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]]>In no particular order, here are some things I learned that I thought might be useful to you.
From Jay Baer, author of The Now Revolution and the forthcoming Youtility . . .
- When marketing onine, we’re no longer competing against just others in our same market. We’re competing against everyone – business and personal – all in the same space. No one can be that amazing, so we should focus on being useful.
- Search engines are less useful than they used to be. We now use Yelp, Angie, Siri, and Facebook.
- In 2010, people needed 5.3 sources of information before making a buying decision. In 2011, they needed 10.4 pieces of information. (source: Google’s Zero Moment of Truth)
From Preston Stapley of Infusionsoft team . . . Customers leave because they are indifferent. They are indifferent because:
- They haven’t heard from you.
- You haven’t provided additional customer service.
- You haven’t provided value recently. (The emphasis on recency was a theme throughout several of the sessions.)
From Ryan Deiss, CEO of the Idea Incubator . . .
- People expect images in email to be clickable. They will always try to click on an image or graphic.
- 20% of Web traffic is from phones and tablets. Are your sites optimized for mobile?
- The subject line is to get people to open the email. The email is to get people to click through. The sales page is for the sale. Don’t confuse these.
How To Get The Most From A Workshop Or Convention
I came home with lots of notes full of actionable steps, which can be overwhelming. So I first reviewed all of those notes.
I highlighted the things I wanted to take action on and highlighted others that I think are fodder for posts.
I am now prioritizing the actions, but I made a point of taking immediate action on a single thing – and it was a BIG thing. This is important because it proves my commitment to implementing what I’ve learned and, therefore, increases the value of my investment of time and money.
What do you think about any of this?
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]]>Maybe it’s a painting “exactly” like your latest landscape. Only she’d like it in cooler colors to match her newly redecorated living room.
Or maybe it’s one of your signature sterling necklaces, but “could you do it in gold and add a sapphire? I know you don’t like to work in gold, but all of my jewelry is gold and I really don’t wear silver.”
You know you can give them what they want.
You know they’d be happy with what they get.
Here’s the question you have to answer: Will it make you happy? If it does, great. Go for it!
Maybe you’re on the fence. Sure, you could use the money, and you certainly don’t want to disappoint a friend. But, gosh, you really don’t want to do it. Something just doesn’t seem right.
My advice? There is absolutely no reason in the world good enough for you to take on projects you’re so uncomfortable with.
Here are three reasons you should turn down opportunities that don’t feel right.
1. You will end up resenting the person who asked you to do it.
2. You dislike the idea so much that you procrastinate and procrastinate. Somehow, it festers and becomes bigger than life–a monster that invades your every thought.
3. You will eventually make good on your promise, but you’ll hate the resulting work and remain angry with yourself that you ever said Yes in the first place.
The only solution is to turn down such so-called opportunities. I say “so-called” because they can’t be opportunities if they lead only to frustration and disappointment.
It’s not always easy to turn them down. Sometimes they come from good customers and collectors. Other times they’re from friends and family. Of course you don’t want to disappoint these people. But you have to listen to your gut. It’s usually right. And someone who wants to see you succeed will understand your point of view.
Resist the urge to be the solution to everyone else’s problems.
I know a little about this. Trust me, I can’t afford to turn down clients. I need all of them I can get.
But sometimes I just have a gnawing feeling after talking to a potential client. I know that no matter what I do or say, it will never be enough for them. They just don’t seem satisfied with my feedback.
I either politely such people 1) I’m not the person they’re looking for or 2) I’ll think about it and get back to them. When I do contact them again, I go back to my first option: telling them I can’t help them and, hopefully, offering an alternative for them.
You can do this, too. If you don’t like to work with gold in your jewelry, offer your customer the name of someone who does and who would probably be more than happy to get the work. Ditto for the cat portrait in a different style.
You’re not sending people to your competition; you are providing an invaluable service. They’ll appreciate that.
Think of all the times you wish you had said No to an opportunity that came your way.
What’s the worst thing that can happen when you say no? What’s the best thing that can happen when you say no? Does it bring you peace of mind?
Does it free you to do the things you really want to do?
Develop a standard rejection line for when these chances come your way. If you don’t have one ready, always say you’ll think about it before agreeing to do it. Then come up with a list of referrals–other artists who might be happy to work on such opportunities.
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Here are ten ways to exceed expectations.
1. Offer to deliver any artwork personally to your buyers and install it in place.
2. Tell people they can live with your work for a week while deciding whether or not to buy it. In order to do this, you must have proper paperwork (e.g. a loan agreement) and insurance in place, but it can be done.
3. Provide gift wrapping. For my book sale in December, I attached a bow and a small card to the books I knew were purchased as gifts and being sent directly to the lucky recipients. I didn’t offer this as an option at the time of sale, but added it as a surprise.
4. If you have a commission you think will take you six weeks, tell your patrons it will take ten weeks. When they get it in six, they’ll be happy as a clam!
5. Be early for your appointments. This gives you time to catch your breath and get organized before the other person arrives.
6. If you’ve been asked to submit a proposal, tell the recipients they’ll have it by the end of the week. Then get it to them the next day.
7. Allow your buyers to trade in their previous purchases for new choices (of equal value) for a certain period of time. Make sure you have this in writing and that terms are understood upon sale.
8. Depending on the work you do and your circumstances, offer to make any repairs for a reasonable period of time. Many artists offer lifetime repairs free of charge.
9. If you don’t have or can’t deliver the goods, refer people to another artist who might be able to help. This is great karma! Both the customer (who knows lots of people) and the referred artist (who also knows lots of people) will be grateful. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
10. Present your highest bid, and then come in under-budget.
FINAL WORD: Exceed and succeed! No one ever got ahead by breaking promises or simply meeting expectations.
Podcast
The podcast is an audio version of this post.
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