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More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: How do you get your marketing activities
producing consistent results every time?
The Second Base Plan
One of the most discouraging things in marketing yourself is
spending a lot of time and effort (and sometimes money) on
various marketing activities that end up going nowhere.You do some networking, get your web site together, write
an article or two and give some talks, but still the clients are
few and far between. What are you doing wrong?You don't have a Second Base Plan.
In my Marketing Ball Model, second base is the key turning point
when your marketing activities start to bear fruit. Second base is
when you're meeting with a qualified prospect who is ready and
willing to explore doing business with you.Everyone tells me, "If I could just get more meetings with qualified
prospects, I know I could turn them into clients." Perhaps. But the
trick is getting more of those second base meetings. So why is
this so hard, and why does it happen so inconsistently?What I've noticed is that, despite all the marketing activities
implemented by Independent Professionals, there is rarely a
focused, intentional, step-by-step plan to get to second base.The solution is amazingly simple: Create a detailed plan with all
the necessary steps to get onto second base, and then implement
this plan systematically. Your plan should include the following
five elements:1. Clarity about what you're offering and whom you're offering
it to.2. A marketing message designed to get attention and get you
onto first base (where they are open to learning more).3. An information strategy, plus information tools to generate
more interest.4. A compelling offer that gets them motivated to take action.
5. A follow-up approach, including a request for an appointment.
Let's look at how these elements would be used for various
marketing scenarios - networking, speaking and direct outreach.Networking
1. Your service is an executive development program, and
prospects are C-Level executives.2. You conduct active networking at management conferences,
and use an attention-getting Audio Logo.3. For those showing interest, you send a copy of a relevant
article on "Leading Edge Management Strategies."4. You send a letter or email offering executive a briefing on the
same topic.5. You follow-up by phone to schedule an in-house briefing.
Speaking
1. Your service is a training program on "Coaching for Managers,"
and prospects are mid- to high-level managers.2. The attention-getter is a talk or presentation on this topic to
managers belonging to various professional organizations.3. Your information tool is a free report on the "The Ten Biggest
Mistakes Managers Make Every Day."4. The compelling offer is an introductory coaching session with
two top managers.5. You follow up to explore the possibility of offering a coaching
program to top managers.Direct Outreach
1. The service is process improvement consulting for hi-tech
firms.2. Your attention-getter is a hand-written note stating that you
will send a series of relevant articles.3. The three articles, each sent a week apart, are the information
tools.4. These are followed up by a letter requesting an appointment.
5. You follow up by phone to request an in-person appointment.
Of course, all of these plans are hypothetical, but essentially the
same five steps can be employed in each case. Every plan needs to
be thought through in detail and implemented flawlessly. Finally,
you need to measure results, fine-tune your approach, and try again.Can you see the huge difference between second base marketing
plans like these versus employing a scatter-shot series of
marketing activities that ultimately lead to nothing except a
little exposure and perhaps some word-of mouth business?What second base plan will you put into action?
More on "The Second Base Plan" in Marketing Flashes below.
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Thirteen Good Reasons
If you want to be a better marketer of your services, The InfoGuru
Marketing Manual is a great place to start. Here are thirteen
reasons why this manual may be what you've been looking for:1. It was developed exclusively for Independent Professionals
such as consultants, coaches, trainers and other service
professionals who are great at what they do, but have a hard time
consistently attracting clients to their businesses.2. The manual is based on a few powerful marketing principles
that, once you understand them, might seem obvious but are
missed by almost everyone (and implemented by even fewer).3. The marketing principles contained in the manual will help you
increase interest in your services, build trust and credibility
with prospects, get prospects wanting to learn more about what
you do, and create a steady stream of word-of-mouth business.4. It goes way beyond theory, vague generalizations or concepts,
and contains hundreds of hands-on marketing strategies and
action plans that are easy to implement, even if you have no
marketing experience.5. It includes foundational marketing information on things like
creating an attention-getting marketing message, and then goes
into depth on the most recent marketing techniques of web
marketing and eZines.6. You can read it like a book -- you can go through it slowly and
do the exercises like a home-study course -- or you can refer to
it whenever you have a question about marketing your business.7. It comes with a boatload of extras, including audio files,
articles, and the InfoGuru Support Forum, where you can get any
question about marketing answered for free.8. The Support Forum can be used to answer questions, provide
resources, and get "peer-review" of marketing materials, web
sites, proposals and sales letters, as well as explore the more
complex and confusing aspects of attracting clients to your
business.9. It will help remove the mystery and struggle about marketing
and selling that so many Independent Professionals experience,
and will help you realize that marketing can actually be fun.10. It comes with my unconditional guarantee. Get it and try it. If
you don't think it's worth much more than what you paid, tell me
and I'll refund 100% of your purchase price.11. Unlike most marketing information sold on the web, the
manual is not only available in digital form (.pdf file) for
immediate download, but for just a few dollars more you can get
a printed manual as well.12. The InfoGuru Marketing Manual was published in February of
2001, and it's just as relevant today, because I add to it regularly
with updates of the manual that can be downloaded repeatedly at
no additional cost.13. If you are looking for one tool that will help you attract
clients with an approach and methodology that is highly effective
but doesn't compromise your integrity, you've found it!For complete details and to order online go to:
www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html
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Marketing Flashes on "Second Base Marketing"
Ask yourself these questions for each part of the plan:
* Focus - What exactly is my service? What are its main
benefits? How is it structured and delivered? Who are my best
prospects? What is their main motivation to buy?* Attention - What will get immediate interest from my
prospects? What is their top problem, challenge or issue? How
are they dissatisfied with current solutions?* Information - What will get them involved and engaged in my
solution? What information, research, strategies, mistakes,
secrets, etc. can I reveal to my prospects that will make them
want to know more?* Offer - What is an offer that will be hard to turn down? How
can I make it more appealing, more valuable? Can I present it in
such a way that they will feel they will be missing something if
they don't take advantage of it?* Follow-Up - What exactly will I say to follow-up for a meeting?
How can I make sure I am treated as a welcomed guest? What
will make them clear their schedule to meet with me?Answer all these questions and you'll get onto second base a
whole lot more often.Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Helping Independent Professionals Attract More Clients~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2004 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free
to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part,
as long as you include complete attribution, including live web
site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.
The attribution should read:"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit
Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional
marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional
service businesses."* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
