My Accidental Branding

Ranching didn't teach me how to write a marketing plan; it taught me work.

Throughout my life I have been able to adapt, survive, and succeed because of my work ethic. It has helped me establish my brand for business without my even knowing it.

Here's what happened.

When I was "Fired at Fifty", I started The Marketing Mentress Podcast show. Within a very short period of time pretty much everyone in the lower mainland of British Columbia knew who "The Marketing Mentress" was.

How did that happen?!

What I did was use LinkedIn to find people to interview on my podcast show. People wanted to be guests on my show and I had them lining up waiting for their opportunity to be interviewed. I was interviewing up to 7 people a week and publishing the podcast through my website and social media. We would do the interview; then I would write a blog about the interview; attached the interview to the blog; attached their contact information to the blog, and then published them all together. I had all my social media connected with my website so when a blog was published, it instantly was broadcast throughout my social media and several podcast sites...ITunes included.

One of the businesses that I interviewed had invented a recyclable fire extinguisher that was 9" x 1.5". It would fit into your glove box. When we published his interview, I attached a caption, "Help! My house is burning down!"  We had 124 listens to the interview and a request from Orange County, California saying, "We need to get these throughout our entire county!"

It was amazing! I had no idea what I was doing!

What I was doing was interviewing 6-7 times a week and these were going out into my network every time I published a show.

Purely by accident I discovered that blogging and posting every day of the week branded myself.

When I reviewed my process, I realized that I had made myself different from my competition, and had created a unique presence on the internet.

People want to be educated and informed first and foremost. Inadvertently, that's what I was doing!

I was getting business through people I met on LinkedIn and through networking meetings.

It was the presence that I had created on the internet that started the base for my branding, but the networking gave my presence uniformity.

Today when I introduce myself as The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress, people know exactly what I do.

-And it all came to fruition by accident.

Well, sort of by accident. My work ethic had a lot to do with the success of my brand.

What are you doing to make yourself different from your competition? How are you building your unique brand?

As I watched many small businesses struggle with their brand and uniqueness in the marketplace, I realized that I had learned the secrets to developing a great brand. I could help these businesses!

Just because I was successful with branding myself in the early stages of my career doesn't mean that I think I know it all. I continue to learn.

Christine Unterthiner has taught me a lot about branding and how to grow my brand. What she teaches goes hand-in-hand with online marketing. We need to establish our brand in order to market our business both online and offline. Because branding and marketing work together to help businesses move ahead faster in the marketplace.

We have come together for a series of webinars that run March 8th, April 12th, May 10th, and June 14th 2016.

If you are looking for help with your branding and marketing online and offline, come join our FREE webinars. https://siftingthroughthenoise.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The Marketing Mentress

     https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marketingmentress

www.2csuccess.com

LinkedIn Tip #17 - How Do You Avoid Being IDK'd?

What is the key to being a center of influence on LinkedIn?

When people or possible customers see that we are well connected, they become attracted to us and our business.

So what does this mean?

Imagine this: You walk into a conventional business where you see high activity in the retail space. Customers are busy trying and buying products. The atmosphere is attractive to you as a possible customer, and the likelihood of you becoming a customer is high.

The same principle applies to LinkedIn. When we see that your profile is connected to 500+ people, our subconscious mind tells us that you are a 'center of influence'. It is inviting to other LinkedIn members.

Where LinkedIn is concerned, all it will show to the public is that someone has 500+ connections. It will also show the exact number of connections we have up to the 500+ number. Once you are at 500+, people cannot tell if you have 501 or 30,000 connections.

The challenge is 'How' do we get from 1 to 500+ connections without being IDK'd?"

Back when I first started using LinkedIn, I was faced with this dilemma of getting over 500 connections. I had invited everyone in my contact lists and shoeboxes of business cards, and found myself still short of my goal.

Then I noticed that LinkedIn was suggesting that I 'might know' a whole bunch of people! Woo-hoo! So I thought that I was supposed to connect with all these people. I sat there for hours clicking the 'connect' button for each person.

I managed to get way beyond the 500+ connections, but I also got sent to "LinkedIn Jail"!

LinkedIn Jail happens in this instance when we have 5+ people say they 'do not know' us. 

Hence being IDK'd.

Yup! I got IDK'd!

UGH!

I had to print out the entire LinkedIn Terms of Use, sign them and send them back to LinkedIn.  I also had to send them a copy of my driver's license. It took almost two weeks to gain access to my LinkedIn account.

Never, Never, Never invite people to connect with you unless you know them!

