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The Covid Pandemic Crisis Will End – Keep Your Business Alive Until Then

May 21, 2020 by Jama Leave a Comment

To say the covid pandemic crisis is causing economic pandemonium might be the greatest understatement of the past two decades. Yet, if there is one thing history teaches us about such outbreaks, it is that human beings are stunningly resilient and – we will recover.

Still, it’s important to stay current on what is going on with business as chaos and confusion spread. According to SEO and marketing expert Neil Patel, multiple industries have been slammed due to the economic upheaval that has resulted from the lock downs and stay-at-home orders that have been put in place.

Responding to Economic Upheaval

It goes without saying – almost – that limiting physical interaction among the population has had far reaching and, in some cases, devastating effects on businesses. While it’s too soon to know for sure what the long-term effects will be, current estimates are that Coronavirus Could Cost the Global Economy $2.7 Trillion in lost economic output.

To be clear, this is not a lack of estimated growth in the world economy but an actual loss of business. Because recovering losses takes longer than replacing growth, that means coming back will be more challenging and time consuming than it might otherwise.

Your response then, will require a well-considered, strategic approach to reinvigorating your business.

Lessons Are Being Learned

What have we learned so far?

Fear is not an effective sales tool – Exploitation of the fear that has become pervasive is not a good approach for marketing your business. For example, buying and reselling consumer goods that are in short supply, or promoting conspiracy theories and offering “expert tips” and “coaching” to stay safe from them, is exploitation at its worst.

On the other hand, helping people cope with the fear and uncertainty they are feeling will not only endear them to you – it will also help your community recover more quickly.

Organic visits slowing down – While internet traffic is soaring and bandwidth in many areas is suffering because of it, website traffic is on a downward slide for most industries. And, of course, if organic traffic is down then conversions will be too.

A few moments thought will help you realize that this should have been expected. Right now, people are going online for purposes other than shopping for essentials; like finding information to help them survive, and connecting virtually with family and friends.

Be responsive but be smart – To a very large extent, business owners are going to be at the mercy of state and national governments for some time to come (Wall Street Journal). Ongoing lock downs and demands for social distancing may evolve into long-term testing and tracing programs which will limit individuals’ ability to work, unless “cleared” to do so by government officials.

While limiting your own social interactions may keep you safe from infection, it makes no sense to sacrifice your business and financial future to this situation. People are still doing business, both virtually and face-to-face where possible. Figure out what is possible for you and do whatever it takes to keep your business alive.

In short, a rational response is your best bet.

Stay Smart and Stay Safe

Staying reasonable and clear headed in the face of such a crazy situation is not easy. Ultimately though, your own reasoned judgement, based on the best information you can find, is your best tool for coming through the covid pandemic crisis with your business intact.

As always, the YOMT Team are here to support you in any way we can, whether you are struggling with social isolation and social distancing or putting together a marketing strategy to implement following the pandemic. Whatever you need, feel free to… Get in touch with the YOMT Team today

Social Isolation is a Universal Symptom of Pandemic Social Distancing

April 23, 2020 by Jama Leave a Comment

According to news reports and social media, one of the worst effects of the coronavirus pandemic is the isolation felt by patients under treatment. According to the experts, it’s just too risky to allow family and friends to visit, even if the patient is on the brink of death. While pondering the ramifications of the various “lock down” and “stay-at-home orders” that have been put in place around the country, it occurs to us that social distancing has also led to social isolation.

While the rest of the world has become comfortable with the description of rugged individualism that has defined Americans almost since our founding as a country, such a lifestyle can be quite lonely. In fact, the phrase “lonely at the top” comes to mind when thinking of everyone from entrepreneurs to small business owners to C-suite executives.

Though it’s an obvious cliché, it also begs the question where the phrase came from, as well as whether or not it’s valid to describe team leaders and managers as lonely.

Working from home alone can certainly contribute to loneliness. Managing a virtual team via email and text messages can definitely create a sense of isolation. And yet… and yet…

Many of us now feel forced to isolate ourselves from team members and associates because our “leaders” have told us to stay at home – or else. (The “or else” has even begun to include potential arrest and fines in some jurisdictions.)

So, while the cliché may not have been 100% accurate in the past, loneliness and isolation have surely become one of the symptoms of the social distancing in response to this pandemic.

What’s Leadership Got to Do With It?

