If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. There are countless trainings and teachers who can teach you their own step by step guides to identifying leads, pitching the product or service and closing the deal.  But without a fundamental shift in the way the entrepreneur views his or her own value, the sales cycle will still stand as a huge challenge; a personal boulder in the road to success.

Shift your thinking from selling to transforming.

I recently heard Max Simon, Big Vision Business, talk about shifting our thinking in the selling process from closing the deal to revealing the transformation your product or service offers to the potential end user. That’s a profound shift in thinking and here are some examples of real programs, what they offer and how a simple shift in thinking can make a big difference in the way these entrepreneurs will speak to clients about their offer.

What do I mean by Transformation?

Here’s some examples of valuable transformational offers:

“This accounting system uncovers an average of $3,000 in “found” money from your business budget that you can reinvest in growing your company.” The transformation is taking a client from a state of chaos in his or her money management to a place where they have total control over their cash flow and even understand where money might have been lost because of uncollected or outstanding invoices, recurring bills for services no longer used or other cash black holes.

“My system brings 5,000 new leads to your business in three months and shows you how to convert them to clients.” The transformation is an infusion in potential new clients or customers and a plan to take them from introduction to purchase.

“Attract hundreds, even thousands of potential clients to your offer without becoming a hustler.” The transformation is a clear cut, heart based method of attraction marketing that is in alignment with a non-sales personality but that still teaches them how to close the deal with language that is within their comfort zone.

Is your business a hobby or a business?

If you’ve written a book, created a program, developed a workshop or webinar, but no one knows about it, you have a hobby and not a business.

If your book, talk, workshop or service will solve a problem, or transform the user, you have an obligation to take your business from the hobby level to the business level.

The cost of doing nothing is choosing to keep your product, talent or service as a hobby instead of providing a transformation for others.

Entrepreneurs must learn to play in their Genius spot.

Start up entrepreneurs must often be their own financial advisor, tech expert, sales force, marketing and publicity team, and personal assistant. All responsibilities that a larger company would delegate to a full time employee.  Doing these things yourself can leave an entrepreneur with little to no time to do what he or she went into business to do in the first place.

Making the commitment to find your genius spot and put the majority of your energy and time there can accelerate your business growth.  Outsource those things that drain your time and energy to make room for your genius spot.

Ask yourself:

Which tasks in my business day absolutely must be done by me and no one else? Most likely the answer to this question includes creating your product concepts and delivering your services.

Which tasks could be done by someone else under my supervision? This could include your bookkeeping, mailings, design work, implementation of your marketing plan, and your legal work.

Which tasks can be completely outsourced with very little supervision by me? Perhaps, computer and software updates and maintenance, travel arrangements, supply ordering, printing.

What is the cost of continuing to do everything myself? The cost of doing it all yourself could be the failure of your business as you burn out or produce less.  Compare that to the cost of outsourcing some tasks and the cost comes into perspective.

Virtual assistants, temps, freelancers and other options are used by Fortune 500 companies when needed to supplement their workforce and keep productivity and performance at peak levels.  Consider whether you ought to borrow this success tip from the big players and outsource some tasks.

Let’s inspire one another. What could you outsource, right now, to create space for you to play in your genius spot.

If you’ve written a book, developed a program, created a keynote speech but no one knows about it, you have a hobby and not a business.

How long you can remain in the developmental and launch phase of your business depends on your upfront funding.  But if your business is bringing no money whatsoever into your accounts receivable, it’s time to take evaluate your business model, your marketing strategy or both.  Social media can give entrepreneurs valuable promotion, advertising and market research without an enormous additional outlay of cash.  And, most importantly, it can bring income into your bank account quickly.  Let’s take a look at three easy opportunities for promotion and income creation available to entrepreneurs, right now, through their current social media platforms.

1.  Build your database so you can market directly to people who’ve already expressed an interest in you, your book or your product by gathering e-mail names directly from your Facebook page by adding a custom box under your cover photo. These custom boxes or apps, as Facebook calls them, are created in an iframe and can contain a special offer such as a sample of your book, a free 15 minute consultation, or a checklist of success strategies.

2.  Sell directly from your Facebook page, again by using an iFrame app.  You can import your store, your product pages or your entire website right to a Facebook app or tab. The website will retain all of its functionality which means if people can buy your book or services on your website, they can buy it directly on your Facebook page. Here’s an example of a custom app I created for my Android and iPhone Marketing Tips app using a drag and drop app maker, Lujure.com.  With no design skills, I can import my assets and links and create a customer opportunity right on my Facebook page, which I can then promote through Twitter, my blog, my personal profile and through other social sites.

