Mentalsidewalk

I recently discovered that I had made one of the biggest errors one can make when forecasting any strategy for your product or service.

When it comes to our products or services, we are more attached to the value of them then our own clients are.  That being said there are times that there is greater value within our products than what our clients have perceived.

The question you need to ask yourself is:

What Perceived Value Do My Clients See

In My Products and Services?

Not What “I” see in them?

It’s like what we have seen in the real estate market in the last few years. How many times have we heard people talk about what they believe their house is worth – their perceived value of it as an owner, as the one that put all the time into renovating, decorating, the experiences within their house etc..

All these things have no value to our potential clients. Yet we expect them to see and feel the intrinsic value of our attached emotions within our products and services.

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I recently put together a Facebook group to help with my new book launch – “Your Naked Chicken.” I was so excited when I posted it that I thought I would have 300-350 people in my group within a few days.

I figured I would be guaranteed a 30% conversion rate. Keep in mind that I am also aware of the fact that the average conversion rate for such a launch is approximately 8%.

Even knowing that, the true value of my product was blinded by my emotional connection to my product.

I based the value of my product on elements

that have no value to my potential clients.

In order to see the true value in what you are offering from your clients point of view, you need to be able to disconnect yourself emotionally.  Ask yourself, “What value do THEY see in it?” irrelevant of the time, money and effort you have put into it.

Lesson reminder:

When forecasting your results, numbers, sales etc. be realistic. Always take the worst case scenario so your strategy results can be more predictable. Once you’ve achieved your initial numbers everything else will be gravy.

All that being said, if you want to support MY perceived value for MY new book, as it is all about US and OUR products. he he

COMING SOON! “YOUR NAKED CHICKEN”

Fred Sarkari

What is the difference in creating a brand like Coca-Cola and one for your everyday entrepreneur?

My parents moved into a new community just prior to me visiting them during this holiday season.  Every time we walked by a new neighbor, my mom would introduce me.

“This is my son, he is an inspirational speaker and an entrepreneur coach, he likes the outdoors and is very active…”

After a while I realized that every new neighbor we met, my mom introduced me the exact same way.

It turned out that I was branded by my very own mom.  We are branding ourself whether we like it or not.  The real question is, are we doing it subconsciously or with intent?

There is no difference in how Coca-cola brands them self and how an entrepreneur should effectively brand them self.  The process is all principle based.

Branding yourself has faced a paradigm shift.  How entrepreneurs branded in the past will never be how entrepreneurs need to brand in these times in order to be effective.

Before you spend any time or money creating a strategy for your marketing and branding, you need to be aware of the 3 pillars that all your strategy needs to be built upon.

Most peoples brands are nothing more than fancy words and slogans they put on a piece of paper and than try to market the hell out of it.

You need to turn your brand in a movement.  In order for anything to have movement it needs to have a life of its own.  In essence give your brand life.  The obvious next question is, “how do you give it life?”

For any brand to have life, it needs to do one thing – it needs to make people feel.  A brand with life within it makes people want to be part of it.

When you give your brand life, it will become a movement.

Just like any relationship has a foundation, you need to be aware of the foundation of your relationship with you brand.

3 PILARS

Tip Of The Tongue:

If I were to go around the room and ask your clients to tell me about you, your brand.  What would you like them to consistently have at the tip of their tongue that they are ready to say?

Chasing Rabbits:

When you try to chase 3 rabbits at the same time you will catch none.  Even if you can sell your product or services to the mass – you need to have a niche market that you brand yourself to.

The more you focus on a niche the more powerful your brand will become.

Street Lessons:

If there is anything you are going to focus on when marketing yourself.  Any information that you share.  Always always always keep one thing in mind. Educate your niche market.

Now educate does not mean you bombard them with information they can already get on the internet.  Educate them based on their state of mind, their fears, concerns etc.  Things that they as laypeople can relate to and more so are craving for.

Going forward, everything you do with your branding and marketing ask yourself this question.

What emotions am I making people feel?  The answer to that question will be your existing brand.

Would love to hear about how people have made their brand different and unique.

Fred Sarkari

Before you spend any time or money on your marketing,  you have to be aware of the most critical element that either makes your marketing effective or just blends in with all the other useless data dump.

We are in the Information Age, where the average person thinks 60,000 thoughts every day. 30,000 pieces of advertisement bombard our senses daily. Clients have less time, they are more frustrated and they expect more. Yet we give them the same as everyone else and we expect different results.

Your ads should be an education. Get your target market to see your company as superior to the rest. People intrinsically want to be lead but lead by experts.

Educate people to why and how things are done the way they are. And ultimately those reasons must translate into the benefits for the client; otherwise, it will simply be bits of trivia.

A prime example of using education to increase market shares is the Schlitz Beer campaign. The company went from 8^th position to 1^st within 6 months. Everyone else was claiming that their beer was pure. But what did that mean? Schlitz took it a step beyond and explained how they tested the ingredients, how they selected and processed them, and how each batch was quality tested. Suddenly the consumer was involved mentally with the making of the beer and that made it “their beer”.

The first person who tells the story on how and why they do something positions him or herself as the expert in the field and gains distinction in the marketplace from then on.

Instead of running ads shouting how good you are, try offering a booklet with practical advice and interesting information. For example, if you are in the mortgage industry, you could put together a list of “10 critical questions to ask before you purchase a home: a lifestyle checklist to determine the type of home that suits you”, now you have targeted people who are seriously interested in purchasing.

Increase the perceived value of your product through education. The more your clients understand how your product helps them or protects them the more they will want it. Remember, you are selling a lifestyle.

Educate educate educate educate…

Fred Sarkari