TOP OF MIND:Use Content to Unleash Your Influence and Engage Those Who Matter To You
by John Hall. One of the best things to hear is “I was just thinking about you!” John’s purpose of the book is to teach us how to create these opportunities to be top of mind status to those that matter to us.
Part 1 is about the change in the consumer landscape and why it is so important to be ‘top of mind’ to our customers.
Part 2 is about how to build a brand that supports this. It has to be genuine and authentic or it doesn’t work and can be a hindrance.
Part 3 is about to create digital content that connects your brand and the world. Digital content helps you scale to reach an even larger audience.
Credibility is the key. You need to connect the people behind your brand to the people you are trying to reach.
We must know what the customers’ need is, what is important to them, etc.

Interesting flow of the potential customer to a brand promoter:
Attract – getting potential customers
Convert – convert potential customers by getting their information
Close – turn them in to customers
Delight – turn customers into promotors of your brand or product - I think this is the action we most often miss. Ask for help in promoting your brand.
Scary statistics showed that it takes between 7-13 ‘touches’ to convert and close.

Two important factors for a successful brand are likability and familiarity. They recommend “How to be Exceptionally Likable: 11 Things the Most Charming People Always Do” by Jeff Haden. John shares 11 tips from Jeff Haden from his book.
One key is to share information that is helpful to them. When you give them information you empower them.
Something we all know but is still hard for many of us is to remember someone’s name when you meet them. Their name is very important to them. Also try to remember something unique about them. Touch base with these people.
“People don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it”
Critical to start with why.
John provides an excellent resource library at the end of the book.

The author exposes us in a very clear, concise way, with many practical tips and strategies how to achieve marketing content for those who do business online.
A very important factor to be influential is also to become trustworthy, authentic person and keep you present. For this it is fundamental to develop a digital content strategy and make it a system or habit: to be consistent in creation, content quality and distribution. John Hall explains how to bridge the barriers of mistrust of audiences to build relationships of trust and influence people to think right about you at the right time.
The most effective way to significantly influence our customers' lives and build a relationship that positively impacts them is to communicate through valuable digital content and useful information that can empower consumers in their lives and businesses, so we will be first in their minds as people with whom they would be interested to do business or offer some recommendation. It is also important to properly target the content to the right people, not hundreds of wrong people.
Written in a very enjoyable way, with interesting real stories, research and also contains a practical and useful resources section.
With tactics such as these, being a vehicle to drive the opportunities and goals of the company, we can make our brand grow.
My gratitude to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book

As marketers, we’re all trying to be top of mind for our audiences. Whether it’s families wanting a hotel, a potential client, or a conference organizer needing a keynote speaker. We want to be thought of before others.

In his new book, John Hall explains why we want to be top of mind and how to get there. Oh, and his book is called Top of Mind.

One this I particularly love about John’s advice is that he doesn’t pretend it’s effortless. The steps he describes are easy but they require work. It’s work to send non-sales emails to a prospect, or a gift to their spouse. It takes time to create quality content that helps your customers when there’s no promise of a sale. These are all things John has done to be top of mind. However, I recommend you read the book before stalking your prospects and sending their spouses birthday gifts. You could be on their mind for the wrong reasons.

John daringly tackles two audiences in the book and pulls it off. Not easy in only 208 pages. I’ve already inferred it but his instruction is for your business and for your personal brand. I apologize if I misrecall this but the focus is very relationship sales. While you can apply some tactics en masse, you’ll need to be creative.

What could be a weakness is John’s vast use of personal anecdotes. His teen salesperson experiences and the time being snubbed at a conference because his online personal brand was nonexistent. You need to read that second story. He gets around the anecdotes by referencing others’ books and resources – a lot. Each chapter has a resources section and he often links to his own site of resources for readers.

There’s a large section on content marketing. I’ve seen a stat saying 70% of purchases are decided before speaking with a salesperson. Following the tips will mean you’re top of mind for this 70%.

Who Should Read Top of Mind?
The first group I thought of is salespeople. Especially those more transactional with relationship selling methods.

Second, marketers need to read Top of Mind for the personal branding tips. Going back to John’s experience at the conference, we need to ensure we’re taking the advice we give our clients.

Go read it!

This book is for you, if you want to build thought leadership for yourself or your business. John has clearly articulated, both the need to use content to create thought leadership and also lays out a clear path to achieving thought leadership..