Business owners – at least the successful ones – realize that you have to have a strategy in place in order to achieve any goal.  Yes, if you know where you are going – it helps.  But you have to know how you are going to get there as well.  That is the reason I came up with my Marketing Pie.

I don’t know about you, but when I thought about creating my business plan, the entire process seemed daunting.  Once I had completed it, I was glad the torture was over.  Well, in my opinion, marketing should be fun!  So, with that in mind, I didn’t set out to write out a 12 page marketing plan.  I simply followed my mentor’s advice (Fabienne Frederickson) and created a marketing pie that I could live with and use to grow my business.

Voila, my marketing pie was born.  And with that I determined it was necessary to share this idea with other entrepreneurs.  Knowing that I probably wasn’t the only one that felt the marketing strategy was daunting, I wanted to share my pie with others.  I also believe marketing is and should be fun.  So what is more fun than eating pie – BLUEBERRY pie at that!  Thus, the color for my pie has to be shades of blue . . . . ok, now you are probably getting the idea that I enjoy marketing.

In fact, an old friend called me yesterday and we hadn’t talked in years.  She has started her own business and is now released of her corporate life and wants to delve into marketing her business so she can have this as a full-time venture.  Knowing her and her energy level – I have no doubt she will be successful.  But what I realized as we were talking, was how jazzed I was getting about ideas for marketing HER business.

Of course, that was why she had called me.  She suspected that I would be able to point her in the right direction.  She had been following me on Linkedin and Facebook and knew that I was big into social media marketing.  We spent an hour catching up on the phone, and I learned a wee bit about her business.  This happened yesterday – so today I cancelled all my plans (and yes it is Saturday) and dove into creating a marketing pie for her.  Her pie consists initially of just three pieces – building her database, she’ll concentrate on her writing – which I will use to build her website, blog platform and article submission sites.  From there, we’ll “drip market” into social media . . . .but I didn’t want to overwhelm her.

See, one cannot eat a whole pie at once – or at least one shouldn’t – so I am starting her off with some of the basics.  One is that she is responsible for pulling together all her contacts and sending them to me – either by downloading them from outlook, or pulling from gmail and/or yahoo accounts.  Everyone should compile their contacts into one place.  This may sound overly simplistic.  But after the networking piece of my pie – I have to insist on “The List” – this is a list of all your contacts.  If you have email and postal mail addresses, all the better, phone numbers help too.  But without a list, you really are starting from scratch.  And let’s face it, you have a list of:  Relatives, friends, colleagues from previous office positions, clients you have done work with and for, coffee shop and restaurant owners that you know by frequenting eateries … getting the big picture?  List out everyone and start your database!

This is the first piece of the pie that I talk about in my free giveaway.  You network in person, you gather cards and information on people and just start learning what people are looking for.  Create relationships – don’t just build a database.  That is a key point I have to stress.  Please be authentic in your marketing approach – or don’t bother.

If you are networking just to collect cards and try to sell to those people later – then good luck and stop reading right now.  You won’t like my advice.  I believe in creating relationships and building those relationships.  If you are in it to meet, sell and move on – then my marketing pie is not for you.

My basic marketing strategy involves creating, building and developing relationships.  Like the woman I was talking about earlier.  We created a friendship four years ago – never did we connect on the basis of  doing business with each other in the future.  But I can guarantee you, we will have our relationship long after doing any business together.

This is just a taste of my marketing pie – I’ll be sharing so much more with you in the next few weeks that just explain a bit about the pie.  With any marketing strategy, just begin by sharing your personality and knowledge and help someone along the way.  Trust me, if you are passionate about your business and love what you do, you will be paid for it.  Happy Marketing . . . .

Kim Letendre is founder of KAZ Works, LLC, an independent marketing firm specializing in online marketing strategies.  Kim is devoted to helping authors and small companies discover the best marketing tools that fit their personality and business model.  She helps strategize and then implement the full marketing plan.  Grab a copy of her free Marketing Pie Blueprint at www.kazworks.com to get more information on the pieces of the marketing pie available and how to strategically use them.  Or Call her for a ‘get acquainted’ session at 603-617-2535.

