What are the right words for your business presentation? The ones your audience connects with.

In his best selling book, “Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say – it’s What People Hear” Dr. Frank Luntz shares his insights about picking the right words for your speech or presentation.

As the subtitle of Luntz’s book clearly states: it’s not what you say…it’s what people hear.

Chew on that one.

Your choice of words can make or break your presentation. If your story is filled with corporate buzzwords and industry jargon, you can easily turn people off. Instead of appealing to the hearts and minds of your audience, you can easily sound stale and boring.

And it’s not your presentation. It’s only a poor choice of words.

Our language is constantly changing. In some organizations certain words have taken on a unique meaning that would be invisible to the outsider.

For instance, I worked in one plant facility that had been operating ‘in the red’ for years. Instead of speaking openly about this, what do you think people did? They eliminated all words that used the word ‘red’ – and in addition, they took out anything that had the red color.

If only things were so simple. Eliminating the mention of a problem rarely makes the problem disappear! Instead it tends to reinforce delusion.

In another situation, I was asked to create a training to help new facilitators. I used the classic SWOT analysis to help participants identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

At the break time, the director pulled me aside. “We don’t use the word ‘weaknesses’ here,” she told me in hushed tones. “It implies that individuals are weak!”

Well, instead of SWOT, she chose to eliminate the entire exercise. All to avoid a potentially charged, but critical, discussion.

Shaking your head? Me too.

I just bring these two examples to your attention for one simple reason: pay attention to your audience. Some words seem innocent to you. But these words may be extremely charged to your audience.

What can you do to avoid the possibility of having things blow up in your face? Do a test-run. Show your boss, contact or supervisor your presentation in advance. Allow time for them to make adjustments and give you feedback.

This can help you avoid on-the-spot encounters over words that you never would have thought are culprits!

Most presenters are not psychic mind readers. You don’t know exactly what will set off a reaction for your audience or your director. So, instead of risking poor reviews, make time for your client to preview your presentation.

Remember: it’s not what you say – it’s what people hear. By being proactive, you can help your presentation to have the affect you are looking for.

Develop your presentation skills so you can communicate effectively to your audience. Use the right stories, visuals and words to reach more customers and grow your business. 

Illustrate, Illustrate for a great presentation

When a speaker loses an audience, too often it is a mystery to him. But for the audience, it is not a mystery. It is just not a great presentation.

The simple fact is that many speeches we listen to spend a lot of time in some theory or idea. And we as humans have trouble focusing on an abstract idea for very long before losing interest. This is one of many reasons one of the central rules of public speaking is to use lots of stories and illustrations to make sure you hold the audience’s attention and give a great presentation.

Some speakers look down on the need of audiences to connect to the speaker via concrete illustrations. But this is a basic form of human communication. In fact, some of the most brilliant speakers in the world who give a great presentation, have acknowledged that if a speaker cannot express his ideas in concrete illustrations, then that speaker does not have a grasp on that idea yet.

The use of stories and humor should get started as soon as the talk begins. One of the problems that public speaking encounters has to do with the speed of processing. Science has shown us that the human mind can think at least 10 times faster than it can hear. That means that for 90% of the time you are talking to a group, their minds have time on their hands. If you give them a concrete story to work with, the details of that story give that excess brain power something to do.

By opening with a light-hearted illustration, you capture the minds of your audience quickly. The best kind of opening story is a humorous one particularly if it is an anecdote from your past. This method not only is a wonderful way to get your talk off with an enjoyable story, it connects them to you and opens up the speaker to the audience which causes bonding. When selecting the perfect opening humorous story, use two criteria to select just the right illustration. First, select a story that links to the problem to be solved by the presentation. If the problem is an abstract tone such as spiritual hunger or political theory, that can be tricky. But try to get close with the illustration, at least close enough that you can have a transition ready to take the audience from the story to the concept you wish to discuss first.

