positive disruption by: Tom Martin | New Orleans based Social Media | B2B Digital Prospecting | Digital Strategy Agency

Painless Sales Prospsecting With Charitable Events

Today is a special, Sunday Edition of the Converse Digital blog to celebrate my next big experiment -- The #ivs4charity Book Tour. Sure it's a book tour to announce my new book, The Invisible Sale and raise $10,000 for 10 deserving charities... but it's more... it's an experiment in the power of Propinquity to build meaningful relationships that can convert to clients or future business opportunities.

It's OK to Prospect for Sales at Charity Events

Some folks might think "that's icky" when they hear me say the #ivs4charity tour isn't just about raising money for charity. I get that... but here's why they're wrong. For them, charitable giving has to be pure to be right. Well I disagree. There is nothing wrong with creating a very cool event that benefits both a charitable organization AND the creator of the charitable event. Having motives that may be considered selfish isn't impure. Especially when you consider all charitable acts are at their heart selfish in nature...but that's another post. In fact, if more charities would approach their event design with this in mind -- versus just offering up naming rights or other advertising awareness oriented sponsorships -- they'd probably raise more money.

How To Create a Charitable Sales Prospecting Event

First, for this to work, you have to actually be committed to helping. If you just create an opportunity to place your business card in a bunch of peoples' hands, you're doing it wrong. Your motives will show through and people will resent it. Thus you'll end up meeting a bunch of people that will never want to meet you again. Second, pick a cause you truly care about. This will ensure your passion and "pureness of intent" shows through. Third, focus the event on the charity as much as possible. That isn't to say that you shouldn't have any corporate branding or product mentions, just don't lead with that message. For the #ivs4charity events (which are book launch parties) notice that we used the word Charity in the title and hashtag and shortened the book title to IVS. We even constructed a hashtag that conveyed the book tour was a vehicle ivs FOR charity. Fourth, recognize the goal of the event isn't to sell or make sales. The goal is to create Propinquity with prospects and customers via social sharing, content marketing, and ultimately, face-to-face interactions during the event. Your goal is to increase the frequency of positive interactions between prospects and your brand. Fifth, make others the star of the show. When I was planning the book tour, I knew I wanted it to be about the charities, the party hosts and the brand that made it all possible by underwriting the entire tour (donating all meeting space, staffing, food and in most cases, 50% of the party bar tabs to the 10 local charities) DoubleTree by Hilton. So when we created banner ads, landing pages and talking points, we made sure we featured everyone else versus focusing on the book. Interesting Note: towards the end of the promotion period we began focusing more on "hey come meet and talk with the author" at the bequest of a few hosts because they thought it would drive more ticket sales resulting in bigger donations to their favorite charity. Even though I tried not to make the book the focus, in the end, the hosts were asking me to push my brand (book) to the front because they felt it might help their cause (raise money for their charity). Yep -- Karma -- she's got a funny way of rearing her head. Notice, there isn't even a mention of me, the book or an image of the book in the above banner ad because the events aren't about the book. They're a means to an end. Everyone that comes gets a book -- so great, I sell a bunch of books. But more importantly, I get to meet a bunch of people! Will all of those people be prospects? No. Will some of them be prospects? Maybe. But ALL OF THEM can be or become Social Agents (Chapter 6 of the book) and THAT has incredible short- and long-term value for me and my company.

How Can You Learn From #ivs4charity?

If you're interested in learning more (at a very how to tactical level) follow me for the next 10 days as I make my way through the tour. I'm going to be demonstrating how you can use events like these to create more Propinquity Points with your prospects. I'll show you content tips and marketing hacks so you can see how events can serve as incredible content generation tools. I'll be sharing the story in real-time and providing my thoughts on what is working (and more importantly) not working. I'll share the successes AND the failures of the idea. And you'll get a ringside seat to my latest adventure in learning so that you can apply the insights I'll discover before your competitors! Follow along at TheInvisibleSale or follow me on Twitter (@TomMartin). I'll be posting daily recaps on the blog and Twitter is where all the in-the-moment insights will happen. Most of all -- if YOU or a FRIEND live in any of the #ivs4charity cities -- BUY A TICKET and come to see me in person. It's a hell of a deal (now that Amazon has my book selling for $21), you'll meet some great people and we'll get to talk shop.