I am just wrapping up a course helping direct sales professionals learn how utilize social media to build their businesses.  So often, we think that because we are in “sales” we have to actually “sell”.  Not True!  And this course has been a real eye-opener.  You can get qualified colleagues and customers – just by being you and offering information!  Imagine that!

I’ve had a blast teaching this particular course.  We discussed the real reason you use social media – to build relationships which will ultimately spill out into sales – if done effectively and authentically.  Of course, we started with Facebook because that happens to be the first social media platform everyone thinks about when they consider incorporating social media into their marketing strategy.

Building and maintaining relationships is really very important for everyone, but I believe especially for direct sales professionals.  The icky sticky sales thing does not go very far in the real world and even less far in the social media realm.  I’ve shut down contacts who have tried and tried to sell me something – so I am speaking with a personal slant on the situation.  Relationships (not commissions) create successful businesses.

Then we delved into Google+ and Google+ Business Pages.  This is fairly new territory for me and it was completely foreign to those I was teaching.  The biggest question was why the redundancy?  Why do I need a page on Google+ if I already have one on Facebook.  Well, as it turns out, there are a few answers.

One:  Not everyone will find you on Facebook because not everyone is on Facebook.  Even though it seems that most people have dived into this social media platform – there are those who have not.  Google is an animal that we all know about – whether we like them or not.  It is the largest search engine out there.  So having a personal page on Google+ and then creating a business page from there – will at least get you ranked very high on the search engines.

New content always gets a lot of attention in the search engines, so I was helping people understand that duplicating the content – repurposing it so it can be used in their Facebook page and then possibly creating a longer post in Google+ that expands on the same content – will really increase your SEO.

So yes, it is duplicative – but you need to remember that when you market – you market to the audience where the audience hangs out.  So if you manage to capture as many social media channels as you can handle and keep on top of, then you have a greater chance of capturing a higher percentage of your target audience.

We also managed to cover Hootsuite and Twitter during the second week so they could understand how to incorporate those two social media tools, if they felt comfortable.  During the three weeks, we couldn’t go into everything really extensively, but we certainly got a better than birds’ eye view of the different social media platforms, and discussed ways to incorporate them into their social media strategy.

The one point I can’t stress enough – is to have a strategy and stick with it.  Measure the results.  If you know what you are measuring and then measure for those results, you will be able to adapt the plan accordingly.

Tonight we are having a discussion on LinkedIn and Pinterest.  While Linkedin has been around for a while and is mostly a business networking site – it should not be overlooked when it comes to marketing.  There are so many discussion groups that you can get involved in – where you can exhibit your skills and knowledge.  But the groups on linked in are also a great way to collaborate with other business owners.  In a way it can be utilized as a mastermind with like-minded individuals.

7 Slices of the Marketing Pie Strategy

And with Pinterest – well it’s just too soon to know where Pinterest will fall in the business world.  Again, I stress the importance of looking at your own marketing strategy and determining where you want to spend your time – and where you get the biggest bang for your buck.  I have heard that Pinterest is a great ARTSY forum.  However, those of you who have products might be able to get creative and utilize this forum to drive traffic back to your website or facebook page.  I was able to do that with the services I offer.  I created a graphic that was tied to information I used as a free giveaway.  Because  I originated that graphic – I could use it to drive web traffic back to my sight.  And my graphic has gone viral and has been repinned.

Investigating the avenues you can use for marketing is the first step.  Then you have to figure out your comfort level and determine where you want to initially spend your time.  The one mistake that so many have made is starting all the various accounts and then not doing anything with them.

The profile can be there, your page can be active and the content can be up – but if you aren’t engaging with your audience, then why bother?

Kim Letendre is founder of KAZ Works, LLC, an independent marketing firm specializing in online marketing strategies.  Kim is devoted to helping authors and small companies discover the best marketing tools that fit their personality and business model.  She helps strategize and then implement the full marketing plan.  Grab a copy of her free Marketing Pie Blueprint at www.kazworks.com to get more information on the pieces of the marketing pie available and how to strategically use them.  Or Call her for a ‘get acquainted’ session at 603-617-2535.

