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The Power of the Rule of Three in Marketing Your Small Business

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (0)

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

What, exactly, is the Rule of Three? It’s a rule that basically states that more than three “whatever” is confusing and overwhelming – either visually or mentally, or both.

That makes it especially helpful if you’re the kind of entrepreneur who likes to give too much…As in: too many options, too much rambling content, too many bullet points, too much info crammed into a speech, etc.

The Rule of Three is a fascinating thing. Why? Because it seems to apply in so many different situations. And many of these situations are related to effectively marketing a business. So if you’re an entrepreneur, it makes sense to understand how, when and why to apply it.

Oftentimes, the reality is less is more. The Rule of Three can help ensure you aren’t overwhelming your clients and prospects. That translates into more sales.

Below are seven ways you can put the Rule of Three to use in marketing and growing your small business.

1) Follow up. How many times should you follow up with a prospect? A minimum of (you guessed it) three times. More is better! How often do you give up after one or two calls or emails? If you’re not following up AT LEAST three times you’re definitely losing potential clients and projects.

2) Marketing tactics. I recommend my clients never try to implement more than three new marketing tactics at a time. It’s just too much because each one is going to require multiple steps to execute. Plus you need to track response.

While you might eventually have more than three tactics happening simultaneously, if you overload yourself in the beginning you won’t be able to execute any of them well or on a consistent basis—if ever.

3) Business cards. Take a look at a few business cards. Some look professional, clean and easy to understand. Others have way too much stuff crammed into way too small a space.

Chances are the best ones have no more than three blocks of information (whether that’s text or graphics) in the layout. For example, logo in the corner is one, name and title in the middle is another, and contact info at the bottom is a third.

Stick with the Rule of Three here and avoid distracting background images or the urge to squeeze every possible bit of info on one card. You’ll end up with a better result that makes a more professional first impression.

4) Fonts. Never use more than three fonts on a page – online or in print – (and your logo font does count as one). Having too many fonts looks juvenile and unprofessional. Instead, choose one font for body text and one for headlines or callouts, and leave it at that. You can always use boxes, bolding, underlines, colors and italics for emphasis.

5) Colors. Looking for new colors for your brand? Trying to decide on the colors for your Website? Or that new flier, ad or promotion? Again, the Rule of Three is your friend. Choose one color to be your main color, then one that compliments it, and one to serve as a highlight color.

More than that and your logo, brand and marketing start to look like a car wash poster made by high school students.

6) Speaking points. The human mind can only absorb and remember so much information in one sitting. So when you plan a speech, talk, teleseminar or Webinar, don’t overwhelm listeners with everything you know. Instead choose three points, tips or topics to delve into and save the rest for another time.

Not only do you avoid confusing or overwhelming the audience, but you keep them coming back for more.

7) Bullet points. Not sure when to use bullet points instead of a list in regular paragraph format? Rule of Three to the rescue again…If you’ve got more than three things in your list, it’s time to switch to bullets.

If you’ve got at least three things in your list, bullets are optional but allowed. Less than three and you want to stick with paragraph format.

So next time you’re working on any piece of marketing, branding, copywriting or advertising remember the Rule of Three. You’ll look more professional, be easier to understand, and make a much bigger impact that’s going to grow your business!

What do you think about the Rule of Three? Do you use it already? Are there other areas in your business or marketing where it can be used effectively? Please do share a comment…

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Categories : Build Your Business, Online Marketing, Practical Marketing, Systems

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The Fastest, Easiest, Cheapest Way to Grow Your Small Business

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (0)

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

If you’re like many entrepreneurs these days, business is slower than you’d like. Because, in addition to an economy that’s forced people to think much harder about where they’re spending their money, the Internet has created a lot more competition. That means clients, customers or patients can be harder to come by.

So what do you do if business is slow, and you don’t have a lot to invest in marketing or advertising?

It’s simple… You pick up the phone and call your past clients, customers or patients just to check in and see how things are going. Are they happy with the product? Did they benefit from the service? Are they feeling well?

