It can be as simple as keeping a personal blog and a few accounts (digg.com, twitter.,com, facebook.com) to make sure that you control the rankings for your proper name.  Of course, the same techniques can also help your rankings on competitive searches for what you do where you do it.

No matter what business you are in, but especially of you deal with people who are under stress and dealing with problems, sooner or later you will bump into somebody who is not happy, and, if you are not pro-active about your proper name and your business reputation, what your enemies have to say is what people will see when they Google you.

Usually we get a client for this sort of thing after they already have a problem – it would be so much less stressful for them if they would take preventative measures to avoid the problem in the first place – which is really easy for us to do compared to the more competitive real estate searches that our clients covet.

An ounce of prevention…

“Social Media: Customer satisfaction with social media sites is poor (70) as the industry enters the Index for the first time.  It has the lowest industry aggregate score of any of the e-business or e-retail industries measured by the ACSI. Wikipedia leads the social media industry with a score of 77, which is 14 points above industry giant Facebook.com (64), a surprisingly low performer given its market presence.”

I will add my 2 cents here: it is very difficult to a get a site that tries to do too many things to work for the average consumer: the simpler the interface, the better.   (This Moviepals.org example  combines over 200 advanced features for collaborative video production and distribution with a clean and simply graphic user interface)

The dilemma, for social network website design company like us, is to provide more and more features, which once were expensive, for free; and still to maintain a simple interface that allows the gradual adaptation  that supports  the learning curve of the visitors:  if it is easy to get started, the visitors will eventually learn about the more advanced features: it is like what we used to call a “puppy dog close” in copy machine sales:  in this case it is a “puppy dog learning curve” that is the rule online: example:

“How much is that puppy dog in the window?”

“I’ll check, would you like to hold him while I see?”

It is a good idea if it takes a while to look up the price (in our case, to charge anything at all), because by the time the clerk returns, the prospect has bonded with the dog: exactly like a free user does with an anonymous profile on an online online dating site, and like all of us did with a search box named Google, and with ‘friends’ on Myspace.com and Facebook.com, etc.

However, as the application grows, the user interface becomes more and more busy, and that makes it intimidating to new users:

More from the Report:

“News and Information Sites: Customer satisfaction with news and information sites stays even this year at 74.  The big news in this industry is the debut of FoxNews.com at the top of the heap with a score of 82, which is five points above nearest competitor USA Today.com (77).  CNN.com brings up the rear (73).”

LOL  (for you non-techies that means ‘laughing out loud’):  I personally watch Fox News often online, and the interface is great and the news is accurate in my humble opinion: again a result of the gradual shift of power from the top-down architecture of the main stream media, to the “Meritocracy” of user-generated, user-filtered content sites that are more and more important as sources of news, and that have increasing influence and reach: this trend is a parabolic curve:

“Portals and Search Engines: Customer satisfaction with portals and search engines dives 7% to 77 this year and is driven largely by a 7% decline for Google (down six points to 80). “

Again, Google keeps adding features, making the interface more and more complicated, and creating more and more opportunities for non tech-savvy consumers to be dissatisfied if they have not already learned the interface – which, BTW, I find to be completely intuitive and easy to navigate in spite if it’s robust depth.

“Bing was measured for the first time this year, and it makes a strong first showing with a score of 77, second only to Google.”

This may be the biggest thing to watch in the report: Bing is gaining back market share, and the search engine and browser wars will not be over any time soon!

You can download the study here:
http://www.foreseeresults.com/research-white-papers/ACSI-e-business-repo
rt-2010.shtml

CC: The Author of the study, Larry Freed, President & CEO for ForeSeeResults.com, can be reached through Daniel Rosenberg, Social Media Specialist at ForeSeeResults.com

Thanks to them for sending me this report, which is available in PDF format by email: Daniel.Rosenberg@ForeSeeResults.com

BTW, our latest attempts at integrating over 200 functions (and still having a user friendly ‘graphic user interface’ called a GUI) is here:

Moviepals Open Cinema Collaborative Video

“Why did you call it social media?”

