By Dawn Josephson    

Most salespeople have great ideas, but when it comes to putting those ideas on paper for their prospects, they ramble on for pages and quickly lose their readers’ interest.

But with the proliferation of e-mail and sales-oriented web sites, writing skills are of paramount importance in today’s business landscape. In fact, when your written documents get to the point quickly and effectively, you will turn more prospects into clients, thus increasing your bottom line.

Here are the five rules of written sales communications that all salespeople need to know. Master them and watch your sales figures soar.

1. Know the specifics of your audience. Just as you would tailor your message depending on whether it was going to employees versus prospects, you also need to tailor your message to your clients’ demographics.

For example, if you’re writing promotional materials for your product or service, and the majority of the people who do business with you are older, well-established professionals, you’ll want to highlight the product or service’s safety features, reliability record, or guarantee. However, if your main clientele is primarily younger Gen Y types, you’ll want to emphasize your product or service’s trendy image, quick results, or easy to use and understand features.

Do a survey of your most loyal customers to determine which demographic gives you the most business. Also, keep track of those who visit or call your business, even if they don’t buy from you. Really get to know who walks through your doors, find out what’s important to them, and then tailor your message appropriately.

2. Organize your material according to the way your reader thinks about the subject. Not everyone thinks like you. So, just because you want your message to be organized one way does not mean your customers would have it that way.

For example, one company created a free informational booklet about its product and organized it so that the product’s most popular features appeared first. When customers still asked questions that were clearly answered in the text, the company was stumped. Why weren’t its customers reading the booklet?

After interviewing some of their customers, company managers discovered that their customers found the booklet’s organization confusing; they wanted to see the features explained alphabetically, not in the order of most popular.

The better you know who your clientele is, the better you can organize your information to meet their needs. Get inside their heads and discover how they think about your product. Do they typically want to know bottom line price first, and then want to know the features and benefits? Do they tend to think testimonials are more important than facts? When you understand how your customers think about your product, you can more easily present your information in a way that’s logical to them.

3. Write to express, not to impress. The more successful a salesperson is, the more often he or she thinks that big words and long documents impress people. In reality, just the opposite is true. People who try to write with the hope of impressing others with their knowledge accomplish only one thing—they lose the reader!

Examine each marketing piece you write and distill its core message or purpose down to one or two sentence. If you can’t do that, then your piece is not focused. If that’s the case, then go back to each paragraph within the piece and try to condense each down to one or two sentences. String those new sentences together, and then pinpoint your marketing piece’s purposes. That’s the core message you want to express! Rewrite the piece with the core message in mind, using common, everyday language. Remember: True genius happens when you can explain your idea in such a way that a five-year-old child can understand it.

4. In messages containing both good and bad news, give the bad news first. At some point, every salesperson will have to deliver bad news to a customer. Whether a particular feature isn’t available in their favorite product or the customer’s interest rate will be higher than expected, occasional bad news is a fact of life. Whenever you communicate bad news in writing, state it first, and then counter it with a bit of good news.

For example, in a follow-up email to a prospect you could write, “After checking with our warehouse, I discovered that the Widget 2000 doesn’t come in red. It does, however, come in the larger size you requested and you can have it delivered by Friday.” By ending with the good news, you take the sting off the bad news and leave your reader with a positive image.

5. Write colloquially when appropriate. People like to read documents that sound as if the message is coming from a real person, not a formally trained Ivy League scholar. If you write too formally, you’ll quickly lose your reader. Have you ever reread your own writing and said, “It sounds all wrong!”? That’s because the tone of your writing was likely wrong. Determining your tone is important, because a follow-up letter should not have the same tone as web copy.

Most salespeople try to use an excessively formal tone in all their writing as a way to show their expertise. But realize that excessive formality often comes from a writer who is insecure with his or her authority. By using an overly formal tone—complete with many large words, long sentences, and technical terms—the writer attempts to mask his or her insecurities. Most prospects don’t want to do business with someone who is insecure, so keep the tone of your writing colloquial and approachable.

The more effectively you write, the more business you’ll gain. So no matter what you’re writing—whether it’s a sales letter or a brochure—always keep the five rules for effective written sales communication in mind. Your ability to write clearly and succinctly will make your sales pieces stand out and will enable you to win the deal.