Now, keep in mind I’m not saying you want to be a pushy salesperson. Nor do I expect you to call during the dinner hour. But realistically you should WANT to know how they’re doing and how happy they are with your products or services. And as a business owner, you NEED to know this information if you want to grow.

So grab that customer or client list and set aside 30 minutes to an hour a day to make follow up calls. Chances are you’ll leave quite a few voice mails, but be sure to move those folks to the end of your list and call them again later.

When you do get someone on the phone, while you shouldn’t sell, be prepared for them to want to buy. Because many people, if they were happy with what they bought from you before, will happily buy again – particularly when provided with a convenient opportunity to do so. Heck, they might even have been thinking about doing so for weeks but just hadn’t gotten around to it.

On top of all that, even those that don’t buy are going to be reminded of you. And they’re going to experience, right then, how much you truly care about the quality of your products and services, as well as their experience and results. Meaning the chance of getting a referral from them goes way up!

What if you’ve just opened your doors and don’t have past clients, customers or patients to call?

If that’s the case, then you need to get in front of a lot of well-targeted prospects as quickly as possible. So do a bit of research and identify other people or organizations offering complementary products or services to the same target market. Then call to introduce yourself and get to know them better.

If they seem like someone you might want to support or work with, look for ways to partner up or help each other. Think: shared marketing, cross marketing, referrals, joint ventures, offering teleseminars to each other’s lists, trading blog posts, creating and delivering a program or product together, etc.

The bottom line is, when you’re a small business owner you need to hustle. The Internet, email and social media are great, but sometimes a more personal connection does the job better.

That’s why you need to pick up the phone, reach out and make contact. And do it regularly. When you do this, you’re going to grow your business; and you’re going to learn a ton about your business, your customers and yourself along the way.

Do you regularly call your clients, customers or patients just to check in? If so, what are your results? If not, why not? What other thoughts do you have about this? Please do leave a comment…

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Categories : Build Your Business, Entrepreneur Mindset, Practical Marketing, Relationship Marketing

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Is Your Video Ready for Prime Time?

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (4)

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Thanks to the advent of idiot-proof video cameras that automatically upload your videos to the web, it’s never been easier to make your own videos for marketing, promotion, or education. Yet few entrepreneurs feel confident using videos online to market their small business.

Typically, if they’re even willing to make a video, they’ll be far too critical of the results. So they won’t post the video online because they want to make it “perfect”.

The thing is, nothing is ever perfect. And it’s the imperfections of self-made videos that make them so compelling and effective. They’re the antithesis of the slick, expensive videos big companies can afford.

But I get it. When it comes to making and publishing videos online, I find I’m my own worst critic. It can be hard to have an unbiased opinion when you spend the whole time staring at the “weird” way your upper lip lifts. Or the way your voice sounds.

The reality is, none of that matters to anyone other than you! As long as your videos are interesting, informative or entertaining people don’t even notice most of the details that bother you—or at least not in the negative light you see them in.

In fact, in one of my first videos I felt very critical about my hair. But the content was good so I put it online anyway. Within a day one of my friends commented and mentioned how great my new hairdo looked. Go figure.

The thing is, videos are a wonderful way to personally introduce yourself and/or your products or services, to people who visit your Website. They’re also a wonderful way to reach an audience who prefers to watch and listen than read. And they’re good for your SEO. So it really is worth the time and effort to make a few to market your business.

On top of all that, you can create an entire product based around videos. Or add them in as a bonus when you sell another service or product. But that’s a topic for another article.

The real question here is…

How do you know if your video is ready for prime time (especially if you are your own worst critic)?

Here’s a short list of questions to ask yourself:

Is the main subject of the video easy to see?
Is the audio loud enough to hear?
Have you made sure there isn’t anything overly distracting in the background or foreground?
If you or another person is in the video, are they dressed and styled appropriately for the intended audience and their expectations?
Are the people in the video smiling at least some of the time?
Is the video less than 5 minutes in length (ideally less than 3 minutes)?
Do you cover useful information in a way that’s easy to understand?
Do you stick to one main topic?
Do you offer 1-3 useful tips or tidbits?
Did you introduce yourself at the start, and sign off with an offer and call to action (even if it’s just to visit your Website for more helpful info) and your URL at the end??

