused! The details will come AFTER the customer is interested.

It creates a sense of urgency by getting people to think about how others may feel about them.
Emotions can be so much stronger than fact for most consumers, particularly in the initial stages of getting their attention.

This sign's emotional response creates a sense of urgency. Even if it not dolls in their house, it gets people thinking about other items.

The sign frames expectations with a starting cost. You can look at this quickly and say, "Hey, that is in my price range" even if you need a larger unit that costs more. You have a sense of price scale now. This sets the stage for memorable and actionable.

The web address and phone number make it easily actionable. The phone number is designed to be easy to remember. The web address includes the location, so it does not have to be repeated. These folks make it easier for the customer to do business!

Now, I know some will think, "Houses are different... you can't use this for selling a house." I want to be clear, I am not suggesting THIS sign for selling houses (although stagers could easily use this concept!). I am suggesting material that meets the tests. And that indeed is possible.

Remember: Memorable Actionable Immediate

There are successful people across the country that use this everyday to make money in many fields, including real estate. These successful people have gotten past the idea that the marketing material is all about them or about blasting customers with tons of information BEFORE they are really interested.

And do I suggest you sell houses with the "freak people out" approach? Of course not. But you can look at your material to be sure it meets the tests and is not just a big, boring, looks like every-other-agent infomercial that everyone will forget almost as soon as they see it.