Archive for the ‘Selling’ Category

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How to introduce someone who is not there

Sunday, May 12th, 2013

closeup of handshake michael angelo caruso blogThe art of the introduction is not easy.

It’s like a golf swing in that many little things have to be done right.

Consider all the elements of the Perfect Introduction and that all have to be done in real time:

a. Use both parties’ names

b. Give a compliment about each person to the person he or she is meeting

c. Present the man to the woman

d. Present the younger person to the older person

e. Present the lower-ranking employee to the higher-ranking executive

f. Offer each party a relevant, timely reason for the introduction

g. Help spark conversation between the people

The art of the introduction gets even more challenging when the connection is being made electronically. 

I always appreciate it when people offer to connect me to their bosses, meeting planners, and people who plan training events. 

 

How to introduce me (or anyone) via email

Michael Angelo Caruso blog motivational speakerPeople are kind to want to introduce me to others. 

Let’s assume you’d like to introduce me to a potential client who might want to hire me to deliver a motivational talk or leadership training session. 

Here’s what works best to help me get the gig:

1.  Send the person an email and cc me.  This way, I can “reply to all” and close the loop.

2.  Say something nice about me to the third-party.  Make the compliment specific, please.  The goal is to make me stand out in the other person’s mind.  You might write something like:

“Michael is one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard on the subject of leadership, marketing, and general motivation.  He’s exciting, funny, and could be a perfect fit for your company.  

His keynote and training topics:   http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/events/seminars/  

His speaking style in two minutes:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zHpgCtx5m0  

Please let me know how things work out.”

The third-party quickly understands that you have done him or her a favor by recommending a vetted resource.

3.  The connection gets made.  When I receive the email, I’ll follow up by clicking “reply to all.”  I will first say something nice about you to the other person.  Then, I will ask how I may be of service.  I don’t do a “hard sell” and I promise I will never embarrass you.

Now the third-party and I can communicate directly, which streamlines communication and moves things along quickly.

Use this introduction formula to introduce other people and you can also ask your referral partners to use it with you!

 

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Want to be a better networker online and in real life?

Networking Like a Pro Michael Angelo CarusoA wise man once said, “You will be the same person in five years that you are today, save the books you read and the people you meet.”

If people are your greatest resource, then you should do everything in your power to “network on purpose” by building strong distributions lists and sharing quality information.

People are your greatest resource so you should have large, potent networks of quality individuals.

Speaker and author Michael Angelo Caruso has built strong networks in three industries: entertainment, telecommunications and the speaking/publishing business.

He teaches his best techniques for networking in the 60-minute audio program, Networking Like a Pro.  This CD comes with a 30-page, companion e-book. 

Like all of Michael’s products, it comes with a 100% unconditional money-back guarantee should you be unhappy with the product for any reason.

This Rotary fundraiser is an easy $10K+

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

danville rotary michael angelo caruso seminar fundraiser

The Rotary Club of Danville raised $13,535

If you missed my recent call on how to raise money by holding a seminar fundraiser, I’ve got good news.

People called in from all over the country to learn how my seminar fundraiser program has raised over $150,000 for Rotary Clubs and Chambers of Commerce. 

We even heard from members of the Rotary Clubs of Corunna, Owosso, and Durand (COD) who banded together to stage such a fundraiser two years ago and are doing it again on November 13.

The good news is that the call was recorded.

 

Raise money and recruit members

To hear the playback recording just call 218-339-3699 and use access code 686134.  Reference code: 70

You can download the audio recording via iTunes or however you’d like using this link:   http://ow.ly/kxO2H 

The paint-by-numbers guide for staging a seminar fundraiser can be found here

Of course, I escort each event host through the process.  It’s really important to me that you are successful because my name is on your product!

 

It feels good to giveback!

Michael Angelo Caruso RotaryMy work with Rotary is in many ways the most rewarding thing I do. I wish everyone could feel the weekly gratification of service.

To learn more, simply “Like”my Troy Rotary Club’s Facebook page or visit the Rotary website.

5 cool ideas on how to be a better presenter overnight

Thursday, February 7th, 2013

Michael Angelo Caruso speaker Acquiring a skill takes time.  About 10,000 hours, if you believe Malcolm Gladwell’s research.

