The Power of the Living Room Strategy
“So, what I’m hearing you say is that I don’t need a big list to make money.”
One of my audience members realized that incredibly liberating fact on Friday during my CreativeLive course.
No, you don’t need a big list to make money. You don’t need a big list to release a great offer. You don’t need a big list to garner attention or leverage your true strengths.
Sure, list-building is a (perhaps, the) key marketing activity. But you can create a lot of success for yourself if you’re willing to sell while you’re building your list.
You can implement the Living Room strategy. The idea being that it’s a heckuva lot easier—and often much more rewarding both financially and energetically—to fill a living room instead of a stadium.
Bear with me. Imagine you’re a singer/songwriter. You’ve got a few backing instrumentalists and you’ve ready to start performing. Maybe you’ve already been performing for years.
What’s easier to sell 12 tickets to an exclusive, intimate performance in a living room? Or to sell 5,000 tickets to fill a stadium show?
The correct answer is the former. Yet, I see business owners aim to fill the stadium, stress about the logistics of such an endeavor, and then feel defeated when their efforts don’t match their expectations.
(This is an example of a Living Room Strategy I’m working on right now!)
Living Room strategy isn’t about playing small.
It’s about understanding how to get results now—and how those results set you up for Stadium-style success when and if you want it. If you follow my Facebook page you’ve started to see my writing on Quiet Power Strategy.
Quiet Power Strategy is all about perceiving, discerning, and focusing on what is going to create the greatest opportunity for service while allowing you to leverage both how you work best and what you want most.
When you choose to fill the Living Room instead of the Stadium, you can have more control over your outcomes, more money in your pocket, and more confidence in your mission. And at the same time, you’re setting yourself up to fill the Stadium later on. Soon, even.
So what does this look like in practice? Knowing you want to create a conference but creating an intimate salon first. Knowing you want to create a New York Times Bestseller but selling your methodology to corporations one at a time first. Knowing you want to create a product & idea empire but sitting with women in actual living rooms first.
You see, it’s not just entrepreneurs who want to serve small groups that leverage Quiet Power Strategy to fill Living Rooms first. It’s bona fide creative rock stars who were intentional about getting their ideas in the hands of the people who mattered most first, and then developing the infrastructure that could take their ideas to the masses.
It’s the confidence, control, and working capital that filling Living Rooms provides that allows for filling Stadiums later on. And that’s quietly powerful. It takes the perception to realize how you can be of service to a small group of incredibly committed customers, the discernment to know how your unique skills, strengths, and passion will create amazing experiences for them, and the focus to actually execute the plan.
The entrepreneurs who will be filling Stadiums in 2015 and beyond are filling Living Rooms today.
Are you?
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P.S. Due to popular demand, I actually created a Living Room Strategy training. Click here to find out more.
Why You Should Put Your Product In Exactly the Right Hands
Lately, I’ve found myself using a phrase I haven’t used in years: hand selling. Back in my days at America’s former second largest bookseller, hand selling was my favorite thing.
In bookselling, hand selling is making a recommendation to a customer based on her description of what she’s looking for. Literary vampire fiction? Funny but informative non-fiction by a journalist? Gothic books about books and the people who love them? I had you covered.
I read Publisher’s Weekly religiously. I poured over displays. I read advance copies. I did everything I could to have an answer when a customer asked me for a book. And if I didn’t know the right book for her, I would know the team member who would.
Why? Because there was no greater joy than connecting the right person with the right book.
That’s it: knowing that what I put into that person’s hands was exactly what they needed for their next reading fix.
It would make my day.
Now, why am I thinking about hand selling again after so long?
There’s a misconception in the online space that customers will (or need to) come to you. Yes, inbound marketing is a beautiful thing but it’s not the only thing. Especially with markets and conversations as crowded—and loud—as they are.
Sometimes, you need to put your solution in the hands of the right people. That can not only make your goals, but make their days.
When is hand selling the right solution for your business?
- When you’re offering a “beta” or Minimum Viable Product version of an offer
- When you’re branching into new territory either with your offerings or your market
- When you’re feeling sure of your value but unsure of your drawing in your right prospects
- When your network is a goldmine of potential clients
The truth is that it’s not always feasible to expect that your existing audience will supply the necessary numbers to make your product idea work. You might have to look elsewhere. And that will probably require making individual offers, supplying personalized insights, and looking for specific problems your new offer can solve.
