Your Online Strategy for 2010

Are you confused about your on-line strategy for 2010?

This presentation will help you navigate your way through the confusing maze of options on the Internet. I’ll give you 27 questions to help you decide what’s right for you and your business. So let’s begin …

When I was in high school, I learned that the gravitational force between two objects depends on three things: The size of the first object, the size of the second, and how close they are to each other.

The same applies to your business. Your business success depends on three things: 1. You and your business 2. Your market Them 3. Your marketing Three principles apply to each of these things … Marketing You

These are the three about YOU Show your face, not your brand Lead with value, not with promotions Invest in reputation, not in advertising

These are the three about THEM Build your tribe, don’t chase the crowd Sell experiences, not products and services Serve a niche, not the mass market

These are the three about MARKETING Make connections, not transactions Sell them what not what they want, you’ve got Create buying don’t push features frames, and benefits

So here’s the summary … You Marketing Them Invest in Set buying Serve a reputation frames niche Lead with Match their Create an value needs experience Show your Make a Build your face connection tribe Now I’ll ask you three questions about each of these 9 principles …

Show your face, not your brand People buy from people, so lead from the front – publicly. It increases your connection with your customers, and gives you a head start over your competitors.

Why should they choose you? What makes you unique? It might be a combination of things (e.g. the most experienced real estate agent serving the XYZ region of Adelaide). Make sure it is unique, can be verified, and is something your market cares about.

How good is your positioning statement? When you meet somebody for the first time, how good are you at expressing your uniqueness in a compelling way? Look for a simple, clear answer to respond to their biggest problems and concerns - with your unique solutions.

Is your name your domain name? If your name is Joe Bloggs, do you own JoeBloggs.com? How about JoeBloggs.info for your blog, JoeBloggs.net for your membership site, and JoeBloggs.tv for your YouTube channel? Even if your business has another domain name, people want to deal with you.

Lead with value, not hype Be an expert in solving your customers’ problems, not just a clever marketer.

What are you the best in the world at? Seth Godin says (in his book The Dip), “Be the best in the world. Or quit”. The good news is that you get to decide what “best” means, and you get to decide what “world” means. So go ahead – decide!

What is your “signal to noise ratio”? How much value (“signal”) do you provide relative to advertising (“noise”)? For instance, is the only time clients hear from you when you send them an invoice? Aim for at least 80% value, at most 20% promotion. Keep delivering value, and people will buy.

How frequently are you blogging? Your blog is the easiest way to demonstrate authority and record everything else you do – YouTube videos, podcast episodes, e-zine articles, media releases, answering LinkedIn questions, etc. My rule of thumb: No more than 10 minutes per blog post.

Invest in reputation, not advertising Many people will find you elsewhere on the Internet before they see your Web site. Prove you’re an expert before they visit your Web site.

Where do they find you first on-line? People won’t always find your Web site first, and they don’t always have time to visit your Web site. You have to convince them you’re an expert before they visit your Web site – on Twitter, your blog, podcast, YouTube channel, Facebook page, etc.

What is your social influence strategy? What’s your plan for tapping into social media? Will you tweet once a day, answer LinkedIn questions, blog, get interviewed on other people’s podcasts, look for blogs to comment on, build a Facebook fan page, or … ? It’s up to you – but you have to do it!

How much are you leveraging what you do? Every time I write an article, it goes on my Web site, my blog, in my e- zine, on my membership site, (read out loud) to my podcast, and sometimes submitted to article directories. How about you?

Build a tribe, don’t just chase the crowd Build a community of people around you – your team members, customers, prospects, suppliers, colleagues, peers and raving fans

Who is in your tribe of clients? Who are the clients and customers you have an active relationship with? How do you re-activate past clients (who haven’t done business with you for a while)? How do you re- connect with lost clients (who went to a competitor)?

Who has your clients before you? Form alliances with the other people who serve your clients and customers. They can refer work to you, you can refer work to them, and you can bring them in to add value to your tribe.

What would you do if you were the centre of your tribe? “Corporate anthropologist” Michael Henderson asked this at a conference in February 2009. So what would you do? For me, it’s about connecting others who I know should be working with each other – even though they don’t know it themselves.

Create experiences, not product or services Almost everything else can be outsourced or duplicated; experiences can’t.

Who else is competing with you? Who is your competition – really? These are not just the people offering the same products and services you offer. No, it’s the people solving the same problems you solve – even if their solution doesn’t look anything like yours.

What can’t be copied in Chindia? Your product manufacturing can be outsourced to China. Your service offerings can be outsourced to India. But what experiences are you creating that can’t be outsourced? That’s what your customers and clients are buying from you.

What can you outsource to free up resources? Don’t complain about foreign workers eroding your business. Use them to enhance your business instead! Check out Elance.com, Guru.com and Amazon Mechanical Turk for armies of workers ready to do your work for you.

Serve a niche, not a broad reach The smaller your market, the better your offerings for that market – which means you can raise your prices, increase your profits, and virtually eliminate your competition.

What makes them a niche? The most powerful way to niche is to do it by customer. “We only do insurance for over 55’s” is more powerful than “We only do car insurance”. So, what customer niches do you serve? And what are you doing specifically to serve them better?

Who do you like to hang out with? Life’s too short to spend your working life hanging out with people who don’t turn you on. Start by asking what sort of people you like to hang out with, and then look for ways to turn that into a business opportunity.

Where do they hang out on-line? It’s easier than ever to tap into your niche market on-line: Their industry association’s Web site, forums and membership sites; popular blogs; Facebook fan pages; LinkedIn Q&A pages; Twitter hashtags. Which of these are you tapping into?

Make connections, not transactions Don’t expect your Web site visitors to buy from you on their first visit. Build a relationship that builds their trust.

What is their buying sequence? How does your selling process match their buying process? Do they need a free report first, then buy an audio CD, then enrol in your membership site, and only then buy your whiz-bang product? Find out your typical customer’s buying process, and match it.

What are your price points? Not everybody will buy the high- ticket item, even if you convince them it’s worth more than they pay. And not everybody will be happy with the low-price item. So what products and services are you offering at different price points, to allow them to choose?

How can they try before they buy? How can they experience your offering before they make a commitment to buy? Showing a video of your product is not an experience; giving them a chapter of your book to download is a partial experience; giving them 30 days free access is perfect.

Sell them what they want, not what you’ve got Your Web site visitors are not a captive audience. If they don’t care about what you’re selling, you can’t force them to listen.

Who wants what you’ve got?

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Your Online Strategy for 2010

by Gihan Perera on Dec 21, 2009

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Your Online Strategy for 2010 — Presentation Transcript