Here is the caveat to avoiding being IDK'd:

Never invite people you don't know to connect with you, unless they are LIONs. LION means LinkedIn Open Networker. You can find these LIONs in groups of LIONs. To find them, just search for LION groups. LIONs will never IDK anyone.

In summary the first thing we need to accomplish after we complete our killer profile is to get our connections up to 500+. To do that, start with inviting the people we know. Then we can join groups of LIONs to invite some of them to connect with us.

We need to remember that we are in control of our LinkedIn profile. In order to maintain that control we need to educate ourselves.

For more information and answers to your LinkedIn questions contact The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress.

If you are looking for help with how to connect without being connected on LinkedIn, Join us on Tuesday, February 9th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm MST at https://linkedinptbutter.eventbrite.ca

Fired at Fifty: Stop Looking For Work and Discover What You Were Meant to Do.

http://bit.ly/FiredatFiftyKindle

Got a LinkedIn question? Feel free to email me and I will answer it in my next blog.

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

marketingmentress@gmail.com

1-780-904-9557

Take Your Eyes Off Yourself for One Minute!

What has your attitude been toward your business and your prospective customers lately?

Do you feel like quitting?

Or do you have a renewed zest for life and for your success?

It is like the "glass half full" scenario isn't it.

When we think that our glass is "half empty", the world looks gloomy and bleak. Nothing seems to work and everything seems broken. Your family is against you; your friends are against you; your closest associates seem to taunt you because you are "not there yet". 

They ask you why you keep on trying? Why not just quit?

This is the point where most people give up.

On the other hand, change your stinking thinking; take a deep breath and forge ahead into new frontiers with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. Success is just around the corner!

Something I discovered is that when I take my eyes off myself and focus on others, my business soars.

How about you?

That said, I have decided to challenge myself to raise $100,000 for charity this year. I plan to do it through crowdfunding.

One day I was feeling a little "down" with my business when a sweet friend opened my eyes to a bigger picture. She mentioned that there is a charity in my city that feeds homeless seniors. They are struggling to find the funding they need to keep the meals coming.

I was in shock! I could not believe my ears! Are there really old people on the streets during the Edmonton winter with only a backpack to carry all their belongings?

Upon further investigation, I discovered that there is a friendship center called "Operation Friendship" right here in my city. This center provides three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for these homeless seniors. I also discovered that more than 15% of seniors in Canada are homeless!

Now I was really in shock! I had no idea that these people are being forced to live out in the cold winter.

What could li'l ol me do to help with something of such magnitude?!

Brainwave!

I had seen many GoFundMe profiles of people needing financial help and how successful they all were, so I decided to set up my own page for fundraising to help Operation Friendship.

It would make my heart sing if you would be so kind as to donate just $5.00 to help our efforts. The money stays in the account until we are ready to donate it to our charity. Then we connect it directly to Operation Friendship's bank account to pass along the funds.

Here's the catch:

GoFundMe will not list our crowd funding site for our seniors until we reach at least $500 in donations.

Please make a donation and pass this along to your connections to help these seniors.

https://www.gofundme.com/womanitioninc

You know 200 people, who know 200 people, who know 200 people, and so on. If we share this with all our connections and everyone only donates $5.00 each, we would achieve our goal in no time at all!

Just imagine how we will be helping our own people right here in our own back yards!

Copy and paste this link into your browser. https://www.gofundme.com/womanitioninc

I hear so many Canadians complaining about how we always go help everyone else in the world before we help our own people. This should be one charity that will make our fellow Canadians pleased to support.

Please, please, please help me feed these homeless seniors!

Blessings,

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress
780-904-9557

LinkedIn Tip # 16 - How Do You Connect Without Being Connected?

The big secret to LinkedIn is in the groups; not in the discussions.

Do you like a little challenge? That is what we have with LinkedIn.

It is like a big networking meeting on the internet...the biggest in the world!

I get invited to join lots of "copy cat" platforms, but when I check them out, I discover they are nothing close to the power of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the most powerful professional platform on the internet, bar none!

Let's compare networking on LinkedIn with real live networking.

You have 30 seconds to make a great first impression at a live networking event.

On LinkedIn you only have 3 seconds to make a great first impression.

1. One second to look at the headshot

2. One second to check the name.

3. One second to check the headline.

If the profile of the person you are checking out passes the three seconds, the next thing they will check out is the summary.

What does your summary tell people? Does it share what inspired you to do what you do and your "why"? Sharing your "why" is the beginning of building a great relationship with people you want to know and do business with. Your summary is a crucial part of building a "killer" profile.