(CC Wikipedia | ‘A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience’ – Oliver Wendell Holmes)

As silly as that question sounds today, it was legitimate only three years ago.
I answered: “You will see soon enough.”

But this heads up is  not about me, or the past: it is about today, and the future:

First a Wikipedia definition:

” Meritocracy is a system of aristocratic or oligarchical government^[1[2 or other organization wherein appointments are made and responsibilities assigned to individuals based upon demonstrated intelligence and ability (merit), evaluated using (frequent) institutionalized examination.

This is opposed to other value systems, where reward and legitimacy is based upon possession of wealth (plutocracy), origin (aristocracy), family connections (oligarchy), property, friendship (cronyism), technical expertise (technocracy), seniority (gerontocracy), popularity (representative democracy), or other historical determinants of social position and political power.”

Now our modern, shortened, slightly enhanced spin from the MoviePals.org Manifesto:

“Those who do the most work on a project should have the most say in the direction of that project. If votes are used, they should be weighted by participation (called a Meritocracy).”

If you are wondering how much more if this you are going to read: read this list well known and existing online meritocracies first:

• Google.com
• Facebook.com
• DIGG.com
• Meetup.com
• Linkedin.com
• Yahoo groups
• AssociatedContent.com
• Activerain.com
• Hotornot.com
• OKCupid.com
• this list will be way too long!

Now I will get very close to home:  In the past, Hollywood controlled access to the audience, the Associated Press controlled the news, the AMA controlled all remedies; IBM and 3M and Zerox controlled the office machine industry; Yahoo was the largest search engine in the world….this list would also be too long…

Are you beginning to see a pattern here?  “A moment’s insight..”  right now, will conquer your market permanently in one year or less if you listen to me now: almost every niche community, from lawyers, to doctors, to dentists, to government employees is up for grabs: what online meritocracy do yo need to create?  This is less expensive than it has ever been, and your other methods will fade faster than you ever imagined: will you stay in business?

Non-Meritocracies that are in real trouble right now:

The AMA
The SEC
Almost every government in the world ..again the list is too long… and your business if you do not adapt immediately: forget SEO, the algorithms will favor one of the existing Meritocracy replacements for your website in your industry every time:  example:

Take a good look at the software we have built in the last six months to automate the next wave of online Meritocracies: a picture paints a thousand words:

My latest list of predictions:

• Every City and State will have at least one and probably many online meritocracies
• Every occupation will have them
• Every sport will have them
• Every art form will have them ..again the list is too long…

SEO is dead!  Long Live Social Media  Meritocracy!  Support this cause with your comment below!

I should tell you that I have had almost every main-stream selling course there is on my thirty three years as a professional salesperson: first at European Health Spa (the Dale Carnegie Course);then Office Machines (fortune 500 training including the Lee Duboise course); then the automobile business (Grant Cardone, Tommy Hopkins…)

I credit all of these and many other great sales trainers for starting me off and many little tidbits have been updated in this guide to reflect a changing market. No matter what industry you are involved in, successful business requires sales: I will omit some of the stuff that is specific to my business, and I will continually improve and add to this so bookmark it:

Introduction:

Now that more and more business is conducted online, there is a gap between supply and demand that can only be filled with knowledge of how and why people make decisions to buy, or not to buy as the case may be.

1. Rule number one: pick a battle you can win.

When people ask us: are you web designers, web developers, SEO experts?
We answer “no: that is a small part of what we do.”

These are all things that fall under the umbrella of what we do (Internet advertising), but each only plays a small part of a larger enterprise: making money online.

The first rule of any marketing campaign is to know the market and your target customer: in our case, it is a messed up marketplace: with everybody and his brother claiming to be able to design websites and/or create placement and hits; yet most of them fall into the category of the “blind leading the blind:” definition:
People who do not really know what they are talking about selling to people who do not really understand what they are buying, with no standards of pricing or performance.