If you want to be a polished speaker, for example, it’s best to immerse yourself in the discipline. 

Allow yourself to grow into the new skill set through a routine of dedicated study, experiential learning, and monitored feedback loops.

But when your boss asks you to assemble an awesome presentation for a major client inside of just four hours, you may have to skip the immersion and dedicated study.

 

Want to be a great speaker, like, tomorrow?

Here are 5 cool ideas that will help you become a better speaker quite quickly.  You might begin improving, by not using the word “like” as frequently.

1.  Search YouTube for the top speakers in your line of work.  Focus on people who are  better presenters than you so you can learn from them.  If you happen upon some crappy speakers, pay attention so you can be reminded of what not to do.

2. Eliminate 10% of your weakest PowerPoint slides right now.  Trust me, no one will miss them, including you.  Start by taking out the slides that have you saying something like, “You probably can’t see this from the back of the room.”

3. Record yourself.   If listening to a recording of yourself will make you want to quit your job, watching a video of yourself may give you thoughts of suicide.  But hang in there (pun not intended, but I kinda like it).  Recording yourself is painful, but it is without a doubt the fastest way for you to discover what needs to be fixed.    

4.  Study a helpful information product, preferably a DVD.  Reading about speaking is like watching the radio to learn how to dance.   

Present like a Pro michael angelo caruso speaker training 5.  All good presentations end with a call to action.  Make sure you conclude every presentation by asking the audience to do something.  The call to action doesn’t have to involve a business transaction.  Learn more from the Present Like a Pro DVD, my best information product on the subject.

From Royal Oak, Michigan-

Michael Angelo Caruso, 248-224-9667

 

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Video marketing gets the word out

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

I’ll show you why video is one of the most effective ways to give a presentation.

As you may know, I teach presentations skills to leaders, salespeople, and customer service reps– skills that one can use in a live, interpersonal setting.  Your work team will always need this type of training.

Yet, when it comes to getting the word out, video is a super-elegant solution that offers tons of advantages.

To see what I mean, watch the following short vid.  Feel free to comment after watching, especially if you like the message. Add your positive spin!

 

 

So what just happened?

Well, the entire clip lasts all of about one minute and 45 seconds, but consider all the “deliverables” to the viewer. 

You get to attend a portion of a lively presentation of an entertaining keynote speaker without traveling or even getting out of your chair.  You learn quite a bit about the world of video marketing. 

You’re reminded of an international service organization called Rotary. 

You learn that it’s a good idea for the President of every company to post a short “welcome” video on YouTube.  Has the leader of your organization done this? 

The video explains that producing this sort of video is easier than one might think.

You also learn a lot about the speaker including his speaking style, tone, pitch, cadence, humor, and that some hair sticks up on the back of his head.  These are things you could never learn from a .pdf or an email or some sort of static link.

Video is kinda fun!

 

Video marketing is da bomb!

Michael Angelo Caruso video marketing Even seasoned professionals occasional flub a live presentation. 

But once you create the perfect video, it plays perfectly ever single time.

Produce most of your videos in “evergreen” format. 

Don’t reference  dates or trendy anecdotes that instantly date your message. 

That way, your vids will be useful and relevant for a longer period.

And did you know that YouTube videos, when posted correctly, can easily outrank websites, blog posts, and Facebook pages?  Bonus!

Don’t get left behind.  Get going on your video marketing today.

Best of luck with your presentations or whatever you’re working on!

 

P.S.  Don’t forget to comment after watching the video or just let me know what you think in the comment area below. 

Referral selling pays affiliates for helping others

Saturday, December 15th, 2012

affiliate marketing Michael Angelo Caruso blogThe best measure of success is happiness. Tweet This

And I’m happiest when I’m helping others. It’s a nice bonus to get paid for helping others, don’t you think?

So it’s fun when you can figure out to create value and be compensated for it.  The second best feeling is to get paid for telling others about someone who creates value so you can get paid for that!

One way to do this is through something called “affiliate marketing.”  It’s a kind of partner program that pays you to spread the word about quality products and services.

