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HUDDLE TIME
Six Simple Steps to a 'Slightly' Famous You
Some business owners attract clients and customers like magic. They do not cold call or rely on advertising. Everyone knows their name, and they get all the business they can handle. These people are "slightly" famous: just famous enough to make their names come to mind when people are looking for their particular product or service.
In today's noisy world, many businesses are embracing slightly famous marketing methods and attracting clients and customers without spending a fortune. Want to join them? It starts with an understanding of six basic principles for creating a slightly famous you. 1. Target the best prospects Many entrepreneurs try to sell to the widest possible market; but slightly famous entrepreneurs target only the best prospects. Alex Fisenko, the "the Dean of Beans," is a coffee expert who started his first espresso shop in the 1960s. Now he sells his expertise on launching a successful coffee business to aspiring entrepreneurs through seminars and a training course called "Espresso Business Success." His website generates thousands of dollars a month in product sales and consulting engagements throughout the world. "By targeting the best prospects, I now make more money through book sales and consultations than when I ran coffee shops," says Fisenko. 2. Develop a unique market niche Slightly famous marketers establish themselves within a market niche that they can realistically hope to dominate. Dan Poynter is a successful self-publisher who writes books about parachuting and hang-gliding. He sells books to skydiving clubs, parachute dealers, and the U.S. Parachute Association. He developed a reputation in skydiving circles and has enjoyed steady sales of his books for more than three decades. Best of all, he has the market all to himself. 3. Position your business as the best solution Positioning is about identifying a key attribute of your company, not offered by competitors, that is valuable to your target market. When Harry Shepherd started his bookkeeping service, he mastered a popular accounting program and marketed himself as a "QuickBooks Software Training Consultant." He went from blending into a sea of competitors to occupying a compelling market position. Word spread fast among accountants as they referred him to their clients. He charged higher fees and even trained other bookkeepers to use accounting software. 4. Maintain your visibility Slightly famous marketers give talks, publish articles, and create information-rich websites. They do everything they can to stay visible within their target markets. When Bart Baggett made handwriting analysis his career, he embraced the media. At the height of the O.J. Simpson trial, he sent out a news release about Simpson's handwriting. His strategy helped him appear on Court TV and later CNN. A feature in "Biography" magazine led to stories in the "London Times," the "Dallas Morning News" and others. 5. Enhance your credibility Slightly famous marketers establish themselves as "recognized" experts to earn credibility, out-position competitors and give people a taste of what they offer. Fred Tibbitts, Jr. helps food and beverage companies reach global markets. He's strategically cultivated a reputation as a global beverage-marketing expert who is fluent in all the details of his business. Tibbitts monitors global beverage trends while staying in contact with account managers at hotels and restaurants. He hosts special events in key markets and contributes a column to "Hospitality International" magazine and numerous industry publications. 6. Establish your brand and reputation When you meet Dave Hirschkop at a trade show, don't expect to shake his hand. That's because he'll be wearing a straitjacket while standing before a simulated insane asylum to promote his popular line of "Insanity" hot sauces. Slightly famous entrepreneurs use their smallness and specialty in ways that corporate giants can't touch. Dave established his brand by making the hottest sauce possible. Instead of sensual pleasure, he promised pain—even danger—but pain that came with bragging rights. It helped Dave's Gourmet, Inc. step to the front of the crowded hot sauce category, enjoy fiercely loyal customers and land great media exposure. When Dave introduced his Insanity Sauce at the National Fiery Foods Show, he made attendees sign a release form before tasting from a bottle in a coffin-like box wrapped with yellow police tape. This resulted in an unintended publicity coup when a show promoter had a minor respiratory problem after tasting his sauce and banned him from the show. You don't have to be insane to become slightly famous. But, you must cultivate a brand identity that resonates with your target market and helps you stand out from the crowd. Your brand identity will be the guiding star of your entire business and ensure that all your marketing efforts pull in the same direction. And, in an increasing impersonal world, your brand will become the soul of your company. HUDDLE TIME
Boost Business with Cardscan
We took it to tradeshows, open houses as well as to some "by invitation only" events. At each event we were able to scan the cards as they came in. Then back at the office, it was simple to import the data (that is, every card scanned) from Cardscan into the database for easier follow-up. Even the notes on the back of cards were scanned and later reviewed from within the database. In addition, it also gives you a picture of the card on the computer to which you can refer to recall more about the encounter or the person. This tool is a great way to save time for yourself or your staff. Cardscan is easy to set up and is portable. Anyone who meets a lot of people each week or month needs a card scanner to help organize and maintain their contact database. It makes your job much easier for a quicker, more timely follow-up with each new contact. Your contacts will be amazed at your efficiency and will maintain a positive impression of you. HUDDLE TIME
How to Grow Your Chapter
BNI members regularly ask, "How do we grow the chapter? How can we get the group larger to get better referrals?" The guidance given normally is to have a Visitors Day, invite more guests or do better follow-up with visitors to sign up more guests. These are all great ideas, but with my analytical background, I wanted to see what the numbers told us about the unique characteristics of large groups and small groups. I decided to focus on one of our four regions, and I defined "large" as groups with 25 members. Groups with 15 or fewer members were considered "small." First, I calculated the retention rate for each of the chapters: # dropped members ——————————— present # members + # dropped members I found that the large groups averaged a 12-month retention rate of 25.5% whereas the small groups averaged 36.7%. The next step was to figure out the recruiting rate by dividing the number of new members in the last year by the present membership. Surprisingly, the small groups had a significantly better recruiting rate (82.2%) than the large chapters (45.6%). In other words, the smaller groups were much stronger recruiters than the large groups. Looking at the raw numbers, the small groups added an average of 9.5 members per chapter. The large chapters added an average of 13.2 members per chapter. In other words, the large groups that had 2.5 times as many members only recruited 1.5 times as many members! Returning to the original question of how to grow a chapter, these figures would suggest that the biggest difference was retention of members, not recruiting of new members. If the chapters can improve their ability to keep members, the chapters will naturally become healthier and more vibrant and hence, grow. |
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