For that reason, we take great care not to fit into any box that allows people to mistakenly categorize us: nobody who needs a consultant is willing to pay for one: so we sell the result of what we do, then do what we must to bring about that result; adding value along the way after the sale.

Since anybody else who can assure results with any consistency is exorbitantly expensive because of these very same problems with the market, we are positioned perfectly to offer a wanted and needed service to a starving market, packaged and delivered in a readily accepted bundling: which is the secret to repeated success in marketing our services in a competitive marketplace: we are market driven.

The same methods can be applied to any business (and they are all online these days!):

• Know the market
• Address the problems of the market (your intended customers) with the way you position yourself in that market (address the ‘pain’ of the customers, and provide a solution)

2. It is no longer who you know: it is what you know that matters: blogging:

It is like the difference between being a newspaper reporter, and owning the newspaper: if you have a free blog at blogger.com, wordpress.com, Google, Yahoo, Windows Live or anywhere else: the content will not help you get on top of the search engines (they actually insert specific tags to make sure of this!). If, however, you have your own, properly optimized blog originating at your site, you will rank for your chosen search terms – even thousands or millions of combination choices of key words!

In short, having a blog (on somebody else’s system) will not get you to the top of Google (The Media); but being a blog (from your own social media hub) will!

3. Why can’t I do what you are saying without you? I am a do-it-your-self-er:

This need not be a hot-potato issue: people will try to do everything by themselves to save overhead, and simply fail: ask yourself these questions:

• Would you represent yourself in court?
• Would you operate on yourself?
• Can you grovel and blow your own horn at the same time?

The obvious answer to all three is NO: so why is it that people try to catch up with online marketing experts and years of experience promoting websites on the search engines, and try to do everything else they are doing at the same time?

Consider this: internet advertising (or any other specialty) requires a huge knowledge base in computers, programming, and coding standards, and a complete understanding of search engines, blogging, social media, and marketing in general. Even if they could catch up, and keep up, our entire staff spends every day keeping up with daily changes, and our existing online clout has link building power and page rank from our many profiles which is not easily duplicated.

But suppose for a moment that you are some sort of 24 hour geek who could actually do some of what we do: why would you want to deny yourself, your business the increased power of what we can do? Does anybody really think that they can see themselves as others see them; or that their business will not benefit from placement that they do not have?

And if they really can do it themselves, or with existing personnel, why haven’t they; and how much in missed revenue has that cost them??

Summary: address these questions head on and put them behind you.

4. I need to show it to someone else, can you provide a written proposal objection:

Here is the problem: the person you are talking to does not understand; the person it is being showed to will not understand: and there is another problem: people do not buy a product or service from anyone they do not like, and it is impossible to decide that you like somebody you have not met, at least on the phone.

Green salespeople do not hear what is really being said here: this response actually means one of the following:

• I do not understand
• I do not want to understand
• I think I understand, but I do not want to buy
• I do not want you to meet my boss because he will buy this and it will make work for me
• I want to spin what you are saying to make sure we don’t buy it
• I am actually naive enough to think I can do a good job of putting it across
• I think I want to buy this and that scares me because I am analytical and don’t like to make decisions
• I work by the hour and you are boring me, I am thinking about my date tonight, etc…

In all these cases, this is the best way to respond:

I am sure you will understand, and please forgive me for saying so: but it has been a challenge for me to put this across well: it is a longer-than-one-sentence thought train: it will definitely lose something in the translation. What I am hearing is that you need more proof and a better explanation: and if that is the case, trying to put this across on paper or remotely without proof or thorough explanation will be a waste of both of our time: do you mind if I suggest an alternative?
(Let them give you permission to do so – you must remain silent and give them a chance to answer to do this!)

It is not fair for you to be asked to bring this to the table, and take the responsibility for it if you are not convinced: instead, why not suggest that what I have to say is at least interesting, and that you value the opinion of your colleagues (the real decision makers – don’t say that part) : why don’t you let me do the presenting, either in person or on the phone, then you can talk about me afterward when I am not there: this way you have not endorsed me, just asked for an opinion; fair enough? (the answer is almost always yes – saving the opportunity for the sale!)