CLICK HERE TO GRAB A TICKET

15 Reason You Should Buy The Invisible Sale TODAY

The week is finally here -- the official launch of my new book, The Invisible Sale and I want you to buy it TODAY! 

It's a small ask on my part -- but if you've enjoyed the information I share here or learned a thing or two that you've applied to your company or career -- then I'd ask you to help me out by buying the book. I'm going to keep providing a ton of free, helpful content here and in our Insight & Information and Painless Prospecting newsletters, but this one time I'd really appreciate if you'd trade a few dollars to get some of my best content ever.

Or if you live in Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston, New York City, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Nashville, Dallas, Austin or New Orleans -- attend one of the private happy hour parties to celebrate the book's launch. You'll get a copy of the book and I'll be there, so I can sign your book and we can talk shop -- over cocktails of course. Best of all, 50% of all ticket sales are donated to one of 10 worthy charities and we're even providing free food and in most of the cities your first drink is on me!

Click Here to grab a ticket to any of the #ivs4charity book tour events.

What You'll Learn In The Book

I wrote the book as a tool not a trophy. My goal was to make sure you learned at least one new idea, tip, trick or marketing hack in each chapter. Judging by the early reviews, folks are getting that and a whole lot more. But just to help you see if this book is right for you... here are 15 things you'll learn.

1. You'll get statistics to support the argument that buyers today are conducting research online versus calling your company for materials.
2. You'll find case studies from companies that are using digital tools today to grow sales and increase market share.
3. You'll get a strategic framework that you can replicate to leverage your content marketing efforts for improved sales conversions.
4. You'll learn how to create helping content that your prospect invites into their world.
5. You'll learn the principles of Social Selling so you can use LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to prospect and nurture leads without looking spammy.
6. You'll learn how to create Propinquity and why it should be the #1 goal of every sales and marketing program.
7. You'l learn how to create a strategically focused digital footprint designed to help you or your brand come into contact with prospective buyers.
8. You'll learn how to find and leverage the power of Social Agents to hear about sales opportunities you'd otherwise miss.
9. You'll learn how to create high quality video content on your own -- including tips from professional video producers and insight into the tools and applications you need.
10. You'll learn how to create better photographic assets, including advice on camera selection, mobile photography apps and tips for shooting better photographs.
11. You'll learn how to create more textual content -- blog posts, white papers, and ebooks... including content frameworks, apps and hacks to simplify the creation of text based content.
12. You'll find out why everyone is all excited about podcasting and how you can quickly and easily add podcasting to your marketing toolbox -- including practical advice and "how to" tips from professional podcasters.
13. You'll learn how to create recorded product demos and webinars, including suggested applications and approaches that work best.
14. You'll learn about how to use Cornerstones & Cobblestone as a content creation framework to simplify the content creation process helping you to produce and distribute more content without more people.
15. You'll learn how to convert inbound leads with Aikido Selling techniques specifically designed to close self-educating buyers.

How The Invisible Sale Is Different From Other Business Books

There are plenty of books on the market that tell you what you need to do and why you need to do it. But you need a book that doesn't just tell you what and why, you need a book that tells you how. You need a book that gives you a step-by-step blueprint to build and activate a digital prospecting program. And that book is The Invisible Sale -- a field guide to building a digitally powered marketing and sales system that will let you prospect while you sleep.

Recent Reviews of The Invisible Sale

Still not convinced - don't take my word for it. Here are what current readers are saying:

I loved the book as with each chapter you walk away thinking differently and sparking some ideas on how you can master the invisible sale. - Suzanne

Excellent book. I own a marketing company and some of trends and events that Tom talks about, I have experienced, but I thought they were anomalies. I'm realizing now that Tom has officially labeled this new type of marketing as the invisible sale. The radar is a great resource. I couldn't put the book down. - Erik

Related articles

The Invisible Sale

Forget the Funnel, Use the Sales Radar to Find the Invisible Sale

Use Content To Convert The Invisible Sale

Moving This Blog >>>> Announcement <<<<<

Yep, we're moving on up... to the WordPress side... to a single blog over in the Converse Digital sky.

