Category Archives: Coaching

Be the Change

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from Fresh Start Success: Reimagine Your Work, Reinvent Your Life, Re-Ignite Your Passion

What would you change about the companies where you’ve worked, if you could wave a magic wand? Would you root out a toxic culture? Eliminate a glass ceiling? Seek a fairer pay scale? Confront ageism, sexism, racism, or any other –ism that holds back talented people and protects the status quo?

As you consider your own Fresh Start Success, seize the opportunity to be the change you want to see happen. Maybe you can’t go back and fix the problems at your former company, but you can fix the little corner of the universe under your control. Whether you build a company that is just one person or one hundred people, refuse to accept “same old, same old” as the default. It’s your life, your reinvention—your power to make a difference.

If your reinvention takes you into another organization, look for ways you can bring about positive changes. Even shifts that may seem small to you might make a world of difference to those around you.

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Claim Your Role as Catalyst

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from Fresh Start Success: Reimagine Your Work, Reinvent Your Life, Re-Ignite Your Passion

Everyone has the power to be a change agent and a catalyst; you just have to acknowledge your own ability to make a difference. Start by becoming mindful about how the organizations you’ve worked for actually functioned. Where were the inefficiencies and redundancies? Who was doing a great job without acknowledgement? What could have been done better, and how could it have been improved? Take those lessons with you to the next role you play—whether it’s within another organization or in a company you start.

Make a conscious decision to build an ethical company—not just by observing the letter of the law, but by maximizing the human potential of your employees, customers, and industry through recognizing and rewarding actions that mentor, empower, and implement new ideas. Resist the comfort zone of default thinking and challenge “the way it’s always been done.” Make your reinvention a Fresh Start Success for everyone involved.

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Be A Change Agent

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from Fresh Start Success: Reimagine Your Work, Reinvent Your Life, Re-Ignite Your Passion

“I’ve always been a change agent.” Faith Monson trained to be a salesperson. She moved up through the ranks, from salesperson to sales manager, then to regional manager, always changing how things were done. She stayed at each job longer because she reinvented the job while she was doing it. That helped keep her interested and let her take advantage of potential opportunities.

As one of the first women in a full sales position in the companies where she worked, Faith had a major role in changing company culture as to how the corporations treated women. “Early on, women were only allowed to be in customer service, not in sales,” Faith recalls. “The outside sales people were male, and even when a woman in a showroom sold something, it wasn’t considered to be ‘sales’.” In fact, while male salespeople won awards, there were no awards for women in the showroom, no matter how many sales they closed. Yet the showroom saw many more clients each day, meaning that the women actually had more client contact than the men.”

Faith created a corporate recognition program for the showroom sales staff and got the customer service workers reclassified as “inside sales people” by pointing out the volume of sales they generated. She fought and won approval to promote female inside sales people to outside sales people, pioneering a program that was later replicated across the country. “These women were great sales people,” Faith says. “They just hadn’t been recognized.”

“I’ve always been a catalyst. I like to mentor and empower women and watch them grow,” Faith says. But the leadership’s micro-management culture drove her crazy. “I was all about opportunity and looking for new ideas,” Faith adds. “The management preserved the status quo and limited opportunities and innovation. Ultimately, running into a brick wall took its toll.” She felt that the company’s leadership was unsupportive and unresponsive to the needs of the sales force. “That did it for me.”

“I had always wanted to have my own business with bright, talented, and enthusiastic people. I knew how to run a business, and I had ideas on how to make it grow. In my corporate experience, my clients were primarily small business owners. I listened and learned about their challenges and concerns, strategized with them, made suggestions, and had creative brainstorming sessions on how they could best promote themselves,” Faith recalls. “I met so many clients with unique and creative abilities that weren’t promoting their businesses, and I wanted to help them be successful. I found working with them stimulating and challenging, and a part of my job that I really enjoyed. Now, I see that it was a training ground for my next job.”

