You asked for their email, now what?

I find this common with smaller B2C businesses where you create a way to subscribe and never do anything beyond collecting the information.

A subscriber is someone who has already shown an interest in your company, products or services. They trusted you with their email address and possibly other personal information such as a name, country or more. You have their interest, NOW. So what happens after they subscribe? You need to be able to answer these questions:

1. What does their confirmation email look like?
2. What does the first email they will receive after that look like?
3. What is the call to action? Is it still relevant from the time you created it?
4. When was the last time you tested EVERY drip in your campaign and every step of subscribing?
5. How many automated drips do you have to go out them, and at what regular intervals after they subscribe?
6. Do each of those have a link back to a landing page on your website and a call to action relevant to the email message that went out to them?

Remember: One message, one ask in an email. Keep them focused.

When you create your drips to you try to save time by duplicating the previous one and editing it slightly? Nothing wrong with being efficient, but don't be sloppy. Make sure your call to action link, AND the image in the email go to the same landing page that continues that topic. Don't just take them to your home page where they are left to wonder around "the lobby" of your website. Keep them focused and moving forward toward conversion. You want them to either do another thing or give you the order or set an appointment. You also want it interesting and helpful enough they'd be inclined to forward your email or share it out to their people.

I HIGHLY recommend enlisting someone NOT working for your company to subscribe and go through the journey. You want a detail-oriented person who will click on the image and the call to action. Ask them to give you feedback about the email - content, links working, landing page. PAY THEM to do this or give them a gift card or something, if it's a friend. OR return the favor for them. My husband is my tester. He's caught images that the link didn't match the call to action, typos. We get in a rush sometimes and need another set of eyes. Our websites also change in structure every few years so they links need to be updated.

Want help creating or testing your subscriber journey? Email me: [email protected] and we'll set a time to meet.

B2C: Simple ways to build credibility - maps, reviews and top 10 lists.

There are a couple of free, simple tools you can use to stand out to your local market and potential clients. If you are a business that relies heavily on local traffic and customers, you need to take advantage of some free tools to build good will, establish yourself as a trusted resource provider and get points for being a good business neighbor.

1. Custom Google Maps:

Create a general map with your own custom pin icon, make it public. Add a great description, mention your own company name and URL. Then, add layers by topics: favorite restaurants, nightlife, best vendors and the ADD the businesses you want to support.

I will caution you, if you want to add a business that is perhaps not very active online or you are a rare customer who had a good experience with them, don't list them. Make sure they have good reviews because your recommendations of these businesses directly reflects on your business.

Be sure to be logged into Google AS YOUR BUSINESS persona. You want your business to stand out when you create this map. Create a custom pin with your mark. If you need help, email me. Shouldn't take me more than 15 minutes of billable time to get this done for you - just need your logo. 

When you add a business, be sure to describe WHY you are adding them. Something only locals would know or your favorite dish, service they offer, a stand out employee.

SHARE your map out everywhere, add it embedded on a webpage - not your home page, but an inside page and share out that page to drive people to your site.

2. Google Reviews:

Find these same favorite businesses, places, events and create reviews for them on Google. Do not post anything negative. This is to be an UPBEAT, local business supporting thing that you do. 4 star and 5 star only as your business. As you personally, you can get a bit more gritty, but even then, be careful about negative reviews. People can retalliate and it can become a review war.

Tell people WHY you like the business - specifics. Add a photo. When you go to your favorite places, take a photo and use it for reviews, maps and posts later. Try to post 2 reviews a week AS YOUR BUSINESS persona on Google. This builds authority and the businesses will start to notice you and may return the favor or at least recommend you.

3. Top 10 Lists:

I know I search in a city and then for: Best live music, best desserts, etc. Make your own lists. Have it related to your industry so that you are recommending possible strategic partners that could do the same for you. Think about a stylist -- having them make a list of top pampering places - massage, nails, boutiques, personal trainers, etc. could start to build a nice network of businesses cross promoting each other. Be sure you have added these same businesses to your list and your reviews AS THE BUSINESS. When you post as the business, you can still add your name if you want to add warmth to it and so that business would know who to recommend.

Need help with these strategies? Contact me - [email protected] so we can come up with a plan for you or your business. I can teach you how to do all of this and more.

Let your past podcast episodes do the heavy lifting.

