Today's Guest: Cheryl Lohner of Create A Buzz Marketing in Traverse City, Michigan
Today's Host: Damien Allen
September 2007
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Cheryl Lohner Transcript Page
Cheryl Lohner Expert PageANNOUNCER: Welcome to VTalk Radio Local Business Spotlight. We now join Damien Allen in the studio with Cheryl Lohner, founder of Create a Buzz Marketing. Create a Buzz a Buzz Marketing helps service professionals who struggle with marketing attract more clients into their business. Welcome to VTalk Radio's Local Business Spotlight, Cheryl.
CHERYL: Thank you, Damien. I'm happy to be here.
DAMIEN: And we are very glad to have you. How does one take a business and market to service professionals, and exactly what is a service professional?
CHERYL: A service professional would be anyone who provides a service or sells their expertise. So that could be anywhere from a coach or consultant, financial advisor, possibly an independent professional which would be a CPA or an attorney or even at times worked with mortgage originators or commercial loan officers, that type of a thing.
DAMIEN: What types of services do you offer your clients?
CHERYL: I offer several different things. It really depends on the clients. Some people really like one on one approach where you're just working specifically with them. It's a little higher intensity, but some people really enjoy that. I also work with groups which is a completely different dynamic. Often groups are actually quite a lot of fun, because there is so many people out that there that have so much to offer that we get so close to what we do, regardless of what our business is. And a what a group does is it allows you to not only get feedback and help from me personally, but also you get the feedback and help from the other people that are in your group which can be extremely helpful and eye opening for many people.
DAMIEN: Marketing has such a broad spectrum and there's so many different ways things can be marketed now. What are some of the specialties that you cover right now?
CHERYL: What I do is I'm a little bit different. I cover the basic marketing principals as I call them. They're very foundational. So rather than doing a specific marketing area, I actually help people understand how to be better marketers. How to talk effectively about what their services are and the benefits of those services. I help them get past their negative marketing mind sets as I call it, because like anything else, you know, we can really stand in our own way. And marketing is a very difficult thing, because a lot of it has to do with how you present yourself to people and putting yourself out there. So if you really have a stumbling block with feeling rejected about marketing or thinking maybe you sound like you're bothering people, then you're not going to come across very confidently and people will pick up on that. So I help people with that. I help people put together marketing action plans. I help them learn how to speak effectively, but also write effectively about their business so that when they go to a web designer, for example, or someone needs to have a brochure put together for them, they know exactly who they are talking to. They know exactly how to talk to that market, and they're entire marketing materials are much more effective.
DAMIEN: So it sounds like you actually set them on the path to where they need to be as far as the marketing they're going to do. Do you provide the marketing service itself, or are you just consulting to let them know what marketing they need to get to?
CHERYL: I actually just consult with them or work with them directly in kind of a coaching capacity, because the more they understand what marketing is all about, they will have a better understanding of the best ways to use marketing to benefit in their services and to just move their company forward and help them grow. And as long as they understand the basic principals of marketing, they will always have that knowledge. So it's really useful especially when it comes to putting marketing plans together, because it's something we put together which is really important. Where they help develop these marketing plans and it's a comfort level they have so that they are much more effective and they're more apt to actually implement them, and I also help them with implementation.
DAMIEN: So, if I have a small business, when at what level would I need to hire a marketing company to help me to get that out? And when I'm just starting, I've got like a family printing business; do I need to do marketing then? Do I need to wait til I'm pulling in $100,000 to $500,000 a year? What level do you start at?
CHERYL: You can start at any level, Damien. I mean the earlier the better, because marketing is just key to your business. Marketing is getting yourself in front of people that are qualified to purchase your services or products if you're a product driven business. So the sooner you start that process, the better. You can start at any point, and I think that's part of the challenges. People think I have to have a lot of money, or I need to have a fancy brochure, or I don't have money for advertising then there's no point. And there's so many things that can be done when it comes to marketing that don't cost money, and a lot of it is just understanding who your target market is. Where they eat, sleep, and breath, and how they think. You just sort of work your way into their conversation. That's what you want to do.
DAMIEN: Where do you find your clients, Cheryl?
CHERYL: I find my clients everywhere. And I guess that's what I love so much about what I do. With the type of work I do, it's very easy for me to do it over the phone. Some people think why would you want to do that? Because you can't see those people, but I found that you really listen intently when you're talking with someone over the phone which is really good. And because what I do is really about them, not about me. So, by doing both I can work with local people or I can work with people literally all over the world, depending on where they're at and what they want from me. So it's pretty exciting. I love it.
DAMIEN: And with the world shrinking every day, due to better transportation and better technology and speaking of technology, the internet. You know a world marketplace is at your finger at any give moment, and speaking of the internet, could we have your website and contact information?
CHERYL: You certainly can. My website is www.createabuzzmarketing.com.
DAMIEN: You are listening to the VTalk Radio Local Business Spotlight. I'm your host, Damien Allen, we're going to take a short break for these important messages, and we'll be right back.
ANNOUNCER: Do you have a vision for your company? Imagine what it could look like if you knew how to market effectively. Hi, I'm Cheryl Lohner. My business Create a Buzz Marketing can help you the service professional. Create a Buzz Marketing, where everyone will be talking about your business. If you have a business you want to know about, contact Create a Buzz Marketing at (231) 935-3631 or on the web at www.createabuzzmarketing.com. Today could be the last day you have to worry about marketing.
