Becoming an Attraction Marketer – Formative Phase 1 of 3

Please Comment

 

Becoming an Attraction Marketer – Formative Phase 1 of 3

 

Attraction Marketer- Formative Phase

Attraction Marketer– Formative Phase

Dr. Hale here.   There are distinct stages or steps that you go through when you decide to become an Attraction Marketer.   I’ve actually decided to change the name to “phases” and this post gives a quick overview of phase 1 – the Formative Phase.  You can read the first post in the series here: It is the Overview.

I will note up front that I am recommending that you set up a blog as your home base, your online real estate as it were.  I just wanted you to know that it was coming in Phase 2.

Why Phases or Projects?  – To Make The Process Less Overwhelming!

I’m going to digress for a moment and talk about why I’m talking about becoming an Attraction Marketer as a series of phases.

As an avid student and practitioner of Systems Analysis there are some concepts that become so ingrained that that seem to represent the natural order of the world.  The world isn’t that simple, but these concepts help us make some sense out of things that sometimes seem to be chaotic.

When you have a large project, it is almost mandatory to chop it down into smaller projects.  If you are a solo entrepreneur, it usually makes sense to tackle these projects one at a time.  Even computers don’t really multi-task. (except parallel processor machines – which PC’s or Mac’s are in a minimalistic way) for the most part they work on one task, store their status, restore the status of the next task, work on that some, store the current status, restore the status of the next task….   In some cases, and in my experience especially with humans, the storing the current status of a task and later getting back to that same status can actually take most of the available time.  It turns out that you get more done by single tasking and concentration on the steps or phases one-by-one.

Part of the skill you gain over time is deciding how much to include in each project.   If you think about ti, getting our pencils ready is too small to be a reasonable project and revamping the U.S. educational system is way too large to be a project.  You need something in the sweet spot.  So what is the sweet spot.

A project is a set of tasks that fit together naturally.  People tend to find it very natural to group tasks that must be done first into a project.  Then they group the tasks that depend upon the completion of the first project as the second project an so on.  I’m being very loose here, since we are talking about very gut level definitions.

As we talk about becoming Attraction Marketers, I have divided the work into three projects or phases – Forming a Plan, Building a Base, and Advertising.  Each phase builds on the previous phase.  The result is an Attraction Marketer.

 

Phase 1 – The Formative Phase – Developing a PLAN.

As I said in the Overview, for an emerging Attraction Marketer the basic decisions that must be made early on are very similar to those that a person who is planning to open a store must make.   I wrote about the beginning stages of becoming an Attraction Marketer before in the Seven C’s to Better Blogging.  It was C #1.  You have to find your CORE.  This is your niche and your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and something to sell for $$$.  

NOTE:  One of the “problems” associated with the Internet and hypertext linking is that processes are not linear any more.  Material about any phase of a project is available ALL THE TIME through search engines like Google and emails and Facebook posts makes us aware of free training every day.

This is just Dr. Hale speaking, but I would suggest that once you start the process of becoming an Attraction Marketer, you actively avoid training that is not relevant to the Phase you are currently working on.  For example, you will get more out of Blogging training if you know what YOU will be blogging about.  So wait until you get there.  You will get much more out of Paid Advertising Training if you know what you are planing to sell.  As far as I’m concerned the phrase “I’ll just learn it now and somehow it will make sense later” leads to quicksand and overwhelm.  You will be actively building misconceptions that you will have to undo later.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

There are TWO major dangers emerging Attraction Marketers face when putting together a plan.  1) Going off halfcocked.  You will really resent the wasted time.  2) Never going off.   People hit analysis paralysis.  Understand that your plan will NEVER feel like it is “done.”   It almost can’t be completely done, but it can be “done enough.”   I’ve heard experts say you should complete this phase in a week.  I’m not sure, but I do know that a month is too da@#$E#m long.

Let’s look at some of the tasks that make up the first phase.

