Thirteen questions you should ask yourself when evaluating any sales or marketing materials and trainings?
1. Are they focused on green, holistic, community minded and radical entrepreneurs like you?
It’s essential that you connect with you whoever you hire or work with around your marketing. It’s vital that you share values with them. If you don’t, it can lead to uncomfortable moments in coaching where they suggest approaches that feel ‘off’ to you somehow. Many of the marketing trainers out there pretty mainstream. Make sure you find a coach or trainer who you don’t have to explain, defend or justify yourself to.
I mean this in three ways: first of all - do you feel pressured by the way they interact with you? If so - run. It won’t get better.
Secondly - do they suggest approaches that will cause your prospects and clients to feel pressured? When they talk about sales are they all about “closing the sale” vs. “seeing if it’s a fit”?
Thirdly - Do they suggest approaches that make you feel uncomfortable and queezy? A good marketing coach should be able to find an approach that works with your natural strengths. If you’re terrified of public speaking, you shouldn’t be pressuring yourself to do that. There’s a lot of ways to promote what you do. A lot. And they all work. Their job is to find what works for you. If you keep feeling like you’re stupid or stubborn - you may have a bad coach.
Too much marketing is hype filled these days. It’s full of empty and meaningless platitudes. It’s all about the companies bragging about themselves and beating their chests. You see it all over - shocking or attention grabbing imagery. It’s like “empty calorie” marketing.
The most powerful and effective marketing is hype free. It doesn’t need hype because what is being offered is so relevant and valuable and is being shared with people in such a trustworthy way. If you find yourself rolling your eyes at their own marketing - warning. If you find them asking you to make claims so big you can’t live up to them or to make statements that seem pretentious - watch out.
Do they suggest tricky and not entirely honest ways of getting people’s contact information? Do they suggest things like have people put their business cards in a jar for a ‘draw’ and then adding them to your email list? Here’s the reality - in marketing today - if they don’t give you explicit permission to be added to your mailing list - you are spam. Spam is illegal. It’s unwanted. It can kill your reputation with that person and their friends. They must be able to show you ways to have people eager to get onto your contact list. Can they show you ways to have people raise their hands and say, “I’d like you to market to me!” That’s possible. Strange but true.
Again, this one works on two levels. First of all, is it risk free to work with them? What if it doesn’t work out? What if their advice is terrible? What if they’re the worst workshop facilitator you’ve ever met? Can you get your money back? How? How will they compensate your for the time lost? What if you realize it’s not a fit halfway into it? Will they let you walk away? I do all of my events on a pay what you can basis - so if people don’t get much value - they don’t need to pay much.
Also important here is this - do they have a clearly laid out process for how they’ll work with you? Can they give you the ‘seven steps’ to their process - or are they just winging it?
Secondly - are the strategies they suggest you use risk free for your clients? If you’re not getting many takers on the offers they come up with then either they’re not good offers or they’re too risky for people.
Are they focused on a niche? And does that niche represent you?
One of the very first questions they should be asking you when designing marketing strategies is about what your niche or target market is. If this topic never comes up - you are not in good hands.
Everything you will ever do in marketing from designing your offers, to finding your clients, to referral and word of mouth programs is going to be based on who you’re trying to reach. Any marketing consultant that doesn’t understand this is dangerous to you and your business.
We’ve been raised to believe that advertising should be an eye catching image, catchy slogan, a few words and lots of white space. It should be measured by how ‘creative’ it is and made to work by incessant (and expensive) repetition. I’m here to tell you that this is a recipe for disaster. All of your marketing should be designed not to make you look stylish and pretty (though if you can do that too it’s nice) - but to get your business. It should be designed to get people to pick up the phone and call you, to come into your store or visit your website. Look at their ads. Look at their website. Ask them what their experience is with direct response. If they worked in an ad agency for a while - ask them what they learned from that and if their opinions have changed since. If not, you might be dealing with someone who understands eye catching design - but not marketing.
This is a simple one - if you feel at all uneasy about working with them - either address it directly or walk away. You should feel totally safe, at ease and comfortable when working with your coach. It should mostly feel fun and easy.
9. Do they have a clear definition of marketing and how and why it works that makes sense to you?
This is so important. Do they have a clear and simple understanding of marketing that makes good sense to you? Ask them what their perspective on marketing is. Listen carefully. If you don’t find yourself nodding instinctively and saying to yourself, “Wow. That would work.” then watch out.
When you go to an ice cream parlor - they don’t make you pay five dollars for a whole cone when you want to try a new flavour. No. What do they do? They offer you this tiny pink spoon. It’s not enough to satisfy - but it is enough to let you know if you like it.
