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-1-
Published by:
Marketing Best Practices, Inc
...
David Frey
2507 W
...
Suite 1534
Webster, Texas 77598
Email: David@MarketingBestPractices
...
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage or retrieval system without written permission from the author,
except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review
...
It
is sold with the understanding that the publisher and authors and advisers are not
rendering legal, accounting or other professional services
...
For more information, see the references throughout the text
...
However, there may be mistakes both typographical and in content
...
Furthermore, this manual contains information only up to the printing date
...
Copyright © 2003 by H
...
First Edition
...
Your
Current Customers
39
Chapter 7 — Joint Ventures: Using Other People’s Customers to Get New
Business
47
Chapter 8 — What Business Are You In?
54
Chapter 9 — How Free Giveaways Can Boost Your Small Business Revenues
58
Chapter 10 — Guarantee Marketing: How to Turn Your Guarantee Into A
Competitive Weapon
63
Chapter 11 — Niche Marketing: Expand Your Customer Base By Narrowing Your
Marketing Focus
74
Chapter 12 — Using Consumer Research To Develop Powerful Small Business
Marketing Strategies
92
Chapter 13 — 13 Elements Of A Winning Small Business Advertisement
97
Chapter 14 — 12-Step Foolproof Sales Letter Template
103
Chapter 15 — Telephone Success Strategies for Small Businesses
112
Chapter 16 — How to Price Your Product or Service for Maximum Profit
117
Chapter 17 — How To Use the Power of Packaging to Double Your Sales
132
Chapter 18 — Membership Marketing: Turning Occasional Buyers Into
Loyal Customers
139
Chapter 19 — Street Marketing for Small Businesses
145
Chapter 20 — Using Customer Testimonials in Your Marketing Message to
Break Down Fear and Skepticism
Chapter 21 — The Key To Guaranteed Repeat Sales
Chapter 22 — Lead Generation: How to Flood Your Small Business With
-3-
151
158
Hot Qualified Prospects
165
Chapter 23 — Charity Marketing: Growing Your Business Through
Charitable Giving
172
Chapter 24 — Bumps, Up-sells, Cross-sells, and Down-sells
177
Chapter 25 — How to Create an Offer that Your Prospects Can’t Resist
183
Chapter 26 — How to Radically Reduce Refunds and Returns
194
Chapter 27 — Internet Marketing Strategies for Local Small Businesses
201
Chapter 28 — 16 Small Business Website Mistakes (and how to fix them)
205
Chapter 29 — How to Start Your Own Online Newsletter
229
Chapter 30 — Measure Your Marketing Efforts
251
Special Report # 1 — How to Make Yellow Pages Ads Work for Your
Small Business!
255
Special Report # 2 — Secrets to Direct Mail Success for Small Businesses
272
Special Report # 3 — How to Get Free Publicity for Your Small Business
297
-4-
Please Accept My Personal
Invitation to Subscribe to…
To Get Your FREE Lifetime Subscription Simply
Visit www
...
com or Send a
Blank Email to Subscribe@MarketingBestPractices
...
Competition, the emergence of the Internet, and
mergers and acquisitions (not to mention the recession) have forced small businesses to
rethink their marketing strategies
...
Many
small business owners are asking themselves, “How do I ‘recession-proof” my business?”
The answer is: Make marketing your first priority!
Is customer service important? Absolutely
...
Is developing your employee important? Absolutely
...
Marketing is what drives your business
...
Your
best business years could be during this recession!
It’s during the difficult times that you learn how to stretch your marketing dollar, to make
the most of your marketing investment
...
In “The Small Business Marketing Bible,” you will learn new and different techniques to
market your business that will make it immune to economic fluctuations and will increase
your top and bottom line no matter what the economy is doing
...
You will need to learn how to search out those prospects that may want to buy and
convince them that they need to buy — today
...
Flashing ads with the words “sale, sale, sale” all over them won’t work
...
(i
...
Those prospects who are ready to
buy today
...
The only way to survive and thrive during competitive times is to re-focus your attention
on marketing
...
It’s Time to Re-Double Your Marketing Efforts and Make
Them Your First Priority
Now is not the time to pull back on your marketing efforts but to re-double your efforts
and your commitment to be the smartest and savviest marketer in the your industry
...
Good marketing can
overcome a multitude of business sins
...
I have spent many years consulting in different areas of business, in both Fortune 500
companies and in small businesses
...
As successful as those consulting engagements were, none had as much impact on
the business then when I helped companies re-focus their efforts on marketing
...
Establish Effective Marketing Systems and Put Your
Small Business On Autopilot
A few of the marketing techniques I introduce to you in this manual will be completely
new and somewhat unusual
...
They are proven
...
”
I like “systems
...
You can “turn on” an effective
system and know what the results will be the next day
...
Effective marketing systems also allow you to leverage the assets that you already have
...
You will understand this more when
you read the sections on “Education-Based Marketing” or “Guaranteed Marketing
...
Why? Because very few (if any) small business owners know
the dynamic marketing techniques I’m about to show you — ideas that can literally
double your current business within six months and have customers practically line up
and beg to buy from you
...
There are several
strategies you can use to grow your business, but they all fall under four general
categories
...
Attract more new customers
...
Increase the average sales amount
...
Make your customers buy from you more often
...
Hold on to your customers for life
...
I believe small businesses focus too much of their efforts on number 1 and number 4
...
Don’t get me wrong
...
But if you spend the
majority of your time and money trying to get them you may be neglecting a whole slew
of new customers that are waiting to buy from you
...
As I mentioned, there are many ways to leverage your marketing efforts in these four
categories
...
•
Develop an Education-Based Marketing program that compels your prospects to
contact you to learn more about how you can help them
...
Increase the average sales amount…
•
Up-sell your customers to high quality products and services
...
•
Combine several items into a package that would cost less if sold separately
...
•
Follow up with your customers to see how they’re enjoying the benefits of the
new product or service you sold them, and suggest products or services that would
increase their satisfaction
...
Hold on to your customers for life…
•
Deliver uncommon customer service by going the extra mile
...
•
Perform stealth surveys with your customers from time to time to gauge their
level of satisfaction
...
In this manual I will give you specific marketing techniques for each of
these areas to grow your small business
...
You May Have to Completely Re-Think Your Marketing
Strategy
As you read, think about how each strategy or method could be applied to your small
business
...
While you’re reading this manual, have a
notepad handy to take notes and write down To-Do’s
...
After reading this manual you may want to re-evaluate your entire marketing plan
...
-9-
Don’t believe for one second that many of these techniques are obvious to everyone —
they’re not
...
As one of those few, you’ll not
only learn how to make your small business stay alive and thrive, but you’ll learn how to
dominate your marketplace
...
”
Sincerely,
David Frey
CEO, Marketing Best Practices, Inc
...
Most are “doers”, not “planners
...
It’s what
makes entrepreneurs a rare breed
...
But I have encountered many small business owners who get into trouble “doing” the
wrong marketing activities the right way or “doing” the right marketing activities the
wrong way
...
You don’t have to kill a tree to create an effective marketing plan
...
To begin, don’t worry about
writing style or making your plan fancy
...
Step 1 — Understand Your Market and Competition
A big mistake that many small business owners make is to latch on to a cool product or
service without first understanding the market and what it wants (not what it needs)
...
It’s that simple
...
A profitable
market can be compared to a lake with thousands of starving fish
...
To get an understanding of your market you should ask yourself questions like:
•
Are there segments in my market that are being underserved?
•
Are the segments of my market for my product or service big enough to make
money?
•
How much of a share of that market do I need to capture, to just break even?
•
Is there too much competition in the segment of my market to be competitive?
•
What are the weaknesses in my competition’s offering that I can capitalize on?
- 11 -
•
Does my market want or value my unique competitive offering?
Step 2 — Understand Your Customer
Knowing your customer intimately is the first step to easy sales
...
** Sidebar **
Don’t confuse “wants” with “needs
...
For instance, have you ever known someone that
went to the store to buy a pair of pants that they needed and came back with a new shirt,
sweater, and shoes? Or how about the everyday shopper who goes into the supermarket
to buy some milk and eggs, and comes out with a frozen pizza, cheesecake, and other
goodies?
People will buy what they want (even if they don’t have the money!), not what they need
...
I
used to be one
...
g
...
g
...
g
...
g
...
)
Step 3 — Pick a Niche
If you say that your target customer is “everybody” then nobody will be your customer
...
You’ll have more success jumping up
and down in a small puddle than a big ocean
...
- 12 -
You could be a “lawyer that specializes in child accident liability” or a “CPA for used car
dealers” or a “dry cleaner for the Heritage Park subdivision in West Oaks, CA
...
Make sure to choose a niche that interests you and that is easy to contact
...
There’s nothing more destructive than to pick a niche that you can’t communicate with or
that costs you a ton of money to contact
...
You should develop two types of marketing messages
...
Some may call this your elevator
speech or your audio logo
...
To make your marketing message compelling and
persuasive it should include the following elements:
•
An explanation of your target prospect’s problem
...
•
An explanation about why you are the only person / business that can solve your
prospects problem
...
•
Examples and testimonials from customers you have helped with similar
problems
...
•
Your unconditional guarantee
...
Your marketing medium is the communication vehicle you use to deliver your marketing
message
...
This means that you want to choose the medium that
delivers your marketing message to the most niche prospects at the lowest possible cost
...
It would do
you no good to advertise your retirement community using a fast paced, loud radio spot
on a hip-hop radio station
...
Success will come when there is a good match of these three elements
...
A “wish” is a goal that hasn’t been written down
...
When creating your
goals use the SMART formula
...
Your goals should include financial elements, such as annual sales revenue, gross profit,
sales per salesperson, and so on
...
Once you’ve set your goals, implement processes to internalize them with all team
members, such as reviewing them in sales meetings, displaying thermometer posters, and
awarding achievement prizes
...
It’s good to start out with a
quick-and-dirty calculation and then to support it with further details
...
The next step is to take your cost to sell one unit or acquire one customer and simply
multiply it by your unit sales or customer acquisition goal
...
- 15 -
Conclusion
There you have it: The Seven-Step, One-Day Marketing Plan
...
Of
course you’ll need to study up a bit more about your marketing medium(s) of choice, its
appropriateness for your message, and its associated costs
...
Remember the 80 / 20 rule: 80%
of your results will come from 20% of your effort
...
It could very well be the most important document to which you and
your team members will ever refer
...
Lifetime customer value has two components: (1) new customer acquisition cost
and (2) lifetime revenue generated by a new customer
...
For many small businesses these figures are a mystery, yet they are the key ingredients to
making decisions concerning marketing expenditures
...
How to Calculate New Customer Acquisition Costs
To calculate new customer acquisitions costs, first research what total marketing costs
were for the previous year
...
Finally, divide your marketing costs by the number of new customers to
determine your cost per customer
...
Many of your
customers came as a result of word-of-mouth or referrals
...
These things can
incorrectly inflate the cost per new customer
...
We’ll assume that we sold $1,000,000 worth of spas and our marketing expense
was 5% of revenue
...
By the way, you should start to collect some important information from your
customers at the time of the sales
...
- 17 -
Calculating the Lifetime Revenue of a Customer
Now that you have a yardstick to use for your new customer acquisition costs, you need
to look at your “lifetime revenue of a customer
...
Supposing you own a hot tub
dealership, these are the questions you should ask yourself:
•
How much is the average hot tub sale?
•
What is the average chemicals sale?
•
How often does a customer make a chemical purchase?
•
What is the average spa cover sale?
•
How often is the average spa cover sale made over the life of a hot tub?
•
What is the average parts sale over the life of a spa?
•
How often does a customer make a parts purchase over the life of the spa?
•
On the average, how many referrals does one of your customers make that results
in a sale?
So let’s do a hypothetical calculation with the answers to these questions
...
Lifetime Revenue / Gross Margin Calculation
Average hot tub sale
Total chemical sales (avg
...
Now ask yourself how much are you willing to invest, per customer, to grow your
business
...
Why? Because, invariably they don’t understand the lifetime value of a
customer!
This is a big mistake that many owners make
...
Why? Because they have taken the time
to compute the lifetime value of their customers and realize that its one of the best
investments they can make with their money
...
If the value of one customer is so high, do you think this would change
how you treat each customer?
Would you be willing to go the extra mile to make that customer happy? I suggest you
put the lifetime value of a customer figure on your wall for you and your employees to
see
...
- 19 -
Differentiate or Die: Your Unique
Selling Proposition
Avis Rent a Car “We’re number two
...
”
Federal Express “When it absolutely, positively has to be there
...
Avis Car Rental knew that Hertz, the number one car rental company, was so much
bigger than them that they couldn’t compete head on so they positioned themselves as the
number two car company that worked harder for the customer
...
Domino’s based
their slogan on the fact that most pizza eaters don’t care how much stuff is on their pizza,
but that it is hot, fresh, and delivered quickly
...
A
USP is something that differentiates you from all your competitors both local and
industry-wide
...
Your USP states your distinct advantage
...
Now more than
ever you must differentiate your small business
...
During slow times, the same number of small businesses will be vying for
a diminishing number of prospects
...
If you want to survive during the slow economy you must differentiate yourself in the
eyes of your prospect
...
*Factoid*: The origin of USP comes from a man named Rosser Reeves who was
considered the “high priest of hard sell
...
He wrote a book titled, “Reality in Advertising” that became very popular
...
He introduced and defined the concept called Unique
Selling Proposition
...
Identifying, developing, and incorporating your USP into everything you do is
challenging
...
It will differentiate you, distinguish
you, and give you advantage over everyone in your marketplace
...
They usually end up in price wars because they don’t
have anything unique about them to establish value in the minds of their prospects
...
And unless you have a
significant cost advantage over your other small business competitors, you will lose
...
You must use your USP to dominate your local market
...
Your USP must create a real and perceived advantage in your prospect’s mind
...
Domino’s put their USP into
action
...
” I have to tell you that these phrases are worn-out, tired renditions
of a “me too” business
...
When Domino’s stated that your
pizza would be, (1) fresh, (2) hot, and (3) delivered within 30 minutes, it was specific and
measurable
...
How to Identify and Develop Your USP
You shouldn’t rush or hurry the decision of your USP
...
Once you’ve made your impression and
then decide to change it, you begin to confuse your prospects, and it will cost you even
more money to re-implement a different USP
...
Domino’s had a very bold USP
...
But the rewards were fantastic
...
These are called “performance gaps
...
Here are some examples in different small business industries:
Example #1 — Auto Repair Industry
Performance Gap (problem) = Auto repair establishments have a reputation of being
dishonest
...
Potential USP (solution) = “Sedation Dentistry: The Safe, Pain-Free Way to Healthy
Teeth”
Example #3 — Real Estate Industry
Performance Gap (problem) = People are wary of letting real estate agents sell their
homes because they don’t believe the agents will aggressively try to sell them fast
enough
...
You can also have local
performance gaps that will give you a great USP as well
...
Go Visit the
Rest, Then Come Shop at the Best
...
if you proclaim it first!
For instance, if you were a furniture retailer, you could proclaim your USP to be “Buy
today, we’ll deliver it tonight
...
- 22 -
This is sometimes called “preemptive marketing
...
All
others who come after you will just be strengthening an advantage that you have already
placed in the minds of your prospects
...
Your USP should have promises, guarantees, policies and procedures, employee
evaluations and other reinforcing processes to make each USP come alive
...
I’m sure that Domino’s had to eat the cost of a
lot of pizzas when they didn’t arrive within 30 minutes, but they developed a system that
allowed them to deliver on their promise consistently
...
Your USP should be found somewhere in your
headlines, body copy of ads, direct mail, and Yellow Pages
...
You should include it in your sales presentation, on the walls of your business and even
on your business card
...
The nation’s most successful furniture dealer is based here in Houston, Texas
...
It’s everywhere
...
- 23 -
The Five Step Formula To Creating
Your Marketing Message
As I was visiting with a friend of mine in the funeral business not long ago I asked him
what his marketing message was and he replied “We sell peace of mind
...
What do you say in your
brochures and advertising?” He had a puzzled look on his face as if I was from another
planet
...
Most small businesses are confused about their marketing
message
...
Still others think it’s their vision and
mission statement or their company slogan
...
Why is Your Marketing Message Important?
Your marketing message is critical to everything you do in your marketing efforts
...
You’ll have more than you’ll ever want
...
V
...
Even outgoing faxes and your telephone answering service will use
parts of your marketing message
...
- 24 -
Most of you have already developed a marketing message and just don’t know it
...
For example, I was visiting with a mold remediation company here in Houston the other
day and picked up one of their tri-fold brochures
...
The brochure gave me no compelling reason about why I should have done business with
them or how they could have helped solve my problem
...
Most small
business owners have this erroneous idea that prospects want to know all about their
business rather than their own problems
...
The key to creating a winning marketing message is to make sure that it matches the
wants and needs of those who receive it
...
This is done by appealing to
your prospect’s “hot buttons” — those sensitivities that trigger an emotional reaction
...
However, that was only the first step in the marketing message
...
Now let’s suppose the headline read, “New
Hope for PKD sufferers — Recent Tests Point to Potential Cure to PKD
...
Do you think you
would get excited after reading this information? You bet!
