Bulldog Marketing

Welcome to Bulldog Marketing

What if there was a way you could develop a marketing plan that would allow you to reach hundreds of thousands of people, with a message and information that is basically real time (less than 15 minutes old) for less than 20.00/ month. Would you want to know about it?  But Wait, there's more. What if you could take that marketing material, and turn it into products to build additional revenue streams to support every stage of your business and every step in your customer lifecycle? You would want to know about that, Right? That is what this site is all about.  If you are a coach, trainer, consultant or 'information industry professional' you probably know the value of having a way to duplicate yourself and allow your prospects to get a 'free sample of your service' without you having to deliver that information each time.  By leveraging technology and a crisp message you can attract motivated, pre-qualified clients into your sales funnel, and allow them to spread the word to their friends because you have packaged  your message in a format that is easy for them to pass along. Once you are established and have more clients than you can handle, you can use your products for entry level clients and create a wonderful recurring revenue stream to support your 'live' activities.  Creating recursion in everything that you do will allow you to grow your business without loosing your sanity.  I have divided the blog into five sections:

1.  B U L L D O G- Find your Inner Bulldog This section deals with How you need to be in order to succeed in the dog eat dog marketing world. If you are new to this blog, this is a great place to start.

2.  Topic Specific Marketing- Turning Ideas into action By using a topic specific approach, you will be able to publish articles, write a book, develop seminars and workshops, podcasts and audio products one step at a time.

3.  Technology Rules- Use technology to spread the word Are you a techno-phobe?  Does the thought of downloading an MP3 scare you?  If so, don't worry...I will help simplify what you need to do to get your message out without going crazy or buying a bunch of software that you don't need.

4.  Blogging Basics- Looking for information on how to get started with your blog?  Here it is!

5.  Selling- Tips on how to move your qualified prospects through the sales process.

6.  The Fire Hydrant- Off topic but necessary Hey, If you are human, sometimes you need to rant and rave a little bit, right?

So if you're wondering what all of this has to do with bulldogs,  read on!

Take Responsibilty!

As "Independent Professionals" a.k.a. "You do everything Yourself" you may have times where things are moving a bit quickly, and you may make a mistake or two along the way. Some mistakes may be more critical than others depending on your model of the world, and if you are like most people, you probalby take more pride in being right than being wrong.

I recently had the pleasure of making a mistake of the worst kind. I accidently charging a client 500.00 instead of 50.00, which to me is a Big-Time No No! When I realized what happened, I could have blamed the 'person who does that for me', the credit card processing company, or my computer for having a sensitive keyboard, but that only makes it worse. You need to accept responsiblity for everything you do, no matter how badly you feel when you mess up.

If you find yourself in a simular situation, I have found that it is best to say, "I screwed up, and it is completely my fault". No need for long explainations, just take total responsiblity. Then figure out what you can do to make up for the error, and follow through with the customer to make sure you have done all you can to fix the problem in their mind.

The nice thing is, you won't need have multiple meeting with a committee or get approval from your supervisior of boss to bring the issue to resolution. Do what you think is right, and do it quickly, and you may find that the biggest mistake you can make is not when you make it, but it is how you handle it when you discover it.

The Meaning of your communication

Many people who read my blog are familiar with Neuro-Linguistic Psychology, or NLP. One of the presuppositions of NLP is The Meaning of your communication is the response you get. What this really means is that we need to take accountability for how our messages are recieved by our audience. For example, if you are writing marketing material or a blog post, and you get several questions from readers about something, you have obviously missed something that your audience needs and you are responsible for that. Seth Godin does a great job of explaining this and how it relates to marketing. It's worth checking out. If you don't understand what I am talking about, just remember, It is my fault!

The 6 Essential Elements of Marketing Material

I love it when there is synchronicity in the air! I was thinking about posting about what you really need to have on a sales page or brochure when you are selling a seminar, product or coaching, and in my inbox is an article from the Blog Squad about what they look for when they decide what seminars and product to invest in. So here is their list, and here is what you can do to ensure you cover all of the relevant bases when creating marketing material.

