More Tips for Implementing Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

• If you really care about your clients, you owe it to yourself and to them to stay in touch. Think they’ll automatically remember you? Realistically, when they have a zillion other pressing concerns, and you haven’t been in touch for a while, it’s not likely. It’s absolutely imperative to stay in touch with those you have put so much energy into helping. So keep helping them! Establish a communications program to let these potential clients know you’re still around, and that you’re still available to help them.

• Use your network! Trust those who have benefited from your products or services in the past to value you, to want to help you, and to want to help their friends or colleagues by referring you. Ask them to refer you to their associates! Better yet, give them an incentive for referring closed business, such as a coupon for a free massage, dinner for two, tickets to a game, or perhaps an industry-appropriate gift.

• Take your referrals and leads seriously. If you’re trying to develop your business, you should talk to every potential customer or client, at least, to determine if they need your product or service now or later. If they’re in the “later” category, add them to your database and be sure to stay in touch regularly. Make a concerted effort to do this in the next f
  Are You a Good Interviewer-Here Are 5 Tips to Help You Improve Your Skills
  It is not hard to find information on how to prepare for a job interview. What if you are sitting on the other side of the desk. Asking the questions is just as important as the answers you get.Great interviewers are made not born. In this article let's look at what makes a great interviewer and whether you think you are one or not.1. First of all make it fun. Your job is to hire the right person for the job they are interviewing. This is not a police inquisition. You both will do a better job if everyone is relaxed and enjoying themselves.2. You control the way the conversation goes. When people are nervous they may talk to much or they may not talk at all. It really depends on the person you are interviewing. It is your job to control the conversation and you do that by the type of questions you ask.When interviewing others the goal is to hire the right people for the job and to reduce turnover. Here are some pointers:Let them know the point of the interview is to learn about them and in turn to see if they are a fit for t
  Marketing as we know it is over. Done. Finito.

  People the world over are bored and spammed to the brink of tears. But there is good news: There’s a better way to connect with precisely those you wish to reach … and it works far better than traditional, expensive, gimmick-driven marketing.

  We call this method “Marketing as a Spiritual Practice.” Why? Because marketing is actually a process, just like any real spiritual quest. It takes time. There are countless “monsters” (or at the very least, struggles) at every juncture. We learn our lessons through trying and failing. And despair, it seems, is always just around the corner. But this process teaches us invaluable lessons:

  Experiencing success and failure shows that you are really trying. True, you’ll have periods of denial, followed by frustration, and anger. But these will eventually be followed by enlightenment and elation.

  Marketing really is much more than a task to achieve financial success. It’s about unearthing potential—in your business, in the leaders of your company, and in the kinds of clients you attract. And when you learn to market as a spiritual practice, the sense that marketing is a “chore” will vanish. Instead, the process becomes meaningful, so you’ll value and enjoy it.

  Once you break from ho-hum marketing and learn to put your deeper beliefs “out to the universe” (think: “a broader level of promotion”), a remarkable thing will happen: You will attract those who really need and appreciate the products or services your company provides. It’s an incredibly simple concept. [Then again, Buddhists say their methods are simple, yet it takes decades for their monks to master them.]

  Rules for Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

  If the following rules for this new marketing paradigm sound “New Age,” read between the lines of any enormous business success story (even Donald Trump) and you’ll find similar guidelines (OK, so maybe #4 would be a major stretch for The Donald!).

  1. Whatever you put out to the universe, you will get back.

  2. Use intuition, willingness, clarity, and truth in your messages.

  3. Let your vision, beliefs, and values guide all decisions for the greater purpose of your work.

  4. Address problems with a willingness to learn, open-mindedness, and most important – with compassion.

  5. Continue to grow, take calculated risks, believe your clients, have faith in yourself and your business … and take action to gain success!

  Listen to Your Intuition

  When you are ready to refocus your marketing, there are practices you can begin right away. First, consider that when you do not listen to your intuition, things often go very, very wrong. Consider these examples:

  Case Studies: FedEx and Starbucks

  Let’s start with understanding the value of intuition. Like these successful business founders, you must continually practice “trusting your gut” to make appropriate marketing decisions.

  Based on his intuition of the market demand and potential for a guaranteed overnight delivery service, Fred Smith wrote a paper for his college professor. Said professor was not encouraging in the slightest. But Smith still followed his gut instinct, did his research and preparation, and developed solid marketing. As a result, his company, FedEx, is one of the world’s biggest success stories.

  A similar intuition struck Howard Schultz. While in a caf? in Milan, Schultz realized that Americans would pay over $3 for a cup of coffee. Thus did the creator of Starbucks give birth to his company, which has enjoyed phenomenal international growth in the past few years. Obviously, Schultz was correct in following his instinct!

