Edition #29

THE #1 TRADESMAN LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

2013 - The Year of The Tablet What this means for us tradies...

Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp

Book now for 15/16 March 2013

ʻ‘Iʼ’m motivated, the business is more profitable and better organised and Iʼ’m ready to grow!ʼ’

Fab Sanzaro

Frontline Plumbing Solutions Platinum VIP Member

Issue #29

Jan-Feb-March 2013 Proudly Australian

+

How To: Become The Market Leaders

Cool iPhone apps for tradies

Welcome 2013… a new year brings with it a new beginning, a fresh start...

Opportunity. It only takes one person to make a difference (check out the Best of You Tube Page 14).

On reflec5on on the year that past, 2012 will be remembered for the likes of: the London Olympics with Australia finishing 10th with 7 Gold medals, 16 Silver and 12 Bronze, Encyclopedia announced they would no longer print versions of its encyclopedia (gee, I wonder why!), Apple unveiled its iPhone 5 and iOS6 (12th Sept), Scien5sts detect 4 gene5cally dis5nct types of breast cancer (23rd Sept), and Red Bull Stratos was witnessed by 8million live: Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier in a 24 mile space jump.

So what does your 2013 look like?

What goals have you set for you and your business?

Now that we all survived the ‘end of the world’ that was prophesied for 21st December 2012, whew!

What do all these have to do with us?

It’s called progress. Clear and simple. New goals are set. We establish new benchmarks. Serious lessons are learnt. For constant improvement to take place to benefit all. New discoveries made. Which con5nues the more inquisi5ve we are!

2013 – The Year of The Tablet. Page 3

As society dictates ease, mobility and speed, the tablet has certainly come to the party!

We have an awesome 2013 planned for us all which begins with our first ever Power Hour scheduled for Tuesday 5th February and the Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp (15th and 16th March) is already in full planning swing. Have you booked?

RegistraDon is now all online through mylifestyletradie.com.au. It’s about going paperless!

With a cool line up of speakers (see page 11), you won’t want to miss this!

There’s talk that 2013 is the ‘Year of Tablet’ which is great news for tradies seeing it supports our efforts to go paperless (page 4).

Frontline Plumbing Solutions. Page 7

VIP Platinum Member Fab Sanzaro is exceeding all expectations!

Internet Marketing For Tradies. Page 9

Greg Cassar’s 5 Steps to Highly Effective Internet Marketing.

TradeTalk 1

A great deal of interest has been shown for the OHS Compliant Laws that were set in 2012 so hence we thought it would be a good idea for you to review your policies. Dry topic I know, but cri5cal founda5on for a successful business (Page 15).

This month we want to acknowledge Fab Sanzaro from Frontline Plumbing SoluDons. Fab is exceeding all expecta5ons having successfully flipped his business model and is more profitable and beder organised than ever (Page 7). A huge congratula5ons to you for your dedica5on Fab. You’ve certainly earnt that recent snowboarding trip to Japan! We’ll have to swap GoPro footage of powder to your waist… that was my recent experience on the boys 10 day trip to Japan. Now that’s a handy gadget, the GoPro! You can get your hands on one too – see Page 21.

It’s all about crea5ng good content if you want to be the Market Leader this year. Understand how to do that on Page 17.

Congratula5ons again to StepUP Construc5ons for their recent double finalist nomina5ons in the Na5onal HIA Awards (Page 6). Another feather in your cap well deserved!

That’s it from me. Looking forward to seeing you and/or chakng at the Master Mind Mee5ngs in February, and learning a thing or two and having some fun at the Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp in March.

To your success, Andy

This is a great 5me of year to review your Marke5ng Plan. Review your test and measure results to understand your return on investment (ROI) and confirm your ac5ons for the months to come. Why? Because the best marketer wins!

Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp. Page 11

OHS Laws. Are you Compliant?

Page 15

dy n A

Other articles include; • Open Doors and Win Customers - page 13 • Seize the Opportunity - page 14 • How to Captivate Your Clients - page 17 • Experience it all LIVE - page 21

A sneak peak…

Registration is now online.

Understand how the new OHS Laws apply to us.

TradeTalk 2

Lay it on the plate...

2013 - The Year of the Tablet 2012 has been dubbed the year of the mobile, in par5cular the year of the smart phone. It is now said that 2013 will be looked back on as the year of the tablet. As society dictates ease, mobility and speed, the tablet has certainly come to the party.