If you answered yes to all of these questions, your video is good to go.

Does this mean it’s the best video you can possibly make? Of course not. You’re going to get better with time and practice.

But thanks to youtube, no one expects perfection. Again, they just want something that’s useful, interesting or entertaining (or all three). If you’ve also hit that mark then you’re video is worth sharing. So post it now.

Got more video tips? Thoughts on this article? Please do leave a comment…

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Categories : Online Marketing, Video & Viral Marketing, Videos

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Entrepreneurs, Book that Next Appointment or Consultation Now!

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (0)

Friday, January 13th, 2012

Are you missing out on a lot of additional business because you’re failing to ask your current patients and clients one simple question?

Many of the small business owners, consultants and service providers I use on a regular basis are. And you could be too.

Let me share a few examples of exactly what I’m talking about…

My massage therapist actually pushes me to their online calendar versus booking me a new appointment while I’m there. She does it in a very offhand way as though she doesn’t want to bother me about it.

The online calendar is fine when I’m home, but why not book my next appointment right then?

My hairdresser offers a free touch up within four weeks of your last cut. I rarely take her up on it because I always forget to schedule it in time. Then I wait probably three to four weeks longer than I should to get it cut too.

If I (and every client) came in for two more cuts a year because we booked before we left, she’d add a tidy sum to her bottom line – especially once you count the extra product sold too.

A few months ago I started seeing a new acupuncturist. We began what was likely going to be a multi-appointment course of treatment. But I started feeling better, then life got in the way and I just never went back.

She could have easily kept treating me if we’d booked on the spot.

Some time back I hired a consultant to help me make some decisions regarding a new brand launch I was working on. I hired her once, it was a great conversation, and I considered hiring her again.

Had she asked at the time, I probably would’ve booked another hour consult. But she didn’t.

If any of these folks had simply asked to book my next appointment at that time, I would have done it.

They could have helped me more. They’d be taking a task off my future to-do list and making my life easier. And they’d make more money with less effort. In other words, it would be good for everyone involved!

Now I’m not saying you need to be pushy or salesy. I’m suggesting that at the end of your time together with a client or patient, simply ask, “Would you like to go ahead and book your next appointment (or meeting, or consult) now?”

If they say no, that’s fine. But you’ll be surprised by how many people will happily say yes. And how much faster and easier your business will grow as a result.

Do you book your next meeting or consult at the end of the current one? If so, does it work well for you? If not, why not? Please do share your thoughts by leaving a comment…

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Categories : Build Your Business, Entrepreneur Mindset, Practical Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Uncategorized

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Clear Out the Old and Make Room for the New – In Business and Life

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (5)

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

It’s the start of a new year. For many of us, thoughts turn to making resolutions – or at the very least finally tackling that messy closet, or those piles of papers, or organizing some aspect of your business. Because we all know how good it feels to have a nice, clean space with everything organized and in its place.

Plus, I’m a firm believer that if you want something new in your life you need to make room for it. Whether that means you need to clear things out mentally, emotionally or physically.

The hard part is making time to get it done. Because no matter how good it feels when you finish cleaning and organizing, it’s rarely something most of us feel like doing.

I find it helps to get reminders from outside myself as motivation. So here are a few of my favorite motivating quotes to help you get 2012 started right by clearing out the old and making room for the new.

“Clutter is stuck energy. The word 'clutter' derives from the Middle English word 'clotter,' which means to coagulate. And that's about as stuck as you can get.”–Karen Kingston

“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” –William James

“The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed-it is a process of elimination.” –Elbert Hubbard

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.” –Michael Altshuler

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” –Confucius

“Make room for the new you. You may not have totally determined who the new you is going to be, but you probably have decided that there are some things about the current you, that you want to change. Well while you are working on what the new you will be, start 'cleaning out a room' for the new you to live in.