As explained above, the role of team leader can be a lonely one even in the best of times (which this is certainly not). And yet, researchers have found that feeling lonely is a poor description for what executives, entrepreneurs, and business owners experience in their leadership roles.

Rather, as explained in an article at Forbes.com, those who are “at the top” of the pyramid experience isolation; that is, an almost overwhelming feeling of being left out, of being disconnected from those around them.

In other words, feelings of loneliness are actually a symptom of the isolation that seems to be inherent to the role of leader.

It seems fairly obvious then that, when you are forced under penalty of law to isolate yourself from not only business associates but friends and family to the extent possible, feelings of alienation and detachment will grow.

For those of us who already spend most of our workdays in the virtual world of online communication, it would seem to be an easy transition. However, this may not be the case when such social restrictions are being imposed instead of being a conscious choice and/or preference.

Connect and Engage, Consciously and Frequently

As it turns out, literally every member of the YOMT Team are independent contractors working from home. This means that virtual relationships are the norm for us so we should be fine with the new restrictions we have to deal with, right?

Not exactly. You see, an important part of the description independent contractors for our team members is the word independent; as in, “free from external control and constraint” and “not controlled by outside forces”. (Word Web, a free dictionary)

In response to the need for increased distancing required by the pandemic, we’ve put in place a schedule of daily “Team Check-in” calls via Zoom. These meet-ups are strictly voluntary and are designed as an opportunity for social interaction with others who are in the same predicament. The times vary from day to day, there is no agenda, and we rarely speak about the business or our clients.

We simply share thoughts and feelings, and speak to each other as human beings who’ve become more isolated than ever before. It has been a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know each other in ways we’ve never been able to despite holding quarterly team meetings online. The lack of an agenda is somehow liberating, leading to a sense of freedom and engagement that we might otherwise not experience in the current crisis.

More than one expert has suggested increasing virtual interaction as a way to stay connected when feeling isolated. Based on our own experiences, we believe it’s almost a requirement at the moment. In fact, we cannot recommend strongly enough that you connect regularly in some sort of online application, especially if you lead a virtual team of associates.

The L. E. A. D. Approach to Client Acquisition in the Face of Pandemic

April 9, 2020 by Jama Leave a Comment

As mentioned in the latest newsletter (March 26), despite the current disruption to all of our businesses and lives, we are absolutely convinced that things will improve and we will return to a more normal state of affairs. Why do we believe this? Because it’s what we do – what human beings do. Always have and always will. With that in mind, we continue our series on holistic lead generation in the hope that it will help you prepare for increased client acquisition efforts when we return to normal.

Again, here’s a quick refresher on what it means to take the L. E. A. D. for client acquisition:

Listen – to your target audience and they will tell you how to convert them.
Educate – your audience on solutions to their pain points.
Adapt – to the needs of a broad client base.
Develop – services or products that meet specific needs.

These steps will become the foundation for a fully integrated, well-conceived approach to generating leads that will address the needs of your target audience. This will enable you to communicate with them as individuals, not as a vague, superficial, poorly defined collection of personality types.

A Real-World Business Response to COVID-19

Let’s dive a little deeper into more of the practical steps of the L. E. A. D. approach; steps you can take to effectively generate leads for your business, despite the pandemic.

Listening includes increasing communication – in both directions. As we’ve mentioned before, prior and existing clients may be your greatest asset. Since they already know and trust you, they are an invaluable source of information about the value of the things you do – as well as a resource for referrals. Engaging with them will enable you to speak to them about alternative offers, explore new value-added services, and make yourself invaluable to them and prospective clients.

BTW… Using remote conferencing and video chat apps will likely be the most effective. By keeping you face-to-face with them, these apps enable you to see body language and hear intonation. If these are unavailable for some reason, phone calls would probably be your next best choice, with email last on the list.

Education and learning are equally valuable – to your audience and to you. Learning about the challenges your clients are facing will create opportunities for you to offer increased, targeted support. The current situation could create life-altering changes that will need both short- and long-term solutions. Weekly meet-ups with clients, prospects, and team members should become the norm (at least temporarily). Click here for more on getting to know your clients

Unfortunately, while they may be able to articulate the issues that have cropped up in their lives or businesses, they may have no idea how to cope. That is where you can offer them the greatest value, by presenting practical, real-world solutions that will help them move beyond the needs of the moment, and focus on their future.

Adapting to the needs of a broad client base now includes adjusting to new challenges. Many entrepreneurs and business owners are busy brainstorming ideas for generating revenue in the face of COVID-19. You can use this adapting step as an exercise to develop and create new, more effective products and/or services.

