Enjoy.

If we can imagine it, feel it and see it, then the actions required to make it real become apparent. It still takes some work, but what you think about, you create. Therefore, the question isn’t: “What are you going to do next year?” The question is: “What do you really want in your business next year?”

When the New Year rolls around we typically think of resolutions. But the way we structure resolutions make them almost useless. They are either about things we want to stop doing (smoking, eating) or start doing (exercising, marketing). How many resolutions have you kept over the years?

When the focus is on not doing or doing, there isn’t enough emotional buy-in to propel us forward. There’s no vision in a To-Do list.

If you say, “This year I want to do more marketing; I’d like to get my web site up, start an eZine, network more, and do some teleclasses,” you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Either it’s not going to happen, or it’s going to be quite a struggle. Deep down inside you know it’s true, but heck it’s the New Year. Might as well be positive, right?

For 2009, I encourage you to create a vision to create progress.

Instead of focusing on what you’ll do, focus on how you want to “feel”. How do you want to feel about marketing this coming year? And wouldn’t it be smart to focus on some positive, uplifting feelings (instead of those feelings of dread that come up when you list the things to do)?

You might state it like this: “Next year I want to be excited when I do my marketing. I want to have fun and feel that I’m making a difference. I want my marketing activities to be inspiring, challenging and energizing!”

How does that feel? Say it out loud or write it down. Seriously, write yours down now…

Next, you want to focus on what you want to “have” in your marketing. What do you want things to actually look like? For example:

• “I want to have an attractive, persuasive web site that excites people and gets them to take action when they visit it.”
• “I want to have an email newsletter with subscribers from all over the country. I want it to showcase my expertise, build credibility and get people to call me about working together.”
• “I want to develop a seminar that people walk away from energized with practical tips to improve their situation and afterwards they engage me to help them solve their challenges.”

Your turn; write a list of the main things you’d like to have in your marketing next year. And make sure every single thing on that list is what you really want, not something you think you have to do.

Do you see how different (and powerful) this is from creating a “Strategic To-Do list”? It makes all the difference in the world. Start with feelings, then focus on what you want to have. And only then do you give attention to the things you need to do to get there.

By doing this, you’ve set the groundwork for actually creating what you want in your business next year.

So many people struggle with marketing and attracting new clients because they look at marketing as a “necessary evil” that has to be done (but never enjoyed). When you create a compelling marketing vision, marketing becomes exciting, fun and effective.

This very simple approach to creating what you want might be called “living from your vision.” A whole lot more inspiring than “living from your to-do list,” don’t you think?

The internet has literally changed almost every aspect of our lives in one form or another. Consumer Advocates have ALWAYS been the true driving force behind product sales. Ask anyone with a limited marketing vocabulary and they’ll tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising–and they’re right.

Technology drives marketing strategy to a large degree. From the days of the “traveling doctor” in the Wild West, to Coney Island hawkers, to Saturday morning network television cartoons; advertisers used technology to their advantage because they could afford to do so. The modern internet, call it web 2.0 or social media or whatever, has allowed ALL of us to express our advocacy to the masses. Tools like Blogging, Twitter, Email, YouTube, etc… have given us the power to say what we like and dislike–especially what we dislike.

Big companies are worried about using social media as a marketing vehicle because it allows the unwashed masses to say something negative about their products or brand or name. Well guess what? People have always controlled the message; not corporations. Neighbors have always talked. Hairdressers have always gossiped. Today we live in a world where experiences are no longer contained to friends and family. Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, said it best, “the ants have megaphones.”

If you’re a marketing manager for a big company, you better get used to it because more and more power will continue to go to the customer. Pull your head out of the sand and participate in the conversation. Honesty, authenticity and real dialogue never go out of style.

One of the biggest mistakes I see consultative professionals make is to offer a solution during an initial conversation with a prospective client. You may not be aware of the damage you’re doing to your ability to be hired when you offer these “golden nuggets” of advice.

Let me explain. By a consultative professional I mean someone who offers customized advice, direction and solutions to a specific problem. Here are a few examples of consultative professionals: designer, physician, architect, engineer, business coach, consultant, ad agency, chiropractor, attorney, financial adviser, accountant, etc…

They people are very knowledgeable about their given trade. They typically have years of education and experience and often a few initials behind their name. They don’t just sell “what’s in their briefcase,” they uncover problems and issues for their clients and prescribe customized solutions to those problems. And they are very comfortable talking about their solutions. Herein lies the problem.

When asked to offer advice, a consultative professional often jumps right to their solution. They mentally cull through years of experience and similar situations and offer an amazing nugget of insight. Most of the time, their advice is spot on. But often that amazing advice is never acted upon by the recipient.

