I recently got an email from the president of a fast growing IT company seeking some marketing counsel on business from me. He asked if I would evaluate the sales letter they have been using to schedule information meetings with contacts they meet at various networking events.

The letter I read was the typical “WWD” (what-we-do) type of letter, very lengthy, full of industry jargon and certainly comprehensive with all of his company’s service features.

At my first read I found 7 glaring fatal mistakes (ok, glaring to me, but not necessarily glaring to a non-expert). I am happy to share my marketing advice on tiny business with you, so you don’t make these same fatal errors. Here are 7 mistakes you and your sales team should avoid.

Mistake #1:You are firing the “sales gun” too soon.

Given the framework that you are using this letter to a person who has only met you in the context of a 30 second commercial your letter of sales is rushing the process to 3rd base when they have not followed you to 1st and 2nd base as of yet.

You’re charging straight in with your company’s features and sales pitch (your “WWD” pitch) when you have not brought the prospect to acknowledging their problem — you know, the problem that you solve. You need to first create greater awareness on their specific pain point and fuel desire and urgency in the prospect to want to get their problem solved.

Mistake #2: You are giving your sales presentation in the letter.

Here’s where I think the business community should all permanently strike that terminology right out of our vocabulary because it’s terribly misleading for business expansion managers, rainmakers, Entrepreneurs and small industry owners. Sending out a sales letter should not translate into you needing to do any “selling” at all.

Remember the objective of your first correspondence is to hook interest to build a relationship.  In the process of doing that you can identify whether they have a need for what you offer.

In your letter you are throwing everything and the kitchen sink by your comprehensive description of every single thing you offer. While many other people also take this approach when trying to educate prospects on what you can do for them, I find that it diminishes and detracts from your ability to hone in on the 1 or 2 key hot buttons they would have had. My recommendation for you on marketing of your small trade is to spend the time in your early communications to ask the right discovery questions.

Mistake #3: You’re sending them too much information they haven’t asked for yet.

I would never recommend this much information in an email, particularly, in your very first email outreach. As you know information overload causes confusion, and confused mind just says no.  This amount and scope of content is more appropriate for 2nd base stage in the form of marketing collateral after the prospect is actively soliciting the solution to their problem.

Mistake #4: Poor formatting and presentation of copy.

Even when you’ve got them at this point, (stage 2) avoid using long chunks of paragraphs to explain your features and benefits.  Format your visual organization to make it easy for the prospect to follow, retain and be sold on the key hot buttons on how your company solves their problem as well as why you’re company is the obvious choice for them.

a. limit paragraphs to 2-3 lines

b. use bullets

c. sound bytes vs. essay

d. font sizes /bold to hit key points

Mistake #5: You’re making them feel too removed.

Here’s another great small commerce advice on marketing: Make a subtle change in words. Whenever you use words like “our clients” and “they/their” replace with “you” and your company”. It makes it more personal, more relevant and more direct. When they read about “other clients” it makes your message far more removed to them.  Plus, for the number of times you use the word “you” it also helps the prospect to subconsciously visualize themselves as the recipient of your services.

Mistake #6: You’re focusing on the features

Always open and close with the key, specific benefits to the prospect in the areas that you already learned that person cares about the most.

a. What that does it grabs their attention immediately when you open with the translation of their specific benefits

b. It pulls you out of the perception of “pitching TO THEM” category to the prospect feeling that you are genuinely trying to do something “for” them.

c. It keeps the prospect focused on what is at stake. What will they now be able to do or have by choosing to move forward with (your company) that they currently cannot do or have right now?

Mistake #7: Your letter is missing the “WIIF”

aka what’s-in-it-for-me?  So all that to lead to my final small business counsel on marketing is on writing effective letters of sales that at this beginning stage of 1st follow up from a 30 sec commercial / networking event I would recommend you change your focus instead to learning more about how you could best help them — whether their priorities are strategic introductions to potential prospects, referral partners, new talent, vendors etc.. It is in the context of this type of conversation that it is much easier to segway into asking discovery questions for you to learn about how they feel about their current IT solution and what is most important to them as far as their IT is concerned.

So, in closing I encourage you to get started today on implementing these 7 little business tips on marketing in your approach to writing result oriented sales letters to your networking contacts. I also invite you to let me know about the difference it has made for you as you shift your letter strategy. You can connect with me at my contact below.