No longer a novelty gadget, the tablet is considered mainstream compu5ng.

Did you know in 2012 the sales of smart phones and tablets surpassed that of Desktop PCs? This comes hot on the heels of an analyst from Bernstein Research repor5ng that the iPad would be the 11th largest tech company should it spin off from Apple. The iPad amassed $32 billion in sales, enough so that it would rank 98th on the Fortune 500. The report forecast that iPad sales would rise to 102 million in 2013 and 177 million by 2016.

What does this mean for us tradies?

When once we were skep5cal about how our customer would accept our ‘flashy’ tablets, or ques5on the legal consent of signing a computer screen, the reality is, the integra5on within our

business with our customers has simply been one of immediate acceptance.

From a team perspec5ve, the tradesmen have been pa5ent and suppor5ve to ‘get the systems right’ using the iPad with the knowledge that, once they are integrated completely, their day will be stress-­‐ free.

With our complete sales process installed onto the iPad – from 5cking boxes to complete a Plumbing & Safety Inspec5on Report, Risk Assessment forms and comple5ng the invoice, the days of pen/paper are all but gone and hence efficiency has gone through the roof!

It has simply supported our efforts to go ‘paperless’.

The extended functionality of the tablet is what makes it so desirable… From improving the TradeTalk 3

workflow in our day-­‐to-­‐day business, to allowing tradies to showcase their most impressive work (having even taken photos with the tablet!), plus providing the opportunity to make immediate decisions with customers through showing them products on the internet, to name a few, there is no wonder we are witnessing exponential growth in this computing category. That said, there is a much bigger opportunity to trade business owners when it comes to the increased sales of the tablet… think ‘where your customer hangs out’, ‘market according to how they find you’… keep reading for the answer to this one.

Here are a few points to consider when tesDng if your website is tablet opDmised:

• Are links and bu/ons spaced well so that they are easy to tap with your finger?

• Is your website heavily dependent on Flash content? If so, you may be hindering customers trying to contact you via their iPads.

• Are there too many elements on any given page? If so, loading Bmes could become an issue.

• What size is your font? Is it readable on smaller screens?

How to take advantage of this trend?

With sales reflecting an immediate adoption of this form of technology, the one thing you can do as a matter of priority is to make your website tablet-­‐ready.

With more and more people replacing their laptops and desktop computers with tablets, or simply using both to access the internet, it is critical that your website is ‘user friendly’. In layman’s terms, make it easy for your prospects to find, connect and engage with you by making your website easy to read using a tablet.

4 TradeTalk

• How do your fonts and background colors look on a tablet?

With exponen5al growth of the tablet, your business needs to be tablet-­‐op5mised.

I would argue that this topic could and perhaps should have been included as a ‘Highly Effec5ve Internet Marke5ng Tip For Tradies’ from Greg Cassar, our Internet Guru from the Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp (see TechTalk secJon within this magazine for more). Greg is a great person to give us advice and help take this trend seriously through ac5on.

Over to you…

Lifestyle Tradie Helping You On The Road To Success MEMBERS – You are never far from help.

Unlimited phone support on 1800 704 822.

Multi-Award Winning Builders

Travel In Style!

That’s what happens when you’re nominated as a double Finalist in the 2012 HIA – CSR NSW Housing and Kitchen & Bathroom Awards.

The entire team, including us, were spoilt to a Hummer, good ‘travel’ champagne and tradesman jokes the whole way to the ceremony attended by over 1000 other tradies.

Brett and Kammi Beuzeville from StepUP Constructions are certainly hitting targets by yet again being nominated as a Finalist in two competitive categories, one for Brett’s recent renovation in Bayview in the Renovations/ Additions Project $200,001-­‐$500,000 category and his wife Kammi was nominated for 2012 HIA NSW Business Partner. As we say “Behind every good tradie…”.

No win on the night but a HUGE success to have been nominated as a Finalist and a great night enjoyed by all.

Congratula@ons BreB and Kammi and the StepUP Construc@on team.

TradeTalk 6

Lifestyle Tradie Member Profile

‘I’ve changed the way I look at my business and my life. I’m motivated and the business is more profitable, better organised and ready to grow!’

Fab Sanzaro Frontline Plumbing Solutions – Platinum VIP Member www.plumbsolutions.com.au

1. Tell us a little about your situation, business, family etc.

I started Frontline Plumbing Solutions when I finished my apprenticeship in December 2008 at the age of 26. I ran the business, doing after hours and weekend jobs while still working a full time job. A redundancy in 2009 sealed my fate to work for myself full time. I completed a stint as a subcontractor working as a foreman on the revamp of the food court at the Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. This helped me get my feet before putting 100% into building the business.

