Entries Tagged 'Positioning' ↓

This week I’m sharing some of my favorite takeaways from The System, an internet marketing conference I had the great pleasure to attend last weekend. You’ll find previous posts here.

One of my favorite parts of The System was getting to hear Perry Marshall, even for a short time. For those who don’t know him, Perry was the first guy to really grasp the power & potential of Google Adwords, then rocketed to fame and fortune as THE foremost authority on the subject.

Perry is usually a System presenter, but this year he took a break and was in the audience as an attendee. Nonetheless, he graciously joined the presenters onstage during the last session to take questions.

I can’t remember what the question was, but one of Perry’s answers really struck me:

“Everything comes down to your USP.”

The USP seems like a little thing, but underneath the question “what makes me different?” is a host of other stuff. It’s really about getting to the heart of who you are and what you bring to the table, what you offer the world. These are not easy questions! And they can push all sorts of emotional hot buttons. At least, they did for me.

As I struggled to get my first clients in my copywriting business, I did what comes naturally when you don’t have a clue and you’re looking for answers. I looked at what everyone else was doing, and “modeled” them.

Only it wasn’t modeling. It was a little too much copying.

I didn’t copy to be malicious or to rip others off. The excessive reliance on copying was all about insecurity and looking for answers. I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing! And these other people must be doing it “right.”

Well, maybe they were, and maybe they weren’t. But spending all that time trying to fit myself into someone else’s box… convincing myself I had to do things this way or that way because I’d fail otherwise…

As you can imagine, it only took me further away from the path. And - oh yeah, I was pretty miserable, too.

“Tell your story,” the experts advised me. (It’s good advice - you’ll hear it from me, too.)

OK, so I told my story. One version of it, anyway. The version I thought everyone wanted to hear. The one that made me wonder, “Who is that person?”

If I had to do it all again, what would I do differently?

I’d give myself plenty of time. Finding your USP is a creative act. Like all creative acts, it takes time and energy.

I’d be patient. Your USP is out there. It just needs to be uncovered and developed.

I’d not be afraid to be myself. Because here’s the coolest thing about the USP: once you have it, you’ll begin to attract the clients you’re meant to work with, the folks who resonate with you. Your perfect clients.

[If the idea of finding your USP seems a little daunting, you’re not alone! I’ll be covering USP in depth and giving you plenty of exercises to help you uncover your USP in my Painless Metaphysical Marketing teleseminars. Next class starts June 10. Details here: http://www.metaphysicalmarketing.com.]

We talked about the importance of positioning a few days ago.  I promised to share some proven strategies for positioning yourself as an expert.

1. Give away free information, such as a free report.  Free reports are an easy way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise.  You can also use them to start building a list of potential clients.  When someone requests your free report, they’re saying, “yep, I’m raising my hand, I’m interested in what you have to offer.”

2. Write articles.  One of my favorite strategies.  Consider flipping through a magazine.  What kind of attention do you give the articles?  What kind of attention do you give the ads?  Like free reports, articles demonstrate your expertise.  Your articles in a print publication with an editorial staff also convey endorsement - i.e., someone else made the decision to print it!

3. Write a book. Nothing, and I mean nothing, positions you as an expert like writing a book.  The authority of the book is so strong in our culture that even self-published books “work” for positioning of service professionals.  Many top experts use their books as their business cards.  It’s the ultimate lead generation tool.

4. Teach.  Teaching gives you lots of visibility and credibility.  You’re also adding value for your students and getting value from them (ask just about any teacher and they’ll tell you they learn just as much from their students).

5. Speak.  Another visibility and credibility booster.  You’ll also find clients at speaking engagements.

6. Go to the important events.  Owning your expert status is a conscious choice.  If you’re an expert, do what the experts do and take part in events and seminars for the experts.  Not only are you investing in yourself and your training, you’re claiming your expert-ness.  You’re sending a message to your peers, too.

7. Make media appearances.  After writing books, media appearances are the ultimate positioning tool.  Media endorsement as an expert sends a powerful message to your potential clients.

Think you can’t get a newspaper gig, a media appearance, or land some articles in a magazine?  Think again!  Newspapers, radio shows, TV shows, magazines… what do they all need?  Fresh content!  Metaphysical shops need experts to teach classes.  The opportunities are there for the asking.

As you’re working on your positioning, don’t forget to take credit for it in your marketing!  If you’ve written for a national magazine, taught classes or appeared on a radio show, mention it in your bio.  If you have a website, put your press clippings or articles online (if your contract allows it - if not, be sure to mention who you’ve written for).

[Want a step-by-step system for attracting your perfect clients consistently?  Join me for the next BYMB teleseminar series!  Info and registration here: http://www.metaphysicalmarketing.com] 

What’s your position in the marketplace?  Have you ever thought about it?

Simply put, positioning is how your clients and customers defines you in relation to your competitors.

“That sounds a lot like a USP, your unique service position,” you might be saying.

Yes and no.  USP is part of what makes up your positioning, to be sure.  Ultimately, positioning transcends USP.  Positioning is not just what makes you different, but where you stand relative to everyone else.

Easy (though extreme) example: are you in the slush pile, or are you Stephen King?

Another: Are you a novice, or an expert?

Why is positioning important?  Simple: the better you position yourself, the easier it will be to find clients, raise your fees, increase your income, and grow your business.  Stephen King can buy more cookies than the guy in the slush pile.  Experts make more than novices.

Quite simply, positioning = power.  Where do you fall on the continuum?

It might be a scary question to think about, because it can push those “am I good enough?” buttons.  But positioning also equals perception.  And that’s where it gets pretty darn cool.

You may not be Stephen King, but you CAN take steps to position yourself how you choose.  Remember: your marketing is under your control.  You get to paint your own picture.

Notice, too, that visibility is inherent in positioning.  How easy are you to find?  How visible are you in the marketplace?  Again, your visibility is, to a great extent, under your control.

Next time, I’ll share some proven strategies you can use to position yourself as an expert.  These are the same used by the big guys.

And remember: send me your questions or leave them in the comments!

[This work is copyrighted material. Please visit http://www.buildyourmetaphysicalbusiness.com to claim your free 90 minute marketing brainstorming session with Tarot Pro James Wells.]

A couple of weeks ago (waaay back when I started this blog - don’t know if you guys remember ) I talked about how NOT to be a commodity. That was my first mention of USP, one of the fundamentals of marketing.

USP stands for “unique selling position.” It’s the thing that sets YOU apart - the thing that answers the question, “Why should I do business with you, or have a consultation with you, as opposed to the squillion other readers out there?”

Finding your USP is the first step to reaching more people, increasing your income in a major way and yes, having more fun in your business too. So we’ll be looking at it a lot in the BYMBiverse. (I.e., the universe of BYMB - except I can’t figure out how to pronounce “BYMBiverse” - if anyone can figure it out, definitely let me know!)

I’ve never liked the term USP as it relates to metaphysical consultants. Yes, we are selling - I think we know that, and most of us are okay with that. But it doesn’t really capture the essence of what we do, does it?

Still, I hadn’t been able to think of anything better. Luckily, I didn’t have to. At the workshop, Anastasia of TarotPathways.com came up with something really cool. Check this out: Unique Service Position.

Yeah, that’s more like it.

(At least, I think that was Anastasia - someone correct me if I’m wrong!)

[This work is copyrighted material. Please visit http://www.buildyourmetaphysicalbusiness.com to claim your free 90 minute marketing brainstorming session with Tarot Pro James Wells.]