Blogs

Perfect Your Pitch For Maximum Impact

I love interacting with people. Sometimes, I have the opportunity to be of service, either through one-on-one coaching, this blog, or as a result of connections at social sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Savor The Success. It warms my heart to receive notes from people who say they enjoy my work and have exciting ideas about how we can collaborate. In addition to those email messages, I also receive cookie-cutter messages saying how "wonderful" I am, and then asking me to do something like exchange links, feature their product or service on my radio show, etc.

Cookie-cutter pitches are incredibly annoying. I can tell when an email that purports to address me individually is actually part of a bowl of pasta that someone thew at the wall in the hopes that something would stick. Don't pitch people like that. Be genuine and sincere and you'll make perfect partnering pitches and have more fun in the process. A true story illustrates my point.

Last week, I received an email message from someone I don't know and have never heard of before. There was no "Dear Donna Maria" at the top, and the body of the message said this, "Your organizations focus on women is incredible. I've passed along this flyer so you can share it with your staff or your audience. Thank you- Name." This was followed by a business name, a street address, a phone number, an email address and a website address. The email also had an attachment, which I think she expected me to open. Before you read on, think for a minute about what you would do it you received such a message.

What I Did

My first thought was to wonder how she knew that my focus on women was so "incredible." I could have been flattered, but there was no indication that she was really talking to me. It looked like a canned message that was sent to hundreds if not thousands of anonymous people. That's not a good way to introduce yourself to someone when you want them to promote your work. Even so, I was curious.

So, I Wrote Back

I responded to the email as follows, "Thanks, why are you sending me a flyer? What is it? Who are you? What do you do ...?"

And She Responded

I received a very nice reply, which said:

• she found out about me through Mocha Moms, where I serve as the National Work At Home Network Director
• she is a certified life coach
• she has worked in a home office for 15 years
• the flyer is about an inexpensive teleclass she is offering to help women in the areas of stress relief and self care
• she sent it to me in case I wanted to offer it as a resource to members of my network (I guess she meant the Indie Beauty Network) or other professional women

Why Not Say That At First?!

All of this made me wonder why she didn't tell me all of those great and wonderful things in the first place.

When contacting someone to ask them to connect you with their audience, know that the person receiving your request will probably want to know how you heard about them. They will also appreciate being addressed by their name. And they will probably be very hesitant to open an attachment from someone they don't know.

They'll appreciate you providing enough information to allow them to "investigate" you a bit before taking any action. In my case, I get dozens of emails weekly from people wanting to connect with me and my circle of business colleagues. There are only so many hours in a day, so I focus on the requests I receive from clients and members of IBN first, and then on sincere inquiries that seem to be genuinely targeted to me. After all, if someone doesn't care enough to make their offer seem special, then they have no reason to expect others to treat it as though it's special.

If you want to use an email message to attempt to collaborate with a complete stranger, address them by name, include a short introduction about yourself and what you do, and tell them exactly what it is you want them to do with and/or for you. It shouldn't be too long and flowery. It should be interesting and easy to read, and get quickly to the point.

Sample Outreach Letter

You can use this sample outreach letter to introduce yourself and the collaborative opportunities you have to offer. It's skeletal, and meant to be that way, so that you can infuse your own details and personality into the mix. I hope it's helpful.

Dear Donna Maria,

My name is Joanna Doe, president of Joanna Doe Company. I provide products that help people do this or that. I heard about you from so and so's blog and I am writing to find out if you might be interested in working with me to do thus and such.

I know that you are a big fan of these things and those things, and since I am as well, perhaps we could join together on this project that I believe would be beneficial to each of us, and to our customers. You can read lots of details about my products at this link, but the short overview is that I would like to connect with you to create a whatever your idea is that will accomplish the goal of whatever the goal is. The benefits for you are these and these benefits. All you would have to do to participate is this and this. I will take care of the rest, such as announcing your involvement in my blog, at my website and in my newsletter, which has this many opt in subscribers. (See a recent issue, plus what my readers have to say at this link.)

I hope this interests you and I'll follow up by phone at the number at your website in a few days to discuss this exciting opportunity. I am also interested in knowing if you have any ideas so feel free to call me at the number below or send me an email with your questions or thoughts.

I look forward to connecting!

Thanks for your time,
Me

Full Name
President, URL
Other marketing copy

I used some of the techniques described here to get my blog listed in the Small Business category at Alltop. And while email is great, sometimes people's websites or blogs will tell you the best way to pitch them an idea. Failing to follow their instructions to a tee is the surest way to get your idea tossed in the delete folder. And don't forget that, sometimes there's no substitute for a friendly phone calls or an in-person meeting to pave the way to new and exciting collaborative opportunities.

What do you think?

