Category Archives: Customers

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode 513 – Why Does Reading Builds Your Subject Matter Expert Status?

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Grab my free guide: The 5 C’s of the Infinity Marketing Machine

“Read more, learn more, invest in yourself.”

Monday: Subject Matter Expert

The first “C” of the Infinity Marketing Machine is designed to build your credibility with your customers.  Our goal is to turn customers into a tribe that knows, likes, and trusts you.

It’s an important “C” that is often overlooked.  But, just like a face to face encounter can leave you a tad uneasy if you sense something is shady about the person you talk to… so too can a visit to your website if the person, business, or product seems shady.

The way to less “shady” yourself is to promote the things that make you reputable!

Often this is honors, awards, education, titles… but sometimes it’s as simple as sharing your knowledge.

Today’s inspiration goes miles for building your Subject Matter Expertise.  You must be willing to invest in yourself… this can be as simple as reading trade magazines.  However, it should not be a chore… if it is a chore, you may possibly be in the wrong industry.

Reading is the first aspect… writing and speaking is the next.  You must share your knowledge.

This can be in the form of your blog posts, posts on Facebook, pages on your website, or even the descriptions of your products and services.

There are many ways your expertise is highlighted.  This is why it’s so important to stay current with the latest trends and information.

So the next time someone remarks on how you’re reading a magazine… just tell them you’re building your subject matter expertise!   It’s true… keep current.

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode “Content & Consistency”!

PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! Begin with my quick and simple guide to understanding the 5C’s of the Infinity Marketing Machine.  I call it #doinginfinity.  Click Here and I’ll email you a FREE download.

Infinitypreneur.com

 

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

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ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode #512 – Volunteer Your Space

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If you’re looking for a better way to “social media” at your business… grab your free copy of my guide #doinginfinity.

Saturday: Try This

It’s important to be a good citizen in your community… but it does get overwhelming with the constant asking for donations.

You want to help… but at a certain point you do have to look out for your business.

So what can you do?

Offer your space!  I don’t mean your physical space in your building…

Is there a way you can put a sticker on your box or a flier in your bag… how about a flier in a bill you send out.  There a lots of ways you can help spread the word!

Today I was picking up a pizza and the top of their box were stickers for two upcoming up events… one is a free movie sponsored by the fire department and the other is a fundraiser for teens.

Both are a great way to help out the organization.  You can say “yes” without hurting your own finances, and you share with your tribe a useful way they can take part in something fun, too!

Try This!

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode “Week in Review”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! Begin with my quick and simple guide to understanding the 5C’s of the Infinity Marketing Machine.  I call it #doinginfinity.  Click Here and I’ll email you a FREE download.

Infinitypreneur.com

 

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode #510 – Your Tribe Is Your Best Sales Team.

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“Your client satisfaction is a direct reflection of your client experience.”

Thursday: Infinity Customers

You’ve heard this before, but I’m going to use it as the topic for today.  Collect reviews.

Our marina just “iced over” last Saturday, that means the lake froze.  So it’s kind of a depressing 6 months until the ice melts.  Well… depressing if you hate snow, cold, frozen, everything!  Those that like winter are pretty excited.

They are odd. 🙂

We are often asked, “what do you do at a marina in the winter?” Well… we’re actually really busy.  We are wrapping up the season by making sure that the boats are winterized… but the fun thing is that we are gearing up for summer!

This starts in January (haha) well, it kind of does, the Boat Show is in January and that gets people excited for the upcoming season.  And that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re getting some of our promotional materials ready to go!

Last year we used Shutterfly to make a very nice picture book.  So there’s tip one for today, make a photo book!  It’s a great way to have something for people to flip through at a trade show.

However, last week we had a fun idea.

Let’s see if we can get a Testimonial from someone… anyone.  Today we started reading the words of our customers.

OH MY.  It’s is really fun to read the wonderful things they have said about our staff, services, and facilities.

I’m going to highly recommend this!  This is the first “real” time we’ve ever tried to get testimonials… In addition to words, the customers have submitted photos.  It’s making this book come to life!

Sure, it’s nice to see photos of the boats.  But, when you read the customers stories and see their photos, wow. We are so thankful that they took the time to share these wonderful memories.