From the very beginning I wanted to be known for providing excellent service. It was important to me to have a good reputation for being honest and doing great work.

Today Frontline Plumbing Solutions is a plumbing maintenance business that employs one plumber and has two trucks on the road with a solid foundation, and I’m really excited to see what this year brings. As fast as the time seems to go, it’s not until you sit down and reflect on the year that has been that you realise just how much has changed and how much you have achieved.

I’m not a massive fan of watching sports but I’ll play almost anything. I love snowboarding and my ‘reward of choice’’ is definitely to travel overseas to snowboard. Having only started snowboarding four years ago I have enjoyed two of the most amazing and

7 TradeTalk

memorable holidays in New Zealand and Japan. I love it so much that during winter I’m not opposed to taking a day off in the middle of the week to hit the slopes or a four day trip away!

2. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in the past 12 months?

I decided I wanted to take the business in another direction.

At the time, majority of our work was from construction sites and timely payments were an increasing problem. I was growing more and more reluctant to attend the sites to complete any more work worried about not getting paid, plus our quality of work and the service we provided was being wasted on builders. It was time for a change. I wanted to focus my attention on the residential market who would appreciate my worth ethic.

3. How have you tackled that challenge?

How do you feel about it?

Discussing this with Andy, we decided the best strategy was to market my services to Property Managers and Body Corporate organisations first to quickly subsidise the income I would lose from not working on construction sites, whilst increasing my marketing to attract the residential market.

I knew exactly how many maintenance jobs I needed per day to replace the income from the construction

sites. I had a target. I then shifted my focus from organising my staff and work load to best suit the builders, to exploring avenues of bringing in more maintenance work.

The complete transition took 9 months - away from Construction sites and focused now on plumbing maintenance. Today we work with a number of Property managers and Body Corporate organisations and we’re proud of the service we provide and the positive impact we have in people’s daily lives by solving their plumbing problems.

I’ve also been able to clearly identify the type of staff I’d like working for me and let go those that don’t fit my mould.

4. How have you and your business changed since joining Lifestyle Tradie?

After being one of Andy & Ange’s Diamond Members and hence spending valuable one-on-one time with them, I’ve changed the way I look at my business and my life. It has given me a better understanding of how important a work/life balance really is. Although the work/life line will always be blurred I now spend an appropriate amount of time on both sides.

I’ve been motivated to sit down and begin to rebuild a solid foundation for my business which includes implementing procedures and systems. Some are from Lifestyle Tradie and others I have developed from necessity. Now every time I do something I think to myself, “I should write a procedure for that”. The business is more profitable, better organised and ready to grow. The systems and procedures I have implemented have resulted in more accurate invoicing, well presented staff, better job dispatch and a much more organised office. For the first time in four years I feel in control of the vision I have for my business and feel good about our brand identity.

5. Where do you see your business in 5 years?

Within the next 2 years I would like to see the business in an office with one full time office staff member, a book keeper, three trucks on the road and me working on building the business rather than on the tools.

In five years I would like to have a business that runs without me. I would like 5 trucks on the road mainly servicing the residential maintenance sector. A business with impeccable systems and procedures and a team of loyal staff that are proud to be a part of it.

I have always had an interest in Property and I am excited to see what I could achieve if I focused on it as much as I do on my business now!

6. What are the top three things you have learnt about business that you would recommend to others and why?

1. Always trust your judgement and back yourself 100%. You’re the one with the vision for business and no one wants it to work more than you.

2. Hope for the best, plan for the worse. I’d like to believe that all people are good and that if you do a great job, they’d happily pay you for it. Unfortunately that is not always the case. No matter how great your service and work is, some people just don’t like to part with their money.

3. Don’t be too proud to ask for help. Talk to people that have ‘been there and done that’ before you. It’ll save you a lot of time and money!

7. Favourite tool and why?

My iPad and my brief case… They allow me to work on the tools, on site, and still be in the office as soon as I jump back into my truck. The iPad allows me to access any work that comes in via email and book out jobs on Google calendar. I can also respond to important emails promptly and keep up the level of service my clients expect.

8. Tell us something quirky about yourself that your buddies don’t know.

I like watching M.A.S.H. It reminds me of my youth and summer holiday TV watching. They’d always show reruns of M.A.S.H to fill a time slot.