Your past podcast content can do a lot more work for you to drive traffic, build credibility, open doors to prospects. I'm counting on the fact that you have a site for your podcast episodes and that you are connected in all the usual spots: iTunes, Stitcher, Libsyn, Blubrry, GooglePlay, etc. But you've had your show a long time. Why not put a new spin on past great episodes - new title, graphics and cover different points in the post, possibly edit the file a smidge or add commentary to the file? This can give you more content, easier and breath new life into your feed. 

Most of the time, after 20 episodes, your past doesn't show on your iTunes channel. If you bring back a show going back further, you not only can revisit a topic, but you can reach out again to that guest and let them know you still find their episode valuable and want to give it more exposure. Send them the embed code, new graphics, new link and see what happens. 

For more tips, or if your team is stretched already, come up with a monthly budget to schedule out 2-4 of these "best of" episodes each month and let me help you. [email protected]

Is Your Exhibit Booth Boring - answer - YES IT IS.

Let's talk about what used to work, sort of: 6 foot table, skirt - branded or not, logo behind, business cards, two chairs, fishbowl for cards, bad candy to give away. (YAWN!) A total waste of resources. You must be memorable. You must be a destination booth at the event. If you don't have a booth, you need to do SOMETHING to stand out.

Listen to this episode for ideas for ideal give aways, engaging activities, treats, swag and more. 

After the break we'll also tell you what to avoid doing, hint: Buzzers, bells, anchor drops, puppies. The ideas range in budget - something for everyone.

6 Easy Event Attendee Tips to Maximize the Value

If you attend any type of networking event, seminars, workshops, tradeshows; listen to find out how you are wasting your time. There are six tips in this short episode on ways you can maximize the value from the events you attend, especially those you pay for.  There is even a tip for those of you hosting events with sponsors - how to keep them coming back for more!  Have more tips? Let me know. I'd love to hear how you generate revenue from attending events. I'm sure Lany would be interested, too.

Testimonials - the glow of the moment: make the most of it.

After you close the deal on a house for a client - be there for the moment when you hand them the keys or do it in your office when you hand them the keys - while it’s fresh and the emotion is sincere and spontaneous,

1. Get their permission respectfully. No one wants to feel used or like a poster child to build your client base. Tell them how YOU felt helping them complete the transaction.
2. Get the permission in writing - tell them how you’ll use it.

How about after you receive notification of a glowing recommendation on Google or LinkedIn or Facebook, Yelp and the like? Reach out to that client immediately, thank them and thank them publicly. At that point ask them if they’d be willing to give you an audio or video testimonial. Video is ALWAYS better because you can extract the audio for other purposes, to mix with a loop of recordings and more.

In the case of a written compliment or testimonial, create a branded graphic with it so it looks special and send them that as a thank you with a link where it will appear.THis holds true for books - printed or digital. If they gave you a review that you are using in the book, SEND THEM A COMPLIMENTARY COPY with the graphic and tell them which page it appears on - even if it’s at the back, jacket cover or somewhere else. People appreciate being appreciated.

After your event or workshop. Same ideas apply. An exit interview is perfect. AND if it’s not as complimentary as you’d like, it’s great feedback to address. Be brave and have your interviewer ask for the positives AND where you can improve. Follow up. You will continue to build your advocate network this way and generate longtail revenue.

Event Marketing Budgets & Digital Marketing

Every year businesses determine what their marketing, sales, sponsorship, advertising, social,etc, etc line items will be in the budget.

If you are an entrepreneur and not doing this I would highly recommend you find a money manager and start doing this.

What many businesses forget to think about (or it's an afterthought) is events.

Events are magic.

Alright, maybe that's not the best selling point for me to give to justify adding events into your annual budget. Let's look at every major consumer brand in the US. Every single one of them does events. They spend hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars to get eyeballs on their brand and samples of products in consumer hands.

The #1 reason to do events is visibility and brand awareness.

These brands look for an ROI, but do you know that it's not always a cash/revenue ROI that they want to see?

They want to see impressions. How many people saw our product and within that there are calculations to figure out the reach of what one individual consumer is actually worth in impressions. It's a complicated math game.

So, if these brands think it's important why don't you?

You don't have to spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. Let's start small.

You are an entrepreneur and have a service that you offer (coaching, tech, social media, etc). You can invite 5-20 people to an event and charge then $0-300.

