Often I receive e-mails from readers of my book, Seal the Deal, who have questions about how to apply some aspect of the book in their own lives. Below I’ve shared one of the exchanges with a reader because I KNOW there are many others with the same question!
Hi Suzi,I was just reviewing your book to identify key marketing materials. I see some reference to marketing materials, but your book seems to focus more on networking and sales. As an executive coach, what do you think are the most important marketing materials? Beyond a website, what have you found to be the must haves when you are meeting new prospects??Thanks so much for the question — it’s a great one! Marketing is so much more than materials…it involves everything you do to craft your message and get it “out there”. Included in marketing are branding, PR, public speaking, writing articles, posting to blogs, leveraging the internet, creating products, anything you can do to increase your visibility. Marketing is a domain of activity, so as an executive coach your marketing activities can be all about ways of increasing your exposure within your target industry or niche. Of course you must have a logo and a business card and a website, all of which helps to articulate your image/message/purpose. But the mindset shift that I think will support you in this area is to explore what actions you can take in the marketing domain rather than what materials are needed. In other words, it’s not about what to have as much as it’s about what to do and who to be. The chart on pages 39-41 gives you some ideas about marketing activities you can consider.Thank you so much for replying. I understand what you are saying about marketing. However, at the moment, I am currently working with someone to re-write some marketing items. I just want to complete some of these basic items, which is why I asked the question about the “must haves.” When I read your e-mail, I felt a huge sense of overwhelm and the feeling that I will never leave my office. I spent 20 years in investment research. It is so easy for me to get buried in information and possibilities. Writing is a real challenge for me. So, I just need to keep things simple. I work best in a step-by-step fashion. So, if you could help me think about what is important as the foundational pieces, then I can build upon them. I am going to go back and re-read your book!It’s helpful to start small and then build in layers over time. Don’t expect yourself to amass a vault full of marketing materials in one sitting. Just do one thing…have one thing you can hand to people or send people to. Maybe it’s a great business card that’s professionally done with key points on the back. Maybe it’s a simple, one-page, brochure-like website? Maybe it’s an article you wrote that you can print out on nice paper to hand people. Maybe it’s an article or report you found somewhere that you like that has powerful information that resonates about what you do or solves some problem your target audience faces. Look to repurpose something that is already in existence so you don’t get your energy blocked by limiting beliefs. If you don’t want to write…don’t! 🙂 There are always work-arounds. One important thing to have is a bio that you can e-mail to people or have them see online somewhere. Feel free to see if mine would serve you as a model in creating your own: https://suzipomerantz.com/about/Keeping it simple is brilliant and wise…listen to yourself on that one! 🙂