There is a major switch happening right now in the Digital Publishing industry. The reality is the people LOVE their books, but more and more are snuggling up to a favorite book or magazine on their Amazon Kindle Fire or iPad (via the handy dandy iBook).  While physical books may not be “exiting stage right” anytime soon, the growth of digital book sales here in 2012 is simply staggering! People are consuming their favorite publications digitally at alarming rates. In fact in 2011, Amazon digital book sales surpassed both hardcover and paperback book sales by more than double!

The reality is that digital books are cheaper, faster to receive and more accessible then the good old hard copy. Not to mention…Authors are recognizing the HUGE profit potential of digital book sales over physical books.

So, to summarize the facts….

- Digital books are selling like crazy New! NOOK Simple Touch™ by Barnes & Noble with Glowlight™. Read With The Lights On Or Off only at $139 – ships free!

- Authors are chomping at the bit to create a digital format of their book

AND, Virtual Professionals have the unbelievable opportunity right now to position themselves as a Digital Publishing Specialist. Remember, Authors love to write, but they don’t want to think about the technical set-up required to publish their book on Kindle or iBook. This is a prime opportunity to build a very hot, income-building niche into your business.

Our friends at the popular training center, VAClassroom.com have just released the brand new and hotly requested “Digital Publishing Specialist Program”. This course will give you the exact steps to set-up a physical book in a digital format through Amazon Kindle and other popular online publishing platforms. This course will fill a HUGE skill gap currently preventing authors from profiting in the digital realm.

The course begins April 30th and there are still a few seats left.

Check out all the details here:

When I first went into business, I knew that the networking piece would be instrumental in my marketing plan.  I tend to work with people I feel good about – leaning on my “intuition”.  That involves meeting someone face to face.  Yes, it doesn’t quite fit in the “virtual manager” realm, but for me connecting with someone one to one is something I enjoy.

My past mentor taught me that.  LOVE.  It may not seem like it belongs in business, but when it comes to making relationships work, having had that personal connection makes it a lot easier to work things out when there is tension.

So networking for me meant joining the chamber of commerce.  Although that usually just means paying a yearly fee and showing up for a few evening events to have a glass of wine and schmooze.  That was not the case with me.  I have to be involved and contributing to the cause in order to feel that I’m effective.  So I became a part of the Ambassador committee.  This meant mailing to other members, contacting them personally and just starting to create relationships in the community.

The next organization I joined was BNI – Business Networking International.  BNI is an international organization with chapters everywhere.  I visited the website and then chose a couple of meetings to attend in person.  When joining as breakfast networking group such as this – the key is to find the right fit for your personality and your time schedule.

This particular group does meet on a weekly basis and there are expectations that come with joining.  You have to pay a fee, and you have to do the work, and there is an expectation for you to attend trainings and be involved in the group.  I was elected Vice President – which is the position that tracks progress within the group and then gauges it against other groups in the area.  Bringing visitors to the meeting, giving referrals to your colleagues and meeting with people one to one are the key objectives for each member of the group.

Next I found a women’s networking group – which met once a month and was a few towns over.  There were about 60 members in this group and there was usually an informational presentation after dinner.  While there was an opportunity for a 30-second commercial – the forum was more conducive to relationships building and not focused as much on giving referrals.

I then joined the local Rotary group in my area.  This allowed me the opportunity to meet the leaders in my own community. While we didn’t discuss business at the meetings, we did get to know each other through giving back to the community.  This always builds relationships and creates an opportunity to do business – but this is more of a “side note” to this type of networking.  The opportunity to give back to your community gives your heart something to celebrate.

So with all this networking – the next step is to start building your database and I will cover that later in the week.

Here’s to your success!  Let me know if I can help!