Get rid of the junk in your life both physical and mental that doesn't fit you anymore. Take things out of your schedule that are taking your time away from finding out what you want to do. By making room for the new you, you will create a vacuum that the new you will rush in to fill and you will be on your way to the top.” –Edward W. Smith, Sixty Seconds To Success

The most important thing is to get started. So pick a project, whether business or personal, then break it down into smaller parts and tackle one bit each day (or week until it’s done). When you stop letting unfinished projects drain your energy, and you create organization and space for new things in your life, you transform your world.

Here’s to an amazing year! May this one be your best yet!!

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Categories : Build Your Business, Entrepreneur Mindset, Systems, Work/Life Balance

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Are Your Business Goals Undermining Your Personal Goals?

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (2)

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

2012 is just around the corner. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’re thinking about what you want to achieve next year.

Hopefully you’re also looking back and thinking about what worked and what didn’t, and what you loved about your small business and what you hated. Because that’s the only way to know what needs to change to make you more successful this year.

On top of that, all too often I see small business owners set business goals that are completely in opposition to what’s most important to them personally. For example, if you want to spend more time with your kids, but you decide to host a weekly radio show, your professional and personal goals are out of whack. That means you’re not likely to be happy with your results at the end of next year.

So the Business Lifestyle Architect in me wants you to look at what you really want and need in your life and your business. Then design your 2012 goals and plans to achieve both.

To help you with that, I’ve put together a series of 5 simple yet powerful questions you can and should be asking yourself.

Ready? Grab a pen and pad (or sit down at your keyboard), set aside 15 minutes, and get started.

1) What are your top 3 personal goals or priorities?

I’m not talking about business goals or how much money you want to make here. I just want to know what’s most important to you in your personal life. Is it getting or staying in shape, spending more time with family or friends, pursuing a hobby, traveling, buying a new house, something else? Be as detailed and specific as possible.

2) How do you plan to achieve these goals? Be specific here about the steps you plan to take or changes you plan to make. And make sure to include deadlines or start dates.

3) What are your top 3 business goals or priorities?

Again, be as detailed and specific as possible. Don’t just say “make more money”, or “launch a new product”… Say, “Get 10 new clients per month and earn an additional $100,000 this year”.

4) How do you plan to achieve those goals? Write a short synopsis of what you plan to do to make your business goals a reality. So if you want 10 new clients a month you might decide to start doing public speaking, or email marketing, or launch a new program, or create affiliate partnerships. Whatever it is you plan to do, list it out next to each goal, and again, be sure to include start dates and due dates.

5) Which, if any, of your business goals support one or more of your personal goals? If there are any that don’t, then you definitely need to rethink those business goals and how you plan to achieve them.

Because if all you ever do is focus on your business goals – or you look at your business and personal goals separately – I can tell you from experience your business will take over your life. So if you want to be both successful and satisfied as an entrepreneur, be sure you always consider both.

While it’s great to do this at year’s end, these questions are something I recommend you bust out and look at more than just once a year. In fact, I recommend you go through these bi-annually at a minimum; quarterly is better.

Remember, life is for living – not just working. So use these questions to help you do more of the former while enjoying the latter more.

Got thoughts on this subject? Other suggestions? Please do leave a comment…

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Categories : Build Your Business, Business Systems, Entrepreneur Mindset, Work/Life Balance

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A Simple Secret for Making More Affiliate Sales

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (1)

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Do you have an affiliate program yet?

If not, you should. And if you already do – or you regularly promote other entrepreneurs as an affiliate – then today’s article has a simple yet powerful tip to make your efforts more effective.

But let me backup here and make sure we’re on the same page…

In case you aren’t familiar with affiliate programs; they’re basically a simple way for others to refer prospects your way online and get credit for it. And they’re great for small businesses.

