Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Will Speak for Food

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Nothing says “expert” like standing at the front of the room, giving a speech. And it is easier than you may think. Here is how to start building your business with public speaking—even if you think you could never give a speech.

Many people, perhaps including you, are afraid to speak in public. Studies have reported that public speaking is the #1 fear of most people, even ahead of death. (Or, as Jerry Seinfeld put it, at the average funeral more people would rather be in the coffin than delivering the eulogy.) The best way to overcome your fear is to start speaking. It gets easier with experience.

To get practice in a supportive environment, join Toastmasters. Members give prepared and impromptu speeches and receive feedback on their strengths and how to improve their skills. To find a chapter near you, go to www.Toastmasters.org.

Every day, there are meetings of networking groups, professional associations and community organizations all over town. Many of those meetings need speakers. Most won’t pay you, but they will give you exposure, and usually lunch, too. While the Chicken ala King may not be anything special, the opportunity to reach an audience will build your reputation and cause customers to seek you out. [Read more…]

How to Learn Anything – in 20 Hours

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20-hoursThe popular belief is that to become good at something, you have to invest 10,000 hours. That’s a full time job for 5 years. Fortunately, it is not true. If you want to become the very best of the best, and excel in a highly competitive field, you need to invest 10,000 hours of focused practice. But, according to Josh Kaufman’s TEDx talk, you only need 20 hours to learn pretty much anything you can think of, from business skills to sports to playing the ukelele.

For most of the skills you need, in business and in life, being proficient is all that is necessary. You don’t have to be the best in the world, just good enough to do what you need to do.
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Be Seen as a Credible Expert

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credible-expertYou are an expert on your topic if you know more about it than most people. I tell my clients to stop thinking of an expert as the person who knows more about something than anyone else in the world. Instead, an expert is the person who knows more about something than anyone else in the room. That is my way of saying that if you know more than the average person about something, you are an expert.

If you have accomplished something, you know more than the people who have not yet accomplished that feat, and you can help them by sharing what you know.

Chances are, there is at least one topic on which you are already an expert. But how do you demonstrate to customers that you are someone whom they should trust and learn from? [Read more…]

Publicity in Trade Press

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Your publicity dreams may include being featured in major magazines such as Forbes, Fortune, Time, Inc., and others with circulation in the millions. Appearing in those publications can boost both your ego and your business. However!

A feature in Nailpro may not have the same cachet, but if your clients are nail salons, you should be there. Trade magazines and newsletters give you exposure where it counts—with your potential customers.

You probably already know many of the publications in your industry, but you can learn more about them and discover new ones online and in media directories at your library. Standard Rate and Data Service publishes information about magazines’ demographics, circulation, ad rates, etc. Writer’s Market, Ulrich’s Guide to Periodicals and other directories will provide lots of leads. There are also directories for newsletters, web sites and other media.

Once you’ve identified the publications you want to target, approach them in any or all of the following ways:

Send press releases with information of interest to their readers. Do you have a new product their readers need to know about? Do you know something that can help them be more successful? You may get a blurb or a story out of it.

Send information that establishes you as an expert in the industry, and let them know you are available for interview. They may run a profile of you, or contact you for a quote within an article.

Write articles and offer them for publication. You may get paid for the articles but, whether free or fee, you should insist on a byline that identifies you and your company. Some will include contact information, such as a phone number or web site URL.

Offer products for review in their publication. Books, tools, technology and other products are routinely reviewed in many trade publications.

Suggest a column. You may be able to land a monthly column by sending a few (3 – 6) sample columns to the editor, along with a description of your vision for the column.

Look for other opportunities to get your information published. Does the magazine run case studies? Maybe your company can be featured. Do they run contests or polls asking readers to comment on an issue or problem? Respond. Write letters to the editor. Consider the publication’s current features and see how you can fit in, and make suggestions for new ideas that will benefit readers.

Walking the Expert Walk

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Do you walk the walk? Although it is possible to write about a subject based solely on research, if you want to present yourself as an expert you should not only talk the talk, you should walk the walk. That means knowing your subject through personal experience.

I got an email from a self-professed guru the other day, offering yet another money-making program. Although much of what he writes is good in that it provides useful information, it does not have a soul. What I mean by that is that his stuff is written as if he went to the library and looked up how to do these things. None of it is based on his experience, and it lacks the little insider touches that can make how-to information so valuable.

When you market yourself as an expert, prove that you know your stuff:

Show your credentials. Tell them why you are qualified. That might be through formal training, but it should also include real-life experience.

Tell your story. How did you acquire your expertise? What “war stories” do you have about learning what you know? Have you worked with leaders in your industry? Do you have clients we would all know?

Admit your mistakes. It may be counter-intuitive, but admitting to mistakes can make you a more credible expert. Anyone who has learned a subject has made mistakes along the way. Own up to your mistakes and tell what you learned from them. Let them see that you are human.

Share the details. Go beyond the broad overview to share some of the insider secrets that only an expert would know.

Don’t hold back. Tell them everything you know. As you do, you will learn even more.

Interact. Fake gurus do not want to interact with their “followers” because they risk being exposed. Answer questions and respond to the comments of people in your audience.

Be positive. Be successful by building yourself up, not by tearing down your perceived competition. You are unique and there is no one who offers exactly what you can.

Demonstrate you have more than book knowledge in your subject and people will look to you as an authority. Ultimately, being a credible expert is about being real. Being a real person and sharing real knowledge.