It was time to move on. Faith was ready to be her own boss. She had proven herself and believed in herself. The turning point came when she was sitting in a train station reading You Are a Brand by Catherine Kaputa. Faith devoured the book and decided to go out on her own and help businesses be more successful by using the skills she had honed in her corporate job to establish their brands and promote their success. Faith partnered with the best website designers, professional writers, and marketing and promoting gurus she could find. Her first clients were people who knew her from her corporate experience, accepted her in her new role, and hired her to coach them to success, which was very validating.

Throughout her career, Faith created books of quotations and inspirational photos to motivate herself and stay pumped up. “Those quotes inspired me to go for it,” Faith says. “They encouraged me to take risks. They taught me to be my own biggest cheerleader.” Sales turned out to be a great training ground. “I sold myself to myself, and I sold myself to potential clients,” Faith said. Her contacts believed in the “new” Faith and referred her.

Being her own boss was freeing. “The sky was the limit,” Faith says. “I could try things, take risks, and learn on my own. There was endless opportunity, and I was uncovering my untapped talents and skills.” There were some downsides to being on her own. “I’m not an IT person,” Faith confesses. “I had to hire people to do those things, and I would have liked to have been able to do more social media and internet work myself.”

Faith’s new venture was successful immediately. “I was my own boss, I used my ideas and stuck myself out there, out of my comfort zone, and stretched myself at every opportunity,” Faith says.

Faith came from a competitive, goal-driven environment, and while she had excelled in that situation, she wanted to shift gears and make her vision all about her clients’ success. “In my corporate world, I mentored peers and subordinates. Now, I wanted to mentor my clients, help them to fly, come out of their shells, burst out of their insecurities,” Faith says. “I wanted to be in their corner. Often, that’s all they need. I’m there, cheering them on, being their Sherpa. Everyone is different in what inspires them. I empower them so they can go for it.”

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Be the Change

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from Fresh Start Success: Reimagine Your Work, Reinvent Your Life, Re-Ignite Your Passion

What would you change about the companies where you’ve worked, if you could wave a magic wand? Would you root out a toxic culture? Eliminate a glass ceiling? Seek a fairer pay scale? Confront ageism, sexism, racism, or any other –ism that holds back talented people and protects the status quo?

As you consider your own Fresh Start Success, seize the opportunity to be the change you want to see happen. Maybe you can’t go back and fix the problems at your former company, but you can fix the little corner of the universe under your control. Whether you build a company that is just one person or one hundred people, refuse to accept “same old, same old” as the default. It’s your life, your reinvention—your power to make a difference.

If your reinvention takes you into another organization, look for ways you can bring about positive changes. Even shifts that may seem small to you might make a world of difference to those around you.

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Make the Most of Social Bookmarking and Boilerplates

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from 30 Days to Social Media Success

When you use Social Bookmarking to draw attention to an article, blog post or news release, or when you create the “boilerplate” company information at the end of a press release, remember that you can use a link to pages beyond your home page. Search engines actually reward you for doing this, as it drives traffic deeper into the site, encouraging readers to stay and decreasing your “bounce rate.” Customers like links to specific pages that feature the item mentioned in the article or release because it saves them the time of hunting around on your site to find it.

The same principle works for your web address on social media sites. Defaulting to your home page may not always be the best link if there would be another page more focused to the interests of that particular target audience. For example, if you’re an author and you use social media sites targeted to readers, publishers and other writers, consider using a web address for a page on your site that talks about your books. A speaker might want to encourage readers to visit the event booking page.

Your email or blog post signature block can also change depending on the audience. When you comment in blogs, groups and forums, consider using a link to the page on your site best suited to the topic. Readers have very little patience for rummaging around a web site looking for relevant copy. Keep them engaged by taking them right to the good stuff.

 

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Don’t overlook online PR

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from 30 Days to Social Media Success

Don’t leave it up to the event organizers to publicize your upcoming appearances. When you book an engagement, write a press release and upload it to the many free online press release distribution sites. Every release increases the number of places your name shows up in search engine results, and those links can help drive traffic to your site. Then Tweet the links to your releases, post them to the Social Bookmarking sites, and add them to your other web sites and social media pages.