Typically, you set up an affiliate program using your shopping cart or other online tool. And you make sure to include a set affiliate commission (basically a referral fee) of either a dollar amount or a percentage of the price for anything you’re trying to promote.

Then you invite people to join who know, like and trust you and would be willing to promote your stuff to their community. Each person who joins gets their own, unique affiliate link. This lets you track who sends you each new client or customer so you can pay them their fee.

Once you have a few affiliates, it’s time to promote your products, events and/or services via your new affiliate partners. That means you’re going to put together emails, Facebook posts, tweets, ezine blurbs and more for them to use.

Now, here’s where it gets tricky…

In order for an affiliate program to be successful, the affiliate link included in each promo needs to send prospects directly to the page for that product, event or service. NOT to a generic products or events page, or worse to your home page. Do this and you WILL lose sales.

The problem is, every affiliate is automatically issued their own affiliate link via the system. And that link goes to one Website page and one page only.

So what do you do when you want your affiliates to send prospects directly to a specific page for a new product, service or event (Or when you want to promote a new product as an affiliate, but you only have the one link)?

You could set up separate affiliate programs for each item. But that’s a huge pain on your side. Plus then affiliates have to sign up to promote each one. Uggh.

Instead, here’s a cool little trick to customize affiliate links I learned years ago from my VA Erin Blaskie…

All you need to do is add this little piece to the end of the affiliate link (be sure to include the landing page URL): &u=www.URLHERE.com

So let’s say the generic affiliate link is:

http://www.myshoppingcart.com/app/?af=651317

But you want the link used to promote your new book, “Buy It Now” from buyitnow.com. In that case you simply copy and paste &u=www.buyitnow.com to the end of the affiliate link like so.

http://www.shoppingcart.com/app/?af=651317&u=www.buyitnow.com

Make sure there are no spaces between the original link and the bit you just added and it should work like a charm. Of course, be sure to test it before you use it yourself, and advise your affiliates to do the same. Then shorten it using a service like bit.ly or tinyurl.com for ease of use.

Simple. Effective. And sure to increase your affiliate-based sales.

Was this affiliate program link tip helpful? Do you know another way to do this? Please leave a comment below…

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Categories : Build Your Business, Online Marketing, Sales

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The Key to Making Money in Your Small Business

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (4)

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

What’s the number one thing you must have in order to grow a successful small business? It’s not clients or customers, though those are critically important.

It’s not effective marketing, though you absolutely need that too.

I’m talking about something far simpler. And I know I risk sounding like Master of the Obvious with this, but I’ve seen so many entrepreneurs struggle because they don’t have it…

What is this key to making money in your small business?

You have to have something to sell!

See, I told you it was obvious. But I’ve had more than one client come to me and say…

“Okay, I’ve built my new blog site, launched my brand and am trying to get out there and make connections. But so far I’ve spent a bunch of time and money and none is coming in.”

Oftentimes they really aren’t clear about what they’re selling. One person was offering the always too vague “coaching”… Another had spent all her time and money building a free membership site with no real idea of how to monetize it …

Yet another was trying to sell other, complimentary experts into becoming members of her site and program in exchange for marketing them online and getting them more exposure. The only problem? She didn’t have a list of people to expose these experts to. So she still really had nothing to sell.

If you’ve got nothing in particular to sell it’s hard to make any money.

The solution?

Create specific products and/or services that provide value now.

These could be ebooks, audio trainings, video tutorials, membership programs, coaching programs, consulting packages, done-for-you services, or a combination of any and all of the above.

The only criteria are:

Whatever you’re selling has to be something people want to buy
It has to be easy to understand what you’re selling, who it’s for and why they would want it (that’s the old “what’s in it for me” part)
It has to be sold in a way that makes it easy to buy

Of course, there is just a bit more to it than that.

But the most important thing is that you come up with something to sell that’s got tangible value and benefits, and provides a specific set of services and/or products for a specific price.