This event can be held in your living room, an art gallery, a golf club or resort, a gorgeous meeting space in a local hotel. Heck, even the library. These spaces will cost you anywhere from $0-$1500.

Your invite your guests to come to a local half day or one day event to learn from you on a specific area of your service.

You show up and deliver an abundance of value and they walk away feeling like they just won the lottery. What really happened here?

You just made an impression. Hundreds of them.

If you delivered tons of value...

1. They are going to see you in a different light. They will see you as the expert.
2. They will tell their friends and business associates about you.
3. They will share your info on social media.
4. They may hire you for your expertise.

An event like this doesn't require

1. A lot of planning
2. An event planner
3. A large budget

Let's simplify this even more.

Invite 5 of your closest business associates to a 2 hour session for free or for a very low price to give you feedback on a presentation that you have been working on. Ask for feedback and referrals. Let them know up front that you'll be asking for feedback and referrals, so that they come prepared.

Do this. Experiment. Get out of your comfort zone.

The do it again with a larger crowd. Invite your 5 friends back and ask them to bring one person with them the next time.

Each time you do this you begin to get more comfortable and confident in your content and the service that you offer. Talking about what you do will feel less and less salesy.

Create monthly or bi-monthly events. All low cost. All local. Create a routine and become familiar to your local community. Once the word gets out that your are offering high value information in your events you will attract your target audience and before you know it, you will need to create a bigger event at a larger venue.

If you start out small like this you can create a line item for events of $10,000 or less and create something impactful in your first year.

If you want to create larger events, I recommend that you start planning and budgeting 12-18 months out. If you know your event is going to cost $30,000 then every month you start tucking away and saving money that is specifically earmarked for your event.

This process makes it easier to pay deposits when they are due. Rather than stressing about how to come up with the money, you know you already have it in your event budget and can comfortably right that check or put down that credit card for the deposits.

What I see happen all the time is business owners decide they want to create an event, then they realize the cost and they either scramble to find the money causing way more stress than needed or they toss their dreams aside and forget it OR they try to create a Ritz Carlton event on a Motel 6 budge….. ON THEIR OWN….and fail miserably, swearing off events for the unforeseeable future BECAUSE events don't work!

Events work, but just like everything else in your business you need to have a budget and a strategy.

If you run a marketing agency, especially a digital marketing agency and don’t have an event arm in your business strategy you are doing your clients a disservice.

Hold up, don’t be mad. I’m trying to help you out here. There is so much focus on the digital side and you are working SO diligently for your clients. It’s an uphill climb to get visibility, to get their product or service out, to get engaging customers. I know your struggle. We live in a very loud world where everyone is trying to get everyone else’s attention.

How do you stand out in the chaos?

This well known but underutilized tool called events.

If you showed up with an event strategy for your clients that pulled their customers into a face to face, hands on experience you’ve just changed the game. You’ve now opened up another marketing channel that probably was not in use… WOMM. Word of Mouth Marketing. WOMM is a powerful marketing tool. It is not dead. It is alive and well. Look at every movie you’ve watched and who have you told about it? What about that bad customer service or the great sales on shoes? You’ve called your friends, told your co-workers, cousins, bosses, nanny, neighbor, everyone and shared an experience that you had with a brand, company, movie, etc.

This is why events are so dynamic and this is why it’s your responsibility to show your clients that value of creating live events.

If we go back to my post about having an event budget, you will see that I talk about what the major consumer brands are doing. They are actively every year putting their products in the hands of their consumers.

I hear you saying, well I don’t have a product that I can give away. I disagree. You can pull anyone in to play and test your product in your offices. Create a fun tech day and invite potential customers to come in, eat some food, learn about your services and get their hands on your product live and in person. SIMPLE.

You don’t have to pass out millions of samples, you can invite 5 to 10 local businesses in for a day or a couple of hours.

CREATE SOMETHING.

Be innovative. Your clients will appreciate that. They want that. They need that. They are hiring you to help them stand out from the noise. If you are just doing to some old offerings and programs you give to EVERY.OTHER.CLIENT. then you, my friend, are missing an amazing opportunity.

Expand your services, hire an event consultant (ahem...I’m available) and create some interesting and innovative ideas for your clients. Now YOU are standing out from the noise and are helping them do the same.

Let me say, that I see the lack of event ideas in the small, entrepreneurial marketing agency space. The big digital agencies have this down to a science. I recommend taking a page from their book and increase the offerings and calibur of your business. Watch it change your world.