5. I need to run this by my ‘Technical Adviser” or “Cousin Vinny” objection:

This is one of the toughest excuses to overcome: it really means that:

• I do not feel comfortable or competent to make purchasing decisions involving technology
• I have no idea what you just said at all
• I want to shop your price, because I do not want to pay you (don’t see the value)
• I think I can get my cousin Vinny to do it cheaper
• I do not want to believe what you are saying because I am heavily invested In the wrong solution
• If anybody believes what you are saying they will know that I am an idiot
• I genuinely want to verify what you are saying because
• I am analytical and don’t trust you
• I have a hidden objection I am not going to share with you, and this is my excuse to get rid of you

This is a tricky one, because in all of the above the customer is trying to end the conversation, and more explanation is needed.

Say this:

OK, I understand that this is a little complicated, and difficult to understand, but if your current technical advisers knew what I know, they would have already recommended these things to you; let me put this in simple terms (quickly)? (Usually this will peak their curiosity and they will agree; please do! They may look at their watch, and tell you to hurry..)

Now you must lead the customer to agree to what you are saying based on what they already know, completely by asking questions: that way, they cannot claim again that they do not understand or that they need advice: it is paramount that you require a response to each question before you move on:

1. You understand, from your earlier answers, that it would help your business to be on top of the search engines, right? ( require acknowledgment)
2. We have already established that you do not come up, right? (require acknowledgment)
3. We know that your current adviser (Cousin Vinney) has not been able to help you with this, it is a specialty, isn’t it? (require acknowledgment)
4. Then why would you base your decision on their advice?

(The customer is trapped now, must tell you the truth, which is usually what they do – there is some hidden concern, or they have been burned before, or they are not really the decision maker, or they have some hidden thing you must address, perhaps more proof, or something they don’t get, and, now that it is in the open, you can address it..)

Oh, (relieved) now I see what is holding you back, you are actually interested in this, but ..(now re-state the real objection they just told you, which they cannot dispute ) .. that is what it is, isn’t it! (they agree because they just told you it was) .. ok, that makes me feel better, (they now feel a little guilty for lying to you) and other than that very real concern you are actually interested aren’t you (this is a trial close they usually fall into) .. I am so glad to hear that, because that is the very reason why we have ….( proof, or tracking, or whatever it is that addresses the issue).. now they must either cave in and buy, or attempt another excuse, they often close right here:

What would I need to do to make this attractive to you right now and save going through this again? (Another trial close, you will not get any orders, or even get to the truth if you do not ask!)

Now, some will still say no, but it will not be your fault for not asking, and you will not need to wonder why! Perhaps you can better address that issue with the next guy who resembles this one, but be careful not change your proven system every time somebody says no – not everyone will buy no matter what you do.

6. I never do anything the first day – need to think about it objection:

This is the sure sign of an analytical person: a person who just flat refuses to make a decision no matter how compelling the evidence is in favor of doing so. People like this are always the hardest to sell to, and they are often decision makers. Making a sale to such a person is completely different from making a sale to anybody else, and it is the trickiest process I know: but it can be done:

• Analytical people are not motivated by anything positive
• They are motivated by fear and doubt
• The only thing that will make them buy is an existing problem, or a missed opportunity if they don’t

The selling process starts out the same, until it is time ask for the order: then you get something like this:

• “You are wasting your time trying to get me to make a decision today, I never do that” or ” I am not the kind of person who will make the decision in one day.”

