Weirding Word

Promote Yourself When You Speak

A guest blog by Sally Strackbein

When you speak, train or are on a panel, do you use that opportunity to promote yourself? You will stand above your competition when you give an information-packed handout.

I attend a lot of meetings that feature speakers. It amazes me how few give handouts to support their presentations. The speaker at one meeting did have a handout. It had her PowerPoint slides printed in a grainy resolution on cheap quality paper and it had no contact information. Most speakers don't have a handout at all. Some pass out their brochures. These brochures are often beautiful and expensive to produce. I look at them and throw them away as soon as I get home. (Actually, I put them in my recycle bin.) I don't save them.

On the other hand, give me a good handout and it goes in my reference file. A good handout gives me the major points the speaker made with some supporting detail. It gives me an action step to take and it gives me a way to follow up with the speaker.

Do you provide a good handout that your audience will save? People have called me years after a presentation because they were looking through their reference file and found my handout. (Yes, these calls lead to business.)

Here are some handout tips:

• Use your professional photo.


• Use color - at least on the title or cover page.


• Make your layout attractive.


• List your phone number, website and e-mail address on every page.


• Print it on 28lb paper instead of the more common 20lb paper. People can feel the difference.


• Most important, give valuable information.

Use every engagement as an opportunity to promote yourself with your handout. Handouts trump brochures every time!

Sally Strackbein inspires people to discover, clarify and express their value through speaking and storytelling. Her presentations, workshops, and coaching help her clients create and deliver messages that motivate, educate, or sell. She is also the host of the international online speakers directory, www.SpeakerZone.com. You can reach her at www.DefiningStory.com. Or, learn how you can discover your best stories and tell them like a pro at Sally's Storytelling Speakshop, September 12-13, in Reston, VA.

Gaea Honeycutt
blog@weirdingword.com

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services. Copyright 2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

Massive List of Killer Freelancing Tips

The Freelance Folder recently ran a contest to celebrate its one-year anniversary. Whether a writer, editor, designer or other consultant, you'll find this list of freelancer-to-freelancer recommendations submitted by contestants helpful. And, if you have your own tip to share, post a comment at the end of the blog.

Gaea Honeycutt
blog@weirdingword.com

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

Know Your Skills, Know Your Market

Many small business owners share the same story of starts, stops, and restarts. All the information one needs about starting a business is out there, and yet, it's not always easy to uncover, understand, and leverage. You find yourself trying to learn in SBA, Women's Business Center, and other seminars while being forced to seek clarification and advice on how things really work from a network of fellow business owners. It's a high-adrenaline, exciting, frightening adventure. In three years, three lessons have shaped my approach to consulting.

Start with, or quickly build, a network.
When I struck out on my own in 2005, I had recently returned to my home state of Virginia. Having spent a dozen years building a broad skill set in project management, research, communications, and development, I knew I could help other organizations achieve their goals. But, I soon discovered that around Washington it's about whom you know and not what you know—and not whom you know in other regions. And I didn't understand networking.

I decided to take a short-term position while working on growing the business. When I returned to the full-time world of entrepreneurship, I became a networking diva, tripling my business and developing an increasingly effective network. Word of mouth is the best advertising. Referrals inherently carry the message of quality and results.

Focus, focus, focus.
I had directed an association and worked in the nonprofit sector. Then I discovered other small businesses
were hungry for our services, especially writing and design, and I began cultivating them. Connecting with the supportive community of local small businesses is energizing. However, I lost focus and found that small-business clients require more personalized services for the same or less revenue.

In addition, the combination of services we provide isn't intuitively understood by the for-profit sector. While the connection between intellectual and creative services is taken for granted in nonprofits and associations, few in business understand how many functions employees in small associations and nonprofits take on regularly. Still, I split the business between intellectual services under the parent company and creative services under a new division. Months later, it was clear that entrepreneurs could not sustain or help grow the firm effectively, and I had significantly changed my business to appeal to that market. I refocused on my target markets and began building a network just as I had among small businesses.

Partner and outsource.
No one can do it all. As one of my clients said, "We are all experts in our own respective industries. Sometimes we attempt to cut costs by becoming an expert in an industry outside of our own … [and] often fall short of the mark … . [My] efforts and time were best spent doing what I do best." Balancing the work of your business and the management of your business is difficult, especially if you don't know what you're doing. I'm not an accountant, and I finally hired one to help me manage my finances. Hire experts to do these things efficiently.