9. Who would you most like to have lunch with and why?

Robert Kiyosaki. Reading his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad opened my mind to a whole new way of thinking. At the time of reading his book I was going through some personal financial difficulties and it changed the way I thought about money and investing. It created a curiosity and thirst for financial knowledge that had me reading countless books on money and property. I would like to personally thank him for that.

TradeTalk 8

LOST IN THE WEB

Highly Effective

Internet Marketing

For Trades Businesses

Did you know: in the past 12 years the Yellow Pages books have shrunk almost 50%.

This statistic alone shows that less and less people are turning to the Yellow Pages to source their tradesmen, not to mention it is clear that business owners are spending less to market in the thick pages of the Yellow Pages.

Thankfully they have re-invented themselves online‌ so why do you think that is?

The answer: smart phones.

And when you hear there are more iPhones purchased than babies born around the world in one day, then there is no argument as to where the attention needs to lie.

Greg Cassar, from Internetmarketingdoneforyou.com.au was a wealth of knowledge at the last Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp in October. In case you missed it, we thought it was worth recapping the five steps to Highly Effective Internet Marketing For Trades Businesses.

9 TradeTalk

Step One Have an Effective Website Make sure your website is clean and free from clutter, ensuring that your phone number is a feature that is easy to see and draws the attention of the customer. You should have a banner at the top of your page expressing the services of your business. There should also be an indirect form of contact between you and your customer, a simplistic form which they can fill in and request your services. Ensure that this form also contains a security code to protect your website and your customers against hackers.

Step Two Google Adwords Google Ad Words are the listings that appear in the top blue box and the side bar when you are searching in Google.

Google adwords is driven through keyword search and hence, features specifically based on the search term put into the browser by your prospect. You can edit your ads and adjust your budget until you get the results you want. You can also display a variety of ad formats and even target your ads to specific languages and geographic locations. There's no minimum spending requirement or time commitment. And with the cost-per-click option, you're only charged if people click your ads. This means every dollar of your budget goes toward bringing new prospects to you.

Step Three Google Places (Maps) 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. A no brainer if you haven’t already ‘claimed’ your free local listing, now is the time!

You can add photos, update your address and hours, or promote your business with Ads. Google Places for Business lets you make the most of your listing and show customers why they'll want to choose you. Featuring on Google helps people find, share, rate, and recommend your business to their friends, and people across the web. Places for Business lets you see what people are saying, and respond to customer reviews.

increase in traffic when they added a mobile website. A bad mobile experience can cost you customers with 57% of users would not recommend a business with a bad mobile site and 40% have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience. So make sure your website has a mobile version.

Step Five Yahoo! and Bing Despite the fact that Google is the most commonly used search engine there are still others out there, mainly Yahoo! and Bing. These search engines perform the exact same functions as Google. The interface of Yahoo! and Bing are very similar to Google and the ads appear in the same spots. In Yahoo! they are called sponsored links and in Bing they are called ads. To ensure that all potential customers find your business, be sure to activate a campaign in Yahoo! and Bing too.

For t he f ull r eport o r m ore information o n H ighly Effective Internet M arketing check out Greg Cassar’s Boot Camp presentation in the Events section, Boot Camp 2012.

Step Four Be Mobile Compatible 1 in 10 of your site visitors are currently searching for you from their mobile.

Mobile is not a new trend, it’s a new ERA! Mobile website traffic is expected to rise 40-fold over the next five years, so don’t miss the boat. Neilson reports that businesses saw a 13%

TradeTalk 10

Boot Camp March 2013

Friday 15th March and Saturday 16th March 2013

Sydney Boulevard Hotel

I

t’s that time again, the Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp is fast approaching! In fact only 9 short weeks away…

Have you booked your seat/s yet?

Our registration form is now ONLINE at mylifestyletradie.com.au, under the ‘Events’ dropdown, under ‘Next Boot Camp’.

With a spectacular line-up of speakers ready to present on some hot topics YOU have been asking for… here’s a sneak peak at what’s to come:

With a love of business, Carl operate businesses and mentor entrepreneurs, young and old, to grow their business.

Carl Taylor

Taki Moore

Young Entrepreneur, Author, Motivator and Educator Carl Taylor will share his knowledge on ‘How To Buy A Business For $1’.

