Safety Consulting Corner

Internet Marketing You Need to Know

I recently read a blog post at  Conversation Marketing that described the 5 internet marketing strategies that you need to know. I whole heartedly agree - I even need to beef up on a few of these. I will dedicate at least 5 posts (most likely more) to these 5 areas and hopefully we will all learn something.

1. Search Engines. Do you understand how these work?  Sure you know how to "Google" but how do you get your firm and websites found? To get started, read this Wikipedia's article.
2. E-mail. We all swim in hundreds of emails everyday but how can you use email to market without turning into an evil spammer? To get started, check out "Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars" by Mitch Meyerson.
3. Social Networks/Marketing/Bookmarketing services. Check out Technorati ,del.icio.us, Linkedin (one of my favorites) and Facebook. I know you are probably getting overwhelmed by now and saying to yourself "I don't have time to do all that!" but if you want to stay competitive, you need to take a look.
4. Blogs. Since you are reading this, you are probably already familiar with blogs.  Blogs serve many different purposes and not of all of them are for marketing (like this one which I write for the purpose of helping consultants discover things they might not know about yet). If you want to get started, check out Typepad (which I use) or WordPress.
5. Analytics. If you are a safety consultant, you might think of industrial hygiene sampling when you hear analytics. Analytics will help you measure how your websites are working (and what's not). If you use your website as a main marketing tool, this is good stuff to understand.

Ready to get started? Stay tuned.

Write Write Write

All consultants know the importance of writing and publishing as a way to demonstrate their expertise as well as to market and brand themselves and their firm. Along these lines, publishing articles can also serve as a publicity tool. Once you have written an article, not necessary something technical or the quality of something that would be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, but a general informational article, you can get a good amount of exposure for it by submitting it to one or more of the many online article submission sites.

Some of the sites you might want to check out include www.articlealley.com, www.articlefactory.com,  www.articleworld.com, www.contentdesk.com, www.ezinearticles.com, www.goarticles.com, www.searchwarp.com and www.niche-content-articles.com. While this is not all inclusive, it will give you a good start if you want to submit your articles online.  You never know who will see them and where that could lead so start writing!

Marketing Know How

You may already know that your job as a consultant is basically to be a marketer. No matter how much technical knowledge you have, you still need strong marketing skills - maybe even more so - to have a successful consulting firm.  A great place to start to build your marketing expertise is a website called KnowThis.com. There is a wealth of free information on this site including articles, website links, and current stories in the news. The site also contains tutorials on a variety of topics including principles of marketing, marketing plans, search engine optimization and market research.  Even if you are a pretty savvy marketer, there is probably something on this site that could still help you. Check it out!

Speaking of Safety...

I just returned from the American Society of Safety Engineer's Professional Development Conference. Although the conference kept me busy for 4 full days, a great deal of the value I received from attending came down to 60 short minutes. These 60 minutes covered the 1 hour presentation I delivered. Speaking to a highly targeted group, in your area of expertise, cannot be overvalued. Yes it's a lot of work and often stressful but it is one of the best ways for a consultant to get their name out there. If you have not spoken at one of the big safety conferences (such as ASSE, AIHce or NSC), I strongly encourage you to do so.  One very inportant thing to keep in mind - you must submit a proposal to speak at these events well ahead of time - usually close to a year in advance. The deadline to speak at ASSE's June 2008 conference in Las Vegas is quickly approaching - July 31st - and will be here before you know it. To submit a proposal, visit http://www.asse.org/speakerpage08/. The deadline to submit a proposal to speak at AIHce's conference next June in Minneapolis is August 15th. To submit a proposal, visit http://www.aiha.org/callforpdcs.htm. The deadline for the NSC isn't posted on their website yet but if I remember right, the deadline is around December or January for the conference held the following October. (If anyone knows the details, please let me know).