Now imagine as you got to the bottom of the letter you were given a list of other research
companies that were working to find a cure for PKD, but were told that only one (the
- 25 -
author of the letter) had unraveled the gene sequence that held the key to a cure
...
5 Steps to Creating Your Marketing Message
Now that I have demonstrated the power of an effective marketing message, let’s review
the simple five-step formula for creating your own powerful and complete marketing
message
...
Every successful small business has a target market, whether they know it or not
...
Their target market is geographic
...
STEP 2 — Identify the problems that your target market experiences
...
The secret to crafting a marketing
message that will make your market sit up and listen is to identify their problem and the
pain and suffering they feel as a result of that problem
...
” Identifying your market’s pain and suffering tells them that you understand and
empathize with them
...
For instance, perhaps you only want to target stayat-home Moms that want to earn some extra money without leaving their homes
...
The next step is to present your solution as a simple cure for all the pain and suffering
your market is feeling as a result of their problem
...
So once you
identify the pain, rub it in and make people really feel it
...
- 26 -
Now, identify all the benefits of your solution and how those benefits will improve the
life of your prospect and take away all their pain and anguish
...
Also, try to position your solution as being easy to implement
...
In fact, most people would rather pay the money just to have the
problem solved for them
...
It’s not enough just to tell people you have a solution; you have to prove to them that
your solution works
...
People will believe other people who are like them that have achieved positive results
...
The best testimonial is one that starts out by telling the prospect what life was like before
applying your solution
...
Then the testimonial should tell the prospect what life was like after applying your
solution
...
The most powerful case studies follow a similar format to that of testimonials
...
The problem
2
...
The results
When presenting the problem in your case study, discuss not only the problem, but also
the negative results that the company was experiencing and the associated financial
consequences of the problem
...
So the fourth step is to ask yourself, “What are the results that my solution has
produced?”
- 27 -
STEP 5 — Explain what makes you different from your competitors
...
First we would send out an inquiry, then we would ask the
vendors to come in and demo their product or service
...
I was
constantly bewildered why the vendor would frequently say, “I’m sorry, we don’t badmouth our competitors
...
As a buyer, we wanted the vendor to differentiate themselves from the other vendors that
we were evaluating
...
You need to communicate your differences!
Prospects are looking for you to communicate your differences
...
They need to be something they care about
...
” If these were two radio channels (i
...
WWD vs
...
In order for your message to match your market you need to be
broadcasting WIIFM
...
For instance, people don’t care if you are a CMC
(Certified Management Consultant), they care about what you can do for them
...
Conclusion
Now you have a simple formula for creating an effective marketing message
...
It starts with
knowing the wants, fears, problems, and needs of your target market and ends by crafting
a message that speaks to those problems in a compelling and believable way
...
- 28 -
How to Make it Rain Referrals
If you don’t have a systematic referral program you are missing out on one of the
simplest, lowest cost ways to generate your highest quality customers
...
Why Are Referrals So Powerful?
The reason referrals are so powerful is because they come from a credible third-party that
has experienced first hand the benefits of doing business with you
...
You can believe what
you friend is saying (versus hearing a commercial from a salesperson whose sole purpose
is to make money from you)
...
How would
you like to receive the benefits of the most compelling sales advertisement on earth for
absolutely nothing? You can through referrals
...
According to Paul and Sarah Edwards
(authors of Getting Business to Come to You), up to 45% of most service businesses are
chosen by customers based on the recommendations of others
...
(The other one is advertising
...
Once someone stands up and makes a
public statement about you, psychologically they will become more loyal to you and your
business
...
It is the foundation of
the referral process
...
Receiving referrals on an ongoing basis is as much a
function of deliberate planning as it is of great customer service
...
This isn’t true
...
And your best customers are ready and willing to give you referrals as was shown in the
statistics above
...
Word-of-mouth Advertising and Referrals are Not the
Same
Word-of-mouth advertising happens when one of your customers or friends mentions
your small business in a casual conversation
...
It’s just
something that came out of their mouth
...
A “system”, by its definition, is a
“process that produces predictable results”
...
Your business needs word-of-mouth advertising, but don’t confuse that
with developing a methodical system for referral prospecting
...
“How do I get more referrals?”
My answer is always the same, “You must ask for them”
...
This fear of asking is rooted in your attitude
...
People Want to Give You Referrals
If you truly believe that it will be helping them if you ask them to give you referrals, your
fear will fade quickly
...
It makes them feel
good that they found a great small business that they had a good experience with, and
they want to share their “little secret” (you) with their friends
...
” And when their friend receives
great service from you as well, your referring customer will feel as though he was able to
do their friends a great favor
...
- 30 -
How to Ask for a Referral
Has someone ever asked you for a referral? Did it go something like this: “Hey, by
chance would you know someone who could benefit from my services?” You start to
ponder and think about it and eventually say, “Well, not off the top of my head, but I’ll
keep thinking about it
...
Rarely, if ever, will it get a positive response
...
“Know anyone who
...
People need a frame of reference to help them narrow down the playing field of potential
referral candidates
...
You ask her, “Mary, you’re a member of the Women’s Financial Planning Association
here in Chicago right?” Mary responds, “Yes, I am
...
” Mary says
...
It allowed her to “see” the potential referrals in her mind
...
Your request will also stay in Mary’s mind long after you’ve asked it because she
visualized your services with much greater intensity
...
You should have an active referral
system for both types of people
...
But, you may in fact, get more referrals from other influential
people who have never tried your product
...
”
- 31 -
Customer Referral Program
Receiving referrals from customers starts with giving great customer service
...
Watch for these seven moments of truth and if you go the extra mile at the right time,
bang! You’ll have a lifetime customer
...
Moment of Truth # 2: The moment one of your new customers comes back to place a
second order
...
Moment of Truth # 4: The moment one of your customers has been through a hard time
because of a foul-up on your (or their) part
...
Moment of Truth # 6: The moment you see your customer in public
...
Perhaps the simplest way to harvest referrals from your customers is to write a simple
letter asking them for their help
...
However, there are many other people and
organizations that you must include in your referral prospecting system
...
These people are often known as “Centers of Influence
...
They turn your marketing efforts from one-toone to one-to-many
...
A smart small business owner will spend the majority of his referral prospecting time
with the 20% of their Centers of Influence that will produce 80% of the results
...
Tier 1 Centers of influence have a connection to your industry
because they provide complimentary products and services
...
For example, suppose you were a chiropractor
...
All these occupations
deal with people who may be in need of chiropractics
...
With this in mind, you
should sit down with your staff and come up with ideas about how to be the first person
standing in line in the minds of your Tier 1 referrers
...
Be their number one referrer: Make sure that you also have a referral mindset
...
2
...
Make sure you try not to
invite competitors
...
You might hold several of these
parties throughout the year so that you can invite several different potential
referrers from the same industry
...
Put each one of them on your newsletter list
...
Give them marketing advice and
information on new developments in your industry in which they should be
aware
...
Invite them to an all-expenses-paid marketing association luncheon that has a
great speaker
...
(I know a mortgage broker that does this with real estate
agents and makes a fortune in referrals
...
Purchase an information product about marketing in their business and give it to
them as a free gift
...
6
...
harryanddavid
...
- 33 -
This will keep you in their minds all year long
...
If you don’t have the time or inclination to develop a relationship with your Tier 1
Centers of Influence, then don’t even try
...
Educate Your Tier 1 Centers of Influence with Special
Reports
Arm your Tier 1 Centers of Influence with tools to help them to help their customers (and
your prospects)
...
Here are some examples of special reports used
in the spa and pool industry
...
This will make your Center of Influence look good and it will also be an effective method
of referring you
...
Information products that teach your Center of Influence how to grow their business are
always welcome and will let them know that you are interested in growing your business
...
These are people who come in
contact with a large number of other people
...
Your Tier two Centers of Influence include but are not limited to the following:
1
...
Friends
- 34 -
3
...
5
...
7
...
9
...
Your Tier 2 Centers of Influence are people that may have no idea what it is that you do
...
Go one step farther by inviting them to after-hours socials
...
Get
them excited about what you do
...
Now each of you can get excited when you give valuable referrals, which in turn will be
transferred to the new prospect
...
It’s a simple idea
...
It’s a win-win
...
How many times have you asked a personal friend, “Do you
know a good place to buy __________?” Or “Do you know a good ____________ that I
can go to see about getting _____________ done?” You trust their opinion so you feel
comfortable buying from businesses recommended by them
...
Or you can make it a two-way cross-promotion, in which each of you sends
letters to your own customers about the other’s products and services
...
Brainstorm with people in your network to come up with
potential promotions that you can do together
...
Ten Questions to Help You Become a Networking Pro
In my earlier years when I was naïve, I thought that my success would increase in
proportion to the number of business cards I handed out
...
But
I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting any business
...
Zig Ziglar, the famous sales trainer once said, “You can get everything in life you want if
you just help enough other people get what they want
...
Thanks Mr
...
To be a great networker you must become “you” centered rather than “me” centered
...
They are their
own favorite subjects
...
The following are ten questions that Bob Burg, author of the book, Endless Referrals
gives to help you get to know potential referrers and leave a lasting positive impression
...
How did you get your start in the widget business?
People like to be the movie of the week in someone else’s mind
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
- 36 -
6
...
7
...
8
...
9
...
10
...
Who doesn’t like
compliments?
You’ll notice something in common with each of these questions
...
Don’t expect
to ask your Center of Influence each of these questions, but do have a few ready when
you talk to others
...
They
may or may not be your Centers of Influence
...
Ask them to educate you on exactly what they do
...
No favors, no begging, no
debt, no smiley-facing, just a clean, fair, intriguing and powerful approach
...
Find ways to serve
your group members and educated them on how to grow their own businesses
...
It’s just a matter of expanding your
network to tap into the network of other professionals
...
Here are the steps to maximizing your referrals and revenue:
1
...
In other words, be their leader
...
)
2
...
3
...
You
need to be consistent with this mailing (or emailing) each month
...
Members pay a quarterly fee, which covers the cost of the lunch
...
A Caution About Giving Referral Fees
Use a referral fee as your last-ditch strategy
...
Friendship,
trust, and a positive relationship are what drive loyalty to you and your business
...
Or one of your competitors starts giving referral fees and you feel the need to continually
match them, causing a referral fee war (I’ve seen it happen)
...
It just seems that whenever money enters into the equation and there is no surefire way to
track it, trouble is on its way
...
It breeds everything you don’t want in a trusting relationship
...
Many small business people make the mistake of not institutionalizing
a systematic program for referrals
...
Don’t make the same mistake
...
- 38 -
Tapping Into Your Most Valuable
Small Business Asset
...
He mentioned that he was still actively
advertising and working his lead generation process but his new customers had slowed to
a trickle
...
They’re not
going to come back and buy another spa a week later
...
All of our efforts are focused on
finding people who want to buy a new spa or pool
...
There is gold
in your customer base waiting to be mined
...
You’ve probably spent a lot of money acquiring your customers
...
If you have convinced a person to do business with you, it means that they have already
given you a vote of confidence
...
If you’re good you may even get their lifetime vote of
confidence
...
That’s why one
of the first pieces of advice I give to my clients is to capture your customer’s contact
information at the point of sale
...
If you have ever purchased an item at Radio Shack you know that the clerk always asks
for your name, address, and phone number
...
They just assume you will give it to them, and you know what? 98% of Radio
Shack customers do give it, without any question
...
Every small business in America should be doing the same thing as Radio Shack
...
Capturing your customer’s email address is the “holy grail” of
marketing because you can market to your customer again and again at no cost
...
The effort to obtain your
customer’s email address will be re-paid many times over
...
Retailers
lose even higher percentages
...
Your
remaining customers are those that are loyal to you and from whom your profits can be
significant
...
These 20 percent are your loyal
customers that come back to do business with you time and again
...
These are the customers that you should be focusing your time and energy
on
...
This is called “spray-and-pray” and is a waste of your
marketing dollars
...
•
It rewards customers because they receive your personal attention and periodic
special offers that other customers may not receive
...
It’s important to categorize your customer base to identify your top 20% customers
...
If you
don’t have this data, start compiling it right now
...
Take it from Max Grassfield, owner of
Grassfield’s, an upscale men’s clothing store in Denver
...
Max has become so skilled at inviting his customers to do business that he developed a
trademarked system called, “Invitational MarketingTM
...
His method
works
...
The
answer, which he evolved after much study, research, and effort, was to develop methods
to know his customers “better than the other stores know their customers
...
Originally, the data included name, address,
telephone numbers, sizes, birthdays, and the wife’s name
...
)
He regularly writes customers on a one-to-one basis that uses the customer’s first name or
nickname (as the customer prefers), their sizes, wife’s name, product preferences, and
references to what they bought in the previous season
...
Recently, he sent a wave of three different oversized postcards in one-month intervals, to
4,100 regular customers
...
There were 117 respondents (a 2
...
It was an outstanding success
...
For a $1,968 investment, he brought in $52,767 in sales
...
Using the
database, he drafted a special note to each customer whose size fit one of these eight
groups
...
He mailed 1,164 invitations at a cost of $558 and sold 56 suits in
39 transactions
...
Max knows who his good customers are and he takes advantage of that by
personally inviting them to do business with him, again and again
...
Sample Customer Database Using MS Access
The Prodigal Customer — The Lost 20%
The average number of customers that stop doing business with you is about 20 percent
annually
...
What is your customer
attrition costing your business?
- 43 -
Factoid:
A survey on “Why customers quit” found that of the 20% that stop doing business with
you…
•
3 percent move away
•
5 percent develop other friendships
•
9 percent leave for competitive reasons
•
14 percent are dissatisfied with the product or service
•
68 percent quit because of an attitude of indifference toward the customer by the
owner, manager, or some employee
...
Unfortunately, unhappy customers don’t usually complain about their feelings
...
Not only is having unhappy customers not doing business with you driving up the cost of
customer acquisition, but it is costing you potential lost sales
...
So, what do you do to get all of these people buying from your business again? You
assume the statistics are right and that you did something to offend them in one of your
business transactions
...
Tell them the truth — that they haven’t been buying products or services from your firm
for quite a while and you sense something is wrong
...
After you caringly express concern for the lack of contact and business that your
company has had with them, ask the question, “Is anything wrong?” Follow that up
before your customer responds by adding, “Have we done something wrong or did we
offend you? If we did, it certainly wasn’t intentional
...
?
Believe it or not, this simple approach has a magical affect on your inactive customers
(just like it does on your spouse)
...
Even big companies use it
...
Greg Brenneman, who later became Continental’s Chief Operating Officer, and Gordon
Bethune both got on the phones with their executive staff and started to call their best
inactive customers one-by-one
...
Inactive customers who were
dissatisfied with Continental were impressed by the personal phone call and came back in
droves
...
Be a Full-Service Provider Without All the Hassle
Let’s go back to my client in the spa and pool industry who mentioned that he didn’t
know what more to sell his customer because they had just purchased a spa, a one-time
item purchase
...
He personally couldn’t sell his customer much
more than chemicals and accessories, BUT, he could be a full-service provider by
offering complimentary products and services in which his customer might be interested
...
This way he could still benefit economically from his
relationships with his customers and continue to provide his customers other products and
services
...
As the sayings go…
Find a need and fill it
...
Find an itch and scratch it
...
The
better you do this, the more customers you’ll win
...
You
paid a lot to get them
...
Why not make a lot by
delighting them?
- 46 -
Joint Ventures: Using Other People’s
Customers to Get New Business
Recently, I developed a marketing manual for a niche industry that I service
...
Knowing a media consultant that
serviced the same industry, I contacted him and inquired as to whether he might want to
beef up the chapter on television production
...
Sadly, he declined because he considered me to be his competition and he didn’t think it
would be “smart” for him to collaborate with me
...
As I walked away, I thought to myself how foolish and shortsighted this fellow was for
not taking me up on my offer
...
I was
not only offering him the opportunity to have full access to my customer base, but an
endorsed promotion to my customers!
Too many small businesses make the mistake of not looking beyond the walls of their
own business to see the vast opportunities of business waiting for them through “joint
venture marketing
...
I’m not talking about ruthlessly going after your competition’s customers
...
I’m
talking about gaining access to new prospects with the express permission and
cooperation of the business that acquired those customers in the first place
...
Your
customers are also customers of other
businesses that sell related products
...
You help your customers get and stay
healthy
...
As a personal sports
trainer, do you have something of value to offer the customers of these other companies?
Joint venture marketing is about developing a special offer and getting the company with
the related product or service to present the offer to their customers, resulting in a winwin for both of you
...
Example #1 — If you own a wallpapering business or deck-building business, you could
offer to provide wallpapering and deck building classes at local do-it-yourself stores in
trade for referrals and exposure
...
Example #3 — If you are a hair salon owner, you might consider giving away free perms
by allowing local nail salons to give them away as a premium
...
Example #4 — If you’re a transmission repair facility, you could assemble a card deck
with local tire companies, brake repair shops, lube and oil change businesses, collision
repair facilities etc
...
Once the
card deck is assembled, have each business send a deck to their customer list with a letter
endorsing the other related businesses
...
An endorsed mailing would include a simple letter endorsing the services of
someone else, and perhaps even include a free consultation
...
Example #6 — If you’re a chiropractor, you may consider approaching local massage
therapists and persuading them to give away free massage gift certificates to friends and
associates
...