3.  Create an Amazon affiliate store and import the entire thing directly to your website and to Facebook in a custom app. Now every product you recommend or mention, including you own book, can immediately be purchased on Facebook without your fans ever leaving the platform.

There is more to being a successful entrepreneur than generating quick income, but the process of thinking through your offering, marketing it to others and generating income is a good start.

How are you creating income through social media? Let’s share some best practices to create more successes for the entrepreneurial community.

The responsibilities of the CMO are simple. Create both a short term strategy to promote the service or product you offer to the ideal customer and a long term strategy to retain that customer and sell them additional products or services.

Attraction and retention are two different strategies. And retention depends on attracting the ideal client in the first place, delivering a product that is a good fit with the client needs and a third element that is a little more ethereal, emotional experience.

Today, let’s talk about easy, low-cost attraction techniques that entrepreneurs can put into practice right away.

What words are your ideal customer typing into Google, right now, to find what you offer? Those are your keywords.

Create a Targeted Digital Footprint

Your digital footprint is the new equivalent to listing your business in the yellow pages. Right now there are more than enough people typing “where can I find your product or service” into Google to keep your company afloat. Your job is to help search engines serve up your links to that motivated customer. How do you do that? By thinking like the customer. What words are your ideal customer typing into Google, right now, to find what you offer? Those are your keywords and you need to be using them in every consumer facing piece of promotion your create including blog posts, videos, press releases, social media bios, advertising and listings in professional business organizations. Write that list of 10-25 keywords or phrases on a piece of paper and tack it to your wall. Use those words strategically and logically in your messaging to help new customers find you.

Generate Referrals

Your best, and least expensive, promotional resource is a happy customer. A happy customer is usually delighted to give you a referral or testimonial if you ask. Make asking a routine part of your sales and delivery cycle. At the end of a sale, service or contract, ask your client or customer if the product or service you provided helped them and if there was anything, at all, that would keep them from recommending you to others. If they have a concern or any unfinished business, this will be your opportunity to resolve that and turn a somewhat satisfied customer into a delighted customer. Once you are sure your customer is happy, ask them if they would be willing to give you an endorsement either in the form of a quote, a survey or a short video testimonial. Ask their permission to use their name, likeness, quote or experience on your website to help other people learn about your business. Then, strategically and methodically, use those customer generated endorsements to demonstrate the value of your product or service.

Sampling

Helping people find you is the first step to convincing people to do business with you. Endorsements by past satisfied customers demonstrate authority in your field, and bonus offers are samples of your work. Letting people try before they buy is one of the lowest cost marketing strategies available to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Some try before you buy bonus offers might be:

• A free 15-minute consultation to help customers determine if your services are right for them
• A free sample of your work in the form of a white paper, a case study, a sample of a physical product
• A group offering such as a free webinar or teleseminar that demonstrates your authority and offering
• An e-book with information of value to your ideal customer

By creating a large digital footprint, using your keyword strategy in every consumer facing marketing message, asking for testimonials, demonstrating your value through sampling and consistently delivering high quality products or services, you’ve developed a marketing strategy that becomes a part of your business DNA and helps attract and retain customers and clients.

If you’ve found yourself singing “tomorrow, tomorrow, I’ll change it, tomorrow” whenever someone reminds you about the Facebook Fan Pages transition to Timeline tomorrow, you’re not alone. But, like death and taxes, changes on Facebook are inevitable. So for the procrastinator’s among us, here’s exactly what you need to know about tomorrow’s changes on Facebook.

Facebook’s Timeline view is a two column visual presentation of your posts that highly favors graphic images as a brand asset.

Cover Photo

This billboard style photo will cover the entire top view of your fan page and the maximum size is 851 x 315 pixels. Facebook explicitly states that this must not be an advertisement, a call to action such as “like our page” and cannot contain a URL.

Even if you have not yet settled on the ideal image to represent your business, I recommend that you upload a photo or image that is appealing, attractive or inspirational as a placeholder. If you do nothing, when you log on tomorrow, there will be a large blank, possibly gray, rectangle at the top of your page, announcing to potential fans, clients or customers that you’ve neglected to keep up with the changes. Not the message a business wants to share with the world. To preview the Timeline design and upload your cover photo, enable the preview at the blue “preview” button at the top right hand side of your page.  Then click on the button that says “add a cover.”