Put your product in the hands of the people who need it most. Make their day. And feel good about it—even if that means selling your work one book at a time.
You Can Do Better Than “It’s new!”
Last week’s post on why more offers don’t equal more revenue inspired some great conversation on Facebook. My friend Amanda Steinberg, founder of DailyWorth, invited several others to comment with their own experiences in the make-more-stuff trap.
Adda Birnir, the founder of SkillCrush, made the excellent point that it is easier to sell new products to old customers than it is to find new customers to sell old products to. I completely agree. The evidence is overwhelming. In fact, it’s not only easier but it’s cheaper and more efficient as well.
That very idea is the basis of how I work with clients on their Customer Journeys and Business Model Plans in 10ThousandFeet.
However, that fundamental idea of business assumes that you have sold your existing audience on your old products. I posit that there is, in fact, something even easier than selling new products to old customers. There is a much bigger, more lucrative opportunity for you and that is:
Selling old products to old customers.
That is selling existing products to people in your sphere of influence already who haven’t bought before. These are people who read your blog, open your emails, follow your business on social media, but still haven’t bought what you offer. Clearly, it’s not that they’re not interested in the work you do and the value you offer. They’d stop reading, unsubscribe, or unfollow you if that was the case.
The reason they haven’t bought is because you haven’t given them a good reason to buy. True story.
You haven’t tapped into their needs or wants with a clear statement of what your work offers them.
Most business owners I come into contact with don’t stretch their messaging beyond “It’s new!” And because they don’t push themselves to find the real reason people want to buy, they keep creating new products so that there’s always something they can say “It’s new!” about. It’s less a strategic decision than a wish and a prayer.
You see, there is a segment of your customers who like to buy from your business just because you’ve created something new. They’re called Early Adopters. But statistically, they’re an incredibly small part of your potential customer base. The Majority of your customers base waits to find out what other people think about your product, how you improve it, and how the market evolves. They won’t buy because “It’s new!” but they will buy if you offer your product again and tell them how it is a tool to help them solve their specific problem or reach their big goal.
And that is extremely good news!
It means there’s an excellent chance that your Next Big Thing–your next money-maker, your next signature offer, your next game-changer–is a product already in your arsenal. Maybe it was an idea you were super proud of but that didn’t sell well. Maybe it’s something you designed to be evergreen that needs a shot of marketing mojo. Maybe it’s a product that needs a spotlight at a trade show or on stage.
The bottom line is that offering something once, when it’s new, is never enough. But that’s exactly what so many businesses do. (Have you?)
While outreach and list-building should always be a goal, there’s every chance that your existing audience is a gold mine opportunity for your existing products. But they won’t buy just because “It’s new!” They want to know why it’s the right tool for them.
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Does this have you thinking about one of your own existing products? Do you have an inkling of excitement about the revenue possibilities of something you’ve already put hard work into?
Leave a comment with the name of your product or offer and how you could reposition it to attract more of your existing audience.
Why More Offers Don’t Equal More Revenue
Need to make more money? Generate some revenue? It’s as easy as creating a new offer, right?
Not so fast. True, being an entrepreneur means that, even if money doesn’t grow on trees, it’s not so hard to find something to sell when you need a few extra dollars.
But creating a new product, program, or offer every time you want to generate revenue isn’t a good plan. In fact, it’s not a plan at all. It’s a reaction to a need.
When you’re just starting out, most of what you do is react. And that’s okay. But you’re really ready for something a little more proactive now, aren’t you?
My story starts no differently than yours. I “got” the entrepreneurial money mindset—that you can create revenue whenever you need it—well before I “got” planning for steady, predictable revenue growth. When I wanted to make some money, I’d make something new. I’d write a book, create a program, make a new coaching offer.
Of course, launching all the time, creating products all the time (even when you’re an idea person like me!), and selling all the time is exhausting.
Beyond that, it’s not building a legacy for your business. It doesn’t give your prospects something to remember your business for.
But most importantly, always creating new offers doesn’t set you up for making more money in the long run.
Every time you launch a new product or program, you’re only tapping into a very small segment of your potential customer base (the Early Adopters). If you stop there, other customers might trickle in over time but most people won’t even know you have that offer available.
That just puts your business back in the position of needing to generate revenue with another new product. It’s a vicious cycle.