Likewise, I don't provide services outside of my defined business. For example, I actively avoid media relations. There are people who passionately love this field, and I recruit them as partners. Neither is my expertise in the financial industry; I am not too proud to refer potential clients to a marketer who can run with it. Everyone is happier getting what they want and need. Life is too short to create a job for yourself that you don't even like. This way, I cultivate my networks of associates and clients at the same time.

My most satisfied colleagues follow these same principles: They do what they love, they remain focused on their goals and mission, and they build excellent networks. It's the path to entrepreneurial happiness and freedom.

Written by Gaea L. Honeycutt for Associations Now. Reprinted with permission, copyright August 2008, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership, Washington, DC.

Gaea Honeycutt
blog@weirdingword.com

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

Summer Strategy: Survey Target Audiences

When everything slows down for the hot summer season, it's the perfect time to reassess your marketing strategy, determine whether you're meeting client needs, and prepare for the busy fall.

As you review your goals and strategies, ask yourself what's working and how do you know it's working. Think about different strategies you might like to incorporate. Perhaps an e-newsletter isn't working with your target audience, but a more interactive blog is the perfect technology alternative. But how can you be sure a blog is the right step to take?

Survey your target audience.

Now, a survey can seem intimidating. You're thinking: "What questions should I ask?" "How do I write questions?" "Will my clients even do the survey?" "What's it going to cost to mail a survey?" However, it doesn't have to be intimidating or stressful. Here are some simple steps to implement your own survey:

Determine the focus. Keep the survey simple, by narrowing the focus. Don't try to find out everything about your customer's preferences all at once. Choose either satisfaction with services/products, or what they're looking for from your industry or type of business. But don't do both at once. You want to hold their attention for the entire survey.

Limit the questions. The shorter the survey, the more likely your clients are to complete it. Settle on 10 or fewer questions that zero in on your focus area. Resist the temptation to split off onto a tangent. This will also help force you to stick to the most important information.

Solicit comments. This is an excellent opportunity to get feedback. Use the last question as an invitation to write about their answers or add something not asked in the survey.

One of the best resources for developing and distributing surveys is an online survey service, such as Zoomerang or Survey Monkey. These companies allow users to develop surveys (or adapt a template), distribute them via e-mail, and even assign unique links for each survey respondent.


Gaea Honeycutt
blog@weirdingword.com


Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.

Lies, Darn Lies: The Science Behind Marketing's "Repeat Rule"

Any marketing or public relations professional will tell you that one key to developing an effective brand or image is a memorable tag line, which must be repeated as many as 7 or 8 times to stick in peoples' minds. That might cause a business owner to wonder if an investment in a communications budget is wise: "Are these spin doctors effective or are they the hucksters we all suspect?"

But Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt dispel our misgivings in their op ed, "Your Brain Lies to You", which appears in today's issue of The New York Times. Authors of the recently released Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life, they describe how easy it is to legitimize misinformation and questionable sources.

"Every time we recall [information], our brain writes it down again, and during this re-storage, it is also reprocessed," explain Wang and Aamodt. "As the source is forgotten, the message and its implications gain strength." Information -- both true and false -- is restored and remembered, but the context is eventually lost in the haze of time.

Think about some popular tag lines. "It's a good time for the great taste of..." "Have a --- and a smile." "When you absolutely, positively have to have it overnight." "Just say no to..." You can probably recall these phrases with no trouble, but don't remember where or when you originally learned them. And, there's a chance you'll mix up competitors products. You might even use a tag line all the time, but can't recall when it became a part of popular culture. For instance, "Can you hear me now?"

So, how can you make your message stick without getting stuck with a huge marketing bill? Here are a few tips:

Settle on a succinct, memorable tag line that embodies your business philosophy, distinctive characteristics, and product or service. And then, push it over and over.

List the ways you reach your target audience. How can you connect with them at least six times in six months to convey your message? A newsletter? Shopping bag? Article? Presentation? Is that tagline on all of your collateral?

Map out a strategic marketing plan that both supports your overall business plan and incorporates your message in meaningful ways. For example, jump drives are great giveaways for IT consultants, but not for garden centers. How about a small watering can or a trowel.

What? You don't know the products and services those tag lines promote? Send me a message and I'll lend you a hand. If you think you can stump me, post your favorite tag line below in the comments box and I'll respond with my best guess.

Gaea Honeycutt
blog@weirdingword.com

Weirding Word®, a division of G.L. Honeycutt Consulting, LLC, is a virtual publication department that provides editing, freelance writing, and publication and web design services.

Copyright 2008 Gaea L. Honeycutt. All rights reserved.