What’s Your “Book More Business” Strategy

By Jane Atkinson

I’ve been hearing some good news stories lately so I know that there is business out there!  This tip is designed to help you get out and get your share of the pie!

Here are some ideas to consider when planning your 12 month sales and marketing initiatives (because I know you HAVE a plan, right?)

1.  What expertise do you have that can help people through a difficult time?

Not all companies are in trouble right now, but the fall-out of this economy is wide reaching.  So how can you help?  How can you ease the pain? Bring those ideas forward in your marketing and that will help position you for success.

2.  Is your promise clear?  Does it need to be sharpened or redirected to support this economy? (If you’re not sure about your promise, re-read Chapter 4 in The Wealthy Speaker to get some ideas).http://www.speakerlauncher.com/tools

3.  What is your outbound marketing strategy?  Do you have it written down?

I typically recommend that people have a 12 month calendar that will allow them to plan and track how they will communicate with their prospects. It might consist of several different marketing mediums:  e-mail, social media, blogging, article writing, direct mail, phone calls.  You’ll want to ’touch’ prospects enough so that when they need your expertise, you are top of mind. (But not so much that they call you a stalker).

In any economy being top of mind when the time comes for them to book a speaker, is going to
be key.  People who used to book 12 months out, might now wait until 3 weeks out.

4.  What is your social media strategy?

The social media phenom requires us to embrace all of the new possibilities with a solid strategy. It can be overwhelming.  When new sites are being added all the time (ie: Digg.com, Stumbleupon.com, Sphinn.com, Reddit.com) your strategy needs to flex and change.  I think the key is to find the networks of people that are going to buy from you. Where do your customers hang out?  What are they reading?

This article might help you sort out some of these new sites. http://www.elance.com/p/node/5283

5.  What is your daily outbound strategy?

I’ll repeat something I wrote in my last tip…when you walk into your office every day do you ask yourself ‘what am I going to do to move my business forward today?’  If you’re not making phone calls or reaching out to people on a daily basis, you’re not going to move forward.

A good database software (like Act) will help you keep track of when you speak to people and what was said.  It will also allow you to form fields that you can search by. Your ‘to do’ list for the day would be generated for you based on who you tagged for follow up. Check out page 131 of The Wealthy Speaker for more on database development.

I hope this helps you develop your ‘book more business’ strategy!

Jane Atkinson
Speaker Launcher
1326 Huron St. #339
London, Ontario N5V 2E2
519-951-6934
http://www.SpeakerLauncher.com