Recent Posts – Page 25 – Career Life Institute

5 Secrets to Marketing Magic

"…Because its purpose is to create a customer, business has two—and only two functions: Marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results, all the rest are costs." Peter Drucker

1. Understand Your Product

If you can’t state it, your customers won’t see, understand, or want it

What are you REALLY selling?
You must be able to articulate this is a way that makes others want to buy from you.
Features vs Benefits
Always focus attention on the benefit to your customer as a result of using your product or service.
Unique Selling Proposition/Competitive Advantage
What makes you/your product distinctively different?

2. Have a Marketing Plan

Whatever marketing plan you intend to roll out, test first to measure your success probability and to reduce the risk of failure. Test prices. . .Test product. . .Test headlines. . .Test everything. Have a diversified effort and then continue to test EVERYTHING. Some areas to consider:

Public Relations
Publicity
Direct Mail
Personal Selling
Trade Shows/Industry Participation
Newsletters
Specialty Items
Articles, Books, eBooks & eProducts
Speeches, Seminars, Workshops
Referrals
Networking
Ads – newspapers, signs, flyers, radio, TV, Yellow Pages, etc.
Thank you notes & gifts
Coupons, Special Offers, etc.
Websites, email signatures, etc.

3. Understand Your Customer

How do you create real value? By understanding what's important to your customer or client…and then providing it

Who is your “ideal” client?
Ask yourself:
"What do I know about them, their buying/spending habits?"
"Where would my customer look for me?" Then make sure you put "yourself" (your coupons, advertisements, website address, etc.) in the places where they can find you.
What do your clients need? How can you find out?
Ask your clients:
"How can I help you?"
"How can I make it easy for you to buy from me?"
And of course: "What else?" (do you want, need, wish to tell me…)

4. Value Existing Customers

Follow their needs
You can use a simple data base to track customer buying patterns as well as the effectiveness of your marketing plan. Determine the "lifetime" value of your customers and clients, and continue to find ways to keep them loyal by providing what they want and need.
Special offers/preferential treatment
Existing customers have already made a commitment (they've spent money with you), don't reserve your “specials” just for new customers – reward the loyal (existing) ones, too. It's much easier and more cost effective to sell to existing customers than to try to find new ones. Surprise and delight your existing customers by giving them "freebies" or added value from time to time.

5. Collaborative Marketing

Networking

Networking is really relationship building. When you want to expand your market, an effective way to have instant credibility is to use the influence of someone who is well respected. Remember to provide value, not only in the product or service you are offering to the "new" network, but also to the person who is introducing you to their network.

Host/Beneficiary Relationship
Consider who you know that you could "team up with". People with complimentary businesses (those who market to similar customers) provide a great non-competitive way to expand your own customer base. (It works the other way, too!) By the way, have you ever asked your suppliers or vendors for help in growing your business? They have an interest in keeping you in business, too.
Referrals
Remind your customers that your business grows through their referrals. And then, make sure you thank and give value back to those who are willing to share their satisfaction of your services with others.

What makes some businesses more successful in the marketplace? They continue to explore new ways to bring in business. Remember what marketing guru Jay Abraham has to say about your marketing plan:

When you limit your business to doing things the same way every other competitor of yours does it, you can only produce modest, incremental gains at best.

The Energy of Success

Truly successful people have certain energy. They are happy because they are engaged in work that they love doing. My definition of successful person is someone who has tapped into their personal, divine motivation and built a career out of it. They get pleasure out of serving people in a pleasurable and profitable way.

What a wonderful thought: Happy people working to make other people happier while expressing their own individual way of earning their income and engaging in work they love! Work being joy must be what Edison knew when he said, "Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." If we are motivated by that 1% inspiration, we enjoy the perspiration. If we aren't, then our work can become 100% drudgery, and that definitely leads to "burn out." However, even divine inspirations can become drudgery if we don't understand and practice certain emotional, spiritual and energy bodies in balance.

In addition to the surge of well-being that satisfied clients give us, as well as doing what we love, we must ultimately come to realize the unique qualities of our energy. It is smart to recognize that being in the presence of people can either be a source of nourishment or can drain us. When the nourishment is happening, we can go on and on. But when we are drained by people for too long, we become ill or burned out. So why not begin simple practices, everyday, that will support the nourishment of your body and energy and mind.

The following are simple practices using the basic elements of the universe-earth, air, water, and fire–and meditation/prayer that I learned from a great western yogi teacher, Leonard Orr.

Earth Element

Any type of daily movement-like walking around your block once a day; being engaged in any type of work you love; and food mastery. Since you are the scientist of your body, you can experiment with fasting for one meal to begin. You can eat only fruit for one meal or for the entire day. You can gradually increase the length of your fast if you want to cleanse your system and give your digestive system a rest. You'll love your break-fast in the morning! Just remember you fast for pleasure not denial.

Air Element

Take notice of your breathing. Learn simple breathing exercises. You can do the "20 Connected Breaths" exercise which Leonard Orr created for Americans who want to do everything, in 30 seconds. Just take 4 short breaths, connecting your inhales to your exhales with no gaps or holding in between and then 1 full breath. Repeat this sequences 4 times. Whatever you feel is energy. And if you feel dizzy, it may be indicator that you are usually underbreathing.

Water Element

The simple act of bathing daily can be profound. Bathe or shower in the morning an immediately on returning home at he end of your day. It is a wonderful way to wash off the psychic dirt we accumulate during the day.