If the customer comes to you for a free
screening, you could pay the massage therapist a fee for the free massage that the
customer received
...
There is no limit to the types of joint ventures you can profitably set up
with other related businesses
...
Recently, on a vacation to Mexico, my wife and I were laying out by
- 48 -
the pool
...
The fashion began and a talented lady named
Regina Roberts introduced us to a wonderful line of custom designed Caribbean fashions
...
After the show the poolside
guests were invited to shop right there (she brought her whole line with her to the pool)
...
It turns out that Regina has a joint venture agreement with the hotels to provide fun
fashion shows to the hotel’s guests while she gets to sell her clothing line
...
” Your approach
should be a simple proposition
...
Business Owner, would you like to instantly
make $10,000 to $20,000 or more without any effort, risk, or investment on your part?
What sane businessperson could say no to that proposition
...
Whatever their reaction is, they most assuredly
will be curious
...
Ensure that you address the following points:
•
Your product or service is absolutely noncompetitive to their product or service
...
•
The JV will not harm or take away any profits that they might ordinarily realize
...
•
You will indemnify and hold them harmless and you’ll include an unconditional
guarantee for all your products sold through them
...
These statements will calm any fears that your related company may have
...
Unfortunately, many companies still won’t understand the concept and how it will benefit
them
...
For example, provide a proven sales letter that you have already tested
...
You can almost guarantee the amount of money
your potential JV partner will make
...
Hint: You should provide a discount or incentive as a unique, customer-only private
offer
...
- 50 -
Example of Joint Venture Between a Men’s Wear Store and a Dry Cleaner
Handling Potential Objections
Objection #1 — “I don’t feel comfortable having you interface with my customers
...
”
Response — “That’s fine
...
We are more than willing to do all the legwork, which
will take the burden off you
...
”
Objection #2 — “How can I be assured that I will get paid my share of the revenues?”
Response — “No problem
...
You can pay me periodically
...
If you would like
we could set up an independent account and a third-party bank with escrow instructions
...
”
Note: Be completely honest, open, and trusting
...
This will only happen with a win-win
relationship based on honesty and trust
...
After the results come in we can review our revenue targets and
feedback from your customers
...
”
Note: When negotiating your joint venture deal always try to get an agreement to extend
your relationship
...
You don’t want your partner company
stealing your good idea and playing you against your competitors
...
)
Take These Steps to Get Your Joint Venture Going
Step 1 — Understand your numbers
...
For instance, if you’re a health club owner, know what your
response rate is for a typical direct mail campaign and the dollar value of each new
customer
...
Don’t
leave out products or services that aren’t necessarily related in which your customer
might still be interested
...
Specifically
note those companies in which you know the owner or have contacts
...
Always start by
introducing yourself and asking if they would be interested in making money (use a
specific amount) with little to no effort
...
Step 4 — Present a compelling fact-based case for a joint venture
...
Step 5 — Deliver on what you promise with integrity, honesty, ethics and enthusiasm
...
A chiropractor friend of mine
has “drop boxes” in various business locations offering a free back massage and
screening, in addition to a drawing to win a free service or product offered by the
business hosting the drop box
...
He gets lots of referrals without any effort through this simple JV
...
In Joint Venture Marketing you partner with your competitors to
win new customers
...
Stop thinking “competitor” and start thinking “opportunity”!
- 53 -
What Business Are You In?
A couple of weeks ago I was visiting with a marketing executive friend of mine
...
He patiently sat and listened to me
...
After I had finished
my boasting and gloating he got up, and as he started to walk away he said, “That’s great
David
...
”
What is the Principle Objective of Your Small Business?
My first reaction to his comment was, “What do you mean? Of course people are going
to buy it
...
” But as I pondered his comment for a
moment, I realized that I had fallen into the age-old deadly small business mistake that
most entrepreneurs fall prey to: forgetting the principle objective of my business
...
“Any Fool Can Make Soap, It Takes a Clever Man to Sell
It”
There is an old advertising quote that says, “Any fool can make soap, it takes a clever
man to sell it
...
Any
Tom, Dick, and Harry can make a bar of soap
...
I hate
to think of my masterful marketing course as just another piece of soap, but that’s exactly
what it is
...
You see, to make a small business successful you need cash flow
...
To get customers you must sell your product or service
...
No matter how
great your technical skills are or how innovative your product is, your business will
whither away and die — like 80% of all small businesses — if you can’t sell them
...
Suppose
that you sincerely believed that your most important function was the marketing of your
products and services
...
High Value Activities
Now that you know what your primary business objective should be, what are your going
to do about it?
In my prior life as a big-time corporate consultant, I sometimes felt uncomfortable about
how much my company billed my clients for my time
...
I suggest that you make a habit of asking yourself that same question every day
...
”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Creating (or developing) something unique in your product or service
...
Meeting with your mastermind-marketing group
...
Finding low-cost targeted advertising opportunities
...
Networking with other owners and representatives of businesses that target your
same market
...
Writing articles for trade journals, local newspapers, magazines, industry
newsletters, etc
...
Training employees on current offers and how to present them to customers
...
Do you get the idea? Normally, your Director of Marketing would
perform those activities
...
Why leave the absolutely most critical part of your
business to someone else?
I can hear you saying right now, “But I’m already doing all those things
...
” For
example, if you think you’re worth $50 an hour, why would you be filing papers when
someone else can do it for $8 an hour?
Becoming a Master of Direct Response Advertising
If you were to ask me, “David, I only have $1,000 to market my product
...
Nothing will bring you a greater return on your
marketing dollar than your personal investment in becoming a master of direct response
marketing
...
In fact, as I
have interviewed many successful business people, I have consistently found one
common trait
...
What Do Bill Gates and Oprah Have In Common?
What do Bill Gates and Oprah have in common other than their own personal Fort Knox?
An insatiable desire to learn
...
Oprah is famous for her book club
...
Getting Everything You Can Out of All You Got — Jay Abraham
The Ultimate Marketing Plan — Dan Kennedy
An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Commonsense Marketing — Brad Antin
Successful Direct Marketing Methods — Bob Stone
- 56 -
Marketing Secrets of a Mail Order Maverick — Joe Sugarman
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion — Robert Cialdini
How to Promote Any Product for Under $500 — Jeff Slutsky
This list is only a start, but it will give you a good solid education about the fundamentals
of direct response marketing
...
It may seem counterintuitive to give away your products and services to build your
business, but people can’t resist the lure of receiving something for free
...
It has a
hypnotic effect on people
...
First, prospects that test your
product or service risk-free will hopefully recognize its value and continue purchasing
what you offer
...
Second, the fact that your product or service was given to your prospects as a free gift
will compel them to return the favor by continuing to purchase from you
...
Simply stated, people naturally feel an obligation to
return favors as a way of expressing their thanks
...
In airports the Krishnas would give away
small wooden umbrellas as a free gift and would in turn, ask for a donation
...
The Krishna would then pick the umbrella out of the trashcan and
turn right around and give it to the next person
...
Know Your Total Customer Value Before Giving
Freebies
The key to safely offering free giveaways is to know your “total customer value
...
This figure not only includes business that you will receive from your
customer, but also any referrals you may receive from them
...
How much money would you be willing to invest in
free giveaways to acquire a new customer? $50? $100? $200?
- 58 -
The answer is * yes * to all of the above
...
They don’t understand the principle of “total customer value
...
Information is a great example of a free
giveaway that has a low product cost and a high perceived value
...
Your special report could be a written document, an audiocassette, or a video containing
subject material that your target market would be interested in
...
A valuable reference guide that I use often is “Spencer’s Guide To
Special Interest Videos” which has over 13,000 hard-to-find videos
...
Free Giveaway Case Studies
There are a myriad of ways to offer a free giveaway and many effective types of
giveaways (other than information) that small businesses can use to attract new and
inactive customers
...
Why four weeks? To get people into a habit of using his
service
...
6% redemption rate and as many as 65% of the people who took
up the free offer went on to become regular customers
...
The majority of free trials
tuned into paying members at over $500 per membership
...
The optometrist grossed an extra $10,000 in two
days and the phone rang off the hook, non-stop
...
However, the customer was only allowed to take advantage of one of these services per
visit
...
- 60 -
Case Study # 5 — Hair Styling Salon
A hair styling salon offered a free children’s haircut with every visit
...
Case Study # 6 — Chiropractor
A chiropractor offered a free back massage gift certificate for Valentine’s Day with a free
new patient exam including an x-ray, neurological and orthopedic exam
...
Case Study # 7 — Dentist
A local dentist offered a free teeth-whitening with a comprehensive new patient exam,
including x-rays
...
To make it even more effective, he coded each coupon and
offered three free whitening sessions to the customer that sent in the most referrals
...
No strings attached
...
The result was an average of $60 to $80 dollars worth of services sold per free cleaning
...
They called it, “Santa’s Gift to Mommy
...
Once “Mommy” saw what they could do to their home and how good she
felt with a clean house, 38% of them signed up for the regular service
...
Case Study # 10 — Vacuum Cleaner Retailer
(I included this case study because David Oreck is such a fantastic direct marketer
...
Even if
you don’t buy the Oreck XL vacuum cleaner you get to keep the Cordless Speed Iron!
And if you end up purchasing the Oreck XL vacuum cleaner, you also get his Oreck
- 61 -
Super Compact hand-held vacuum
...
To avoid this you should always
give the reason why you can offer such a great deal
...
Whatever the case may
be, give a reason
...
Remember, your prospect is very skeptical and has good reason to be
...
Furnishing your prospects
with the reason why you can offer them such a good deal helps them to logically
reconcile your offer in their minds
...
Conclusion
Using free giveaways is an effective marketing strategy if used correctly
...
Don’t forget to compute your total customer value so
you know how much you are able to invest in attracting a new customer
...
- 62 -
Guarantee Marketing: How to Turn
Your Guarantee Into A Competitive
Weapon
One of the reasons people don’t buy from you is the perceived risk they believe they are
taking in purchasing your product or service
...
2
...
4
...
There are a number of risks that people must hurdle over to purchase your product or
service
...
A strong guarantee makes it less threatening for people to consider your offer
...
You give them a
compelling reason to buy today without fear of looking bad tomorrow
...
You’ll make it easy and
fun for people to buy from you and your profits will dramatically increase
...
The Guarantee Myth Revealed!
Businesses shy away from making strong guarantees because they think that a large
percentage of their customers will take them up on it
...
At most, only about 1-2% of your customers will ever take you up on your
guarantee
...
(If you have a lot of complaints, that’s
okay
...
It
doesn’t happen
...
If your customers are mostly satisfied now, there’s nothing to worry about
...
Make the strongest promise you can comfortably live up to, and feature it prominently in
all your marketing materials and don’t worry about the myth that you’ll lose your shirt
redoing services or replacing products
...
The Invisible Guarantee
What’s that you say…you don’t have a guarantee? Wrong
...
Let me explain
...
” or “Sorry, let the buyer beware
...
You would do what it takes to make your
customer happy
...
If you’re already honoring an invisible guarantee you need to start publicizing it
...
-- Sidebar -If you’re not taking care of your customers, whether you have a guarantee or not, you
should be
...
Especially when you consider that according to one recent
study, a satisfied customer tells one person about your company
...
You need to put those numbers in your favor
...
-- End Sidebar --
- 64 -
Six Steps to Creating a Rock Solid Guarantee
Now, here’s a step-by-step method for creating your guarantee and using it to
supercharge your marketing efforts
...
Look At Your Competitors
...
Better yet, just have someone call and ask them about their guarantee
...
Write them down
...
Look At Your Strengths
...
Guarantee Results
...
What good things happen when customers use your products?
Better relationships? More money? Reduced stress? Write down the answer in
specific detail, and then guarantee that outcome
...
)
A delivery company that works fast can guarantee delivery times -- by 10:00 a
...
, or
within 24 hours
...
Do NOT simply guarantee “satisfaction
...
4
...
As unlikely as it is that you’ll be making good on your guarantee (remember -- only
about 2% of customers will ever take you up on it), you want to create an attractive
payback in case customers are unsatisfied
...
- 65 -
A hassle-free, money-back guarantee is a good place to start
...
Remember, a better-than-risk-free best guarantee is the best guarantee of all
...
5
...
This is vital! You must know how well your guarantee is performing before you make
it a permanent part of your marketing
...
Then, track the results
...
You can guarantee results for 30 days in one test and 90 days
in another (longer guarantees generally work better)
...
Experiment!
6
...
Once you’ve tested and found a guarantee that you’re comfortable with, publicize it!
Make your full guarantee -- in writing -- a part of your advertisements and marketing
communications
...
Breaking Down Your “Soft” Guarantee
Breaking down your guarantee into specifics can turn a weak guarantee into something
powerful that builds trust and reduces skepticism
...
* * Sidebar * *
What are a “soft” guarantee and a “hard” guarantee? Hard guarantees provide a promise
based on specific results
...
That’s a hard guarantee because it makes a promise based on specific results
...
However, what if you have a product in which you can’t make a promise for specific
results but want you want to let your customers know that you still stand behind your
product
...
A soft guarantee makes promises based on generalities
and not specifics
...
” This is a soft
guarantee because it’s very general and not specific
...
* * End Sidebar * *
A technique for turning your soft guarantee into a powerful statement is to break it down
into pieces and explain what each part of your guarantee means
...
Allow me to give you an example from a recent copywriting project that I did for a credit
counseling firm
...
But they did want to express that they
were willing to stand behind their product
...
Each guarantee taken separately is weak but when they are put together it
makes for an impressive statement
...
We don’t just talk
the talk
...
In fact, we’ll walk with you every step of the way
...
“We Stand Behind Out Promise”
Guarantee #1 - The “Pay Off Your Debt Faster” Guarantee
We have experienced counselors who help people like you every day to develop a
comprehensive financial plan that results in paying off your debts faster than you
ever could have on your own
...
Guarantee #2 - The “Be Courteous and Understanding of Your Situation”
Guarantee
Our representatives are understanding and respectful of your situation and will
talk with you on a human level
...
- 67 -
Guarantee #3 - The “Pay You Money Back” Guarantee
At Acme we have created an exclusive and unique incentive plan called the “Pay
Off Your Debt” program
...
Guarantee #4 - The “Simplify Your Debt Payment Effort” Guarantee
We make bill paying ultra-simple
...
We will stop all the
creditor hassles, nagging phone calls, and bill collection letters by helping you
consolidate your payments into one simple monthly payment
...
You’ll never be in the
dark again about when your payments come in, when they go out, and any other
payment information you need to know
...
Individually,
they are weak guarantees but put together they make a strong statement and
in the credit counseling industry (where no one makes any promises) it has
set them apart from their competitors
...
Have you seen the commercials for the Men’s Warehouse in which the CEO,
George Zimmer says, “You’re gonna look good
...
” That one phrase
has made the Men’s Warehouse the most successful men’s retail chain in the nation
...
This is especially true with service companies
...
” Now that’s a bold guarantee
...
- 68 -
Another associate of mine runs a small business marketing firm (much like mine) and his
unique selling proposition is, “I GUARANTEE that with my help you’ll double your
business revenues and profits within 12 months or my services are free
...
Your opportunity lies in how aggressively you’re willing to tell the world about
your guarantee
...
Your business courage will pay you tremendous longterm dividends
...
Power words
and phrases significantly boost your sales and response rates
...
Here’s a few that I think are heads and shoulders above the rest
...
As you read these notice that each
guarantee has its own headlines
...
- 69 -
Sample Guarantee # 1 – Yanik Silver – Instant Sales Letters
100% Better-Than-Risk-Free-Take-it-To-The-Bank Guarantee:
I personally guarantee that if you make an honest effort to try just a few of these proven
sales letters in your business, you'll produce at least 10 times your investment in profits
within the next 60 days
...
You've got 2 full months to prove to yourself these
templates really do work
...
Plus, the free bonus gifts are yours to
keep regardless, just for your trouble
...
This "impossible-to-turn-it-down" guarantee is simple:
Try my Buying Web Business Power Mentoring System out for a full month, read
through the entire site, download all of the bonuses, post questions on the private
discussion board to your heart's content and use the step-by-step checklists
...
In other words, if you're not totally
delighted with the techniques you've learned, drop me a line
...
What
could be fairer than that?
(Of course, on top of my "No Hard Feelings," 30-day money back guarantee, you can
simply cancel your membership at any time
...
No
problem!)
- 70 -
Sample Guarantee # 3 – Ted Nicholas – How I Sold $400M Worth of Products
30-Day Ironclad Money-Back Guarantee
Not to worry
...
Review it for 30 days
...
---------------------------------Sample Guarantee # 4 – Jeff Gardner – The Ultimate Million Dollar Idea Generator
Stronger Than Steel No-Risk Money-Back Guarantee!
I'm so confident that my proven system will help you create mounds of exciting new
product ideas, that I'm standing behind it 100% with this remarkable guarantee:
Get The Ultimate Million Dollar Idea Generator - and if you don't instantly believe it's
worth 100 TIMES the amount you paid for it, let me know - and I'll refund every penny!
No Questions, No Headaches, No Hassles! And you can keep all bonuses, worth $196
...
---------------------------------Sample Guarantee #5 – Alex Mandossian – Marketing With Postcards
“I’ll Absorb the Burden – Risk Free Guarantee”
I'll tell you what
...
