July 2010 - "I already knew that" and other dangerous things to say in business...

Wow!! June was awesome! The Empowered Woman Success Summit was a huge success (over 600 attendees!), and How To Communicate More Powerfully (Without Being A Bit$%) is getting national attention! Also, we conducted a record number of WOWs - Whole Organization Workshops.

Below are some of the "takeaways" from those sessions. As you read, maybe you'll think "I already knew that" and chances are, you're right. But the real question is, are you actually applying it? Be honest...

WOW Takeaway #1. All of us together know more than any one of us alone. Remember that the next time a "lowly assistant" or an outsider makes a suggestion. Sometimes the best ideas come from unexpected places!

WOW Takeaway #2. Many of us spend more time and energy chasing brand-new business instead of focusing on existing clients, getting old clients to come back or pursuing referrals (all of which are generally more profitable than new biz). On whom are you spending your efforts and $$?

WOW Takeaway #3.The elephant in the (board)room for almost every single service-based business I worked with was... drum-roll, please... PRICING. Price determines profit because once you're covering costs, each additional dollar in revenues equals a dollar in profits. Problem is, most of us struggle with setting price, and then maintaining price integrity. If this sounds like you, here's a link to a great slide-show: Pricing For Profit.

WOW Takeaway #4. If you're not email marketing, you're missing out on an amazing opportunity.... Problem is, 95% of email marketing is SPAM (okay, I made this statistic up, but I'll bet it's actually more like 99%...).

WOW Takeaway #5. Almost everyone is trying to use social media to drum up business in some form or another. Corollary: Most of it is a big, fat waste of time.

WOW Takeaway #6. For the vast majority of us, word-of-mouth marketing and referral marketing is the single most cost-effective way to drive sales.

WOW Takeaway #7.Most of us don't develop cohesive strategies around word-of-mouth marketing and instead wait for it to "happen."

WOW Takeaway #8. Strategy isn't a once-a-year effort.

WOW Takeaway #9. When developing our marketing messaging, most of us focus on features, efforts and efforts, or PROCESS, instead of RESULTS. Remember, most people don't care how you do what you do, they only care about what you can do for them. AKA: WIIFM - "What's In It For Me?"

WOW Takeaway #10.Why do what you do? You'd be surprised at how many people don't have an answer to this question.

Hope to see you soon, perhaps at one of our upcoming workshops... Particularly the Headshot Workshop - which is back!! See right for details.

By the way, in June I taped my first national TV appearance!! I am appearing on Lifetime TV's "Balancing Act" on July 28th!! The topic: How To Communicate More Powerfully (Without Being A Bit%$ - though we don't say the b-word on national TV.)

Here's the promo...

Ciao for now,
Michelle

PS - Though The Empowered Woman Success Summit probably shaved a couple of years off my life (ha ha... but seriously, I think it did), it was WELL WORTH the effort.

In fact, we've received several inquiries from people wanting to take the Summit to other markets!!! Woo hooo!!! We're on it and will keep you posted on new cities as we approve partners. We're already working on the next Empowered Woman Success Summit Miami in November.

PPS - Here's are some of my favorite pictures from the Summit. Thanks to Anais Ganouna Photography for shooting the entire event. To see the rest, visit my Facebook Page.