New: Start Using Video Marketing To Gain and Close More Prospects

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, or in the event you are totally out of the loop, you should know video is the hottest form of communication we have right now. Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram, Skype, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, Periscope and YouTube have come up and dominated the lines of communication in the last few years. The Live streaming platforms have gained some serious momentum over the past two years and will continue to do so.

There’s some pretty heavy, behind the scenes, psychology going on with videos too, that you probably haven’t even considered. Well for your consideration I’m going to break it all down for you into simple terms so you can implement immediately.

Most of us were born after television was invented. Most of us grew up with a TV set in our homes. I grew up with most of my friends & relatives who had black and white TVs. I grew up thinking The General Lee on the Dukes of Hazard was grey. No way in my young mind was that car bright Orange until I got my first lunchbox. We grew up getting our entertainment, and information from TV.

I learned to count from Sesame Street. (Thanks Big Bird) I learned what animals were what from the Zoo and some books at school. And as I got older, I learned that the news anchors were authorities on information. In my mind, from childhood on it was programmed that whoever is on TV is very important.

Also, I think it’s important to add that the #1 fear in Americans is public speaking. That’s right! We've got Lions, Tigers and Bears (Oh My) but people are more afraid to talk in public than they are any of that. For those of us that communicate with the public on a daily basis, it seems almost weird.

Anyways, getting on video is a form of public speaking. Only to most people, it’s much worse! They are more scared of video than they are a room full of people. Matter of fact, I know public speakers who won’t do video. They hate video. People have a fear of watching themselves. They think it makes them look older, less attractive or even fat. You are almost always your toughest critic.

Meanwhile, that can become a HUGE advantage for those of us who aren’t afraid to get on video! Right?

If you’re like me and you think FEAR is only a four letter word, then video is wide open. You may not know this, but right now, Facebook and YouTube are going at it for video views. They are both trying to consume and host as much video content as possible. We are talking a battle of the Titans and it's happening now.

This means you can take advantage of their competition, in multiple ways, by using video.

1. Way number one is influence. When they see you on video they think of you as a person on TV who conquered their fear and is important.

2. Way number two is getting YouTube and Facebook to help promote your content for FREE.

3. Way three is a video sales pitch that works for you 24/7 without you having to do a thing. It's like having a clone of yourself who works 24 hours each day. You don't have to feed them, pay them and they don't sleep. It's a win-win.

Now, you might think; okay but I don’t know what to make videos about or how to make them. That’s ok! That’s why I’m here and you’re reading this. I’m going to share with you an easy 5 step process to make cool videos. Because, after all, everything revolves around a 5 step process doesn’t it?

You Can Do This with a smartphone and a Free Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, Skype or YouTube account!

Step One: Ask An Innovative Question

This question needs to let them know, you know. Meaning this question let’s them know that you’re one of them, and that you understand their problem. It needs to repel the people who you DON’T want to watch your video and draw in those perfect prospects you’re making the video for.

Step Two: Become Their Friend

No matter the length of your video you need to bond with them before they will buy from you. The way to do this is to identify one problem (per video) and talk about how you, or better yet, one of your recent clients over came it using your stuff. Hopefully you made a video testimonial of that happy client.

It’s likely, that if you did the research and know your market, there will be people watching the video who have the problem you address. They’ll trust you more if they can hear your voice and see you.

Step Three: Show Them It Works

This is the part where you show them how you or your recent client overcame what you mentioned in the previous step. Now, don’t confuse them with too much information. Give them the short version which should peak their interest.

Step Four: Call To Action

This is the simplest part of the whole process, and at the same time, the one most people screw up on. All you have to do with your call to action is simply ask if they’d like to get the results you got for you or your recent client, for themselves, with your help.

If you’ve done all three previous steps correctly, this part should be a breeze. Make sure, that in your call to action you give them very specific (like you would for a Child) instructions on what to do and expect when they take action.