The McGyver of Marketing…

Back by popular demand…

At 26 years of age, Carl Taylor is teaching the

has been called upon again to shake up the

world how to stop dreaming and start achieving. Having started his first business at

trade industry in our closed door Lifestyle

Taki explains marketing as being able to write yourself a cheque day after day, after day! He likens it to oxygen… without it your business will die a certain death!

That is why his personal, hands-on expertise

Tradie Boot Camp.

the age of 15, Carl has gone on to start, buy and sell businesses in varying industries.

This is a super safe environment to ask those questions you once considered ‘silly’… so that you walk away with a firm grip on how to attract prospects to your business and how to

11 TradeTalk

convert them each and every time!

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE…

By request, you’ll get more of

Andy & Ange…

They will be share with you an abundance of information on the topics you have requested:

•How To Be A Strong and Effective Leader… Without Being a Dick!

•Change – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

So what’s your next step?

• Go to the MyLifestyleTradie website, under Events – Next Boot Camp and REGISTER ONLINE • Call the Sydney Boulevard Hotel and book your accommodation – be sure to mention the special promotional code to get the discounted rate (valid till 22nd February) • If you are travelling from interstate, book your flights • If you have any questions or need assistance, send an email to us at info@lifestyletradie.com.au

Boot Camp March 2013 TradeTalk 12

SPILL THE BEANS.....

‘MIND-BLOWING S E C R E T S F RO M A M A R K E T I N G M AV E N ’

The Marketing Product Breakthrough That Will Open Doors You Can’t Open Now, Win You Customers (No More Chasing) and Create a Storm Of Calls Into Your Office!

D

id you know…

59% of consumers prefer to watch video rather than read text online Video makes consumers stay an extra 2 minutes on a website Video makes consumers 64% more likely to buy something Video views grew to 60 Billion in 2011 73% of retailers use video on their product pages 96% increase in click through rate when video is used in email marke5ng The l atest m arketing p roduct m ay j ust be t he c oolest & m ost e ffective d irect marketing p roduct available. T hese hardback b ooks h ave a b uilt i n LCD video s creen. W ith t he p ower o f v ideo and p rint i n o ne p iece you a re s ure t o make t he g reatest i mpact w ith your direct m arketing. T hese b ooks a ppeal three o f t he f ive s enses; s ight, h earing & touch, establishing a connection with the c ustomer i mmediately.

13 TradeTalk

It h as b een p roven t hat c ustomers want to do b usiness w ith you i f t hey c an e ngage with you, l ike you, feel t hey k now you a nd feel t hey t rust you. T his i s t he p ower o f t he video b ook. I t a llows you t o c onnect w ith the c ustomer o n a ll o f t hese l evels.

There a re s everal d ifferent o ptions available to c ater for a ll n eeds. S creen s ize starts a t 1.8 i nches a nd ranges u p to 7 i nches, s o choose t he o ne t hat i s b est s uited to you.

As seen at the Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp October 2012

For more information or to begin the process of creating your very own video book, go to lifestyletradievideobook.com.au

‘Best Of’ Video Entrepreneurs Can Change the World Do you remember when you were a kid?

You thought you could do anything.

Here’s news…you still can!

All it takes is one person to make a difference and overcome an obstacle thought to be impossible to overcome; one single, brilliant idea.

So what’s stopping you? It’s time to seize the opportunity!

Watch this short but empowering video now!

Go to MyLIfestyleTradie for You Tube ‘Best of’ Videos.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

TradeTalk 14

Are you compliant with the 2012 New

OHS Laws?

Small business has to constantly adapt to changes in the economy, the marketplace and workplace reforms. In January 2012 new OHS laws came into effect, it is strongly advised that you review your OHS policies and documentation as you may not realise the implications of the new legislation.

Maximum penalties under the WHS Act: CATEGORY 1 Breach of a health and safety duty involving recklessness as to the risk of death or serious injury or illness without reasonable excuse.

The maximum penalty for a corpora5on, officers and workers respec5vely are $3,000,000, $600,000 or 5 years’ imprisonment and $300,000 or 5 years’ imprisonment CATEGORY 2 Breach of a health and safety duty which expose an individual to death or serious injury or illness (without recklessness).

The maximum penalty for a corpora5on, officers and workers respec5vely are $1,500,000, $300,000 and $150,000

CATEGORY 3 Other breaches of health and safety duties.