Secondly, connect your opening story and every illustration in your talk to your theme. In this way every step of the way, the illustrations reach out to the audience, rescue them from drifting and gently bring them back to the talk and what you want them to be thinking about at this part of your presentation.

You can tell if your audience is drifting. Any public speaker has looked out and seen the audience begin to lose interest in what is being said. The eyes begin to look away from the speaker. Often they will take an interest in something in their lap or on their person. You might see them writing but it probably is not notes from your talk. Or their heads bob or you just see them go to sleep entirely. So when you see that happen, your presentation has spent too much time on theoretical ideas and you need to go back and think through a different mix of ideas and illustrations.

A good illustration at least will keep the audience involved in the discussion. But a great illustration will actually become part of the presentation so you can tell the story and then proceed to use elements of the story as part of your next points in your conceptual talk. When that works well, you will stop losing the audience because the concrete story serves to anchor the rest of the presentation perfectly.

So learn the art of telling a good story. Any long time story teller will teach us that the heart of a good story is detail. But in a public speaking setting, a story should be brief but easy to understand. If it has humor, thatís the best story of them all but above all, it should have personality. And it should help to compel the audience to connect to the talk and understand the ideas you want them to grasp. And if that happens and you have a stronger talk as a result, you will be glad you followed the advice of experts in public speaking to illustrate, illustrate, illustrate and give a great presentation.

Making presentations is great way to get your message across. Whether it is presenting this month’s sales figures or business proposition, presentations can be very important communication tools.

However, the way you use them can have a huge influence on how effective they can be. If you are going to give a presentation that lasts for over 20 minutes then you need to be prepared for your audiences mind to wander. In these situations you need to hold onto their attention as long as possible. If you are only presenting from a script then, you will it difficult to keep people’s attention.

To increase your chances of keeping your audience’s attention you need to break up your presentation with visuals. Visuals are very affective at getting your message across. As the saying goes ‘a picture can say a thousand words’. There are many ways that you can present your image visually to support your presentation. Below are the most effective examples:

Microsoft PowerPoint
If you have access to a laptop computer and LCD projector then using PowerPoint is an effective way of presenting your information and main points visually. Another benefit with using PowerPoint is that you can store unlimited presentations on your laptop. This is particularly convenient for salespeople who have to travel a lot on the road. However, you have to be careful. With all technology there is the risk that it will breakdown. Therefore, you should have a backup plan if this happens.

Flip-charts
These have been around forever and are still an effective visual aid for your presentation. Flip-charts are more effective when presenting to smaller groups. They are also very useful if your presentation involves audience participation. When you ask the audience questions or ideas you can use the flip-chart to write these down.

Handouts
Providing handouts is a good way for the audience to follow along with your presentation. They also act as a memory jogger as people can refer back to the handouts after the presentation is finished. It is important that the handout is not the actual presentation script that you’re reading from. The handout should cover the main points which are expanded upon during your presentation.

After stumbling a bit, most speakers are able to name the purpose of any
presentation they might give. However, most really stumble when asked if their
presentations are meant to persuade anyone of anything.

The answer, 99% of the time, is YES. And yet most presenters don’t realize it. As a
result, the world is full of “information-only” presentations that do NOT achieve the
presenters’ or the audience’s expectations or needs. Information in itself does not
lead people to understand, believe, or act. Information alone is a “data-dump,” not
a presentation.

Think about it. Why give a presentation at all if you are not attempting to change the
audience’s behaviors or attitudes?

Persuasion versus Coercion

“Thaw with her gentle persuasion is more powerful than Thor with his hammer. The
one melts, the other breaks into pieces.”
Henry David Thoreau

The term “persuasion” can turn presenters off. Many subconsciously equate it with
coercion. And in fact both do share the same continuum of strategies that seek
compliance from the listener. Yet persuasion, when done well, answers the
audience’s questions, address its concerns, and fulfills its needs…while achieving
the presenter’s goals.

