Your marketing engine Attracts Your Ideal Customer so you get more leads and build your list, FAST. It automates tasks so you get leverage and speed to grow.

Your business success starts with your marketing engine. Just like an engine powers your car, your marketing engine powers your business. You need to get your word out to attract your customer. That’s pretty obvious. What most people don’t know is that you then need to provide value to them so that they raise their hand and shout “ME, ME, ME! I want what you have!” And at that moment, you capture their name and contact information.

Why do you need to capture their name and put them on your mailing list? Having their contact information in your mailing list enables you to build a relationship with them. And, as long as you are providing value to them, they will continue in the relationship.

How do you create this marketing engine that attracts just the right customer AND inspires them to raise their hand and shout out “PICK ME!”?

Let’s start with the components of that marketing engine.

At the core of your marketing “engine” is your website and blog with a form for your customer to sign up for something free, like a free report or newsletter/ezine. This is a critical piece. It is the foundation for capturing your customer’s contact information and continuing to build the relationship with them. So you need a website or blog to send your leads to and then on it you need a web form that collects their name and email address. That web form is the place your customer raises their hand and says “I want more”.

When your prospect gives you their name and email, you then add them to your mailing list so you can continue to build a relationship with them. A newsletter or ezine is the primary vehicle that builds and nurtures the ongoing relationship with your customer and keeps you in the front of their mind so that when they are ready to buy, they think of you.

Now on top of that core motor of the web page with web form and newsletter, you have layers of marketing tactics which feed that motor and make it turn. These are the tactics that attract your ideal customers to your engine and fill your mailing list. These tactics are like the gears that turn the motor of your business.

These are some of the things you learn in my “Be Found Bootcamp” which you can learn more about by listening to this free call “The 5 Keys to Attracting Your Ideal Customer” (note, here’s YOUR chance to raise your hand). On this free call I teach you how to add in gears (or marketing tactics), one at a time, and to get the gears to start turning to make your marketing engine more powerful.

Now, if you remember anything about gears, the more gears that work together, the less effort it takes to make them turn and accomplish your task. Remember that? You need to know how to add gears to your engine and get them all working together in unison so you get leverage.

You want those gears to start spinning by themselves so you can walk away and they keep working for you. They keep drawing new customers to you even though you’ve moved on to something else. You want to be able automate or even delegate those repetitive tasks.

To get leverage in your business and to free up your time to focus on your gift, your product or service, you need to think of your business like a bullet train (efficient, automated and fast) and your marketing as the engine that powers that train. That engine contains your core lead collection system and then you add marketing tactics and gears to attract your ideal customer and fuel the train. The more gears you add, and the more efficient they work, the faster your train zooms off to fulfill your dreams.

About a month ago I asked this of you, my clients, in a survey and this is what you said…

I want to:

1. Grow My Business
2. Get My Message Out to More People
3. Increase Sales
4. Be More Efficient and Save Time Marketing My Business
5. Increase My Profits

When asked what best describes what you are looking for, you said…

1. All of the following
2. Attract My Ideal Customer
3. Build or Grow My List
4. Get More Leads
5. Attract My Tribe
6. Generate Traffic

Do you agree? How does this compare to your goals for the year?

As an answer to your responses, I put together a FREE teleclass 5 Simple Keys to Attract Your Ideal Customer: How to Get More Leads, Build Your List and Grow Your Business FAST!

Please join us on the call or sign up to listen to the recording.

Happy 2011!

The core thing that influences the success of every business is the viability of your customer list. While there is much debate over quality vs. quantity, I will always take that stand that you need BOTH. You want a large list (quantity) that contains your ideal customer (quality). (I’ll be sharing more about this on my free teleclass “5 Simple Keys to Attract Your Ideal Customer: How to Get More Leads, Build Your List and Grow Your Business FAST!”)

As we enter this new year, I asked you to share with me what are your biggest priorities in 2011. I specifically asked you to tell me what you most needed to focus on most when it comes to list building, lead generating and traffic building. This is what you said (listed in order)…

1. Blogging
2. Referrals
3. Keywords
4. On-page SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
5. Video
6. Joint Ventures
7. Teleseminars
8. Article Marketing
9. Affiliate Marketing
10. Facebook & Twitter [tied]

So what do you think? Do you agree with this list? What would you add or change?