With a "killer" profile, you are set to start getting down to business with LinkedIn. This is no different than how you prepare yourself for a live networking event.

Except they cannot smell your perfume. :-)

Asking the right questions makes a big difference from the first time you meet someone. Is there something you have in common? Is there something you can collaborate on?

Use F.O.R.M as we discussed in an earlier post.

The same thing happens with LinkedIn. You meet someone that you would like to create a conversation with in the groups. Then you check out their profile and search for the "Contact" tab on their profile. Their email address is in that tab.

Now you can send them a message telling them that you hope it is ok to send them a direct email, and then explain how their profile caught your eye because you noticed something special about it, and wondered what inspired them to do what they do.

Ninety-nine percent of the time they will respond positively.

Remember that the biggest secret to LinkedIn is that you build the relationships online, but real business gets done face to face.

If you are looking for help with how to connect without being connected on LinkedIn, Join us on Tuesday, February 9th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm MST at https://linkedinptbutter.eventbrite.ca

Fired at Fifty: Stop Looking For Work and Discover What You Were Meant to Do.

http://bit.ly/FiredatFiftyKindle

Got a LinkedIn question? Feel free to email me and I will answer it in my next blog.

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

marketingmentress@gmail.com

1-780-904-9557

LinkedIn Tip #15 - Recognition!

Everyone loves to receive recognition, whether for their work or for their ideas.

When was the last time someone recognized you for something at work, at home or in the community?

Have you worked hard to accomplish a major goal only to have someone at work take the credit? How did that make you feel? Probably not a positive thought, huh!

Years ago when I was in high school, I wanted to be a cheer leader. (We had a cheer leading squad for our basketball team.) In order to be on the cheer leading squad, we had to "try out". So I practiced and worked hard at kicking high and doing the splits, jumping in rhythm and chanting different cheers.

When that fateful day arrived, we were asked to run through the routines we had prepared. There were some requirements that had to be included in our performance.  I was able to meet all the requirements and make the squad!

But it was not fair!

When I did the splits, I did a complete straight legged front and back light bump on the floor. I was the only one that did the complete splits. Everyone else had a straight front leg and a bent back leg. They only did a partial split.

After that, I endured snide comments about my splits and high kicks, because I could kick a full straight-legged split, kicking one leg up in front of me while standing as well. I received no recognition or "oohs and ahs". The room was dead silent! A couple of the other girls got recognition for their ability instead.

How do you think that made me feel?

I have long since gotten over this, but thought it would help illustrate my point here.

How do you feel when you receive a birthday greeting or a congratulations on your anniversary?

It is especially great to receive a bit of recognition from your business associates, and be recognized for something special, if only for your birthday. It means that someone is thinking of someone other than themselves.

Being successful in life is all about taking your eyes off yourself and focusing on what you can do to boost someone else and help them in some way.

Tip # 15:

When you see someone in your connections has a work anniversary or birthday or a new job, congratulate them. You will make their day and open up a dialogue with them that could turn into business.

Also, when someone endorses you, accept their endorsements and thank them as often as you can.

It is always nice to recognize the recognizer. :-)

When was the last time you recognized someone?

If you are looking for help with how to give recognition on LinkedIn, Join us on Tuesday, February 9th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm MST.

https://linkedinptbutter.eventbrite.ca

Fired at Fifty: Stop Looking For Work and Discover What You Were Meant to Do.

http://bit.ly/FiredatFiftyKindle

Got a LinkedIn question? Feel free to email me and I will answer it in my next blog.

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

marketingmentress@gmail.com

1-780-904-9557

Where is YOUR Ladder Leaning?

When climbing the "ladder of success" know on which building your ladder leans.

In 2004 I attended a conference where John Maxwell was speaking. He was speaking on leadership and how to motivate your staff by setting a great example as a leader.

What he said that day made me stop dead and think!

He spoke about having a plan to help your team succeed.

Up to this point in my life I had thought that employees just did what they were told and avoided making mistakes, put their heads down and worked hard. I also thought that employees did not have any say in what the business was doing. When you worked for someone, you just kept adjusting your work to whatever was handed to you. If you spoke up about an issue, you stood the risk of losing your job.

I never even ventured a thought about how I might be pointed in the wrong direction somehow.

John said that many people just get a good job, and go to work every day with their heads down and nose to the grindstone, figuratively speaking. They never ask questions or make a plan of where they want to end up in the process.

Then one day they wake up only to find that the ladder they were climbing was leaning against the wrong building!