This is where you will begin to employ some outside-the-box thinking, since new challenges are going to need new solutions. You may need to get some online training yourself, as a means to offer more services and greater value. You may want to offer special deals, temporary rate reductions, and freebies to generate interest. You may even want to reexamine your values in an effort to discover what really matters – to you and your clients – in these challenging times.

Developing new products and services will be critical to your success – This will likely include broadening your own skillset, as well as finding new ways to present them. This is especially true for service providers, like coaches for example. Develop new online offers; packages they can buy and consume online as they practice social distancing.

You will want to expand your services menu to use your entire skillset, as you figure out new and inventive ways to offer value to your clients. Admittedly, developing online training, webinars, and teleseminars takes considerable time and energy but, as a way to keep revenue flowing, these are going to be some of your best options right now. Plus, they are the safest, most effective way to continue supporting your clients.

Even if staying in touch with clients and team members on a regular basis involves nothing but sharing stories and commiserating, staying engaged has value. Being visible will keep you front-of-mind when things return to normal. Showing you care will build trust and loyalty, which will allow you to resume business more quickly once this pandemic ends.

Innovative Ideas to Generate Revenue in Times of Crisis

Granted this is all easier said than done so, here are a few examples we heard of recently that may just offer some inspiration:

Bakery survives – A local bakery has been all but forced to close due to the restrictions placed on businesses. While they can deliver and are available for pick up orders, their revenue has been slashed. Their solution was quick to develop, and now, they are offering online baking classes at a modest fee. This is keeping them engaged with their customer base, while offering a valuable service, and it has also allowed them to soften the blow of their lost revenue.
Masseuse manipulates business her model – A massage therapist we heard of has had to stop all direct interaction with her client list. Revenue has dropped to nearly zero. Her response is innovative and effective. She has begun creating a series of meditation videos that teaches self-massage techniques, as well as online classes for couples to learn massage for each other. While her fees too are modest, she has weathered the storm so far and is looking forward to reopening her studio as soon as possible.
Online coach tries pay as you go – Finally, we know of a weight loss coach who has had to adapt to a significant loss of revenue because many of her clients are either not working or are working much less. Their loss of income has forced them to stop working with her since they simply cant afford her fees. Knowing how important her work is to her clients, her response is to offer the same services to all existing clients but – she has set up an innovative “Pay What You Can” business model. Clients who’ve continued to work with her to lose or maintain their weight always pay her something, while many pay nearly as much as she normally charges.

These examples of outside-the-box thinking and marketing are enabling business owners to survive in spite of the restraints being placed on them. The fact that they refuse to simply let their businesses die is inspiring and we hope they help you to develop your own approach to staying active and productive.

And yes, we truly believe that optimism is key because we know that life and business WILL return to normal and, when it does, you want to be ready.

Are you looking for more client acquisition and lead generation tips, email marketing ideas, help with your online marketing strategy, or other marketing ideas? Get in touch with the YOMT Team today.

Why Social Media Marketing is a Waste of Time (And when it’s NOT!)

March 26, 2020 by Jama Leave a Comment

It should go without saying that the marketing experts who tell you that you MUST spend time and money on social media marketing are often those who sell their marketing support as a service. Then again, who else would be able to share such expertise?

(Interesting how that opening phrase is so often followed by the very thing that should go without saying, isn’t it?)

What’s the point of this? Well, as with pretty much everything, there are certain truths about human behavior that must be recognized – and there are others that are thought to be true but are not (for whatever reason).

Here are a few truths about social media marketing that you need to accept:

Social media marketing is NOT for everyone or for every business
Facebook is a great B2C platform and just OK for business to business
LinkedIn is a great B2B platform and not so good for business to consumer
YouTube should be thought of as a social media platform
Instagram is a great video marketing tool (by design)
Pinterest is just “Meh” for marketing
Twitter is a pit and using it will shrink your IQ!!!

It must also be said that any platform with a billion or more subscribers means you have a ton of competition and, as a result, you should not expect overnight success with your marketing strategy.

So, now that we’ve shot down the generally accepted idea that you will never be successful without a heavy focus on social media, let’s take a look at when you should use it.

When Social Media is Good for Marketing

As the saying goes in sports these days, the biggest ability is availability – and social media makes you available to your audience, while making them accessible to you.

