Spotlight on Marketing

Are your customers using your products or services in ways you didn’t expect and couldn’t have dreamt of? Asking for and paying attention to their stories might inspire you to develop some popular new products or services, lead to some profitable new revenue streams for you, and give you some terrific content to share.

I watched a video blog post by Marie Forleo about how to deal with refund requests and unhappy customers. A viewer/reader commented on Marie’s blog: “It’s always better to give your customers what they want. Even if it means NOT getting their money. We’re in business to serve…” Hmmm, I’m not so sure about that.

Do you know what kind of people are your MOST likely potential clients? You’re much more likely to succeed if you identify and communicate with the people who are most likely to WANT services like yours, i.e. people who have already demonstrated an interest in, and a willingness to pay for, services like yours.

Social for me is all about connecting, interacting, and being real and authentic. Being social is where, as a small business owner, you have a huge advantage over other, larger and more traditional organisations. By being authentic, by responding, by helping and by adding value, we can build our personal brand into one that builds trust.

I recently received an e-mail, out of the blue, from a young man in Hong Kong who has started a new and worthy business. He found my website via Google, and wrote to me to ask me to mentor him. This blog post explains why his approach didn’t work for me.

A potential client recently contacted me, asking me to edit her monthly e-newsletter. She proposed that because she has no budget for marketing, she’d pay me for my services by referring others to me. I say pay me AND offer referrals.

Here’s info about three upcoming business/marketing-related events in Hong Kong at which I’ll be a speaker/trainer. (There’s also a bonus comedy event for light-hearted relief.) You’re invited.

I’ve created a recording and a transcript of a live, one-hour global teleseminar I presented, titled “34 High-Integrity, Low-Cost Marketing and Branding Strategies for Soul-Inspired Entrepreneurs”.