Mindset – a Necessary First Step to become an Attraction Marketer

Attraction Marketer - Formative Phase

Attraction Marketer – Formative Phase

Franchise owners are taught “You are a McDonald’s Franchise owner.  Act the part.”  Network Marketing people are taught: “You are a distributor for XYZ company.”  Much of the mindset being taught focuses on the company that is running the show.   As you move onto the Internet as a solo-entrepreneur,  it can be kind of mind wrenching to realize that YOU are the company running the show.  There is only one McDonald’s Franchise owner in Apopka Florida.  On the Internet there are thousands of sites dedicated to selling almost any product you can imagine.  YOu have to do something that will make you stand out.

Imagine yourself as one of the people in the photo on the right.  Would it matter what you were trying to sell  VERY few could hear or see you.  The Internet is a million times larger than this picture.  Facebook alone has One Billion users.  

You have to start branding yourself and thinking of yourself as something unique.  Someone who is providing something that some people would find irresistible.

Planning Your Niche, Your USP and Your Products

I group these together because they are interwoven.  You can’t really tackle one and ignore the others.  As a ridiculous example you might find you have a great deal you can offer on fishing lures, but you know you aren’t a fisherman and won’t be working in that arena.  It makes no sense to choose that product.  One recent very experienced marketer said that he failed almost every time he started with a product.  He have to find the starving crowd first and then find out what they were really starving and willing to pay for.

I’m going to assume that we need to start with some definitions.

A group of similar people form a niche

A group of similar people form a niche

 

NICHE –  A group of similar people form a niche.   You are going need to identify a Niche.   Here are some simple guidelines.   Note:  You look OUTSIDE yourself to find a niche.

  • It should be a starving crowd – there is something that they all want.  Preferably something that is REALLY important to them.
  • They should be able to afford to pay for a solution.  For example, people desperate for money are a hard “starving crowd” to sell something to.
  • They should be a crowd that you resonate with and who will resonate with you.
  • The group should be small enough that you can stand out, but not too small.  Remember the football stadium.   targeting Baby Boomers, for example is working on a niche that is way to large.  Targeting people who graduated from the same high school you did in the same year is probably way too small.
  • They should have a common problem that interests you.

 

Unique Selling Propostion -USP

Unique Selling Propostion -USP

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) – what will make you uniquely positioned to work with and eventually sell to your Niche?  Note:  You look INSIDE for aspects of you that you can turn in to your USP.

For many of us it takes some soul searching to “find you Niche and Your USP”

In ALL cases – you are going to need to lead with YOU.  Your USP is going to have to set up up as the “go-to” person for some type of information or service related to your niche.  This is called Branding Yourself!

RESEARCH Here is a link to a Free Niche eBook that gives you 25 different ways to spark your imagination about Niches.  It also contains some questions that will help you identify if the niche is viable or not.  I also wrote a blog post recently on “Finding Your Weird“.

Identifying Something You Like is Not Enough

Part of finding your niche and your USP and something to feed your starving crowd with (a product) involves research.  I will be writing a post soon that covers this topic.

Here are some research topics:

  • You need to identify keywords that your niche will be using to search with.
  • You need to find out where they hang out and go listen to what they are starving for. 
  • You need to identify the your competition and see what they are doing (their strengths and their weaknesses)

Note:  You need to use your brain here as well as the data.   I heard a webinar recently where the presenter talked about a niche direct sales website he had.  It was TatooDesignsForMen. net or com    The Google Keyword tool reported lots of searches (thousands).  He found that the crowd was starving, but they NEVER buy.  They just wanted ideas to talk to their Tattoo artist about.  The artists were offended if the customer brought in a paid for product and said “I want this!”

OTHER TASKS in the Formative Phase

Here are some other tasks.  These actually fall in the grey area between Phase 1 and Phase 2.