If you know you should speak more in public but are still nervous about the idea, consider finding a partner or putting together a panel. Having someone to share the spotlight with can help put you at ease. You also have plenty of time to get some practice and/or instruction. Take advantage of opportunities to speak in front of local chapters and enroll in a course or two on public speaking. A few resources to try include Patricia Fripp at http://www.fripp.com; the National Speaker's Association at http://www.nsaspeaker.org/ (local meetings are usually open to non-members and are great) and the old standby, Toastmasters (http://www.toastmasters.org/).  Whatever you do - take the first step. The ability to speak in public is very important if you are going to suceed as a consultant.

What a Deal (Not!)

Maybe I am being cynical but I just received an email newsletter from a "guru" that I actually happen to really like but in it, he describes a 3 day seminar he is holding in Las Vegas. The event sounds great but near the end, he says the 3 days are really worth $10,000 but he is offering it for $2,777* (or 3 installments of $997 - that's $1K each to you and me). I guess anyone can charge whatever they want for anything but what gets me with his offer is the "limited time extra special offer - for this week only" where you can pay only $1,977 PLUS get free hotel, free lunches, a free cocktail, and admission to a show. Now seriously, does anyone really believe these things are free? Attendees are paying about $660/day. Take out the hotel, lunch, etc. and the cost would probably be about $250/day. Why do speakers jack up the price so that they can cover all of the "freebies" they are adding on instead of just offering a decent registration fee in the first place. Maybe this technique works - I don't know. I have never tried it and most likely never will. What do you think?

*notice how all price offerings have a "7?" Many "gurus" say the latest and greatest thing to do is to price things with a "7" in them because people are much more likely to buy. Forget the old $19.99 - now you are more likely to see $19.97

So, what do you do?

Imagine you are at a cocktail party or other event where you know no one and it is almost certain that no one there has any idea what a safety professional does. So, when someone asks the dreaded, "What do you do?", what is your answer? Unless you want to immediately bore the other person, keep your answer focused on what you can do for them. (Remember WIIFM, or What's In It For Me?) Most people have a pretty short attention span. Make sure your answer is fairly short and sweet. You also do want to launch into a version of your life story. The other person doesn't care how you got into safety or why you are a consultant.  Also - do not use the word "am." If you say "I am" something, including a safety consultant, other people will who already work with one or more safety consultants will quickly write you off because in their minds, they do not need what you offer. Instead, when describing what you do, use power verbs such as save,teach, manage, develop, etc. Instead of an "I am a safety consultant" statement, try using a statement with a power verb such as "I save worker's lives" or "I help safety directors sleep at night." Get the idea? With both of these phrases, you are likely to get follow up questions which can lead you into a meaningful conversation.  The idea is to start to build a relatonship. The longer you have a conversation with the other person (and don't forget to ask a lot of questions about what they do), the better start you will have to the relationship.

Your name and theirs

  Now that you have starting to make the best use of your signature line, you might also want to check out a service called Plaxo. Plaxo can make your signature block look a little more professional and eye catching. You can even include your logo. Plaxo also serves as a web based address book. All of your contacts from your hard drive will be added to your account on Plaxo so you will be able to access them from anywhere, anytime. Plaxo is also able to remove duplicates, update your address book when your contacts update their information, get birthday reminders and more. Best of all - the basic package is free!

Your John Hancock

John Hancock has one of the most famous signatures. If someone asks for "your John Hancock," they are generally asking for your signature. Most of the times we give our signature these days, it is done electronically (well, that is if you are following basic email etiquette guidelines but that is the topic of a future post). What does your electronic signature say about you besides your name? Generally, your name and title should be on the first line. If you own a consulting firm, your next line can be a major benefit such as "helps small companies achieve VPP," or whatever is appropriate to your firm. Next, include your contact information including your full website and email address.  If you have a free offer, the next line is the place to do it. Consider changing your signature block occasionally as well or creating a different signature block for different types of emails.

While many people frown on being sent emails that contain advertisements, a properly worded email signature can provide a small not-at-all obnoxious promotion of your services or products. If you send postings to a list-serv or other large group, you should always use your enhanced signature. You will be surprised how much attention that signature gets.