How to Keep Nervousness from Losing Business Opportunity

If a large percentage of your potential customers are local to you, using Web 2.0 channels to market your business is only going to provide a portion of your capabilities. So if you haven't done it yet, you're going to have to add SPEAKING to your marketing platform. When I say speaking, I mean that you must seek opportunities to get in front of your prospects and get noticed. Why?  Because your competition is already doing just that.

Getting up and in front of your prospects means doing business presentations, speaking at networking event, presenting at chambers of commerce breakfasts or even doing talks at Rotary and Kiwanis Club events. And have you thought about breaking into the conference speaking circuit? Speaking to your prospects does not mean selling your products and services from the front of the room. It means proposing solutions to your potential customers' challenges to make them investigate your company and what you have to offer.

So what if you get nervous speaking in front of small or large groups?  How can you deal with your nervousness so that it doesn't interfere with business growth. Recently I was interviewed and asked questions to help those who are contemplating adding speaking their marketing plan.  The First question was, what tips did I have for someone who is nervous about public speaking and what suggestions could I offer to help them feel more comfortable and confident?

Before stepping onto a stage: Make sure that you know your material forwards and backwards; it's a huge step in tackling nervousness. When a speaker is confident with his or her knowledge of the subject matter, it helps to ease nervous feelings. Also know that your audience DOES want you to succeed. 

Just prior to a speaking event: Take time to visit the room where you will be presenting, before anyone arrives. Stand at the front of the room and envision the room full of people. Practice speaking in that room, moving about. Hearing your own voice and practicing your presentation. Successful speakers imagine their presentation before they actually give it.

During your presentation: Take deep breaths frequently. The more oxygen you get to your brain, the clearer you can think and the more relaxed your body will feel. As you look at your audience, look for familiar and friendly faces. Focus on them and look for as many of those faces as you can. Avoid looking at those with discouraging facial expressions.

Are You Using Video as Part of Your Marketing Plan?

If you aren't using videos as part of your marketing plan, you may be missing out.  Your competitors are doing just that and attracting more attention from prospects.

When small business owners hear about videos, they think about having to spend thousands of dollars to hire a video crew, but it's more inexpensive than you might think.

The best kinds of videos are less than 2 minutes and feature you speaking to your customers.  People have very little time to watch anything elaborate in fact, the shorter the better.

Get noticed by posting short videos of you or someone representing your organization, offering solutions to your customers problems.  Here is an example of a short but effective video that I made.

How I Used Web 2.0 to Land a Regular Paid Radio Gig

Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Using Web 2.0 to market yourself as a requires both broadcasting AND tuning in to what is being posted on the Web #web2.0. That means, posting content is not enough for effective marketing, it requires a great deal of listening to what others are saying about your industry, your business and about you. As a case in point, here is an example of what can happen by spending time listening and monitoring, as well as posting.

A tweet was posted that mentioned my name and it asked me to reply. Some quick research on my part revealed that it was posted by someone with the title of PRODUCER of a late-night talk show on the BBC, the UK radio network. With the high volume of SPAM out there and mass marketers trying to get our attention, I was cautious but curious, and replied to the tweet.

Video Marketing Made Easy...Find Out How to track, distribute and make money with video!

This conversation on the micro blogging site Twitter instantly became a telephone conversation. The producer at the BBC said he was seeking an expert from the U.S. who could be a part of a 90-minute radio show that was scheduled later that evening and it needed experts who were prepared to discuss the topic from various countries around the world.

I accepted the opportunity and was connected later that evening with the show's host via Skype, when the show began. The conversation took many interesting turns and twists as callers from about the UK called in to voice their opinion or concern, supporting one side or the other of a much polarized, yet conversational, topic.

As a result of answering that original tweet, I landed myself a regular paid spot on a popular late-night radio show. My bank even called to confirm the legitimacy of a regular deposit to my bank account made in British Sterling Silver. I record each show using a skype recording application and use the recording of the show I was a part of as another digital product I can offer my followers and fans, including another recording as part of my podcast.

Finally, in the original phone call conversation that came from the tweet, I asked the producer how he knew to contact me as an expert in my field. He admitted that he was not seeking me alone. Instead, he did a series of Internet searches on the topic of the show and selected the top five most active experts based on Internet presence and posted content. This fact alone has inspired me to continue to be an active participant using Web 2.0!