Kim Letendre is founder of KAZ Works, LLC, an independent marketing firm specializing in online marketing strategies.  Kim is devoted to helping authors and small companies discover the best marketing tools that fit their personality and business model.  She helps strategize and then implement the full marketing plan.  Grab a copy of her free Marketing Pie Blueprint at www.kazworks.com to get more information on the pieces of the marketing pie available and how to strategically use them.  Or Call her for a ‘get acquainted’ session at 603-617-2535.

I just got back from a Board of Directors meeting for the Rochester Rotary and I’m always reminded of how much I love that group of people.  They are authentic, funny, and have such good hearts.  I’m somewhat sad that I won’t be able to join Rotary as an individual when I move to San Diego.  The costs are prohibitive for small business owners like me.   However, because I will be looking for a corporate job when I arrive in San Diego, it will be one of the first discussions I have with any new employer.

I joined Rotary as a sole business owner two years ago.  I wanted to be involved in the community and have a way to give back to the causes that I truly believe in.  The first Rotary meeting I attended, I was astounded by the humanitarian aspect of the club.  The only thing I thought I knew about Rotary was that it was an elder gentlemen club.

WOW – was I wrong!

The current present is a woman who is in her 40’s and very active in all the activities.  At least half of the club is female and the average age is ~55.  We are in the process of building Howie’s Field of Dreams – a buddy ball field in Roger Allen Park – and it will serve as a field for handicapped children all over New England.  Other causes we support are the local homeless shelter, covering shifts every morning from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 during the winter months.  We have a clothing drive for local families who need assistance with back to school clothes shopping.  And still other projects include the Christmas parade, dictionaries for third graders and finger printing with the police department of all children in our elementary schools.

We are the third largest rotary club in the state with over 105 members and have about 70% attendance at our weekly meetings.  We pull together as a group and get it done –laughing and having a great time in the process.

So today we were discussing the economy and the fact that we don’t have to reduce our giving to those in need.  In fact, we can increase to compensate for the lack in many non-profits right now – because we do have such a strong club.

I have been acting Assistant Secretary since I joined two years ago, and because of my pending move to San Diego, I investigated the cost to join there.  Prohibitive for a small business owner.

So, my inspiration is to find a great company to work for with a leadership team that believes in giving back to the community – and offer to represent them at the local Rotary Chapter.  It would be a WIN/WIN/WIN situation – corporate, community and personal responsibility.

What types of organizations do you like volunteering your time to?  And if you belong to Rotary – what types of activities do you support at your local level that you’d like to share for others to incorporate into their programs?  After all, sharing of ideas is not just eye-opening – it can spread the wealth and spread the smiles!

Here’s to your success!

A client recently asked me what the difference was between a personal page and a business page in facebook.  She really only wanted to administer one page – because she felt too overwhelmed with the process of social media.

She did use her FB page to keep in touch with friends and family and thought that by just creating different groups – it would be sufficient.  This would allow her to keep business separate from personal.

Not so.

First of all, when you create a business page, you have to select the type of business it is.  Once you do this, there are several different options you will have depending on if you select a local business versus a service.

If you have a service that can be used by anyone anywhere in the world, time changes won’t really matter.  However, if you are a local business, you really want an area map so that people can find you and know what hours of operation you adhere to.  Then again, if you a real estate agent, you want a map in order for clients to know what areas you service – even though your office won’t be located exactly on the page because you work mostly from home and don’t want that address appearing anywhere.

The other reason for creating a business page is that there are custom fields available to you as a business owner so that you can tell the world what you do and WHY you do it.  You can customize your page with specific applications that are available for your type of business.  For instance, a have realtor clients who utilize Roost so their clients can have information specific to the demographics of the area.

There is an application you can place on your business page for your blogs and networked blogs that can feature other blogs that you follow.  You can also brand your FB business page, much like you do your website – so that you are coming across on all platforms as the “business” or “service” you represent.

Your personal page doesn’t allow you to do many of these things.  Nor would you want it to.  Honestly, your friends and family may not understand your business nor want updates about it.  Having both a personal page and business page allows you to accomplish both things.

It always come down to building the strategy that works for you, your business and your personality.  One size never fits all.

