Do you have customers that you are currently working with who are NOT your Dream Customers? Do they demand extra time? Do they treat you with disrespect? Are they unprofitable?

These customers are holes in your Business Bucket. They drain your time and your energy. They prevent you from having the time you need to market and provide service to your DREAM customers.

Here are some simple questions to answer to see if your Business Bucket leaks:

- Do you currently have unprofitable customers?

- Are there any customers you would like to have off your plate?

- Are you spending too much time trying to “close the sale” and convincing people to buy from you?

- Is it hard for you to convert prospects into customers?

- Do you find it difficult to get repeat business from your existing customers?

- Do you have customers who aren’t referring others to you?

- Are you scared your customers will shift to your competitor on a whim?

- Do you have customers who are “nickel and diming” you for everything?

- Is it challenging for you to charge your customers a high price?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, your business bucket is leaky. It’s time to implement a No-Leak Marketing Strategy so you can get the absolute maximum impact from all of your marketing efforts.

The first thing you have to learn is the word “NO.” Don’t be willing to accept money from just anyone. You want to get into the habit of “cherry picking” your customers. The ones who aren’t a good fit are unqualified and you are wasting your time with them. You will spend too much energy on these types of customers and you will often lose money.

Another thing you shouldn’t be doing is spending a tremendous amount of time and energy trying to convince a prospect that what you offer is of value. Instead develop a method to find out if people are a good fit for you in the first 10 minutes of your conversation with them. This will greatly decrease the time you are spending with unqualified prospects and your sales closing ratio will go up. If your gut says “no” and/or you see red flags early on in your conversations with a prospect, then make sure you listen to these signals.

ACTION ITEM: Take the time to list your customers who you have worked with, but were NOT a good fit. Describe why they were a bad fit. Review your “horror” stories. What types of people cost you too much time, energy, and profits? What strategies can you implement to “cherry pick” your DREAM customers?

Ready to learn the exact steps to help you attract your DREAM customers? Then it’s time to get a copy of the Maven Marketing Home Study System! It’s everything you need to know to attract the best customers for your business. You’ll learn how to describe what makes your business remarkable, how to get new customers calling YOU, and lots of other valuable strategies to help you fill your sales pipeline quickly. (Why struggle with your marketing anymore?)

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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I came across an article from Florida Small Business called What They Didn’t Tell Me…12 entrepreneurs under the age of 40 tell what they’ve learned.

It profiles a variety of small business owners and their answers to what they’ve learned and their surprises.

Here are a few of their answers:

Amanda Harkins, 26
Mouse Pads Orlando Vacation Rentals

• Established 2004, Orlando
• Annual revenues: $1.5 million

What she’s learned: “How to trust myself. I’ve also learned there’s no such thing as luck. God has a big hand in my business.”

Milestone: “Getting an office. It was a dream of mine to move (the business) out of my apartment and into the old Angebilt hotel building downtown.”

Surprises: “The amount I have to pay in taxes is shocking. And it takes so much time, energy and resources compiling information for the accountant. It’s probably 15% to 20% of what I do.”

Amanda Laudadio, 35
Gateway Real Estate Inc.

• Residential real estate sales
• Established 2000, Tallahassee
• Annual sales (office): $18 million

What she’s learned: “How to balance family and business. It’s very easy to get caught up in work and never stop. We cut the phones off at times and help out at the kids’ schools.”

Milestone: “Reaching a set dollar amount in sales. Once I did, I realized it’s not about the money. It’s about the people – your buyers, your sellers and the community.”

Surprises: “I’m amazed at the loyalty of the clients. The majority of my business is referral. In this high-tech world, you don’t see much loyalty, so that never ceases to amaze me.”

Uri Minkoff, 37
Fortis Software, LLC

• Software development firm
• Established 2001, Clearwater

What he’s learned: “The values of working with other people. Our (work) environment is like a big family. We have juggling equipment, big beanbags and mini basketball hoops. It’s a culture that fosters great relationships and allows us to create really amazing products.”

Surprises: “Just how immediate and how close all this is. I’m not using somebody else’s money, so I feel everything. What my businesses are doing day in and day out hits very close to home for me – personally and professionally.”

If you are the owner of a small business, do you agree? Disagree?

What have you learned and what were your surprises?

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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I am in my hotel room in Lake Tahoe writing this entry. For the next two days, I will be immersed in wealth-building strategies in my third session of Loral Langemeier’s Big Table. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Loral, you can learn more about her organization at the Live Out Loud website.

Loral and her Big Table program have done so much to help me play a much bigger game in my both of my businesses and with my real estate investing strategies. Her team has also helped me with key information on tax strategies and assett allocation. And, best of all, I’ve had a blast meeting other entrepreneurs.

