Charlotte Howard Consulting Blog

Are you listening effectively to what people are telling you. Using the cares method will help you do your best job to meet the needs of those you want to listen to effectively.

C- concentrate on what other people are telling you with clear focus.

A- acknowledge to people that you are listening via eye contact and vocal promptings.

R- respond to people with feedback.

E- exercise emotional control.

S- structure paying attention to the verbal aspects of the conversation.

Recession Proof Marketing Tips

Hi Guys and Gals,

I Need Your Help, Today! I’ve been writing to you for some time now. I’ve tried to give you the benefit of my entrepreneurial counseling, and have touched on many topics.

I have spoken to you about positioning yourself in your niche, marketing, giving your customer what they want, and even some tips for you about business start-up. I hope you found these tips helpful and interesting.

On Today Tuesday, April 13th @ 2pm Eastern, you have the opportunity to pick my brain even more, this time it’s live. I want to know what your burning questions, that I haven’t covered.

If you have questions after the show you can call me directly and even post a comment at my fanpage, group, or on this blog.

Register Here: http://tobtr.com/s/995279

2PM Eastern (Gmt-5)
1PM Central
12PM Mountain
11AM Pacific

Most people are always striving to better themselves. It’s the “American Way”. For proof, check the sales figures on the number of self-improvement books sold each year.

This is not a pitch for you to jump in and start selling these kinds of books, but it is a indication of people’s awareness that in order to better themselves, they have to continue improving their personal selling abilities.

To excel in any selling situation, you must have confidence, and confidence comes, first and foremost, from knowledge. You have
to know and understand yourself and your goals. You have to recognize and accept your weaknesses as well as your special talents. This requires a kind of personal honesty that not everyone is capable of exercising.

In addition to knowing yourself, you must continue learning about people. Just as with yourself, you must be caring and helpful to others.

You must accept other people as they are, not as you would like for them to be. One of the most common faults of business owners is impatience when the prospective customer is slow to understand or make a decision. The successful business owners handle these situations very differently.

Learning your product, making a clear presentation to qualified prospects, and closing more sales will take a lot less time once you know your own capabilities and failings, and understand and care about the prospects you are calling upon.

If you are really serious about getting help on building a successful
business from home see http://tobtr.com/s/995279

P.S. If you have missed any of my topics on positioning yourself in your
niche, marketing, giving your customer what they want, and even tips
for you about business start-up see the search feature on the top of this blog.

Earlier this week I tweeted about Nathan Hangen being a guest on my friend Pam Perry’s Show. This call is action packed with goodies on marketing and staying in the game for best business sense. Let me know what you think after you listen. Have a wonderful weekend!

Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, feel like you have the gift of gab or just don’t know how to make small talk, networking know-how is very important for your business success. There is a notion in business that I believe most of us subscribe to that says “all things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those they know, like and trust.” And the key to this is obviously being able to develop relationships.

Think of networking as the cultivation of mutually beneficial, win-win relationships. In order to be win-win, there must be GIVE and take (notice the emphasis on give). Networking shouldn’t be viewed as “events” where you go to sell your business. When effective networking is taking place, the parties involved actively share ideas, information, resources, etc.

Ok, so you know that you should be networking because it is one of the most cost-effective lead generation activities when used wisely, appropriately and professionally. But, maybe that seems easier said than done. Here’s a seven step plan to really get going with networking for your business.

1. Check out several groups to find the best chemistry and perceived value. Most groups will allow you to come and visit at least a couple of times before you have to join. Go and ask around to find out why others have joined and what value they get out of belonging.

Resist the urge to just go join the Chamber of Commerce simply because everyone tells you that’s what you need to do. If that’s not where your target group can be found, then you might just be wasting a considerable amount of time (and money).

I’m not telling you not to join the Chamber. Just be clear about what you’d like to get out of this or any other group. If it’s to find prospective clients or referral sources, then you need to be networking where those resources can be found.

2. When you find a group or two, join and go to all the meetings you can. Don’t go just once or twice expecting things to happen and then if they don’t quit. Building mutually beneficial, win-win relationships will take some time.

The contacts you make need to constantly see your face and hear your message. Continual contact with others over time will open up opportunities for you to go deeper and learn more about each others thoughts, ideas and capabilities in regards to your respective businesses.

Know, like, and trust generally only happens over time. Being regular and persistent will pay off.

3. Get involved – be visible. Do as much as you can to make yourself more visible within the organization. Volunteer to help with meetings, be on committees, or become a leader or board member.

Being involved does a couple of things for you and your business. First, you’ll get more opportunities to establish connections and get to know some of the contacts you’ve made even better. Secondly, the higher the visibility you have in the group, the less you’ll have to work to make new connections. Instead, as new people come into the group, they will likely seek you out because they view you as a leader within the organization.

4. Keep your circles of contacts informed. Don’t just assume that running in to someone once a month (or even once a week) will cause them to start doing business with you or sending it your way. You need to let them know what’s going on when you’re not at that particular group in order to inform and educate them.

Send them invitations to your events or open houses. Send them email or letters to share big news or success stories, especially anything of relevance to them or those in their networks of contacts. If you believe that you have valuable ideas, information and resources to share with others, then doesn’t this just make sense?

5. Work at GIVING referrals and sharing valuable information. That’s right, you need to be willing to GIVE before you get. That means you need to get to know other members and what makes a good prospect for them. What kinds of information might you have access to that could be useful to them?