If you can get that when it’s only $5 is on the line - wouldn’t it be more important to get a ‘pink spoon’ when it’s hundreds (if not thousands) of your hard earned dollars on the line.
For example - I have a blog, a free weekly email newsletter, over two hours of free video on youtube and a 111 page (and growing) ebook people can get to check me out. If I’m in town leading a workshop - they can come to a two hour intro workshop “The Way of the Radical Business” for free.
Look at how generous they are in giving out their information - how many pink spoons do they offer? If they don’t offer many - or if their pink spoons aren’t that great - be careful.
This many seem a little hardcore - but there are some marketing & sales authors and coaches who are the embodiment of ‘high pressure sales’. Ask them who their favorite marketing & sales gurus are. If they say the following names - you’re likely in good hands: Seth Godin, Ari Galper, Jay Abraham, Jay Conrad Levinson, Robert Middleton, Travis Greenlee, David Wood.
First of all, they should have testimonials you can read. Lots of them. These testimonials should be more than, “Great workshop” (says “AJ from Texas). Secondly, they should be able to furnish you with the names and numbers of at least 5 clients who have agreed to take calls on their behalf.
If they haven’t been in business at least three years - consider that a red flag. You want to know they’ve gone through their own learning process. You want to know that they’re committed to it.
The Top Ten Reasons My Clients Tell Me They Love to Work With Me:
I recently was thinking about how I could add more value to the lives of my clients. It seemed like a good place to start would be to identify what value they’re already receiving and to focus my efforts around strengthening and building those things.
So, I sent out an email asking my clients, “Why do you do business with me?”. The responses were very gracious and kind. But also unexpected and incredibly specific.
I thought their candid feedback might help give you a sense of who I am and what it is that I offer.
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My Clients Told Me
They Loved the Fact That . . .
REASON #1. My Initial Products, Services and Consulting Are Not Only Incredibly Valuable but Affordable: I am the ONLY marketing consultant I know of to offer the bulk of my workshops, core products and initial consultations on a Pay What You Can (PWYC) basis.
REASON #2. I’m a “Conscious Business” Coach: I am one of the ONLY marketing coaches in North America to work exclusively with “green”, holistic, conscious, and community-minded businesses:
REASON #3. I’m An Insider with Outsider Perspective: I’ve been deeply into the worlds of activism, personal growth, and spirituality since I was 18 but I also have the marketing “know-how”.
REASON #4. I Am Able to Help Them Beyond Just “The Money”: The focus of my work is not only to help my clients make more money and attract more clients, but to gain a refreshing clarity, feel re-inspired, reconnected to their clients and more confident in themselves - which often ends up making them more money anyway.
REASON #5. I Have Distilled and “De-Slickified” Decades of Sales and Marketing Wisdom: The material that I’m teaching was not pulled out of thin air. It is proven. Corporations have paid elite consultants hand over fist for this proprietary information for this exact same information. Entrepreneurs who apply it make more money than those who don’t. Period. I have simplified and distilled this to be useful for conscious entrepreneurs and filtered out the unethical, manipulative and exploitative practices.
REASON #6. I offer Strategic (Not Tactical), Sustainable and Trustworthy Guidance on the Fundamentals: My focus is not on overloading you with a bunch of random information, tools and tactics to “get rich quick” but on helping you root your marketing more deeply in the almost always ignored fundamentals of marketing and experience the surprising and massive (yet organic) growth that comes from that.
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REASON #7. “I’m Young, Innovative and Unorthodox”: I don’t believe in changing who I am, or trying to make my events or products more “comfortable” for mainstream businesses. I don’t wear a suit; I wear a kilt (see picture - and notice my "Shazam!" shirt). I don’t use or teach high pressure sales tactics. I am constantly looking for the innovative edges in marketing for conscious businesses that can add dollars to your bottom line (without adding more harm to the Earth or its creatures). |
REASON #8. My Business Strives to Be a “Hype-Free” Zone:
REASON #9. I’m Rather Relaxed, Down to Earth, Entertaining and Engaging as a Presenter: Uhh . . . I think that one’s pretty self-explanatory.
REASON #10. I’m There For Them Over The Long Haul: I stay in touch with my clients and add continue to add value and be available long after the initial transaction whether or not people buy from me again.
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If you’re interested in working with me - feel free to drop me an email.
If you’d like to see a list of industries and professions I’ve worked with click here.
If you’d like to hear what my clients are saying about me behind my back click here.
If you’d like to see how closely you fit my ideal client profile click here.