Profile Picture

Facebook says that your profile picture on a fan page must be uploaded at 180 x 180 pixels, but will display at 125 x 125 or 150 x 150 depending on the size of the viewer’s display. Page profile pictures display next to your page’s name in your fans news stream, so it should stand on its own to represent your brand. You can also be creative with how your profile picture and cover photo go together. On your Page’s cover, the profile picture displays 23 pixels from the left side and 239 pixels from the top of your cover photo, so be sure to plan your cover photo so that your profile picture doesn’t obscure important parts of the photo.

About

Pay close attention to your about box, directly under your profile picture. This is your potential client or customer’s first invitation to join you on your website. I recommend starting your about box information with a live, full URL that leads directly to your website. Don’t rely on people searching for information on how to reach you or learn more about your brand. Make it obvious and easy.

App Boxes

Three of the four boxes below your cover photo are customizable and represent the most visible way to highlight promotions or special information on your new Timeline. These are your former “tabs” which resided in the left hand column of your Facebook fan page. These tabs most likely housed your opt in offer, your welcome tab, your “about me” page, your store or your sweepstakes or contests or any other custom tabs you’ve created for your brand. These are now referred to as apps by Facebook because they must be created in an iframe app. The images that represent these apps are boxes that are displayed on your page just below the cover photo. The images on these boxes can be customized and the size of each box image is 111 x 74 pixels. Although the Photos app will always be in the first position and the image will always display whatever photo you last uploaded, the other three slots are available for you to customize and order and you can read detailed directions on how to do that here.

Star or Pin

Each individual post can be highlighted in two ways. First, you can pin a specific post to the top of your page for 7 days at a time. You might want to pin a special offer, a launch, a live event or something of that nature to the top of your page during a promotional period. To pin a post to the top of your page, mouse over the upper right hand corner of the post until you see the pencil. Click on the pencil and a drop down menu will reveal itself. Click on “pin to top.” The pin will last for 7 days and then the post will be returned to it’s chronological place in your Timeline.

Another way to feature a specific post is to star it. When mousing over the top right hand corner of the post, click on the star and your post will cover two columns instead of one.

Milestones

Milestones are a way of highlighting key moments in your brand history. Brands like Ford Motor Company are using Milestones to take readers on a historical journey into the life of their brand, all the way back to 1908, evoking an emotional connection that is powerful, visual and creates opportunities for fans to share fabulous pictures of Model T’s and other iconic cars. Milestones are automatically expanded to cover two columns. To add a Milestone, select Milestone in the status update bar on your page, add a headline, location, date and details for your milestone and include a photo. Click save. You can also scroll to any spot on your Timeline and click to add a milestone or other type of story for any date.

Procrastinators, it’s time to make your move. Upload your cover photo, customize your app box images, add some milestones for your brand or business and pin an offer or special event to the top of your page. Let’s share our page URL’s here to inspire one another. If you have questions about how to use the new Facebook Timeline design for your business, post your questions below and I’ll respond.

Custom images for Apps Are the New Advertising on Facebook Fan Pages

There are four boxes “above the fold” on the new Facebook Fan Page Timeline. The first position is occupied by the Photos app. This box position is permanent and cannot be moved to another position. The next three boxes to the right of photos can be moved, customized and featured at will, IF you created the app (or former tab). If it is one of the suite of apps created by Facebook, you cannot change the image. If the app was created by a third party, the option to change the image is controlled by the third party app and you should check with them. But if you created the app, you can change the image.

Step-by-step guide to customizing the app image on your Facebook Fan Page wall.

1. Make sure you have enabled the preview of Timeline on your Facebook page by clicking the blue “preview” you will see at the top of every fan page that has not yet migrated to Timeline.
2. Click the down arrow at the right hand side of the currently visible apps just underneath your page name and cover photo space to reveal all of your former tabs, now referred to as “views and apps” in Facebook language.
3. Select the app you would like to customize and mouse over the upper right hand corner to reveal a pencil. Click the pencil to reveal a drop down menu.
4. Go all the way to the bottom of the drop down menu and click on “edit settings.”
5. You’ll now see a box that allows you to name the app and a link to change the custom image. After keying in the new name of your app, click on the “Change” link.
6. You’ll be taken to a page where you can upload a custom image. Click on the “Change” link on this page.
7. The familiar “Browse” option will pop onto the screen allowing you to upload an image from your desktop. Facebook recommends 111 px wide by 74 px high and will resize and convert images that are larger. I’ve had great luck with 280 x 180 sized images. Select the desired image from your computer and upload. There is no save button. Don’t waste time looking for it. Now go back to your page and look at the box image. The customized image is in place.

