This past weekend I shared at three different events lessons I learned from my mentor, Jim Rohn, plus some core marketing concepts that I strongly believe in. The same principles I built Jim Rohn international and Your Success Store on. Also that I’ve consulted and coached hundreds of entrepreneurs and companies like Darren Hardy, Robin Sharma, Todd Stottlemyre, The Real Estate Guys and multiple companies and brands.
I would like to narrow it down to 7 simple but powerful marketing ideas.
#1, Marketing is about connecting the dots! It’s not being manipulative, it’s not trying to be clever, it’s simply finding the most efficient and effective way to connect your products and services with an audience. Factors include the marketplace, the competition and your secret sauce. What makes you special? What makes you unique? And finding the best way to connect your products and services with the right audience.
#2 Marketing is about principles more than tactics. I’m a tactic guy. I built a million plus list, sold millions of books, filled up huge rooms. Yes I use tactics. But principles will always override tactics. Principles are having a good product, having great service, and being consistent. And here’s a huge one, caring about people and putting relationships first. Don’t churn through people and treat your audience like a commodity. Treat your customers, prospects and audience with a relationship mindset. Think long term, bring value. Don’t let a tactic (no matter how sexy, new and big it may seem or be) override important, core principles.
#3 Marketing is about being strategic. I always say everything works, putting business cards on windshields works, it just doesn’t work that well. You got to find the most strategic thing that will help you knock down the most dominoes. Maybe it’s doing an event, starting a podcast, building an email list, or creating a specific product. Maybe it’s going back to your current customers and really loving on them and earning referrals. Whatever it is, find the most strategic thing first that will knock down the most dominoes. Be strategic.
#4 Marketing is about building an audience. Whoever has the biggest audience will typically win. I’ve met speakers who speak a hundred times a year, yet never built a list or audience. Best selling authors who never built a list or audience. Same for doctors, real estate syndicators etc. And Ive met speakers, authors, professional, etc who understand the value and power of building a list they nurture and talk to.
This is where the wheel and spokes concept came to me in 1993 when I launched Jim Rohn international. Jim had a handful of products and services (and no list) and I thought how do I get people once they experience one product to go around the wheel to the other products (each spoke on the wheel represented a product or service). And the bigger question was how do I get more people ON the wheel (customer acquisition).
That took me on a search and how I got the idea to do the quote booklet of Jim’s that I moved six million of. Way before Google or Jim Rohn had any published quotes this was a concept I knew that would be a viral marketing tool that my advocates would take the booklet and buy and give away and in the process tell the Jim Rohn story and Jim’s impact on their lives. I also did it with another product called Building Your Network Marketing Business that we sold millions of.
#5 Talk to your audience. People sometimes collect hundreds if not thousands of business cards but often times they never talk to this potential audience. They start every day hunting. If you’re doing one on one communication and you don’t have a way to talk to your audience as a group, you’re always hunting.
But when you organize a way to talk to your audience by group now you’re fishing. It doesn’t matter who says yes, just give your audience opportunities to say yes to the things that matter to them. Give them great content, give them great information, invite them to cool stuff, be a utility to your customers and prospects, let them know what’s going on. Give them great opportunities and occasionally, yes you can promote a product or service you have, especially when its timely.
Maybe its a Doctor sending a reminder its flu season and to get a shot or its almost the start of school and to get your physical if your kids are in sports.
One company I coach handles over a billion dollars of self directed IRA money. This is a great time for them to send reminders that you can still direct money into your IRA for 2017 (up till April 15).
When you talk to your audience, who says yes is not important. Let those who are ready and want what you are offering say yes. That’s the cool part about fishing verses hunting.
#6 Love on your advocates and give them tools to promote you. All successful people, all successful businesses, all successful brands create advocates and have people that refer them. That’s part of the process of giving great service to the marketplace and creating great experiences and products. But its important to make it easy for your advocates to refer you. That’s why I created the Jim Rohn Quote booklets. I also did them for Zig Ziglar, Mark Victor Hansen, Brian Tracy, Dennis Waitley and more. They were tools for my advocates to go pass out. I created multiple products like that to be a tool. I’ve more recently done that with books like Passionistas, Mom and DadPreneurs, Little Black Book of Fitness and Life Defining Moments (which comes out next week). All these are a great way, for just a few dollars, to give your advocates something of value they can also pass along to people. There’s all kinds of other things you can do in your business to make sure you’re giving your advocates something to go promote you with.
#7 Start with your core. I mentioned the wheel and each spoke is a product or service. Most people ask what new products and service should I add next? I always say, number one, begin with the product or service that is part of your core business. Second, make sure it has your secret sauce (what makes you and your service unique and special). Three, make sure it will knock down other dominoes. Always think core business, secret sauce and what will get the greatest result to get more people on and around your wheel.
Bonus #8 We learn by doing. Don’t go spend a fortune taking classes to try and learn all this in one huge move, simply just get started. If you have a stack of business cards go put them in a customer and prospect list. I recommend Aweber. If you have a list (or after you create one) then start talking to your list and segment your list. There are lots of simple things you can do to just get the ball rolling. Once you have a list to talk to, it forces you now to come up with good and relevant things to share. Which then helps you come up with the timely offer, the social media content, the blog ideas. It helps you be a utility to your people. You’re going to learn by doing. You’re going to learn to pivot by the responses and feedback! But until you get started you’re not going to know what you don’t know.
I think building and communicating with your audience is so critical and so important to the heartbeat of your business, I recommend in the beginning that you don’t delegate or relegate this away. Your voice, leadership and influence to your tribe (customers, prospects and team) is one of the highest value task you have.
Hope this helps!
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Here is to 2018 being your best year ever! Kyle
Kyle Wilson, Founder LessonsFromNetwork.
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