Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

The (REAL) Idiot's Guide to Social Media Marketing

Hello Marvelous Peeps!

Boy do we have a special guest writer for you today. His name is David Newman, Founder of Do It! Marketing. David knows more about marketing and Social Media than we will learn in a lifetime. This high-energy, Philadelphia native is an international speaker, writer, blogger, marketing consultant and Past President of his Philadelphia National Speakers Association Chapter.

If you only read one article about Social Media this year, then you should only read this one.
Until next time, I wish you Peace, Love and Gumbo!

As always, if you are “stuck” and need some direction, you know how to contact me. Be Marvelous! This life of ours isn't a dress rehearsal.

As a speaker marketing expert and head honcho of an inbound marketing agency serving speakers, consultants, and thought-leading professionals, I often find myself with prospects who want to get involved in social media but - sadly - do not understand the intent, ideas, or influence factors that make social media an effective tactic in their overall marketing arsenal.

The (REAL) Idiot's Guide to Social Media Marketing

How can I put this? Ummm... well, they're idiots.

Relax... IDIOT is an acronym that stands for the 5 key misconceptions, faulty assumptions, and pillars of goofy thinking that prevent most thought-leading professionals (YOU perhaps??) from generating maximum results from your social media efforts.

Namely...

I: I, Me, My syndrome

D: Dumb it down

I: Information without invitation

O: Over-selling

T: Today vs. tomorrow focus

Let's take a look at each of these in a bit more detail:

I- I, Me, My syndrome. No, your social media postings do NOT need to be all about YOU. In fact, if all you talk about is YOU - your company, your book, your blog, your brand, your articles, your resources, your tools, your programs, your products, your services... people will ignore you, tune you out, and dismiss you for the self-centered idiot that you are. (Please remember - idiot is an acronym used throughout this post.)

Experts promote other experts. Experts are not insecure about shining the spotlight on others. Experts are curators and pointers-out-of-cool-things. Experts post book reviews BY other experts FOR yet other experts' books.

As long as YOU can be counted on to share interesting, relevant, valuable, sometimes even edgy content, guide your followers to the "good stuff" online, and position yourself as a reliable sherpa in your expertise, you'll get PLENTY of attention, love, and respect. Even MORE SO if you're not a mental weakling who is focused only on hyping your own crap.

Grow up. Step up. Be a real expert and learn once and for all - it's not about YOU.

D- Dumb it down: This mistake comes from the fear that if you give away your VERY BEST ideas, strategies, tools, tactics, insights and other secret sauce (yes, the stuff you get paid BIG BUCKS for with your paying clients!) that you will somehow diminish the demand for your paid products and services.

So you "dumb it down." You post that second-rate article. You remove some detail from that tip sheet because you want people to buy your consulting services and not do it themselves. You post the video that only has 3 of your 10 key ideas because heck, if you gave all 10 ideas, they'd never hire you to keynote at the big industry conference - you've already "spilled the candy in the lobby."

Yep - you guessed it: You're an idiot.

The reality is - it works 180 degrees the other way. The ONLY way folks are going to pay you the big bucks is if they have a FIRSTHAND experience of your genius - if they feel it, taste it, touch it, and fully experience it. ONLY THEN will they want more. ONLY THEN will they share it with their colleagues. ONLY THEN will they call their boss over to look at your website or email them your link.

Do you want to be SHARED - or do you want to be SCARED? Your call - but you already know which answer will make you more money. Unless you're an idiot.

I- Information without invitation: Social media sites are not a dumping ground for your old, outdated, crappy content from books you wrote in the 1980s or articles that you could never get published.

Even rock-solid, current, highly relevant information is NECESSARY but NOT SUFFICIENT to fuel your thought leadership platform and build your empire as an expert.

Here's a secret - the internet actually does NOT need more information posted on it. Not from you. Not from me. Not from anyone.

An effective social media campaign will share information of standalone value and then INVITE a two-way (or 5-way or 17-way) conversation around that information.