ANNOUNCER: VTALK RADIO.
ANNOUNCER: We now return you to the VTalk Radio Local Business Spotlight with your host, Damien Allen.
DAMIEN: We are in the studio with Cheryl Lohner, founder of Create a Buzz Marketing. Welcome back to the program, Cheryl.
CHERYL: Thank you, Damien.
DAMIEN: Now, you've been doing this for a while I would imagine, so do you have any recent success stories you'd like to share with the listeners?
CHERYL: Well sure. There was someone recently that really comes to mind for me, and he was a business owner from California, and I had a consultation with him. He owned just a small little computer company that, you know, goes into small businesses and helps people who can't afford their own technical person. I had a conversation and we sort of dug into those challenges that he has with marketing and one of the things that's really important to me when I have a consultation with someone is I really want them to leave that conversation with something of value regardless of whether they hire me or whether they don't. It's important to me that they leave that conversation better and something that they can arm themself with when it comes to marketing. So this particular gentlemen, we had a great conversation, and I gave him a few ideas on some things that he could put into place right away, some action plans that I think would help him immediately. I contacted him maybe a week or two later, and emailed him and asked him how things were going, because I like to check in on people just to let them know they're supported, and it was so fun because the email he gave back to me, you could just tell his excitement. He had done these things and they were actually working, and what was so great about it was I could just feel his confidence level changing just by the conversational tone that he had in his email and at the end he said, "Just by writing to you makes me feel better and puts me in a different place." That was really important to me, and that's really what I'm trying to bring to the table with people.
DAMIEN: What would you say makes your business unique, Cheryl? What else do you bring to the table that makes your customers just pop?
CHERYL: Well I think one of the things is that I'm an encourager at heart, and I have this ability to see the possibilities that people have within themselves. So I'm pulling out the marketing piece of that and helping them be better marketers, but ultimately I'm just a great encourager and a great fan of them. So the more successful they are; the more successful I am and that is so important to me. Independent professionals are a very unique group of people. They're very strong minded, obviously very independent, and they have a very hard time asking for help, and I know because I'm one of those. I think what I enjoy is when people are working with me, they have this vulnerability about them which can be really challenging and they have to be honest with their fears when it comes to marketing, or even when it comes to their lack of knowledge about marketing or certain things in business overall. And so, working with me, you know, I'm them and I've been there, and I am always there. So what I love most about that is that is just being able to work with them and help them be a successful business owner.
DAMIEN: Well as marketing does cover such a broad spectrum in that spectrum dealing with an even broader spectrum of businesses, what inspires you to do this? What are the things that maps out what Cheryl does when she goes into work in the morning?
CHERYL: Boy, what inspires me is the possibilities in people. And I know that might sound a little idealistic, but I think that the more people tap into their greatest parts of them that the more successful they are. And what's so wonderful about that is it's a reciprocal affect. You know, and if you're a strong business owner, you're family is going to be stronger and it's just going to keep going and going. You're community is going to be stronger for those different things that you get involved in that you bring to the table and those wonderful gifts that you have and so it just goes on and on and on, and that's the thing I love most.
DAMIEN: Now, there's a lot of information out there and there's a lot of marketing for marketers. What have you seen lately that's changed the perceptions of the way that you present your business and the way that your business ethic works within yourself?
CHERYL: I think probably one of the biggest things is that I think the more people have an understanding of what they do and the value that that brings and the ultimate outcome that they provide people, the more important that is. And a lot of what I think about it is shaped by what I read. I've been a learner all my life. I love to read and I love all different kinds of books, and I think that I find the most valuable is not just how to do books, but books on people that really talk about who they are and what makes them think the way they are. One of the books I've read recently is "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" by Lee Iacocca. And obviously what he did for Chrysler was just phenomenal and also "Reposition Yourself" by TD Jakes and it talks a lot about evolution of people and how to help people through that evolution, and I like to think of myself as being someone that kind of helps people along with that. And what I really like to find out when it comes to those kinds of books and those kinds of things is that these people are normal like us, and they've tapped into greatness; and if we tap into greatness we can change our community, our families, you know, our nation, our world, and that's really my ultimate goal. Just to keep looking beyond and have that big vision.
DAMIEN: Well thank you very much for joining us today and telling us about your business, Cheryl. Can we get your website and contact information one more time.
CHERYL: You most certainly can. If you would like to reach me by phone, you can reach me at (231) 935-3631 or if you would like to go to my website which I would love it if would do that because it tells a lot about what I do in more detail. I have a lot of free resources there to help you with your marketing. That address is www.createabuzzmarketing.com.
DAMIEN: Thank you very much for joining us today, Cheryl. We've had a wonderful time having you in the studio.
CHERYL: Thank you for having me, Damien, I appreciate it.
DAMIEN: You've been listening to VTalk Radio's Local Business Spotlight. I'm your host, Damien Allen, have a great afternoon.
ANNOUNCER: You've been listening to the VTalk Radio Spotlight only on <Vtalkradio.com radio for the 21st century.
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