The maximum penalty for a corpora5on, officers and workers respec5vely are $500,000, $100,000 and $50,000 15 TradeTalk

Here are a few examples of the changes: • If you are an Officer of a company (Director or Senior Manager) the new WHS Act obligates you to exercise “due diligence” at all 5mes. This means you have a legal responsibility to keep informed about health and safety maders and act immediately on any WHS risks that are brought to your aden5on.

• Your duty of care has now expanded to ALL employees and workers, this includes contractors and labour hire workers.

• You need to abide by new restric5ons and consequences for discriminatory conduct as the new laws allow a discrimina5on case to be a criminal prosecu5on and employees can seek civil ac5on for damages.

• You have a legal duty to consult with employees and other workers about health and safety maders that have to fully documented and proof that the workers understand what they are being told.

So, what does this mean to us?

• Shared responsibility of work safety.

This is now shared amongst then en5re team rather than just having the business owner bear the burden. This is the largest change of these laws.

The business owner or PCBU (Person Conduc5ng a Business or Undertaking alone or with others) must demonstrate a duty of care to the team by ensuring they have a safe work environment as well as a safe work system.

• Provide training to the team and document Tool Box Mee5ngs.

• • • •

Engage team members by asking them to present WHS informa5on sheets during mee5ngs.

Seek and present WHS videos on Youtube to help explain a topic.

Conduct a quick quiz at the end of the training and ask them to sign a form if they have understood the presenta5on.

• Provide a current workers compensaKon policy that covers all your team members.

• Report incidents or injuries and fulfil your responsibili5es if a worker is injured.

• Establish a return to work program and • Display the 'Watching out for you' poster which outlines what to do if there is an injury.

• Seek to eliminate any reasonable health and safety risk.

If a risk cannot be eliminated, the PCBU must work to minimise the risk by subs5tu5ng (wholly or partly) the hazard with something with a lesser risk, isola5ng the hazard from any person exposed to it or implemen5ng engineering controls.

• Provide tradesmen with an “Risk Assessment Forms” to be completed at every different job site. This form serves to remind the worker to inspect the site for any hazards before carrying out any work.

A worker must no5fy their employer as soon as possible of an injury, permit their nominated trea5ng doctor to release informa5on to the Scheme Agent or insurer and their employer, and par5cipate and cooperate with the development and implementa5on of injury management and return to work plans.

At the end of the day, Workplace Health and Safety Laws (WHS) exist to help protect us all.

We all want to be able to work in a safe environment with the right knowledge and tools to maintain our safety and the safety of others.

If you have been pu_ng off updaDng your WHS policy now is the Dme to take acDon.

In Australia, over 2000 people die each year from work-related causes (National Occupational Health and Safety Commission - NOHSC 2003: 3) and a further 477,800 are injured (Australian Bureau of Statistics - ABS 2001: 3).

More Australians die from work-related causes than from motor vehicle crashes, AIDS or drug overdoses.

TradeTalk 16

Market Leader

How To Captivate Your Clients

Derived from:

Content Rules, Ann Handley and CC Chapman

id you know content is the new D advertising? In a world of information overload we do not want more biased ads and PR spin. Instead, we want to learn and be more informed.

Content marketing is the key to lead generation and to take advantage your business will need to become a publishing entity. It is important to share what you know with your customers to position yourself as a market leader.

How Content Are You? Content Marketing is the strategic sharing of information to attract/serve customers.

Your goal is to educate, enlighten and solve your customer’s problems. In content marketing 90% if the message is informing and only 10% is selling, which is the direct reverse of advertising.

General content includes FAQs, videos, webinars, slideshows, the text on your website and the list goes on. An example is creating a video to show your customers how to change a tap washer.

What specific tools should you use to create content and drive lead generation?

Here are 9 Concept Components to consider…

1. Blog – a page on your website that is the centre of all your activity.

2.Webinars – a virtual seminar where you are able to present a series of slides whilst talking and interacting with a live audience.

3.Photos – great for adding credibility to your company by posting on facebook or flickr.

4.Stories as case studies –show how you solved one of your customer’s problems.

So what sort of content should you create?

1. Solve Your Customers Problems

5.Frequently Asked Questions –show you have a high level of interest in the customers needs.

2. Stick to your Strengths

6.Videos – a story with real people in it.

3. Design to Use It More Than Once (eg. slice

7. Podcast – record yourself talking solo or

big content into smaller content series) 4. Let Your Personality Shine Through TradeTalk 17

with others to educate your customers.

Customers can listen while they are on the go!