Persuasion is nonadversarial in nature. Because it does not command, negotiate, or
coerce, those who are persuaded almost always feel comfortable and satisfied with
the outcomes. Why do they feel satisfied? Because the speaker has done her
homework. She KNOWS what the audience needs and cares about. The presentation
moves out of being a data dump and into the realm of dialogue, even if no formal
“Q & A” takes place.

Credibility as Persuasion

“Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.” Aristotle

Persuasion is more than strategy or technique. Your credibility factor underlies all
persuasion. All the charisma in the world falls flat if the audience doesn’t perceive
you as being credible.

Empirical research (McCroskey, Holdrige & Toomb, 1974) describes five dimensions
that must be evident in order for a speaker to be credible:

o Competence: the degree to which you are perceived to be an expert.

o Character: the degree to which you are perceived as a reliable, essentially
trustworthy message source.

o Composure: the degree to which you are perceived as being able to maintain
emotional control.

o Extroversion: the degree to which you are perceived as bold, outgoing, and
dynamic.

o Sociability: the degree to which the audience perceives you as someone with
whom they could be friends.

Remember that the effectiveness of your presentation is really about building a
relationship with the audience. These five dimensions of credibility are far more
effective tools than PowerPoint or any other technology. People are “buying” (or not
buying) you.

What’s in it for Them?

Jerry Weissman, in his book “Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story” calls
persuasion audience advocacy. By that, he means the ability to view yourself, your
company, your story, and your presentation through your audience’s eyes. You must
be able to answer the question “What’s in it for them?” at every juncture of your
presentation.

If you want to move the uninformed, dubious, or resistant audience to understand,
believe, and act, (and what speaker doesn’t?)
you must:

1. Know your audience.

Do your homework. Find out what your audience cares about, what it wants to
know, what its concerns are.

2. Link every piece of information to your audience’s needs.

Here’s a helpful test.

1. First, determine your next presentation’s purpose. Write it down. Reflect on it.
Change it if necessary.

2. Then, compose the first draft of your presentation. Focus on the purpose as you
write.

3. Go through your presentation. Every time you provide a piece of data, STOP.
Then ask and answer these questions:

“This is important to them because…” (answer it!)

“So what?” (explain how it benefits the audience.)

4. When you discover information for which you cannot answer these questions, ask
yourself: Does this data help the audience understand, believe, or act? Remove the
data if it does not.

You’re On!

Once you’ve gotten through the test and integrated the answers into your
presentation, be ready to put on your Audience Advocacy hat once again. Select
from the following phrases and insert them into your presentation at the
appropriate times:

“This is important to you because…”

“Why am I telling you this?”

“Who cares? (“You should care, because…”)

You are Credible; You Meet Your Audience’s Needs

Develop and practice the five dimensions of credibility. They are an innate and
natural part of you. A higher awareness of them will increase your effectiveness as a
speaker. Remember to “see, taste, and hear” your presentation as if you are a
member of your own audience. And always ask yourself: What’s in it for them?

Far from being coercive, you are proving yourself to be powerfully aligned with your
audience. Your message will benefit, motivate and move them!

Article © 2005 Guila Muir and Associates

What kind of presenter are you? Do people hang on to every word you say or do you send them to sleep? Do your words motivate action or inaction?

If you wonder what it takes to present with impact and charisma, regardless of the size of the audience, here are the crucial ‘ingredients’:

1. A charismatic presenter is confident. They are sure of their ability, and they know that people are interested in what they have got to say. When they talk, they project certainty, hence people feel at ease and are compelled to listen. While some people are naturally confident, many top presenters had to learn it. They went through a personal development curve, eliminating internal limitations, rewriting what they believe about themselves, obtaining self-belief.

2. A charismatic presenter knows how to build a connection with their audience. They know what to say or ask, so that people listening to them can relate to them immediately. They are masters at rapport building.

3. A charismatic presenter can get in touch with their feelings. They are able to associate themselves in any state very quickly, and guide their audience to feel what they feel. Top public speakers know how to elicit curiosity, excitement, passion, interest, enthusiasm and other powerful states from their audience at will.