Step 5: Ask Them To Share

You know how you’re supposed to ask for referrals from everyone, every chance you get? This is that part. After you’ve asked them for their business, you need to ask if they know anyone else you can help. After all, you are their best possible option, Right?

So why wouldn’t they send referrals. All you have to do is end the video with “Please share this video via email or social media with coworkers and friends you know need to see it. Thanks in advance.”

A call to action request for referral combo, Boom! I’ve been making videos forever and I wasn’t always as good as I am now (Still Not Great) and I didn’t have a fancy, internet marketing, 5 step process back then. All that aside, I still took action, it worked for me, it works for my clients, and it will work for you too.

Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it and please share it with anyone you know it can help. Please leave questions or comments below and I will answer in a timely manner. Thanks again!

Are your salespeople truly ready for Social Selling?

If I could give salespeople training in one thing and one thing only, I would pick any one of the ten things on this list before I would train them on "social selling." GASP.. I know, I know.. Let Me Explain! That does not mean I don't believe in "social selling", because I absolutely do, but todays salespeople need to master the basics of selling before advancing to the Expert Level. Here are ten important things sales professionals need to train on in no particular order.

1. How to Set Appointments: There isn’t anything higher on this list because answering sales calls / cold calling and prospecting is what would improve most salespeople’s results faster than anything else. Phone Skills must be Great! Good will no longer suffice. Dialing for dollars says it all.

2. Overcoming Objections: No matter how good you are, without the language and experience to deal with objections, you aren’t creating a win for your customer. If you let them win, they give you an opportunity. That's a win-win! Master your craft and approach each objection in an open manner. Help your customer and they will be happy.

3. How to Differentiate Yourself From Others: I’ve never asked a salesperson what makes their company different and gotten an exact response, even when their manager believes they know. They don't. We cannot blame our sales team for not knowing, because we didn't properly train them. I think this is an easy one. Think about the things customers complain about, and do the exaxct opposite. It is okay to have fun. Be different.

4. How to Negotiate: Most salespeople crumble at the first question about price. I’d teach them to negotiate based on value. Price is what something costs, Value is the products perceived worth, and these numbers are rarely the same. I have always lived by a simple rule of thumb that works well. If the product costs ten thousand dollars, build twenty thousand dollars in value. The customer perceives it's a good deal when value exceeds price.

5. How to Understand What Makes an Opportunity: Unless your client agrees to pursue change with you, you don’t have an opportunity. We must learn to treat every opportunity with the same urgency as we treat a fresh up with a truckload of Cash!

6. How to Follow The Process: Most companies don’t follow a process, and neither do their salespeople. I’d teach them why they should follow it and how it helps them win. If they follow the process and their paycheck grows larger as a result, they will buy in.

7. How to Nurture Their Clients: Too little time, too many prospects. You have to focus on the clients for whom you create the most value. You need to nurture those relationships. Give your customers the VIP treatment, if you don't your competition will. 

8. How to Plan a Sales Call: Honestly, most salespeople don’t plan their sales calls at all. They end up winging it, and stuttering a lot. It’s a mistake to waste a client interaction. Those cost real monery, not monopoly.

9. How to Qualify a Customer: Without understanding your client’s true needs, forget wants, it’s difficult to even present your case when negotiating, and it’s even more difficult to arrive at an acceptable solution.

10. How to Gain Commitments: Most salespeople don’t know the commitments they need, and when they do, they don’t have the skill to gain those commitments. Once again, it's most always a lack of proper training. I’d teach them to close and watch them flourish.  A-B-C

I could add a couple dozen more examples to this list about where most salespeople struggle the most during the buying process. It is unfortunate, but from what I see on a daily basis, we as an industry are still not training our salespeople. They should be capable oh handling every step from answering the sales call to setting the appointment, and finally closing the deal. Yes they can!

I think it's safe to say that each thing on this list will benefit the salespeople more than "social selling". If you want to build a personal brand try being very good at what you do to gain recognition. That will get people to notice you for all of the right reasons. Add the topics you would train on in the comments. Thanks for reading. 