  Willingness & Risk-Taking

  Willingness is the state of mind that takes an idea from intuition to creation. But too often, this willingness is defeated by a belief (especially inherent in business owners or entrepreneurs) that “we can do it all ourselves.” If you are open to assistance and you have good direction, you will usually reach your goals.

  Case in point: We worked with a writing firm owner who wanted to return to her roots, doing more journalistic projects. After years of writing marketing materials and web content for technology-based firms, this owner lacked the confidence to approach editors of consumer-focused publications and pitch her story ideas.

  After a Speed Consulting session (just $180), our team helped her map out a strategy for breaking through her pain-points, and created several simple-to-execute tactics:

  • development of a story outline

  • creation of an attention-grabbing & strategic editorial pitch

  • identification of a targeted media list to contact

  In just a week, we convinced two publications to pick up one of her articles. True, few stories are sold this quickly. But we believe that it was the writer’s willingness to adapt to the editors’ exact needs that allowed her business goals to be realized. In fact, one of the publications has since advised her that they would like her to write a series of articles...so this could be the beginning of an exciting, ongoing relationship for this very talented writer.

  What is the Value of This “Spiritual” Approach? In Her Own Words …

  ”After 20 years as a writer, and writing about everyone else’s products and services, I found it hard to pitch my own. But Allison helped me to remember that editors are simply another target market seeking a product (my writing) that will meet their editorial requirements, and will be of interest to their readers.

  What was really wonderful about my consultation with Allison was that she made the process so simple. I had only to accomplish a few tasks, play to my own strengths, and the rest took care of itself. I could never have done this without Allison’s immediate grasp of my needs, her very wise counsel, and her help with the pitches.

  I tell my friends: If you’re paralyzed by a bad case of the “buts” (I’m really good at this, but...), and you truly have a willingness to succeed, do yourself a HUGE favor and call Allison! She can get you “unstuck” and back on track in no time, with her intelligent, caring, cost-effective, no-BS brand of marketing” — Owner, Lucchesi Communications

  More Tips for Implementing Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

  • If you really care about your clients, you owe it to yourself and to them to stay in touch. Think they’ll automatically remember you? Realistically, when they have a zillion other pressing concerns, and you haven’t been in touch for a while, it’s not likely. It’s absolutely imperative to stay in touch with those you have put so much energy into helping. So keep helping them! Establish a communications program to let these potential clients know you’re still around, and that you’re still available to help them.

  • Use your network! Trust those who have benefited from your products or services in the past to value you, to want to help you, and to want to help their friends or colleagues by referring you. Ask them to refer you to their associates! Better yet, give them an incentive for referring closed business, such as a coupon for a free massage, dinner for two, tickets to a game, or perhaps an industry-appropriate gift.

  • Take your referrals and leads seriously. If you’re trying to develop your business, you should talk to every potential customer or client, at least, to determine if they need your product or service now or later. If they’re in the “later” category, add them to your database and be sure to stay in touch regularly. Make a concerted effort to do this in the next fo
    Medical Billing - GE0 Record Fields 1 Through 8
    In our previous installment on medical billing, we covered the basics of enteral nutrition and billing and how it got to be such big business. In this installment we're going to review the GE0 record, fields 1 through 8, which is the CMN that has to be sent to the carrier with each enteral bill that is submitted for payment via electronic means using NSF 3.01 specifications.GE0 field 1, positions 1 - 3, is the record type. This field needs to be filled in with GE0. If it is not, the claim will be denied by the carrier. Also, this record must come after the F record in the claim file that is specifically for the enteral product being billed.GE0 field 2, positions 4 - 5, is the sequence number. Because there can be up to 99 CMN records in a claim file, the sequence number, or CMN number must be transmitted, such as GE0-01, GE0-02, etc. If these are out of sequence, the claim will be denied.GE0 field 3, positions 6 - 22, is the patient ID number. This is the same number that is transmitted in the CA0 record and all subsequent records.
    des. It’s an incredibly simple concept. [Then again, Buddhists say their methods are simple, yet it takes decades for their monks to master them.]

    Rules for Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

    If the following rules for this new marketing paradigm sound “New Age,” read between the lines of any enormous business success story (even Donald Trump) and you’ll find similar guidelines (OK, so maybe #4 would be a major stretch for The Donald!).

    1. Whatever you put out to the universe, you will get back.

    2. Use intuition, willingness, clarity, and truth in your messages.

    3. Let your vision, beliefs, and values guide all decisions for the greater purpose of your work.

    4. Address problems with a willingness to learn, open-mindedness, and most important – with compassion.

    5. Continue to grow, take calculated risks, believe your clients, have faith in yourself and your business … and take action to gain success!