Here’s a recent video interview on You Tube if you want to learn more.

No matter what industry you are in, if you don’t already have a business or life coach, I highly recommend you find one. A coach will increase your clarity, refine your vision, and accelerate your progress. It’s your fastest path to success!

Hugs and success,

Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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The maven hasn’t given out any Maven Marketing Awards in a while. These awards go to those products and campaigns that I find {i n t e r e s t i n g}.

And so, while reviewing some of the new gadgets that have been released this year, I came across WowWee’s new Robotic Elvis. This robotic bust looks like Elvis, sounds like Elvis, and moves like Elvis. You can sing along with Elvis and his head bobs with you. Long Live the King!

And while I could describe it further, it would be better if you take a look at the Popular Mechanic’s YouTube Video of RoboElvis.

Is this the stuff of nightmares, or what? And I thought Ronnie McDonald and Baby Ronald were creepy.

Next, I went and took a look at the WowWee website and I noticed that the Robo-Elvis was of course, the natural follow-up to the Robo Chimp.

Here’s what the WowWee site says about their Chimp:

Lifelike hair and skin, and a startlingly expressive, interactive personality really bring this simian alive!

Multi-sensory, highly communicative and fully interactive, Chimpanzee has four distinct moods: Curious, Fearful, Happy, and Angry. So real, he’s unreal!

Anyway, the Marketing Maven Award of the week goes to WowWee for it’s RoboElvis and RoboChimp for marketing the most bizarre thing I came across this week.

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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Branding is more than product recognition or a simple logo. It is the overall intellectual and emotional impression people have when they think of your company and its product. It is a strong and consistent message about the value of your business.

When I mention UPS or Budweiser or Ipod, you most likely have specific impressions of each business and what they offer. Corporations spend millions each year reinforcing their brand.

A memorable and trustworthy brand reinforces customer loyalty. It helps them remember that your business provides the perfect solution to their problems. Therefore, to succeed in branding you must understand your customers’ needs and issues. Make sure your materials are consistent. They should have the same colors, fonts, and include your logo and contact info. Your marketing materials should reinforce your company’s image and positioning over and over and over.

Brand building is an ongoing business strategy that has an easy-to-measure cost in time, money, and effort. Its value, on the other hand, is harder to establish because it involves measuring emotional associations that may not immediately translate into revenue. Branding is an essential element of success, however, and it should be reinforced during times when business is booming and when sales are slower. You want customers and prospects to maintain a positive association with your company and its services.

You may also want people to have certain feelings and thoughts that are associated with your brand. It may be that your company is fast, dependable, compassionate, fun, state-of-the-art, or creative. There should be two or three key words that your brand works to reinforce in your marketing efforts.

You control the messages you send out through marketing, advertising, customer service, and your Internet presence. Branding is a combination of everything your company uses to present itself. It also helps to ensure your customers and potential customers understand why you are different from the competition. You want to establish a superior benefit with you target audience that encourages long-term loyalty.

Branding is not what you say about your company and products; it’s about your customers’ perception of your company and products. To strengthen your brand, make sure you can answer the following questions: What do you do that is different from anyone else? Why do you matter to your customers? If you can’t answer these questions, you don’t have an effective brand.

ACTION ITEM: Ask yourself the following questions: What is your branding strategy? How do customers feel about you? Do your marketing materials and presentation reinforce your brand? What steps can you take to strengthen the power of your brand?

Hugs and success,

Wendy Maynard, Your friendly marketing maven

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Well, I have to hand it to Apple…the things they make are sure SEXY.

After 2 years in the making, Steve Jobs unveiled the new IPhone this morning. Take a look at the new Apple IPhone at Engadget. Are you drooling yet? ‘Cause I sure am. Scheduled for release in June 2007, Steve Jobs just did an amazing presentation to build the hype around this new and amazingly well-designed, beautiful phone.

It’s got NO Buttons!!! It’s got NO stylus! It’s a camera and a phone and an iPod and an Internet Browser. Holy technology, Batman! All operated with the slide of a finger…

This year, most Mp3 players look like the Ipod - they have ripped off the design and functionality that Jobs’ team created. Most likely, we are taking a peek at the new generation of phone/Internet technology.

I knew it was coming. I just didn’t know it would look this good.

Here is a quick review of the features:

• 11.6 mm (now that’s thin, baby!)
• 3.5-inch touchscreen display
• 2 megapixel cam
• 4 GB or 8 GB or storage
• Bluetooth enabled
• WiFi that automatically engages when in range
• Quadband GSM radio with EDGE
• And…it runs OS X with support for E-mail, Widgets, Google Maps, Safari, iTunes, and Yahoo! Mail
• Cingular exclusive for $499

Veruca Salt is gotta be screaming about this one. “Daddee, I WANT an IPhone!”