4. A charismatic presenter uses a vast range of tonality. While a ‘boring’ speaker will use a clinical tone of voice, presenting with impact requires a vocal range from melodious, through to dramatic, ‘making a point’ and soft voice. They know how to transition from one way of talking to another for the greatest impact.

5. A charismatic presenter is in full control of their body. The world-class public speakers would not walk aimlessly from one part of their stage to another, or talk with their hands like an air traffic controller. All of these can act as distractions. Instead, top presenters make only deliberate movements for a purpose. They know how to use their body to communicate with their audience non-verbally, they are aware of the impact of every single movement they make.

6. A charismatic presenter is an excellent story-teller. They know how to get their message across capturing the imagination of the whole audience and creating a memorable experience.

7. A charismatic presenter is an excellent communicator. They know how to use their language for the greatest impact. They are aware of influence of every word they say, they know what words are useful to use, and what words are useful to avoid. They know how to format their presentation so every single person will find it interesting. They know when it’s useful to talk in ‘artfully vague’, big picture language, and how,and when to transition to details. Top presenters are aware of the tremendous power of language they use.

8. A charismatic presenter has a purpose. The top presenter will have a higher purpose than for making money, or looking good on the stage. The most incredible presenters consider their audience far more important than themselves.

There is a charismatic presenter inside of each of us. It only needs to be awakened!

In the current struggling economy, the number of people with debt problems is ever increasing.  If you are experiencing hardship and can’t pay credit card bills, one of  the best options available to you is debt negotiation, also known as debt settlement, which entails negotiating with creditors to settle for 50% or less of your debt.  This article will explore the do it yourself debt negotiation approach. 

Although there are several methods to eliminate credit card bills, do it yourself debt negotiation is the best option for people who are no longer able to pay credit card debt due to a legitimate hardship such as loss of employment, divorce or separation, a long illness or any other serious event that caused them a significant loss of income. With the correct information and guidance anyone can learn how to negotiate credit card debt on their own and save thousands in fees.

Some people are intimidated by the thought of negotiating with creditors, but the fact is that creditors would rather deal directly with the consumer and some creditors even refuse to work with professional negotiators.  Nevertheless, since most people lack negotiation skills and don’t know the tactics used  in debt settlement, you do need the right coaching to succeed at negotiating your settlement.  

You can certainly hire a debt settlement company to negotiate for you, in fact, if you do a thorough research, you can find a few good companies, but you must be prepared to pay them 15% of your total debt in fees, which can significantly increase your liabilities.    

There are also numerous forums that offer information on this subject but what is the source and quality of this information?  Most of the people who post in the forums are hardly experts in the topic and are posting their opinions as absolute facts.  If you follow these peoples’ advice, it could make matters worse.

If you are overwhelmed by debt and can’t pay credit card bills any longer, you are probably considering bankruptcy, however you should know that debt settlement is the best alternative to bankruptcy. If you have considered debt settlement and have talked to a few debt settlement companies, you are probably shocked at the fees they charge.  With expert information and training you can do your own settlement and save thousands in fees.

As you can probably tell by now, it will be in your best interest to find out about having the correct coaching and guidance to successfully handle your own debt settlement.  With the correct information, the do it yourself approach to debt settlement is a far better choice than hiring a debt negotiation firm and paying high fees, or following the dubious advice of a forum member.  

In a somewhat unexpected move, Google just announced that they are adding support for 360 product views into their updated Google Shopping experience. The announcement includes a neat set of demo products and a quick form for the interested retailers to apply. This approach so far looks similar to what Google has done with Business Photos in the past, offering shops and restaurants to showcase their places in 360 degrees inside Google maps.

The addition of 360 product views in Google Shopping is an exciting development which also raises a few questions.