Business Rankings, Honors and Awards for November 2016

Once again, It is truly an honor to be recognized multiple times each year for the things that I am so passionate about, but that is not why I do what I do. I strive to help each and every person that I come in contact with to become more successful. Always leave people or things better than you found them.

Whatever it takes!

These continuous honors are not mine alone. I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by great people who constantly push me to be the best I can be. To all of the people who helped me along the way, "Thank you!" Here is to an even better 2017.

Sincerely,

Dennis Wagner

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 BUSINESS COACH 

Ranked #1 Business Coach

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 MANAGEMENT EXPERTS

Ranked #1 Management Expert

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 BRANDING EXPERTS

Ranked #1 Branding Expert

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 STARTUP EXPERTS

Ranked #1 Startup Expert

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 MARKETERS

Ranked #1 Marketer

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 LEADERSHIP EXPERTS

Ranked #1 Leadership Expert

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 ENTREPRENEURS 

Ranked #14 Entrepreneur

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 SALES EXPERTS 

Ranked #1 Sales Expert

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 SEO EXPERTS 

Ranked #2 SEO Expert

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 SMALL BUSINESS EXPERTS 

Ranked #1 Small Business Expert

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS 

Ranked #2 Social Media Expert

NOVEMBER 2016 TOP 100 TECHNOLOGY EXPERTS

Ranked #1 Technology Expert

Social Media Marketing Budgets Are No Longer Optional For Online Success

It wasn’t that long ago that budgeting for social media marketing was pretty much nonexistent. Since the rise of the internet driven business model, a strong social media presence is essential to online sales success. In the past the bulk of internet marketing went to banner ads, PPC and email, however the overwhelming popularity of social media has caused a large portion of it to shift to that medium. In fact, four out of five companies increased their social media marketing budgets in 2015 and again in 2016. If you’re trying to figure out how much of your budget to invest in social media marketing, there are many factors to consider, but following the lead of successful companies as outlined below is one way to get a general idea of the numbers.

Step One: Set Your Total Marketing Budget

Because businesses vary so much in terms of costs and profits, marketing budgets vary greatly as well. Your marketing budget may depend on the size of your business, how long you’ve been up and running, what kind of expenses you have, and your overall profit margins. Your budget will also depend on needs. You need to consider the development of your brand in terms of websites, e-brochures, logos, email campaigns, sales presentations, and of course, ads. When starting your business, your marketing budget will need to be much higher in order to get your brand established as quickly as possible. Many small businesses set a starting marketing budget of about 20% of sales. However, once your brand has been established, this number can decrease over time. While you will still need to consider the ongoing expenses of promotions and advertising, you will likely be able to use many of the initial start-up materials you had created for a long time and you can take those out of the budget. In general, with businesses bringing in less than $1 million per year (net), they normally have a marketing budget between 10% and 15%. As the revenue increases, the marketing budget percentage can decrease. It all depends on how competitive your industry or local market is.

Step Two: Devote a Percentage to Internet Marketing

The next step in creating your budget is devoting a percentage of it to internet marketing. This includes online ads, email marketing, social media marketing, landing pages, blogs, and more. Really, any kind of business exposure done online can be considered internet marketing. Again, depending on your type of business, your internet marketing budget will likely differ from others. For instance, if your business is run solely through a website, you will probably need to dedicate most, if not all of your marketing budget to online marketing. However, if you are a local walk-in store with a small website online just for local customers or company image purposes, then you might want to dedicate only a quarter of your marketing budget to internet marketing, specifically to local search optimization.

Just to give you an idea though, in 2015, businesses dedicated an average of 35% of their marketing budgets to digital marketing. However, the forecast for 2017 shows that digital marketing budgets will be increasing as businesses dedicate less to other forms of marketing, such as print and radio ads. This increase could make digital marketing budgets well over 50% by the end of this year. Business owners say they are seeing a much higher return on their investment when investing in digital marketing versus more traditional means, which is likely spurring the change.