Dawn Josephson, the Master Writing Coach (www.masterwritingcoach.com) has been helping business leaders write better to earn more since 1998. She is the author of Write It Right: The Ground Rules for Self-Editing Like the Pros and Putting It On Paper: The Ground Rules for Creating Promotional Pieces that Sell Books. Contact her at dawn@masterwritingcoach.com].[/private

“Networking is a process, not an event,” says John Bryan, the newly appointed Director Of Chamber Councils for the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. “A process is a series of steps that are done the same way every time. When you use a process, you can measure results and make improvements to become more effective,” he says. And when you network, you reap the benefits of connecting with others in new business relationships, learning new things so you can make referrals, and tapping into the resources of literally thousands of individuals who are in the networks of the people you meet.

Bryan rallied a capacity group of 50 Knowledge Is Power participants who first toured the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and learned about opportunities to support the Jaguars and then convened for the breakfast meeting.

Bryan, the CEO of Improve! Corporate Workshops, emphasized that the networking process requires taking four steps:

1. Planning,

2. Attending,

3. Following-up, and

4. Improving.

• Planning. Networking can—and should—take place anywhere you go, says Bryan—at meetings, in seminars, at luncheons, at kids’ sporting events, even online. In Jacksonville alone, you could attend hundreds of networking events each week. But to get the most “bang for your buck,” you should plan your networking events.

The first, most critical step in planning your networking is to assess your customers. Who are they? Who are their customers (who do they do business with?) And where do they congregate? Planning starts by answering six questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how. “The most important of these questions is who and where. Once you figure out the who,” says Bryan, “the rest of the questions become easier.” For example, he recommended clicking into Jacksonville.com and pouring over the current and recently published business calendars. “You will find all kinds of events where your customers congregate and you can network,” he said.

• Attend. “Just do it!” People have good intentions about networking, but often they don’t show up at events, says Bryan. “Why? Because they are afraid. Fear of failure keeps them from doing what they know they should do.

A way to defeat the fear? “On the way to you next networking event,” he recommends, “think of a little failure you have had and then cheer about it—out loud! By the time you get to the event, you are going to feel great. All of these fears will be behind you.”

Then, once you arrive at the event, all you have to do is say something brilliant and avoid some pitfalls. The key to doing this? Prepare and use an effective elevator speech. (See sidebar, “How to develop a great elevator speech.”)

• Follow up. Doing follow up is easier today than it was “ages ago,” says Bryan. “Back then, to follow up you had to send a handwritten note or call on someone. Now, you can e-mail, text, or use social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn.” At the same time, however, he cautioned not to disregard the old-fashioned methods of following up. Because a handwritten note is unexpected, for example, it can make you stand out.

• Improve. A key step in the networking process is improvement. You can’t improve unless you keep track of your activities, stresses Bryan. Track where you go, how many leads you capture at each networking event, how many messages you send out to the leads, and other interactions you have with your contacts. Finally, assess if you captured any business. “This can take time,” he says, “maybe six months or more.”

Your analysis should tell you which events are the best and most productive. Focus on those that provide the best results and eliminate those that are ineffective.

John Bryan presented the networking workshop to participants in the monthly Knowledge Is Power breakfast workshops of the Jacksonville Small Business Advantage. The workshop followed a tour of the press box, locker room, and stadium of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

SIDEBAR 1

Following up with e-mail

Following up is a critical step in the networking process, says Bryan, and one of the easiest ways to follow up is to e-mail the individuals whose business cards you collect at events. Enter the contact information into a database (either manually or scan it in, using a card scanner). Then send an e-mail.

Some rules you should keep in mind:

1. Keep the e-mail short. No one reads a long message.

2. Create an impactful subject line.

3. Use a businesslike e-mail address.

4. Call after you send the e-mail—especially if you are sending some requested information.

5. Include an opt-out clause if you put the address into a mass-mailing folder. (Abide by CAN-SPAM rules. See “E-mail marketing: Know CAN-SPAM rules.”)

SIDEBAR 2

How to develop a great elevator speech

An elevator speech is the key to effective networking. It is your 30-second “first impression” to new contacts. You should develop different elevator speeches for different events; the speech will vary according to the kind of individuals with whom you are networking.

A brilliant elevator speech has four elements, says Bryan, who says he borrowed the concepts from Michele and Pat McManamon of Sandler Sales Institute North Florida, and Doug Wilder of Wilder Business Success.