8.E-Books – electronic documents full of information.

9.iPhone Apps – develop your own app to share your audio, video, FAQ’s etc

10.User Generated Content – such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can use them to simply broadcast your message in a one-way system or you can choose to interact with your customers.

How Can You Become The Market Leader In Your Industry?

With the answers to these questions, you can develop your content strategy. Think about how they fit together to create a stream of content.

It might look a little like this:

In short, the best marketer wins.

And the smart way to do this is to be giving with your content.

Ask yourself these 5 questions;

1. What are your business objectives?

What do you want to use content marketing to achieve? Lead generation? Sales?

2.What are your content strengths?

Are you a natural writer? Or perhaps handy with a camera.

3.What does the market want to know? and how do they prefer to hear the information?

4.What components appeal? In smaller bite size chunks, or large?

5.What specific topics would you cover?

What problems will you solve?

THE CHALLENGE:

Be Content!

Create your Content Marketing Strategy to Educate, Enlighten and Solve your customers’ problems! Remember…

The Best Content Wins!

To read the entire Book Summary from Book Rapper – Log into MyLifestyleTradie, Training Centre, Book Rapper.

Resource: Book Rapper

TradeTalk 18

Laughter, Lessons, Living‌ in Abundance

Boot Camp October 2012

Living Life Day with Platinum VIP members on Sydney Harbour

BYO Daz Sharon Tieman (a.k.a.

Madame Marketing)

Tony Gattari

Scotty

atrina Brian & K

Cass & David

Andrew & Katika

Greg Cassar

19 TradeTalk

Mr.Incredible!

Happy B’day Mar k

When does “No”

mean “No”?

I wouldn’t call it a white lie, but it’s certainly not the truth! We discover what ‘no’ really means…

Coming from me it is fair to say that when asked by Andy “What’s the matter?”, to which I respond, “Oh, nothing”, it is very rare that I really mean “Nothing”. It simply means ‘keep asking questions and I will eventually tell you the TRUTH’, because ‘Nothing’ means ‘Something’… you know what I mean ladies…

So when you hear “no” from the mouth of a customer, should you just pack up and move on to the next? Or perhaps the word ‘No’, really means something else.

Let’s take a look at what ‘no’ could really mean…

Joining the dots of customers agreeing to a job can, at times, be complex. People must agree and products and services must Qit the challenges that the customer is facing. When you Qinally get to the point of presenting a proposal and articulating your solution, it is not uncommon to hear ‘no’. The challenge to you as a sales professional (because that is what you are as a tradesman), is not to hear “no”, but to try and hear what the customer is actually saying.

Listen for the real reasons and what the client needs you to hear!

When a customer or prospect says no, he or she is really communicating a different message:

“I am not comfortable with your solution.”

This is the most common response and it says that you have more work to do. You need to commit more time to discovery, understanding what the customer needs and adjusting the solution you have provided to match more closely with the customer’s challenges. In this case, hearing no tells you that more work is needed and it is a roadmap of sorts.

“I am not ready to commit.”

In this case hearing no means that the timing may be off for the customer and they are not ready to make a purchase despite how great your solution is. Again, spend time understanding timeframes and purchase parameters. This does not mean never, it means not right now.

“I don’t get it.”

This one is tough, because it means that the customer does not understand what you have proposed. Your responsibility as a sales professional is be constantly checking for their understanding throughout the entire sales process so when you get to the point of presenting your proposal they are conQident and open to what you are proposing! If you are not educating your customer as part of your sales process you will hear no and your sale will face an uphill battle.

“Too risky for us right now.”

This is a Qirst cousin of “I don’t get it.” A few things could be happening here. The customer does actually understand what is being proposed. In fact, they may love the idea and really want to implement your solution. However, for a myriad of reasons, the timing is off. This is tough to deal with because you may never know the reason, but you need to commit to more discovery to Qind out. Do not give up here, ask more questions and keep probing. Your ability to develop a trusting relationship is very crucial. The customer will only share things with you if they trust you.

“Our Company is not ready.”

Your solution may be viewed as too far reaching for a company that has not caught up with your technology or thinking. This one is less about discovery and more about the culture of the company and what they are willing to adopt. This point is always interesting because you can quite possibly turn a “no” into a ”yes” if you ask the right questions. You will then carefully create a dialog about the culture and not your product.

Next time you hear “no”, accept the challenge, relax, think carefully about what your customer or prospect may really be saying, and work with them to get the “no” to a “yes”.