 

Referrals are the easiest way to sell

Society has become very savvy about the buying process.  The advent of concepts such as the National Do Not Call Registry proves that people don’t like to be sold to. 

Heck, I teach sales training and can tell you that some salespeople don’t like to sell!

That’s why referral marketing is absolutely the best and easiest way to do business. 

I call it “indirect selling” and it works so well because referrals strip the salesperson out of the formal selling process and replaces him with an advocate that works within an informal selling process.

I’ve been fortunate to build a great career selling personal and professional information products through word-of-mouth.  In other words, people are telling other people about my products and services and everyone involved is being rewarded.

It’s so fun helping people improve themselves! I wish everyone could have this feeling. And now you can!

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RIP, Zig

Sunday, December 9th, 2012

Zig Ziglar Michael Angelo Caruso blog

Zig Ziglar

The speaking business has lost one of its best and biggest talents.

Zig Ziglar was the best.  He recently passed away at the age of 86.

There are very few “originals” in my business, so the passing of The Master is a big deal.

An acquired taste for some people, Hillary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar used his southern charm on millions of people through his live events and information products.  He specialized in the topics of motivation, leadership, and selling. 

He and Brian Tracy were the people who inspired me to get into the speaking business.

 

Zig was one of my role models

Ziglar was a master storyteller.  He would drop to one knee as he began to tell a tale. There would be sub-plots and asides, but Zig would sometimes be on his knee for ten or fifteen minutes. 

The stories were always interesting, but you would sometimes hang on every word just waiting for the man to stand up again.  Great speakers always incorporate verbal messages with non-verbal signals. 

Zig had vibrant enthusiasm.  When he got excited, he would sometimes speak around 200 words a minute, then slow down just when he wanted you to focus on a particular message.

The pace of his speech slowed when he was driving home a point as he over pronounced key words in the manner of a Baptist preacher.  Zig’s comedic timing was quite sharp and his lessons were always delivered with humor and a “see you at the top” theme. 

Here’s a video featuring a classic Zig theme:  If you work hard, good things will happen for you.  Watch:

 

Wisdom from Zig

Very few speakers produced the type of brilliant content that Zig Ziglar did.  Of course, his delivery is what made the messages special, but here are some of my favorite “Zigisms”:

 

On selling:

People don’t buy for logical reasons.  They buy for emotional reasons.

Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.

 

On leadership:

You cannot perform in a manner inconsistent with the way you see yourself.

Remember that failure is an event, not a person.

  

On attitude (which can be applied to both leadership and selling):

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.

Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.

A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job.

If God would have wanted us to live in a permissive society He would have given us Ten Suggestions and not Ten Commandments.

You can’t make it as a wandering generality. You must become a meaningful specific.

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.

 

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Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

Michael Angelo Caruso Author free article contentI write articles so you don’t have to.

Everyone that sells a product or service knows that it’s a good idea to post article content to promote your brand and drive traffic.

But who has time to write?

The problem is even more complicated for people who aren’t writers or aren’t interested in writing. 

So, here’s an easy solution– publish other people’s content.  And you can easily do it with their permission!

 

How to use other people’s articles

Most authors are pleased to grant re-purposing rights as long as you provide attribution.  In other words, just make sure to include what’s called a “back link,” a link back to the author’s website or primary URL. 

Focus on niche articles that would directly appeal to your preferred customer demographics. 

You can also post “wide net” articles that appeal to everyone’s intrinsic desires such as time management, looking younger, being happy, etc.

Caveat:  You probably want to avoid using articles written by your direct competition.

Here’s another hidden benefit to contacting established authors and requesting permission to use their content.  You’ll be establishing connections with the brightest, most connected people in your industry.  (more…)

I hated Spam when I was a kid; still do

Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

spam can michael angelo caruso blog marketing

Spam can

Canned meat was dubbed with the unfortunate brand name of “Spam” over 75 years ago.

My Mom used to make school lunches with Spam (its name a combination of the words “Spiced” and “Ham”) and back then, there were no fancy flavors.   

Spam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937.

The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, and sodium nitrite as a preservative. 

You may be surprised to learn that this concoction is a very popular product.  On average, 3.8 cans are consumed every second in the United States.