The idea itself is not new and has been successfully implemented by numerous online shops worldwide. In a global survey conducted by Adobe and released in 2010, more than 20% of their responders in more than 500 companies world-wide were planning on adopting 360 product views and 3D-vizualization technologies. Now at the end of 2012 the demand for such interactive shopping is seeing a hefty boost with the rise of mobile e-commerce. For Google who just started unifying their e-commerce tools into a solid shopping experience with Google Shopping, capable of competing with the likes of Amazon, this is also a very logical step forward.

But there could be some challenges also. From retailer’s point of view, the main issue with the 360 product views is the actual production of the 360-degree imagery. Quality product photography is pretty demanding. It’s time-consuming and costly. When it comes to the 360 product photography this is even more important as the process is quite involved, often requiring specific experience and expensive 360 photography equipment. Good 360 product presentation consists of at least 20 to 40 images per product, and relies on the precise product positioning for a balanced rotation, as well as quality lighting and lots of creativity. This is especially true for products that are large, highly reflective or have unique shapes. Photographers have to build tricky suspension rigs, hangers, custom mannequins and similar solutions to make product appear as floating or suspended. At the end, all these factors contributed to a somewhat slow adoption of the 360 product presentations online, even though their benefits for retailers and shoppers in e-commerce are substantial.

What this means for Google is that their main audience for this new service is going to be product manufactures and not the resellers who so far is the primary target of Google Shopping. Resellers don’t like to spend too much on quality still shots left alone 360 photography, and the idea of sharing such unique imagery with their competition in Google Shopping the way it works now is not going to fly with these folks very well. On the other hand, high quality product photography and 360 views especially remain an important differentiator that some retailers rely on to compete for their clients. This differentiator will be lost if these images are shared between several competing retailers in Google Shopping, and frankly would make the shopping quite boring. Even today, browsing Google product listings with the same manufacture provided imagery over and over again is uninspiring.

Also, unlike panoramic views of places in Business Photos that remain more or less the same for years, e-commerce inventory and product photography is constantly updated. For starters this requires certain automation in the way retailers would be interacting with the new service. Google has covered that part exceptionally well in the past with the product feeds that can automatically synchronize both product details and still images with Google’s product listing. Relying on an obscure web form or email to get 360 imagery to Google Shopping is, hopefully, just a start. Then of course there’s all the time and efforts required to re-shoot products in 360-degrees as new inventory comes in. One approach that Google is successfully applying with Business Photos is to partner up with local studios interested in the arranged photo-shoots. Google Business Photos currently lists 355 trusted photographers referred by Google in the U.S. which is not that bad considering that the service just launched about a year ago. This might work well for 360 product photography also as more professional studios embrace the idea. And with Google Shopping behind the 360 product views now, this should be a no-brainer.

But may be a more concerning issue with Google Shopping today is that it slowly becoming a bidding playground since Google stopped offering it as a free service in October, 2012. A highly controversial move, this is pushing small sellers away from Google Shopping, adding to the concerns to the adoption of the new features.

Now that you have some basic negotiation savvy, it is time to become familiar with some of the standard types of deals used when negotiating performance dates. I also suggest the various situations for which each deal is best suited. Keep in mind, however, that every negotiation can be as creative as the individuals participating. If the following standard deals require some tweaking to suit a particular situation, feel free to explore all of your options. Most booking personnel with whom you shall be negotiating are familiar with these standard deals and may be more comfortable using one of them to finalize your negotiations.

Five Standard Types of Deals

1. Straight Percentage
2. Straight Guarantee
3. Guarantee Plus Percentage
4. Guarantee Versus Percentage
5. Guarantee Plus Bonus

Straight Percentage

A straight percentage is a percentage of the ticket sales or the income taken at the door. The key to this negotiation is to come up with the appropriate percentage. This deal is often offered when a performer is not known in a market and the promoter is not willing to risk any up front money or guarantee. Percentages can range from 100% of the door on down. Typical percentage splits are 65-70 percent to the artist and 35-30 percent to the venue. When negotiating this type of deal, it is important to build your value in the marketplace in order to get the promoter to agree to the highest percentage rate possible. Then, it is up to you to see that the show is well promoted and get a good audience. With the promoter having very little at risk, it is unlikely they will put much effort into promoting this date. It would be advisable to get some idea of the promotion the promoter is willing to do and include that in your contract.