    Listen to Your Intuition

    When you are ready to refocus your marketing, there are practices you can begin right away. First, consider that when you do not listen to your intuition, things often go very, very wrong. Consider these examples:

    Case Studies: FedEx and Starbucks

    Let’s start with understanding the value of intuition. Like these successful business founders, you must continually practice “trusting your gut” to make appropriate marketing decisions.

    Based on his intuition of the market demand and potential for a guaranteed overnight delivery service, Fred Smith wrote a paper for his college professor. Said professor was not encouraging in the slightest. But Smith still followed his gut instinct, did his research and preparation, and developed solid marketing. As a result, his company, FedEx, is one of the world’s biggest success stories.

    A similar intuition struck Howard Schultz. While in a caf? in Milan, Schultz realized that Americans would pay over $3 for a cup of coffee. Thus did the creator of Starbucks give birth to his company, which has enjoyed phenomenal international growth in the past few years. Obviously, Schultz was correct in following his instinct!

    Willingness & Risk-Taking

    Willingness is the state of mind that takes an idea from intuition to creation. But too often, this willingness is defeated by a belief (especially inherent in business owners or entrepreneurs) that “we can do it all ourselves.” If you are open to assistance and you have good direction, you will usually reach your goals.

    Case in point: We worked with a writing firm owner who wanted to return to her roots, doing more journalistic projects. After years of writing marketing materials and web content for technology-based firms, this owner lacked the confidence to approach editors of consumer-focused publications and pitch her story ideas.

    After a Speed Consulting session (just $180), our team helped her map out a strategy for breaking through her pain-points, and created several simple-to-execute tactics:

    • development of a story outline

    • creation of an attention-grabbing & strategic editorial pitch

    • identification of a targeted media list to contact

    In just a week, we convinced two publications to pick up one of her articles. True, few stories are sold this quickly. But we believe that it was the writer’s willingness to adapt to the editors’ exact needs that allowed her business goals to be realized. In fact, one of the publications has since advised her that they would like her to write a series of articles...so this could be the beginning of an exciting, ongoing relationship for this very talented writer.

    What is the Value of This “Spiritual” Approach? In Her Own Words …

    ”After 20 years as a writer, and writing about everyone else’s products and services, I found it hard to pitch my own. But Allison helped me to remember that editors are simply another target market seeking a product (my writing) that will meet their editorial requirements, and will be of interest to their readers.

    What was really wonderful about my consultation with Allison was that she made the process so simple. I had only to accomplish a few tasks, play to my own strengths, and the rest took care of itself. I could never have done this without Allison’s immediate grasp of my needs, her very wise counsel, and her help with the pitches.

    I tell my friends: If you’re paralyzed by a bad case of the “buts” (I’m really good at this, but...), and you truly have a willingness to succeed, do yourself a HUGE favor and call Allison! She can get you “unstuck” and back on track in no time, with her intelligent, caring, cost-effective, no-BS brand of marketing” — Owner, Lucchesi Communications

    More Tips for Implementing Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

    • If you really care about your clients, you owe it to yourself and to them to stay in touch. Think they’ll automatically remember you? Realistically, when they have a zillion other pressing concerns, and you haven’t been in touch for a while, it’s not likely. It’s absolutely imperative to stay in touch with those you have put so much energy into helping. So keep helping them! Establish a communications program to let these potential clients know you’re still around, and that you’re still available to help them.

    • Use your network! Trust those who have benefited from your products or services in the past to value you, to want to help you, and to want to help their friends or colleagues by referring you. Ask them to refer you to their associates! Better yet, give them an incentive for referring closed business, such as a coupon for a free massage, dinner for two, tickets to a game, or perhaps an industry-appropriate gift.

    • Take your referrals and leads seriously. If you’re trying to develop your business, you should talk to every potential customer or client, at least, to determine if they need your product or service now or later. If they’re in the “later” category, add them to your database and be sure to stay in touch regularly. Make a concerted effort to do this in the next f
      Stepping Stone Jobs
      What we name something matters.It sets a tone that alters our attitude.Give something a new name and the difference may seem insignificant or even trivial.However, if it changes our attitude, it can amount to a very big change.Recently, I heard the term “survival job.”I understood this to mean a job that is often part-time and unrelated to one’s primary career focus. One takes such a job because one’s previous position has been eliminated, out-sourced, down-sized, off-shored, or otherwise zapped.I heard this term a few times and thought, “Why does the phrase ‘hunker-down’ come to mind?”The term suggests an image of bunkers, flack jackets, helmets, and a sound track of voices shouting “incoming!”That doesn’t exactly give a warm, fuzzy feeling, does it?Maybe we can’t change the immediate reality of making ends meet as rapidly as we might wish, but we can change our attitude by some imaginative and empowering nomenclature.Suppose a “survival job” becomes a “stepping stone job?”What diff
      elivery service, Fred Smith wrote a paper for his college professor. Said professor was not encouraging in the slightest. But Smith still followed his gut instinct, did his research and preparation, and developed solid marketing. As a result, his company, FedEx, is one of the world’s biggest success stories.