Requirement:
What kind of reputation does the expert have? Do a Google search on their name. Can you find them online? Do they appear to be credible?

What you can do about it:
Make sure you have online visibility in your specific market when people are searching for you. By strategically placing blog posts, online articles and properly tagged web pages, you should be able to get to the top of the list with search engines by combining your name with the particular topic that your seminar or product is built upon.

Requirement:
Is the subject appropriate for your business?

What you can do about it:
Make sure that you get very specific in your description of what people can expect and what you will cover in your seminar, training or info product. You may want to include the table of contents if you are selling a book, or provide the agenda or topic list if you are doing a live training. Be specific, and let people know HOW your information will benefit them in their personal or professional life.

Posting Frequency- How Important Is it Really?

WOW! I feel like Rip Van Winkle who woke up from a 20 year nap! It has been over 3 months since my last blog post, which most people - myself included- would say is a complete no-no in the blogging world. In order to explain my absence, I could say that I was doing an experiment to see what effect it would have, but I would by lying to ya'll which isn't ever a good thing. However, I did learn a few things that you may be interested in:

1. Not posting has not changed my daily stats in a major way- only about 1%. Although that seems surprising, if you have a few 'cornerstone posts' that offer basic information that does not change over time, people will continue to find you long after your post hits the archives. This is another reason why great tags and keywords are important.

2. Nobody got mad at me, and said Hey, where have you been. This could be good or bad, but I didn't have people unsubcribe due to my lack of activity. In fact, posting again might remind a few people that they want to unsubscribe, but that is OK with me, I only want people on my list who want to be on my list.

3. I think that although there are guidelines for building your blog and readership, the most important guideline is YOU. What do YOU feel comfortable with? If you are blogging out of guilt and because you have to, I am not sure you are going to attract a huge following by guilt posting.

4. Bark with Purpose! I think if you don't have anything that you feel compelled to write about, just wait until you get a burst of inspriration. If you have ignored your blog for awhile, you may be better off going through old posts and re-tag and reposting them to give you some fresh search criteria. Who knows, maybe you will get a great idea or two along the way!

Step 5: Go Get Em'!

You have defined your ideal client, you know what you are going to sell them, you have your marketing material ready for them to land on, so now you should be pulling at the leash and ready to set the world on fire. So what's next you ask?

Get Yourself A Client!

For some of you, this is a no brainer, for others it may be a bit of a stretch, but if you begin to understand the difference between marketing, networking and sales you will be able to create a game plan that will drive qualified prospects to you, and then you can work them through your sales process.

I like to think of it this way- Marketing and Networking Activites drive suspects into the top of my sales funnel. My sales funnel is where I work with suspects to turn them into prospects and eventually clients.

In case these terms seem a bit foriegn to you, here is the way I define things:

Step 4: Give 'em something to talk about!

You know who you want to sell to, and you know what your product offering is, and you may have created your products. So now what?

You need to tell people about what you are doing, which means it is time to create your marketing materials and spend some time marketing yourself. Your marketing material and activities may consist of:

Blogs
Websites
White Papers
Free E-Books
Speaking Engagements
Networking

In the bulldog world, which means keeping it simple, easy and quick and you are starting out from scratch, I would suggest using a blog as your key marketing piece. If you are unsure about how to go about doing that, the good news is, this blog is all about that, so read away, and figure out what you need to do to get going.

In the beginning, you will spend most of your time creating 'Marketing Stuff' but it is worth the effort. The goal of your marketing material is move Suspects ( people who may be interested in your products or services, but you have never made any type of contact with ) to a place where they are either saying "Tell me More" by contacting you, or in the ultimate case, If you are selling online, getting them to click through and make a purchase through your shopping cart.

When you are getting started, you need to have enough material so that if you encounter someone through a networking function, or if they come to your site, they will know enough about what you do and what you offer to figure out what the next best step for them should be.