One of two things usually happens; if the other party acts upon your advice they are typically missing a few key ingredients to make the solution a success on their own because they do not possess your wealth of experience and knowledge. If they DO succeed, they often wonder why people would pay you if the solution was so simple that it came out of a 20 minute conversation.

But most of the time, they will not take action on your advice. And when you check on their progress the next time you meet, there’s often an awkward moment where they feel like they have to explain why they sat on your golden nugget of wisdom. Here’s why; you never took the time to fully understand the problem behind their request for advice. Solutions, unto themselves, are devoid of value without a problem to fix.

I talk to consultative professionals every week that feel like they give away golden nuggets of information only see them turn into lead balloons, because the prospective client’s problem was never truly analyzed.

As a consultative professional, it feels good to offer advice. It’s comfortable. It feels valuable. In fact, it’s what we do best. But advice not tethered to a problem often causes more harm than good.

Offering solutions is an easy trap to fall into. In fact, almost everything a client asks of us begs for a solution. “Help us do…; We need a…; We want a better…” Most professionals respond to these questions by offering a solution. And we wouldn’t just offer any solution; we offer a golden nugget because we perceive this as our chance to shine.

Most clients would like to believe that there is a magic bullet solution to their problem; but in reality it’s often much more complicated than that. It’s easy to jump right in with a solution (even one that would work); but you must dig to uncover the real issues behind the request. If you let the client get away with the original question, it puts all the pressure on you to come up with the magic bullet. As a consultative professional, you must get the client to fully describe the issue and its implications on their business.

Here are a few questions that I use to uncover & quantify the real issue:

• How do you know this a problem?
• Why hasn’t this issue been addressed yet?
• How much is this challenge currently costing you in both hard dollars & soft dollars?
• What kind of results would occur after fixing this problem?
• Why is the future state better for you? What’s it worth to you?

It’s been proven that people (and organizations) move away from pain faster than they move towards a gain. Forget about your experience and solutions for a minute and take the time to fully understand the pain caused by the issue; or at least what type of gain they are expecting to see by engaging you.

Yesterday, we announed the 2nd Edition of The Age of Conversation–a business book showcasing how authentic conversation can be a strategic component of your marketing efforts. Subtitled, “Why Don’t They Get It,” the book delves into social media, accidential marketing, evolving business models and how the power of conversation is changing the overall marketing/branding landscape.

The first edition was such a success, more influential bloggers asked to participate this time around. You can see a list of all co-authors below. For this edition, I wrote a chapter titled When Great Isn’t Enough, which discusses how entrepreneurs often put their business at great risk by choosing not to master the marketing component of their enterprise. Many professionals believe they can be great at their trade and profitable clients will simply form a line to work with them; but that just isn’t the case.

I encourage you to learn more and buy a book (you can choose between e-book, soft copy and hard copy editions) AND note that all proceeds go to Variety, the Children’s Charity.

Full Author List For Age of Conversation 2:

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Let’s all get on the same page with regards to definitions. Advertising is a marketing tactic; just like PR, special events, networking, speaking or writing. Marketing, on the other hand, is a core element of your business; much like finance, operations or HR.

You cannot run a business without some form of marketing. For a lot of companies, the default marketing strategy is word or mouth or referrals. You can, however, do a lot of marketing activities without spending a penny on advertising.

You see the big Fortune 500 companies spending hundreds of millions on advertising. Let’s look at an example of an Apple advertisement making fun of Microsoft hoping to fix it’s Vista problems through advertising:

Advertising is costly, hard to measure and is losing effectiveness faster than the Titantic sank. Thanks to Jeff Sexton, at Future Now, let’s look at a few companies that have made a national splash by focusing their efforts on the customer experience and viral word of mouth instead of advertising:

1) Zappos
2) Krispy Kreme
3) StonyField Yogurt
4) Silk (soy milk)
5) Smart Wool

and more…

Let me ask you a question that makes a lot of people open their eyes and think:

If advertising is such a wonderful business growth strategy, why don’t you see more ad agencies actually advertising to attract new clients?

Think about it. And trust me, it’s not that they don’t want/need the work.

Fair warning, there’s a bit of profanity but it’s just a side effect of letting your passions take the wheel for a little while. Watch, pay attention and do something different…

They suggest using a technique called the “5 Why’s.”

Here’s an excerpt from their email that I felt needed to be passed along:

One tactic that comes to mind is to introduce a process in your discussions to keep focus in a solution space. This is known as the “five whys.” When you start with a solution to an identified problem, accept the first solution and then ask a series of “why” questions.