Kim Letendre is founder of KAZ Works, LLC, an independent marketing firm specializing in online marketing strategies.  Kim is devoted to helping authors and small companies discover the best marketing tools that fit their personality and business model.  She helps strategize and then implement the full marketing plan.  Grab a copy of her free Marketing Pie Blueprint at www.kazworks.com to get more information on the pieces of the marketing pie available and how to strategically use them.  Or Call her for a ‘get acquainted’ session at 603-617-2535.

You have almost finished writing your book and are now starting to think about how you are going to sell it.  You haven’t really wanted to concentrate on writing anything except your book.  That is understandable.  However, delaying the marketing is not a good idea.

If this is your first book, you may not have a significant following yet.  If that is the case, you can write on social media forums all day long, but if you aren’t reaching your target audience, and don’t have a clue how to start accomplishing that, then you need some help from a marketing expert.

This will free up time for you to finish the book.  Letting someone else steer the marketing bus is the best use of your time and resources.

The strategy will start with an Author Blog Platform.  This will feel and act like your website – and start introducing your audience to who you are as a person.  You will have an “about” page which can go into details about who you are as a person, and why you want to share your experience with your audience.  Letting them know why you are qualified to write a story for them – whether fiction or non-fiction – will allow them to get to know you better.  You will become a person in their eyes with a real past that you have drawn from.

Building out the blog platform is the first piece of the social media marketing strategy and will be the foundation of your communication method until the book can actually be purchased, either in book stores or digitally.

Another benefit to a blog platform is the freedom it allows you to add and subtract pages in the future, in an easy to manipulate format that you have total control over.  This platform will also allow you to share ideas and information through your blog which keeps fresh content on your website.  They’ll want to come back for more!

Kim Letendre is founder of KAZ Works, LLC, an independent marketing firm specializing in online marketing strategies.  Kim is devoted to helping authors and small companies discover the best marketing tools that fit their personality and business model.  She helps strategize and then implement the full marketing plan.  Grab a copy of her free Marketing Pie Blueprint at www.kazworks.com to get more information on the pieces of the marketing pie available and how to strategically use them.  Or Call her for a ‘get acquainted’ session at 603-617-2535.

A recent incident with a client has prompted me to share the importance of clear communication.

A client called and asked me for help with meeting planning – we had worked together last year on several meetings and we each had our specific tasks to complete.  So when she called a few weeks ago and said she had been given permission to get my help again, I was very excited.  I really enjoyed working with her and the company.  She wanted me to start setting up the room block and communicating with the hotel as well as the speakers.  There were three meetings in progress and then three more in the venue selection stage.

Excited to be working with her again, I began the task list that we had worked from last year.  There was no clear indication that anything I was communicating was not something that was expected.

Last week I worked approximately 15 hours, completing part of the meeting details that had been the normal procedure.  Again today, I blocked out several hours of my day to pick up and continue with creating other documents necessary, including agendas, evaluations, and other on-site work documents.

After a few hours of work and several emails back and forth to other members of the team regarding the work I had progressed with and asking for feedback, I received an email stating that I shouldn’t be doing these things and that there were new procedures in place.  Apparently, this had occurred during the past four months, but was unbeknownst to me.

Understanding that things change, it would have been so much better for all parties if the expectations had been clearly outlined:  By both sides.  I should have asked more detailed questions ensuring that the procedures had remained the same.  And likewise, when she started seeing emails from me last week that concerned work that she did not expect from me – she should have communicated to me at that time.

Now – several hours of time spent and hundreds of dollars wasted – we have discovered that clear communication would have prevented unnecessary use of resources.

Lesson learned:  Communicate clearly and place the expectations in writing.  Unfortunately, a prior working relationship does not necessarily mean that you are both on the same page.

Kim Letendre is founder of KAZ Works, LLC, an independent marketing firm specializing in online marketing strategies.  Kim is devoted to helping authors and small companies discover the best marketing tools that fit their personality and business model.  She helps strategize and then implement the full marketing plan.  Grab a copy of her free Marketing Pie Blueprint at www.kazworks.com to get more information on the pieces of the marketing pie available and how to strategically use them.  Or Call her for a ‘get acquainted’ session at 603-617-2535.