There are now several different flavors of Spam products, including the original flavor, hot and spicy, Jalapeno, less sodium, Spam lite, oven roasted turkey, hickory smoke flavor, and even Spam spread.

A while back, another kind of SPAM was invented. No one except bad guys liked this new brand of spam. (more…)

Stop acting like a salesperson and your numbers will go up

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

Art Sobczak michael angelo caruso blogI deliver a lot of sales training and tell audiences that if you act like a salesperson, you’re going to get treated like a salesperson. 

That is, you’ll be treated badly–and who wants that?

People always nod as if they agree, write down this sage advice, and then don’t change how they open a sales call.

For instance, you should never call a prospect and begin the conversation by saying, “Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself…”

This kind of empty procedure offers little value to anyone and will set you up for failure because it’s like shouting, “TREAT ME LIKE A SALESPERSON!” 

It’s almost as bad as saying, “Do you have minute to talk?”

My friend, Art Sobczak (above left), has some great advice on what you should say when making such a sales call.  Art really knows his stuff so I’ll share his great advice in this blog post. 

 

Act like a salesperson and you’ll be treated like one

Michael Angelo Caruso sales training blog postRemember that the first few seconds of the call are critical, so you want to spend your time wisely. The words you use–and the words you don’t use–are the key to your success.

Art remind us that one primary goal should be to make the other person feel that they’ve gained as a direct result of talking to you.  Do this right and there should be no doubt in their minds that talking to you is of benefit, now and in the future.

So, let’s be clear about three things:

1.  The other person doesn’t usually care about you, your situation, your job, the fact you’re new, or that you’ve replaced someone.

2.  All they’re really concerned about is if you can do anything for them and they don’t want to have to figure it out.

3.  This means you better make words count when the person picks up the phone and says “hello.” 

 

What to say instead of “I want to introduce myself?”

Telephone michael angelo caruso blogMy buddy, Art Sobczak asks us to consider the following openings and notice how they efficiently and elegantly get right to the point.

“Ms. Davis, I’m Dan Douglas with Whittle Cutting Tools. We provided your company several cases of diamond blades a few months ago and if I’ve reached you at a good time, I’d like to let you know about a special we have on those blades, and few others you might have some interest in…”

Notice that this approach doesn’t even mention that a new rep is now handling the account.  You can always explain the situation later if the customer actually cares. 

Next let’s look at it from the perspective of a better relationship, where they are a customer buying fairly regularly.

“Tom, I’m Gwen Charles with Twin Financial. There’s two reasons I’m calling today. First, I wanted to let you know I’ve replaced Ken Hartley who worked with you in the past, and I’ll do my best to provide even better service that Ken did. (pause, chitchat) In order to do so, I’d like to ask you a couple of quick questions to update your account…”    

 

Never forget:  the customers needs come before yours

The fact that you’re new or that you want to use a trite sales script has nothing to do with your customer’s needs. 

When you’re on the phone, first and foremost, you’re remembered most for what you can do for them.

Thanks for the great advice, Art!

 

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Provide your link to the reprint and we might even send some traffic your way.  Talk about a Win-Win!

You can say that again!

Saturday, August 25th, 2012

Michael Angelo Caruso speaking and writing One of the easiest ways to improve a speech or blog post is to simply take out the extra words. 

Unnecessarily long sentences can make make your message unprofessional and disorganized.  

Sometimes one can clean up the message just by removing instances of redundancy. 

Here are some common examples of how we tend to repeat ourselves:

• advance planning
armed gunman
• circulate around
close proximity
• completely full

consensus of opinion    
• each individual person
fewer in number    
• final outcome
free gift

• future plans
general public
• invited guests
join together
• large in size

major breakthrough
• my personal opinion
on a daily basis
• past experience
past history

• period of time
predict in advance
• red in color
revert back
• round in shape

firm in consistency
• still continues
sum total
• true fact
unexpected surprise

• unsolved mystery
visible to the eye
• 12 noon (or 12 midnight)
7 a.m. in the morning

 

Save your breath

As an added bonus (get it?), let’s include the commonly used question: “Where are you at?”

Drop the “at” from that sentence and the message retains its meaning. 

 

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