Ask questions, seek engagement, invite involvement.

Offer value, seek opinions, spark conversation - and ask the most powerful question in sales AND leadership AND relationships: "What do you think?"

O- Over-selling: One particularly idiotic individual told me that he wanted ALL his Facebook posts to have a hyperlink. Every. Single. One.

Hyperlink to where, you ask?

To HIS online store, HIS products, HIS books on amazon, HIS speaking page, HIS consulting page, HIS services overview. He said, "If you're not linking every Facebook post to a selling opportunity, you're just putting a lot of dead-end junk on Facebook and you'll never make any money."

Wow - this guy is a WORLD-CLASS idiot.

Social media is not about posting "here's how to buy my crap" - it's not about creating an extra dozen or so sales pages for your products, services or programs.

If your goals are: Sell on Twitter. Sell on Facebook. Sell on LinkedIn. Sell on YouTube...

Your results will be: Unfollow. Unfriend. Unlink. Unsubscribe. You're done. Buh-bye. Idiot.

Lesson 1 for you to share with your idiots: Content comes before commerce.

Lesson 2 for you to share with your idiots: First you earn their attention. THEN you earn their money.

T- Today vs. tomorrow: focus The final mistake is to think of social media in the same way that you might think of outbound sales activity.

Think about it: Cold calls. Email blasts. Direct mail. Do those things and the natural question to ask is - OK, how much did we sell?

You made 100 dials, you connected with 20 humans, you had 14 conversations, you qualified 5 serious prospects and then how much did you SELL TODAY?

You sent 10,000 postcards. Requests came back for 300 quotes. So how many widgets did you SELL TODAY?

Social media doesn't work that way. Social media is... well, social. It's about relationships and trust. Relationships and trust don't have an ON/OFF switch - they develop over time.

Transactions happen today from relationships you built last week, last month, and last year. The benefit of that - and the reason it's worth the "wait" is that social media gives you a permanent asset - TRUST.

Blog entries are forever. They continue to sell your expertise, your company, and your value day after day, week after week, year after year. LinkedIn recommendations are forever. People that wrote glowingly of you in 2002 are still "selling" for you and your reputation TODAY.

A voice mail? BEEP - gone. An email? ZAP - gone. A face to face meeting? DONE - bye. Those happen today and they're gone today.

Sure, you have to sell today. You have to make your quota today. You have to feed your family today. But social media marketing helps you ensure that what you create ONCE today works and lasts and brings customers and clients to you for many years to come...

Not because you SOLD them like an IDIOT -- but because you built the trust and relationships that HELPED THEM BUY today, tomorrow and beyond!

If you want to see the original article and comments please click here.

To properly execute superior leadership in small business, it is important to know certain steps to winning in the workplace. One of those very important steps is raising employee productivity. The more productive your team is, the better your business will be in the short term as well as in the long term.

Productivity triggers sales, customer satisfaction, and improves return on investment. Any manager seeking superior leadership in small business needs to look closely at productivity.

A key component of productivity is the hours spent actually working. A recent survey of 10,000 employees asked how much time is wasted during a regular workday. The results of the survey found that TWO HOURS NINE MINUTES are wasted every day at work. With the right leadership in small business, what could you do with two hours each day if your employees were doing something productive during that time?

Some of the reasons cited for wasting time at work include:

• Procrastination and delaying real work
• Non-work related activities including personal calls, texts, or using the internet for personal reasons
• Gossip, telling stories, or talking about the big game from the night before
• Complaining about fellow co-workers
• Complaining about the boss or the company as a whole

Notice that a significant amount of these reasons involve negative activities. Not only is productivity reduced from complaining, gossiping or procrastinating - your workplace morale is slowly eroding and will suffer greatly as others in the workplace get dragged into the negative activities.

For superior leadership in small business, your teams of employees need to know how negative actions can affect them personally as well as the entire business. Unfortunately as a leader, you cannot be there all the time and monitor every conversation. You do want to empower your employees, but in a positive way that motivates them to adopt more positive activities.