In other words, using social media has value because you can promote your products, inform and educate potential clients, stay in touch with current customers, and reach out to your target audience from anywhere.

According to the website Review42.com, the average time spent on social media is 142 minutes per day in 2018 (up from 135 in 2017), and young people from 16-24 spend 3 hours a day on various social networks.

There simply is NO other marketing strategy that allows that kind of accessibility combined with such availability, enabling you to:

Build brand awareness
Increase engagement
Target your audience
Generate leads
Enhance your reputation as an expert

Even your business website does not offer this kind of access to such a vast audience though, of course, one of the goals of your social media campaign should be to get folks to visit your site “To Learn More!” or “Get Your FREE Gift!”.

Choosing Your Social Media Platform

Another fantastic feature of using social networks for marketing is that you have a somewhat captive audience. On average, the 2.4 billion Facebook users spend nearly 40 minutes on the site every day. With 133 million users in the US, LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Twitter.

With 1.5 billion monthly active users, 5 billion YouTube videos are viewed every day. Marketing to an audience that big can have huge advantages (while always remembering that is a ton of competition). Still, videos are powerful tools for building your rep and brand, while also boosting audience engagement.

While Twitter does have some appeal for marketing due to a large audience (330 million monthly active users, audience demographics can make a massive difference in how your message is received. For example, nearly two-thirds of Tweeters are aged 35-65, with a whopping 66% male and just 34% female. Further, by its nature (and character limit), the platform appeals to those with a short attention span. Do these data fit your ideal client profile?

Finally, Instagram and Pinterest appeal to a younger demographic. Instagram users spend nearly an hour on site every day, checking out up to 25 million business profiles. And, 50% of US millennials use Pinterest every month, while 80% of Pinterest users prefer to use the mobile app over the desktop version.

So yes, marketing on social media is a waste of time for some but, for others, it can be an invaluable tool. But… it obviously goes without saying (see what we did there? That’s known as a call-back. LOL), that the makeup of your target audience will determine how you develop and where you use a social media marketing strategy.

Are you looking for more social media marketing tips, help with lead generation, email marketing ideas, or other online marketing ideas? Get in touch with the YOMT Team today.

Grow Your Client Base – The L. E. A. D. Approach to Client Acquisition

March 12, 2020 by Jama Leave a Comment

We recently introduced the concept of holistic lead generation as part of developing our L. E. A. D. approach for helping you to grow your client base. Here’s a quick refresher on what it means to take the L. E. A. D. for client acquisition:

Listen – to your target audience and they will tell you how to convert them.
Educate – your audience on solutions to their pain points.
Adapt – to the needs of a broad client base.
Develop – services or products that meet specific needs.

After all, you surely know (and dislike) how it feels to be pigeonholed into some generalized category by other internet marketers. If you resent their lack of effort to appeal to your needs as a real person, your prospects have every right to feel the same.

Holistic Marketing Example

(Yeah, we can, and get to, use “holistic” to describe just about anything these days. Thank you online coaching industry!!! LOL)

A great example of this approach is the way some grocery chains are marketing themselves. One chain in Rocky Mountain Region named King Soopers (owned by Kroger), regularly mails packages of coupons to customers who use their “Sooper Card”. However, these coupon packages are not for random products. Oh no, they are targeted to some of the specific products each card holder buys. In other words, if your family prefers Coke – you will not receive coupons for Pepsi. (And vice versa.)

This is a fantastic way to build customer loyalty, because it shows a concern for each individual’s wants and needs. Even better – the entire process can be fully automated. (Click here to see how we can help.)

Lead Generation Strategy

If you know anything about us here at YOMT, you know we believe in taking a strategic approach to everything: website development, online marketing, direct marketing, email marketing, what have you. The same is true for generating leads and the reason for that is simple – people expect more today!

And, you know what? They should! After all, they invite you into their homes, offices, and lives every day – virtually. Respecting that matters and, if you hope to be successful at finding new clients, you must always keep that top of mind.

So, with the foundation of your strategic L. E. A. D. approach in place, what should you focus on next?