After almost three years of trying to maintain Positive Disruption and my Converse Digital (corporate) blog, I've decided to consolidate the activity over there.

I'll still be blogging here occassionally, but it will be more about stuff I just find cool, maybe some tech toys, and the occassional rant... but if you're reading here to learn more about any of this stuff:

• Digital Marketing Research
• B2B and B2C Sales Prospecting with Digital Tools
• Content Creation especially ways to make it more painless
• Email marketing
• How to integrate traditional and digital marketing
• or general Digital Marketing Strategy advice

You'll likely want to go over to Converse Digital and SUBSCRIBE to the blog.

BIG NOTE: If you subscribe to THIS BLOG via EMAIL, we've already ported you over, so you get to just do nothing. BUT if you're reading this post on the internet or via an RSS subscription, you're going to want to SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW BLOG right away to keep the free goodness coming!

Here's a little taste of what we posted this morning:

So you just returned from a big trade-show or conference and now you’re wondering what to do with all of those business cards you collected.

Start an email list. That’s right, before you connect with them on LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter or attempt to friend them on Facebook, send them an email. It’s the single, best, most powerful CRM tool ever invented and you’re crazy if you don’t invest more in it right now.

In fact, here is a simple 7-Step process to turn those business cards into behaviorally profiled business development targets that you can begin a conversation with today. Then over time, if you do it right, that conversation will turn into a customer.

Read More at Converse Digital

As you can see, the focus of the new blog is going to be a lot tighter in terms of content buckets. But you know me -- intellectually ADD, so don't fret, if you're a fan of the purely cool, digital wow stuff -- I'll still be posting that here, just not as regularly.

But if you want to get the good, meaty, helpful marketing stuff -- you'll need to subscribe to the new blog.

As always, thanks for being here and I look forward to seeing you around... just not as often ;-)

photo credit: Steve Snodgrass

Physician Heal Thyself

The moral of the proverb is counsel to attend to one's own defects rather than criticizing defects in others... but today I use it in a slightly different manner.

Recently I began a journey to clarify my own direction (professionally). As a classic generalist, I have become somewhat of a jack of all trades (marketing channels) but a master of none. In today's digitally centric, in-bound marketing world, that is problematic.

So I have been on a journey to discover the proper parking spot (thanks to Greg Hartle for that metaphor) to park myself and my social media marketing company, Converse Digital, for the forseeable future.

And I really should (given my extensive background in brand building) be able to do this myself -- I should be able to "heal thyself" to quote Luke 4:23. But try as I might, I couldn't.

But why?

Well, after much discussion with myself (yes I do talk to myself... a lot) and others whose opinions matter a great deal to me I realized there were two issues standing between myself and a bit of brand clarity.

First, the age old metaphor, "The cobbler's children have no shoes." I'm pretty busy right now with a number of exciting client projects and doing "Tom Work" just keeps getting pushed off the daily To-Do List.

Second, to quote my friend Steve Woodruff, "You can't read the label of the jar you're in." (Sorry Steve if I misquoted....but y'all get the point.)

So what is a boy to do?

In my case, I made one very important decision -- I hired someone to help me figure out my own brand. Steve Woodruff, many of you may know him from the Twitters, has been doing Clarity Therapy and I decided after talking to Steve and reviewing his site that it was just what the doctor was ordering.

Hiring someone else to help you figure out your brand accomplishes three things.

• First, it gives you an objective outside voice in the discussion.
• Second, just like buying new workout clothes can make you actually go to the gym (lest you waste all that money you just spent), paying someone to help you figure out your brand helps you justify prioritizing that on your To Do List.
• Third, paying for a 4-hour Clarity Therapy session means you'll actually spend four solid hours thinking about you and your brand.

When's the last time you spent four full hours just thinking about you, your professional journey and your career?

So what was the outcome?

Well the jury is still out on that because Steve and I aren't quite finished yet. We're still finalizing a few key point -- like my Analogy -- and of course I have to have the willpower and faith to pivot myself and my company a bit to focus on what we discovered is truly my differentiator... the one thing that I seem to have that we didn't see a lot of in others in today's digital marketing space. But stay tuned (if you're interested in the outcome) because I have a birthday coming up and well, this seems like a pretty good gift to give myself.