  • Identify a website name (a .com URL) for your Blog.  We usually recommend using your name.  That gives you the most flexibility and helps you Brand You!.  I’ve run into people are were fanatics about a topic (like RVing) or well established in a niche (working with pets).  Using their existing URL and expanding on it only makes sense.
  • Develop your Tag Line
  • Write out a document that describes your AVATAR (your ideal client).  Give him or her a name and a very complete back story.  Write to him.
  • Identify your voice (are you a scam exposer,  consultant, a trusted friend, an adviser).  I’m an educator.  It’s what I do. 🙂
The CLimber Ahead of You

lhe Climber Ahead of You

Don’t Worry About the Climber Ahead of You

A common mistake that people make when they are working to become Attraction Marketers and that they look up the mountain and see people ahead of them.  It is easy to think “I could never teach so and so anything.  They have arrived and I’m a nobody.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concentrate on Those Behind You – You CAN Help Them

Concentrate on the Climber Behind You

Concentrate on the Climber Behind You

It doesn’t take much to get ahead of people who are newer that you.  I can think of one coaching client who never did understand that just spending one week researching a particular government assistance program would put them miles ahead of the thousands who were struggling to get their benefits.

Another key point here is time.  

Gurus Have No Time –The bigger the guru, the less time they have to work one-on-one with new comers. 

Aspiring Gurus Have Time – You will have time (for a while anyway).   That can be part of what makes you unique.

 

 

 

 

 

Once you have a handle on the Plan and have more or less completed the Formative Phase.  We can move on the the Building phase.

Remember our Brick and Mortar example.  You now have an idea of what kind of store you will have, what it will look like and what you will be selling.  You can talk to a contractor about actually building  the store or a real estate agent about finding a building or office to rent or buy.  It is virtually impossible to have this conversation until you know if you need a gun range, a 7/11, a drive through restaurant, a large warehouse etc.

This completes the overview of the Becoming an Attraction Marketer – Phase 1 – Forming a Plan.

Tomorrow – we’ll build our online real estate.

 

 

 

 

Now you know about The Formative Phase of Becoming an Attraction Marketer

Until next time, you have a Great Day!

Dr Hale

 

 

↓ ↓ If this post gave you some ideas – Go ahead & comment below.  ↓ ↓

 

Hale Pringle

Hale Pringle Ed. D.

 

Hale Pringle – Hale Yes!

Skype hale.pringle

Email: HaleYes@HalePringle.com

 

P.S. If you are working to move your business online and it all seems overwhelming, I can help!  Take a look at http://HalePringle.com, or sign up for the free coaching call. You can email me or give me a Skype call. I’ll give you the benefit of my years of experience and many thousands of dollars in training and searching the rabbit hole called Internet Marketing and Network Marketing. I can help you with Lead Generation, the feeling of overwhelm, blogging, and even career change. Add that to the finest mentoring on the Internet (Ann Sieg’s Team and Inner Circle) and you have a Winner!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
About Hale Pringle

Dr. Hale is an Internet Entrepreneur and Network
Marketing expert. His greatest pleasure is
helping people and he does just that, drawing
upon the immense resources that he has gathered
over the years in his unquenchable thirst for
knowledge.

Dr. Hale lives in beautiful, sunny Florida with
his wife, two dogs and a cat. His four children
are grown and are scattered around the state.

An eternal optimist you will hear him say
regularly: “Is this a Great Day?” The answer is
always, “Hale Yes!”

If you need help with your online marketing or a
network marketing opportunity Dr. Hale is the go
to man. “Hale Yes!”

Comments

  1. Hi Hale
    Great post with lots of detailed information.
    Without a plan we will never succeed, you cannot just have an idea and then 5 minutes later think you can get started and become successful with that idea, it just does not work. It takes a lot of preparation and planning like you say before you can even contemplate starting anything.
    I make plans all the time both in my personal and professional life, I could not live without them 🙂
    Thanks for sharing, hope you have a nice day
    Pauline
    Pauline recently posted..How To Get More Comments On Your BlogMy Profile

    • Pauline,

      Thank YOU for sharing. I really enjoyed you comment
      I hope you are having a great day too.

      Regards,
      Dr. Hale

  2. Wow, you’ve got some seriously thorough advice here, Hale. And I’m not sure I can remember ever hearing anyone actually use the word “halfcocked” which is really the perfect word!