One solution that has worked well in many places is encouraging your employees to have an "accountability partner." This person would be a co-worker that would be asked by the employee on an informal level to give them a nudge or a signal when a negative activity is witnessed. The employee can then take corrective action without feeling embarrassed or humiliated. By pointing out the action in a respectful way to the offender, everyone will benefit. Negative activity will diminish, productivity will rise, and morale will climb.

As the manager, you can encourage this type of positive behavior on a casual level without turning it into a counter-productive move on the part of management. Remember the most important part of a business team:

"Let's build each other up, let's not tear each other down."

Marvin Leblanc (N’awlins)

If you are interested in having me speak on one of your teleseminars or at one of your live conferences, workshops, meetings, boot camps or other event - please email me at: MarvinLeblanc@aol.com

Let's Connect!

Linkedin: www.Linkedin.com/in/marvinleblanc

Twitter: www.twitter.com/marvinleblanc

Facebook: www.facebook.com/marvinleblanc

Having a bunch of good and bright employees can be both gratifying and stressful. It is because efficient employees greatly contribute to the company’s productivity. It is stressful at the same time since it would be very disadvantageous if these employees suddenly leave the company. Not thinking about keeping these employees, and actually keeping the personnel resources intact with great people, could jeopardize the company’s continued success.

Ideal Employee Requirements

No one wants to work with lousy employees. Most business owners want their employees or work team members to be ideal as much as possible. Just like the requirements of American business magnate Warren Buffett on his employees:

• highly intelligent
• highly energetic
• have high integrity and
• have at least an intermediate skill in computers

Any company may not afford to take time in training new employees about computers. To have these employees is to scout for them, and continually do so. Even if they are already around the organization, they might leave someday for greener pastures, considering they, being of high demand.

Scouting for Ideal Employees

During the hiring process, the employer would get the vision and concept of the prospective employee about the business. The entrepreneur can also gauge the chemistry of the new employee and the management. Experts also said that in order to hire the right people, they rather convince them not to take the position. They explained the bad side of the company like work pressure, long working hours, etc. By being honest to the applicants, they already filtered who shall stay long or not. This minimizes turnover and waste of time. They do not want to train the employees only to see them leaving too soon and this is a way to eliminate prospective employees who wouldn’t have made it to the job anyway. Telling the applicants the truth is just being honest which would also do justice to both the applicants as well as to the employers.

Myths About Keeping Employees

Many believe that employers have multiple ways to keep their employees with them, even those who are on high demand. The following are some myths about keeping them:

• Key employees will stay especially when economy is tough as they are afraid of losing income. This is wrong because uneasiness caused by the tough economy can threaten security. When they are undervalued, employees would be unproductive and start looking for something better.

• Employees can be loyal when treated well. Even if treated well, employees would change jobs if they are not happy with the positions they are holding. They would only stay if they also have the feeling of fulfillment in their respective corporate roles.

To keep the talents happy and stay put is to determine the objectives of the company, and find individuals who are able to meet these objectives. Employees need to be motivated as well as engaged so they will stay long.

More Numbers Creates Stability

Sometimes, employers hold on to their employees because they stop scouting for more talents. Or do not have the right strategy to attract the right employees. As the main drive of the organization, employees are people; and people are the only ones capable of achieving the company’s goals by carrying out systems and perform deliveries. New ones can bring fresh vibe to the organization while keeping the balance in the human resource so as not to lose productivity. More numbers can create more stability and strength. To attract more talents, the recruitment process should be in itself strategic, interesting and exciting.

Need some motivation for your group?

Pick my brain, bring me to your group, or get signed up for some one on one coaching. Click here for information or drop me an email at marvin@marvinleblanc.com

Building Client Relationships with a Different Twist

I just got off of the phone with one of my top 200 clients. I called them
for a completely unrelated subject that had nothing to do with their
current program with me or the sale of any products or services to them.