Instead of a vicious cycle, your business needs a system for marketing, launching, and selling your best offers over & over again. And when that system also includes products that work together to create more value for your customers and your business than they could alone, it’s a Business Model.
When your business has that kind of system in place, revenue becomes predictable and more consistent. At the very least, you know when it’s coming. Best of all, you’ll find that your offers start to generate more and more revenue each time you enter a sales cycle because your customers are expecting them, planning for them, and eager to buy them.
It’s so much easier to sell to a prospect who is already aware of your product. It’s even easier when your prospect knows people who have purchased and loved your product already. That’s easy to accomplish when your business has regular sales cycles for your best offers.
My business now has two main offers: Kick Start Labs and Quiet Power Strategy. And with just those two offers, my business is on track to do $100,000 more in revenue than it did last year—and possibly much more. Instead of generating new offers over the last 2 years, I’ve focused on making those offers better and better, more predictable, and more familiar.
To get really specific, that means that my interest list for an offer like 10ThousandFeet has gone from 20 to 50 to 150 to 250 to many, many more without much promotion. When I enter a sales cycle with that group, they’re there because they’re truly eager to find out more about the program. They’ve probably heard about it from a past client and they want to get similar results.
Each time I launch the program, it’s easier and easier to sell and I’m more confident about its ability to sell out.
That’s how a blockbuster product is born.
It doesn’t happen all it once. It builds over time. When you design your whole business model that way, you’ve got the makings of a blockbuster business.
This is a great time of year to step back and examine the offers your business currently has, how they’re working together (or not), and how you could plan a system for revenue growth based on those existing offers. Your Next Big Thing might be something you’re already selling.
4 Mistakes You Make While Marketing, Launching, and Selling Your New Product
This is a time of year when many business owners are thinking about what’s next in their businesses. And for you, that might be your “Next Big Thing.” It’s a product, program, or service that you’re incredibly excited about. Something you think might represent your business for years to come. Something that might finally put you over the top of your revenue goal or revolutionize your business model.
A Next Big Thing could be exactly what your business needs to do all those things. Unfortunately, if you’re an idea person like me—and I reckon you probably are, it’s likely that you’ll get carried away with the idea itself and forget to engage some of the strategies that can help you realize the true potential of your idea.
After all, you’d like people to be hungry to buy your new idea, right?
Here are 4 mistakes you’re likely to make in the process of marketing, launching, and selling your new product—and how to avoid them:
1) You take it to market too slowly.
Yes, too slowly. The faster you can bring a product to market the better. My highest grossing, most respected and well-known products have gone from idea to sales in the shortest periods of time. And that’s no fluke.
When you take a product to market as quickly as possible, you get “proof of concept.” The proof, of course, is whether people are willing to buy it or not.
To get that proof, you need to ask yourself, “What’s the least amount of work I can do on this for people to be willing to buy it?” Perfectionists, please stay with me. I’m a Virgo, I get it.
Challenge yourself to think small.
The answer to that question is the design of your Minimum Viable Product. Often for service or information businesses, the answer is nothing more than an offer, a sales page, or even just a conversation. For product businesses, it might be a photoshop mockup or a sketch.
If you don’t have at least some people willing to buy this kind of product, your Next Big Thing isn’t going to be that big the way you’ve conceived it. The great part of going to market fast is that you can make changes, adjust your idea—possibly several times—so that when it comes time to really investing your time, money, or energy into your idea, you know it’s going to work.
2) You don’t take into account who’s ready to buy.
Now, not everyone buys a Minimum Viable Product. Who does? Early Adopters. They’re often your business’s biggest fans and most loyal customers. They love trying out new stuff and are just tickled when they get to try out something before everyone else.
But what about when you move past of the MVP stage? Every stage of product iteration and marketing development should take into consideration the segment of the market you’re ready to reach—and who’s ready to be sold to.
For example, you might develop an internal launch of your new product that is designed specifically for customers who wouldn’t have been comfortable buying a prototype but are nonetheless excited about a new idea. They’re focused on what they’re trying to achieve, how they want to feel, and how they could be doing things better.
Later in the game, you might turn an active product into a more passive product or evergreen offering and put it on autopilot. The kind of customer who is going to buy that product wants to have everything figured out for them. They’re likely more focused on fixing a problem or alleviating some pain.
