or:

How To Create Value (And Charge For It) In The Eyes Of The Prospect

[warning: this only works if you really have something of value!]

Recently got involved on Twitter (it should be pretty obvious that I’m only using this as an analogy, what I’m talking about here  is pretty much true in every arena of business, whether you’re self-employed, have a home-based business or even work in a big corporation) and the interesting thing is:

The majority of tweeters appear to fall into three categories

1) they either want to ensure that I have white teeth and get it done for only $5… (and as they know nothing about my teeth it can only be a statistical fluke that, yes, I could probably have whiter teeth. Then again, do I really want to look like Tom Cruise?)

… or …

2) they have discovered the sure-fire way of attracting tons of followers on Twitter (at least this is targeted, as there are so many people pitching their tooth-withening miracles, they probably need tons of followers (read: audience with dodgy teeth) Note: if you discover a way of attracting tons of followers with yellow teeth, now we’re talking)

… or …

3) they are (or at least have access to) the world’s leading experts in growing my business, getting tons of leads and making me rich …. all with the power of a teaspoon, no real skills and absolutely no work required.

Nice.

Appealing to our instincts (no effort, no skill, no time required).

And unlikely to deliver.

Which brings me to the retired policemen, a story my friend Bob shared with me a few years ago:

Bob is a photographer. He started his career as a commercial photographer, specializing in cars. And cars are like massive mirrors, so you have to get absolutely everthing right. And Bob did, and won tons of national awards for it (Bob, if I’m forgetting international awards, please forgive me).

And when Bob got fed up photographing cars, he got into wedding photography.

Like everybody else, he was charging around 500 (the unit is GBP, but that’s pretty much irrelevant these days, as Euro, GBP or US-$ are all pretty much interchangeable…) per wedding. And life was just about ok.

But then, with the advent of digital cameras, the problem started: it seemed like upon retirement, every single policeman was presented with a digital SLR as a farewell present.

And what did they do? Set themselves up as wedding photographers. Not exactly a teaspoon, but rather a digital SLR, but certainly no ‘real’ skills and not the years of hard graft put in learning how to capture the real moment (in the world’s biggest and most unforgiving mirror). And charging $/GBP/Euro 500 for it.

And so the bottom fell out of his market. (incidentally, those getting married weren’t better off due to the market pressure either: now they had no idea where to turn, who would really deliver the goods)

Fortunately, there is a happy ending (and a great lesson for everyone reading this): Bob simply increased his fee significantly (we’re talking close to adding a zero to the end of the amount he — and all the retired policmen — were charging beforehand) AND insisted that either the couple be extremely photogenic and/or the location be outstanding. We’re talking castles, posh hotels, country estates etc.

His exact words were:

You Are Only As Good As Your Last Job

and he made sure that every single ‘last’ job was simply outstanding. The paradox is: he could only get these jobs by charging more.

thoughts? Please let me know!

Veit

PS: this is Bob’s website, very good stuff. Must marry my wife again and get Bob to take pictures this time:

http://www.abbeyhousestudios.co.uk/

As you may have noticed from my some of my other posts (and certainly my “ranting” over at Twitter (@VeitSchenk), I’m all against being pitched constantly.

a) it annoys the heck out of everyone (just think of going to a party “hello my name is Marty and I want to sell you some Tupperware”. Are you going to stick around. No, more likely you’ll discover that you urgently need to wash your hair)

b) it puts all of the pitchers quickly into the NFL (no friends left). Which also explains why so many network marketers mostly hang out with, well, you guessed it, other network marketers. Because noone else wants to talk to them anymore.

So far, so obvious.

But here is my thought of the day:

Wouldn’t we all be better off if we showed the pitchers how to pitch properly?

Let me explain:

my assumptions are this: the blatant pitchers

a) are normal people like you and me. They probably have a family, (some;-) friends and have similar feelings, dreams and desires as the rest of us.

b) want to earn some extra cash (to support those dreams, desires and 4 hungry kids) and

c) they simply don’t know any better way than, well, pitch. Thinking: hey, I’ll just find a large following (jeez, why do 50% of followers pitch me with the VERY FIRST FRIGGIN’ message: “hey, I’ve just found this awesome tool that helps you find a gazillion pitchers over night….”), pitch some stuff to them and I’ll make some money.

Whilst it may sound a little condescending, but here’s the deal:

I work a lot with small businesses as a small business coach and sales trainer. And guess what?

The majority of small business owners haven’t got a clue.

1. They don’t know how to welcome a stranger into their shop (yes, we’re still stuck on “can I help you” followed by “no thanks, I’m just browsing” followed by resignation followed by a huge loss of opportunity to bond with another person and fulfill their needs. More on that another time)

2. They’re still trying to sell instead of consult (ask the client first before offering what they’ve got. The worst example I’ve got is the sales people for newspapers: storm into any small shop “hey, would you like to buy an ad in our paper” No questions asked. All to often, no business made either)

3. And they’re still thinking from their perspective (”hey, this is what I’ve got” as opposed to “hey, that’s what my clients want” — and then they wonder that most of their coupons in the papers don’t work). Trust me, sad but all to common. About 97% common.

So, my guess is that most of those who make Twitter more and more into a place where I have to be rude and unfollow people very quickly are simply representative of most other small business owners:

Pitchers are simply lacking a basic sales education.

Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m not against using social media as a marketing medium, as long as it comes from a position of wanting to add value to other people’s lives and using a consultative approach where I first find out what others want before pitching my own stuff.

So, if this is the case, the big question then is:

How can we get them to see the/our light without being arrogant?

(”hey, we know it better” high-horse riders (wanting to keep this post PG))

Because, ultimately, if everyone took on a consultative selling approach, Twitter would be much more a place of contribution and questions instead of, well, uninvited pitching.

And as a side-benefit, the pitchers would probably make much more money in the long-term.

Please share your thoughts

Veit

PS: Apologies to all the baseball fans who were sent here by Google, I guess I must have used the word “pitch” more times than a ball is thrown in your average innings. (which probably shows that I haven’t got a clue about baseball)

… or

The Seven Reasons Why People Will Follow You On Twitter

I’ve only recently started getting active on twitter which is all about

“what are you doing now?”

So, imagine my surprise (naive country bumpkin that I am), when really it appears to be mostly about

“what are you pitching now?”

Look, nothing wrong with that in principle, Twitter can be an effective form of marketing for any type of home-based business (even the big boys are slowly catching on),…

… BUT …

there are a few rules you should follow to

Make Sure You Don’t End Up In The NFL (No Friends Left)

Just to kick things off, here a quick youtube video that shows you what’s going on there: all that pitching is pretty much a one-way-street of communication, and not at all the thing that twitter would be perfect for, namely a way to connect with many people in an interactive way.

Below this you’ll find a quick video I’ve made to show you specifically what you can do to

• avoid landing in the NFL AND
• make more money from your pitching (you guessed it, whilst pitching less)

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think

Veit

Here’s my short video

Oh, there’s one thing I forgot to mention in the video — and by now it should be obvious:

Do NOT make your very first message of the type

“hey, I’ve just joined this great site that gives you tons of followers”

Instead, introduce yourself, send your new follower to your blog or your facebook page so they can find out more about you.

Veit

PS: I guess I should mention this here: I’d love it if we could connect on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/VeitSchenk

and yes, I will follow you back — and if you pitch me with only good stuff and less than 4 times a day, I’ll probably even follow you for a long time;-)