I called my client because my Business Network Group had an opening for a new member. I felt my client would be the type of member that would be great for our group & our group would be great for them.

Point #1: People can find out how you think, how you do business, what
your integrity is like and all sorts of important things that may not have anything
directly to do with the sale or services your company offers at that exact moment.

Point #2: Think like your customer. Brainstorm with your team. Ask the question,
"if I was the CEO of our customer's company, what opportunities in the marketplace
should I be taking advantage of?" Then connect your customer with those opportunities.

Folks, this type of strategic thinking makes you irresistible to your customer & it becomes
very hard for them to leave you. Why? Because you are offering something of VALUE to
them far beyond the sales transaction.

Slow down, re-read this blog.  Think it through. Alone. Then with your people. This is an
excellent topic for your next meeting. It's amazing what kind of ideas your group can come
up with. What "out of the box" strategies & opportunities can we offer our clients?

"THINK - and then - GROW RICH!"

If you are looking for some one on one coaching or a motivational message for your team get in touch with me.  I am always happy to help make others more successful.  

The best way to reach me is to email tina@marvinleblanc.com. 

Peace, Love and Gumbo, 

Marvin 

Are you holding onto a team member because you have no monthly strategy to interview, scout, and attract new, energetic talent that has heart, character, and Windows based computer skills?

Great Employees Are Assets

Having a bunch of good and bright employees can be both gratifying and stressful. It is because efficient employees greatly contribute to the company’s productivity. It is stressful at the same time since it would be very disadvantageous if these employees suddenly leave the company. Not thinking about keeping these employees, and actually keeping the personnel resources intact with great people, could jeopardize the company’s continued success.

Ideal Employee Requirements

No one wants to work with lousy employees. Most business owners want their employees or work team members to be ideal as much as possible. Just like the requirements of American business magnate Warren Buffett on his employees:

• highly intelligent
• highly energetic
• have high integrity and
• have at least an intermediate skill in computers

Any company may not afford to take time in training new employees about computers. To have these employees is to scout for them, and continually do so. Even if they are already around the organization, they might leave someday for greener pastures, considering they, being of high demand.

Scouting for Ideal Employees

During the hiring process, the employer would get the vision and concept of the prospective employee about the business. The entrepreneur can also gauge the chemistry of the new employee and the management. Experts also said that in order to hire the right people, they rather convince them not to take the position. They explained the bad side of the company like work pressure, long working hours, etc. By being honest to the applicants, they already filtered who shall stay long or not. This minimizes turnover and waste of time. They do not want to train the employees only to see them leaving too soon and this is a way to eliminate prospective employees who wouldn’t have made it to the job anyway. Telling the applicants the truth is just being honest which would also do justice to both the applicants as well as to the employers.

Myths About Keeping Employees

Many believe that employers have multiple ways to keep their employees with them, even those who are on high demand. The following are some myths about keeping them:

• Key employees will stay especially when economy is tough as they are afraid of losing income. This is wrong because uneasiness caused by the tough economy can threaten security. When they are undervalued, employees would be unproductive and start looking for something better.

• Employees can be loyal when treated well. Even if treated well, employees would change jobs if they are not happy with the positions they are holding. They would only stay if they also have the feeling of fulfillment in their respective corporate roles.

To keep the talents happy and stay put is to determine the objectives of the company, and find individuals who are able to meet these objectives. Employees need to be motivated as well as engaged so they will stay long.

More Numbers Creates Stability

Sometimes, employers hold on to their employees because they stop scouting for more talents. Or do not have the right strategy to attract the right employees. As the main drive of the organization, employees are people; and people are the only ones capable of achieving the company’s goals by carrying out systems and perform deliveries. New ones can bring fresh vibe to the organization while keeping the balance in the human resource so as not to lose productivity. More numbers can create more stability and strength. To attract more talents, the recruitment process should be in itself strategic, interesting and exciting.

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Is your current team member compensation archaically still paying for time and effort or is it rewarding results?