You may also want to create a blog just for your news releases, and a separate blog for your upcoming appearances and have both feed into your web site and other social media pages. It makes it easy and inexpensive for you to add to your releases and events without requiring a designer’s help, it keeps your schedule and news prominent and fresh on your sites, and it makes your effort and links to triple duty.

When you’re working the local media in the city where you’ll be speaking, don’t overlook locally-based Internet radio shows, event posting sites tied to the newspaper or ZIP code that allow you to upload the event announcement, and the load-your-own-news option now available on my online newspapers and TV/radio sites. You could cut your own inexpensive Video News Release (VNR) with a friend playing the anchor and a digital video recorder and make it look like a TV interview, then upload it. (Note: The intent is to create an informative item in a news-like format, not to mislead the viewer to believe that they are watching a clip from an actual news show. Always attribute your company as the producer in the clip credits.)

Use your social media to find new ideas for events and bookings. Set Google Alerts not only for your own name, book titles and company name, but use it to see what your competitors are doing. Add the names of the top five speakers in your topic/industry and see where they’re speaking. That may give you new ideas for the local or regional chapters of the same organizations, or for a presentation that is similar but not repetitive to pitch to that group next year. If you subscribe to sites like eSpeaker.com or other online speakers bureaus, be sure to use the forums and member profiles to make your own connection to other speakers. Introduce yourself and forge alliances where you both share research, contacts and tips about events. You can also use Facebook and LinkedIn to do the same with the speakers you meet at the conferences and events you attend. Remember? Social media offers a great chance to wow event planners before they ever pick up the phone.

Now through December 31, 2015 the Kindle edition of 30 Days to Social Media Success is specially priced at just $5.99!

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Promote your upcoming events

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from 30 Days to Social Media Success

Event planners also love speakers who help them put the word out about their events. When you contact groups to speak, be sure to mention if you’ve accumulated a large number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers, and if your opt-in newsletter list is in the thousands, that’s also a terrific plus. Talk up the event and encourage your followers to attend for the chance to meet you in real life.

If you will be traveling, contact Meetup groups in the area and invite them to join you at your next event if the program is open to the public. If you can’t invite them to the main event, see if they would like to do a coffee get-together or fireside chat with you during time in your travel schedule that would otherwise be wasted. You can also connect with the local chapters of national organizations of which you are a member or which pertain to your topic (groups such as eWomenNetwork, National Speakers Association, NAWBO, etc.) and issue the same invitations.

Don’t forget to connect via the online groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for all of the same groups to invite them to attend and share tips related to your speech content. Talk about your upcoming programs on your own Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, not from a hard sell, but in terms of the valuable content you’re looking forward to sharing. You may find that some of your existing contacts will be in the area to attend, or have friends they can send your way.

Promote by Tweeting live from the event. Don’t just Tweet about your part—let everyone know how much fun you’re having, how valuable the speakers are, and what a great event it is. Tweet about the people you meet and the workshops you’re attending. Take photos from your cell phone and upload them right away.

Promote after the event (great for being asked back again) by blogging, Tweeting and uploading after you get home. (Make sure you’ve copied the organizer who invited you so he/she can see how much free publicity you’ve provided.) Write an article for your newsletter and then share it on your blog and in sound bites on your Twitter feed. Carry your digital video camera to the event and create a videoblog scrapbook, then post it on YouTube. Tweet the link, add it to your other social media sites and be sure to use Social Bookmarking to share it. When you send follow-up emails to the other attendees and speakers you met at the conference, include the links to your video and other promotion so they can also bask in the afterglow. Link to the organizers, speakers and attendees you’ve met on Facebook, Twitter and other sites, and choose the very best connections to add on LinkedIn.