Business Growth Expert, Yoon Cannon has helped hundreds of CEO’s, Entrepreneurs & small business owners gain dramatic results in your sales, marketing & strategic planning. Yoon’s mission is to encourage, equip and empower Entrepreneurs, so you can accelerate explosive business growth!

Having started, built (and sold) 3 other companies, Yoon offers a fresh, outside perspective from a seasoned entrepreneur. Yoon’s clients represent B2B, Direct Sales industry, Family-Run Businesses, Franchises, Healthcare/BioTech, Law Firms, Manufacturing & Small Business Owners.

Yoon Cannon has been published in The Philadelphia Business Journal, JP Morgan Chase Ink Magazine, ASI’s Counselor magazine, W4 magazine and many others. Yoon is also a frequent guest expert on radio show programs throughout the US. Yoon Cannon continues to be in demand as the featured speaker for many corporate and industry Association conference events.

For receive Yoon’s free 80 min. video training on How to Find Your WOW Factor just click LIKE at www.Facebook.com/YoonCannonParamountBusinessCoach To speak to Yoon direct call (215) 292-4947 EST.

As small business owners and Entrepreneurs you know the constant challenge that comes with having to wear all the hats. It’s no wonder how easy it is to get overwhelmed and overloaded.

There is always so much, entrepreneurs want to get done, and they all seem to scream “now!”  It’s hard to see the light when you’re up to your ears in work and trying to get it all done. Nothing good ever comes of trying to fit everything in at one time, so we must remember to prioritize and pace ourselves. The productivity tips to achieving our goals are to plan out exactly we want to gain from it and determine the necessary steps to make our goal. In order to ensure a successful outcome and best time management, here are 5 productivity tips to help:

1. Give yourself enough time

from start to finish for any project you’ll be doing. Keep any deadlines in mind so that you are not crunching to find time last minute. If you get better at allotting enough time to see a project through to completion, you will also get better at delaying new projects until you can finish the first one. The entrepreneurs should emphasize on time management and focus management and they will see that the goals have been received without much toil.

2. Create a working environment that is comfortable

for multiple hours at a time. Being in an organized place helps to cut down on overwhelming feelings and you’ll know exactly where to find everything when you need it.

3. Minimize any distractions

to help keep a clear mind. In other words, put emphasis on focus management. It takes more time to refresh our memory of where we left off then to cut the distractions to stay focused. That means turn off your emails and turn off your phone during the duration of focusing on the project at hand.

4. Taking breaks in between projects

will help to refresh the brain and allow the creative thinking process to start in a more positive direction. You will be more likely to give 100% of your best effort after you’ve allowed yourself time to “recharge your batteries”. So, next time you find yourself staring at the blank computer screen take a break and come back to it.

5. Plan in regular free days.

Most of the entrepreneurs and small business owners I work with tend to have type “A” personalities. You are ambitious. You are driven. You know how to work hard. But, often times our greatest strengths can work against us and become our greatest weakness. Beware however; we all hit the point of diminishing returns. So, to avoid that plan ahead regular free days as well as free weeks.

I’ve certainly learned the hard way of not doing this. It’s called spinning your wheels. This sounds contrarian, but you can truly achieve a lot more simply by doing less. David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, says that productivity is directly related to our ability to learn how to relax. Steven Covey has been saying the same thing as well in his best seller on ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, where he emphasizes the importance of “sharpening the saw”.

We send in our cars to get regular tune up’s. Our computers need to get shut down to re-boot. The athlete’s need to recover is just as important as their days of cross training. So, it is no different with you as a business owner or an entrepreneur. You need recover days and even recovery weeks throughout the year for you to stay sharp and give your very best performance as an Entrepreneur.

Keeping in mind each of these productivity tips will help you to stay productive and improve the quality in your work. Time is your greatest tool and it will benefit you when given the chance to be used effectively. Doing the smaller things like; starting fresh and having a positive attitude will ensure a successful outcome.

Business Growth Expert, Yoon Cannon has helped hundreds of CEO’s, Entrepreneurs & small business owners gain dramatic results in your sales, marketing & strategic planning. Yoon’s mission is to encourage, equip and empower Entrepreneurs, so you can accelerate explosive business growth!