So, here's my unconditional, 100% lifetime guarantee that makes
your decision a no-brainer:
If, at any time, you're not completely satisfied with Market with Postcards™, I'll
personally send a UPS driver to your front door, pick up the manual and CD-ROM, and
refund your entire purchase price, including shipping charges! You can keep the $650 in
free bonuses as my gift to you, and we'll part as friends
...
If for any reason, you aren't thrilled and satisfied
- 71 -
with our product, just contact us (or send the product back) within one year and we'll
refund 100% of your purchase price
...
If you're a smart business person, you don't just hand over $47 without a reasonable
assurance that you're getting your money's worth
...
Just get it and try it out
...
So you have nothing to lose and everything to
gain
...
If you're not absolutely, entirely and utterly thrilled with your purchase within
one year from the date you bought it, you get a full refund plus you'll get to keep any of
the material that you've already downloaded from our website
...
Yes, these strategies do work
...
but only if you take action and
follow the advice for your own inspiration
...
Instead, you will get a full refund of 100% as well as the knowledge you've earned from
the package and the free consultations giving you at least three times the worth of your
investment
...
There is only one single, simple, common-sense condition (that protects both of
us)
...
Use all the relevant techniques, tools,
suppliers and devices in the Complete ToolKit, as appropriate
...
Unfortunately, the
vast majority of businesses just don’t want to place a strong guarantee on their product or
service
...
It’s a pity
...
If it doesn’t work
for you…fine
...
- 73 -
Niche Marketing: Expand Your
Customer Base By Narrowing Your
Marketing Focus
I believe one of the most underutilized marketing weapons for small businesses is the
power of niche marketing
...
For instance, if you’re a public relations specialist, instead of marketing your services to
anybody and everybody, why not market your services to a specific industry that relies
heavily on public relations such as the not-for profit industry
...
Although this narrows your market significantly, it
will open up doors you never knew existed
...
Just think of all the opportunities a business would be
missing by not marketing to the masses
...
1
...
People want to buy stuff that’s made just for them
...
Would you rather buy a mass produced suit or would you rather buy a suit
made-to-fit just for you?
2
...
Gas station owners talk to gas
station owners
...
If you’re good and you provide
products and services for a specific niche, your name will travel fast
...
It Becomes Easier and Less Expensive to Prospect
If you pick the right niche, it becomes very easy to contact your prospects
...
Instead of spending money on
- 74 -
what I call “spraying and praying” marketing, you can now spend your money on getting
your message to just the right people in your niche who want to hear your message
...
You’ll Face Less Competition In A Niche
The mere fact that you have narrowed your marketing focus to a smaller subset of people
means that there will be less competition with which you’ll have contend
...
Less competition results in more business
with less effort
...
Let’s explore the difference between each type of
niche
...
Occupations
An occupational niche is one that is made up of people that are gainfully employed in the
same occupation
...
The assumption is that people who are in the same occupation worry about the same
things and are forced to tackle similar problems
...
For instance, a carpet layer probably deals with lower back problems
...
Garbage collectors have to deal with low
wages
...
A homemaker often
tackles problems related to children
...
2
...
It would stand
to reason that overweight people deal with the same problems associated with obesity,
while Latin Americans may have to deal with problems that come from living in a low
income neighborhood
...
Statistically speaking, a large
majority of Latinos live in low income neighborhoods
...
(Hey, my mother was born and raised in
Chihuahua, Mexico y por eso puedo hablar el espanol con fluidez
...
Geographics
Geographics is a very simple niche
...
often
share the same problems associated with living in that area
...
People who live in Los Angeles have to deal with smog, while people who
live in the Heritage Park subdivision here in Friendswood, Texas don’t have access to a
good local dry cleaners
...
Psychographics (or subcultures)
Psychographics is the study of how people think and what they like
...
This is
probably the biggest and perhaps the most lucrative of all the niche categories because
people spend a large majority of their discretionary income on items that they are
passionate about
...
Examples of subcultures are people
who…
•
Hate Bill Clinton
•
Love Marilyn Manson
•
Hate paying taxes
•
Love toy poodles
•
Hate abortion
•
Love new marketing ideas
•
Hate website popups
•
Love Harley Davidsons
•
Hate foreign cars
•
Love guns
•
Hate companies cutting down forest trees
•
Love having sex
•
Hate pornography
- 76 -
Okay, you get the idea
...
Other
subcultures could be people who belong to a certain religion or are a member of specific
political party
...
Just make sure that you go
after a niche
...
•
Members of the American Association of Retired People (AARP)
•
People who just purchased a $500 plus mail order product
...
It can be by occupation, income, car
or house ownership and a host of other demographics, geographics, or psychographics
...
This is an important decision that must be
researched carefully
...
The following are several questions that you should ask yourself when choosing a niche
in which to specialize:
Question # 1 – Can you easily and affordably contact the niche?
- 77 -
Imagine how hard it would be to find people who are going to have car accidents within
the next week
...
That’s exactly what auto accident paint and
body shops deal with on a daily basis
...
They have
to market to everybody
...
Let me give you some further examples of varying levels of difficulty in finding people
in niches
...
Policemen – Simple to contact
...
B
...
There’s probably a trade publication or
catalog for bird owners that rent their customer list
...
Parents whose children are doing poorly in school – Harder to contact
...
D
...
You might find a list of people who have
purchased anti-acne products or services
...
People who hate war – Difficult to contact
...
You
would probably have to create a list through your own lead generation efforts
...
Print Shop Owners – Simple to contact – The names and addresses for print shop
owners can be found in your local yellow pages or an association list
...
If a list doesn’t
already exist you’ll have to pay to develop the list, which can be very expensive
...
These are the
primary tools for contacting your prospects and fueling your word-of-mouth efforts
...
For
instance, if you were looking for people with breast implants for a class action lawsuit
settlement, you would probably be able to spend a lot of money advertising to find these
people
...
However, in some instances it can be higher than your product or service cost
- 78 -
(i
...
lose money to obtain a customer) if you have a lot of backend products or your
product is a consumable that requires reorders
...
A lot of money was wasted, with nothing to
show for it
...
Students don’t have a lot of
discretionary money to spend so they are careful to spend it only on things that they deem
absolutely necessary, such as dating, school books and tuition, and partying
(unfortunately)
...
There is a genius inventor here in Houston that has
created a unique keypad that makes typing much easier (it requires only one hand rather
than two)
...
Why? Because people are used
to regular old keyboards and don’t want to go through the pain of learning something
new, no matter how easy it is
...
To be honest, this advice goes against traditional thinking
...
I agree with that thinking; however, there’s an old saying in marketing that
“Scouts come back with arrows in their backs
...
Take the fax machine
...
But when it was introduced, it floundered for many years because people
just weren’t ready to buy it
...
Then all you have to do is build a better mousetrap and sell it to them (or
license it to a competitor)
...
The more competitors you have
to deal with, the more aggressive your marketing efforts must become to be the winner
...
However, hopefully your product or service is different or unique enough that you don’t
have any direct competition
...
Question # 5 – Are you familiar with the niche or do you have experience in the
niche?
People like to buy from people that have “been there and done that” and have walked in
their shoes
...
” If you have experience as a practitioner
in the niche you’ll have an advantage selling to the niche
...
In addition, the more you know about your niche customer and what keeps them up at
night, the easier it will be for you to provide tailored solutions to solve their problems and
to communicate with them about your solution
...
One of the first calculations you should do when deciding on a niche is a
breakeven “reasonableness” assessment
...
If you have to penetrate a high percentage of the market just to breakeven you might want
to reconsider entering into this niche
...
For instance, compare the two following scenarios for reasonableness:
Scenario 1 – Selling CD business cards to the real estate agent market
Approximate number of eligible realtors in the U
...
= 840,000
Number of units needed to sell to breakeven in the first year = 150
Required market penetration percentage =
...
01%
of the market to breakeven and you only have nine competitors
...
Clearly Scenario 1 is the better choice (assuming you have a great product that
people want)
...
This is just one
factor (albeit an important one) to consider
...
In the following section I’ve outlined a fivestep method for marketing to a niche
...
Here are some questions you might ask to get to know them a bit
better
...
If not, do a survey with
several people in the niche
...
What If You Already Own a Business?
If you already own a business and want to start selling to niches review your customer list
from the last two years with your employees and ask each of these questions about each
customer
...
You’ll be surprised how
much you remember and the amount of information you come up with
...
If a lot of your customers have been doctors then pull those names out and develop
a list of all the doctors that have purchased from you
...
From the lists that you have made, you can tell with some certainty that they are the kind
of people that have demonstrated a propensity to buy from you
...
Step Two - Finding Your Niche Market
Finding your niche market can be the most difficult step in your niche marketing strategy
...
All expert direct
marketers will tell you that your mailing list is the most important part of your entire
direct marketing campaign (let alone your business)
...
The key to finding the people in your niche market is to think about who else markets to
the same niche and look to them to help you compile your list
...
An Example of Finding Doctors
Suppose that you wanted to market to doctors in your city
...
Here are some ideas to get access to their home addresses:
•
Get an electronic copy of the yellow pages
...
Get the names of the doctors from the yellow pages and look them
up in the white pages
...
John Davis or John Davis M
...
This will be time consuming so
you may want to get a high school student to help you
...
This reference manual contains
demographics information on over 20,000 magazines and newsletters
...
For example, you might discover a magazine like
“Physician’s Lifestyle”, a bi-monthly publication that reaches every single
medical doctor in the country
...
In it you’ll find just about every mailing list
known to man
...
You will
find lists of doctors that have purchased recently through direct mail
...
If the
associations won’t rent you a list then ask if you can get a list of magazines,
journals and publications that cater to the medical community
...
•
Go to MediaFinder
...
A couple of references I found at
MediaFinder
...
Another media was the Allergy
Hotline Newsletter, which is a newsletter for doctors and other medical
professionals that treat allergies
...
BestMailing
...
MailersSoftware
...
One list I looked at was for the
state of Texas, which included 30,091 medical doctors
...
However, list brokers usually
make their money off of large mailing lists and may be less helpful but they might
steer you in the right direction
...
o NOTE: Every one should have a good list broker
...
com
...
This process can be expensive and time consuming but once you have the
list, its yours to keep (rather than renting lists)
...
e
...
) that target the interests of your niche
...
This allows you to get their contact information and build your list
...
At the end of the article you might offer a free report about how saunas improve your
health that the reader can get by calling a phone number
...
- 84 -
Paid Advertisement
“The Japanese Secret for
Decreasing Heart Disease”
Researchers in Japan have found that
taking hot saunas help reduce thickening
of blood vessel walls cutting heart-disease
risk
...
For half an hour after each
episode, the men rested in bed, covered by
blankets
...
Just two weeks of daily sauna
treatments reduced thickening of the
endothelium – the inner lining of the
blood vessels – by 40 percent! Thinner
blood-vessel walls means less chance of
developing blockages, which raise the risk
of heart disease
...
The results of this research is a
breakthrough for people suffering from
mild forms of heart-disease
...
However,
there is a growing number of men and
women who are investing in personal
saunas that can be installed in their
homes
...
” Says Paul Frey, sales manager at
Backyards of America
...
Many
Americans
are
discovering the benefits of private saunas
...
We
know more about saunas than anyone
...
”
To find out more about lead generation, read the chapter 22 titled, “Lead Generation:
How to Flood Your Small Business With Hot Qualified Prospects
...
The first step in this process is to
- 85 -
gather testimonials
...
”
Testimonials from your niche market will make your marketing much easier
...
This is a marketing secret
...
For instance, if a doctor sees that another doctor purchased a hot tub and has
found that it helps her to relax and get rid of all the stress that being a doctor brings, it
will immediately peak his interest
...
This is why television producers play recordings of laughter when a punch line is said
during a sitcom
...
And the people in the audience know that it’s just a recording
but it doesn’t stop them from laughing even louder when the recorded laughter is turned
up
...
If they are doctors then you might consider writing them a letter asking them for their
testimonials
...
” This section will give you a lot of ideas
about how to get testimonials from your customers
...
This is where your
upfront research will come in handy
...
What they like and don’t like
...
What language and words they use in
conversation
...
The following is a list of the type of niche marketing communication and creative tools
that you might need to effectively market to a niche
...
•
Salesletters, postcards, and grabbers that can be used to generate leads or “sell off the
page” to existing lists of potential prospects
...
You should also consider creating a series of “linked”
salesletters that can be sent out in a timed, sequential follow-up marketing program
...
•
A toll-free hotline with scripts you can use for lead generation and also for providing
consumer awareness messages, product and service descriptions, testimonials from
customers etc
...
You should create one for
you and one on behalf of your joint venture partner
...
You should create a report in booklet
format, but also in audiocassette, CDROM, and video formats as well
...
•
A series of how-to articles that position you as an expert in your niche that you can
submit to niche specific trade magazines, newspapers, and newsletters
...
•
A newsletter, whether it is online or offline, you should seek to build a list using a
regularly sent newsletter
...
(A website is a must!) Your website should include a series of
Autoresponder messages that are sent to prospects who visit your website
...
•
A “Question and Answer” fact sheet that addresses the most common objections
about your product or service
...
•
A Powerpoint presentation that you may use in sales meetings with your clients
...
•
Case studies and success stories from clients and customers
...
)
•
Customized thank you letters/cards that are sent out to prospects and customers in
response to a customer transaction (both positive or negative)
...
Let me show you how to do this
easily by giving you an example
...
- 87 -
If you are targeting doctors you might create an audiocassette that they can listen to on
their way to work titled, “The Ultimate Stress Reducer for Busy Doctors
...
At least I would listen to it
...
Introduction
A
...
Signs of stress
II
...
Effects of stress on doctors
A
...
In their personal lives
III
...
What is hydrotherapy?
B
...
What other doctors are saying about hydrotherapy and owning a spa?
IV
...
Relaxation after a hard day
B
...
Better sleep
V
...
Spa City USA specializes in providing spas to doctors
B
...
Why do doctors choose Spa City USA to buy a spa
VI
...
Offer a free video, “The Spa Lifestyle” by calling XXX-XXXX or…
B
...
Thank you for listening
This information can be said in 30 minutes or even less (30 minutes is a long time on
tape)
...
You can certainly do it yourself or you
can hire a freelance writer to write your script
...
elance
...
At eLance you can put your project out for bid
and have freelancers bid on it
...
It can also be used as a
model for lawyers, business executives, CPA’s and other prospects that fit in your niche
...
Once you
have your information products done you can really put your niche marketing program
into high gear
...
This is a two-pronged approach
...
Prong # 1 - The following are just a few ideas you can implement to get noticed in your
niche
...
Speak at industry conferences and trade shows (or you local Chamber of Commerce)
...
2
...
Most trade pubs are thirsty for
good content and will allow you to include a resource box at the end of your article
...
Identify the top decision makers and trend setters in the niche and
interview them for your article
...
in an unassuming way
...
Start an ezine in your niche and begin collecting email addresses of prospects in your
niche
...
Offer a white paper (B-to-B) or special reports to your niche market
...
5
...
Volunteer
to serve on action committees and boards
...
Make contact with other industry authorities, consultants, and big wigs who might be
able to give you referrals
...
1
...
Then put your
respondents on a follow-up marketing plan
...
Send offers in your newsletter
...
3
...
4
...
- 89 -
5
...
This is the fastest way to gain
exposure to your niche…especially if you’re in a B-to-B market
...
Send newsletter inserts lead generators to zip codes matching your target
demographic
...
Rent a list through a list broker and send a lead generation letter to your niche market
(try to get your people to respond to something for free in your first mailing so that
you can build your own list and stop renting names from lists)
...
There are a myriad of ways to contact your target
market; however, I have found nothing better than to send a lead generation letter to
prospects and get them to respond for a free special report
...
Some products and services need to be sold in person so your objective would be to get
an appointment with a decision maker
...
Step Six – Communicate Often with Your Niche
Statistics have shown that a prospect usually has to be exposed your offer five to six
times before they act on it so if you’re consistent you will make an impression
...
Here are few ways to consider for your follow-up marketing plan:
1
...
2
...
They also lay around and get
residual exposure
...
Periodic Teleconferences – With today’s technology you can hold teleconference
calls using bridge lines very inexpensively
...
4
...
You
can even do a one-page newsletter on a postcard
...
5
...
They might even give you your own article
...
The key is to do it
in a way that is fast, inexpensive, and effective
...
Apply what
you have learned from dominating one niche to other niches
...
All you have to do is tweak your product for other niches
...
Then start tweaking
your marketing materials for your new niche
...
He
sold it for around $50
...
He did this again and again to dozens of small business
industries for huge profits
...
That has got to be the ultimate
“cross-niched” product
...
Ingenious!
There is a whole wide world of niches out there to dominate
...
Be a niche marketer and dominate your market place
...
There’s no doubt that I have seen my share of products that sell like crazy
from companies that don’t know a lick about their customers and have no marketing plan
at all
...
Knowing Your Customer
How does knowing your customer help you sell more products and services? Having
consumer research information allows you to tailor your marketing tactics to meet the
needs and wants of your target customers
...
You could create a direct mail campaign to people who live in zip codes with average
income over $70k, who have had back pain medical treatment, and who were over 55
years old
...