Turn the shower to a little cool water just when your are finished. This seals your energy centers (chakras) and helps you keep balance a little longer.

Fire Element

Fire means sun awareness, candle gazing, or sitting before an open fire. Better still, sleeping in front of an open flame. The energy of fire extends beyond the fire itself and can be felt on your body and in your aura (the energy field surrounding your body). I especially use fire after I have given a workshop, when I feel ill or plagued with negative thinking, fear, doubt, disappointment or confusion. It always burns away the "downside" of life's' experiences. Fire is also a cure for "burn-out," which just means your are overloaded by work and people. Hanging out infront of a fire will do wonders for you.

Meditation and Prayer

Setting aside quiet time for yourself or going to a special location that is peaceful and quiet is another simple way of purifying or cleansing your thoughts and connecting with your heart. When we are in the right relationship with ourselves and with God/Universe, all of our relationships are better and our life seems to flow.

The practices are simple and can only be experienced through direct experience. Just thinking about it cannot give you the same results. You might do a 30-day experiment and begin with one or more or these practice. The positive results will be in your thinking, your feeling body and in the results you are easily able to create in your life.

I also strongly recommend you set aside a full day, preferably one-day a week, to be completely alone and NOT be involved in your usual work. If this seems impossible with your busy life, start with setting aside 3 hours just for you and then gradually expand this time. Just take time out from the world–read, work in the garden, wonder, rest, write letters to your loving friends and family, or write in your journal. This practice helps me tremendously. I think about my next project or next day's events. I turn down the answering machine and review it at the end of the day, which is usually Sunday. When you do this in the presence of fire you get a multitude of benefits. I always get my best business ideas during this time–the inspirations just spontaneously come.

© Yashoda Susan Deschenes

(Yashoda Susan Deschenes has been teaching Energy Breathing for 14 years and has provided training throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and South Africa. She is the mother of 4 beautiful daughters and 1 BEAUTIFUL grandson.)

The Art of Presentation

We all know the basic requirements of giving an effective presentation, and most of us have given presentations at one time or another. Yes, it is important to know our subject and present it in an organized way, have good eye contact, be enthusiastic, have audio visuals, speak with confidence, clarity, and sincerity, remember to smile and use humor, interact with our audience, etc. However, it takes more than just knowing the basics to be an excellent speaker. It requires practice, but practice alone isn't enough either.

There is definitely an "art" to giving presentations. The Webster dictionary defines art as a "skill acquired by experience, study or observation," or "the conscious use of skill and creative imagination." Constructive feedback rouses this awareness and "consciousness" and can make all the difference when we are ready to refine and improve our speaking skills. So developing the "art" of presentation requires consciously and creatively applying and practicing our knowledge and skills, based on constructive feedback.

"Every time you give a presentation you are drawing upon your past experiences and you are sharing part of yourself," according to Lesley Craig, who described her first debut in front of a large group in South Africa at the age of 5 years old! Lesley encourages us to remember three main points in developing our "art"—:

Know what is required;
Practice, practice, practice;
Invite constructive feedback from others so that we can consciously make improvements.

"When you are ready to face your fears about public speaking, the professional speaking club, Toastmasters' International, is the club to join," says Lesley. "Toastmasters provides a structured program where you can consciously work on developing your presentation and leadership skills. You learn by trial and error in afriendly, supportive environment with other aspiring and empathizing speakers.

"Toastmasters offers you an enjoyable, self-paced, ongoing, experiential learning environment where you can hone and tune your presentations to fine are. Toastmasters will help you become better communicators and leaders and will help you 'master those wobbly knees."

You have an opportunity to overcome your fear of speaking every time you come to Business Connections or any other networking event and give your "30-Second Spot"—letting people know who you are, what you do, and giving them reasons why they should come see you. The challenge is saying something concise and coherent in 30-seconds that successfully promotes you and your business. Writing out your personal marketing statement ahead of time and practicing can make a real difference, as well as asking for feedback from other BC members.

Developing your "art of presentation" is a choice and a commitment and can only enhance your success as a business owner and build your self-confidence.

Restoring Body Chemistry To Homeostasis by Natural Means

High Cholesterol? Low Calcium?

Restoring Body Chemistry To Homeostasis by Natural Means

When a "chem panel" blood test is performed, the report shows several body chemistry results. It is important that all of these chemicals are not only within the normal clinical range but are balanced with each other. In my practice, the goal is to have results in a homeostatic range with all of the chemistries working together, allowing optimal health rather than only keeping it inside the clinical range. When results start to be outside the latter, we start to have concerns with real pathology.

Many people don't realize that body chemistry can be successfully restored to healthy optimal values with natural, safe nutritional supplements. These supplements make available to the body the chemicals it needs to thrive. This is when we feel good with enough energy and brightness to fully enjoy life. These chemical changes can also be demonstrated by follow-up blood test.

An example of this is low calcium stores. Every cell in the body needs calcium to function. If the store becomes low, changes occur that start pulling calcium from the bones. So, vital functions can be maintained but bone density will be decreased eventually leading to osteoporosis. When the calcium blood stores are increased to an optimal range by taking the individualized correct forms and amounts of calcium along with other needed nutrients, the blood chemistry is balanced and the bone density is restored.

Cholesterol levels, high triglycerides, high or low sugar, and other dangerous chemical imbalances can be restored to homeostatic ranges just as effectively and safely by nutritional supplements.

© 1997 Dr. Evonne Phillips
For more information, you can contact Evonne Phillips, a practicing chiropractic doctor in Arcata, at (707)822-8356