1. Your name and company;

2. The kind of customers you work with,  and why they were feeling bad (emotion) before they met you;

3. An emotional response about why your customers love you and how your product helps them, and

4. How your new contact can get involved.

Bryan gave an example of one of his elevator speeches:

1. I am John Bryan, director of the Chamber Councils of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.

2. I work with people who WERE FRUSTRATED by their business-promotion results.

3. Now they LOVE the dozens of networking and business-promotion opportunities they get every month from the Chamber Councils.

4. Do you know people who need more and better promotional opportunities? Let’s talk.

SIDEBAR 3

Do’s and don’ts of effective networking

To give a great 30-second elevator speech, you have to abide by a few rules:

1. Do wear a name badge and make sure you pin it on the right side of your chest.

2. Do stand in an open-group; that is, don’t stand face-to-face. Stand at an angle so others can easily get included without interrupting.

3. Do take charge and introduce people to each other.

4. Do slow down. Networking isn’t the place to talk fast.

5. Don’t “pounce and feed.” Talk with your new networking prospect a few minutes, then move on.

6. Don’t “spray and pray.” That is, don’t try to tell your new contact everything about yourself, your company, and your products or services. Listen more than you talk so you understand their needs and can discuss your product only in terms of how it fits their needs.

By Candace Moody

Almost every company has a rulebook— a set of policies and procedures that help the company keep employees’ behavior between the lines. HR managers generally agree that workers need direction on how to dress and how to behave. They also agree that how happily your employees comply with your policies may be a function of when they were born.

For the first time in history, as many as four generations may work side by side in the workplace, thanks to longer life spans and retirement plans that have been delayed by the economic downtown. Those four generations are the “matures,” the “baby boomers,” “generation X,” and the “millennials.”

Born between 1930 and 1945, the matures comprise a small part of the current workforce (less than 10%). Although small in numbers, they bring a strong, traditional work ethic and depression-era values to the workplace. At 64, the youngest members of this generation still feel that they have several productive years of work ahead of them. They may also be owners or founders of the companies they work in, making their personal values one of the most influential factors in the business.

At 73 million strong in the United States, baby boomers have been a dominant generation since they were born—between 1946 and 1964. They currently comprise about 44% of the workforce. Next in line are the gen Xers (generation X). Born between 1965 and 1980, these workers are the independent “latchkey” kids, sandwiched between two enormous cohorts. Numbering just 46 million and 29% of the workforce, generation X is dwarfed by the boomers and the millennials.

This last group was born after 1980 and started coming of age in 2000. They number around 80 million and currently make up 15% of the workforce. Their numbers will grow as they continue to graduate and go to work, however.

This unprecedented combination of generations in the workplace creates a new diversity dynamic, and may make developing policy a real challenge. Each of the generations responds to rules and constraints differently, and each responds to different incentives and rewards.

Generation issues

Anna Lopez Brosche, CPA, runs operations at Ennis Pellum & Associates, a public accounting firm located on Jacksonville’s south side. Its workforce of 35 is well-balanced by age; workers range from 24 to 60 years old, with the founder and partners at the older end of the spectrum. Brosche attributes the balance to a policy of recruiting young talent from college and providing a supportive work environment for long retention of young workers.

Brosche is 37, but says she embraces traditional values and identifies more with baby boomers, partly due to her immigrant family upbringing. “As a family, we believe strongly that whatever you have, you earned through hard work,” she says.

Part of Ennis Pellum’s approach to a supportive work environment is a commitment to more flexible schedules. Unlike many accounting firms, Ennis Pellum does not enforce mandatory weekend hours during tax season. Employees who can get work done from home are permitted to do so. Brosche says that the real challenge with flexible hours is not results, but expectations: Baby boomers are proud of thriving under long hours and brutal deadlines. “And for baby boomers, ‘working’ means being at the office,” she says. “That’s not always the case with our younger workers. We’ve had some miscommunication because the boomers don’t think they should have to explain terms or be very specific about deadlines. I sometimes have to translate and mediate to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Tina Wirth

Tina Wirth, director of education at the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, at 38, is typical of the generation X in her attitude toward policies in general. “Whenever I see a new policy come out, my first instinct is to be skeptical,” she says. “I look at policies to see if they make sense to me—if I can figure out why it’s needed. If I can’t see the point, compliance is much harder for me.”

Policies that promote a healthy work-life balance hold a real attraction for Wirth and many of her generation. She once worked for a company that insisted on a 7:30 a.m. report time, even if you’d worked until 10:00 the night before. “I hated that I had to ask permission— and take vacation time— to come in an hour later the next day,” she said.