That’s all there is to it. You can change these images whenever you like and you can feature a new set of custom apps “above the fold” on Facebook Fan Pages whenever you like.

You can post a link directly to your custom app in your timeline and pin it to the top of your page for seven days to give it extra importance. I’ve created some simple custom designs for apps here to show you what’s possible. I’d love to see yours, too, so feel free to post a link to your custom apps below so we can inspire one another.

By now everyone is going through the 5 stages of grief over the loss of default landing tabs as the fact that all Facebook fan pages will convert to the new Facebook Timeline for Pages Design on March 30, 2012 sinks in.

Questions about the content housed on the millions of custom tabs created by businesses and entrepreneurs such as contests, opt-in offers, streaming video channels and e-commerce pages have people scrambling and questioning whether or not Facebook fans pages will be a worthwhile investment for small to mid-sized businesses and entrepreneurs, in both time and money.

All of your custom tabs still exist. You just need to think creatively about how to market them.

As of this writing, all of the content on custom tabs is still live and accessible. The only change has been that you cannot set up a default landing tab for non-fans. So how does a page entice fans to search for and click on a tab now that they are no longer displayed on the left hand side of a page?

Page admins can upload a custom image to represent the tab or app as Facebook is now referring to all tabs. Imagine seeing a series of evocative, engaging images in this 180 x 180 pixel format under the cover photo.  Color, words, and images will call out to the reader like carnival barkers. “Come see the amazing offer.”

Page admins can also rearrange the order in which the apps appear. Four apps are “above the fold” and the rest live under the drop down arrow on the right hand side. Three of those app spots are available to admins to highlight the apps of their choice.  Photos will always display.  So admins can change the view to highlight specials, sales, contests or whichever three apps are most important to a page in any given time period.

I created two simple word images just to illustrate what’s possible. It was easy to upload the new app cover images and I expect to see brands and entrepreneurs doing some very creative work with these images.  If you have examples of fun, enticing or downright awesome images fan pages are using to highlight their custom tab offerings, please post their URL below.  Let’s amass some examples to inspire one another.

Facebook default landing tabs are gone and pinned posts are the new promotion as Facebook rolls out the Timeline design for fan pages.

According to Facebook, all fan pages will be automatically upgraded to the new Timeline design on March 30, 2012.  You can preview the look now and make changes but do not need to publish your new look until March 30^th.  So admins will have the opportunity to work on the pages outside of the public eye for the time being.

Default Landing Tabs are Gone

Facebook recommends that brands and businesses customize their new Timeline look by:

• Adding a new cover photo at the top of the page
• Marking posts and images as favorites with a star to cause them to extend over two columns and pull focus..
• Add “milestones” to mark key events in your business life
• Arrange the apps and custom tabs visitors can see on your cover
• Pin particular posts to append them to the top of the page.

Here are some of the key highlights in the new changes:

Pinned Posts

The pinned post are a new feature.  Pinned posts are those that the page owner decides they want to display at the top of their page. Those posts will appear in the top left of a pages timeline with a flag in the top-right corner, Facebook’s version of a pin. Pinned posts will remain there at the top of the page for 7 days and then return to the date it was originally posted to the Page’s timeline.

Only posts from the page owner or admins are eligible to be pinned.  So posts from fans can’t be pinned to the top of a page.  To pin a post, the page owner will click on a pencil icon in the top right hand corner of  that says “Page’s postSelect” and that will move the selected post to the top.

Admin Panel

The admin panel will be a quick view of page information so admins and owners can view notifications, respond to messages, review performance insights and activity logs and access the edit menu to make Page setting changes.  Page owners will find the new Admin Panel above the date selector in the upper right hand corner of their page.  Fans will not see the admin panel when visiting the page.

Default Landing Page

This change will upset a lot of page owners.  Pages will no longer have the option to set up a custom tab for people who are not fans such as a welcome page or a free offer page.  So all visitors will land on the wall.  This will have marketers scrambling for new creative ways to promote their brands, special offers and apps.  You can, however, pin a post with a direct link to that offer, to the top of your page.

Private Messages

One welcome change will be that brands and their fans can now message one another and that’s a change fan page owners have been seeking.

Cover Photo Rules

Facebook official lays out the rules of what you can and cannot include in a cover photo and let’s us know that all cover photos are public. It remains to be seen if Facebook will be able to enforce these particular rules (it would take an army) but why poke the beast and risk losing your account.

Cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not contain:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About Section
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

I’ll be sharing more for the Facebook announcements later today.  Post your questions and I’ll get back to you here or on Facebook with answers.  In the meantime, start reviewing your images, planning for pinned posts and prepare for the demise of the default landing tab.

Facebook is expected to announce the rollout of the Timeline design for fan pages today. So what does your business need to do to prepare for the new design?  Think visuals.

Brands should be translating their key messages into visual images now.

The cover photo opportunity, which we’ve now all seen on Facebook personal profiles, is a beautiful billboard. At 852 pixels wide by 315 pixels high, this real estate can be used to convey a lot of information about a business. And because Facebook makes it easy to change your cover photo, having a cover photo strategy might mean creating multiple versions of your cover photo and changing it regularly.

The cover photo is certainly the largest, most obvious new opportunity for business pages, but keep in mind that if Timeline for business pages mirrors Timeline for profiles, the scrapbook feel of the page will give links, videos and uploaded images a more prominent place in your overall marketing strategy.  Creating images that entice fans to press like, or even share, means watermarking or adding your website or attribute to the visuals so that three shares down the road, the new viewer will subtly invited back to your business home base through an imprinted url.

Hosting your cover photo images and your brand visuals on your website is a way to make those images work harder for you. Besides sharing them through your Facebook fan page, you’ll be able to pin, tumble, e-mail and tweet your watermarked “mini advertisements.” Unlike cover photos on profiles, like the one I’m currently using, the fan page cover photo can and probably should, clearly help the viewer understand the brand offering at first glance.

But, keep in mind that most people are not clamoring to share or pin advertisements. Brands will have to work a little harder to create visuals that inspire, humor, teach, or surprise. Those are the visuals that fly through the web from person to person.

Advice to brands?

1. Make friends with a great graphics person and let them help you translate your message into share-worthy graphics that leave breadcrumbs back to your website or Facebook fan page.
2. Create a cover photo strategy that mirrors your brand or product delivery cycle.
3. Watermark your images so wherever they land, people have a way to connect with you.
4. Think inspire over advertise when creating images.
5. Let Facebook inspire you to be think visually across other consumer facing platforms.

Let’s share our favorite Facebook Timeline photos here to inspire one another. I like photos that tell me more about the person without hardcore advertising.  I’ll start with a couple of examples and I invite you to add your favorites.

• Nannette Bosh
• Hugh Briss
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Tara-Jenelle Walsch
• Kathy L. Patrick

I’ll be listening to the livestream announcements today, as will others. Outstanding questions include:

• Will fan pages still have the option to set a default landing page?
• Will fan pages still have the ability to add custom tabs?
• How will the new design affect social e-commerce, contests, and opt in offers?

Do you have questions or concerns about Timeline rolling out to fan pages? Let me know and I’ll report back from the LiveStream.

According to a post today on the Lujure blog, and at Hubz, Facebook will announce they are dropping some older ad formats and adding some new premium features as of February 29th. The ads will be larger, have more engagement options such as comments and likes directly on the ad, and include video or photos. Basically anything you post on a page can be marketed as an ad.  A complete slide show of the Facebook presentation is available here.  According to Facebook’s presentation, people are four times more likely to make a purchase when they see their friends interacting with a brand. So Facebook is set to release upgraded premium ads that are heavily weighted to interaction with the comments box, like option and perhaps even the share button under the ads.

Facebook is set to launch six new premium ad options on February 29, 2012.

The new suite of premium ads includes an option to create an ad out of a “Post Like Story,” which is nothing new.  But Facebook says brands will now be able to choose to run ads that appear to be posts to their wall, but will only appear as ads and not as wall posts.

Why is this interesting and potentially useful to a brand? Say you’re launching a new product, having a sale or desire to hammer home your biggest brand promise and you want to target only people who are not yet your fans because those folks are already aware of your offer.  In the past, your brand would have had to post the special offer to your page wall several days in a row so that the Post Like story would continue to run that offer.  Basically, you’d have to spam your own wall to keep the offer as the ad image and message.  This new options will allow brands to create a Page Post Story that never runs on their page and is only served up to non-Fans or whomever the brand chooses at set up.

The upgraded ad units are called photo, video, questions, status, events, links, which are all types of posts a brand currently can make to their page. Currently these new ad options may only be offered to premium advertisers who already have, or will have, a Facebook advertising account rep.  But rumors persist that these options will be offered to everyone soon.

Along with the expected announcement that Facebook fan pages will migrate to the Timeline design, and these new ad options, administrators and brand managers are scrambling to prepare their clients for change.

So what do you think? Will your brand or business try the new ads when they’re available?