Hillary Clinton Will Not be Defeated — That Way

Sunday, July 29, 2007

I know there are lots of you out there that love to bash Hillary and Bill Clinton. Some of you actually will believe that by dredging up all their sordid past history will some way defeat her in the Presidential election. However, I got news for you IT WON’T WORK!

Last year, I reluctantly agreed to advise a local mayoral candidate that had been advised by others to “run against” the building of a city funded and to be city run water park, which by the way was going to be built whether he wanted built or not.

(The park has been built and is being enjoyed. No, it is not making money and never will, however, I digress.)

By continually pushing against his opponent with the negative position on the water park and, unfortunately, coming across to the voters as an “aginer” he lost the election 2-1 to a decent fellow, who was not inspiring but who also wasn’t negative.

Now, I know that being against something, dredging up the dirt makes some of you feel good.

However, as conservatives, we are never going to win a campaign by using this tactic. We will not beat Hillary Clinton and the vast political machine she and Bill have established by going negative, we will only win elections against the Clintons, or anyone else even in our in local elections by presenting better ideas and solutions to problems, based on better values, that inspire and motivate our voters and that shows them a new vision of what can be.

Did we not learn anything from President Reagan?

Ronald Reagan offered an alternative future to 21% interest rates, gas lines, and a 444-day hostage crisis. President Reagan inspired us to see the “shining city on the hill” and for goodness sakes let’s not forget that we can return this great country to that vision — greatly scaled back government, lower taxes, and greater opportunity for everyone,

We can and we must offer a successful vision of a future to the voters in this election and we must inspire and excite them to follow us, or otherwise we are in for 8-years at least of a Clinton re-run.

Until next time.
Dr. Darryl
L. Darryl Armstrong
ARMSTRONG and Associates
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Providing service through a “How to” brochure

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Ever wondered how you could keep your name in front of potential clients without seeming “pushy”?

Consider doing a “How To …” service brochure and make it available as a part of your service menu. Recently we completed a brochure entitled How to Select a Public Relations Firm.

The trifold brochure is printed in black and white on 70-lb crème paper and a 1000 cost us about $150. We have provided it to our investment advisor, who has accounts that we would like to access all across the country. He in turn will insert it into his monthly newsletter mailing with a letter of introduction.

The brochure walks a potential client through the steps necessary in choosing a public relations firm. Three panels are devoted to helping the client understand the process to go through in choosing a firm. The third panel has a short pitch about ARMSTRONG and Associates and lists the services we offer.

We also tell the reader that if they call our toll-free number and mention they heard about us through the brochure that their first telephone consultation is FREE!

The brochure is designed to be a self-mailer. We also have placed the brochure in Adobe PDF format and loaded it on our website as a FREE resource. We will offer it as a FREE service in our email trailer.

Consider how you can write such a brochure for your own professional services and then send it to all potential clients with a handwritten note – that says, “Thought you might find this helpful”.

You will be seen as an “info guru” and be legitimately perceived as providing a valuable service. You can see our new brochure at http://www.armstrongandassociates.org/

Until next time.

Dr. Darryl

L. Darryl Armstrong

ARMSTRONG and Associates

  

  

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Make Yourself Known To Influential Sources

PERSPECTIVES

 July 24, 2007

You can increase referrals by becoming known to influential sources whom you have not yet had the opportunity to meet. If they are sufficiently prestigious and influential, your association with them will create a “halo” or association relationship that will benefit you. Even more important is the fact that you may have the opportunity to work with them directly or benefit from the referrals sent your way.

A proven way to make contact and to influence those you do not yet know, especially influential people, is to request their participation in your research or writing project. By the way, I have never asked for a quote from an influential person for my newsletter that didn’t eventually take the time to give me one especially about their area of expertise.

So, plan a specific project and contact the influential experts for an interview. If you attribute your expert’s thinking, data or remarks in a document that is to be published, be sure to set up another meeting to review the information you have used.

At your first meeting, don’t solicit business or referrals. Instead, use this initial contact as a basis for developing a professional relationship. In the future, you can meet again for similar purposes. Meanwhile add their names to your circulation lists.

In the first or subsequent meetings, you will inevitably have an opportunity to describe your work or services. This opportunity can and often does lead directly to business or referrals.

Until next time.

Dr. Darryl

L. Darryl Armstrong

ARMSTRONG and Associates

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Be Seen as a Researcher in Your Field

PERSPECTIVES

July 16, 2007

Being identified as a researcher and one who contributes to the education and advanced of your field of interest will greatly increase your referrals. Devote time and energy to designing and implementing research projects that provide valuable information to those who read and those who publish your information.

Such research need not be highly sophisticated or even time consuming. Simple opinion surveys or questionnaires that measure trend information or point out directions in thinking or behavior are often enough. They help solidify your image as a knowledgeable resource at the cutting edge of your area of expertise.

Until next time.

L. Darryl Armstrong

Armstrong and Associates

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Stack Up Your Costs

PERSPECTIVES

July 9, 2007

Consultants, speakers and professionals often spend untold hours on work that is necessary yet not directly billable. Most clients are unaware of the required groundwork. Such preparation time is intangible and difficult for clients to appreciate in terms of dollars.

Periodically let your clients know (in person, by phone, or in writing) the tasks you have done to insure their project’s success.

At ARMSTRONG and Associates (http://www.armstrongandassociates.org/) we add a detailed list of work completed to the bottom of our invoices with the wording: “Our professionals services on this project include: …” This list serves as an acknowledgement of his work and provides an additional perceived value to the client.

Some examples include the following:

ü      Research preparation

ü      Telephone and conference calls

ü      Travel time

ü      Design work

ü      Routine reports

ü      Surveys, interviews and questionnaires

ü      Organization of files and records

ü      Reading material

ü      Material development

ü      Review of company records

ü      Internal strategy meetings

Investigations regarding similar or competitive situation

Until next time.

L. Darryl Armstrong

Armstrong and Associates

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Perspectives – Make Selling Your Services Job One!

PERSPECTIVES

July 4, 2007

Happy Independence Day!

I have been on the road extensively the past 7-days and am now just getting caught up. As is usual, when I returned to my desk and reflected on the past week I had one of those “ah-ha’s” we all too frequently overlook. It goes like this.

Most of us as professionals love to do our work and provide the services we offer. However, too many of us dislike or even despise designing, implementing and evaluating a sales process to get more work. If your professional practice requires you to be a salesperson, and frankly ALL professional practices require this, here’s how you can improve on your “reluctance to sell”: 

• WRITE A NEW JOB DESCRIPTION for yourself. List sales and marketing as your MOST IMPORTANT TASK! Make it Job One! After all, have you ever tried to do your great work and not have a client to serve?
• Start using POSITIVE SELF TALK, such as “I am a confident and competent sales consultant and I enjoy selling my services.” Simply, successful selling STARTS WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE.
• Do what ALL successful sales representatives do. GET SALES TRAINING. Attend sales classes and seminars, read sales magazines, subscribe to newsletters, invest in audio and video training programs and network with sales pros and learn their techniques.PRETEND YOU WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSE. Set up goals, deadlines, quotas and most important rewards! It is critical to motivate yourself to sell yourself and your professional services. As you succeed as a sales consultant, allow yourself some liberal rewards — including time off.

Until next time.

L. Darryl Armstrong

ARMSTRONG and Associates

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