Despite that experience, Wirth says she still struggles with the whole “face time” issue at work; she, like many X-ers, believes that you should be judged at work by the results you produce, and not how much time you spend at the office. “But even if I’ve already put in a 40-hour week, I feel weird about leaving the office early on Friday afternoon. I’d hate to be considered a slacker.”

Jayne Jett

Jayne Jett directs HR for Parc Management, a Jacksonville-based company that manages 25 theme parks and attractions throughout the United States. During the summer peak season, the company employs up to 8,000 workers, and Jett estimates that 70% of the seasonal workers are under 25.

Jett says that she has no trouble creating and implementing policies for workers that are for the most part, just beginning their careers. But, she emphasizes why those policies are needed.

“These workers need a ‘why’ to go with the ‘what’,” she says. “They consider providing a reason a sign of respect.” Jett says that she doesn’t have trouble with providing the ‘why’ on most of the company policies. “We’re focused on safety. We limit access to texting and phones because our workers are dealing with large and dangerous machinery [roller coasters and rides] and need to be alert.

“Our dress code, which prohibits things like large dangling earrings, is mostly about safety around equipment. We do prohibit out-of mainstream body art like tattoos on the face or offensive messages because our customer base is very mainstream. Our workers understand that.”

Jett says that she manages to promote attendance and punctuality by emphasizing to workers that when they are late, they are letting their team members down by not showing up.

Gary Desjardins

Gary Desjardins, 46, runs The Little Gym in Jacksonville, one of two franchised locations in Northeast Florida. The company runs programs for children from four months to 12 years old, helping them build physical and cognitive skills through activities including martial arts and gymnastics.

Desjardins manages 10 employees ages 18–29, and finds that his young workers share his strong work ethic. He says that his 20-something workers are very confident  and want plenty of autonomy; “But if you can manage that, they do a great job for you.” Desjardins does admit to more challenges with his youngest workers— those 18–22 years old. “They’re connected all the time to a vast network of online friends—they’re constantly reaching for those cell phones,” he says. He invests extra time in team-building exercises, because these very young workers seem to need help in bonding with their co-workers—“relating face-to-face,” as he puts it. He manages around that, too. “When I have something really important to say as the boss, I text it.”

Candace Moody is a contributing editor to Jacksonville Advantage. She can be contacted at CTMoody@comcast.net.

Sidebar

What works for each generation?

• Matures. They want to be valued for their loyal and reliable service. Compliant with rules and regulations, they prefer face-to-face communication and consistent application of rules. They also want to be recognized for their experience and commitment to quality work rather than speedy results.

• Baby boomers. These employees work well with systems and processes, and they thrive on pay for performance incentives and achievement-based promotions. They value face time with the boss and care about perceived status symbols, such as titles and corner offices. Many are discovering the value of flexible schedules as they seek to extend their careers and still make time for leisure activities.

• Generation X: This generation values work–life balance as well as autonomy. They want to be treated like entrepreneurs within the company. Bosses get the best results from them by recognizing the results they achieve rather than the hours logged or seniority. This group of workers wants access to the latest technology and to be able to set their own goals.

• Millennials. The youngest generation of workers needs to feel connected to friends via technology, so smart bosses limit social networking only when absolutely necessary. This confident generation multi-tasks better than any previous cohort, but they want to know the reasons behind every policy and decision. They also want to take an active part in making important decisions. Policies need to provide specific guidelines for attendance and other constraints on behavior, since millennials are used to structure and appreciate knowing the rules.

By Sarrena Bennett                 

It should come as no surprise to you: Benefits are important to employees. As confirmation, consider the results of the 2009 Job Satisfaction Survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): In this survey, which was completed by 605 employees from all sizes of organizations (including 34% from small companies), employees rated benefits as the second most important factor influencing their job satisfaction.  Since 2002, they have ranked benefits either No. 1 or No. 2 as the condition affection their job satisfaction.

And make no mistake: Happy (or at least content) employees affect their companies’ bottom lines. Consequently, when you improve the benefits communication process, you stand to gain a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining quality employees who will make your company successful.

Although the vast majority of employers agree (90%) that understanding and appreciating the benefits they provide is important, few (21%) think their employees actually comprehend the extent of the benefits they get, according to a 2008 survey conducted by Colonial Life and SHRM. Furthermore, the same survey showed that nearly 5% of employers think their employees know nothing at all about their benefits!

