As a small business coach and entrepreneur, I love to read customer service answers to questions that a business’s customers actually ask.  Here’s one that came to my inbox this morning.
Question: Do you take orders over the phone?
Answer: We can take orders over the phone, but we go through the same account creation process that you would go through yourself over the Internet.  If you want to phone in your order, we will be happy to help you, but you can do it all from the comfort of your own PC as well!

Read the rest of this post »

There are five unbelievably powerful words that you must consider before you even sit down to write your website copy and other marketing materials.

These five powerful words are: What’s In It For Me.

You may have heard of this referred to as the acronym: WIIFM. It may sound harsh, but visitors to your website simply don’t care about what you do; they care about how what you do affects them.

Initially, at least, they only care about how you can help them get the results they seek, how you can help them solve their deepest and most painful problems.

But mostly they want to know how your products and services will change their lives, and it’s the job of your website copy to tell them exactly what they will gain from buying your products and services.

Read the rest of this post »

As a small business coach and entrepreneur, I love to read customer service answers to questions that a business’s customers actually ask.  Here’s one that came to my inbox this morning:

Question: Do you take orders over the phone?

Answer: We can take orders over the phone, but we go through the same account creation process that you would go through yourself over the Internet.  If you want to phone in your order, we will be happy to help you, but you can do it all from the comfort of your own pc as well!

I don’t know about you, but as a customer I’d rather have a “hell, no!” than two “yes, buts” in one answer.  It’s obvious from the answer that the business REALLY wants their customers to go order by themselves on the Internet, right?  But some unwise person in the customer service department tried to wiggle around the answer and ends up sounding off-puttting and weasley.  This answer also comes off sounding like the business doesn’t REALLY want to be bothered taking your order over the phone.  Do you feel welcome to call in an order after you read their answer?  I doubt it!

Read the rest of this post »

Not all blogs are created equally… especially when they aren’t blogs at all. There’s a trend in internet marketing to imitate a blog- complete with a first person story and a string of comments- to sell products.

I’ve seen this for skincare and weightloss and I’m sure a number of other categories are out there.

So here’s how it goes… somehow you find yourself on a website and you click a link that says something you’re particularly interested in, usually around sex, money, diet, health. “I lost 25 pounds in 2 weeks!” or “I was broke and now I’m a gazillionaire!”

And it looks copacetic with an engaging and amazing story.

Read the rest of this post »

I recently hosted an event in New York and a woman signed up for one of my programs. We’ll call her Sally.

About a week after we met, I had a call with her and she said, “I thought it was just wonderful how you did that entire day and you didn’t sell anything.”

I said, “Sally, you’re in my program. You bought something.”

And she said, “Oh, yeah. I didn’t notice.”

So that’s the ultimate goal. You should be so fired up about what you do and you’re just sharing your services and saying, “Listen, you want to play with me? Great! Here’s how you can play with me,” and you move on.

People will actually pay you money and they won’t even notice that you sold them anything.

It’s not about the sale, it’s about the message. The people who are lined up for your message are a natural fit, and it doesn’t even feel like a sale. They understand your message and they are ready to say yes.

Read the rest of this post »

Stop multi-tasking for one moment and grab a paper and a pen. Don’t over process. Think from the gut.

Now, answer this question:

What is it that you would like to see changed in the world?

Write down your answer. Only give yourself 10-15 seconds.

If you had a difficult time answering the question, that is the reason your business is struggling. You have to be the change you wish to see in the world. How can you grow a business around that change if you don’t even know what your mission is?

When someone asks, “What do you do?” do you respond with, “Oh, I’m a life coach Reiki healer energy worker underwater basket weaver…”?

If this sounds familiar, no one knows what it is you really do. They don’t care what your title is.

Read the rest of this post »

I want to offer a quick business tip today for all you entrepreneurs, coaches and experts out there. When you are meeting with someone who wants to know what you charge, don’t divulge that information in the first meeting. Instead, find out everything you can about their business, their dreams, their goals and what is missing for them. Then, set up another time to discuss your special offer for them.

I made the mistake recently of responding to a friend’s request about what I charge for my platinum coaching services and answering right away – while we were jogging no less! It was a wake-up call that I need to wait to present my fees. Even when asked on the spot.

At a restaurant recently, I was in the men’s room and noticed a poster hanging on the wall in there.

It was a reproduction of an old ad showing a bunch of guys practicing their golf putts dressed only in a white shirt, a tie, shoes and socks — and their underwear.

The headline read “Play golf free while having your suit pressed.”

This ad is obviously from an era when most folks wore suits to work and this intrepid dry cleaning company had created this little golf course out back of their store for their clientele to enjoy while waiting to get their suit back after being neatly pressed.

It’s what we call a “value-added proposition.” A VAP for short.

Read the rest of this post »

Over my ten years in business, I’ve become more and more clear that “my movement” is to help women be more successful in their business! That’s why I work with women entrepreneurs to blend the smart business tactics with the more feminine and spiritual way of being in the world.

For heart-centered, women entrepreneurs, it’s easy to get caught up in your passion and purpose, and maybe not spend so much time on the business and marketing side of your business. To help you bridge the two with ease, grace and more success, I’m creating the Business Goddess’s Guide to…. series of information products to give you practical tools to help bring your message into the world in a bigger way with authentic marketing.

I am pleased to announce my newest product to help you: Business Goddess’s Guide To Creating Powerful Sales Pages with Ease, Authenticity, and Heart.

Read the rest of this post »

A while back I sent out an email to my list challenging people to drop mediocrity and quit playing it safe.

Then I started getting responses back from people.

“OK, you’re talking about ME in this letter, aren’t you?”

“Crap, I feel like you just pulled my covers.”

“This rocks… really hit the spot”.

The intention wasn’t to out anyone, but looks like it hit a nerve with people!

There’s an epidemic of mediocrity out there and it’s affecting people I care about. Bland marketing messages, the same old crossed arms/blue suit/looking up at the camera/white background headshot, zero intrigue…

Read the rest of this post »