John Golden, CSO Pipeliner CRM Revenue Tip: Treat Prospects Like Clients.

Today's guest is John Golden, CSO at Pipeliner CRM. Susan asked him about his top revenue tip. He lit up and was very happy to share it. Take head you companies that offer trial subscriptions. Listen up - many logical ideas in this episode. The key to Pipeliner CRM's success has been establishing long term relationship with customers, not just win, but maintain them - especially with a subscription product. They do this through a number of methods. The strongest are:

• Free trainings
• Understand what are the business drivers that brought them to us in the first place.
• Periodically re-evaluate their goals to see if they need to adjust how they use our product to best meet those goals.

What fails and has become typical throughout the software industries is to get them to take a trial and then try to sell it to them.

Why would you not start at the first encounter with a prospect? Treat prospects like they are already customers; ESPECIALLY in trial process.
Engage them with the people they are going to work with, so it's not just about their experience with the product, but the customer experience.

John Golden talks about what they need to have the answers to: How do we make the customer experience a consistently positive one from the moment they engage with the brand whether, even from the trial; and how can we guide you to trial the CRM to fit their needs, rather than just hoping they'll figure it out during the trial period.

Some of the other points covered included:

You can have a host of inconsistent experiences with a company. That's common, we always default to our worst experience.
Think of an airline trip - Great onboarding, great flight, customer service but then at the end, your bags are delayed and no one communicates why, or how long they will be. Now when someone asks you about your flight, that's the top of mind experience you mention. The 10 positive touch points were wiped out with the one negative.

There is a massive economic value to a positive consistent customer service experience.

Results?

• They are likely to be open to giving you a review, testimonial, and ultimately, may become an advocate for your brand and customer service.
• People remember how you made them feel.
• Clear communication will continue to build that trust - even when you mess up.

Clear communication is critically important. Don't make promises that you are apt to keep kicking the can down the road.

John's AHA moment:
In this world of disconnected connectedness, where everyhone is trying to leverage techonlogy, treating people as people.

Check out Pipeliner CRM - it's visual because pictures speak clearer to most.
Easy to use, easy for management. Pipelinersales.com - take a trial.  Take a trial the software AND trial the company as people.

More tips and guides on Susan's website https://susanfinch.com/rootedtips/

Event Communication - Put your ego aside

Communication can sometimes be the hardest part of an event. The details are manageable, but sometimes the people involved are not. You will deal with a wealth of personalities, opinions and experiences that you may not enjoy engaging with. Put your ego aside and listen first. Digest what is being said to you and then make sure that you clearly and concisely craft a response that does not incite drama.

Communication can be a challenge no matter what you are doing in life or business, but let's focus on the event application of it.

Why is communication important for an event creator, planner, founder or host?

1. It leaves no room for questions
2. It eliminate worry and concerns
3. It creates an open dialogue
4. It creates clarity

Communication these days comes in many forms; email, calls, text messages, Facebook messages, Google Hangouts, Skype, Twitter Direct Messages and even public posts on social. It's a wonder we can even keep our communication clear these days. As an event planner, I work hard to keep my communication with my clients down to just a couple of vices when it comes to communicating about an event. Typically, email is the first form of communication, then calls, text messages and somehow Facebook messages get thrown into the mix (even though I still hate Facebook). The more complex an event, the simpler your form of communication should be. There are so many elements to manage and execute on during an event, you want to make sure that your communication is clear for all parties involved.

Clear communication really helps to eliminate the stress, burden and annoyance of someone saying "I didn't know". Trust me on that one. Usually I am running more than one event at a time, so I am dealing with different personalities, opinions, expectations, etc, etc and I have to be able to navigate them without getting myself into trouble. We're all human, but sometimes we forget and take our frustration out on the person delivering the message not thinking about the ramifications of our form of communication, tone or words.

Let's talk about events that I have run in the past. When confirming event details with speakers, I prefer a very clear and detailed form of email that lays out all their needs, deadlines, expectations, reservations, etc. Sometimes these emails can be long, but I make sure that they are extremely clear. I even have it proof read by someone not on my team (who would know all of the details) to make sure that it makes sense to them (as someone not in the know). I make adjustments on clarity where necessary and then shoot the email out to the speakers.