It stands to reason that if you want employees to appreciate the value of their benefits, you must have a comprehensive communication program—something that is generally done by the benefits provider to your organization.

Your benefits communication program should:

• Identify the benefits you provide. Sounds simple, but do your employees know what benefits you give them? Healthcare is the benefit most everyone thinks of—and its value is considerable. But how about other “hidden” benefits that you may provide? (See sidebar for a list of common benefits that SHRM surveys.)

• Explain the value of each benefit. Every benefit has a value. Your communication program should be comprehensive enough so that any employee in your organization can calculate the value—either in a dollar amount or as a percent of his or her pay—of each benefit provided.

• Provide various methods to teach the value of benefits. Some basic methods to use in your education program include one-on-one meetings with expert consultants, group meetings, and Internet or self-enroll methods. Other ideas to supplement these methods include online resources, printed benefits booklets, printed enrollment guides and interactive multimedia tools.

• Be interactive. People learn in different ways. Some comprehend written messages; others prefer audio-visuals. And most learn best through interactivity. Today’s benefits education involves more than just developing a message and delivering it. It’s about creating employee participation. Using tools such as workbooks and interactive needs analysis helps create true engagement and participation. 

• Be ongoing. Communication experts agree that messages you want people to hear need to be sent repeatedly and consistently. Technology today allows for education to be given 24/7 through online support, where employees can access information to their own personal benefits as well as gather information about benefits in general.

• Be convenient. Your education program should be convenient for employees; they should not feel they are inconveniencing an administrator to get information or to make changes due to marriage, divorce, births, or death. Programs that employ best practices make use of the Internet for convenient communication.

With the right voluntary benefits partner and enrollment strategy, you can implement a strong benefits communication and education program that will help you realize competitive advantages.

Sarrena Bennett, an account executive with Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company (www.coloniallife.com) is responsible for marketing Colonial Life’s products, programs, and services in Northeast Florida. She can  be contacted at 305-742-1236 or Sarrena.Bennett@ColonialLife.com. 

Job satisfaction from your employees’ point of view

According to the 2009 Job Satisfaction Survey conducted by the Society for Human Resources Management, the top workplace conditions that affect their job satisfaction are:

• Job security (63%)

• Benefits (60%)

• Pay (57%)

• Opportunities to use skills and abilities (55%)

• Feeling safe at work (54%).

The age of employees, however, dictates what is more important to them. For example, the survey showed that employees who are 35 or younger, put pay at the top of their list, followed by benefits. Those who are 36 to 55, put job security at the top of their job satisfaction list, followed by benefits. And those who are 56 and older, put job security first, followed by the ability to use their skills and abilities. Benefits followed in third place.

Which benefits do you offer?

Do your employees know what benefits they have? Here is a partial list of benefits many companies offer their employees, broken down by categories.

• Health and welfare benefits. These include such things as health coverage, dental, prescription drug coverage, chiropractic care, mental health coverage, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, short-term disability, long-term disability, dependent care accounts, and flexible spending accounts. (This list is not comprehensive.)

• Preventive health and wellness benefits. Some of these are wellness resources and information, on-site vaccinations, wellness programs, CPR/first-aid training, health fairs, smoking cessation, weight loss programs, fitness programs (onsite or membership, and massage therapy at work.

• Compensation and pay programs. Included in these benefits are payroll deductions, life insurance, retirement plans, onsite parking, tuition reimbursement, cell phones, cars, employee referral bonus, incentive or bonus plans, spot bonus programs, individual investment advice, retirement planning services, computer-purchase programs, and matching charitable donations.

• Paid leave benefits. Included are paid vacations and holidays, floating holidays, paid personal leave, family leave, sick leave, and eldercare leave.

• Family-friendly benefits. Some of these include bringing a child to work in an emergency, lactation room, domestic partner benefits, child and/or elder referral care services, subsidized daycare, and adoption assistance.

• Personal services benefits. These include such things as direct deposit, professional memberships, certification fees, cross training, mentoring program, and subsidized cafeteria.

• Housing and relocation benefits. Included are location visitation, temporary housing, and rental assistance, among others.

• Business travel benefits. Among these are frequent flyer miles, per diem for meals, paid long-distance when away from home, and car service to the airport.

• Other benefits. Some of these are office parties, milestone rewards, company picnic, community volunteer programs, discount ticket services, and pets at work.