Each of these stages deserves a fresh marketing message that appeals to that customer segment’s specific needs.
3) You focus on feel-good ideas instead of urgent needs.
Speaking of needs, let’s talk about that. I know you, you hate to be “salesy.” And you just love this idea that business “starts with why” because it feels good, feels safe, feels altruistic.
Here’s the thing, business starts with why but transactions don’t end with it.
Instead, the real reason people Buy Now is because they’re actually looking for something to buy. People love to buy! And when you tap into the natural reasons they’re already in the market with their wallets out, you’re much more likely to get the sale.
And the really beautiful part of that is that you still don’t have to be salesy. You just have to match your sales copy to the reasons people are looking to buy, whether that’s because they’re looking for a great necklace for date night, they’re frustrated by their website, or they’re finally ready to stop visiting the refrigerator every night at 8pm.
Don’t just get people excited, give them a reason to buy.
4) You don’t start marketing and selling soon enough.
Finally, the number one mistake I see with marketing, launching, and selling a new product is that business owners don’t start the marketing and sales process soon enough. Clients ask me all the time, “How early is too early to start marketing my new product?” The answer is never.
It is never too early.
It doesn’t have to be polished, it doesn’t have to be strategic. It does’t need to use the latest trend in online marketing.
First, marketing starts the minute you start product development. Because marketing is so much more than promotion, as soon as you start thinking about who your product is for, why they need it now, and how you’re going to best fill those needs with your product, you’ve started marketing.
Second, promotion can begin with a whisper. A small wave of a mention that you’re working on something for your people that does x, y, or z can lead to a tsunami at launch time.
Finally, I don’t let any of my clients start building a product if they haven’t figured out their sales message. If you don’t have confidence your product is going to sell, you’re not ready to realize your idea yet. Start there.
If you can avoid these 4 mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to creating and selling your next blockbuster product.
Want more on marketing, launching, and selling your next big thing? Check out my bestselling class on CreativeLive: Create a Marketing Plan & Grow Your Standout Business.
5 Questions You Must Answer for Success: A New Strategy for the New Economy
You can know all the latest and great tactics in your industry. You can have your finger on the pulse of what’s hot in your field. But if you don’t have a clear picture of your overall strategy for business, those tactics are worthless.
(And you’ve spent too much time, money, and energy learning them to render them useless, right?)
You want to set your business up for strategic success so that you can put those tactics and trends to use—and better yet, start to develop some of your own.
In a Harvard Business Review article by Roger Martin, strategy is defined as knowing Where You Want to Play and How You’re Going to Win. And while the essence of that—that business is a game and that there’s a clear path to winning—might have resonated with MBAs and corporate big wigs before the dawn of the New Economy, I don’t think it resonates with today’s new wave of entrepreneurs who are building communities and movements as much as they are building revenue streams and management systems.
So what do you need to know to set up your business for strategic success? Try these 5 questions I’ve adapted the framework that Martin poses to capture our context of creation and connection.
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#NewEconomy Strategy: Where to Create & How to Connect
- What is your vision for making life meaningfully better for your business community and what are the metrics of success by which you’ll measure that vision?
- What conversation is your business a part of and what voices in that conversation are your best prospects looking for an alternative to?
- In the greater conversation your business is a part of, how will you represent your unique point-of-view to engage customers who are excited about your businesses strengths, skills, and passion?
- What are the unique strengths, skills, and passion (your Onlyness) your business can invest in to attract your best prospects?
- What product, marketing, sales, and management systems can you put in place to support and enhance your business’s unique strengths, skills, and passion?[/thst_alert]
Martin, who developed the strategic questions my adaptation is based on, argues iteration is the key to better strategy. You have to be willing to make an initial wager on the answer to your first question, then be willing to evolve that as you answer the second question, and so on.
There’s a dual imperative: to both be committed to your strategic thinking and be willing to iterate when the facts change.
This dual imperative holds true for the New Economy. With communities and conversations constantly evolving, your strategic vision also needs to be constantly open to change.
So while it’s always a good time of year to think strategically, I find that summer presents some great opportunities. As we wrap up the first half of the year, I challenge you to consider how your market, its opportunities, and your plans have evolved in 2014 and how you can evolve your own strategic vision for the second half of 2014 to make the impact in the world you’re here to make.