To be successful in business, you need to know your ideal customer. And I mean really know them. Your success is going to hinge on how well you know and can talk to the needs and desires of that customer. You need to know everything you can about your customer because it makes you a more effective communicator. Knowing your customer’s wants and need lets you talk directly to the customer and target your messages so you can inform them about how you address their needs and desires. You’ll need to know how to segment your customers because you may need a different strategy for each unique segment. Because each customer segment has different needs, you may need to take different actions or use different tactics for each segment. Also if you have more than one product or service, you will need a unique strategy, actions and measurements for each product or service that you offer. This is because each product or service will be addressing the different needs and desires your customer has. These are the numerous aspects of the Ideal Customer that are incorporated into your marketing strategy. You will need to know and to define the following items:

• Your  Client Traits, like what are the characteristics of the clients you WANT to be working with.
• You will need to identify your Customer Segments if there are any. Who is your End User, who is the Decision Maker, who are the people who Influence the decision?
• You will need to know the Demographics, Psychographics, Pain, and Dreams of your customer
• You will need to know your Customer Needs and how the need your addressing fits into their other priorities.
• You will need to know how to Prioritize your marketing tactics and promotions based on your customer’s needs and behaviors.
• You will need to know how to Identify the best ways to talk to your customer
• You will need to know how to Identify the most cost effective means to communicate with your customer
• You will need to Know when your customer needs what you offer
• You will need to know how to Engage your customer so they keep coming back

Here's a chart I use to collect some of this information.

Once you learn this information about your customer, you will need to take it and use it to define your Positioning and the 5 P's of marketing which includes the following items:

1. Your Positioning which means how do you fit into the overall marketplace and compare to other solutions available. Your Positioning Statement is used to clarify you comparative differentiator. Next, your Elevator Pitch is used to help you converse about your company’s solution in a way that is concise and gets your main differentiators and solutions across to your customer and potential partners. Your Unique Selling Proposition is your tagline and is a short phrase that summarizes what makes your solution unique. Your Brand should be defined in a way that supports your positioning while appealing to the desires and dreams of your customer. Your messaging is critical to the success of all communications that you send out. You will need to know how to define your company’s messages, your benefits and how the features support those messages and benefits.
2. Your Product which means how are you going to design your products or services so that they meet the needs of your customer.
3. Your Distribution (Place) will be selected based on where your customer shops and their purchase behavior.
4. Your Promotions should be prioritized in order of the ones that are most effective in reaching your target customer.
5. Your People or staff should be selected to be the best fit for delivering the needs of your customer.
6. Your Price needs to take into account what your customer is willing to pay for your services.

This knowledge about your ideal customer is fundamental to everything you do in your business. It is critical that you take the time up front to learn everything you can about your customer and how you can best meet their needs. From here you will take this knowledge and apply it to the 5 P's of Marketing and create a marketing strategy and plan.

I recently began attending church. I’m not gonna get all religious on anyone. But it’s taken me about 20 years to WANT to go to church. Why? Because I finally found one that relates to me as a customer. I am the ideal customer for this church. Why do I say that? Because they talk to my needs, wants and desires. They have me down to a “t”.

It’s only taken me 45 years to understand why other people go to church…because it makes them feel good. That’s it. It’s that simple. It just took me that long to get my butt to the right church.

But there something more I want to talk about. It’s about that “Feel Good” feeling. This church isn’t the only place I’ve felt it. People get that same “Feel Good” feeling from Oprah. She just makes us all feel good about ourselves. She makes the mediocrity of our lives somehow become special. She transforms us and our lives with that “Feel Good” feeling, if only for the moment.

Recently, a friend of mine went to a business conference and shared her experience with me. What fascinated me most was how impressed she was that one of the billionaire speakers treated her with respect, consideration and sincerity. That billionaire made my friend feel good, important and respected. She transferred the “Feel Good” feeling to her.

The overriding take away I got from her experience, was how much time and detail was spent on making her and the other attendees feel good. And now my friend was spreading that “Feel Good” feeling to me.

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we all spent our time giving each other sincere consideration, respect and that “Feel Good” feeling?

