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New Radiance Updates
October 2002
~~ WHAT IS YOUR UNIQUE SERVING PROPOSITION? ~~
If you have taken marketing courses or read marketing books,
you'll know that USP normally stands for "Unique Selling
Proposition." Your USP is what Jay Abraham calls "the
philosophical foundation of your business." It's a statement
that illustrates your distinguishing advantage over others in
your field providing similar services or products. It is that
which makes you unique.
And in the present economy, your unique ability to help
clients with specific, necessary services and products could
be a deciding factor in whether (or how long) you are able to
stay in business.
As a marketing coach and writer working with body, mind,
spirit professionals, it seemed to me that the idea of "selling
proposition" might be better worded as a "serving proposition."
Our purpose, after all, is to help people have their needs met,
whether they are the "basic" needs of shelter and clothing
or the "higher" needs of self-fulfillment and spiritual growth.
(See New Radiance Updates November 2001 issue for an
article on Maslow's hierarchy of needs:
http://www.newradiance.com/Nov%202001%20Newsletter.htm)
There's nothing wrong with "selling." It's something we have
to do in order for people to buy from us. But for crafting a one
sentence USP, I think it will put us in a better frame of mind if
we call it our Unique Serving Proposition.
So -- how do you propose to serve your prospects and
clients with something that's both unique to you and
absolutely needed by your targeted market? What are people
interested in RIGHT NOW?
If you're an investment counselor, your clients are probably
most interested in containing the shrinking of their retirement
portfolios. Your USP could assert: "I help you keep your nest
egg secure with qualified advice about safe retirement
investing." Security is Maslow's Number 2 need. With this
USP, your target clientele are people who are "of an age"
and who have funds available for retirement planning. Your
business niche could be "retirement planning for baby boomers."
If you're an herbalist, you could specialize in weight
management for the 65 percent of us who are overweight.
A psychic could focus on career readings to help people
through economically uncertain times. A Feng Shui
practitioner could consider a niche helping trade show and
expo exhibitors improve the traffic flow into their booths.
The respective USP's might read:
1) I'm a holistic weight loss consultant. I help you free yourself
of excess pounds with non-toxic, non-addictive herbal remedies.
2) I'm the job psychic. Come see me, and I'll "see" where
your career is headed.
3) I do Feng Shui consultations for trade shows. I help trade
show exhibitors create an energy flow that attracts booth visitors
by the hundreds.
In each of these examples, you're addressing a specific need
and then providing a solution for a targeted audience that
requires your services.
What's your Unique Serving Proposition?
~~ DIRECTORY NEWS AND UPDATES ~~
1) Rose Lenore has just published her book "Angels" -- a
fascinating volume of angelic history, past and present, plus
angelic connections through the centuries. For more
information, please contact Rose at (813) 884-9180, Temple of
Angelic Healing, 8828 Edgewood Blvd., Tampa, FL 33635
or email: mailto:lenangel33@yahoo.com
2) Longtime Florida Directory advertiser Robinson Expositions
is now offering shows under the Holistica Expo banner.
Upcoming shows include Tampa, Naples, St. Petersburg and
West Palm Beach in Florida plus Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago,
Los Angeles, Honolulu, Stamford, CT and Austin, TX nationwide.
For exhibitor info, check their website at
http://www.holisticaexpo.com
3) Nancy Finck of the Herb Room (now located at Healing
Alternatives in Largo, Florida) offers a 14-week certification
course in Medicinal Herbology for nutritional network marketers.
The course is designed to teach marketers how to become
nutritional consultants, with 42 hours of classroom instruction
and practice, including muscle testing and how to conduct a
consultation. Nancy has also launched a free newsletter
called "The Nutritional Networker," containing nutritional info
and business tips. Reach Nancy at (727) 524-6684 or email:
mailto:finckshomeofhealing@msn.com
4) Rev. Pat Cross of Holiday, Florida has a new website:
http://www.spiritualawakenings.biz-page.com. Pat is looking
for a marketer/distributor for her book "Spiritual Awakenings."
If you have information that could help, please contact her at
mailto:rev-pat_cross@msn.com or call (727) 934-6730.
5) Barbara Casey now offers a free print newsletter called
"The Marketing Message" -- tips and insights on spiritual
marketing. For your free copy of "The Marketing Message"
email your name and address to:
mailto:newradiance@earthlink.net or leave a voice message
at (727) 397-2702.
6) The entire Florida Directory is now online as a free e-book.
View it at http://www.newradiance.com.