Hugs and success,
Wendy Maynard

Your friendly marketing maven

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If you’ve been in business for a few years, then you know what it’s like to get into a rut. And we can get stuck there by the reinforcing the negative stories in our brain. Our mind can say things like, “Why can’t I be like so and so?” “I’m no good at business” or “What’s wrong with me?”

These are limiting beliefs that keep us from playing a bigger game. These inner messages keep us from getting what we really want in life. I know because I was stuck in them for most of my life. I settled for dysfunctional relationships and less abundance in my life because it was all that I thought I deserved.

But each one of us can change our Inner Game and set up a new set of beliefs, focus, and daily practices that will powerfully transform our lives to one of effortless abundance. We can take actions every day that will move us in the direction of success and help us reprogram our Stinking Thinking.

In 2006, I radically shifted my Inner Game and my Outer Practices. I began to live my life very differently. And this year has been an amazing time in my life. Here are my Ten Success Tips to Help You Play a Bigger Game:

1) Delegate everything you can. Take the time to evaluate your biggest money-making activities (ex: marketing, sales, client services, etc.) and then be ruthless about committing your time to the things that make you the most money. Outsource or hire someone to do other things like bookkeeping, organizing the office, running errands, etc.

2) Price your services based on value. If you provide a service to people, trading hours for dollars doesn’t work to build wealth. Price your services based on the value that your client gets…the end result, not on the amount of time that you have to put into it.

3) Learn from people who know more than you. Do whatever you can to squeeze in more learning. You can listen to CDs while driving or on the plane. You can take books to the gym to read on the cross-trainer. You can hire a nutritionist to help you eat better, a trainer to help you workout effectively, or a counselor to help get your thoughts in order. Everything you can do to enhance your knowledge, your health, and your mindset will pay off by more abundance in your life.

4) Call or e-mail people to ask them how they do things. If there is someone you come across on a forum or in an article you read, get in touch with them to ask them specific questions. You’ll be surprised at how much valuable information you’ll garner this way. Then, these people may get in touch with you in the future to hire you, refer you, provide you with a great business deal, or suggest a joint venture. Many great things will come your way simply by getting in touch with people you’ve never met before.

5) Pay yourself first. Whether you are making $20,000/year or $200,000/year, always pay yourself first. Set aside money every week in an interest-bearing savings account that you can use later on in some type of investment.

6) Focus on what you want (not what you don’t want). Begin to set goals for every quarter of the year. You can use spreadsheets or collages or a marketing plan. When you focus on all of the good things that you want in life like a partner who treats you right, a healthy body, better clients, more money, and so on, it’s remarkable what begins to show up in your life. (If you haven’t watched the movie, The Secret, I highly recommend it.)

7) Repeat affirmations over and over. I repeat an affirmation I learned from Bob Proctor posted on my computer and in my car and on my bathroom mirror. “I am so happy and grateful now that money comes to me in increasing amounts through multiple sources on a continuous basis.” You can create affirmations around any area in your life…and they work.

Plug away at your goals no matter what. Success has nothing to do with luck, but it has everything to do with being stubborn. When you hit a wall, back up and go in a different direction. Stay focused on your goal and don’t give up. Every problem has a myriad of solutions.

9) Do whatever it takes to become an expert. Developing your skill set and your reputation in your industry is powerful. It will set you apart from your competitors and qualified prospects will begin to seek YOU out. If you have hurdles to overcome, hire a consultant or a coach to teach you how to get past them.

10) Take BIG (but calculated) risks. People who are wealthy, have thriving businesses, and have abundance in their lives are willing to make large leaps in the directions that scare them. If it doesn’t scare you, it’s probably not stretching you enough. Make decisions quickly and move. Yes, sometimes it won’t work out, but the things that do will bring you HUGE rewards!

Remember, the more you invest in yourself, the greater your Return On Investment.

ACTION ITEM: Write down the things you can do to play a bigger game in 2007. How do you need to shift your Inner Game? What limiting beliefs are holding you back? What things can you do this year to be outrageously successful?

Ready to take a BIG leap in 2007? If you need ideas of how to set effective goals and attract an abundance of clients to your business, Maven Marketing Home Study System! It’s everything you need to know to attract the best customers for your business. You’ll learn how to describe what makes your business remarkable, how to get new customers calling YOU, and lots of other valuable strategies to help you fill your sales pipeline quickly. (Why struggle with your marketing anymore?)

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