      A similar intuition struck Howard Schultz. While in a caf? in Milan, Schultz realized that Americans would pay over $3 for a cup of coffee. Thus did the creator of Starbucks give birth to his company, which has enjoyed phenomenal international growth in the past few years. Obviously, Schultz was correct in following his instinct!

      Willingness & Risk-Taking

      Willingness is the state of mind that takes an idea from intuition to creation. But too often, this willingness is defeated by a belief (especially inherent in business owners or entrepreneurs) that “we can do it all ourselves.” If you are open to assistance and you have good direction, you will usually reach your goals.

      Case in point: We worked with a writing firm owner who wanted to return to her roots, doing more journalistic projects. After years of writing marketing materials and web content for technology-based firms, this owner lacked the confidence to approach editors of consumer-focused publications and pitch her story ideas.

      After a Speed Consulting session (just $180), our team helped her map out a strategy for breaking through her pain-points, and created several simple-to-execute tactics:

      • development of a story outline

      • creation of an attention-grabbing & strategic editorial pitch

      • identification of a targeted media list to contact

      In just a week, we convinced two publications to pick up one of her articles. True, few stories are sold this quickly. But we believe that it was the writer’s willingness to adapt to the editors’ exact needs that allowed her business goals to be realized. In fact, one of the publications has since advised her that they would like her to write a series of articles...so this could be the beginning of an exciting, ongoing relationship for this very talented writer.

      What is the Value of This “Spiritual” Approach? In Her Own Words …

      ”After 20 years as a writer, and writing about everyone else’s products and services, I found it hard to pitch my own. But Allison helped me to remember that editors are simply another target market seeking a product (my writing) that will meet their editorial requirements, and will be of interest to their readers.

      What was really wonderful about my consultation with Allison was that she made the process so simple. I had only to accomplish a few tasks, play to my own strengths, and the rest took care of itself. I could never have done this without Allison’s immediate grasp of my needs, her very wise counsel, and her help with the pitches.

      I tell my friends: If you’re paralyzed by a bad case of the “buts” (I’m really good at this, but...), and you truly have a willingness to succeed, do yourself a HUGE favor and call Allison! She can get you “unstuck” and back on track in no time, with her intelligent, caring, cost-effective, no-BS brand of marketing” — Owner, Lucchesi Communications

      More Tips for Implementing Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

      • If you really care about your clients, you owe it to yourself and to them to stay in touch. Think they’ll automatically remember you? Realistically, when they have a zillion other pressing concerns, and you haven’t been in touch for a while, it’s not likely. It’s absolutely imperative to stay in touch with those you have put so much energy into helping. So keep helping them! Establish a communications program to let these potential clients know you’re still around, and that you’re still available to help them.

      • Use your network! Trust those who have benefited from your products or services in the past to value you, to want to help you, and to want to help their friends or colleagues by referring you. Ask them to refer you to their associates! Better yet, give them an incentive for referring closed business, such as a coupon for a free massage, dinner for two, tickets to a game, or perhaps an industry-appropriate gift.

      • Take your referrals and leads seriously. If you’re trying to develop your business, you should talk to every potential customer or client, at least, to determine if they need your product or service now or later. If they’re in the “later” category, add them to your database and be sure to stay in touch regularly. Make a concerted effort to do this in the next f
        Why Communication Skills Don't Work In Customer Service
        Every time my firm conducts communication skills training, we know someone is going to object.“That doesn't work. Everybody's heard of active listening. You can't use that stuff anymore.”And we have to admit, there's a lot of truth in that. Everyone has heard of active listening. And it doesn't work for many people much of the time.But communication skills can work for your staff.The problem usually isn't the skills. It's the way people are trained to use them. Learn to use communication skills effectively, and they can create happy customers and higher income.There are two components to good communication skills: (a) the skills themselves, and (b) what you're trying to do (your intention) when you use them. Many employees learn communication skills from manuals. And many manuals emphasize either skills, or intention but not both. And so, much of what we think of as communication skills training fails.Here are a couple of examples:Example 1: How active listening gets a black eye: using good skills, but wit
        tline

      • creation of an attention-grabbing & strategic editorial pitch

      • identification of a targeted media list to contact

      In just a week, we convinced two publications to pick up one of her articles. True, few stories are sold this quickly. But we believe that it was the writer’s willingness to adapt to the editors’ exact needs that allowed her business goals to be realized. In fact, one of the publications has since advised her that they would like her to write a series of articles...so this could be the beginning of an exciting, ongoing relationship for this very talented writer.