So that’s tip two… actively seek the help of your current customers, which should be your tribe, to help you explain the benefit of your offerings.

Be specific.  Know what you are looking for before you ask.

If you are collecting information for a specific product/service, ask the customers with the most first hand knowledge.  Send them an email or pick up the phone and call them. But do not do a generic or blanket request.  You are asking for targeted information and help. Your tribe will help, but be specific and grateful.

You will love the results.

 

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode on “Try This”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! Begin with my quick and simple guide to understanding the 5C’s of the Infinity Marketing Machine.  I call it #doinginfinity.  Click Here and I’ll email you a FREE download.

Infinitypreneur.com

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode #507 – What Does Driving a Barge Have To Do With Your Content Marketing Plan?

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“Content marketing is great for SEO but also for building credibility.”

Monday: Credibility (Subject Matter Expert)

Today the inspiration talks about content marketing and how it’s great for SEO – but the at the end we get a hook on “building credibility”.

Let’s chat about Credibility.   I pick Mondays because I like to ease into the week by talking about ourselves!  haha  Sometimes that’s hard.

Here’s the deal.

The sooner you get out of your own way, the better!  And I’m going to use a real world example from last week.

The bulk of my “real world” experience comes from our family marina.  Well… last week my dad had a full knee replacement.  I know, ouch.  He’s doing well.  But while he’s recovering, I’m the point person for all things going on at the marina.

It’s now November, in Minnesota, and should be “calm”.  We just got all of the boats out and we’re waiting for the lake to freeze.   On Halloween we closed the gas dock for the summer, just over 10 days ago.

Historically the lake freezes mid to lake November, usually around Thanksgiving, two years ago it was the day before Christmas, but that was really late.

OK, so imagine my surprise when the owner of the barge company came in last week on Tuesday and said he needs to bring the barge over on Thursday or Friday because the lake is going to freeze by the end of the week!

The original plan was to bring it over at Thanksgiving.

But this meant we needed to get part of the dock pulled in preparation for the barge.

Again, at this point 6 days earlier we were still pumping gas, now I’m being told the lake is going to freeze.

hummmmmmmmmm…

This is why you need to be an expert and you need to rely on experts!

This seemed so out of the realm of possibilities to me, then again, we do not measure lake temperature.  They do.

I needed to stop. Think. Process. AND realize, they’re the expert.

Now… look at these two photos.

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Thursday Afternoon – water!

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Saturday Morning – ice!  #experts

Do you have this expert status command with your clients?  When you speak, will they do what I did with the barge company…?

Will your customers:
Stop.
Think.
Process.
AND realize that you are an expert?

This is why you need to position yourself ONLINE as a subject matter expert in your field.  You need to become the “go to” person/expert/business!

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode “Week in Review”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! start here! 

img_5957

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode 505 – Making Your Customer Wait is a Good Thing.

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It’s what you look forward to that best drives you forward. – Tony Curl

Friday: Big Money Small Change

I was looking through my phone for today’s topic for small changes you can implement now at your business.

The biggest thing????

Anticipation.

Did you ever have an old Polaroid camera… you’d snap the photo and then put the photo on the counter and wait… wait… wait and after about 90 seconds you could see your image?!?  There was something magical about the waiting.

This type of waiting is a good thing… it makes you bond with the “thing”.  (that’s my technical term) haha.

But it’s true.  You spend your time waiting so you’ve already invested a piece of you in the process.

Therefore, build anticipation with everything you do.  It’s going to help build loyalty.  I like to say “it’s part of the show” — now, this may seem difficult, but it can be very simple.

Last year before the Boat Show started I needed to make an “in person” stop to pay for the weekly parking permit.  The arena was alive with activity… I found the location of our booth space and took a picture, then marked up the photo with “Our Booth #1418 Coming Soon”

Our customers, along with most Minnesotans fighting cabin fever, love to visit the boat show and think of summer.

But it’s more fun to see the show before it’s set up, it’s a “behind the scenes” view… it’s a great way to connect on your Facebook page… and it builds anticipation!

You can do this when a new shipment of products arrive, just snap a picture of the shipping containers and a “guess what arrived” note.

These things are so simple, and they go a long way toward building loyalty!

One final example is a brand new iPhone.

