Walt Goshert » John Jantsch

The Referral Engine: “Tune Up” Your Small Business Marketing

Walt Goshert — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:52:28 +0000

Is your small business “Referral Engine”…

… a sputtering, oil-leaking, smoke-spewing, back-firing, about to blow a gasket wreck?

Or…

… a fine-tuned, high-pitched, ear drum busting, screaming, turbo-charged, world-class racing machine?

Yes, as Chris Brogan says, it’s hard to believe John Jantsch could top Duct Tape Marketing…

But he has!

Indeed, John puts you in the drivers seat of your word-of-mouth marketing with The Referral Engine.

Buckle up, put on your helmet. Get in the race to win the hearts and minds of clients who know, like, and trust you… and Teach Your Business How to Market Itself with the The Referral Engine as your new Word-of-Mouth Owner’s Manual.

This Ain’t Grandpa’s Word-of-Mouth World

Sure, movers and shakers back-slapping over 3-hour, 3-martini lunches at the Club, mid-week, mid-day rounds of golf, volunteering on charity boards, and attending private big-wig cocktail parties still grease the skids of business… always will.

And, keeping your head down, minding your business, delivering good service at a fair price… well, that’s kinda expected in today’s New Economy.

You’ve no doubt noticed that newspaper ads, your Yellow page ads, Val-Pak mailers, Trade Shows, TV and Radio ads don’t seem to work the same magic as in the “Good Old Days”.

Yep, even getting a steady, consistent stream of quality referrals… the bread and butter of nearly all local small business marketing… is different now a days.

The Internet has Changed the Referral Race

Forever. And, for businesses who plug into John’s advice in The Referral Engine, for the better.

Yes, in the back of the book, John shares tons of real-world, practical “Snack-sized Suggestions” on how to get your clients and business community spreading the word about you that have little to do with SEO, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, or cutting a YouTube video.

But, before you get to John’s “Snack-sized Suggestions” and his Action Plan Workshop, John “refers” you to…

112 Online Case-Studies, Resources, and Tools

Throughout The Referral Engine, John points you to Case-Studies, Business Examples, practical SEO Resources, Social Media Marketing Resources and Tools, Business Blogging and Content Creation- Text, Audio, Video, Tools to Monitor and Spread the Conversation about your business, and Time-Saving Productivity Tools.

To help you take ACTION, implement, and build your race-ready Referral Engine, here are the links: (pretty much in the order as they appear in The Referral Engine)

The Referral Engine.

Buy it. Read it. Drive it. Use it to Build Your Business.

Disclosure: While, yes, I do have affiliate relationships with some of the links on this post and an affiliate relationship with Duct Tape Marketing, none of the links on this post are affiliate links. John was kind enough to give me a copy of The Referral Engine in return for this review.

Win Copies of John Jantsch’s “The Referral Engine” (marketingpilgrim.com)
10 Observations about Duct Tape Marketing’s Dirty Little Market Research Secret (inklingmarkets.com)
Weekend Reading: The Referral Engine, by John Jantsch (Preview) (readwriteweb.com)
Referral Engine Preview and Book Giveaway (ducttapemarketing.com)
“The Referral Engine” – New Book by John Jantsch (realestate.about.com)
Making Referrals As a Job Creation Engine (ducttapemarketing.com)
Making Referrals as a Small Business Job Creation Engine (prweb.com)
5 Creative Ways to Get More Referrals (ducttapemarketing.com)
The Referral Engine Overview (ducttapemarketing.com)

Photo Credit: Flickr

3 Simple Steps to Boat-Loads of Referrals

Walt Goshert — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:08:32 +0000

Every local business agrees referrals generate leads and build customer loyalty.

But, how many local businesses have a referral system?

Most businesses earn referrals, generate leads, and build customer loyalty quite by accident.

Here, John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing talks about how to create referral systems in your business.

Three keys of John’s referral generation system includes:

1. Understand who is your Ideal Client- be able to describe what type of referrals you desire in your business.
2. Tap Strategic Partners and Alliances who can help bring you referrals with clients who would be a good fit for your business.
3. Have referral follow-up steps. Be able to communicate exactly what you’ll do and how you handle referrals. You need to educate your Strategic Partners and current clients so they know what you’ll do with your referrals.

Isn’t 2010 the year when it makes sense to put a referral system in place that positions you to generate leads and build customer loyalty?

For more on Building a Referral System for your local business, check out John’s new book: The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself

On Giving Referrals (newspapergrl.com)
Bake a Referral Engine Into Your Business Model (ducttapemarketing.com)
Follow-up Is the Momentum Building Power Tool (ducttapemarketing.com)
Making Referrals as a Small Business Job Creation Engine (prweb.com)
What is Make A Referral Monday? (ducttapemarketing.com)
How to Boost Your Customer Referrals in 7 Simple Steps (ducttapemarketing.com)
The Soft White Underbelly of Referral Marketing (ducttapemarketing.com)

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Hit The Links: Social Media Marketing Golf Club

Walt Goshert — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:58:22 +0000

Each Saturday, we’ll Hit the Links.

As your Marketing Caddy, I’ll share with you some of the best “Holes” I discovered during the past week stumbling around the “InterWebs” to help you Build Your Business Online.

Enjoy your Round!

Front Nine

Hole #1: Par 4 The Blogger’s Guide to Brain Surgery A mild Par 4 Opening Hole… Michael Martine explains in simple language how a business blog works.

Hole #2: Par4 George Vs. The Dragon In this brutal Par 4, Rick Reilly wakes you up to reality … Some days you just don’t feel up to the effort and working? Denver Nuggets Coach George Karl starts his day with 15 minutes of torture… then he goes to work.