This deal can be very advantageous to a performer under certain circumstances. When an artist has a very strong following in an area with a loyal fan base and large mailing list, a straight percentage, especially a high percentage, can often net the artist a higher fee than some of the other deals we’ll discuss. Artists who produce their own shows at local venues and are savvy self-promoters with good media connections, are perfectly suited for a straight percentage deal.

Quite often, most guarantees that club owners offer are far lower than the amount an artist can net with a straight percentage under the above circumstance.

However, if you are unknown to a market, a straight percentage may not be a good deal. The promoter may be very interested in using a straight percentage to reduce the risk to the venue. When touring to unknown markets, make every effort to negotiate some guarantee to cover basic expenses. At least you know the venue is risking something on your behalf. They might actually make some efforts to promote the date so they recoup their minor investment.

A Straight Guarantee

A straight guarantee requires the promoter to offer the artist some money. As a new performer to the venue, that amount may be very low-$50 or $100 is not unheard of. A straight guarantee assures you of some income when building audiences in new markets. Some artists, who have reached a certain level in their careers, can ask for much large guarantees and are quite satisfied with the straight guarantee. The key to these negotiations is coming up with the guarantee that works for both parties’ budgets.

As you being to draw larger audiences and perform in venues with greater seating capacities, it is important to determine whether a straight guarantee will be adequate compensation. Now you must consider the seating capacity, ticket pricing, the venue’s budget and weigh that against the guarantee you are discussing. When all the figures begin to show a profit far outweighing your guarantee, it may be time to begin incorporating some split percentage deals above the straight guarantee.

Guarantee Plus Percentage

This deal is determined after considering the seating capacity, ticket prices, gross income potential, expenses, (including artist guarantee) and the acts’ draw potential. After all the figures are calculated, you will be able to determine the amount, if any, remaining after all expenses. At that point you may negotiate a percentage of the overage, (the amount left over after expenses), to be split with the promoter. Again, standard percentage splits range between 65-70 percent to the artist and 35-30 percent to the venue, but anything is possible. The greater the demand for the artist, the more the act is better able to command larger guarantees and percentages. The percentage of the overage will then be added to the artist’s guarantee to make up the complete fee to the artist.

You may begin to see how this deal can be advantageous to an artist who has a large draw. This deal is win-win for both parties, rewarding the artist and the venue for each of their efforts in making the date successful.

Guarantee Versus Percentage

In this case a guarantee is set and then a percentage is determined. The artist receives whichever amount is greater. Again, ticket price, capacity and gross potential need to be calculated. In this deal, if the ticket price is $10 and the seating capacity is 150, the total gross income potential is $1500. Perhaps you agreed that the guarantee is $500 and the percentage is 75% of the gross sales. In this case 75% of gross sales is greater than the $500 guarantee. The artist would get the 75% or $1125.

If, however the deal is 75% of the net after expenses, (in this case all the expenses, including artist’s guarantee, equals $1000), then 75% of the net is only $375. The artist would get the greater amount, the guarantee of $500.

The key to this deal is whether it is a percentage of the gross or the net. Always “try” to make this deal based on the gross. Most bookers will want to make it based on the net. Do the math for each deal to determine how the numbers will eventually work. Always have a calculator by your phone when negotiating. Once you determine this deal is not producing the numbers you would like to see, suggest a guarantee plus a percentage especially when the promoter insists on a percentage of the net (after expenses). The percentage of the split will most likely be lowered from 75% in this case.

Guarantee Plus A Bonus

Numerous promoters like this deal because it is easy accounting. By using a guarantee plus a bonus, the artist is rewarded with bonus amounts above the guarantee based upon blocks of tickets sold or income.