Now, there won’t be many people on the mailing list,
but at least you are zeroing in on your target market and not wasting ad dollars
...
Where to Get Consumer Research Statistics For Your
Small Business
Your primary resource for acquiring consumer research for your small business will most
likely come from your industry’s trade association
...
This research may contain information about consumer preferences, purchasing criteria,
level of satisfaction, and other useful data upon which to base your marketing strategies
...
You may be able to find your association at www
...
com
...
Call
- 92 -
a few of your suppliers that provide direct goods and ask them if they have any such
research and if you can have access to the findings
...
Using Consumer Research to Increase Sales
Consumer research is an often-ignored marketing tool that is rarely used by small
businesses
...
Many owners will see a statistic and log it into the back of their brains but never use that
statistic to their advantage
...
Let’s take a look at some consumer research in the spa and pool industry and try to
develop some marketing tactics that would take advantage of our knowledge to sell more
units
...
I highly recommend that every small business contact their own industry association to
get a copy of their own industry’s statistics, as you will soon see how valuable they can
be to you and your business
...
Most do not have children under 18 living at home, and most have lived in their
home an average of seven years
...
Marketing Strategy: Knowing this information, you might plan a direct mail campaign
to zip codes where the average income is around $60k and to married couples with empty
nests who have been at the same address for five years or more
...
You might perform a test
mail campaign in several zip codes and measure response rates before launching a fullscale campaign
...
Marketing Strategy: You might consider launching a strong referral program with your
current customers, since two-thirds of the people who have purchased a spa know other
people who already own one
...
- 93 -
Additionally, it is uncommon for 90% of a customer group to recommend a product so
strongly
...
This makes it ripe for a
referral program, as compared to an industry that has customers in a very wide range of
demographics, which makes for a poor referral program
...
Consumers would rather do exterior
renovation, add a room, buy new appliances, or buy new furniture instead
...
It is the
manufacturers’ job to provide mass marketing support for their brand
...
Secondly, you might partner with home improvement stores and furniture stores to do
some joint promotions
...
Statistic #4: Consumers get the same warm feelings from activities such as (1) riding in a
convertible car with the top down, (2) riding on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, (3) using
a warm electric blanket, (4) dinner by candlelight, (5) sitting in front of a fire in the
hearth, drinking wine and listening to music, and (6) getting a massage
...
By
endorsement offerings, I mean that you could talk to the owner of the local Harley
Davidson store and ask him if he would be interested in doing a direct mailer to his
customers endorsing your spas and store
...
You could do the same for
expensive restaurants and massage clinics in the same zip codes as your customers
...
24% of spa
owners said that their spas were difficult to clean and maintain and 6% said that they
didn’t think the chemicals were safe
...
As
a matter of fact you should contact your customers and get testimonials that reinforce that
fact and the therapeutic benefits they receive
...
Remember,
it’s the man of the house who comes up with the idea to get a spa
...
Statistic #6: Statistics say that there are more skeptics than believers when it comes to
spas
...
The statistics also
revealed that those skeptics tend to be older
...
Consider developing Special Reports that talk to and prove the fact that spas not only will
improve your health, but your happiness too
...
You might also dig up some statistics of older people whose health has improved as a
result of spa hydrotherapy
...
Statistic # 7: Forty-five percent of potential spa buyers used the Internet to gather
information about spa products and services before they purchased
...
Marketing Strategy: If you know that potentially half of your customers went to the
Internet to get information before they ever walked into your store, you should, first of
all, make sure you have a website, and second, make sure you have a lot of consumer
information on it that your prospect will find interesting
...
Statistic # 8: Consumers’ top three rational reasons for purchasing a spa were relaxation,
therapeutic benefits, and year-round pleasure
...
Marketing Strategy: Of all the statistics in this study, this is perhaps the most important,
because it helps you understand why your customers purchase spas
...
They react to primary obvious benefits,
and they also react to hidden emotional benefits
...
” The
article could go on to talk about how marriages are breaking up right and left and the
number one reason from a woman’s point of view is lack of conversation
...
- 95 -
Consider finishing the article telling the readers how regular spa users have quintupled
the amount of conversation in their marriage, and that purchasing a spa has dramatically
improved their relationships and literally saved their marriage in some cases
...
The number one selling book of the 1990’s was John Gray’s Men
are from Mars, Women are from Venus
...
Although we used examples from the spa
and pool industry, the process used to develop these marketing strategies is the same for
any industry
...
Use research about customers’ purchasing habits from your industry, and start creating
more effective marketing strategies for your small business right now
...
The only way to know for sure is to test it
...
Use these elements as your own personal “winning ad
checklist
...
Running the world’s best radio ad for your retirement planning
services on a local hip-hop station wouldn’t be a good idea
...
g
...
g
...
g
...
Until you
know this information, you cannot make smart choices about ad placement, and you’ll
likely end up wasting a lot of your hard-earned dollars on ads that don’t even get seen by
your target market
...
This is true for your
personal goals and also your advertising efforts
...
Is it to call your office, come to your store, or go to
your website?
Whatever your objective is, gear all the elements of your ad to persuade consumers to
fulfill it
...
Or, you might include copy that says, “One toll-free phone
call can change your life forever
...
- 97 -
Element # 3 — Irresistible Offer
If you have ever seen the Ginsu knife infomercial, you have witnessed the anatomy of an
irresistible offer
...
”
BUT that’s not all — you also get the “2-in-1 blade sharpener”, and if you order in the
next 10 minutes you’ll also receive a second set of Ginsu knives! Now that’s an
irresistible offer
...
Continue heaping valuable bonuses on your customer until they
throw up their hands and say, “OK, I give!”
One last thought about your irresistible offer: sometimes you can make your offer so
irresistible that it appears to good to be true
...
This will add credibility to an incredulous ad
...
When
people see “70% off” many will think that all you have done is boost your price 50% just
so that you can advertise a 70% off price
...
Element # 4 — Unique Competitive Advantage
Why should your prospect do business with you over any of your competitors? Even
those that have lower prices! Do you have a “wider selection than anybody in the tricounty area”, or do you “deliver within eight hours after the purchase”?
Often your unique competitive advantage is the biggest benefit you can offer your
prospects, so consider including it in your headline, bulleted copy, or your guarantee
...
Not having a unique competitive advantage with which to show
value results in competing solely on price — and that’s a losing proposition (unless you
have a significant cost advantage)
...
It is said that the average consumer is presented with over 3,500
advertisements per day
...
Cloaking your ad in a news-style editorial format will not only pull more attention, but
also banish incredibility (which is one of the major roadblocks to consumer response)
...
The reason advertorial ads are so compelling is that people are tired of in-your-face sales
ads and prefer the silent, soft sell of an authoritative news article
...
80% of
the success of an ad can be attributed to its headline
...
The following is an example of each:
Benefit-Driven: “You Too Can Have a Slimmer Figure Without Dieting”
News-Oriented: “Amazing New Formula Cures Arthritis Pain”
Curiosity-Driven: “Are You Making These Deadly Hair Care Mistakes?”
How-to Oriented: “How to Flood Your Business with New Customers for Under $50”
It’s a good practice to develop a minimum of 30 variations of your headline before you
select the one you’ll use
...
If your
headline doesn’t grab attention, your ad will never be read, let alone noticed
...
They don’t care about your awards, the name of
your business, how much you sell, or how good you think you are
...
So leave out all of “me” copy and sell the
benefits
...
Tell people how your offering will help them either gain pleasure or avoid pain by
expressing it in the form of benefits
...
People aren’t concerned as much with features as they are with what
the features will do for them personally
...
Hint: Studies have shown people respond better to the fear of loss (pain)
then they do to the promise of gain
...
With all the scams, rip-offs, and untruthful ads
consumers have been exposed to, who knows what to believe anymore? You must make
your ad credible and risk-free
...
Using a combination
of these three strategies will provide a powerful risk-free offer
...
People don’t like to be guinea pigs
...
Hint: Including pictures of endorsers will double the
effectiveness of your testimonials
...
If you can’t provide a
strong guarantee for your product, perhaps you shouldn’t be selling it
...
Let me ask you… When was the last time you took
somebody up on their guarantee? Seldom are guarantees exercised
...
Strategy #3 — Include Facts and Statistics
Use facts and statistics from reliable sources to bolster your claims
...
Each of these strategies will build credibility and reduce the risk prospects naturally feel
when contemplating your offer
...
People do want to be told what to do
...
Phrases such as, “Call now”, “Come in today”, and “Sign up right now” trigger emotional
response mechanisms that get your prospect to take action on an offer that they secretly
want to take advantage of anyway
...
- 100 -
Element # 10 — Urgency
Admit it, most people are naturally lazy and like to procrastinate
...
To compel your prospects
to act immediately you must inject a feeling of “scarcity
...
For instance,
placing a deadline on your offer makes your prospects feel as though they have to take
advantage of your offer before they lose the opportunity
...
Another tactic is to limit the quantity available so that people will feel the need to take
advantage of your offer before your product runs out
...
”
If you use scarcity tactics (and you should), make sure that you hold true and keep your
word by rescinding the offer when you say you will
...
Element # 11 — Simple to Respond
Most people buy on impulse rather than logic
...
Make it easy
to do business with you
...
Some like to call on the phone, others like
to go to the Web, and still others will only fax you their order
...
Studies have shown that people overwhelmingly buy on impulse using the telephone
more than any other method
...
Finally, if you offer a recorded message with a toll-free
number in which people can hear a message and leave their contact information, response
rates increase even more
...
The first step is to attract your reader’s attention with an exciting graphic
...
- 101 -
A good graphic can attract the attention of your prospect and draw them in to your
message
...
Although a picture is worth a
thousand words, it can also be interpreted a thousand different ways, sometimes causing
confusion
...
Exciting graphics showing
action are always an eye pleaser
...
Element # 13 — Accountability
Small businesses don’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising and, therefore, must
hold their advertising dollars accountable
...
To avoid losing money, you need to track the response rates of your ads
...
For instance, using a separate phone line or extension number for specific ads can help
you determine the source of the inquiry
...
If you’re using lead generation by direct
mail, tell the recipient that they need to bring the mailer in to take advantage of your
offer
...
This will not only help
you track your response rate but give your prospect a good reason to respond
...
Vary the
different elements of the ad to determine if your new ad pulls better than your control ad
...
Although none of these elements alone can guarantee a successful ad, the combination of
these elements will increase the potential for your ad to be a solid winner
...
In
fact, writing great sales letters is more of a science than an art
...
The following is a 12-step template for
writing foolproof sales letters
...
The objective of your sales letter
should be to overcome your reader’s buying resistance, while persuading them to take
action
...
The first one to
the finish line who jumps over all the hurdles is the winner, or in this case, gets the sale
...
These hurdles
are manifested in many spoken and unspoken customer comments such as:
1
...
“How do I know you’re qualified?”
3
...
“I don’t need it right now”
5
...
“What happens if I don’t like it?”
7
...
The 12-step sales letter template is designed to overcome each of these
objections in a careful, methodical series of copywriting tactics
...
Get attention
2
...
Provide the solution
4
...
Show the benefits
6
...
Make your offer
8
...
Give a guarantee
10
...
Give a warning
12
...
Motivation Is An Emotional Thing
It’s important to remember that people are motivated to buy based on their emotions, and
that they justify their purchase based on logic only after the sale
...
That being true, there are only two things that truly motivate people — the promise of
gain and the fear of loss
...
Think about it
...
Why? Because it addresses the fear of loss
...
Whatever product or service you are selling, you need to
position it so that its benefits provide one or more of these universal motivations:
1
...
To be good looking
3
...
To be popular
5
...
To achieve inner peace
7
...
To have fun
Ultimate motivations are what people “really” want
...
The 12-Step Foolproof Sales Letter System
Now that we know what impedes a person to buy and what motivates a person to action,
let’s review the 12 elements of a winning sales letter
...
Get Attention
Assuming the reader has opened your envelope, the next step is to get their attention
...
If it doesn’t catch their
attention you can kiss your letter goodbye
...
If the headline doesn’t call out to them and
pique their interest, they will just stop and throw your letter away
...
“HOW TO _____________________”
People love to know how to do things
...
In fact, they’re probably the two most
powerful words you can use in a headline
...
” We love to know things that other people
aren’t privy to
...
Besides that,
most of us enjoy a good mystery, especially in the end when the “secret” is revealed
...
Remember that people are motivated by fear of loss more than the promise of gain? Well,
the “warning” headline screams fear
...
2
...
The reader should say to himself,
“Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel” when he reads your copy
...
Pretend that it’s an open wound that you’re rubbing salt into
...
” You present the problem then agitate it so
that your reader really feels the pain and agony of the situation
...
In
fact, companies are no different
...
For example, if you were selling garage door openers you might agitate the problem by
telling a short story about what happens when one doesn’t work
...
It’s dark outside and after tripping on the porch step you search for your front
door key
...
Exhausted, you get inside and plop down on the couch, just as you remember your car is
still running in the driveway…
...
3
...
This is the part of the sales letter where you boldly stake the claim
that you can solve the reader’s problem
...
Relieve the
reader’s mind by telling them that they there’s no need to struggle through all their
problems because your product or service will solve them
...
Present your Credentials
In most cases, after you have introduced yourself and your product or service your reader
is thinking, “Yeah, sure he can fix my problem
...
” So now it’s
important to hit them right away with the reason why you can be trusted
...
2
...
4
...
Successful case studies
...
The length of time you’ve been in your field of expertise
...
Important awards or recognitions
...
5
...
Don’t make the common mistake of telling all about the features of your product
without talking about the benefits
...
Get a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of the paper
...
Think about the obvious benefits and notso-obvious benefits of each feature and write them down on the right side of the paper
...
- 106 -
For example, a hot tub not only soothes and relaxes your muscles but it also gives you an
opportunity to talk to your spouse without interruptions
...
Think about every possible benefit
your reader may derive from your product or service
...
6
...
To build your credibility
and believability present your reader with testimonials from satisfied customers
...
To make your
testimonial even more powerful, include pictures of your customers with their names and
addresses (at least the city and state)
...
Most
readers won’t call but it is a powerful statement to include complete contact information
...
7
...
A great offer can overcome
mediocre copy, but great copy cannot overcome a mediocre offer
...
You want your readers to say to themselves, “I’d be stupid not to take
advantage of this deal
...
The best offers are usually an attractive
combination of price, terms, and free gifts
...
Hint: When developing your offer you should always try to raise the value of your offer
by adding on products or services, rather than by lowering your price
...
8
...
Remember, that people have a built-in fear that they are going to get ripped off
...
If you aren’t confident enough
in your product or service to give a strong guarantee you should think twice about
offering it to the public
...
I will not give your money back?” Probably not
...
You see, most businesses already have a strong guarantee and don’t hold it up and
trumpet it for fear that a lot of people will take them up on it
...
When was the last time you asked for a full refund on something? If you’re like
me, it’s been a while
...
That’s right,
$4,490 extra profit you never would have seen without this course
...
Actually, you get double protection
...
At any time during the 12
months, if you sincerely feel I fell short in any way on delivering
everything I promised, I’ll be happy to give you a complete refund
...
It they don’t get what they expect, they get their money back with no
questions asked
...
Hint: Your offer may be so good that people won’t believe it
...
” To avoid this thinking, give the reason
why you can give such as great offer
...
When people read the reason why, it will help them reconcile your irresistible offer
in their mind and make it more believable
...
Inject Scarcity
Most people take their time responding to offers, even when they are irresistible
...
The following are
just a few:
- They don’t feel enough pain to make a change
- They are too busy and just forget
- 108 -
- They don’t feel that the perceived value outweighs your asking price
- They are just plain lazy
To motivate people to take action they usually need an extra incentive
...
When people think there is a scarce supply of something they need they usually rush to
get some of it
...
Your offer could sound something like this:
“If you purchase by (future date) you will get the entire set of free bonuses”
Or
“Our supply is limited to only 50 (product or service) and will be sent to you on a ‘first
come, first served’ basis
...
”
Or
“This offer is only good until (future date) after which the (product or service) will return
to its original price
...
If you go back on
your word after the deadline date you will begin to erode the trust and confidence your
customers have come to expect from you
...
Call to action
Do not assume that your reader knows what to do to receive the benefits from your offer
...
Whether
its picking up the phone and making the call, filling out an order form, faxing the order
form to your office etc…
...
Your call to action must be “action-oriented
...
Plant your call to action throughout your letter
...
Or in your offer you might say, “When you call our free
information line…” Then when you give the call to action at the end of the letter, people
won’t be surprised or confused
...
- 109 -
11
...
In fact, your
letter should continue to build emotion even after your call to action
...
Perhaps they would continue to:
- Struggle day to day to make ends meet
- Work too hard just to get a few customers
- Lose the opportunity to receive all your valuable bonuses
- Keep getting what they’ve always got
- Watch other companies get all the business
- Etc
...
Remind them just how terrible their current state is and that it just
doesn’t have to be that way
...
Close with a Reminder
Always include a postscript (P
...
Believe it or not, your P
...
is the third most read
element of your sales letter
...
P
...
In your postscript you want to remind them of your irresistible offer
...
It sounds like a simple step but postscripts get
noticed
...
Using this 12-step formula anyone can write
an effective sales letter that sells
...
Many people have a fear of writing
...