Send a note to the speakers you met at the event extending that contact and offer to have them as a guest on your blog or podcast. Now you have another reason to talk. This can be a great way to share referrals to other possible speaking engagements or opportunities for collaboration for both of you. Of course, if you’re hosting a guest on your site, that’s yet another reason for social media promotion!

If you’ve got names for key contacts in the city to which you’re traveling, whether those are reporters, radio hosts or business contacts, look for them on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and LinkedIn and make a connection. Let them know you’ll be in the area and would like to talk or meet for coffee. You can also marshal your LinkedIn contacts near your event city and ask them for referrals to local media or connections to the kinds of people you’d like to meet. Make your travel dollars stretch further by piggybacking extra mini-events or meetings onto your events.

Now through December 31, 2015 the Kindle edition of 30 Days to Social Media Success is specially priced at just $5.99!

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Social Media and the Speaker

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from 30 Days to Social Media Success

Speakers today face tough competition. Economic uncertainty has led many companies and organizations to scale back on events and to renegotiate speaker fees and reimbursement. Despite those hardships, speaking to groups is still an important income stream for many experts, and a way to gain recognition for coaches, consultants and authors.

Much of the advice for authors in the previous chapter can also be applied for speakers. Many speakers also have books or info products they’ve written, so they can benefit from promoting both their books and their availability as a speaker. Social media can lend a hand.

Provide a free sample

Event organizers are understandably reluctant to book a speaker they’ve never seen. You can use web video to help overcome that reluctance by providing planners with a free sample of your speaking technique. Planners may check out your web site before contacting you for a full demo DVD, so a couple of short clips that show your strengths as a presenter may be enough to encourage them to move further with the process of booking you for their event.

Don’t stop with posting clips to your main web site. Utilize video on your Facebook and LinkedIn sites, and Tweet about new YouTube videos when you post them. You can also include your new videos on your blog, with the opportunity to add extra commentary or insights.

Event planners like to see evidence that you’re in demand as a speaker. Blog and Tweet about your upcoming events, and update your Facebook and LinkedIn status when you’re heading out for events and when you post photos, video or a recap after the event. When you speak, invite listeners to become your social media friends, fans and followers, and encourage them to post comments on what has been most helpful about your presentation.

Work with event promoters before and after the events where you speak. Offer to provide guest blogs or articles related to your topic, and be sure to send them your YouTube video. Always ask for recommendations, and post these on your sites.

Audio samples are also great previews of what you offer as a speaker. When you do a teleclass or a radio interview, include a link to the audio on your web site. Choose a snappy segment of a teleseminar to keep it short, but be sure to showcase both your knowledge and your delivery style.

Now through December 31, 2015 the Kindle edition of 30 Days to Social Media Success is specially priced at just $5.99!

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Are You for Real? (Excerpt #23 from Mass Influence by Teresa de Grosbois)

You can go kicking and screaming, or you can just go.”

—Jennifer Hough

Confession time. I sometimes do business meetings in my garden while I randomly pull weeds. It’s a grounding act that helps me stay tuned into the person I’m with and connected to who I am.

Pulling weeds is a symbolic act for me. It’s a reflection of all those inauthentic parts of myself that don’t serve me. Anything that pulls me out of the conversation or moment I’m focused on can create a conversation in my head that is different than the one I’m having out loud.

When I’m nervous, when I’m worrying about my schedule, when I’m stuck on being right, when I’m coming from a place of looking good, when I scold myself and stay in my own shame—all of those are weeds to pull.

They choke out the growth of who I really am in the world: someone committed to being deeply of service to others, someone who stands for others stepping into their own leadership.

Weed daily—moment by moment.

Anything that stops you from powerfully walking your path in life is inauthentic to who you are. They are random weeds to pull. Like gardening, it is an ongoing commitment, an ongoing noticing. It is not a task to check off your to-do list. The garden is not weeded once and then you are done. It is a moment-by-moment noticing of what has arisen that might need pulling to leave room for the flowers and fruits to flourish. I work on it daily.