By Candace Moody     

You may not think public speaking skills are essential to your business. After all, why does a manufacturer or retail store owner need to be an orator? But, great public speaking is more than knowing how to give a speech at the podium: It’s the right combination of style and substance that makes your speech— and your business— memorable. The principles of good public speaking also help you make an impression on prospects in casual conversation and may even increase your success.

Since its inception in 1924, Toastmasters International has been known as the world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The organization’s Web site (www.toastmasters.org) offers several tips for getting over your fear of public speaking, and what to say once you’ve conquered the fear. The section on “Finding your voice” is essentially a guide to having something interesting to say. The questions the Web site suggests you ask yourself are designed to connect with what matters to you—the secret to successful speaking in any venue. (See sidebar below.)

Toastmasters teaches its members that most public speaking falls into three major categories: speaking to inform, speaking to entertain, and speaking to persuade. Boring speakers are usually dull because they rely solely on information. A skilled speaker blends entertainment with information and develops a strong point of view. This strong point of view is what becomes persuasive for your audience (including an audience of one.)

A dull speech includes facts and figures (for instance) about levels of phosphate pollution in the river. An interesting presentation convinces us that we must change our ways today so the St. Johns River won’t die in our lifetime.

Having something interesting to say almost always involves taking a stand on an issue. Many people connect taking stands on issues with controversy, so they shy away from voicing opinions. It’s one of the reasons that small talk stays small— no one cares to break the ice with a personal point of view, even though a strong point of view is one of the things that make an idea— or a business— “sticky.”

Stickiness is a term coined by author Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point, a book that describes how ideas catch on and spread in society. The idea of stickiness was also taken up by brothers Chip and Dan Heath in their book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, published in 2006.

In Made to Stick, Heath and Heath developed a formula for what makes an idea sticky: In a Time Magazine interview in 2006, the pair says, “The key to creating traction is to take your idea, whatever it may be, and present it as a Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional Story.” (for the record, they also apologized for the slightly hokey “SUCCESS” acronym.)

Stickiness is what makes great advertising great: Combine simplicity and unexpectedness in one sentence and you get worldclass taglines such as the original FedEx slogan, “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” or Nike’s “Just Do It.”

So how can you up the stickiness factor in your everyday speech? One way to start is to develop your one-line positioning statement for your company. One woman business owner—a publicist— stood up at a networking meeting and introduced her company in this manner: “We make our clients famous.”

That’s sticky.

How could you change your company’s position? Instead of talking about the what of your business, talk about the why. Instead of introducing yourself as “a family-owned restaurant with a full catering menu located on the southside,” try “serving home cooking so good you’ll check the kitchen to see if we hired your mom.”

Add persuasion to your every day speech with your strong point of view. You wouldn’t be in business if you weren’t passionate about your product or company. Tell people what you think— tell them why you’re in business. “Because everyone deserves great design.” “Exercise should be fun.” “Your lawn wants to be beautiful.”

You’ll be memorable and your business will start growing.

Candace Moody is vice president of communications at WorkSource Development (www.worksourcefl.com), which provides workforce training and re-employment services in the greater Jacksonville area.

SIDEBAR

How can you become stickier?

To become “stickier” think about these questions, adapted from “Finding Your Voice” from Toastmasters International. Their answers can make you—and your business—stick in the minds of your customers.

·          How can you use the defining moments of your life? Are there any special lessons or experiences that profoundly affected you? For example: learning how to ride a bike, moving to a different city, taking on a new job, becoming a parent.

·         What subjects and issues are you certain about? The test of this is, how easily can you be convinced to change your mind? Have you discovered the best way to motivate a child to read? To make flowers grow? To create world peace? Then share your expertise with the world!

·         What makes you laugh? Share your favorite sources of humor.

·         What makes you angry? Share how you would change the world for the better if you could.

·         What are you struggling with right now? Speak about what captures your attention at the moment. If you have “speaker’s block”, speak about your inability to come up with a speech topic.

By Kathy Timmons and Terrell Holman    

Networking—meeting and greeting and getting to know other business people—is an essential way to build a small business. But many people find it difficult to network easily.

Here are 14 pointers to help you the next time you are in a business-social situation:

1. Perfect your 60-second infomercial. When you meet someone, be prepared to tell what you do in 60 seconds—your 60-second commercial. Within that critical first minute, the person you are talking with should have no doubt about what you do.