Am I alone here? Are any of you feeling the same way? Like you too could use a bit of help figuring out your "go to" skill and then how to market it? Let me know.... be very interested to hear.

Photo By Perfecto Insecto

The Introvert's Guide to Success

I was going to write a great post today but then I finished reading The Introvert's Guide to Success in Business and Leadership written by my good friend Lisa Petrilli and I realized the most important information I could share with you today was hers. Yes, the book is THAT good. I should note that she was nice enough to send me an advanced copy to peruse at no charge and we've "worked" together -- she and the lovely Lisa Diomede co-hosted my first #Cocktails4Causes in Chicago --  but that's not why I'm writing this post today. I get a lot of free books and seldom review them because of late, a lot of the business books are downright weak. 

Thankfully, The Introvert's Guide to Success isn't one of them.

It's a quick read, a mere 60 pages. In fact, I read most of it on my iPhone while waiting for my wife to arrive at a meeting the other night. This morning I finished it off over coffee.

Quite simply, it might be one of the best books I've read in a while and I read a lot of books. Lisa does a fabulous job of giving introverts a big "it's ok" hug and then leveraging that warm feeling to teach them applicable strategies and tactics for being successful in their careers, lives and pursuit of their dreams.

Best of all, the book helps the extroverts in the world understand how to better work with, for or direct introverts.

Here is a taste of the book -- one of the most insightful passages I thought...

Time to Recharge

Since extraverts get their energy from being around other people, from energizing
others, and from actively participating in events, the world of business and
leadership is naturally rejuvenating for them.

The opposite is true for introverts. The world of business and leadership is
draining for us, particularly energy-demanding events like conferences and
networking meetings.

After basking in the glow of visibility and attention you will return home craving
privacy and time to recharge. Actually, on virtually every day of your business life
you will return home craving privacy and time to recharge; some days more than
others!

Respect this need for time to recharge, and be clear with family, friends,
colleagues and fellow conference attendees that you need to take this time for
you. Everyone will appreciate you for honoring this need, because you’ll be
bringing your best self to them and to your work when you’re with them.

It's this kind of simple, straightforward advice that you'll find throughout the entire book. It is only $7.99 and I think it's only available in Kindle form... but go get it, read it and then start using the techniques in your life.

And let me know what you think about the book.

 

 

Are You Spectacular?

I had an epiphany this week. As I spent a lunch reviewing the year-to-date, looking forward at the 4th Quarter and starting to plan what I wanted to do for 2012, it hit me.

I've kind of sucked.

Not in the "dude, you should probably go call the 1-800 truck driver number from the late night TV shows" kind of suck, but the "damn, that could have been done sooooo much better, been soooo much bigger and likely been far more successful..." kind of suck. Which got me to thinking....

What causes us to suck?

Think about it. What keeps people from delivering the truly groundbreaking, inspiring, world-changing ideas, projects, etc., that we all really, really want to create?

Me... I think it is a product of folks moving too fast, committing to too much and fearful that if they skip any opportunity or miss any opening they'll regret it. Sound familiar?

It's the kind of suck that Brian Clark (@copyblogger) was talking about over coffee, when I met him at Content Marketing World. We were discussing how a few projects we were both familiar with weren't working as well as the owners of the project would have wished. And Brian nailed it -- he said the person wasn't taking the time to plan it right, to do the work (to steal a Tom Webster - @webby2001 phrase).

I didn't realize it at the moment -- or maybe I did and just didn't want to accept it -- but Brian was talking about me and a whole lot of folks just like me. All running so fast after that terrible brass ring of success, that ring that dangles just.... outside... our... grasp... but...we're... just....sooooo.......close.

So we take on one more speaking gig, one more project or say yes to yet another fellow employee or boss' pet project.

And then we suck. We deliver something that is "good enough" rather than fucking spectacular.

So it's time... at least for me... and I hope for you if you're still reading this and thinking... damn, that's me.

Stop sucking. Insist on spectacular.