What makes an ordinary business stand out from the pack? I bet if you spread some of that “Feel Good” feeling around you’ll see a meteoric rise in business. Isn’t this what the Law of Attraction is about anyway? Send that “Feel Good” feeling out to others and they will send it back. And, isn’t that what the bible says? Do unto others as you want them to do unto you. OK, I’m a little rusty on my bible quotes, by I still “got that loving feeling”.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist

Most people think that Black Friday is the hugest shopping day of the year. And, well, it may be if you are one of the large national retail chains that has a big budget to promote large loss leading discounts to hundreds of thousands of people. But, if you are a small local retail shop, it’s one of the quietest days of the year. Why? because everyone is out at the mall, chasing the deal. The consumer doesn’t actually get around to shopping local, until the last week or two of the month.

How do you compete?

As a small business owner, you DON’T! At least not head-on. So instead of going after the Black-Friday shopper, try an alternative.

There are a lot of customers that don’t like the crowds and rush of mall shopping. Send email or a personal invitation to your best customers and invite them for a private shopping event. Or, host a customer appreciation holiday event. Offer hot cider, hot cocoa and holiday cookies while they shop.

How do you add value to their shopping experience? What can you offer that the big chains can’t? Personalized service for one. A flexible and intimate shopping experience is another. Focus on your strengths and add a holiday twist.

Always go back and evaluate what your customer wants. Why do they shop with you? Focus on the customer and giving them the ultimate shopping experience.

And Happy Thanksgiving to you.

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A marketing strategy is a process that enables you to optimize your resources (time, money, people, etc) and focus them on the best way to generate sales and achieve a sustainable advantage. An effective marketing strategy defines how you will attract prospects, engage customers and overcome competitors.

The marketing strategy is the underpinnings of the marketing plan which includes the tactics used to implement the strategy. The strategy is dynamic and interactive. It can change and evolve in real time based on changes in the company goals, competitor actions, or customer responses.

In a corporation, there is typically someone responsible for overseeing the entire marketing strategy for a product or business unit. There are then sub-groups responsible for a given tactical area such as advertising, distribution channels, internet and public relations. Each of these specialists then develops the detailed tactical plans for their area of expertise.

In a small business, it is usually the owner or maybe one marketing person responsible for the entire marketing strategy and implementation. As you can image, this gets very overwhelming. How do you begin?

The marketing strategy is where you define who your customers are (the customer segments), which ones you want to work with (your target), and the benefits you have to offer them (the positioning). As a small business owner, you want to identify the target customer that brings you the most joy and personal fulfillment to work with. That’s why you are in business for yourself, right? Don’t you want to be happy, have freedom and control your destiny? If so, you need to find the customer that is the best match for you and then talk directly to them.

Customer Segmentation

Customer Segmentation is when you divide the market into discrete customer groups that share similar traits. There are four basic ways to segment the market. They are based on psychographic, demographic, geographic or physiographic data. When you segment your customers, you want the division to be meaningful and measurable.

The Target Customer

Now that you know all you can about your customers, you need to identify which of these segments you are going to target. To do this, you will need to determine the profit potential of each segment by analyzing the potential revenue vs. costs of selling to that customer. As an entrepreneur, your costs also entail your time, effort and personal fulfillment. Which segments are easier for you personally to work with? Which ones will bring you the greatest joy? Profitability isn’t always measured in dollars.

Positioning

Positioning is the perception your customer has of you, your company or your product/service in relation to their perceptions of your direct competitors.

To effectively position your product or service, you need to know what makes your customer tick. What problems do they have that you can solve? How can you/your product help them better than anyone else? What makes your solution uniquely better than anyone else’s? Be sure to tweak your product/service and pricing to best meet the needs of your customer.

Now that you know who you are going to talk to and what you are going to say, you need to move to the next step in your planning process. The next step would be to clarify how you are going to deliver your message and where. This leads you out of the strategy phase and into the tactical phase of your marketing plan.

What does this have to do with marketing? Marketing is about creating a relationship with your customer. So, the more you know about your customer the more successful you will be at addressing their wants, needs and desires.

The wealth consciousness seminar looked at the relationship people have with money based on their socioeconomic class.

People in the Lower Class who are Poor tend to work for cash and then spend it on items that eventually wind up being discarded in a landfill. For example, they buy sneakers which wear out and then get thrown in the trash. They also are most likely to work with their hands and be laborers and artisans.