2. Understand who your power players are. Power Players are those in your sphere of influence within your industry, to whom you can reciprocally refer business. For example: A realtor would have a home inspector, attorney, and an appraiser as power players, because they would each refer business to each other.

3. Know how to start and end a conversation. To open a conversation, introduce yourself and ask, “Tell me about your business.” To close a conversation, say, “It was a pleasure learning about your business; I have some other individuals I need to meet.” (If the individual is someone you need to spend more time with, close the conversation with, “I’d like to get to know more about you and your business. If it’s OK with you, I will call and set a time for us to continue our conversation.”

4. Think outside the box. Don’t limit your networking to people you “know” will make referrals. If you walk in to a networking function and your target is doctors, but there are no doctors, what do you do? Talk to everyone. 

Just because people in your targeted industry are not in attendance doesn’t mean someone at the function cannot introduce you to your target. Great networkers are excellent referral sources for any industry.

5. Follow up with people you have met within 24 hours. One of the best ways to remember to do this is to make a note on the back of the person’s business card—date, place, and topic of your conversation.

6. Schedule a one-on-one meeting to learn each others’ business. The more you each know about the other’s business, the better you can each reciprocate in business matters and referrals.

7. Attend several networking events to keep your name and company in view. Watch for opportunities, including special networking groups as well as chamber of commerce events.

8. Don’t limit yourself to one networking group. The more exposure you give yourself, the more contacts you will meet.

9. Arrive early and stay late at any event. Be the person who initiates conversations with newcomers.

10. Meet the leadership. The group leader most likely knows everyone and can introduce you to others. Meet that person and get to know him or her.

11. Get involved in high visibility committees. Involvement is the best way to become recognized. Involvement infers commitment, and people want to do business with committed people.

12. Plan to meet five new people at each event. Don’t socialize with only the ones you know.

13. Find common interests with members of your networking group. Meeting people is only the first step toward building business through networking. The real benefit comes through building relationships.

Terry Holman and Kathy Timmons

14. Don’t forget your business cards! Never leave home without them. People can’t refer you if they don’t have yourcontact information.

Kathy Timmons and Terrell Holman are the co-founders of NetWorth (www.networthjax.com), a referral- based networking organization for Jacksonville area business professionals.

By Linda Segall 

It’s a fact of an editor’s life: Good press releases get attention from editors. And when they get attention, you ultimately get attention from your potential customers and clients. The operative word, though is good. A good press release is one that has information the editor deems worthy of being published (not merely a self-promotional piece) and is written so that it can be used with little editing as a stand-alone item in the publication or as the basis of a more comprehensive article.

Newspaper, Web, and magazine editors are understaffed and overworked. They have pages to fill, but not enough time (or the budget) to do original writing and reporting. They appreciate well written press releases. The benefit to you, of course, is that when an editor publishes your press release in which you share your expertise, you are perceived by readers as a subject-matter expert.

The type of press release that confers expert status is one that gives news you can use. It is not merely an announcement of a new product or a business event, such as a change in management. (Announcements have a place in some publications. Do your homework: Know the publication, its audience, and what the editor wants and needs.)

Here are some tips on writing a press release that highlights you as an expert:

• Understand your audience. Each newspaper, magazine, and Web site has a specific audience. It’s critical to understand who that audience is and write the press release so the audience can understand your message. A newspaper, for example, has a general audience. If you are a software consultant, explain your newsworthy information in terms the average lay person can understand. On the other hand, if you are sending out a press release to a trade publication, use vocabulary commonly understood by its audience.

• Tie your ‘news’ to a current event. Local newspaper and media editors are always looking for a local angle to supplement news they get from the wire services. Watch local, national, and world events and think how to match your expertise to what is going on.

In addition to breaking news, think ahead: Which holidays are coming up—for example, April had Earth Day; May, Mother’s Day; June, Father’s Day. Link your expertise to celebrating these events. Or, tie the practicalities of your product or service to a planned event, such as a mini-marathon, a fishing contest, or a boat parade. Obviously, not every business can be tied to every event, but use your imagination.

• Keep it honest. Never, ever plagiarize. Do your research; attribute ideas appropriately; and never use someone else’s words as your own. (Note: Anything published on the Internet is copyrighted material.)