Now you must shift gears entirely: if you push, you will loose the sale, no matter how compelling the argument: instead, you must retreat, only to come right back:

I can understand that! No problem, we need business next week, next month, and next year, just as badly as we need it today! AND WE MAY HAVE SOMETHING AVAILABLE AT A LATER DATE, SOME OTHER EXCLUSIVE WORDS REGARDLESS OF WHEN YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING!
Let’s just wrap up and review, shall we?
(Sigh of relief with question mark)

Now go over the negative aspects of the client’s situation, nothing positive, coddling their weakness as you go:

• We have established that you are already missing business, and that your current situation is costing you money, but I totally understand that you do not make snap decisions
• We have definitely shown you real time proof that we can perform, and you have acknowledged that, but you are still not ready to be a client – that is fine
• Although it is costing you money, continues to do so you still are not convinced, fine, I understand, and I am sure you can understand and remember that I shared with you that I can only have one client in this town who does what you do, and I must find that right one, because we will be joined at the hip with that client exclusively indefinitely
• I hope you won’t mind if I am so bold as to ask you to recommend perhaps someone else local in your business who may be more willing to make a decision? I understand that you need more time, but I am sure that you understand that I must maximize my time, and play the percentages, I must move forward whether you are ready or not; nothing personal, just business: I need to fill this position and I cannot help everyone anyway.
• Well I told you I would think about it and get back to you…(frustrated)
• I understand, and I have heard that many times: I sympathize with you, it is a lot of pressure; but I have my own agenda, the evidence is compelling for you to want this, and I simply must realize that it is highly likely that in the light of such compelling proof, if you are not ready now, it is likely you will not become my customer, and…I am sure you understand.

Now is the hardest part: you must shut up, and not speak until they do, no matter how long it takes: stair them directly in the eyes, and wait patiently.

They will either close, or ask another buying question (answer and shut up); or they will absolutely commit to a timetable for a decision, and ask you to wait, insisting they are serious; in which case you say:

“Ok, but just for curiosity sake, you obviously have some other very good reason for waiting, do you mind if I ask what it is? “(one more shot at finding the hidden objection!)(now shut up!)

They will either give you the hidden objection, in which case you will ask for the order again after handling it and they will buy; or they will insist that they are serious about buying and ask you for the time to make the decision, in which case you will agree to a clear cut time table, and offer to send more information/proof in the meantime.

7. The why must I pay up front (I want you to commit to me without me committing to you) objection:

This is a very common objection and it is often used as a hello test, so handling it properly is very important:

• I am sure you understand that most of our work is in the beginning, and we must commit time and resources to your project that could otherwise be used for other clients and our own ventures; we are also exclusive to our clients, so we must commit to you for at least ninety days without serving your competitors: is the money a problem (shut up – WAIT FOR THEM TO ANSWER!)

If they persist with excuses like I want to see you perform first, or the money is an issue:

• Oh, I can understand cash-flow, would a credit card be better? (now shut up and let them stumble all over themselves explaining why they cannot put the whole thing on a credit card)
• Oh I see: so you really would be my client otherwise right now, but the payment terms are a problem? (shut up and let them answer!)
• Oh, OK: so if we could make some arrangement you would do business right now? (this isolates the objection, and smokes out any hidden objections that still remain – often the money objection is not the real one, read the rest of this series!)

If they say yes, unable to think of another excuse, say one moment: call your sales manager, repeat the whole interchange outlined here to your superior in front of the customer, and include all the reasons why the program would be good for this particular customer, then do whatever your manager says to do

8. I need to finish my website first, then buy SEO and advertising:
put it off until then:

This is one of the most common excuses not to make a purchasing decision: and it should be the easiest to deal with if you do it properly:

• OH! Good to hear: they aren’t done yet, eh?
• And other than that, you are going to be my client, huh? (Let them acknowledge, thinking you are going to let them off the hook: now you have them!)
• Great, because some websites because of the way they are designed will not work at all, and need to be redone: and If I get involved now, I can make sure that your money isn’t wasted, by insuring that placement is taken into account!
• Also, a static brochure site will not work anyway, so it is important to plan the integration of the automated features we will be adding during the design period, or some of it may need to be redone! (Now shut up and smile!)