4 Ways To Suck Less.

First, say no once in a while. It's hard. But it's necessary. No frees you. No gives you back time. No let's you focus on what's important rather than what's possible.

Second, dream. That's right... dream, as in day-dream, night-dream or take the time to dream. Give youself permission to create spectacular.

Third, find partners. If you're not the best in the world at it, if you can't execute every aspect of your dream in spectacular fashion, find someone who is and partner.

Fourth, compete against yourself not others. You may be the most spectacular whatever, but if deep down you don't believe that you're the best you, well then at some level, you'll always suck. Right?

photo credits: by artwork_rebel & *~Dawn~*

Follow @TomMartin

Click HERE to receive my blog posts by email.

Jason Falls Responds to being named Biggest Douchebag

Last week a few of Jason Falls' friends, had a some fun at Jason's expense. Now Jason was great about it... he even posted the video on his own blog. And now this week, he's responding, publicly and answering the question himself.... who'se the biggest D-bag in Social Media.... go see his answer... good stuff.

His video was originally taped back in February at the MarketingProfs Conference in Austin... for my Talking With Tom series. I think his answer to "What's Next" is almost as good as his answer to the D-bag question... close but considering Jason was the first person to answer the D-bag question (that's right, BEFORE everyone else got a chance) well, it makes the answer even funnier. Go check it out.

 

Who's the Biggest Douchebag in Social Media

It's the conversation that goes on behind the scenes, at the bar or on the DM during Social Media Conferences around the country -- social media celebs talking about who is the biggest douchebag in social media today.

 

So as part of my Talking With Tom, interviews with 52 Digital Thought Leaders project, I've been asking folks like David Meerman Scott, Jason Keath, Justin Levy, Ann Handley, CC Chapman, Amber Naslund, Brian Clark, Lee Odden and a few other folks you might recognize to name names -- publicly name names.

All I can say is two things:

1. Lee Odden's answer is by far the funniest
2. Wow. I have to say, I was surprised because everyone is naming the same guy. A guy I thought they all liked and respected...

Like I said, I was kind of blown away, so to be fair, I asked that guy to name his own names.... which he'll do on Monday, September 12, during his interview on Talking With Tom... be sure to check it out... and feel free to guess who he names. Like the others... it's totally unexpected.

Follow @TomMartin

Tweet

Click HERE to receive these blog posts by email.

Simple Sells.

Have you ever met a person that could take complex ideas and explain them in common everyday language that anyone can understand? Or maybe the person who can analyze complex business problems and boil them down to the root causes -- the true core of the issue... the kind you felt you could actually solve?

Funny isn't it.... they're usually the folks that are either quickly on their way to the top or they're already there and enjoying the view... and the paycheck.

Simple Sells. We all like simple.

Want to sell an idea? Figure out how to say it in one page or less. Or maybe more appropriately, one screen or less. But whatever you do -- don't over-complicate matters.

Of late I've seen so many people hell bent on appearing smart. They use big words when small ones will do. They provide indirect answers to direct questions... meandering and obfuscating along the way.

It's a shame. In they're drive to display intelligence and understanding... they end up confusing and frustrating the very person they hope to influence.

So remember... in selling... simple sells.

incredible photo by kevindooley

Follow @TomMartin

Click HERE to receive these blog posts by email.

Lessons From A New Entrepreneur

May 1 was an epic day at the Martin household.

It marked the one-year mark for Converse Digital.

Yep, one year of "shitting and getting" as my dad calls it. One year of late nights, early mornings, long flights, hotel rooms, and wondering what tomorrow brings.

And I wouldn't change it for the world. Those of you that have taken the leap know what I mean. For me, this is my second such leap. My first one, Brandmarken was washed away in the waters of Katrina back in 2005.

So for me, May 1 marked a milestone that I'll not soon forget. As I sat reflecting in the moment, I thought about all I've learned this past year and how many of you might find something in that knowledge too. So here goes.

There's Never a Good Time To Launch
If you wait for the right time, you'll never do it. There is always a reason you shouldn't pull the trigger. Mortgages, school tuition, a down economy, an up economy that could crash. But if you're meant to be an entrepreneur, if it's in your bloood (as I have always felt it was in mine) then you just have to pick a day, pull the ripcord and hope the chute opens before you splat on the ground.