Hole#3: Par 3 Whose Shoes Are You Wearing? A short, but tricky, Par 3 from Ken Mueller of Inkling Media. Social Media listening with a perspective from your customer’s view.

Hole #4: Par 5 Breaking the Scarcity Mentality: How to Afford Anything You Want A confidence-boosting Par 5 from Dave Navarro.

Hole #5: Par 3 The Difference Between Recipe and Restaurant Chris Brogan’s challenging long Par 3… it’s one thing to talk about social media, it’s another thing to DO it.

Hole # 6: Par 5 5 Easy Steps to Creating Reuseable Social Content Jay Baer’s guest post at Social Media Examiner… a short Par 5 on getting the most out of your Social Media Marketing Game.

Hole # 7: Par 4 Online Identity Calculator- make sense of your Google results Are you “Digitally Distinct”? Find out here.

Hole #8: Par 3 Improve Your Site’s Page Rank in 30 Seconds Brian Horn’s short lesson at DanKennedy.com on how to plug those Google Juice Leaks on your site.

Hole #9: Par 5 10 Dead Dudes Every Entrepreneur Should Follow (but, not on twitter) A fun (but enlightening) Par 5 from Jonathan Fields

Back Nine

Hole #10: Par 4 Content Creation Tools for the Average Person A meaty, straight-forward Par 4 to open up your Back-Side from Terry Dean

Hole #11 Par 3 The World As We Know It Is (Not) About to End Cool video find from Pamela Wilson at Big Design Systems

Hole #12 Par 4 When to Respond to Negative Reviews (and not) Lisa Barone delivers sound advice (as usual) on managing your online rep at SmallBusinessTrends.com

Hole #13 Par 5 Talk Biz News: What you really need to succeed online Yep, it’s an Opt-In, but every online marketing pro wants to tee it up with Paul Myers

Hole #14 Par 4 What the hell can social media do for me? From his island paradise small business in the Caribbean, Mark Hayward shares how he uses social media

Hole #15 Par 3 Entrepreneurs Question Value of Social Media … meanwhile at the Wall Street Journal…

Hole #16 Par 5 30 Valuable Lessons Learned Using Social Media for Small Business Mark Hayward again… this time at ProBlogger.net

Hole #17 Par 3 Is Social Media Worth Your Time? A quick blurb at Inc.com

Hole #18 Par 5 5 Ways to Use Social Media for Things You’re Already Doing Swing easy, let it fly… John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing brings you to the “House” with how to do more with less effort.

19th Hole: Lancaster Spring Home Show Franklin & Marshall College Follow Up with a pint of Belgian Pale Ale at Iron Hill Brewery

Have a Fantastic Weekend!

Photo Credit: Flickr

The Mayor of Your Zip Code?

Walt Goshert — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:01:46 +0000

Right now. Today. 2010.

Each and Every local business has a rare and unique opportunity.

Some will grab this opportunity and run with it. A few already have.

Unfortunately, many will miss or dismiss this opportunity.

Fear and confusion will hold them back.

With Local Search, getting your business found on Google, Yahoo, Bing… along with the social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube… local businesses of all sizes and shapes have a free/low-cost “Neon Flashing Sign” for marketing in today’s digital world.

However, it requires many local business owners to change their mindset and how they view their business.

Traditional Marketing and Advertising techniques such as Yellow Pages, Newspapers, Radio, and TV… and even “Old School” Word-of-Mouth and Networking are losing their luster and impact when everyone is wired and looking for information and connections through their online networks.

“Every Company is a Media Company”

“While it’s true that anyone with social media skills can become a successful new media owner or producer, it’s existing small businesses that need a mind shift. Rather than starting a blog to promote your business, you should be creating new media assets that transform your business into something bigger.” – Brian Clark, publisher of a leading online site, copyblogger

So, here’s the first check of your marketing thinking…

Do you believe that creating new media assets about your local business… blogging, social marketing on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube… will transform your business into something bigger?

Now, let’s take things a step further…

John Jantsch, of Duct Tape Marketing, in a Hub Spot interview, claims there are real opportunities to “Rule Local Search” for all types of local businesses in nearly any location.

But, big challenges exist in pulling it off:

Q: What kinds of unique opportunities do inbound marketing techniques like social media and blogging offer small businesses that aren’t available with traditional types of marketing like print advertising and direct mail? Why is it so important for small businesses to take advantage of these modern channels?

John Jantsch Answer: “Over time the single greatest opportunity is to rule the local search landscape. 20-30-year-olds go straight to their mobile browser or Google Maps to find everything – shoes, food, insurance, a dentist, you name it. If they don’t find you by doing that, then you don’t exist.”

Q: To play devil’s advocate, what do you think are the biggest challenges associated with implementing these inbound marketing methods, and how would you suggest marketers overcome them?

John Jantsch Answer: “Time, fear, big scary blank white monitor screens. You can’t really practice inbound marketing tactics without committing to producing content, lots of it, over long periods of time. This is not something you can hire a consultant for, get an intern to do one week, go to a workshop, or buy a great book – you’ve got to make it part of the fabric of your daily life. Sorry, no magic dust.”

Here’s the thing…

These 20-30 years olds (and a whole bunch of 30-55+ year-olds too) who are hanging out online, attached to their iPhones, are the present and future of your business. They use local search and online social networks to find everything.

Will they find your local business?

Are you going to step up and Rule Local Search… Become The Mayor of Your Zip Code... for your business?

Three Best Ways to Use Social Media (online.wsj.com)
Fostering Community With Social Media – Midwest Newspaper Summit 2010 (slideshare.net)
Google Local Storm is Brewing (ducttapemarketing.com)
Social Media Predictions for 2010 (lazerpromotions.com)