“No” does not always mean “No”.

Inspired By; Tim Cohen, author and expert in Building Sales Culture TradeTalk 20

S I H T IS

R U O IN Y

MAN CAVE? This is where we talk about all cool things that should or could be in the man cave. Gadgets, new tech, cool tools, new inventions or big boys toys, if it’s cool and fun we’ll talk

The Extreme Just Got A Whole Lot Easier!

Surfing through the barrel of a 10foot wave, sideswiping a shark in the Barrier Reef or breaking the speed of sound jumping from the stratosphere at 833.9mph… these experiences have all become a reality thanks to a little gem called a GoPro.

With the benefit of both video and still photos this professional quality camera shoots in 1080p, 960p and 720p HD resolutions record at 30 frames per second. You can record up to 2.5 hours on a single charge and up to 9 hours of footage on a 32GB SD card.

With prices starting at $225 from all leading camera stores, this little number recently took a trip to Hakuba, Japan on my snowboarding trip.

This way you too can come to Japan and experience the fresh powder days all from the comfort of your lounge! I’ll send you some footage for sure…

For your own enjoyment, check out the GoPro and review some of the video footage captured by users on their website… this is truly awesome! http://gopro.com

The GoPro is the world’s most versatile high definition camera. Waterproof up to 60m this little beauty will fit right into your pocket…no need for the bulky SLR camera!

It’s all about capturing the action whilst positioned on head gear, strapped to a wrist or on a professional stand whilst ‘doubling’ with some of the world’s craziest athletes and daredevils in the world!

21 TradeTalk

The Potty Putter Why would any keen golfer want to sit idle on the throne when you could be practicing your putt?

Now you can sink putts where no one else has sunk them before. The Potty Putter comes complete with a putting green, made from the same professional carpet found at miniature golf courses, a cup with a flag, 2 golf balls, a putter and a 'Do Not Disturb' door hanger.

Simply wrap the green, complete with hole, around your toilet pan, grab your putter, take aim and sink one (yes, we're still talking about putting here). It's a great way to work out the kinks in your game, so you'll soon be flush with success.

Girls, if you've been looking for a way to stop him reading in the loo, this is it!

At least this game of golf doesn't take half a day and stop him mowing the lawn unless of course, last night’s curry was less than agreeable (we didn't say it was without its hazards!).

The Potty Putter converts previously wasted time into a productive practice session, turning those bogies into birdies. Even without picking up the putter, it adds a manly touch to your interior decorating!

This ingenious idea will set you back a measly $24.95 plus postage and handling from www.latestbuy.com.au

Cool iPhone Apps for Tradies Phonto Price: FREE (iPad and iPhone) FEATURES:

✓ Add text to pictures ✓ More than 200 fonts available ✓ Text size, colour, gradient, stroke colour and background colour, shadow are changeable ✓ Rotatable text

✓ Share photos

✓ Send to Strata and Real Estate Customers

Phonto is a simple applica5on that allows you to add text to pictures.

You can even add text to your crea5ons from Dip5c. This app allows you to draw arrows and insert text on top of images to help tell the story to your customers.

TradeTalk 22

NEXT ISSUE Money on the MOVE. The low down on how to keep cash flow strong by the push of a button.

Prison material, bad reputation or perfect fit?

3 tricky ways to find out ‘way more’ about a new employee than you bargained for.

As we reminisce on the memories from the Lifestyle Tradie Boot Camp in October, we’re busy gearing up for the next in March. Have you booked yet?

Looking forward to seeing you all there at our ‘NEW’ Sydney location.

Smith e g n &A Andy

Don’t forget, want to share your hot tips, recommended s uppliers or a ny other information that will benefit the Lifestyle Tradie C ommunity.

Drop us a line to info@lifestyletradie.com.au

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TradeTalk is published by and © copyright by Andrew & Angela Smith, Lifestyle Tradie Group Pty Ltd 2012. All Rights Reserved. This newsleder and any accompanying material are for general informa5on purposes only. It is the responsibility of the reader to comply with any local, state or federal laws. S5ck with me here while I con5nue with this legal blah-­‐blah. The Publisher has taken all reasonable measures to ensure that the material contained within this newsleder is correct. The Publisher provides no representa5on and gives no warranty as to the accuracy of the informa5on and does not accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in the informa5on contained herein and shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising as a result of any person ac5ng in reliance on informa5on contained herein. All done!

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