First impressions count, even in email messages. Even though technology makes connecting easy and cost-free, we still must use basic manners and etiquette. Don't make the mistake of coming across as unprofessional or insincere. Both are deal breakers, don't you think?

How do you connect with other people? Weigh in with your ideas and tips for creating new collaborative ventures that help you and others accomplish their goals. And don't forget to leave a link that describes your successful collaboration so we can find out more!

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5 Tips for the Perfect Princess Party Menu

You're ready... your princess has invited the belles of the ball to the finest Princess Birthday Party of the year. You've purchased decorations, planned a few games and have some lovely take home gifts for your guests. Now it's time to plan the finest menu for your royal princess and her court. Let's make it so fabulous that the girls will remember this day when they're planning their future daughter's parties and one that will make your princess throw her hands around your neck and say, "Oh mom! You're the best ever!"

What follows are 5 tips for you in creating the menu of the decade for your princess birthday party.

1. Keep it simple. The last thing you need on a busy day is for you to be running around like crazy trying to make cherries flambé or tiramisu with crème fraise. However, with a little creative planning, you can make something spectacular and still be able to take photos of the lovely girls eating your birthday dainties. There are SO many recipes available at your fingertips that are not only delicious but easy to make with items you probably have in the house or can pick up in your local grocery store at minimal cost (another key!). Just punch a name of a recipe into your google search box and hundreds of recipes will pop up. Just keep it simple!

2. Presentation is everything. Think about it, mom. A peanut butter sandwich is nice, but, make that sandwich and cut it with petite cookie cutters into various princessly shapes and you have something spectacular. Even just cutting the sandwiches with a glass into a circle and then cutting the circles in half would work. Display them nicely on a glass plate with some red grapes or flowers and it's no longer just a boring sandwich but a delicacy that's a delight to look at AND eat.

3. Throw the "no sugar" rule out the window. Ok, I'll get hate mail for this one but c'mon mom! Your princess only has the bash of the century once a year, so break the rules a little and provide something sweet to eat. Balance it out with a lower sugar drink and other dainties that aren't sugar laden.

4. Make the drink pink! Pink lemonade, pink Kool-Aid, pink soda... anything pink in a clear plastic cup and you'll be the coolest mom on the block. Float a half of a strawberry in the cup and you may as well get a revolving door to your house. You'll be the hit of the neighborhood!

5. Work with a timeline and schedule for the day of the party. A checklist of what you'll be serving and when you need to pull it out of the freezer or fridge, what goes where, etc., and how long each thing takes will insure that you won't forget any of the details and insure that you won't go to open the fridge for a late night snack after your princess is in dream land and see the strawberries that you meant to put in the royal goblets!

The perfect, stress free Princess party menu is within reach, Mom. Just keep it simple, fancy, tasty and pink! Write out a checklist and you're all set for the finest party menu for your princess and her royal maidens!

In every bloggers life comes a special day - the day they first launch a new blog. Now unless you went out and purchased someone else''s blog chances are your blog launched with only one very loyal reader - you. Maybe a few days later you received a few hits when you told your sister, father, girlfriend and best friend about your new blog but that''s about as far you went when it comes to finding readers.

Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.

It helps if you work on this list from top to bottom as each technique builds on the previous step to help you create momentum. Eventually once you establish enough momentum you gain what is called "traction", which is a large enough audience base (about 500 readers a day is good) that you no longer have to work too hard on finding new readers. Instead your current loyal readers do the work for you through word of mouth.

Top 10 Tips

10. Write at least five major "pillar" articles. A pillar article is a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good "how-to" lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn’t news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.

9. Write one new blog post per day minimum. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should work on getting those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. The important thing here is to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your blog feed.

You don''t have to produce one post per day all the time but it is important you do when your blog is brand new. Once you get traction you still need to keep the fresh content coming but your loyal audience will be more forgiving if you slow down to a few per week instead. The first few months are critical so the more content you can produce at this time the better.

8. Use a proper domain name. If you are serious about blogging be serious about what you call your blog. In order for people to easily spread the word about your blog you need a easily rememberable domain name. People often talk about blogs they like when they are speaking to friends in the real world (that''s the offline world, you remember that place right?) so you need to make it easy for them to spread the word and pass on your URL. Try and get a .com if you can and focus on small easy to remember domains rather than worry about having the correct keywords (of course if you can get great keywords and easy to remember then you’ve done a good job!).

7. Start commenting on other blogs. Once you have your pillar articles and your daily fresh smaller articles your blog is ready to be exposed to the world. One of the best ways to find the right type of reader for your blog is to comment on other people’s blogs. You should aim to comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.

