YOU!

The word YOU is the most important word in speaking but it is not used enough. One great place to use it is at the beginning of your speech when you set up the structure.
Most speakers say, “I would like to share with you 3 strategies to help you do this or that.”

However, here’s a thought: nobody cares what “I would like to share.”Instead, we care about what we (the audience) will receive.

As some of you may know I was the featured psychology author/therapist on The Oprah Winfrey Show.  The book was entitled When Parents Love Too Much and the show was called Unwanted Advice.  Quite a memorable day to say the least.

The following short audio clip from that show illustrates what happens when you are prepared…

The show was nearing the end but I had no idea because I was focusing on working with the clients onstage and responding to Oprah’s questions.  At the moment you are about to hear an audience member asked me —   “How do we know when we are giving good advice?”

In preparing for the show the night before I had actually predicted and pondered this type of question even though I had no idea it would be asked.

You will hear that I began my answer in a somewhat casual way, when Oprah interrupted me and said,  ”Brief”  (she knew the show was seconds from ending)  I took her cue and nailed the response quickly, clearly and “briefly”.   It was only later that I realized my preparation allowed me to make the most important “closing” of my career .. There are no second takes on live TV in front of millions of viewers.

Take a listen. (I included another small exchange before the “closing” answer to give you a sense of my dialog with Oprah.

Smart online marketers understand they must build and maintain long-term relationships with their high value customers. This begins with offering superior products and services and ends with repeat purchases from devoted customers.

Achieving this lofty goal, however, takes much more than industry or product knowledge. In order to be profitable you must be able to manage the two primary activities of any business – projects and processes.

You’ll hear me say this often: marketing is about building lasting relationships with loyal customers. It involves a commitment to serve – before, during and after a sale.

It’s a process, not a project – one that requires a long-term perspective. It’s not one transaction. It’s not one order. It’s not one anything… rather, it’s accepting the benefits of ongoing connections and doing whatever it takes to grow and nourish them.

Building a marketing strategy may be a project, implementing that strategy is the process. While each contains actionable tasks, projects are finite and processes can be duplicated and used over and over again.

Like a good marriage, it begins with a sincere desire to please two people – your and your spouse – and continues with a constant commitment to make that happen. So while the wedding itself is a project, the marriage is a continual process – one that must be “fed and watered” every day. If not, it usually fails.

In a more specific way, your marketing communication is a process.

Consider this… most experts agree that it takes a between 9 and 27 marketing messages before a consumer moves from a prospect to a customer. Although estimates vary widely one thing is sure – it’s more than one.

Can you make a sale with one ad? Sure. But it generally doesn’t cover the development costs. So what do most entrepreneurs do in this instance? They bail out before they should. After, you’ll hear them say things like, “I wrote an article and posted it online and got nothing – it didn’t work.” Or, “I tried a pay-per-click campaign and almost lost my shirt… don’t try it.” What’s going on here? They’re erroneously blaming the project concept for their failure to follow a winning process!

How can I be so sure? Easy… there are thousands of online marketers who submit articles and use pay-per-click campaigns that effectively drive prospects to their website – ones who convert to paying customers. The results are irrefutable. However, the processes used to complete the project may not be. For example, the article may have been poorly written and/or the pay-per-click campaign might not have been the best sales tool for the product – there are hundreds of potential reasons.

The most glaring mistake was they mistook a process for a project and stopped abruptly when they didn’t get the results they expected.

If you’re going to be successful, you have to be in for the long term, not one-shot deals.

Thousands of pundits, experts, philosophers and scientists have conducted research in an attempt to discover the common characteristics that successful people possess. And while opinions vary, most agree that those belonging to this elite group share the following 10 personality traits.

Look them over and see how you fare. Check your strengths and note areas where you may be weak. Not sure how you rate? Ask colleagues, family and friends to help you out.

1. Conscientious and Reliable… they deliver on their promises in a timely manner.

2. Altruistic and Considerate… they truly care about the welfare of others and demonstrate this concern often