Avoid stereotypes about your target audience – Just like in the example above, it is NOT the case that everyone prefers Coke to Pepsi. If all you have to offer is Coke(ish), then you’d best focus your strategy on those who love that soft drink and STOP trying to market to Pepsi lovers!
Stay away from generalizations about their wants and needs – As we mentioned in a post about creating opt-in gifts, nutrition coaches must always be conscious of the fact that not all prospects who mention weight loss as a goal are actually that narrowly focused. Many will instead be more interested in weight maintenance or healthy eating, which require a different set of standards for success – and for attracting and marketing to them.
Don’t offer superficial solutions for their pain points – It turns out, not every person who has trouble reaching goals is bad at setting them. No, some have time management issues, while others have problems with focusing or with setting priorities. Still others simply take on too many responsibilities and find themselves unable meet their self-inflicted demands. Each of these people will be seeking different solutions, which means you must offer a variety approaches for coping and improving their ability to achieve their goals.

Truly, there are no one-size-fits all solutions for anything these days!

Make a Conscious Commitment to Serving Your Clients

Your commitment to satisfying the needs of your clients – of making them your only priority – is what will determine not only your long-term business success, but also the short-term results of your client acquisition strategy. This means your mindset must also be in the right place, and we have a few tips for helping with that.

Do NOT offer solutions prematurely – Never assume you know what your prospects need before they tell you. Until you know what they consider their individual pain points or needs, you do them and yourself a disservice by offering advice before they are ready to receive it.
Practice active listening for clues to closing – Far too many sales people (and coaches) forget to listen. The most successful sales people will tell you that every client they work with literally tells them how to close the deal, if only they listen actively.
It’s all about them – Got invoices to pay; inventory to get rid of; sub-contractors to keep busy so you don’t lose them? So what! This is not about you – ever! All they really want is to find someone to hear them before offering any sort of advice, coaching, or training. (Yeah, they really just want you to shut up and listen to them.)

In our next post in this series on our L. E. A. D. approach to client acquisition, we’ll be diving a little deeper into more of the practical steps you can take to effectively generate leads for your business. Stay tuned!

Are we helping you with these posts on lead generation? Can you see us making progress toward a goal that will truly help you create and implement a client acquisition strategy? We would love your feedback so please, feel free to comment below.

Are you looking for more lead generation tips, email marketing ideas, help with your online marketing strategy, or other marketing ideas? Get in touch with the YOMT Team today.

Take the L. E. A. D. – With Holistic Lead Generation

February 27, 2020 by Jama Leave a Comment

Generating leads is not rocket science (unless you’re an astrophysicist with a website, of course). No, the truth is, you can attract potential clients or customers through holistic lead generation, which is a simple matter of being able to:

Listen – to your target audience and they will tell you how to convert them.
Educate – your audience on solutions to their pain points.
Adapt – to the needs of a broad client base.
Develop – services or products that meet specific needs.

We hope this can be seen as the beginning of a holistic approach to generating solid prospects for your business. What we mean by this is a fully integrated, well-conceived approach that addresses the needs of your target audience.

WTH is Holistic Lead Generation?

Yeah, we figured that would be the first question! LOL

By now, you’ve no doubt seen and heard the word holistic used in a variety of ways and applied to things that may make little sense. Yet, the approach is valid even in the terms we’re discussing today; this is, in a way that takes the parts of a process or approach and works them inexplicably into the whole.

Stated simply… Holistic means encompassing the whole of a thing, and not just the part(s).

For example, holistic medicine is characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.

Therefore, holistic lead generation targets prospective clients as a complete person; a real individual with real needs and wants that you can satisfy in unique ways. This requires that you not present them with platitudes and simplistic “solutions” to their pain points but, rather, offer practical answers to their most difficult questions and problems.

So, how do you use the L. E. A. D. approach?

Needless to say, this requires active listening on your part; a serious and conscious effort to grasp the most important issues your prospects face. You must then clarify and quantify the steps required to resolve their issues in a positive way. This is done through education, a goal-oriented approach to resolution.

A creative approach to finding solutions will be needed because, despite any commonality among prospects, they are all individuals and you will need to adapt to offer customized solutions. Finally, the need for individualized results will require that your programs evolve with every client, developing them over time based on theirs, and your own, experiences.

Easier Said Than Done?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but… Yep!

This is very likely where you are going to need help – with implementation. While we hope that all of the above is illuminating and helpful; frankly, it’s a bit abstract. We understand how it may leave you scratching your head and wondering how to use it to create more leads and conversions.

This type of holistic lead generation program is nothing new for us (as evidenced by our Home page). What is new though, is the L. E. A. D. approach we are developing as a way to help YOU create a more effective lead generation campaign. So, stay tuned for more, ‘cause it’s definitely coming!