Offline Business - The #1 BEST Way to Market Yourself & Your Services Is...

[JustaWizard]

Good tips, TK6863.

It occurred to me last night that I should have mentioned TPS - "tell a passionate story" - your story, your clients' success stories, or both.

As I post these tips and as others do, the framework *I* personally see around all of this is NOT "techniques to make people buy"; as I noted in a previous post, if you offer a valuable service that really helps people, then it's YOUR DUTY to know how to artfully make use of influence techniques.

Right now, I'm paying for a program I almost did not join, and I'm receiving value in this program that is FAR BEYOND the money I'm paying for it; this is what you need to keep in mind when you do your speaking/seminars...

...people need to be moved beyond their natural resistance and into a frame of mind where they'll realize that the money they'll pay you for your products/services is a mere pittance compared to the value they'll receive.

This, just for the record, takes out of the equation any lack-of-integrity and/or "manipulation" issues.

Just wanted to add that part into your presentation structure; TPS, especially yours.

Oh, and before I forget - and this is related - I used to think that if I didn't come across as *perfect* in my presentation, then no one would want to do business with me, a flawed human being.

One day, I "accidentally" told a true story from my past about when my dad went into a coma right before I was to graduate high school and then died, and the drama that ensued in my younger years...

...I thought I "blew" the presentation and it ended shortly thereafter, me feeling sheepish and like I'd "broken the rules"... to my surprise, people swarmed me with an outpouring of empathy, and their own stories.

Since then I've come to embrace that I don't have to try to appear as polished as I had previously surmised (and been told by the so-called experts) I *should* be.

The bottom line is that in my experience, people don't want to hear from perfect super-heroes, they want to hear from people just like them.

Hope that helps...

David

[Spark]

Hey David,

You really make me open my mind up regarding doing those seminars stuffs..it's does look easy?! But i believe in actual fact it doesn't..

Anyway during your presentation, i believe there's always some guys ask questions. Would really appreciate you can share with us what's the questions did they ask? So that we can prepare it before hand?

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Spark

Hey David,

You really make me open my mind up regarding doing those seminars stuffs..it's does look easy?! But i believe in actual fact it doesn't..

Anyway during your presentation, i believe there's always some guys ask questions. Would really appreciate you can share with us what's the questions did they ask? So that we can prepare it before hand?

Hi Spark - good question - in my experience, after stage fright, "what if someone asks me a question I don't know the answer to" is one of the barriers people have to doing speaking/seminars - so here's a few tips:

1. write down E-V-E-R-Y question you can think of that you could be asked, and write down an answer for each - this is NOT to memorize a bunch of answers, it's just an exercise so that when you do get questions, you'll be ready.

2. you don't have to "know everything" and you can always say you'll get back to someone with an answer later.

3. I prefer to take questions after I'm done and I make that a benefit to them - case in point, my girlfriend just attended a seminar she was very excited about, but the speaker let questions get out of control and the speaker rushed in the last 10 minutes trying to teach what he promised to teach, and never actually taught what he promised - all because this speaker let the group ask question after question. You do your group a HUGE disservice if you don't control questions.

4. you can also set aside a specific time-frame for Q&A or require that they write them down on index cards and submit them, you can then have that stack of cards and read each question one by one and give the answer (you can skip questions you don't want to answer!) and that way questioners don't tell their whole life story leading up to their question.

Hope that helps...

David

[Spark]

Wow,

nice tips, Thanks! Control the questions..
Got a great ideas you have, i was thinking using Q3 and possible ask them to write down the Qs in a form [of cause with those information like email address, contact no.. Then from there can contact them through emails!

[JustaWizard]

I had written a big-long post this morning that took like 15 minutes to write, and somehow it didn't get posted...

...so I'm going to post a very abbreviated version here:

This past Tuesday I contacted a local real estate association (but it could have been an insurance, chiropractic, or other association...), and here's what you say when they answer the phone:

"Hi, are you the person responsible for booking speakers?"

So she said, no, it's Joe (named changed) and patched me through. to Joe.

Joe answered the phone and I said "hi Joe, are you the person responsible for booking speakers?"

He says yes and I said "I'm David Portney and I speak about how to get your website to rank on the first page of Google MSN and Yahoo - what's your process for booking speakers?"

You say something very similar when YOU call local associations.

Anyway, I wish my other post had posted, but the bottom line is he requested info which I got to him on Thursday, and he has a meeting with the board in early July.

They might not book me, but likely they will. I'll do a 3 hour gig and all but the last 10 minutes will be solid, solid content and I'm not going to hold back anything - and the last 10 minutes will be where I tell them about my services.

Some people will want me to do a website for them, or do SEO for them - because they're trying to sell real estate and don't want to sit around trying to implement all the SEO stuff I'll teach.

Sure, some will just turn over everything to their webmaster, do it themselves, whatever... that's fine with me.