Compensation is a key determinant when people are looking for any kind of job. Every person dreams of getting a job that enables them to practice their career and expertise and pays well enough to enable them to meet their daily needs. The greatest challenge for most businesses and companies is how to balance between compensating team members for results achieved by a team member and finally the balance that is the profit for the company.

In order for any person to achieve results, they both need experience in that particular field and skills. Experience is what a person has learned about a particular field that they cannot learn in any institution. No one can dispute the fact that senior people are very experienced in whatever they do since they may have earned an experience of probably twenty years and above. During this period, these people have also built relationships that are very important for the success of any business.

It is however important to note that the success of any business is not entirely dependent on experience and the relationships. A business needs to have a new perspective on things in order to be able to remain relevant in the current world. The new perspective may not come from people who have been doing the same job, the same way for the last twenty years. Sadly, leadership must embrace that “senior” team members may have skills that have become quite stale and outdated. And unless they are open to embracing different ways of doing things, they may become irrelevant in a very short period of time.

“Complacency kills.”

Results, skills, time, experience and effort are all essential ingredients for any organization to succeed. The question therefore is how to compensate each team member for the contributions they bring to the table. Senior people are likely to bring experience, time and effort to the team. However, the most important thing for any organization is results. It is very hard to produce any better results when a person has been working a certain way for many years and they do not know any other way of doing things. Additionally, one may also be very unwilling to embrace new ways that could lead to greater profits, if the old way of doing things has always worked.

The greatest challenge for the organization is how to determine the compensation plan. Do you compensate team members simply because of their time and effort or their results? Both people who are young in a career and the experienced senior individuals are likely to offer their time and effort. However, the time and effort for the young is likely to translate to better results owing to the new skills they may have acquired. For senior people on the other hand, they are likely to yield the same results they have been getting for the past twenty years since they are still working the same way they always have.  

Time and effort are essential for the success of an organization. However, these are not the only determinants. Results are essential for the survival of a company. Therefore, any business whether large or small has to ensure they get the best results from the team members. Any company that has been simply paying based on the time and effort contributed by the members versus results, might need to reevaluate their systems.

“Doing nothing will guarantee stagnation.”

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Hello Marvelous People: 

Some blogs can be short, but powerful.

This blog is one of those.

Short.

Profound.

To be shared with your group.

Over and Over and Over.

Peace, Love and Gumbo!
Marvin LeBlanc

From Glenn Shepard’s Rules of Work:

1. Raises are earned, not given
2. Leave your home life at home
3. Do NOT read your text messages when a customer is talking to you (my team keeps phones OFF)

4. You are the company
5. If you wouldn’t say it to their face, don’t say it to their back
6. When YOU cause the problem, YOU fix it (this is the way it works in my office)
7. If you can’t be on time, be early
8. Be Low Maintenance

Hello Marvelous People:

Let’s examine a recent selling dilemma that recently occurred with one of our students in our Sales Performance School.

Scenario: A hard working, excited salesperson has put a bunch of quotes/offers out in the marketplace since the beginning of the year.

Problem: While it is guaranteed that there can be no consistent, reliable results without “Activity” - “Activity” does not guarantee results, especially, if it’s the wrong activity.

Bigger Problem: if you are sincerely generating the right activities and you are not getting the desired result you want,(a sale) then your confidence will be destroyed.

No confidence = No fun. 

Possible Solutions:

“Now when you gave your prospect/client that quote/offer, was it over the phone or via email/fax?”

“When you shared your quote/offer, did you and the prospect/client agree to the next day/date you will see them or the next day & time you will call them?”

I mention this because so frequently, those new to the sales profession give up too early. And one of the reasons they are subjected to unnecessary rejection is because they don’t position themselves properly in the minds of the prospect from the very beginning.

I’m trying to help you avoid the emotional roller coaster one goes through when he/she really believes that a prospect/client is going to move forward with their quote/offer and the prospect/client was NEVER EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE to moving forward with the quote/offer.