Would it shock you to know that more often than not 20-30% of the responses ask questions regarding items that I clearly laid out in my email?

Probably not. It doesn't surprise me either.

We move through our days too quickly. We skim emails. We scan for what we recognize and then we shoot from the hip. We're all guilty of it. I've done it myself. Now, what if we as event planners, event creators, speakers, vendors and all other active participants slowed down for a hot minute and read through the email before jumping all over the messenger? That would be quite a novel idea.

Let's flip the script a bit. I was invited to speak at an online conference. I spoke with the host about the details and said I was definitely interested. That was the last I heard about it until about 15 days before the conference when I reached back out again to the host. I was getting ready to finalize my content and I wanted to make sure that my presentation and delivery was what they were looking for. After about 45 minutes on the phone and 20 questions from me to the host, I felt I had a good understanding of what they wanted. A week later I received a message from the host asking me when I could record. I was confused because nowhere in our previous conversations had they mentioned me recording my presentation with them. At this point I was already pre-recording my content and informed them so. They agreed to let me move forward with the pre-recorded presentation. My team finished compiling the presentation and I delivered it via email to the host. Wouldn't you know, I received an email in response that informed me that I did not use the event branded template.

Hhhmmmm.......

Again, nowhere in our conversations did a branded template ever come up. Might I remind you as well, that up until that point I had still not received any details about the event, expectations, deliverables, timing, etc. NOTHING. I even had to ask for an affiliate link after the host complained that no speakers had been promoting the event. I informed the host that I would be happy to promote it, but I never received an affiliate link as verbally promised.

I promoted the heck out the event, but I never saw the host promote the event until 4-5 days prior to it going live. Now, the day before the event I received an email geared toward participants informing them about all the good stuff happening during the live conference. It said that the speakers would be showing up live during their sessions. Guess who never received an email from the host letting her know when her session was going to be live so that she could show up and serve the audience properly. You guessed it... This girl.

Needless to say, the communication on that event is a prime example of what not to do as a host/event creator. Please take care of your speakers and communicate with them actively and often. They want to show up and do their best for you and your tribe.

I was recently chatting with another event planner and we were swapping stories as we all do about specific scenarios that we run into with clients. She shared with me that she resigned from a client because one of the major issues was communication. The client doesn’t like to repeat herself and gets upset when she has too. Understandable. Here’s the glitch. The client doesn’t give clear instructions in the first place. She’s all over the board and so when her team returns to her to get said clarification she loses it.

Events are hard enough as it is, so the client who doesn’t communicate wants, needs and desires clearly throws a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

Here’s the thing, to create something amazing and to keep the entire team, vendors and venue on task and on the same page this communication thing has to be worked out.

If someone from your team comes to you and doesn’t understand your instructions or the vendor is not clear or g-d forbid the venue is not clear; DO NOT BITE THEIR HEAD OFF. Pause. Breathe. Take responsibility. Ask them what they did not understand. Repeat what they said to you, so they know that you heard them (and didn’t lose your shit). State your instructions as clearly as you can and then ask if they understand or have any questions that you can clarify.

This is common sense, but we are not taking the time to communicate.

5 Simple ideas to generate leads before the conference

You know you need to participate in industry conferences. You decide which capacity for each one whether your are simply an attendee, an exhibitor, a speaker or a host of a special event at the conference such as a cocktail party or gold event. When that decision is made, the clock of effectiveness is ticking. How will you add this to your already full schedule of tasks?

I’ve done this for several clients with great success. They were shocked at how much of a difference this effort made in their HOT leads and advocates. They never realized how much money they were leaving on the table and how their half or quarter effort was really just going through the motions at these conferences and trade shows. 

We also realize it doesn’t end when you head back to the office. That’s the afterglow of the conference. We aren’t done yet. Before you get back into your routine, we’ll have continued engagement to maximize your new potential clients and advocates.

Do you have conferences coming up? Do you have enough staff to really make a grand entrance – I’m talking trumpets and rose petals. If not, you need our help. Let’s talk and see how this would look so you can plan. Try to give me more than a couple of weeks’ notice – really. Months are better! 

Do you need help determining HOW much to host, promote and how to execute it? Short handed - that's where Lany Sullivan comes in. You need to schedule some consulting time with her to determine HOW to make the most of the event. Head on back to me to help create the materials to execute the plan.

Go under the "events" category or Hosted By Lany to listem to more of her expertise.