Step Three: Determine the Social Media Marketing Portion of Your Budget

While much of digital marketing budgets go to SEO in the way of content marketing, another major part of it should go to social media marketing as well. In fact, between SEO and social media marketing, businesses spent about 50% of their digital budgets on those two categories alone. In the coming years, businesses are expected to increase their digital budgets in the areas of social media, content, and SEO. This is because of the high rate of return on those investments. Marketers found a whopping 42% to 57% lead generation due to their efforts in content and social media marketing last year.

In 2017, the average business would be smart to allocate about 25% of their internet marketing budget to a great social media marketing plan. Remember though, this should be backed by a strong content marketing strategy, so your company has great content to share and discuss on social media, and so there is a reason for the customer to go from your social media page to your website for conversion.

Step Four: Monitor Closely and Adjust Accordingly

As previously mentioned, every business is different and so every business needs to do the work to determine the best possible budget for them. Once you set your budget and start executing your marketing plans, be sure to monitor the results often and carefully. When it comes to social media marketing for business, the potential rewards can be great. However, there can be changes in the market, in internet trends, and in the effectiveness of your campaigns in general. If you find your budget isn’t working, analyze why and make changes. If you find it to be more than successful, you can always decrease it and put those funds where they are most needed. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on marketing trends and costs to evaluate where you stand at least once per month if not more often.

If you’re not sure how to go about setting a budget for social media marketing, or if you’re not sure how best to allocate the money you have budgeted for it, please contact me. I will be happy to take a look at your business and budget and let you know what I think would work best for your specific business and how our Designers, Social Media Marketers, Content Creators and SEO experts can help you make it happen.

5 Easy Steps to Building a Great Personal Brand

Your personal brand is how you appear to the others around you, It's how you appear to the world. Therefore, it serves to reason that a strong brand is preferable to one that is unpolished and boring.

Once people know who you are and begin to identify you with a specific area of understanding or expertise, you'll be well on your way to becoming the go-to person in your industry.

The BIG question is, how do you become more recognized? How do you build your authority and your following?

If you're looking to build your personal brand, here are five easy ways to go about building a brand you can be proud of.

1. Understand and be your authentic self.

Imagine how hard it would be to build a brand around your "fake" self. You would have to act a certain way, appear a certain way, and say certain things, regardless of how you felt about it. Some professionals suggest going about building a personal brand by shaping and molding what others see, but this is exhausting to maintain in the long run.

Your brand should be a reflection of who you are. Do you know what you believe? What you stand for? What your strengths and weaknesses are?

Never forget, that people connect with other people. If you don't appear to be a real person, or if it just looks like you're faking it, how likely do you think others are to trust you? Even if they do buy into your fake persona for a while, the slightest bit of inconsistency could prove problematic.

Building a personal brand is first and foremost developing an understanding of your true self, and then sharing that with the world. Take your masks off and don't be afraid of being vulnerable.

2. Speaking engagements.

If you're looking to build your brand, then you should be speaking on a regular basis. Naturally, this will mean developing your communication skills. If you speak in exactly the same manner others do, you will never stand out from the crowd.

Speak from a place of knowledge and power. Show that you know what you're talking about, and answer questions in a way that serves your audience.

Show that you are confident. Some may criticize or disagree with you. The important thing is to remain open to feedback. Thank others for sharing their views, and if the points they raised were legitimate, determine how you can improve and do better next time.

Speaking engagements are opportunities to be seen and heard. Start small, and keep building. You may not land high-quality speaking engagements off the bat, but if you keep swinging, you'll build your following and get invited to speak at bigger, more notable events and conferences. Buckle down and offer the greatest amount of value you possibly can everywhere you go.

3. Write thought leadership articles and participate in interviews.

Thought leadership articles and interviews establish your credibility. As with speaking engagements, landing the best opportunities takes time and effort, but if you remain open to what comes your way, pretty soon you'll be showing up everywhere.