      What is the Value of This “Spiritual” Approach? In Her Own Words …

      ”After 20 years as a writer, and writing about everyone else’s products and services, I found it hard to pitch my own. But Allison helped me to remember that editors are simply another target market seeking a product (my writing) that will meet their editorial requirements, and will be of interest to their readers.

      What was really wonderful about my consultation with Allison was that she made the process so simple. I had only to accomplish a few tasks, play to my own strengths, and the rest took care of itself. I could never have done this without Allison’s immediate grasp of my needs, her very wise counsel, and her help with the pitches.

      I tell my friends: If you’re paralyzed by a bad case of the “buts” (I’m really good at this, but...), and you truly have a willingness to succeed, do yourself a HUGE favor and call Allison! She can get you “unstuck” and back on track in no time, with her intelligent, caring, cost-effective, no-BS brand of marketing” — Owner, Lucchesi Communications

      More Tips for Implementing Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

      • If you really care about your clients, you owe it to yourself and to them to stay in touch. Think they’ll automatically remember you? Realistically, when they have a zillion other pressing concerns, and you haven’t been in touch for a while, it’s not likely. It’s absolutely imperative to stay in touch with those you have put so much energy into helping. So keep helping them! Establish a communications program to let these potential clients know you’re still around, and that you’re still available to help them.

      • Use your network! Trust those who have benefited from your products or services in the past to value you, to want to help you, and to want to help their friends or colleagues by referring you. Ask them to refer you to their associates! Better yet, give them an incentive for referring closed business, such as a coupon for a free massage, dinner for two, tickets to a game, or perhaps an industry-appropriate gift.

      • Take your referrals and leads seriously. If you’re trying to develop your business, you should talk to every potential customer or client, at least, to determine if they need your product or service now or later. If they’re in the “later” category, add them to your database and be sure to stay in touch regularly. Make a concerted effort to do this in the next f
        Direct Mail Fundraising Arithmetic: Avoid Blunders By Knowing Your Numbers
        Your direct mail fundraising results never lie. But they mislead you if you let them. I worked as Director of Development for a national charity that held a lavish fundraising banquet each year. The staff, from the executive director down to the receptionist, including the development staff, thought this banquet was the organization’s most successful fundraiser. Shortly after being hired, I conducted a comprehensive development audit that measured the profitability of the organization’s fundraising methods, including this annual banquet. I added up the cost of the venue, catering, table and chair rental, lighting, sound, speaker honorarium, invitation printing, postage and every other related cost and subtracted this number from the gross income. What a surprise we got!What looked like a successful fundraiser was actually the organization’s least-effective fundraiser. In 1999, they spent 89? to raise one dollar. They didn’t realize that their “best fundraiser” was a financial flop, year after year.
        n get you “unstuck” and back on track in no time, with her intelligent, caring, cost-effective, no-BS brand of marketing” — Owner, Lucchesi Communications

        More Tips for Implementing Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

        • If you really care about your clients, you owe it to yourself and to them to stay in touch. Think they’ll automatically remember you? Realistically, when they have a zillion other pressing concerns, and you haven’t been in touch for a while, it’s not likely. It’s absolutely imperative to stay in touch with those you have put so much energy into helping. So keep helping them! Establish a communications program to let these potential clients know you’re still around, and that you’re still available to help them.

        • Use your network! Trust those who have benefited from your products or services in the past to value you, to want to help you, and to want to help their friends or colleagues by referring you. Ask them to refer you to their associates! Better yet, give them an incentive for referring closed business, such as a coupon for a free massage, dinner for two, tickets to a game, or perhaps an industry-appropriate gift.

        • Take your referrals and leads seriously. If you’re trying to develop your business, you should talk to every potential customer or client, at least, to determine if they need your product or service now or later. If they’re in the “later” category, add them to your database and be sure to stay in touch regularly. Make a concerted effort to do this in the next four months, and you can expect to see some real rewards.

        • Get help when you need it. When you find yourself working on the tenth revision of a postcard, flier, website, brochure, letter to clients, or similar tool, it’s time to get professional help … no, not a psychotherapist, a marketing pro!

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