    You’re quite right about that warning, and it’s easy to do both. You’re either eager to start so you DO, or you’re anxious about starting and you NEVER do. “Analysis paralysis” has hit my brain more than once.

    I’ve started keeping a mindmap of pretty much everything, and I find that it helps me break down projects into manageable pieces. It also helps me realize things that I think of as “to-dos” are sometimes really projects. Something simple, like “set up computer backups”. That’s on my to do list but it’s really a whole darn project. I have to set up the drive, configure my computer, choose my folders, set the schedule… no wonder it never gets done. My brain knows it’s a project even if it isn’t printed that way, but I haven’t defined the plan or the tasks.

    Anyway, great advice here. Looking forward to more parts!
    Carol Lynn recently posted..Foursquare: The Red-Headed Stepchild Of Social Or A Local Marketing Ally?My Profile

    • Thank you Carol Lynn< I really enjoyed going through your comment! (You wrote almost as much as I did.) The phrase half-cocked comes from some pistols with a hammer that can be thumbed part way back. The pistol wouldn't fire in that position and the hammer wasn't resting on a live shell where a jar might actually cause the piston to shoot. It implies to me trying to get things done when your mind or equipment is set so that it isn't possible to get it done. Regards, Dr. Hale

  3. Hale you actually have hit on a couple of things I personally have been dealing with. Analysis paralysis, I usually say analyze til I am paralyzed. I always feel that there is more for me to learn before I can take action. But I have recently been moving forward because experience is the best teacher. Also worrying about the people in front of me. I love how you pointed out to focus on the one behind me and reach out to help them. Great Read here!

    • Thanks Daniel,

      I just commented to you about that on the Renegade Team FB page.

      Glad you liked it and I hope you’ll drop by again.
      Dr. Hale

  4. Hale – So much great information in this article! I especially relate to the Unique Selling Proposition. Have seen many make the mistake of being just like everyone else in the same business and not setting themselves apart. Once people understand that “people buy YOU”, “people join YOU” they can move forward with a USP. Why do you think this is so difficult for people to get? Many of my home business team members do not understand the concept of setting themselves apart. Do you think it’s just laziness or not wanting to go that extra mile?
    Look forward to your insights 🙂
    Best regards
    Lisa
    Lisa recently posted..MLM Recruiting SuccessMy Profile

    • Wow Lisa,

      Your passion is showing 🙂

      I think the concept of “selling you first” is a fairly mind wrenching change for a lot of people. After all most of us grew up thinking about brick and mortar store type businesses. You don’t usually think of “Joe’s Hardware Store”, you think of the “Ace Hardware Store down the street.” The transition to Network Marketing where you are taught to be “a representative of XYZ company” continues that theme. With all that background someone who says “Ignore your products and your company and sell YOU” is pretty easy to write off as someone who is saying “same old, same old”, just in a way that I don’t understand. They couldn’t possibly be saying what i thought I heard. I also find that concepts that conflict with all the other concepts you have tend to slip away quickly. We don’t like things that are in-congruent.

      Thanks for dropping by,
      Dr. Hale

Trackbacks

  1. […] agrees with these three phases, they simplify explaining the process as far as I’m concerned.  Phase 1 is choosing a niche, developing your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and deciding what you will be […]

  2. […] Attraction Marketer.   You can read the first posts in the series here: It is the Overview and the Formative Phase post here.   BTW there was a section in the Formative Phase post about why I have divided the […]

  3. […] an Attraction Marketer.  You can read the first posts in the series here: It is the Overview, the Formative Phase  and the Building Phase posts here.   BTW there was a section in the Formative Phase post about […]

  4. […] an Attraction Marketer.   You can read the first posts in the series here: It is the Overview, the Formative Phase, the Building Phase and Adding a Sales Funnel posts here.   BTW there was a section in the […]

  5. […] Phase 1 – Formative – you pick a niche (a “starving crowd”) with a common need  (Attraction Marketing Phase 1) […]

Speak Your Mind

*

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.