Do you think Apple is incompetent that their box opens so slow?  OR, brilliant because it drives you nutz!  You just bought a cool new phone and you really want to see it, but it takes an extra 9 seconds for the bottom and top of the box to separate.

New Phone Day is the BEST DAY EVER!

So look to ways to build anticipation, you have them, so might as well use them!

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode on “Try This”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! start here! 

Infinitypreneur.com

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode 504 – Quit Advertising, Throw A Party Instead.

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“Inviting people into your home is about them, and not you. . . “

When I’m creating marketing ideas the easy way to come up with the best ideas is to consider the customer as a guest.

Sometimes this is a tough leap to make… depending on your crowd… but when you visualize the customer in your house you get a completely different perspective on how to interact with them.

For example… if you invite someone to your home, and they show up, you invite them in.  I mean how rude would it be to leave them on the porch?!

Same for your business.  Every piece of advertising you create is an invitation to visit your “home” a.k.a. your business.

That means… when they show up, treat them well!  Make sure your store/or office front is clean, welcoming, and that you are happy to see them!

Remember, you INVITED them.

See the difference?  If you look at marketing/advertising as your way to INVITE people it’s completely different from placing an ad or writing a post.

I’ve spent a lot of time on this particular topic… because I really, really like it.  I created a mini-series.  The first of a three part series on the way to becoming a tribeologist!

Yes… how cool is that.

We start with the marketing party system, move to the mini-infinity, then complete pre-tribe.  These three things are going to transform your business, easily, into it’s own Infinity Marketing Machine – based on the concept of building a loyal tribe that knows, likes, and trusts you!

But it all starts with an invitation to your party.  The marketing that brings them in the door.

If you want to learn more… just click here.

Let’s throw a party and create our tribe!

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode on “Big Money Small Change”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! start here! 

Infinitypreneur.com

 

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Week in Review – Episodes #489 to #494

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In case you missed an Episode of the Infinity Marketing Machine…  Here are the links to this weeks stories!

Remember:  Learn It. Do It. Profit.

 

Monday – Subject Matter Expert – Episode #489 – Third Party Proof is the Online Substitution for First Hand Interaction

Tuesday – Content & Consistency – Episode #490 – Four for One Please

Wednesday – Midweek Motivation – Episode #491 – Another 10 Minutes?

Thursday – Infinity Customer – Episode #492 – Would You SnapChat with a 90 Year Old?

Friday – Big Money – Episode #493 – Ho HO Whole Lot of Money

Saturday – Try This! – Episode #494 – Bond With Your Area

Thanks so much for your interest in my ideas – to get more info, follow me… also if you like what you’re reading… I’d love to have you join me here:  start here! 

You can also grab my free app: SmallBusinessClubApp.com

Thanks!

#doinginfinity

Big Money Small Change Success
Character + Content/Consistency + Goals/Motivation + Customers =
Infinity Marketing Machine

Would you do me a favor and join my “week in review” newsletter, that way, I’ll also be able to keep you posted on my progress of upcoming books, speaking events, etc…

Tomorrow… come back for this week’s episode on “Subject Matter Expert”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! start here!

Infinitypreneur.com

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode 492 – Would You SnapChat with a 90 Year Old?

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“Communication is at the heart of e-commerce and community.” -Meg Whitman

Thursday: Infinity Customers

At our marina we have six generations of customers.  Now, we’ve only been in business 58 years so how can we have six generations of customers?

It means we have customers from age 8 to 90+!  Sometimes we have all of them on the same day.  We have our Greatest Generation, Lost Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennial, iGen, and the unnamed newest generation… oops, guess that might be 7 generations!

Sometimes our youngest customers come in on a jet ski and buy candy while our slip or rental customers are much much older.

Why does this matter?

Here’s why… I’m in my 40s and the big thing growing up was talking on the phone.  For about the last 10 years texting has been the big deal.  Watch any teen/20 something and you’ll see just how fast they can text… some can still do it on a “flip phone”!  However, these same people have really really bad phone skills.

Don’t even try to talk to some of them in person… it is like talking to a space alien!

Back to my previous question, why does this matter?