Creating a database for your business is one of the first things you should put a process around.  Your list should be comprehensive.  It should include people that you have known and done business with in the past as well as current customers.  It should also include people you meet during networking events.  Another instrumental strategy is to continue growing this list, building your funnel, by collecting names and email addresses of those people who are interested in working with you.

You can collect these names and email addresses a few different ways.  You can have a free offer on your website and give something of value that your potential clients would find compelling.  Something that would help them with whatever challenge they are facing.  After all, aren’t you offering a solution to a problem?

Then you need to share the solution with them.

They will be grateful if your solution helps them.  And if they can connect with you, you will have a client or customer.  By building your list, you will be giving them bits of the information they need, until they finally realize they have to work with you.

Your list will build the funnel of clients that you need to keep your business in business.  What are some of the ways you build your list?

Kim Letendre is founder of KAZ Works, LLC, an independent marketing firm specializing in online marketing strategies.  Kim is devoted to helping authors and small companies discover the best marketing tools that fit their personality and business model.  She helps strategize and then implement the full marketing plan.  Grab a copy of her free Marketing Pie Blueprint at www.kazworks.com to get more information on the pieces of the marketing pie available and how to strategically use them.  Or Call her for a ‘get acquainted’ session at 603-617-2535.

You have been writing your book for the past year and you are in the final chapters.  It will be going to the editor soon, but you are starting to think about the marketing aspect of it.  Where will you promote it?  How to you build the buzz around it?  You may have had a first book, but this book is on an entirely different subject. Now what?

These considerations are real for authors and it pays for them to consider getting the assistance from a certified online book marketing specialist.  Book marketing can be tricky and there are some roads that you have to maneuver over, hills to climb, but with the help of a virtual marketing professional who knows the ins and outs of book marketing, it can be stress-free.

Having a blog platform is imperative for an author – but the focus of that platform is to be determined by you as the author.  Having an author platform can make sense when you have one book but are now working on another.  If they are sequential books, It may be better to have a book blog platform.  However, if they are slightly different veins of the same topic, it might be best to consider an author platform.  This will allow you to build your brand and your website around your personality and how you want to show up in the world.

Having an author platform will then allow you to have both books offered in the same site – but on different “tracks” of the site.  (That’s the technical stuff that you don’t want to deal with, but hiring someone who knows this is key when setting up your marketing platform.)

Next you will have to consider an online book tour – this is where you will visit different blog sites and write on the topic.  You as the author will have these articles or blog posts written in advance.  Then it will be my job to investigate the most appropriate places for these articles to be published.  A few strategic decisions have to be made as to timing of these posts.  But this activity is what will create the buzz prior to the book’s arrival.

Social marketing sites will be another avenue of marketing.  You can build out a page on Facebook – again, the suggestion is for the author page in this case.  If the book will have a life of its own, then a book page should be considered (Harry Potter is an example that comes to mind, or James Patterson’s “Women’s Murder Mystery Club” series).

Facebook is not the only social marketing forum to consider.  An author also needs to be on Good Reads, www.goodreads.com getting the information out in that forum. If the author intends to sell the book on Amazon, and they should, then becoming a member of the online at www.authorcentral.amazon.com.  One fact that may astound you is that 75% of your books will be sold in an electronic copy vs. 25% hardcopy.  So it seems that even though the price is lower for electronic versions, the amount sold is higher and worth the effort.

All this activity should be started at least three months in advance of the book being released.  This will allow for the timing of the blog posts, online book tour and the build-up of the social marketing world.

Kim Letendre is founder of KAZ Works, LLC, an independent marketing firm specializing in online marketing strategies.  Kim is devoted to helping authors and small companies discover the best marketing tools that fit their personality and business model.  She helps strategize and then implement the full marketing plan.  Grab a copy of her free Marketing Pie Blueprint at www.kazworks.com to get more information on the pieces of the marketing pie available and how to strategically use them.  Or Call her for a ‘get acquainted’ session at 603-617-2535.