Take a set of 3 x 5 cards and write all the features you know about on one side of the
cards
...
You’ll have started
your letter and produced a list of benefits you can use to write it
...
This will allow
you to be more objective you when you edit your letter
...
- 110 -
Tip #3 — Develop a “swipe file” to help get your creative juices flowing
...
Companies pay thousands of dollars to develop their
marketing materials; you might as well take advantage of that by using them as a model
for your own work
...
Some great copywriters
put a picture of a typical customer in front of them as they write to help them remember
to whom they are writing the letter
...
” Each part of your sales letter should be building your case
...
Most anyone can write a powerful sales letter by just following this simple 12-step
process
...
- 111 -
Telephone Success Strategies for
Small Businesses
The other day I was in an auto parts store buying an oil filter
...
The place was packed and the line to
purchase goods was long, and most of the people were getting impatient
...
Finally, after
about 10 rings he got frustrated and answered the phone
...
As soon as he could, he slammed down the
phone and resumed his behind-the-counter duties
...
It’s not only
confined to the retail world but the professional world as well
...
You Pay Good Money to Make Your Phone Ring!
A ringing phone is the result of your marketing efforts, which you pay good money to
develop and implement, and the fact that your phone rings indicates that your marketing
is working
...
The following are several inbound and outbound telephone marketing practices that you
can use to make your phone one of your most powerful marketing weapons
...
Know Your Costs — Calculate your cost of an inquiry by dividing your total cost of
advertising by the average number of calls you receive
...
To further stress the value of each phone call, attach a $10 bill to the handle of each
phone unit to remind your employees how important each and every phone call is to your
business, and that each call could result in cash
...
Recognize Good Work — Give a “golden phone award” to the employee who gets
full contact information from the most inbound callers
...
3
...
Ask
employees (rather than you) to give the training
...
- 112 -
Get Each Caller’s Full Contact Information
The value in any business is its customer and prospect list, and the fastest way to build
that list is to ask for contact information
...
Customer Information — Ask to know if the caller is a prior customer
...
Customer, we are updating out customer list
...
Prospect Information — If the caller tells you that they are not a prior customer then
handle the phone call
...
Prospect, I’d like to send you a
free report that you’ll find very interesting
...
”
3
...
Getting prospect and customer email addresses is important because you’ll
be able to market to them absolutely free
...
Warm-calling
happens when you call someone who has already had some type of experience with you
...
1
...
” You can even call them up in advance just to
let them know your direct mail piece is coming (this is better done with voice
broadcasting)
...
Use a Familiar Name — Try to get the name of someone familiar that you can use to
open the conversation
...
Prospect, my name is Denise and I’m
calling from Spa City USA
...
Let me say that again
...
They might want a price, an explanation, to report a
problem, to speak with a manager etc
...
- 113 -
The key to selling is to give people what they want
...
1
...
Ask
questions that start with, “Why…”, “What are your thoughts…”, “Tell me about…”, or
“What was your impression…”
2
...
Remember, when you’re talking, the customer
isn’t
...
Don’t
be afraid to leave dead space on the phone while you’re waiting for a response
...
3
...
As a marketer, this is your key to success, because
the reason people are complaining about problems is because they’re looking for a
solution, even though they may not ask for one
...
Find out
just how bad the pain is by turning it into numbers
...
Your response could be, “On a scale from one to ten, ten being
excruciating, how bad is your back pain?”
Or if your prospect’s inventory is being stolen, a possible response may be, “What is the
dollar cost of inventory that is missing per store? How many stores are experiencing this
same problem? Then this problem is costing your business $XX dollars
...
“Ms
...
Most have found relief within 30 days or less using (product or service)
...
This is especially dangerous if
they have not yet received enough information to determine value
...
This leaves you at a disadvantage unless you sell
a bottom-end, cheap-as-dirt product
...
Perhaps the most detrimental result of giving out your price over the phone is that you
have just taken away the single most powerful motivation for people to come into your
business and speak with you personally
...
- 114 -
1
...
For instance,
Caller: “Hi, what’s your price on the platinum pool?”
You: “Well, what type of pool are you looking for?” or “It depends, what types of
features are you looking for?”
These responses lead you into “value discussions” that help you to build the value of your
products or services in the mind of a prospect
...
2
...
If you’ve done this right, the dollar amount of the pain will be
very large compared with the price of your product or service
...
Remember: If you feel the need to give out a price or estimate over the phone, do so only
AFTER you’ve had a conversation about value using the compare / contrast principle
...
Why work to
make your phone ring if you’re not going to try and get an appointment? You should ask
for an appointment on most every call
...
Give Your Caller a Reason — It’s much easier to ask for an appointment when there
is a valid reason to meet
...
I’d like to
meet with you this week to demonstrate how this technique works
...
Be Sensitive To Their Time Constraints — People are busy and don’t want to be
bothered, so you always need to openly recognize the value of their time
...
I know your time is valuable and I want to honor
that
...
”
3
...
First of all this forces your prospect to think about WHEN
they can meet rather than IF they want to meet with you
...
- 115 -
Again, following up from the last example you could say, “Our meeting would only last
for 15 to 20 minutes
...
Which is better for you?”
Use Benefit-Oriented After-Hours Voicemail
There’s no better time to market to somebody then when they are waiting to speak to you
...
Here is a typical message that I hear often: “Thanks for calling
ABC Pools
...
m
...
m
...
Thank you
...
1
...
If you’ve reached this message we are probably gone for the
day
...
Feel free to call
our 24 hour free recorded message at xxx-xxx-xxxx to hear “The Six Secrets to Building
Your Own Pool
...
If you don’t leave your name and number we won’t be
able to enter you into our drawing for a free trip to Las Vegas
...
”
2
...
If you get their address in this manner, immediately send a postcard out to them thanking
them for their inquiry and inviting them to come in or receive a free report
...
Conclusion
Your telephone can be a powerful marketing tool if it is used correctly
...
A great website for learning more
about how to use your phone to make profits is www
...
com owned by
Art Sobczak, an author and expert in telephone marketing
...
Sales
tests have shown that price is one of the most compelling factors that determine the
success of a sale
...
The Four P’s of Marketing
For those of you who have studied marketing in school, you’ll remember the Four P’s of
Marketing: (1) Product, (2) Place, (3) Promotion, and (4) Price
...
When determining a strategy for a profitable business you should ask yourself four
critical questions as a result of the Four P’s…
How can I improve my product?
How do I get it from point A to point B?
How do I tell people about it?
How much should I charge for it?
The first three questions all have a cost associated with them
...
So pricing is a critical question that
should be considered carefully
...
Knowing your objective will have a huge impact on the final price you set
...
However, there
are different routes to reach that objective
...
Each
strategy will, perhaps, result in a radically different price to meet the objectives of the
business
...
- 117 -
Objective — Perhaps you’re just entering the market with a new product and you want to
gain as many customers as possible
...
Or it might be that you have a consumable
product that people will buy over and over again so you want to gain customers, get them
hooked on your product or service, and then slowly raise the price
...
Objective — To gain the maximum amount of profit per unit in the shortest amount of
time
...
------------------------------Strategy #3 — Pricing low to crush the competition
...
When to Use — Your product is a perceived commodity and you have one or two
competitors with which you are constantly having price battles
...
Objective — To set a price that is seen by your customer as honest and reasonable
...
In this case you might use a cost-plus pricing
strategy
...
Objective — When you want your stay competitive and be considered for any proposal,
bidding, auction or other competitive pricing situations
...
------------------------------Strategy #6 — Pricing for maximum profit and maximum sales
...
When to Use — After your initial introduction and you have the ability to differentiate
your product
...
Pricing Myths Exposed
There are a lot of myths out there about pricing your product or service, and some fly
directly in the face of popular thinking (and what I’ve stated in the previous section)
...
Truth — Yes, price is important but it is no way the most important criteria for a shopper
...
In fact, most studies I’ve reviewed show price to come up around fourth
place on the importance list
...
How about those who buy goods at the local gas station or 7-11 store
whose prices are astronomical? Remember the Cabbage Patch Doll or the Tickle-MeElmo craze? Prices went sky-high because the demand was so high for them
...
Myth # 2 — You have to match or slightly under-price your product or service in a
commodity driven or competitive market
...
Here are just a few ways you can
differentiate yourself:
•
Specializing in a particular niche
- 119 -
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Adding bonuses or premiums
Delivering it faster
Touting your experience or credentials
Showing successful case studies
Having others testify to your differentiation
Limiting distribution or accessibility
Partnering with heavy-hitters
Having extreme guarantees
Etc
...
etc
...
All it takes is a bit of
creativity and some good marketing
...
Price-takers get eaten up and spit out
...
Myth # 3 — Pricing is a simple matter of taking the cost of your product or service
and marking up your desired profit margin
...
If you don’t know your cost how can you “mark
up” your price? In addition, the cost-plus price may have nothing to do with the value
you provide or the market price of your product or service
...
It’s better to be approximately wrong than to be precisely right
...
Myth # 4 — If sales are lagging just drop your price and sales will increase
...
”
The truth is that people do put a high value on price but they also put a high value on
quality, and when you lower your price you cheapen the perception of your quality
...
If you
believe you’ll be able to up-sell your new customers or you believe that can “back-end”
them with bigger offers, then your strategy is justifiable
...
Price is a Perception of Value
It’s important to remember that you must sell your product or service at a price that is
higher than your cost to produce and promote it
...
But perhaps even
more important is knowing this — your customer will only buy your product or service if
they determine that its perceived value exceeds the price they have to pay to receive it
...
The whole goal of
your marketing efforts is to spread the word and convince people that the value is higher
than the price they are being asked to pay
...
He asked Gary, “Do you think people will pay $XX dollars
for my new widget?” Gary’s reply is profound and something you should always
remember
...
How good is the sales letter?”
I love this story because it summarizes everything that is great about the power of good
marketing
...
It has
everything to do with it’s perceived value and how well you can build that perception in
the mind of a prospect using effective marketing
...
I remember Mark Nolan, author of The Instant
Marketing Plan once telling a story about how he sold 100,000 copies of a book on free
publicity he’d written for $29 a piece
...
Mark just stared at him as he realized that he’d been
so busy selling his book — and things were going so well — that he hadn’t tested his
price
...
What you think should be the price
...
The highest possible price you can imagine, but one to which you think that
consumers would still respond
...
A low price that is a great deal for the customer, but less than you want to charge
...
A fourth price that is outrageously high or low
...
You’ll
probably find that the price that obtains the maximum sales and profitability is higher
than what you had originally intended
...
By this I mean: what
combination of items can you offer for the maximum sales at the highest price? This may
be more difficult in the real world but on the Internet it is simple
...
The
combination could include different products bundles, different guarantees, different
service features etc
...
The teeter point is the
price at which a consumer just can’t make up their mind
...
The trick of course if find the teeter point
...
Question # 1 — What price is almost too high to buy?
Question # 2 — What price is just a bit too high to buy?
If the median for question # 1 is $50 and the median for question # 2 is $45, then your
teeter point is somewhere between $45 and $50
...
Question # 3 — What is the price you usually spend for (product name)?
Question # 4 — How often do you buy (product name)?
This information is important because it helps you determine what a consumer might
expect to pay for your product or service
...
The last question that is asked is:
Question # 7 — What is a fair price for (product name)?
The respondent will normally answer with a price that is lower than what they truly
consider fair
...
- 122 -
Presenting Your Price
Perhaps the only thing more important than setting the right price is how you present it
...
For instance, the following techniques uses the compare / contrast method to give the
perception that your price is not only fair, but a great deal
...
Using this method your copy
would read something like this: “…you’d have to have 12 months of personal smoker’s
rehab counseling to get the same amount of coaching that you’ll find in this course
...
R
...
” Notice how what
you are giving them is compared to a much larger quantity, which has the effect of
making your price seem like a great deal
...
This gives the perception of a low price
...
Technique # 3 — Individual Value Comparison
This method takes each individual component of the offer, places a value on it, and then
adds it all up for a total and then compares it to the asking price
...
You save over $160!
Technique # 4 — Pain Avoidance Method
As a consultant I often try to put a price tag on the problem to give my client a realistic
picture of what it is costing her to continue to do nothing
...
For instance, the conversation might go like this…
- 123 -
David: “Hmmm, so you have a theft problem in your stores?”
Client: “Yes, it’s terrible”
David: “What types of things are being stolen?”
Client: “Computers and software mostly
...
David: “How many are missing on a monthly basis?”
Client: “We usually come up about five computers short and probably about 20 different
software packages are missing
...
From what you told me you’re experiencing a shrink problem of
around $6,000 per store and you own 12 stores so you’re total shrink is costing you
around 60,000 a month overall
...
”
David: “Would you be willing to invest $50,000 to get rid of you million dollar
problem?”
Technique # 5 — “Most — Some — But” Method
This technique is a simple competitor comparison that gives the perception of rarity or
exclusivity
...
In some popular salons you may pay as little as $35 – $40
...
95
...
Some jewelers will offer specials as low as $99
...
This method is used to dramatize the discounts or low price that you offer compared to
other businesses in your market
...
Telling the consumer why the price is
so high or so low helps to reconcile the price discrepancy and helps them accept it as
reasonable
...
If we don’t sell all our (product) we’ll have to file for
bankruptcy, so we’re clearing out all our inventory at ridiculously low prices
...
No expense was
spared
...
Our advanced planning system takes every
circumstance and detail into consideration to guarantee that your project will be
completed on time and on budget
...
With over millions of
dollars worth of experience, research, technology, and quality control, you’ll have
the finest backyard experience available anywhere in the world
...
People
buy on human emotion rather than rational logic
...
Pricing-Advisor
...
Tip # 1 — For prices up to $10 use endings such as $
...
95
...
99 garners you four more cents
...
34 are confusing to people and may cost you
sales
...
95 rather than $
...
99 is seen as a “greedy” price
...
It’s a cleaner look
...
95
...
Advertise Your Price?
I often get the question of whether to advertise price or not
...
I recommend not advertising your price unless it is surprisingly low
...
Displaying a high price without first building value is a losing proposition
...
For
instance, advertising “20% Off” or “Take $1,000 Off”, rather than showing the actual
price, can get people just as excited as showing a low price — without showing the actual
price
...
I could have listed a dozen gimmicks but I’ve limited it to
five common ones
...
The $1
...
00 gimmick is my favorite and is very powerful
...
00
...
00
...
This is especially effective if the $1
...
Currently, a friend of mine is offering a marketing course to insurance
professionals for $1
...
However, to get the marketing course for $1
...
Is it a gimmick? Yes! Is it a good deal? Absolutely! In fact, the $1
...
2
...
Nonetheless, it is still practiced
...
3
...
In
fact, I have a newspaper advertisement as I sit here writing that says, “Used Cars to Be
Sold For As Low As $69 Plus TTL
...
”
Do you believe that this car dealership is going to sell a car for $69? Of course not! The
$69 is a down payment; however, it is presented as the total price of the auto
...
The monthly payment gimmick is done the same way
...
4
...
If you’ve been watching television lately you’ve probably seen the CEO of the
- 127 -
Video Professor computer training company
...
The CEO offers you a free CD-ROM of your choice
...
” However, in small print you’ll see that he charges $6
...
The $6
...
He loses nothing in the offer
...
5
...
But when the order is made an exorbitant shipping fee is charged
...
There are no restrictions on how much you can charge for shipping
...
Successful Discounting Strategies
Discounting can be a powerful tool to close the sale
...
Consumers just expect a discount in our current retail environment
...
To make your discount even more powerful it should be tied to a deadline
...
With that said, let’s review a few successful discounting strategies
...
New Product Introduction Discount
When introducing a new product you may consider offering it to a select group of
individuals on an exclusive basis
...
You might say something like this, “For the next two days I’m offering this introductory
discount of 40% off exclusively to my current customers
...
Hurry and take
advantage of this special exclusive offer right now
...
I had to twist his arm to get him make
this offer to my customers
...
Hurry and take advantage of this deal
- 128 -
while it lasts
...
”
2
...
For
instance, if you buy three cans of peanuts you get a 10% discount
...
And if you buy 20 or more you get a full 15% discount off the
regular price
...
Unfortunately it creates erratic
order quantities and makes it difficult to predict future product demand
...
3
...
For instance, assume you were selling a membership as a preferred customer to your
clothing store you might offer…
A $50 coupon for shirts and slacks
...
(value = $100)
One free tie
...
(value = $8)
One year of free tailoring
...
Instead of
offering each of the goods separately you offer the entire bundle in a membership
package for $100
...
But because
your markups are over 100% you still make a respectable profit
...
Secret Code Discount
The Secret Code Discount is also one of my favorites because it gives a feeling of
intrigue, exclusivity, and excitement
...
You must go to the business’ website, enter the secret code,
which then takes you to a webpage containing a discount coupon that you can print out
that you carry into the store
...
1
...
- 129 -
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
6
...
7
...
8
...
9
...
10
...
Never Compete On Price
Let me first say this, and if you get nothing else from this chapter remember this, “Never
compete on price!” Never, never, never! It’s a losing proposition for you and for your
competitors
...
If you have a substantial cost advantage
that is virtually impossible to duplicate then there might be a case for competing on a
lower price
...
Every body loses (except for the customer)
...