For example, a venue has 300 seats and the ticket price is $10 equaling a gross potential of $3000. The venue’s expenses are $1000. The artist’s guarantee is $1000. This suggests that the artist’s guarantee be based on 100 seats sold. Bonus amounts are determined by calculating the overage, ($1000) and the number of seats remaining to be sold above 100, (200 seats remaining). Most often the number of seats is divided into blocks, in this case four blocks of 50 seats. As each block of 50 seats is sold, the artist will receive an additional amount of money, in this case, $200 for each block. This deal would then add $200 at 150 sold, 200 seats sold, 250 seats sold and 300 seats sold. If the show sold out at 300 seats, the artist fee would be $1000 guarantee plus $800 in bonuses for a total fee of $1800. This left $200 for the promoter. It is more likely the bonus amounts may be lower to give the promoter a larger percentage of the overage, perhaps $150 or $175. It is also possible that a single bonus amount is offered after a predetermined number of seats are sold.

The benefit of this deal is that is easy to calculate. The problem is, no bonus is given for partial block sales such as 120 seats instead of 150. In that case, a guarantee plus a percentage provides an advantage since it accounts for every seat sold.

The other way to work this deal is to base it on income rather that seats sold. For instance, if we use a $10 ticket price and 300 seats with a $3000 gross potential, the promoter may choose to bonus the act after a specific income amount, such as $1500. The amount of the bonus is calculated after determining the expenses and the guarantee. A single bonus amount or incremental bonus amounts may be offered. This works well in situations when a low guarantee was set to reduce risk and the act does much better than expected.

These five deals are the standard in the industry, but don’t let that restrict you from creative deal making. There is no end to the options available when attempting to negotiate a deal that will work for you and the promoter. The key to any negotiation is, knowing what the options are and which option will work in your specific situation. Good luck.

By Jeri Goldstein
© 2010 Jeri Goldstein

In this day and age, launching a new product is very different from how it used to be. You will also need to approach online blogs when launching a new product. It is no longer necessary to announce a press conference in order to pitch your product and its distinctive qualities to publications. If you want to market your product online, you need to plan and prepare a thorough strategy for success.

Preparing your product

Preparation is key. First of all, you should research similar companies and their marketing policy. You must know what your competitors offer and what they don’t in order to tailor your own product and made it attractive to the market. This will help you to make a comparison between your product and others in your promotion, highlighting your products superiority.

Prepare a press release for launching a new product stating the unique features of your product explicitly. This will draw the attention of your intended customers. Send this press release to your existing clientele or, if you are a new company, consider setting up a mailing list and inviting members of your target demographic to join. Provide updates about your product at regular intervals so that your customers do not forget about your product.

SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, boosts your presence on search engines such as Google. This makes your product more accessible and lures potential customers in. It is an essential step when launching a new product.

You have to drive your targeted customers to your website. The best way to do this is by placing keywords pertaining to your product throughout your site. Ensure that your descriptions are engaging. Your success depends on a convincing product description. If your customers find the description and promotion of your product unsatisfactory, they will leave the page and search for another product. Even with good SEO and key word placement, you need to captivate your audience from the first sentence onwards.

Another important aspect of SEO is something termed back links. This is the process of sharing a link to your website externally through services such as popular social network sites and blog aggregators. By posting a link to your website onto these sites, you are increasing your page ranking on Google.

Social Media

Social media marketing is another excellent way to promote your product Community driven sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allow you to connect with your target demographic by creating a page for your product. You can also create a group to post about your product at regular intervals and keep your customers up to date. If your customers find your content engaging and informative, they will refer their own followers to your page.

Email marketing is another important strategy for launching a new product. You should analyze your existing network and connect with potential customers through your contact base. Send emails to your contacts regularly to inform them about your product. A free trial may be offered to selective contacts. You can also create an email mailout and promote it on your website, therefore adding new contacts to your database as they find your website.