Imagine that! Working hard all your life in a dead-end job only to find at retirement that you are not where you thought you would be. You end up very unhappy thinking thoughts like, "I wish I could'a, would'a, should'a!" But by then it is too late and you are stuck in the rut of life that you blindly followed for all your working years.

Is this you? Are you stuck in a rut?

With our Canadian economy in crisis, thousands of people have been laid off because of the oil prices being so low. It has halted many company plans in the oil patch causing thousands upon thousands of lay-offs.

These employees who have been laid off are suddenly finding that their "ladder was leaning against the wrong building". What they thought would see them through to retirement, just isn't there anymore.

A great many of these x-employees are over 50 years old. The chances of them getting rehired in the oil patch are slim.

What do you think is happening?

You guessed it! People are diversifying.

Last summer I checked to see how many people were on LinkedIn in the Edmonton area, and there were something like 318,000+. Today when I checked, there were 375,772 people using LinkedIn in the Edmonton area.

Look at those numbers!

It used to be that there were few oil patch-related people using LinkedIn. I have noticed that there are a lot more getting online with LinkedIn.

Do you think it might be because people are searching for other ways to market themselves? 

Do you think it might be because people are being laid off and they are starting businesses of their own?

I heard from a financial planner speaking last night that today in Canada most bankruptcies are with seniors! Here they are at the end of their lives with no money to live out their lives in the style they have been accustomed to.

These seniors are desperately looking for ways to earn extra income. They cannot work a regular job, so what are they doing?

They are starting small, home-based businesses.

Since 2012, 1/3 of the new businesses being started in Canada are by people over 50! Did you know that?

Do you know someone who needs help understanding how to market themselves through social media? If so, tell them that The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress can help.

Register for LinkedIn 101 - Stuck in LinkedIn Peanut Butter on Tuesday, February 9th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm MST.  https://linkedinptbutter.eventbrite.ca

Fired at Fifty: Stop Looking For Work and Discover What You Were Meant to Do.

http://bit.ly/FiredatFiftyKindle

Got a LinkedIn question? Feel free to email me and I will answer it in my next blog.

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

marketingmentress@gmail.com

Who is YOUR BEST Salesman?

From 1987 to 1992, the Government of Canada sponsored the "Business Owner Development Program".

This was a program to help small businesses become stronger and more profitable. Each business that registered for this program only had to pay 1/3 of the registration fee for two people to attend. The Canadian Government picked up the rest of the tab.

It was my privilege to have the opportunity of first taking part in this program as a business owner, and later as a business consultant.

As a business consultant I had 32 different businesses to work with each year for the ten month program. It was my responsibility to meet with each of these 32 businesses once a month for two hours helping them implement the things they were learning in the program into their business.

It was the most challenging work I had ever done up to that point in my life!

Some of the things that the small businesses learned were: time management, cash flow and money management, taxation, selling from the inside out, marketing, how to hire great employees and train and keep them, organization, how to target your market, and many other keys to managing a small business.

A small business was classed as any business with 99 or less employees. I don't know about you, but in my imagination 99 employees seemed like a BIG business to me at that time.

The month we had the sales training I was shocked to say the least at some of the responses I would receive from 'my' businesses.

The first month as we were getting started with our monthly sessions, we worked with simple cash flow projections. These cash flow projections helped me have a better idea of how I could help each of the businesses in my care.

With my assistance, each business set up a 12 month cash flow projection spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel. It was amazing to watch them as we progressed through the months plugging in the numbers based on past sales and expenses.

Many of the businesses would see their bottom line getting deeper and deeper into the "red" and they would exclaim, "I gotta get me a good salesperson!!!"

I explained to them that the moment they signed their name on the dotted line as the owner of their business, THEY BECAME THEIR OWN BEST SALESMAN. It was up to them to figure out how to sell their own products, or they would be unable to train any salesperson how to do it.

If they could not sell their own products and hired a salesperson, said salesperson would bring their own habits into the business...good and bad. Probably mostly bad.

The new sales person would have to sell enough product to cover the present bottom line, plus cover their own wages. There would need to be more product sold just to cover these two things

.

It was interesting to watch their faces as they digested what I said.

Thus began our 10 months together.

How are your sales? Are you, your company's own best sales person?

Social media is one way to market to your target audience. How is your social media working for you?

Need some help?

Attend my LinkedIn 101 - Stuck in LinkedIn Peanut Butter webinar  Tuesday, February 9th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm MST.

Register today: https://linkedinptbutter.eventbrite.ca

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

marketingmentress@gmail.com

1-780-904-9557