Or
should I say, cents…
Conclusion
Pricing is a key factor in marketing and selling your product or service
...
Don’t believe the myths that are swirling around about pricing
...
Build your value and charge higher prices
...
How you present your price can be just as important as the price you choose
...
Advertise your
price only if it’s very low or you can build value into the advertisement
...
- 130 -
Not only do some price gimmicks work, but discounting can also be a successful
motivator…if done correctly
...
Competing on price is almost always a losing proposition
...
By packaging, I’m not talking about how
you wrap up the package
...
To give you an example, not long ago I purchased a vacation to Mexico that included our
flight, food, hotel accommodations, and various entertainment specials in one “allinclusive” package
...
Using creative
packaging deals can boost sales and impress your customer
...
When you buy a “combo meal” for your child (which I often do), you are
buying a package deal
...
Packaging is
so common in the fast food industry that 98% of all sales are package sales
...
Gives you the ability to sell slow moving merchandise
...
Automatically up-sells your customers without having to ask for it
...
Lowers your marketing costs because it allows you to move multiple types of
products or services through one advertisement
...
In a joint venture it exposes your product or service to a new list of prospects
...
Promotes a higher perceived value to your customer
...
Packaging and bundling provides a huge leverage in your
business and your marketing efforts
...
Bundling goods at a discount price plays a few psychological tricks on your
mind that triggers you to buy
...
“I want that product or service
...
“I’m going to need an extra unit of that product or service anyway (or, I’m also
interested in the additional product or service that’s being offered)
...
“They’re offering me a pretty good price if I agree to buy more than one unit, so I
will end up saving money in the long run
...
“I might as well save some money and take the bundled offer right now
...
It’s a fight for balance between price and benefits
...
In other words, the better value in the mind of the consumer always wins
...
” Value is…
•
•
•
Always variable depending on the consumer
Based on perception rather than reality
A tradeoff between price (the customer’s investment) and benefits (what she gets)
I like to think of value as an equation…Value = Perceived Benefits / Price
...
Scenario 1 — If Price goes up, and Perceived Benefits stay the same, Value goes down
...
Scenario 3 — If Perceived Benefits goes up, and Price goes down, Value goes way up!
As a marketer, you always want to position your offer with the value going up
...
Whatever you do, your value must go up, because that’s
how consumers choose you over your competitor
...
Why? Because if you bundle your products and services
right, you will be able to add even more benefits to your customer at a lower unit price,
thus dramatically increasing the value of your offer in the mind of the consumer
...
Just look around you
when you go out to shop for men’s and women’s clothing
...
- 133 -
That’s why you see suits with matching ties and shirts for one low price
...
Amazon
...
Do you think that Amazon has increased their sales revenues
and margins from this type of promotional offer? Absolutely
...
Once Microsoft started the era of bundling desktop software, if you
were a provider of just one software product you had very little chance of survival
...
Using Joint Ventures to Bundle Products and Services
If you don’t have (or can’t offer by yourself) multiple products or services you may
consider joint venturing to provide additional products or services of other businesses to
bundle together with your offering
...
The clothing store
sells the untailored suit, the tailor fits the suit, and the dry cleaner cleans it
...
Suppose you were a marketing consultant (like me) and you noticed that many of your
clients not only had marketing issues, but also bookkeeping and legal problems
...
How To Develop a “Package Offer”
- 134 -
To develop different package offers, think of the problems that your customers often
experience and the potential solutions that you offer to help solve the problem
...
For instance, the following are a four common problems that customer’s of various small
businesses face and examples of potential “packages” that might offered to solve the
problem
...
Flush radiator
2
...
Oil change to lighter viscosity
4
...
Fix windshield cracks
Winterization Gold Package
1
...
Rust sealant package
Winterization Platinum Package
1
...
New set of winter tires
Example 2 — Hair Salon
Customer Problem — Need to look your very best for your (or your friend’s) wedding
Package Offer — “Wedding Day Miracle Makeover” (for brides and bridesmaids)
Wedding Day Miracle Makeover Basic Package
1
...
Hair wash
3
...
Wedding and Bridesmaid Makeover Basic Package
2
...
Nail restoration
- 135 -
Wedding Day Miracle Makeover Supermodel Package
1
...
Beauty makeover
Example 3 — Laundromat
Customer Problem — Clean your dirty clothes
Package Offer — “Fresh Family Clothing Service”
Fresh Family Clothing Starter Package
1
...
Unlimited use of drying machines
3
...
Fresh Family Clothing Starter Package
2
...
Unlimited use of high speed large steam press
Fresh Family Clothing Ultimate Service Package
1
...
We do washing, drying, pressing for you while you wait in our social lounge (TV,
drinks, snacks etc
...
Two 24 oz
...
Two 24 oz
...
Two more 24 oz
...
Let’s take a moment and
review each of these examples and pick out the important principles that you need to
keep in mind when creating a package offer
...
Don’t offer a packaged product or service unless it offers a solution to a
problem
...
Principle # 2 — Each offer actually had three unique offers that built off the lowerpriced package
...
Providing options with increasing value is what motivates consumers to “up-sell”
themselves by choosing the more expensive option
...
Notice that each word has increasing value
...
That’s why we started
with silver instead of bronze
...
Principle # 4 — The additional products or services that are added on to the basic
package have a low cost to you
...
Principle # 5 — I threw the Life cereal example in for two reasons
...
You can just add more of the same
product to the package
...
A single unit of potato salad
costs $2
...
00
...
00 package, ate the first
unit and took the second one home!
Look Around for Packaging Options
Yes, you do have packaging options in your business
...
In some way, shape, or form you can create unique packages of your product
or service that will solve one or more of your customer’s problems
...
Examples of packaging and bundling are everywhere
...
Remember to provide a strong up-sell option in your package by
offering multiple options, each progressively more valuable and expensive
...
I had tried to persuade my wife for many years that we needed to close the account
because we just weren’t using it and I didn’t want to keep paying fees
...
My wife is very frugal yet she was willing to continue to pay for membership in
something that she received no services or benefits from
...
It satisfies our deepest needs as human
beings to be wanted, loved, and appreciated
...
In response, I offer the following “yes” or “no” membership qualification test
...
Does your company…
- have to conserve its limited resources when providing service to its customers?
- want to decrease customer turnover and dramatically improve customer loyalty?
- need a constant, predictable stream of revenue?
- desire to sell its full suite of services with less effort?
- wish to get the more revenue out of its existing customers?
- aspire to significantly improve its referral business?
If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, your company could benefit
from establishing a membership program
...
Every business can benefit from a membership program and should
establish some form of membership marketing
...
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits that were just mentioned
...
Conserves limited company resources — Resources are allocated according to
the customers’ level of membership (i
...
lower membership level = less resources,
higher membership level = more resources)
...
Increases customer loyalty — Membership provides a sense of belonging to an
organization, which breeds loyalty
...
Provides a predictable stream of revenue — Instead of sporadically selling
products and services, membership programs provide a steady stream of
customers providing a steady stream of cash flow
...
Sells more services and products with less effort — Because slow-moving or
less desirable products and services are included in membership packages people
are more likely to take advantage of them
...
More revenue from existing customers — Multi-level membership programs
entice customers to spend more by moving up to higher levels of the program
...
Improves referral business — People like to tell their friends about a company
to which they feel a sense of loyalty
...
The following is an
example of different types of membership programs, which include a business selling, (a)
hard good products, (b) a company selling service, and lastly, (c) a company selling
knowledge
...
Gold Star Membership — Allows consumers to purchase products for personal
use at any Costco throughout the world
...
Executive Membership — Allows consumers and businesses to save money by
offering exclusive services such as a 2% reward, business loans, and credit card
processing, larger gift certificates for mortgage or real estate transactions, travel
benefits and lower prices on check printing
...
Hertz #1 Club Express — Available only to Hertz #1 Club members and
provides an exclusive checkout counter for express members only
...
Kennedy Inner Circle, Inc
...
Gold — Includes Silver membership benefits plus monthly taped interviews with
marketing experts, exclusive additions to monthly newsletter, longer call-in consulting
times, access to special member’s area of website containing newsletter past issues and
articles, and receipt of three marketing books during the year
...
Gold + VIP — Includes Silver, Gold, and Gold+ membership benefits plus three
“mastermind group meetings” two days each with personal coaching
...
This level is by invitation only
...
Each company provides different membership levels
with more offerings of service, discounts, speed, and accessibility at each higher level
...
In the case of Hertz, the express level increases accessibility and thus speeds the
fulfillment process
...
In the case of Kennedy Inner Circle, each membership program offers a higher level of
accessibility to more in depth information
...
Let’s examine some membership benefit possibilities for various small businesses
...
- Oil and Lube Franchise
Basic Membership — Reminder email service, free complete car cleaning, premium
grade motor oil
...
- Movie Theatre
Basic Membership — 5 movies monthly for the price of three
...
It just takes a little creativity
...
Pricing of Membership Programs
Membership programs have many pricing models and must be tested to determine the
right price for your business and clientele
...
Your goal should be to convert your customers into
members so that they’ll begin to feel an affinity to your business
...
Look at your first
membership level as a “loss-leader
...
It’s free to be a
member of Hollywood Video (video chain store)
...
The low membership fees serve to attract people into the program, but
because it’s not completely free, customers will place a value on their membership and
use it
...
If you don’t
- 142 -
provide value and keep your promises during your customer’s membership, it will be
difficult to get them to renew
...
Magazines consistently have this problem
...
The key to getting your members to renew is to provide value beyond what was promised
and to offer incentives to renew
...
For instance, suppose you offer a paid newsletter
service
...
Another option to improve your renewal rate is to sell renewals upfront by offering
multiple period memberships at a discounted price
...
Locking your customers into multiple period membership programs should be an
important goal
...
A powerful hidden benefit of
locking your customer into a long-term membership program is that you’ll also be
locking out your competition!
Use Membership Cards
Open you wallet right now and you’ll probably see several membership cards
...
I also have a membership card from my local grocer, health club, and
airlines (Continental and Southwest)
...
They serve as a gentle reminder for your customer to take advantage of their
membership
...
In
addition, you can use it to mark off visits or purchases of specific product, much like
Subway’s sandwich card
...
According to stats from GE
Card Services, store credit cardholders will spend at least 50% more each year with that
retailer than customers not carrying the retailer’s card
...
- 143 -
Conclusion
Membership programs help to properly allocate company resources, increase customer
loyalty, provide predictable revenue streams, sell more products and services, generate
higher revenue per customer, and improve referrals
...
Make it easy to enter your membership program and once you have a good membership
base, focus on renewing your members to keep them in the program
...
- 144 -
Street Marketing for Small
Businesses
It’s 2:00pm on a Saturday afternoon and you’re watching the Dallas Cowboys beat up on
the San Francisco Forty-Niners
...
Again, you hear a knocking at your door and you grudgingly get up to go answer it
...
There he is, an energetic-looking
young man with a big smile on his face
...
But the
young man catches your eye because he looks so clean cut
...
Finally, you decide to open the door
...
I am trying to raise money for my college education and to do that I have teamed
up with, Dezinger’s, the best local restaurant in the area
...
It’s really an incredible offer
...
They’re giving away $500 of free meals?
Wow! This clean-cut young guy is working to raise money for his education…that’s
impressive
...
”
Welcome to One-to-One Community-Based Street
Marketing
...
How many radio or newspaper advertisements can pull a football
fanatic out of his chair, during an exciting football game, to see or hear your
advertisement? The answer is NONE
...
No
other marketing medium has that power
...
It is said that consumers receive over 3,500 advertisements a day in one way or another
...
With thousands of advertisements being read, heard, or seen, your prospect can become
dazed and confused
...
- 145 -
Most Any Product is a Good Candidate for Street
Marketing
Most any common consumable product is
a good candidate for street marketing as
long as the offer is right
...
The following are several popular items
that do very well in the street marketing
environment:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Restaurants
(especially pizza takeout)
Golfing
Auto Services
Video Rental
Sport Events
Dry Cleaning
Children’s Recreation Centers
Movie Theatre
Car Wash
Hair or Nail Salon
Liquid Cleaners
…and many more
Street Marketer Who Recently Came to My Door Selling
Cleaning Liquid
Not long ago I purchased a coupon package for a local car wash
...
I knew that I needed to get my car cleaned and I figured I could
make my money back in only two visits to the car wash
...
What are the Benefits of One-on-One Community-Based
Street Marketing?
We’ve already mentioned how effective street marketing is because it cuts through the
marketing clutter
...
- 146 -
Think about it
...
So, in essence, it’s more effective to sell your
coupons than it is to give them away as free gifts
...
When your new customer has a great experience,
they will come back again
...
Depending on how you arrange the deal with your marketers, the person doing the door
knocking can keep up to 100% of the profit! How good is that?
For instance, let’s assume you were selling a dry cleaner coupon pack to residents for $20
and your closing ratio was 30% (not unreasonable for street marketers)
...
As the street
marketer, you close three of the ten houses and pocket $60
...
Strategies for Making Community-Based Street
Marketing Work
It’s not difficult to make community-based street marketing pay off big if you follow a
few important strategies
...
If you can
present an offer that is nearly irresistible you will have a high probability of success
...
If you know these figures you’ll know how much products or services you can afford to
freely offer and still make a handsome profit on back-end sales (repeat visits, larger
follow-on purchases, referrals etc
...
Now separate the basic products and services from the add-ons
...
Strategy # 2 — Maximize Up-sells
- 147 -
Structure the offer for maximum up-sells
...
Hint: When developing your offer (coupon sheet) you need to give away several basic
offerings before you start bundling
...
This allows the purchaser to clearly see that there is value even if they
just cash in on a few coupons
...
Local fast food
restaurants use this tactic often
...
But the most powerful part of using it as a fundraiser is that it gives residents a different,
more powerful reason to buy your services
...
In their door approach script have
them say, “Hi, my name is David Frey and I’m trying to raise money for my college
education
...
Strategy # 4 — Team Selling
Form your sales team into small groups of young people that attack a small
neighborhood
...
It’s fun when the two street marketers get
to the end of the street and compare notes (and sales!)
Strategy # 5 — Set Goals
Setting goals is another excellent way to keep your street marketers motivated
...
For instance, you might set a goal for your marketer to contact 15 homes every hour
...
- 148 -
Once you’ve developed a set of simple goals that are easy to understand and measure,
rank your marketers and post results
...
Both are acceptable results, because you don’t want low-performers who
aren’t motivated to improve
...
Strategy # 6 — Have a Great Product and Give Great Service
Getting the coupon in the hands of your prospect is only the start
...
If you don’t, you’ve just wasted a lot of
money
...
Don’t be confused; they are not customers just because they bought your coupon pack
...
Make it a real
“Wow” experience
...
By this I mean, they take
out ads in papers, on the radio, even on T
...
Before they know it, their marketing budget is blown and they have nothing
to show for it
...
Then move to the next neighborhood
...
Street marketing is neighborhood and
community based
...
But after dominating about five or six
puddles, you’ll start seeing big results
...
The offer presented at the
door by your marketer is the biggest determinant of success
...
Send your marketers out in
groups and set personal and team goals for them to achieve
...
- 150 -
Using Customer Testimonials in Your
Marketing Message to Break Down
Fear and Skepticism
Let’s face it, today’s consumers are skeptical
...
However, to make the sale we must overcome our prospect’s natural skepticism and
create a relationship of trust
...
It’s one thing to toot your own horn
...
Because of this, there is an inherent disbelief in any marketing
message that comes from you
...
Providing third-party testimonials do just that and should be a part of your
marketing message
...
They create believability, credibility, and a sense of security
for your customer
...
Watch any infomercial and you will see that
they are loaded with customer testimonials
...
Look at the success of the George
Foreman grill
...
Better said, the
company that developed the grill has sold millions of dollars worth of grills by using
George Foreman’s testimonial
...
Why do you
think television producers play recordings of laughter when a punch line is said during a
sitcom? Because they know that it will make the live audience laugh, even if the punch
line wasn’t funny
...
It’s a natural instinct to mimic what others are doing
...
Once
people have put their name and reputation on the line by publicly endorsing a product or
- 151 -
service (or person), they will stand behind that decision even if they find out it’s a bad
one
...
” Even after overwhelming evidence he continued to deny it
until he was forced to admit his wrongdoing
...
Because they feel as though they have a direct
hand in the success of your business, they will stay loyal
...
If you want to have powerful testimonials that catch your
prospects’ attention and build a relationship of trust, you should consider the following
testimonial strategies
...
This could
be the day you make the sale, or within the first week after you make the sale
...
Don’t wait until the honeymoon period is over
...
Strategy # 2: Always ask your customers to include your unique selling proposition
(USP) in the testimonial
...
Strategy # 3: Don’t ask for customer testimonials in survey requests
...
Your customer needs to have the freedom to stay anonymous
and say negative things in your survey, which is opposite of what you’re looking for
...
For instance, if you
delivered your product the same day your customer purchased it, tell your customer to
include the time that it arrived
...
Strategy # 5: Ask your customer to talk about the struggles they were having previous to
receiving the benefits of your product or service
...
This will only make your prospect more
interested in receiving the benefits of your product or service
...
This will make their testimonial
even more persuasive because their comments will be seen as coming from a credible
source
...
Strategy # 7: Always try to get a picture with them using your product or service
...