For example, selling coaching or consulting does not fit the bill here. However, selling a specific number of hours or sessions with a particular goal does. So selling marketing consulting is a no go, but selling a 6-hour Marketing Jumpstart program works. Throwing in a complimentary workbook makes it even better.

Make sense? If so, then take a look at what you’re offering and find ways to turn it into specific, value-packed products, services and programs.

What are your thoughts on this article? Please do share by leaving a comment…

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Categories : Build Your Business, Practical Marketing, Sales

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What Is Stopping You from Effectively Marketing Your Small Business?

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (0)

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Seriously, what IS stopping you from effectively marketing your small business? Because chances are you aren’t.

I say this not to come down on you, but because it’s the reality. Most entrepreneurs, particularly solo-entrepreneurs, are so strapped for time and money their marketing gets the short end of the stick. And their business growth is too slow as a result.

All too often, when I talk to clients, I find out they know what they really should be doing to market and grow their business – whether it’s writing regular blog posts and ezines, doing social networking, attending live networking meetings, or even just calling past clients to check in.

The problem is they have a whole list of “reasons” for why they can’t do whatever it is.

It might be lack of time, money or know how. But you can get around all of these hurdles with a little creativity and effort.

The truth is, most people have some kind of internal blocks that keep them from taking action consistently. So they come up with reasons why it won’t work or they can’t do it.

Reasons like…

“Oh, I could never email people a regular newsletter…That would be rude and intrusive.”
“I just don’t like social networking.”
“I don’t understand Facebook or what it could possibly do for my business.”
“Fliers would never work with my type of clients.”
“I can’t stand going and selling myself to a bunch of strangers who aren’t interested.”
“I don’t have time to write a regular ezine, let alone blog posts every week.”
“My employees would never get on board and do that.”

This list could go on and on. But what it really boils down to is, whatever the reasoning, you’re holding yourself back from success. And you don’t have to. The truth is, even if you fall and/or mess up and your business reputation tanks, people like Michael Fertik and PR management companies exist to help pick you back up.

Below are two simple steps you can take to move past your marketing roadblock in a jiffy…

1) The next time you find yourself thinking, “That’s a great idea, but I could never do _________ because…” stop yourself. Because if you say you can’t do something then you’re right.

2) Then ask yourself “How could I make that happen?”

When you reframe the statement into this question you open the doors of possibility and a solution can be found.

Got thoughts about this article or topic? More tips to share? Please do leave a comment…

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Categories : Entrepreneur Mindset, Practical Marketing

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Finding Magic in Giving Thanks

By Stacy Karacostas · Comments (0)

Thursday, November 24th, 2011

The following was originally written and sent out by my friend Scout Wilkins on 11-11, but I thought the message well worth sharing today. Read, enjoy and (if you live in the U.S.) have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

The Magic that Is Today

Whether or not you feel a particular importance on this day, I invite you
to engage in a practice today that will serve you deeply on every day of your life.

And if you are one of us who feels the opening that is being created, this is
a really good day to pay close attention to the energy in which you choose to
wrap yourself.

For today, choose gratitude.
Choose love.
And choose to actively look for the magic.

Choose to fill your thoughts, your being, every part of your world, with what you most want to experience.

When thoughts come in about what you don't want, or what you fear,
just notice them, set them down as you would set down an interesting
stone that you pick up, look at, and place back down on the ground.

Keep looking in the direction you want to go. Today – and all days – that single
choice will serve you better than any other single choice you can make.

Look for the magic, and you will find it.
I promise.

I am so grateful to all of you for being on this path with me. May we all
embrace the magic that is in our lives, today and always.

About Scout

Scout Wilkins is a bridge to your unconscious mind. She works with powerful, passionate people who feel like they have hit a wall, and they want to love their life and they want to feel unstoppable.

When your heart demands more, Scout will take you deep to connect completely with that deepest part of yourself. So you experience far more engagement and get real results. So you feel more joy, more meaning, and live more LIFE!

Visit http://scoutwilkins.com to download her free e-book and audio.

What are you thoughts on this article? Please do share by leaving a comment…

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