It matters because to create an Infinity Customer you must be able to communicate.  This is why today’s inspiration is so awesome, and simple.  Communication is the heart of ecommerce AND community.  It’s not coding… it’s communication.  It’s not one or the other… it’s both.  To build your community and build your ecommerce you must COMMUNICATE.

Now… to communicate with 6 (or 7) generations you need to figure out how they communicate.  It would be rare for a 90 year old to use Snap Chat, but it would also be rare to find a teenager who prefers to receive a phone call.

I’m mentioning this because earlier this week one of my crew members was trying to contact area businesses.  She visited their websites.  She found 5 that did not list an email address.

My pet peeve used to be when you visited a business website and found an email with a  gmail or yahoo domain.  It’s so easy to get a custom domain for email that it’s a “must do” – – but now it appears to be a trend to fail to list an email at all on a website!

Remember today’s inspiration… communication is key… COMMUNICATION.

Be willing to communicate how your customer wants to communicate, not how you want to.  This is such a fundamental building block that I almost didn’t use it as a blog topic, but then I thought, “if 5 of 20 on our list did not have an email on their website… maybe my tribe needs a friendly reminder, too”

Include an email on your website. Its a polite courtesy for your customers, soon to be tribe members.

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode on “Big Money Small Change”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! start here! 

Infinitypreneur.com

 

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode 486 – Will Knows Best!

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“Don’t chase people. Instead, be yourself. Do your own thing and work hard. The right people – those that really belong in your life – will come to you and stay.” Will Smith

Thursday: Infinity Customer

Question:  What’s the best way to create a tribe of Infinity Customers?

Answer: Today’s Inspiration.

1) Don’t chase people.
2) Be Yourself.
3) Do your own thing.
4) Work Hard.
RESULT: The “right” people will those that REALLY belong in your life (tribe) will come to you and stay!

Thank you Will Smith!

People are attracted TO you.  Otherwise you become the “close talker” at the party that stuffs your business card in their pocket… you end up chasing them.  (and they run faster away from you… haha)

You want to attract people.  You want to attract customers.  You do this by being yourself and doing your own thing.  I love that you are here to read my post.  But if it annoys you that I write short paragraphs… use dot dot dot’s… and write conversation style.  Eventually, I’ll annoy you.

However… If you like my style, you’ll hang out, come back, and stay for a long time.

To transform a customer into an Infinity Customer. You need to make them want to stay.  This is accomplished by respecting them with information they desire that provides them insight in to YOU and makes them know, like, and trust you.

When this happens – they’ll stick around!  That’s the goal, create a tribe that wants to do business with you.

Let’s learn from Will!

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode on “Big Money Small Change”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! start here! 

Infinitypreneur.com

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review

ProfitCenterCoach.com – Episode #474 – Create Your Own Closed Market of Customers

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“Chase your Customer, not your Competition.”

Thursday: Infinity Customer

How do you chase something you can’t find?  We’re quickly approaching hunting season.  In Minnesota this is a big deal. We have duck season, deer, and a bunch others… I’m not a hunter but it’s big.

If you’re hunting… you clearly go where your animal is… whether it’s an open field, in a marsh, or in the woods, your animal has a habitat.  It makes sense to go hang out where they are.

Well… we in advertising we use to have a pretty easy time finding our field, marsh, or woods.  It was easy to place an ad in the Sunday paper, the phone book, or on the radio.

But then the internet happened.

Now we could place an ad on many websites, our own website, or even in the newspaper.  It’s very noisy and there are tons of places to put an ad.  When we actually pay money for an ad it’s likely that our competitors are doing the same thing.

Wouldn’t it be better to have a closed market where we’re the only ad?

YES!

The Infinity Marketing Machine allows us to create our own closed market!  We have a great group of customers in a location we can find them!  We communicate with them, build trust, and increase sales.

It puts us into a position of strength.  We no longer are reactive to what our competition is doing and instead gives us the opportunity to bond with our customers.

#doinginfinity

Tomorrow… come back for my episode on “Big Money Small Change”!
PS:  Like my vibe? I want you to join my tribe! start here! 

 

Infinity Marketing Machine Daily Topics:
Monday – Character (Subject Matter Expert)
Tuesday – Content & Consistency
Wednesday – Midweek Motivation
Thursday – Infinity Customers
Friday – Big Money
Saturday – Try This!
Sunday – Week in Review