• Don’t self-promote. Avoid using the first person (“I”). Write the press release quoting you. Don’t make the press release about what you want to sell. Instead, focus on providing useful information, with first mention of who you are, such as: “The first step toward managing overtime is to establish a company policy,” suggests John Doe, president of Your Hometown Consulting Co., www.yourhometownconsultingco.com, and author of Good Employee Management.”

• Write a catchy headline. Write a headline that shows a benefit to the reader. (See sidebar for examples.)

• Give practical information. Readers today want news they can use. “Nice to know” is not enough. When you provide pragmatic tips the audience (your potential customers) can use, you show off your expertise. That knowledge sharing is what readers—and editors—want today.

• Be timely. Planning is critical. Don’t wait until the last minute to submit a press release about an upcoming event.

• Provide contact information. At the very top of your press release, provide contact information, including name, telephone number, and e-mail address. At the end of the release, give additional information about your company, including contact information and a street address.

Submitting your press release

Once you have your press release prepared, send it to the editor of the publication. Call the editor beforehand to find out his or her name and the preferred method of submission. Although most editors today prefer e-mail, some may still want to receive a paper version of the press release. (To submit press releases to the Jacksonville Advantage, send them by e-mail to Linda@advantagebizmag.com.)

Who should get your press release? That depends upon your audience. Who do you want to reach? If you are trying to reach other businesses, send your press releases to appropriate trade publications. For consumers, identify publications they read, such as neighborhood newspapers, daily newspapers, niche magazines, specific Web sites.

Don’t forget radio and television. For local audiences, radio and television producers (the equivalent of print and Web editors) may be interested in your press releases.  

Linda Segall is editor of Jacksonville Advantage. She can be reached at Linda@advantagebizmag.com.

SIDEBAR

Catchy headlines show benefit to readers

Good headlines show a benefit to readers. Here are a few examples of catchy headlines that might appeal to newspaper editors and their readers:

• “5 Tips to Protect Yourself from the Flu.” This press release, submitted as a supplement to the current swine flu news, could be written by any type of healthcare provider, such as a medical doctor, massage therapist, chiropractor, or pharmacist.

• “3 Simple Tricks to Grow the Greenest Grass in Your Neighborhood.” This press release would be timely at the beginning of spring or in correlation with Earth Day, could be written by a landscaper or an organic fertilizer manufacturer.

• “How to Pack for a Week’s Vacation in One Carry-on Bag.” This information-packed release could come from a luggage retailer or a travel agent.

• “Running the Breast-Cancer Mini-Marathon? Take Care of Your Feet.” This press release could come from a shoe retailer, a podiatrist or chiropractor, or a physical or massage therapist.

By Linda Segall

Credibility is the key, if you want to engage your listeners during a presentation (and who doesn’t?). The source of credibility is ethos, Geri Evans, a public relations specialist, told a group at a meeting of the North Florida Public Relations Society of America (NFPRSA).

Source credibility has three dimensions, she explains: safety, qualification, and dynamism. A person who has a high rating three areas has a good chance for successful communication. On the flipside, a person who is perceived as having overall low rating on all three scales is probably an unsuccessful communicator no matter how much expertise he or she has.
Evans explains each dimension:

• Safety. This refers to general personality traits as perceived by listeners. Communicators who have a high safety rating can be characterized as being kind, congenial, friendly, agreeable, ethical, warm, and sincere.

On the other hand, says Evans, those who have low safety ratings are perceived as cruel, unfriendly, disagreeable, unpleasant, harsh, unfair, unethical, glossy, cool, and insincere.

Evans says safety ratings are affected by the congruency of verbal and nonverbal behavior. For example, if a presenter is talking about something sad or catastrophic, he cannot be smiling. A smile would cause listeners to question the presenter’s sincerely and honesty, and thus feel unsafe.

• Qualification. This refers to competency. Communicators having high marks for qualifications are perceived as being skilled, expert, informed, able, intelligent, and competent. However, those with low qualification ratings are seen as being untrained, inexperienced, unqualified, uninformed, inept, and unintelligent.

• Dynamism. Although this dimension is the least stable, says Evans, it is the most easily recognized. A dynamic communicator demonstrates boldness, aggressiveness, candor, activity, energy, and enthusiasm. A person with low dynamism scores is perceived as being meek, hesitant, reserved, timid, passive, tired, slow, and not enthusiastic.

Geri Evans, MA, APR, is president of Evans PR Group in Orlando, Fla. She can be contacted at 407-682-9782 or geveans22@cfl.rr.com. Linda Segall is editor of Advantage.