Browse the articles, look up practitioners, find bookstores and
churches, visit the websites (via live links). Print the book out,
if you wish. The 7th Edition of the Metaphysical & Holistic
Florida Directory contains 192 pages of solid information and
reputable body, mind, spirit professionals.
If you prefer to own the softcover book version (easier to carry
around), the order form is at the New Radiance website:
http://www.newradiance.com/orderform.htm
or order by credit card at Amazon.com. Here's the direct link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0964570262/newradianceresou
~~ INTERVIEW WITH JOHN SHOEMAKER ~~
John Shoemaker is an Intuitive Marketing Consultant based
in the Tampa Bay area. He helps body, mind, spirit business
owners become more visible in the marketplace and teaches
a marketing course called "100 Clients in 100 Days."
I asked John if he would share his thoughts on marketing
for body, mind, spirit businesses.
Barb: We have some terrific practitioners here in Florida.
Why are they not as famous as, say, Deepak Chopra or
Wayne Dyer?
John: You have to remember that Deepak Chopra and
Wayne Dyer are not just practitioners, but marketing
experts par excellence. I have studied their rise to fame
and fortune and it didn't happen overnight or by accident.
They have both been around a long time, especially Dyer,
and they have learned how to promote themselves to the
public at large on a mass scale. This is great for all Holistic
Practitioners. They have opened the minds of many people
who might not have considered alternatives before.
Barb: What do practitioners have to do to become very
well known nationally, or even locally?
John: First of all, you would have to ask yourself how much
territory do you really want to cover? Being a nationally
recognized personality takes a lot of time and travel which not
everyone wants to do. Then you have to decide if you want
to be known by the public or within your profession. For
people who want to concentrate within their own field, becoming
a teacher, master or creator of a new modality is the best bet.
Getting known locally is a lot easier, but many of the steps are
the same. The key for both is deciding on one area to focus
on and get to be known as the expert in that area. Think of it
this way. Your goal is when a local TV station wants to do a
show about your specialty and you are the first person they call.
Then you know you're the expert.
Barb: How much time and money do you think body, mind,
spirit professionals should spend on marketing?
John: It's not always a question of how much money, but how
much time. Everyone in the Healing Arts should see promotion
as part of everything they do. If you sit back and wait for the
business to come to you with no effort, it may come, but slowly.
One of the improvements I've seen over the last fifteen years is
many more practitioners realize that they have to spend money
to make it. That spending money is an investment that has a
return, not an expense to be avoided. For instance, wouldn't it
be worth spending $10 to get a client worth $75? If you don't
agree, you don't understand basic business and prosperity
principles.
Barb: Do you have any favorite marketing tips you'd like to
pass along?
John: I just like to remind people that marketing is nothing weird
or strange. It's just letting people know who you are, what you
do and where you do it. Then let them decide if they want to do
it. Also, you can stay within your comfort zone and still be
successful. And I believe that you can progress much faster by
looking for help outside yourself. Using consultants like me,
or someone else who understands the Healing Arts Community,
can actually save you money because of our experience and
focus.
Barb: What is the most important thing you want people to take
home from your classes?
John: The affirmation that they are in the right field and can
make a good living doing what they love. If you saw the
statistics of how many people drop out of the Healing Arts
because they couldn't afford to stay in, or do it part time at
such low wages, it can make you wonder if you are in the
right area. But you can follow your heart without selling your
soul and prosper at the same time. I give people the tools
to prosper. In fact, I make them write down the first three
activities they are going to apply the next day to keep
them focused.
Barb: What is your Florida teaching schedule for the coming
months? How can people get in touch with you?
John: I'm teaching my class 100 Clients In One Hundred Days
in Tampa, November 19 at 6:30 PM at Baywinds Learning
Centers by USF. You can call them at 813-977-0996.
There will be an Orlando class November 16 at the
Knowledge Shop in Casselberry from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
and they can be reached at 407-671-9505. And you can
reach me directly if you have any more questions at
mailto:Shoe1000@cs.com.
~~ HOW TO SELL YOUR BOOKS ON AMAZON.COM ~~
Getting your books into Amazon.com's database is quite easy.
Here's the procedure:
First, you need to have online access and an email address.
Second, your book must have an ISBN number and a
scannable bar code printed on the back cover. For ISBN info,
see http://www.bowker.com.
Third, you must own the worldwide distribution rights to your
book. If you have a contract with a distributor, you might be
prevented from listing the books yourself. Just check to make
sure they are doing it on your behalf.