Whatever your strategy and however effective your communication for launching a new product, the most important thing is to ensure good quality writing. This will compliment SEO and help you to gain a loyal following.

If you’re a business owner – or even an employee – at some point in your career, you will have to negotiate with potential clients, business partners, or vendors.

Even if you’re not a business owner or an employee… you still have to negotiate with other people at some point. Whether it’s about which restaurant to visit for dinner, or which movie to watch, or what time to send your kids to bed… you’re negotiating.

So, it’s probably a good idea to learn the mechanics of successful negotiating.

And at this point, I’d like to give you the proper definition of a “Win-Win Negotiation”.

A Win-Win Negotiation is an agreement between two or more parties that gives each party what they want.

Now… they may not walk away with what they originally came to the table wanting, but they should walk away happy. That’s the key.

For example… you may be placing an order with a manufacturer for them to produce 1000 widgets for you. And the cost of each widget to the manufacturer is $3, but they want to charge you $15 per widget.

If you approach the situation correctly, you could negotiate a deal where they would charge you $7 per widget.

The question becomes, “How?”

Your job as a professional negotiator is to know everything there is to know about the deal before going into the negotiation.

If you’re going to buy 1000 widgets, you need to research the prices of ALL of the potential manufacturers before going into any negotiation.

Here’s why.

If you know that Manufacturer A is charging $10 per widget, Manufacturer B is charging $15 per widget and Manufacturer C is charging $9 per widget, you now have the ammunition that you need to go into the negotiation.

Even though Manufacturer C has the lowest cost, they may be too far from you. Or they may charge way too much for shipping and handling. But Manufacturer B is right down the street from you, so if you buy from them you won’t have to wait for the widgets to be shipped and you don’t have to pay for it.

So the idea is, you need to bring their costs down.

Here’s where the research comes in…

You call up Manufacturer B and say something like this…

“Hi, my name is John and I’m interested in buying 1000 widgets from you guys. I’ve had the chance to look into your prices and your competitors prices, and I’m really interested in doing business with you over them. My challenge is that they are charging $8 per widget when you guys are charging $15. Now… because you’re down the street from us and we can get the product a lot faster… If you’d be willing to bring down your cost, I will gladly make you my dedicated manufacturer for the lifetime of my business and I will only buy from you.”

There are a few things about that message that make it work well.

The 1st thing is that you’ve complimented them based on research that you’ve done with their competition. When you say you’ve looked into their competition and you picked them over the competition, you’ve given them a great compliment.

The 2nd thing is that you’re being honest with them about why you want to pick them over the other guy even though they cost more. You want to get access to your widgets faster instead of waiting 2 weeks for delivery.

And the 3rd thing is that you’re promising them long term business. “I’d gladly make you our dedicated manufacturer” The first question that comes to the mind of any manufacturer when you say that line is, “How do I know that you’re going to keep your promise?”

I personally don’t mind drawing up a contract to state exactly the terms of our agreement so that they can be reassured that I will keep my word. If you plan on keeping your word, there’s nothing wrong with saying it in writing.

Not only does the contract force you to keep your word for doing business only with that manufacturer, but it forces them to give you the price that you agreed on.

Which brings us to the price.

If you noticed, I originally stated that the lowest cost manufacturer cost $9 per widget, but in the script I said that they charged $8. This is the oldest strategy in negotiation.

Always ask for a price lower than what you actually want.

If you want to pay $10, ask for $8. If you want to pay $8, ask for $5.

The same thing applies to movie times.

If you want to go to the movies at 7pm, ask to go at 5pm. If you want your kids to go to sleep at 8pm, ask them to go to sleep at 6pm.

It’s very basic, but extremely powerful.

And the last thing is this…

You have to be willing to walk away from a deal. And that’s very important.

The pros can sense if you’re too attached to a deal, and so they will take advantage of your attachment to get what they want. You have to completely detach yourself if you want to have power in the negotiation.

Read that last paragraph over and over until it really “clicks”.

Good luck with your Win-Win negotiations!