From a marketing perspective they tend not to have a long term view and don’t plan for the future. They tend to live paycheck-to-paycheck. So the quality of the product they are purchasing is not as important as the price and the style. They are satisfying immediate needs and urges.

The Middle Class has a tendency to work for cash and then buy liabilities. A liability is something that takes money out of their pocket. For example, they buy a house to live in and have to pay the mortgage. Or, they may buy cars and boats for personal use, all of which create an outflow of cash. A middle class worker is likely to work in a professional job that uses their head (thinking, education, knowledge). Managers and teachers would fall into this category.

The middle class will have a mid-term view on purchases. They will use their disposable income to buy perceived luxuries and toys. They do not expect items to last forever, and they want instant gratification. There is a tendency amongst this group to make purchases to improve their perceived status.

The Upper Class tends to take their cash and buy assets which then generate more cash. Then they take that cash and put it into more assets to generate more cash, and so on. An asset is something that puts money into your pocket. It could be a rental property (as long as the mortgage payment is lower than the rental income). It could be a business. It could be a tool that is used to create more cash. A “tool” like a snow plow could be considered an asset if it is used to create income rather than solely for personal use.

The Upper Class uses their network to generate income. They realize that wealth is created by connecting with people and offering them a service or product of value. They build their income through referrals and connections.

It takes time, patience and persistence to create assets, networks and thus wealth. In most cases, if you are targeting a wealthy customer, then they will be of an older demographic because it takes time to accumulate the wealth. They take a long term view on their purchases and want a quality product that will last for years; a good value. They will pay more to get quality of materials and craftsmanship and are drawn to items that give them years of enjoyment (think durable). They will be drawn to classic style, not too trendy, but it must be of high quality.

When you sit down and think about the ideal customer for your business, try to identify how that customer relates to money and income and how that relates to the product or service you are offering. How does this wealth consciousness change your relationship with your customer? How do you need to position your business so that you are appealing to the wants, needs and desires of your ideal customer? Is your marketing strategy in need of adjustment?

Your ideal customer doesn’t exist because you don’t know who they are. You haven’t taken the time to identify what the characteristics of a person are that makes them an ideal client for you! Every one of us is different and we each have different thoughts, behaviors and beliefs. Some call them philosophies. Whatever you call it, you need to know what are your strengths, your weaknesses, your beliefs and your dreams before you can effectively size up your customers and explode your business. The better you know yourself, the easier to find your dream clientele. In fact, the better you can communicate what you want, the faster and easier it will come to you.

This may sound like the hocus pocus that people refer to as the law of attraction and in a way it is. With an undergraduate in Optics which is the physics of light, I understand the principles of energy and magnetism all too well. As an All American athlete, I was trained in the discipline of the mind, body and spirit including discipline, autosuggestion, goals setting and positive attitudes. As an experienced business person, MBA and Microsoft Millionaire, I am astute in the principles and processes of building and running an efficient business. As the Expert Marketing Coach, I combine all these principles to help you to unveil your inner power and strength then translate that into achieving your business goals and your ultimate success.

So, how do you find your ideal customer?

• First, take a look inside yourself and outline your strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. What are you good at, what do you hate doing. What would your friends say are your strengths?
• Next, write down the names of your 5 favorite customers. Don’t have any? Then write down the names of people with whom you have enjoyed working. What is it about working with them that you loved? Just note about 5 characteristics for each of them.
• When you look back you will see that there are similarities. You can probably extract about 5 overall traits that they exhibit. How would it feel if every customer exhibited those traits?

“How do I get that?” you ask.

1. First, you have to believe it’s possible.
2. Second you need to desire it.
3. Third, you need a plan to make it happen.
4. Fourth, you need to take action.

What you will find is that as soon as you have identified your ideal customer, you will begin talking differently, writing your marketing materials differently, using different messages, and seeing those ideal characteristics in people you meet.  Everything about you will be “attracting” those customers to you.

In the Expert Marketing Strategy Workshop and the Home Study Course we go into this in more detail and help you create an action plan. In my Sapphire and Diamond coaching programs, I am able to personally coach you through the process of breaking through the barriers that prevent you from implementing the plan and achieving your success.

Of course, nothing will change unless you take action. My husband has an appropriate quote taped to his computer screen. It says “If all you do is sit around and visualize, the men in the overalls with the big trucks will come and take away your furniture.” As Nike says, “Just Do It!”