Authentic Marketing = Share your passion with others and help them reap the benefits.

This question was posed to a sales executive group. Here is my answer:
Sales skills – relationship building, problem solving and service skills – outweigh product knowledge importance.
In short order, your task list to close a sale is:

Get buyer attention
Tailor and deliver an enticing marketing message
Build the relationship, as well as your credibility, trustworthiness and likeability
Coach the sale through [...]

As many of my clients know, one great way to market yourself and make more sales for your business is to speak in front of an audience.
You can learn to do workshops, teleclasses and keynotes much more easily than you might realize.
“But public speaking scares me to death!”
Even those of you that get terrified at the thought [...]

 
Why do people that I don’t already know, with no info viewable on their profile, add me as a friend without an accompanying message? What’s with that?
 
To me, that’s the same thing as going to a networking event, handing your card over to a stranger, and walking away. Except that the card has a little [...]

A free sample or “taste test” is never a bad idea and always appreciated by a potential client. If your client base is not full, this is a great way to market.
On the flip side, one good reason for not offering a “freebie” is when your sales funnel is quite full and you want to [...]

This question was posted on LinkedIn. Below is my answer. Please add your views and experience in the comments:
Definitely both.
It’s great to meet new people and expend my network. I really enjoy connecting with and getting to know quality professionals so I have a large group to draw from in order to help other people, and [...]

Hello Facebook Enthusiasts!
I thought I would alert you to a fact that may have been easily overlooked.
In the past couple weeks, Facebook has made a few changes that may have altered your Privacy settings.
I recommend you take the following steps to update your profile and account privacy to the level that you want:
1.) Please your [...]

A story from today’s Sports section of the Chicago Sun-Times made me think back to an interesting marketing lesson I learned in my early 20’s.
You see, one of my former bosses – a small business owner himself – used to say “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
So one day he was ecstatic when we [...]

Dec 2, 2009, Afternoon – Get out in plenty of time for evening networking events and holiday parties!
Dear Chicago Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners,
Confused by the difference between a Profile, a Group and a Fan Page?
Not sure which to use, or if you should use Facebook at all for business?? You’re not alone. Many people [...]

I just read a couple of short articles today about why people don’t leave comments on blogs and social networking posts.
They were pretty good points. One had 10 reasons, the other 25. I thought of a few myself and realized the list could easily grow to 100 or more.
So, from my point of view, rather [...]