Please understand - if someone is nice, respectful, courteous or amiable. That’s all it means. BUYING SIGNALS ARE SOMETHING entirely different. Don’t mistake the two. Know the difference.

Important Takeaways:

1. Maintain control of the dialog. Not because you are a control freak; but because your job is to deliver WORTHWHILE PRODUCTS/SERVICES to those that need them.

2. If you’re in an industry that allows you to see them face-to-face, then this appointment will yield more results than a phone appointment.

3. Don’t over talk "product"

4. Do talk in terms of the BENEFITS that your product/service will offer. Your clients only care about what’s in it for THEM! Would you please make it about them? It isn’t about you!!]

5. The more time passes, the faster they go from hot to lukewarm to cold.

6. Create the sense of urgency now or risk spending too much time making follow up calls to prospects that will never buy.

Your Homework:

Marvelous People, we need you to leave a comment on our feedback form or drop me your comments as Marvin@MarvinLeBlanc.com

What we are looking for are:
1. The actual things your prospects/clients say to you that indicate they are interested
2. The last 3 sales you made, what were the verbal or non-verbal buying signals you observed
3. Future topics that you would like to see us discuss

My future writings will include the cumulative insights of your comments and feedback.

The best gift is a referral!  If you or someone you know would like to know how to SELL smarter, work LESS and sell MORE please click here for more information on my coaching program. 

Keep thinking about being better and doing better. Keep planning for self-improvement. Remember, what we regularly and consistently affirm within us about ourselves and to ourselves has a way of becoming reality.

What is talent but originality robed in resourcefulness? 
What is achievement but a dream dressed in work clothes?
What is accomplishment but ability tripped of its doubts?
What is life but a series of opportunities masked as difficulties?
What is significance but effort that is draped in day to day self-improvement?

What I do want to constantly encourage is for you to think:

What did I do today?

What random act of kindness did I perform today?

Many of you have sales and business development roles. I promise if you spend time on the self-improvement habit, your business will grow. Keep this in mind:

There is no thrill in easy sailing when the skies are clear and blue, there is no joy in merely doing things, which anyone can do; but there is some satisfaction that is mighty sweet to take, when you reach a destination that you thought you couldn’t make.

We love to hear from you! For more information about bringing Marvin in to motivate your group, team or conference, please email marvin@marvinleblanc.com.  Marvin is available for personal coaching, team building and keynote speaking.  

If I asked you what is the most important day in the upcoming year, would you know?

You may think that every day equally important.

In my opinion, the answer is no. Each day is not equal. 

The most important day for you is - TODAY!

Well why?

Before you can actually achieve and complete a worthwhile goal, you
must first "experience" the goal in your mind and in your heart.

And remember, what you feel in your heart is far more important than what you think in your mind.

"THE HEAD CAN'T STOP WHAT THE HEART WANTS!"

So the truth is when you actually accomplish your goals, its actually the second time you accomplished the goal. Because the first time you accomplished the goal you achieved the goal when you DECIDED in your mind and heart it was meaningful to do.

Here's your action plan.

Step 1:
Write down the goals and dreams that popped in your head when you were reading this article. (Remember, until you write it down its not a real goal.)

Step 2:
Decide:
If today is going to be your most important day. Nothing will save you if you are unwilling to DECIDE and COMMIT.

Step 3:
List the frivolous distractions, interruptions and time wasters in your life and eliminate them. Now you will have MUCH MORE time to work on what's REALLY important.

Step 4:
If you get stuck, give me a holler and we'll work through it. You don't need to be perfect. You just need to START.

Marvin LeBlanc helps entrepreneurs and small business owners overcome adversity, build business and increase sales. He offers motivational small business support through coaching, consulting, on-site training and webinars, 

Find out more at: http://www.MarvinLeblanc.com  

Contact Marvin at 225-938-4177 email:  marvin@marvinleblanc.com for your free “virtual cup of coffee” session.