For example, someone suggests they should sell more products in the marine market (which is one of your strongest markets). Why? Because the marine market is underserved. Why? Because the market is growing and no new suppliers are entering. Why? Because the margins are poor for this highest growth segment of the market. Why? Because the new segment cares about price more than quality, which is your company’s strength. Why? Because these new customers are young consumers early in their earning careers.

What started out as a “good idea” to expand into a market area your company is already in, then swerved into a potentially bad idea (poor margins), then back into a good idea (future potential) but for different reasons. Before you asked the “whys” you might have entered the market quickly, but now you know to pace yourself and cultivate this customer base as their spending abilities grow.

Tip: It may take more or less than five “whys” to get to the bottom of an issue, but you will get your client into the habit of becoming very precise with their suggestions.

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Copyright (c) 2008, Institute for Management Consultants

But times have changed.

Social media tools are a global phenomenon that are happening in all markets regardless of social, economic and cultural boundaries. One of the primary drivers behind this shift is that “consumers” are no longer consuming what advertising agencies have thrown at them for years. In the old days, you could actually increase sales with TV and magazine advertising, but that’s when we all watched the same five TV channels and were glued to the nightly news to see what happened in the world.

Today, we have 500+ channels, satellite radio and access to immediate information on any topic you can imagine via the internet. Consumers are no longer consuming advertising, they are consuming content. And social media tools (like blogs, Twitter and Facebook) make it easy and free to create and distribute valuable content.

Just look at some of the latest stats:

• 73% of online users read a blog
• 57% join social networks
• 45% have started a blog
• 83% have viewed a video online
• 39% subscribe to RSS feeds
• 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs

Do you match up with any (or most) of these?

How many social media tools are you taking advantage of?

It’s not enough to simply have a website today. You must be engaged in social media to gain credibility and awareness for your brand, products and services.

There are 184 million bloggers worldwide. 34% of them post opinions about products and services on their blog. Are they talking about you; your products/services; your industry? Yes they are, but more importantly, what are they saying?

Social media is all about authenticity and transparency. Since the barriers to publishing content are virtually nil, people do not pay attention to or respect overly glossy corporate messages. They no longer have to. Before we were basically forced to watch the final episode of M.A.S.H.–not any longer. In fact, right now, Millenials are watching more video online than traditional television.

Times have changed. Where are you in relation to adopting and participating in social media?

If you’re not sure where to start, let me throw out a couple of suggestions:

1. Add a blog to your website. But make sure you host it on your website to take advantage of all of the search engine goodness that comes with a blog. When you sign up with Blogger or another hosted service, they get all of the search engine benefits. Make a new directory on your website called “blog” and install it there. If you’re confused by doing this give me a call–or your web person–to help. Wordpress makes this very easy. BUT YOU CANNOT INSTALL IT AND NOT USE IT. You have to start publishing content to leverage social media for business growth.
2. Sign up for a free Facebook account. It’s easy and you’ll be surprised how many people you know are already on there. Start making connections. Add me as a “friend”. Start using social media to cultivate relationships. After all that’s what it’s all about.

Publishing valuable content is the #1 way to be recognized as an expert in your field. When you combine publishing with an expanding network of connections, your business is sure to grow.

Social media is here to stay. Will the tools change and evolve over time, sure, but as a communications and business platform, it’s here to stay. Are you coming with us?

Today, I got an email from the Napoleon Hill Foundation with a roadmap to success that I felt needed to be shared.

Model these behaviors and success will follow–I’m not sure how it couldn’t if you stick to the principles.

1. The successful person has a plan for getting what he wants, has faith in his ability to acquire it, and works his plan.
2. The successful person is obliging and friendly. He encourages others through his positive mental attitude to assist him in achieving his goals.
3. The successful person is tactful. He thinks before he speaks and anticipates the reaction of his audience as he engages their cooperation.
4. The successful person keeps his opinions to himself for the most part, and only expresses those that he has researched and can be backed by facts.
5. The successful person budgets his time and money wisely.
6. The successful person is genuinely interested in all people.
7. The successful person is open-minded and tolerant of others.
8. The successful person remains current and knows what is occurring locally, nationally, and internationally.
9. The successful person focuses on the positive and eliminates the negative.
10. The successful person is a giver first and a receiver second. His primary focus is on the service he renders.
11. The successful person respects the Creator and acknowledges Him for all the gifts he has been given and is yet to receive.

I encourage you to sign up for the email newsletter from the Foundation. Each issue is full of motivational tips and techniques to create the life you dream of.