But I get I'll get some sales: everyone there will hear me, see me, get a feeling for whether they like me, believe me, trust me.

You just can't beat speaking and seminars when it comes to promoting yourself to local businesses (in my opinion).

So, start making the calls and booking the gigs - start filling your calendar with speaking/seminar gigs.

Hope that helps!

Best,
David

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Spark

Wow,

nice tips, Thanks! Control the questions..
Got a great ideas you have, i was thinking using Q3 and possible ask them to write down the Qs in a form [of cause with those information like email address, contact no.. Then from there can contact them through emails!

You're welcome :-)

It's easy for me to say this, but questions are nothing to be afraid of. I know why people fear them, it's mostly because they *think* they have to know "everything" about their topic.

They're afraid someone in the group will *know more than they do*.

Even if someone gets hostile with antagonistic questions - which really is not at all common - believe it or not, the group sides with YOU, not them, because they came to hear YOU and not THEM.

You should know your topic, but also keep in mind this is YOUR gig, not theirs, and guess what??--there's no law that says you even have to take questions at all.

Keep in mind what I said about how out of control questions ruining seminars; you owe it to your group to not let questions get out of control.

Set the rules up front: "I have a ton of great info to share with you, so to make sure I give everything to you that you came to get, please hold your questions until after I'm done - if you take the time to write down your questions, I'll take the time to answer them, but not until after I'm done."

If someone tries to interrupt with a question, don't let them; remind them of the rules and tell them to write it down and see you after the seminar is over.

Just that simple.

Hope that helps...

Best,
David

[Spark]

Originally Posted by JustaWizard

You're welcome :-)

It's easy for me to say this, but questions are nothing to be afraid of. I know why people fear them, it's mostly because they *think* they have to know "everything" about their topic.

They're afraid someone in the group will *know more than they do*.

Even if someone gets hostile with antagonistic questions - which really is not at all common - believe it or not, the group sides with YOU, not them, because they came to hear YOU and not THEM.

You should know your topic, but also keep in mind this is YOUR gig, not theirs, and guess what??--there's no law that says you even have to take questions at all.

Keep in mind what I said about how out of control questions ruining seminars; you owe it to your group to not let questions get out of control.

Set the rules up front: "I have a ton of great info to share with you, so to make sure I give everything to you that you came to get, please hold your questions until after I'm done - if you take the time to write down your questions, I'll take the time to answer them, but not until after I'm done."

If someone tries to interrupt with a question, don't let them; remind them of the rules and tell them to write it down and see you after the seminar is over.

Just that simple.

Hope that helps...

Best,
David

Thanks David,

Noted. Will have to be firm about this Q & As.

Thanks again!

[InternetMarketingIQ]

Tony Roberts is my Hero. A guy who can't even make his own personal life a "Success" pitching "How to" info to the masses of Lemmings. The reality is people like Tony have figured out how to cash in big on the feel good movement and selling psycho babble to people who can't fix themselves without attaboys.

Take Carlton Sheets... you've heard the name. If his system was so great then he wouldn't be selling it he would be working it. But these guys have figured out there is more money in selling the shovels than digging the gold.

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by Spark

Thanks David,

Noted. Will have to be firm about this Q & As.

Thanks again!

You're welcome - and remember, it's not a "clever spin" when I say that restricting questions is a BENEFIT to your group; if you let them (questions) get out of control, you do your group a terrible disservice because they (the group) simply won't get what they came to get.

It's your obligation to keep things under control - so when you give them the rules on questions near the start, frame it exactly that way - "so that I can make sure I deliver everything I said you'd get and that you came here to get... (here's how we'll handle questions / here's the rules)"

Best,
David

[JustaWizard]

Originally Posted by InternetMarketingIQ

Tony Roberts is my Hero. A guy who can't even make his own personal life a "Success" pitching "How to" info to the masses of Lemmings. The reality is people like Tony have figured out how to cash in big on the feel good movement and selling psycho babble to people who can't fix themselves without attaboys.

Take Carlton Sheets... you've heard the name. If his system was so great then he wouldn't be selling it he would be working it. But these guys have figured out there is more money in selling the shovels than digging the gold.

I like going to get rich quick seminars as a spy to see how they influence and then close the group. I like to take a friend or two, but I require that they leave their wallet at home. I always tell them to tap me on the shoulder at the exact moment they're saying to themselves "I'd be stupid NOT to do this, I MUST do this..." because their talks are carefully engineered to produce that exact result by removing all risk, removing all objections, and painting their product/service as the simple easy answer to whatever problem/s they claim to solve.

The reality is that if you have a good product/service, it's your duty to help people to overcome their resistance to sales pitches and to buy what you're offering - IF IF IF you really do have a product/service that will make their life better, solve their problems, etc.

If your product/service is just hype, a pyramid scheme, or a flat-out scam, please do not use any of the tips or techniques in this thread! Yikes!

Best,
David