How do you self-promote in hard times?

I’m so pleased to offer up a dear friend and colleague to you all today. Bonnie Marcus, Women’s Business Coach Extraordinaire, is taking the healm with this fantastic guest post. As we’re faced with a deluge of grim news, Bonnie takes us back to the heart of the matter, pumps us up and sends us out to do what we do best, what we’re meant to do. Enjoy…(and make sure to check out Bonnie’s blog).

Promote Yourself with Passion and Confidence

Why is self promotion so difficult for us? The fact is that we just don’t feel comfortable “bragging” about ourselves and so we often come up short when we attempt to promote ourselves. Because we are not comfortable in the way we are promoting ourselves, we are also less effective.

So is there a way to be effective and feel comfortable when we sell ourselves and our services?

Here’s the GOOD NEWS!  Yes, there is a way to effectively promote yourself and feel comfortable doing it.
Here are some statements to consider:

• People respond to passion and excitement
• People respond when you are authentic and sincere
• People like to hear stories

When you craft your message to be more personal and more passionate, people respond in a positive way. Wouldn’t you rather hear someone speak with excitement about themselves and their profession and how they got started in business than hear another awkward formal elevator pitch? Do you tend to tune out those elevator speeches after a while?
It is possible to create a message with such passion and sincerity that no one will be able to tune you out. Your message is too compelling to ignore.

Tap into your passion and purpose and craft a message to promote yourself and your services. Tell a story. Make it conversational.

Here is an example of a passion and purpose statement:

Selling has always been one of my passions. In my 25 years of corporate experience, I have held many sales positions and delivered sales training programs. Sales training programs are great. They help people to know what to do during a sales call; how to use the right questions, how to close the sale, how to talk about features and benefits, all of which are worthwhile.

But none of the sales programs focus on what needs to happen first. What inner work is necessary before you start the process or pick up the phone? What work is necessary to get over your fears and limiting beliefs that are holding you back from promoting yourself and your business? I have found over and over again that this is an issue with many talented people. They have so much to offer yet are hesitant to promote themselves.

As a certified business coach, I assist people with this inner work and I am so excited when I help someone overcome these barriers and successfully promote themselves and grow their businesses.

Now, what do you love about what you do? What is your purpose? Think about the above questions and take a few minutes to compose your message. Read it out loud.

After you’ve read it, if you say to yourself, “so what”, then start over. You should feel the energy when you read it.

Let this be an ongoing exercise. Continually review your message and modify or add to it to keep it exciting and interesting. Practice saying it out loud until you’re comfortable. Practice saying it to others. Note their reaction. Put all your energy and passion into the content and delivery.

After all, this is YOUR story. No one else has this story. It’s your unique look at the passion and purpose in what you do.

Filed under How To, Marketing, The Business | Tags: Blogging, bonnie marcus, business coach, marketing in recession, marketing writer, self-esteem, self-promotion, women's business coach | Comments (9)

how to become a freelance copywriter: ANNOUNCING YOUR BUSINESS TO THE WORLD

The business is ready to launch, and now it’s time to tell the world about it.There must be an infinite number of ways to do this strategically and productively, here are mine:

1. Send something unique. Don’t send what everyone else is sending – a great way not to do that is to look through your mail for a few weeks and gather all of the junk direct mailers that annoy you and go straight to the recycle bin. Then create the opposite. My original mailer, which you can view on my portfolio page, was a brochure in the form of a greeting card. The color was deep and eye-catching (and bright pink). My business card was attached inside and easily removable. I received countless remarks that the color and shape of the piece made them open it…and read it, because it was something they just didn’t see everyday.

2. Purposeful Direct Mail (as opposed to Random Direct Mail). I urge you to learn from my experience. Here’s the time I did it wrong: I once sent a 750 piece direct mailer to a random list (happened to be to my Chamber of Commerce). I got one, 1, uno job (that’s a .1% return rate). Here’s the time I did it right: I found a small group of companies (about 125) that I knew would understand what copy was and would have a need. (see the niche post for more details). I sent my mailers to them, and then I called every single company (had a contact name for the person I needed). I got 17 clients (that’s a 13% return rate). The average direct mail return rate is 2%.

3. Show don’t tell. Don’t just send something that tells people what you do and how well you do it. SHOW THEM. You’ll notice that my direct mailer reads like a catalog page. This is because I thought I really wanted to do catalog writing back then – so I demonstrated my catalog abilities. If you want to write press releases, illustrate yourself in press release style. If you want to write ads, create a self-promoting ad.

4. Get their attention. Send a promotion or premium. Here are two things I thought about doing and didn’t do, you are welcome to them if they fit:

• Send a huge, weighty oversized pen with your contact info and with a note that reads: “If your pen gets this heavy when you think about writing, call me.” (ooh, I actually like that one and might have to use it…)
• Get seeded paper like this, with copy that says: “When you add water to this paper, you get flowers. When you add my words to this paper, you get success.”

Okay, people. It’s time to share. Tell us what you’ve done, how you’ve done it and why it’s worked (or not worked)…

Filed under Critical Copywriting, How To, Marketing, The Business | Tags: avoid junk mail, avoid spam, business announcement, copywriter, copywriting, direct mail, direct mail copywriting, Julie Roads, junk mail, premiums, promotions, self-promotion, spam, Writing Roads | Comment (0)

networking tips ‘o the day

#1. Never leave home without your business cards…you never know who you will run into or what you’ll talk about and where that conversation might lead.

#2. Always talk to people. About the day, their life, their work, your work. Make connections wherever you go. Don’t make assumptions about who could be a potential client. How do you know that the guy who pumps your gas every week isn’t a wildly skilled artist who makes brilliant weathervanes from old plumbing parts? How do you know that he isn’t looking for a full line of marketing materials and a marketing strategy?

Card design by Elizabeth Whelan – an incredibly talented illustrator and designer (and one smart cookie).

Filed under Networking, The Business | Tags: business cards, copywriter, copywriting tips, Elizabeth Whelan, freelance copywriter, Julie Roads, Networking, self-promotion, Writing Roads | Comment (0)