You may initially think you don’t have much of value to share with others (besides your business and what you provide). Part of the key to getting good at giving is to not make assumptions. For example, don’t assume that some basic resource (e.g., a web site) that you’re aware of is familiar to someone you might be talking to just because they are the “expert” in that field. Be willing to ask if they know about the resource and ready to share if they don’t.

Want to get better at actually giving referrals? Here’s a simple question to ask someone you’re connecting with. “How am I going to know when I meet a really good prospect for you?”

Just the fact that you are willing to explore giving will elevate your know, like and trust factor.

6. Focus on Quality, not Quantity, Quantity, Quantity. It’s not necessarily about the number of connections you make, but about the quality of the ones you do make. Are they mutually beneficial, win-win relationships?

Quality connections will be identifiable because all involved parties will be actively sharing ideas, information, and resources. Yes, it is true that you need to spend some time and effort getting to know the other person(s) and what’s important to them. But, you also need to be clear and actively thinking about what information or resources you want and need.

Staying in touch with and following up with a smaller number of quality relationships will generally be much more productive than trying to follow up with a larger number of superficial contacts.

7. Be persistent, but be patient. The goal of a networking event shouldn’t necessarily be to come away with prospects every time you go out, but to come away with great connections. Networking usually takes time to get the relationships developed and nurtured.

Don’t approach networking as a scary proposition or a necessary evil for being in business. Take the pressure off yourself and really focus on how you might be able to connect with someone you meet. Focus on them first and look for ways to be useful to them. As you become known as a connector you’ll eventually be ready to reap what you sow.

1. Test Your Idea:

To lead to a sale, your query must convince the editor that you have a clear idea of what you plan to cover in the article, and what approach you ‘re going to take.

So before writing the letter, think your article idea through carefully, and picture yourself describing the article to a friend.

2. Find Your Angle:

Finding your angle is often a matter of narrowing your topic. A topic like “Hair” is far too general, narrow it to say, “Hair Cutting” is better.

When your subject is popular, you must give the editor a fresh approach. One way is to take an idea like “Overcoming Failure” and give it a twist to something like “Failure Can Be Good for You.” It needn’t be exotic to sell, something as mundane as “New and Improved” has worked by adding a new ingredient to the usual.

3. Research Helps:

While many queries can be written entirely from your own knowledge, a little research can pay big dividends by seducing the editor. Facts sell editors on an idea. Editors look for queries with many specifics: Don’t just write that “Last year millions of people suffered from yeast infections.” Tell how many millions – and why!

Research both the topic and the markets you’re aiming it at. A common reason for rejection is because of inadequate knowledge of the magazine.

4. Shaping Your Raw Material:

After you have the basics:
a. the idea
b. the slant/facts, and
c. the market

Then you’re ready to write your query. A good query starts strong, and never lets up until the editor is sold. Follow the two newspaper dictums; The five W’s (who, what, where, when, why) which explains the story immediately, and “the inverted pyramid” which emphasized putting the most interesting information first. You’ll lose the editor’s interest if you save the best for last, and always remember EDITOR’S CUT FROM THE BOTTOM UP!

5. 3 Main Sections to a Query:

a. The Lead Paragraph
b. The Summary
c. The Author’s Bio.

Each has a specific purpose: first, tell the editor what the story is, then why she/he should buy it, and finally who is going to write it.

The Lead – is aimed to hook the editor and make them want to continue reading.

Once you’ve grabbed the editor’s attention, move directly to a summary of the article.

Summary – This section should convince the editor that you know where you want to go with the article; it should outline the points you plan to cover or provide factual information about your topic – giving only enough to prove that your story is real. Here you can mention your sources. Tell the editor who’ll you’ll be talking to, and if experts are they on the cutting edge of today’s technology. Also include here a working title for the article. Don’t spend a lot of time trying to get a provocative headline, because titles are often changed by the editor before publication.

Author’s Bio – is where you sell yourself as a writer to the editor now that you’ve sold him/her on the idea. Don’t be bashful; editors expect a bit of sell in the bio. There’s nothing wrong with saying, “I’m highly qualified to write this article because…” if a convincing reason follows. Start your bio with your publishing credits, and include magazines similar to the one you’re pitching if you can.

No matter what kind of enterprise you are running, may it be a big business or not, you can further expand it if you know the tricks of the trade especially when dealing with your customers. Here are some ideas that can help you become more successful in the field of your chosen industry.

In doing business, getting complacent is not an option. Even if the business is doing well, do not get too confident as it may not last for long especially today where the market is highly competitive.

1. Be more creative and do not settle for the same old tactics. Keep in mind that customers constantly look for something new. Check what’s out there, know what your competitors are offering and see if you could offer something much better. By doing so, not only would you keep your loyal customers happy, you would also have the chance to get new clients.

2. Listen to what your customer have to say. It is really advisable to have a designated sector for customer support which can be contacted for any concerns regarding the products and services being provided. This will help you in assessing the changes necessary to improve on the current status of your business.

3. Be sure to attend to the letters being sent out to your customers. Most business and customer-centered letters are written in a very cold manner with impersonal tone filled with jargons and terms that seem to be only used by lawyers. Use a more friendly and conversational approach in delivering the message to your customers. Keep the messages you send warm and interesting so that people receiving them would be more receptive to whatever it is you have to say.

Also, practice brevity. Be straight to the point to keep the pages short. Put yourself in the shoes of your target market and think as if you were the one reading the letter.

Bottom line, customers always come first. Be sure to focus on what your customers want and care about.