Dance With The One That Brung Ya
As any entrepreneur will tell you, starting a company means making sales. That means you spend a lot of time looking for new contacts, networks and clients. It can easily consume 20%-30% of your time. But in that quest to grow, you have to remember what got you to where you are today -- the clients, friends and networks that feed you today. You can't neglect those in favor of chasing the new shiny client or contract. By focusing on and supporting those that have supported you, I've found that it's funny how good things just happen. The new client or project that falls into your lap or referral that converts to a project.

Have The Faith
You can call it what you will... Karma, God, Nature... whatever, but I was raised to believe that someone (in my case God) has a plan. We just have to be smart enough to find it and have faith enough to take the risks (financial and otherwise) that always seem to be between where we are today and where the plan calls for us to be tomorrow.

Prepare Your Fields For Rain
I wrote about the idea of making sure you're ready for new clients/opportunity some time ago. This year has reinforced the idea of the necessity of preparing your business to receive leads. You have to put yourself out there... create opportunities to be discovered by others. By doing so, you create your own luck.

Give and Give and Give
I have spent the last year trying to really become a giver. A person that gives to others without asking or expecting anything in return. Whether that is being a gracious host when my fellow bloggers visit New Orleans or spending a half an hour reviewing someone's blog/resume and offering them advice for ways to improve it in hopes that they'll be able to find a job or move into a new career path. I make a real effort -- way more than I ever made in the past. Why? Because I watched others in this space... folks that are so great at this skill -- and I saw how it transforms them and everything they touch. So much of their success was based on giving -- and by success I don't just mean financial or business. I saw it in their personal lives too. Giving is the gateway to success. Believe it.

Plan To Fail -- small
You'll never know unless you try. And when you try new things a lot, you'll occassionally fail. So plan to fail. But plan to fail small. For instance, I've always enjoyed teaching folks about marketing and social media. So I do a good bit of social media keynotes and breakouts for various conferences. I also do private workshops for clients. I especially like teaching small businesses about the power of social media marketing. But until this month, I had never delivered my own social media workshop. So I've decided to do one... but I've purposely set it up so that if all 35 slots are sold, I win big. But if only a handful of folks show up, I fail small. I won't really lose anything and I'll get a chance to learn a ton that I can apply to make the next workshop better.

Be You
Every time I violate this I get smacked around. You have to run your own race. Success today is about being #1 in a category of one. You have to stand for something that is truly unique to you... and no, I'm not talking USP or Key Benefit or anything like that. I'm talking about being something that is truly unique and that people or companies value. Maybe you're opinionated and not all that worried about offending sensibilities. Fine, then be the social media marketing consigliere that calls bullshit when he sees it. Sure not everyone is going to want that...but those companies or clients that do... man, that's gold. And you'll have a ton more fun working for those folks anyways.

I've also found that these days, there is just so much bullshit in the world that being a real person, a straight shooter, a what you see is what you get kind of person is truly unique... and appreciated.

Remember Your Priorities
When you're just starting out, it's hard not to focus 100% of your time and effort on your company. When you've got a wife, four kids and a large mortgage, it's even easier. But don't. Don't make that mistake. All work and no play doesn't just make Jack a dull boy, it makes you one too. Develop some outside interests. Spend good, quality time with your family and friends. That distraction that stresses you out because you feel like  you should be working is actually making you stronger, more creative and better prepared for what's next. You have to invest in those you love because there will be a day, actually many, where you're going to need to call on that love as a source of strength to get you through some really dark days where you truly wonder, WTF was I thinking.

And when you've reached a milestone, you win a big deal, land that Fortune 50 client, or just make payroll with a few dollars to spare... sharing that milestone, celebrating it, will be so much sweeter when you're sourrounded by friends and family that are rooting you on to the next one.

It's been a great first year. And I hope to be back here next year with another installment of learning. Till then, use the comments to let me know what you'd tell a new entrepreneur. I'd love to learn from you.

Tweet

Subscribe To This Blog via eMail.