Habit #2: – Influential people are authentic. Their inner voice agrees with what their outer voice is saying.

They do something they deeply care about, and work with others they deeply respect.

The second habit that influential people consistently have is authenticity. People can spot a phony a mile away and they aren’t going to like and trust you if they think you’re a fake. You can become famous without authenticity, but it’s very difficult to become influential.

Get your copy of Mass Influence – www.MassInfluencetheBook.com

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How Much Marketing Is Enough?

by Gail Z. Martin excerpted from 30 Days to Social Media Success

I’ve seen all kinds of estimates on how much a marketing budget should be. Usually, the estimate is just enough to cover the products or services the person doing the estimate wants to sell.

An industry standard that’s been around for a long time is 5% of revenue. The idea behind making your marketing budget a percentage of your revenue is that marketing costs are funds you are reinvesting into the company, and should be tied to how well the company is doing, if not you better do something else like buying NFT. In the real world, I’ve seen companies spend far less and far more than 5% and get results that met their definition of success. What matters most is that you spend the budget you do have wisely.

A zero budget won’t keep you in business long, and it certainly won’t help you grow. If you truly have no cash, you’ll need to roll up your sleeves and put sweat equity to work. If this describes your situation, how many hours can you put into doing marketing? Write it down, and put a dollar estimate of your hourly rate next to it. That’s what you’re really spending.

If you’re already spending money and you’re comfortable with that level of investment, make sure that you’ve prioritized your budget in line with your prioritized goals. Put the biggest chunk of money where you’ll get the best return or achieve the biggest goal. (This becomes a great way to say “no” without guilt to one of those “fabulous” marketing opportunities a salesman presents to you.)

If you’re willing to invest more to achieve your goals faster, or because you know that growth requires more resources, then determine a dollar amount you can spend and divide it among your prioritized goals. Budgeting money doesn’t obligate you to spend it, but it does give you a tool to prioritize new opportunities and it may free you to investigate options you might not have considered before you knew what was available to spend.

Remember that your marketing efforts must be accounted for in your budget either in dollars or in time spent. As you budget your time to complete other projects, be sure to allow for your marketing investment.

Setting a budget also creates one way to measure effectiveness. Over time, you’ll want to ask yourself whether a particular marketing method is earning its keep. Knowing what you’ve budgeted for it compared to the value of how it contributes to achieving your goal comes in handy when you need to decide what to keep and what to change.

The “Irresistible Difference”

Before we leave the nitty-gritty if your business plan, there’s one item left we need to talk about, your “Irresistible Difference.”

What I call your Transformational Value is how you address your prospect’s Problem/Pain/Fear and overcome his Ego/Money objection. Your Irresistible Difference is what draws a prospect to you and your company as opposed to your competitors.

Your Irresistible Difference should tap directly into who your best prospect/customer is. It should fit that customer like their favorite pair of jeans, not only covering what’s necessary, but making them feel wonderful as well.

Think about your best customer’s qualities. What can you provide in your service, package or delivery that will meet their need as well as their unspoken desire? For some customers, convenience is king. For others, it’s value, or reliability, or exceptional knowledge. Not only will you gain some good insights into powerful marketing copy by looking for the Irresistible Difference, but you’ll also get some great ideas for where to find your best prospects and how to reach them.

For example, customers who prize value may join online communities dedicated to saving money. Those could be great places for you to participate through chat, forum posts and blogs because your audience is already there. A brand-conscious customer may place more than the usual value in being a member of professional and alumni associations and participating at a higher-than-average level. You might find those groups particularly useful to your marketing strategy because they tap into qualities the prospect prizes.

Your Irresistible Difference demonstrates how well you understand the quality the prospect values through where you market (including your choice of social media sites and the type of content you share), how you structure your product/service, how you deliver your product, and how you position your company in the marketplace.

As you become aware of the Irresistible Difference you offer to your different target audiences, make a note of it so you won’t forget to put its power to work for you.

 

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