Having started, built (and sold) 3 other companies, Yoon offers a fresh, outside perspective from a seasoned entrepreneur. Yoon’s clients represent B2B, Direct Sales industry, Family-Run Businesses, Franchises, Healthcare/BioTech, Law Firms, Manufacturing & Small Business Owners.

Yoon Cannon has been published in The Philadelphia Business Journal, JP Morgan Chase Ink Magazine, ASI’s Counselor magazine, W4 magazine and many others. Yoon is also a frequent guest expert on radio show programs throughout the US. Yoon Cannon continues to be in demand as the featured speaker for many corporate and industry Association conference events.

For receive Yoon’s free 80 min. video training on How to Find Your WOW Factor just click LIKE at www.Facebook.com/YoonCannonParamountBusinessCoach To speak to Yoon direct call (215) 292-4947 EST.

I see business growth as a 3 legged stool.  One of those legs to growing your business is of course, MARKETING.  You need to continually attract a steady flow of new clients whom you can continue to do business with.  The second leg of that stool has a lot to do with how you leverage your TIME. We all have the same exact amount of time, but we can get vastly different returns on our time — impacted by what we focused on doing with our time. The third leg that can accelerate your business growth is through GROWING YOUR LEADERSHIP. You can scale your business growth a whole lot faster if you are not the only one having to take care of everything.

Leadership is what you need for development. Development is when you have a team of competent, trusted, loyal professionals who you can count on for the long haul.

In his 1989 book “On Becoming a Leader”, organizational consultant, author and scholar Warren Bennis explains the differences between a manager and a leader:

“The manager administers; the leader innovates.

The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.

The manager maintains; the leader develops.

The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people.

The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust.

The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.

The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is on the horizon.

The manager imitates; the leader originates.

The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person.

The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.”

While a manager and a leader are not one in the same, there is no denying that the two go hand in hand.  A manager plans and organizes, and a leader motivates and inspires.  It is no secret that running a business requires both management and leadership, but the trick is to find the right balance of the two.

Are you providing your team with the tools and motivation necessary to reach your business growth goals?  Are you leading a purpose-driven company or have you been allowing the stagnant status quo?

The game of growing your business to the next level does not have to be a complicated puzzle. Keep it simple by seeing the foundation of your growth as a 3-legged stool. Yours just might be missing that 3rd leg.  Growing your leadership is an important component to growing your business.

Business Growth Expert, Yoon Cannon has helped hundreds of CEO’s, Entrepreneurs & small business owners gain dramatic results in your sales, marketing & strategic planning. Yoon’s mission is to encourage, equip and empower Entrepreneurs, so you can accelerate explosive business growth!

Having started, built (and sold) 3 other companies, Yoon offers a fresh, outside perspective from a seasoned entrepreneur. Yoon’s clients represent B2B, Direct Sales industry, Family-Run Businesses, Franchises, Healthcare/BioTech, Law Firms, Manufacturing & Small Business Owners.

Yoon Cannon has been published in The Philadelphia Business Journal, JP Morgan Chase Ink Magazine, ASI’s Counselor magazine, W4 magazine and many others. Yoon is also a frequent guest expert on radio show programs throughout the US. Yoon Cannon continues to be in demand as the featured speaker for many corporate and industry Association conference events.

For receive Yoon’s free 80 min. video training on How to Find Your WOW Factor just click LIKE at http://www.Facebook.com/YoonCannonParamountBusinessCoach To speak to Yoon direct call (215) 292-4947 EST.

For most small business owners and Entrepreneurs sustaining business growth in today’s economy can feel like you’re treading water — which is unnecessarily exhausting when you’re doing those 52 weeks a year.

A well thought out marketing plan to attract new customers is important factor to generate business growth. But, all too often Entrepreneurs and small business owners overlook two other strategic initiatives that can also impact your business growth in a powerful way. That would be increasing customer loyalty and motivating employee productivity.

We all know it’s much easier to focus on getting repeat business from customers who have already purchased from you than it is to woo and convert a brand new potential buyer to trying you out.  Instead of constantly focusing on where I can find new customers, it’s so much more productive to ask the question, “Who are our best customers now? (You know the ones who already know, like, trust and LOVE us). And, how can we better serve their specific needs?”

The second powerful strategy to impact your business growth is in the area of motivating employee productivity. As a business growth coach, what I often find inside these small and mid-size companies I help, is that not enough people are having the time to fully execute the marketing plan that they do have because everyone in the company (including the president) is too busy putting out fires and reacting to the series of hiccups throughout the work day.