Most blog commenting systems allow you to have your name/title linked to your blog when you leave a comment. This is how people find your blog. If you are a prolific commentor and always have something valuable to say then people will be interested to read more of your work and hence click through to visit your blog.

6. Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is sort of like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger''s article you can do a trackback to their entry. What this does is leave a truncated summary of your blog post on their blog entry - it''s sort of like your blog telling someone else’s blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.

This is a good technique because like leaving comments a trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, but it also does something very important - it gets the attention of another blogger. The other blogger will likely come and read your post eager to see what you wrote about them. They may then become a loyal reader of yours or at least monitor you and if you are lucky some time down the road they may do a post linking to your blog bringing in more new readers.

5. Encourage comments on your own blog. One of the most powerful ways to convince someone to become a loyal reader is to show there are other loyal readers already following your work. If they see people commenting on your blog then they infer that your content must be good since you have readers so they should stick around and see what all the fuss is about. To encourage comments you can simply pose a question in a blog post. Be sure to always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.

4. Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival often enjoy a spike in new readers.

To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at blogcarnival.com.

3. Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. To be honest this tip is not going to bring in a flood of new readers but it''s so easy to do and only takes five minutes so it''s worth the effort. Go to Blog Top Sites, find the appropriate category for your blog and submit it. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog so you can rank and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You will probably only get 1-10 incoming readers per day with this technique but over time it can build up as you climb the rankings. It all helps!

2. Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com. This is another tip that doesn’t bring in hundreds of new visitors immediately (although it can if you keep doing it) but it''s worthwhile because you simply leverage what you already have - your pillar articles. Once a week or so take one of your pillar articles and submit it to Ezine Articles. Your article then becomes available to other people who can republish your article on their website or in their newsletter.

How you benefit is through what is called your "Resource Box". You create your own resource box which is like a signature file where you include one to two sentences and link back to your website (or blog in this case). Anyone who publishes your article has to include your resource box so you get incoming links. If someone with a large newsletter publishes your article you can get a lot of new readers at once.

1. Write more pillar articles. Everything you do above will help you to find blog readers however all of the techniques I’ve listed only work when you have strong pillars in place. Without them if you do everything above you may bring in readers but they won’t stay or bother to come back. Aim for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over 50 fantastic feature articles that will work hard for you to bring in more and more readers.

I hope you enjoyed my list of traffic tips. Everything listed above are techniques I’ve put into place myself for my blogs and have worked for me, however it''s certainly not a comprehensive list. There are many more things you can do. Finding readers is all about testing to see what works best for you and your audience and I have no doubt if you put your mind to it you will find a balance that works for you.

This article was by Yaro Starak, a professional blogger and my blog mentor. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.

To get more information about Blog Mastermind click this link:

Darwin Was Right, In Nature and in Business

In his book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Charles Darwin penned these words.

[A]s more individuals are produced than can possibly survive, there must in every case be a struggle for existence, either one individual with another of the same species, or with the individuals of distinct species, or with the physical conditions of life. ... Although some species may be now increasing, more or less rapidly, in numbers, all cannot do so, for the world would not hold them.

These words sum up brilliantly the constant interaction between and among businesses in a rapidly evolving global economy. And Indie Business owner Christopher Hazlett's current situation perfectly illustrates the importance of being adaptable in a changing market environment.

Hazlet founded Integrate Consulting in 2006, and by the end of 2007, it was generating income in the low six figures. But in January of this year, income plummeted to next to nothing. When you read Hazlett's story in Wednesday's New York Times, you'll see a perfect illustration of what Darwin wrote about. When Integrate Consulting's clients terminated their contracts, rather than fretting or selling his services at fire sale prices, Hazlett simply changed direction. He launched Event Clipboard, an event planning company, using the same skills and talents that made Integrate Consulting successful. Hazlett is excited about the positive feedback he's receiving from his first 50 beta testers.

Adapt, or Else ...

Darwin's conclusions could have easily referred to business owners like Hazlett. And like you. And like me. Don't sit around whining and complaining about your hard luck or the downturn in the world economy. Do what Hazlett is doing. Focus on your own economy. Tap into your talents, gifts and work history to adapt to the world as it changes.

Once you find your place, you have to always be ready to change it in order to adapt it to circumstances over which you have no control. Seize your own place. Wrestle it to the ground. As Darwin wrote, the world will not hold you if you don't.

What do you think?

Are you inspired by Hazlett's story? By how he refused to let the grass grow under his feet and instead, took the bulls by the horns and made something happen? How are you holding your place in this rapidly changing economic environment? Inspire us with some of your story! I know it will encourage a lot of other Indies today.

Related Posts

You Have to Touch Home Plate
Ask Not What the Economy Can Do For You
Boots and Hard Hat Required
Position Yourself as an Expert in Your Field (Video)

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