PART NINE: I do not have it in the budget for this period excuse: budgeting calendar:

Think of how silly this is: advertising generates revenue: would you put off your income?! Handle this one this way:

• I understand, and that raises a question, doesn’t it!
  (Let them ask what the question is)
• Well, if advertising worked, how much would you do?
  (Let them struggle for a moment, then let them off the hook:)
• If advertising works it brings in money in excess of what it costs: if advertising worked you would do a lot, right!?
  (They will answer yes)
• So the question is: will this cash-flow or not, isn’t it!? Is that the question? (Reluctantly, well, yes)
• I am so glad you asked that, because, in fact, this will….

Now go back over all the reasons to buy, especially how much it is costing not to buy in lost revenues, PPC, etc, forcing them to acknowledge all the things they already have acknowledged: then say:

• You really cannot afford not to do this, can you? (Now shut up! )

…more here about sales and marketing…>>

The reason I share this is to draw parallels: it was not long before there were Savin, Rico, Royal and a host of other competitors breaking down every door challenging 3M (who invented the copy machine) in their marketplace.  Just as this market has changed, so has Real Estate.

Stuff changes:

• If there is fat on a hog (market), somebody will show up to do the butchering
• Price competition always increases
• Ebb and flow in this market, the construction business, any market: are constants
• The playing field has been leveled – home court advantage removed
• Increased competition confuses the market – consumers are confused
• Many Baby Boomers have failed to adopt to new technology, making their clients fair game
• A major changing of the guard is underway

Some stuff never changes:

• The young are quicker, smarter, healthier and more educated with technology
• Doing the same thing yields the same results: perpetual decline
• Innovators win
• Followers work for innovators
• There is a dollar somewhere in the world to chase every dime over here!

Please bear with my parallels: there are many:

• The top salespeople do not share their secrets until they no longer work
• Beware the self proclaimed consultant/trainer!
• Call reports have been falsified for so long that good office politics involve who can falsify the report to satisfy the boss and get away with it
• You cannot do everything all the experts tell you to do and succeed
• News flash: nobody makes 24 cold calls per day and does it well
• The market is huge, constantly growing, constantly changing
• I never made more that a few cold calls per day, although QUOTA was 24!
• The system was messed up to where it was impossible to be honest and still win – terrible
• I never did what everybody else was doing
• You are sitting on a gold-mine that nobody is working!
• I was number 1 out of 150 reps in nine states selling Savin copiers two months after I ‘jumped ship’

The rest of the story: very relevant

• In those days they gave us keys to the office
• Being an ex-logger (healing from broken ribs and a broken back) I woke up at 4:00 am every morning
• With the rest of the world sleeping, I had nothing to do
• The office was full of old files, some them dead for years, of past customers records
• The ‘old clients’ were what I like to call ‘warm calls’
• By 8:00 in the morning when the others started showing up, I already had a hit list of past clients to call
• By 9:00 AM I was on the phone
• By 12:00 noon I had appointments
• They wanted us to sell four machines per month to keep the job
• I sold 20-30 copy machines per month
• I did not have time to chat, share war stories, or otherwise lolly gag – I was busy

Ok now I am hitting closer to home, hmmm?  Now some you can use:

• You cannot compete by doing what everybody else is doing – especially true online!
• Most raining is outdated, regurgitated crap with the best stuff left out – again especially true online and in your industry
• Technology is outdated before it hits the market – think if this in terms of technology training!
• Everything you learn from self-proclaimed coaches is outdated by definition, because everyone is doing it
• Doing things the same old way is like betting on the stock market by following the crowd: you will always loose by definition
• If you are a follower you need to realize that and join a team with a leader: you cannot lead from behind

Now the challenge:

• What are you doing different that will make you excel?
• What is the top producer in your office doing that they are not telling you or anyone else about?
• When are you going to wake up?
• Who are you going to call today?
• How is your phone call going to be different so that they do not hang up?
• Why should I choose you over all the alternatives? If you do not know the answer, who does
• What are you doing to maximize your exit traffic: how big is your list?

A major changing of the guard is underway: but you have an advantage: they do not make American real estate in Japan!

Need and excuse to call?  Call me, I will give you many in a free consultation you will not forget!  (yea, shameless plug)