So, by increasing employee productivity, your business can now create and devote the necessary time and energy to execute the marketing plan that will lead to new business growth.

So, what can you do to build devotion and loyalty from your customers and even from your employees?

How can you motivate your employees to do more with less?

The answer to all three of these questions lies in leading a purpose driven company. Companies that are purpose driven essentially yield higher profits than those that are not. Those that adhere to a mission, or clearly defined goals, innovation or values, and for that matter, to a purpose are much less likely to falter even during harsh economic times. Many companies thus have initiated towards the idea of a purpose driven organization.

Here are 4 key questions that will guide you towards leading a purpose-driven company:

1) Why do we exist?

Who are you and what is your business all about?  What is it that you do for your clients?  If you’re 3M your core purpose isn’t really riding on selling millions of post-it stickers, nor is it about selling all things sticky. 3M’s core purpose was all about innovation.

One of the by-products of their core purpose was of course, the hot selling post-it sticker which luckily translated into millions of dollars in profits. But, what if you’re not a giant like 3M? What if you’re a small business? You can still have a powerful purpose statement even if you’re a solopreneur.

For example, my own mission is to encourage, equip and empower Entrepreneurs like you, so you can accelerate explosive business growth. The purpose that drives me is to change lives. For me, that’s what it’s truly about. If I can help Entrepreneurs unlock and open up new doors for business growth I know that everyone that I have helped will then in turn be able to impact thousands and millions more.

So, what about your business?  What’s it all for?

2) What do we want to accomplish?

In the long term scheme of things what is it that you want to be known for? If you were inducted to the “Hall of Fame”, what is the key accomplishment you most want to be remembered for?

3) What will our success look like?

What will your business be like once you have achieved your goals?  What is the end result – the target – that you are striving for?  The clearer your end goals are the easier it will be for you to make hundreds of daily decisions. You can ask yourself – “will doing X get me closer to my goal or will it distract me away from my goal?”

4) What are our values?

What are your business’s core and unwavering principles that guide (or, at least, should guide) all business practices and decisions?  Let’s take families. Out of all the families that you know, how many of them could you articulate and match their intended values statement solely by the way you know how they live and behave? — Sadly, it’s probably only a small few. Likewise, would your own clients know you and your business by the way you live out your own business values?

PLUS, here’s 1 more tip to steer you in the right direction:

Recruit the right people.

You can train an employee to use a new skill, but you can’t train an employee to share your business’s values.  Recruit employees whose values are in line with those of your business and will help your business to preserve its values while achieving its goals.

While your business model does need to turn a profit to stay solvent, focusing on profits alone is not enough to weather tough economic storms or those pesky competitors waging price wars.

If you’re in the business to create a company built to last, then you need to build loyal fans (customers) and devoted employees.  Yes, of course, customers will always enjoy getting the great deal and employees will always like getting fat bonuses. But, the glue that really makes them stick is not the discount shopping or the pay scale. The glue is them knowing what you stand for and believing in what you stand for. It’s what sheds meaning and purpose behind what you do. Even in a recession, and especially in a recession, it is a purpose driven company (which stems from you) that propels productivity and passion in your people.

Business Growth Expert, Yoon Cannon has helped hundreds of CEO’s, Entrepreneurs & small business owners gain dramatic results in your sales, marketing & strategic planning. Yoon’s mission is to encourage, equip and empower Entrepreneurs, so you can accelerate explosive business growth!

Having started, built (and sold) 3 other companies, Yoon offers a fresh, outside perspective from a seasoned entrepreneur. Yoon’s clients represent B2B, Direct Sales industry, Family-Run Businesses, Franchises, Healthcare/BioTech, Law Firms, Manufacturing & Small Business Owners.

Yoon Cannon has been published in The Philadelphia Business Journal, JP Morgan Chase Ink Magazine, ASI’s Counselor magazine, W4 magazine and many others. Yoon is also a frequent guest expert on radio show programs throughout the US. Yoon Cannon continues to be in demand as the featured speaker for many corporate and industry Association conference events.

For receive Yoon’s free 80 min. video training on How to Find Your WOW Factor just click LIKE at http://www.Facebook.com/YoonCannonParamountBusinessCoach To speak to Yoon direct call (215) 292-4947 EST.