Amazon has standards regarding quality, subject matter,
production standards and compliance with intellectual property
laws (i.e. permission to use others' copyrighted text and
graphics). If you are self-published, your book should pretty
much look like a book put out by any major publisher.
Then all you do is join Amazon's "Advantage Program." On
their home page -- http://www.amazon.com -- scroll down
to the bottom and click on the link "Join Advantage." It's free.
Then complete the application to open a direct account with
Amazon. Within a week or so, you'll receive notification of
whether your title is accepted. If it is, you'll receive a login
name and password that permits you to see your new orders,
access online book marketing help and obtain updates by
email concerning the Advantage program.
You'll also receive a small initial order by email with easy to
follow instructions on how, where and when to ship your
books. After you've received your first order, you'll send
Amazon a marketing package with info on how to classify
your title, a promotional blurb for your book's web page
and a copy of the book for scanning your cover.
Amazon pays monthly either by check or direct deposit.
You receive 45 percent of the suggested retail price for
each book sold. You don't actually "invoice" Amazon until
the books are sold -- it's a consignment method of book
selling and very convenient if you don't currently offer your
customers a credit card payment option. All transactions
are carried out online, except for the physical shipment of
your books. The "instructions and rules" are straightforward
and available online. Your only cost is shipping charges
and the book inventory you've sent to Amazon. They
handle credit card processing and all the rest.
For more details on selling your books through Amazon,
visit http://www.amazon.com and click on "Join Advantage."
~~ MARKETING TIPS AND RESOURCES ~~
1) A new monthly publication called EnergyWorks! Magazine
is coming to the Central Florida area November 1st. With an
initial distribution of 10,000 in an area bordered by Tampa Bay
on the west, Venice in the south, Orlando to the east and
Holiday to the north, EnergyWorks! is aimed at an audience
that is "spiritual, holistic and metaphysical in nature." For
information, please contact editor Dr. Kimbo Snyder:
mailto:editor@energyworksmagazine.com or visit
http://www.energyworksmagazine.com.
2) Holistic Expos and Shows
We are fortunate in Florida to have a number of opportunities
to exhibit in holistic, body, mind, spirit expos. Starting in November,
New Radiance will add a page to its website listing the
upcoming expos and shows, with links to promoters' websites.
If you have services and products that you can demonstrate
quickly and easily, you might consider exhibiting at an expo as
part of your marketing plan.
Successful trade show exhibiting requires research, planning,
and follow-up. Attend a show or two first to see if it's a viable
way to spend your marketing dollars. Exhibiting is expensive,
but can be a dynamite way to pre-qualify leads for your
business. I attended a show recently where one practitioner
booked a dozen office appointments right at the show. She
had a knowledgeable helper, good handouts, visually
appealing demonstrations and a great "show personality."
Another idea I gleaned from this show was that of joint
venturing with vendors who have a natural, but non-
competing tie-in. For example, energy workers could
dramatically illustrate the results of their work by teaming
with an aura photographer for 2-fer "before and after"
photos. Share a booth or work side by side and both
vendors gain visibility, credibility and customer numbers.
A third thing that struck me about holistic-type expos is how
vendors can help one another and gain gratitude and
attention at the same time. A health food store and water
vendor literally sustained a hundred exhibitors at the
Harborview Center recently. If you've ever exhibited yourself,
you know how difficult it can be to leave your booth in
search of food and water during a long day of exhibiting.
These two vendors will be remembered fondly by all
exhibitors, most of whom are potential customers, too.
What can you offer at a show that endears you to
exhibitors and attendees alike...foot massage, reflexology,
energy balancing, food and drink samples, pens, mini
health screenings? Just remember what your aim is for
handing out free goods and services -- make sure to get
names and addresses for your mailing list or sign them up
for a "real" appointment on the spot.
3) If you have a publication or website and would like to
insert a little humor, Matzov Creations is offering
Granolaheads Cartoons via email monthly at just $25 per
cartoon used. Granolaheads is a single-panel cartoon that
lovingly and respectfully pokes fun at health food, natural
healing, New Age issues, alternative and mainstream
medicine, psychology, environmentalism and more.
To view sample cartoons and read about the
convenient editor-friendly service they provide, visit
http://webhome.idirect.com/~matzov/granola/index.html.
Granolaheads is quickly becoming well-known in print and
on the web across Canada and the United States as an
intelligent cartoon that brings lightness and humor to the
wellness community. Email Lisa Sidorowicz at
mailto:matzov@sympatico.ca or phone
toll free 1-877-633-9533 (Canada & USA).
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New Radiance