Rembember that your marketing message will change over time, so try to balance sitting alone at your desk with getting out and getting feedback from the marketplace. That way, you won't lose sight of the goal, which should always be getting clients!

Step 3: Identify and Create Products

After you have identified your market segment or niche, and have a clear picture of your ideal client it is time to figure out what you are going to offer them. The key is to offer multiple products so that your clients can Buy and Rebuy from you, in a very natural progression. If you are curious about how to create a client lifecycle roadmap, here is a post I did on that a while back.

Some other things to consider are:

1. Are you offering your products in a way that your clients will purchase and use them? I am still surprised at how many people don't really want to order downloadable products online, so really take some time and interview people in your market niche to determine HOW they would like to do business with you.

2. Do you have at least 5 different price points for your customers to choose from? In other words, you should have a low priced product that people can purchase to get to know you. If the only thing you offer is a 2500.00 seminar, you may have a hard time getting people to hand over their credit card on the first pass.

3. Do your products have a natural order to them? Think about how you can lead a client down a path with each product building upon the last. This keeps it interesting for your clients, and they will feel as though you are right there for them handling their needs as they come up.

4. Are you making a profit on your products? You need to think about your time, and any packaging and development costs that go into each of your products, and then be realistic about how many you need to sell to make a profit. I know it seems basic, but you need to work some numbers before deciding to order and inventory 5000 CDs. If you can, you may want to create your products and fulfill your own orders until you figure out how many you are really selling. You can always get someone else to do that later, after the money is rolling in!

Step 2: Define your ideal client

I hope that you had time to define your target market or niche as some people like to call it.  Once you have done that, you get to have some fun and figure out who your ideal client is.
Think of it this way, if you could work with any type of person, who would they be?  Here is a list of questions for you to think about as you create your Mr. and Ms. Right for your business.

1.  What is the typical demographic of my Ideal Client?  Get specific, down to age, where they live, how much money do they make, do they have kids, pets, ex-spouses? 

2.  What does this person do for a living?  Are they self-employed?  A mid-level manager?   A C-Level executive?  Independently wealthy?

3.  What issues does this person face, and how can I help?

4.  Is my ideal client someone who spends time online?  Are they up to speed with technology, or would they rather do business face to face?

5. How could I meet my ideal client?  Do they belong to certain organizations?  Do they golf? Go to the gym?

Step 1: Define your Market Segment

I know, I know, you can work with ANYBODY, right? Well, while that may be true, to make the most of your effort and unless you have the advertising budget of Nike, then just pick one segment for right now. The best way to pick a segment is to take the easiest and most logical path. Trust me, if you are looking for a challenge, you will still be challenged on the bunny slope. Here are some things to think about when choosing your ideal client:

1. What are your key strengths and gifts that come naturally to you, but seem hard for others to grasp?

2. What are those things that your friends, co-workers and family members say that you should do?

3. What are you really excited and passionate about?

For example, people always told me that I am like Dr. Doolittle, and that I should be a professional animal communicator. I was also interested in coaching people, so to blend the two seems to make sense. So my area of focus is to work with horses and riders to improve their performance. So now I know what I want to do, but my playing field is a bit large to really target at this point. No worries, the next few questions will narrow my focus so I can actually take some action.

1. What influential contacts do I have that I can build upon to help spread the word?

2. Is there a particular group or groups of people that I can target?

3. How easy would it be for me gain access to them?

4. Do I solve a problem that they have?

OK, so here is how this works. When I was riding, I showed in a specific organization. I have contacts inside that organization, and also clients that I have worked with, who have given me testimonials. So it seems like a natural fit for me to focus on them first.

You will know you have identified your market segment when you know you who you would target, and what you would have to offer.

So have fun with this, and stay tuned for Step 2!

Building a new business?

How many of you are just starting out with a new business, or a new product or service? How many of you have been thinking about doing that for some time, but have not taken any real action? How many of you feel like your current business needs a shot in the arm to really get going? Well, if that is the case, then maybe we can all work together for the next several weeks.

Are you interested?