Take a look at the press coverage we've received to date. Anybody who regularly hangs out online should be aware of many of the brands listed there, but even if they aren't, they probably know about publications and media outlets like Fox News and Time. This shows that others see you as an authority.

In addition to that, here's an example of an interview I’ve done, covering one of the topics FE International is most known for; selling websites.

Getting an "in" with the media, online publishers and publications can prove challenging. However, it is a powerful way to show that you know what you're talking about. Every outlet you build a connection with increases your brand authority.

Related: 9 Things True Thought Leaders Always Do

4. Build your online presence.

Do you know how you're appearing and coming across online? This is something you're going to want to monitor on an ongoing basis, and improve upon whenever and wherever possible.

Do you have social media profiles? If so, are they fully fleshed out with all of your information? Do they present you in the best light possible, and make you look professional? Are you using high-quality professional photography? Are you interacting with others and sharing their content?

Do you have a website for your personal brand? One of the best ways to rank in search for your name is to build a website. This gives you considerably more control over your online presence than social media. It can't hurt to add new content to your site on a regular basis, either. You can get a domain with this GoDaddy coupon for just 99 cents – so there’s no excuse to delay. Try to buy your own name if you can.

Don't forget to Google yourself regularly to see how you're coming across, how others might be perceiving you, and what they're saying about you. You'll have a tough time building a great personal brand without making a real effort to monitor and tweak it.

5. Remain a student of your industry.

No matter how well you know your industry or area of expertise, it would be wise to remember that things are changing at a faster rate than ever before, and you have to stay up-to-date with the latest changes and trends.

It takes time to build your personal brand. If you fail to stay relevant, all of your effort will be wasted. If you don't want to be discredited, then you'll want to keep a steady supply of articles, trade journals, blogs, and books on hand.

It also pays to learn new things, develop new skills, and to expand your knowledge. If you're not growing, then you're stagnating, and that's the last thing you want to do as an entrepreneur.

Odds are you already know how important it is to stay on top of your game, but a friendly reminder never hurt anyone.

As you begin to sharpen your personal brand, the right opportunities will start coming your way. People will begin to see that you're know what you're taking about, and they'll invite you to be a part of their stories or news pieces.

However, don't forget how important it is for you to have accomplished something yourself. You can't talk about what you haven't done, because that will take away from your personal brand. Be open about your shortcomings and weaknesses. This will make you all the more human and relatable.

Here Are 10 Ways Weak Managers Try To Bully You

1. A weak manager will tell you that your education and training is sub-par. Even though it was more than adequate when they hired you.

2. A weak manager will remind you that no matter how reasonable your ideas are, they are not in line with the company’s direction and therefore should be squelched. Even though upper management has never seen or heard anything about your wonderful ideas.

3. A weak manager will warn you that if you share your opinions with other people in the company, you’ll embarrass yourself. 

4. A weak manager will tell you that you must funnel all communication through them, rather than directly to your intended recipient.

5. They’ll tell you not to speak at cross-departmental meetings, but to let them represent your department and its views.

6. A weak manager will rewrite your report or presentation and put their own name on it.

7. A weak manager will assign someone to train you on a subject you could teach, yourself.

8. They will swoop in and second-guess your work, making tiny corrections to everything you do so you’ll remember who’s the boss and who isn’t.

9. A weak manager will tell you that other managers have said negative things about you, to keep you off-balance.

10. Lastly, a weak manager will criticize you at every opportunity and never, ever praise your work – but when you succeed, they’ll praise themselves for hiring you!

These types of behavior results directly in uncommonly high employee turnover. That costs the company a lot of money once you consider recruiting, interviewing, screening and training. The cost is huge. If you are an owner or in upper management, and you have noticed an uncommon amount of turnover within a certain department I would start looking at the department as a whole from the top down. There is no place in any workforce for this type of behavior. 

If your employer refuses to fix the problem and you consider yourself a valuable asset, start your job search immediately. If they give you grief over taking a couple hours off so you can interview with other companies, Quit! Don't allow them to drag you down, and stop wasting your time trying to lift them up.