Take several and make sure they are showing the benefits of the product or service
...
Strategy # 8: Make sure you get permission from your customers to use their
testimonials in your advertising
...
Strategy # 9: Ask them if you cannot only use their name but the town (suburb) they live
in
...
It
demonstrates that they are real people who live in the same community as your prospects
...
Let’s suppose your customer procrastinates to send in their testimonial
...
Suggest that to save them time and hassle, you will draft a testimonial for them and they
can make any editing changes they want
...
Of course, you’ll want to
send a self-addressed envelope
...
Again, this tactic has worked 100% of the time for me
...
It was a great
experience helping you in your selection process
...
We wish we had more customers such as you
who take the time to make a good decision
...
We
consider it an honor when someone shops around and comes back to
purchase at Spa City
...
- 153 -
We often use this feedback as a testimonial in our marketing material
...
You might want to include specifics such as names, positive incidents, and
how you feel today about owning your spa
...
Enclosed you will find a form to use and a pre-paid envelope with which to
mail it back to us
...
Cordially yours,
David Frey
This testimonial request letter butters up your customer and makes him feel as though he
is really helping out your business (and he is!)
...
It also makes it easy for him to fill out and send back
...
Always follow-up a testimonial
request letter with a phone call and a letter, especially if it hasn’t come back after a
couple of weeks
...
Take a moment to send a personal letter thanking them for their time and
effort
...
This sample letter is designed to go to people who have given you an unsolicited
testimonial after purchasing their spa or pool (or your product or service)
...
Jones:
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your kind remarks in the letter I
just received from you
...
It is unusual for someone to take the time to express his satisfaction with a
- 154 -
product or services
...
I am very pleased that you like your new Maxis spa as much as you do
...
I hope it gives you many
years of enjoyment
...
I’m proud to know I’ve been of
service
...
Cordially yours,
David Frey
Thanking your customer always tends to improve your rapport and solidify your
relationship
...
How To Use Customer Testimonials Once You Get Them
It’s not enough to receive customer testimonials
...
The following are seven ideas you can
use to implement testimonials into your marketing program
...
I once heard the story of an
independent consultant who, after proposing on a project, was asked for his resume
...
Needless to say, he
got the project
...
This will become a very
powerful marketing tool for you
...
Scatter testimonials from customers all
over your website
...
Place testimonials wherever you make bold claims
...
Another great area to place testimonials on your website is on the right and left borders
...
If you have a sign-up page of any
sort, consider including a testimonial that talks specifically about what you are asking
your visitor to sign up to, whether it be your newsletter or access to special information
...
You’ll never see an ad for a
weight loss product without a testimonial
...
Idea # 4 — In every direct mail piece you send, include a one or two page full of
testimonials
...
You can
make the testimonials a part of the sales letter but from my experience, sending loose leaf
pages of testimonials make a persuasive statement
...
It’s one thing to read a
testimonial but another to hear a real live person
...
I know of one marketer who sells
information products who includes an audiocassette tape with his sales letter
...
It’s powerful
...
If you have an associate that has customers who
might be good prospects for what you sell, ask if he would like to participate in a joint
endorsed mailing in which your associate would send a letter to his customers endorsing
(giving a testimonial) you and your products and services
...
It’s a win-win
...
This tactic is similar to Idea # 7 but
the promotion is done with your customers
...
Then send each of the three
friends a letter with the testimonial of the person who referred them
...
Start a “Testimonial Drive” Today
Chances are, you have not been diligent in asking for customer testimonials
...
You can’t have enough customer testimonials
...
Put a thermometer on the wall if you
have to, but start today
...
Then start following up on your requests by phone next week
...
When customers give you a testimonials, they work to solidify your relationship
with them because they have “gone public” with their statement of support for your
business
...
Ensure that their testimonial is very specific
...
Don’t forget to thank your customer for pledging
their public support for your business
...
Now go and get some great testimonials!
- 157 -
The Key To Guaranteed Repeat Sales
There is no more customer loyalty! Let’s face it, people go where they get the best deal
...
Just because
your customer purchased from you once, don’t be fooled into thinking that they will buy
from you a second time
...
Since the 70’s there has been an explosion in consumer choices
...
Today there are over 20
...
Today there are over 40 unique styles
...
It’s hard to find a market (large or
small) that doesn’t already have multiple competitors battling for their piece of the pie
...
Three instances come to mind:
1
...
Perhaps they had a great experience and
they now have an emotional bond with the business
...
2
...
The principle of
greediness is what makes capitalism successful
...
3
...
An example of this type of
relationship would be a person who is emotionally dependent on his therapist (emotional)
- 158 -
or a customer who has purchased proprietary computer software that isn’t compatible
with other hardware (operational)
...
Of the four types of Integrated Relationships (social, emotion, operational, financial), the
operational relationship is the most powerful
...
Untangling business processes is a mess
and always has a very high switching-cost
...
The Integrated Relationship, however, has
severe penalties for breaking the relationship and, therefore, forces the customer to come
back again and again whether he likes it or not
...
Look at most highly successful companies and you’ll find that they have developed
Integrated Relationships with their customers
...
1
...
A VMI program provides continuous replenishment for its customers
by monitoring the customer’s inventory levels (physically or via electronic messaging)
and makes periodic re-supply decisions regarding order quantities, shipping, and timing
...
FedEx
FedEx installs computer terminals in many of their customer’s businesses that help to
determine shipping requirements, track shipments, and even integrates into the
customer’s inventory, accounting and order management system to automate the returns
process
...
2
...
com)
...
CHEP is a wooden pallet management company
that manages the flow of pallets between suppliers and customers
...
Why? Because their “system” of managing pallets is so tightly integrated
into their customer’s operations that their customers would experience a serious
- 159 -
disruption in their business if they moved to another provider
...
)
What is the common thread between these three companies? It’s the high level of
integration into their customers businesses
...
Customer switching-costs are too high to not use them
...
To do this you must provide a
unique offering and find ways to extend your operations deep into your customer’s
business
...
Provide a Unique Offering
Providing a unique offering attracts customers to you
...
Eventually, your
uniqueness will differentiate you and becomes the reason your product or service is
chosen over another
...
Integrate Your Product or Service into the Life or Business of Your Customer
Develop a product or service (if you don’t already have one) that you can integrate
socially, emotionally, operationally, or financially into your customer’s life for business
...
* Sidebar *
During the Internet gold rush I lost a ton of money on the Dot-Com company named
Webvan
...
The company eventually went down in flames
...
Hey, but what do I know
...
Operational
1
...
Can you take over or manage a portion of your customer’s business operations?
3
...
Can you get your customer to be a public poster child (i
...
provide a public
testimonial) for your business?
Hint: An easy way to do this is by writing articles and submitting them to trade
publications about how your customer solved their business problem with your product or
service
...
Can you create a brand so “cool” or popular that to not use it would be embarrassing?
3
...
Can you offer a program that requires a large upfront investment that delivers products
or services over time?
2
...
Can you lock your customer into a long-term contract with penalties attached for
breaking the relationship?
Emotional
1
...
e
...
Can you provide your customer with so much support (i
...
advice, attention, help) that
they can’t do without you?
3
...
By the way, you don’t have to be a big business to
make this strategy work
...
Example # 1 — Virtual Assistant (a person providing online secretarial services)
House your client’s records and files in your home
...
Build and host a website for your client
...
Know the details of your client’s processes
...
Know all your client’s passwords
...
Maintain all your client’s financial data on your computer
...
Example # 2 — Print Shop
Maintain all your customer’s original documents and forms
...
Deliver your customer’s documents to their place of business
...
Create a private web-based ordering portal that remembers previous orders and
preferences
...
- 162 -
Carry your customer’s forms in inventory for fast delivery
...
Other Integrated Relationship Examples to Consider
The following are a few more examples of little “hooks” that can be created to construct a
high switching-cost to the customer
...
For each
example, think about why the switching-cost would be high
...
Corporate Personal Trainer — Create a personalized weight-loss program and weekly
accountability meetings for corporate clients
...
Restaurant — Prepare meals for businesses onsite and deliver to offices (so employees
don’t have to go to lunch)
...
A Personal Example In My Own Business
The Integrated Relationship strategy has hit home with me several times over the past
year
...
1ShoppingCart
...
Their system provides me
with a number of services such as:
1
...
3
...
5
...
7
...
com has gone through many growing pains, which
adversely affected my Internet businesses
...
- 163 -
Fortunately, they have improved their services immensely over the past year, but the fact
remained that I HAD to continue my service with them
...
It would have taken me weeks to recover and would have cost me a lot
in lost revenue
...
Their business has become a toll booth
for me in which the cash register rings every month
...
Think about how you can extend your products or services “into” your
customer’s business so that their cost to switch to another provider is overwhelming
...
Remember, the most
powerful relationship is one in which you and your customer’s business processes are
intertwined, so focus on creating Integrated Relationships
...
OK, so that’s not such a big newsflash
...
There are a myriad of ways to generate
leads and each has its own merits
...
I call it the “Ultimate Lead
Generation System” or The System for short
...
1
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
The system works like a radio volume control that
increases your business when turned up and maintains your business when turned
down
...
Using Psychological Triggers to Make People Respond
Generating hot qualified prospects is, in fact, a simple system based on human
psychology
...
Trigger # 2 — People are natural consumers
...
Trigger # 3 — People are turned off by traditional sales-based advertisements
...
People want good useful information that will benefit
them as consumers (and in their quest to get a great deal)
...
Trigger # 4 — People will sit up and pay attention to things that directly affect them
...
Trigger # 5 — People can’t resist a free offer
...
The highest
response rates are from free offers — always have been and always will be
...
Using
these triggers in a powerful small business “advertorial” (a cross between an
advertisement and editorial article) advertisement will bring in high quality leads
...
” Each step is significant, so take the time necessary to do it right
...
Take the time to ask your salespeople and even your customers to find out the true
problems they are trying to solve when customers buy from you
...
It should be highly educational and should NOT contain “sales” information
...
Create an exciting title for your report
...
For instance, “How To Avoid Six Common Income Tax Mistakes that are Costing You
Thousands of Dollars
...
A strong compelling headline
...
Element # 2
...
For instance, “85% of Chicago’s
small business owners are losing thousands of dollars every year by making dumb
income tax mistakes
...
Announce the solution to their problems by offering your special report
...
Element # 4
...
For example, “Stop making these mistakes and save yourself
thousands of unnecessary tax payments right now by calling 000-000-0000 and
requesting your special report right now
...
Some of those leads may just be “tire kickers
...
Charging a small fee for your special report will ward off some freebie seekers but I’d
rather deal with a few tire kickers then lose some potential customers
...
The worst mistake you can make is writing a hot
report, running a great ad, and then losing your precious leads
...
The
telephone makes it easy for your prospect to respond and using a toll-free number lowers
the risk of loss for the prospect
...
I recommend using Automate Marketing Solutions
(www
...
com/hotlines) for your toll-free line
...
(Tell them David
Frey sent you — I use them personally
...
I always make a second offer for an
extra free gift that I can email to them to get their email address
...
” This lets the caller know that they won’t be
getting a sales job when they call, which again, decreases the risk of responding
...
How do you manage all your new prospects? Imagine if you
are going to send them three to five follow-up marketing pieces? It will soon become a
nightmare if you’re not careful
...
It is
not the only software that can manage your leads, but it is the simplest
...
The Activity Series allows you to set up a series of marketing activities performed at
specific times
...
You might call the prospect in two days
...
Once you’ve set up your Activity Series you simply attach it to your new lead and the
software does the rest
...
It’s poetry in motion!
A High School Kid Can Do It!
If you’ve set up your system using AMS and ACT your system will nearly run itself
...
Once it’s set up and running,
anyone can manage it
...
The direct response ad is run in the local community newspaper
...
The next morning AMS sends you an
email containing all your fresh, hot leads
...
The operator
then selects the “Task List” in ACT and prints out all the marketing tasks to be completed
that day
...
After the ads are developed and you know which ones
pull best and you’ve developed your follow-up marketing materials you can hand the
system over to your lowest level assistant for them to manage
...
Converting the leads to cash-paying customers is the tricky part
...
DON’T set
up and kick off your lead generation system without first putting some real thought into
your follow-up marketing system
...
The System Can Be Used With Any Advertising Medium
Let me clarify a common misperception that many people have
...
In fact, one of the best lead generating efforts using The System that I have every
implemented was for a company that participated in a lot of trade shows
...
” We posted the sign in the booth and had a sign-up sheet for people to
leave their name and address, which we would use to send them the report
...
We ended up getting three to four times
the amount of leads as the “big guys” and converting 20% of those leads!
- 169 -
Some of the most effective radio spots ever done were ones that offered a free
audiocassette to the first 50 callers
...
It’s my opinion that if you have not gotten the name and address of your prospect
from an ad, it’s a colossal waste of advertising dollars
...
Not Everyone and Their Cousin!
Not long ago I watched a Disney commercial that gave away a free video
...
The narrator of the commercial told the viewing audience all the interesting information
that the video contained and that it would answer all our questions about a Disney
vacation
...
You
see, Disney allocates some of its marketing dollars to airing their “lead generation”
commercial in the vacation decision-making months of January through March
...
Compare this to some big companies that just “spray” their commercial over the airwaves
and “pray” that someone comes into or calls their business
...
” Big companies have the
marketing budgets to do this but small businesses don’t!
Invest the majority of your precious marketing dollars in converting qualified prospects,
not blasting your marketing message to the masses
...
This won’t work for us
...
If your
business doors are still open it’s because you are solving a problem
...
Every viable business solves a problem
...
It may
be helping someone look or feel better, helping people to save money, or making
something easier for someone to do
...
If you can do that, The System will work for your business
...
Improve and Expand The System!
If your lead generation system is now running on autopilot, start analyzing your results to
see how you can improve
...
Now once you’ve found what works, expand it
...
Step on the gas and flood your business with more hot, qualified prospects
than you’ve ever had before
...
Not only is it a primary means for developing a powerful network but also it
helps others in the process
...
Don’t think that charities are oblivious to your motivations
...
In Which Charity Should I Participate?
Choosing a charity is sometimes confusing
...
The following are three criteria
you should consider when seeking out a charitable organization with which to partner
...
Not only will it be more fun, but also you’ll be happier giving your time and
means
...
In my corporate consulting days most of the partners sat on the boards of various
charities with other business executives
...
Criterion # 3 - If you are sponsoring a charitable event, try to choose one in which your
target market would participate
...
If you manage a sporting
goods store, consider sponsoring a little league baseball team
...
In addition, make sure you check
out the charity’s history to be sure it has a clean slate
...
Even if you are participating in a charity for altruistic reasons, there’s no reason why you
should not benefit from the resulting positive exposure
...
Publicize your donations of goods or services to charities by sending press releases
and photos to the local media
...
Include your charitable involvement in your marketing materials such as newsletters,
brochures, signs, displays, advertisements, and commercials
...
Get involved with high-profile causes that attract the media’s attention
...
If you have given significant support to a program, ask that it be named after you or
the name of your business
...
Give away information about your charity as a part of your business transactions such
as placing pamphlets in your retail outlets, having employees wear clothing or pins
and buttons publicizing your charity, or placing charity information with your product
when it ships
...
Lastly, be sure to ask your charity to recognize your support in their publicity efforts
...
These people make excellent
prospects for your products or services because of your indirect association with them
...
Direct market to the employees, clients, members, family members, and any group
that is directly associated with your charity
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
- 173 -
Invite Your Charity to Market Your Products or Services
If you want to put your marketing in overdrive and multiply your charity marketing
efforts consider inviting your charity to market for you in a way that you and your charity
receive a significant benefit
...
A good example of this would be to allow local high
school band members to sell coupons to the neighborhood that you service
...
Idea # 2
Designate specific products as 'charitable' or 'cause-related' products that, when sold,
financially benefit your charity
...
For
instance, if you own a barbershop, a portion of the proceeds from all haircuts done on
Tuesdays could go to your charity
...
Allow the charity to keep all the
proceeds, while you benefit from the increased traffic
...
They in
turn can resell the packages or you can sell the packages and give a percentage to your
charity
...
The best way
to do this is through marketing to specific niches that are inclined to develop an affinity
with your charity
...
- 174 -
For example, suppose you owned a fitness center
...
Using your name and the name of your non-profit charity in your promotion will lend
credibility and breed trust in your offer
...
Or suppose you invented a product such as the mentholated candle (visit
www
...
com)
...
Create a Co-op Business Venture With Your Charity
Taking the idea of charity partnerships a bit further you may consider establishing a fulltime commercial venture with your charity
...
For example, you could provide the financial funding and the charity could provide the
staff, expertise, and equipment
...
Don’t Forget The Networking Opportunities
Perhaps the biggest advantage, from a business standpoint, to be involved with a local
charity is the opportunity you’ll have to network with other like-minded professionals
...
P
...
, lawyer, insurance
agent etc
...
Make sure you put
your new friends on your networking list and make it a point to keep in close contact with
them
...
Make sure that you attend meetings and
events where other professionals will be
...
You might even consider urging your employees to become involved in
charitable networking activities to extend their sphere of influence
...
Your
primary motivation should be to help other people
...
Hundreds of opportunities exist for you to make a difference in your
society
...
We have two of the most beautiful children in the world that joined our family through
the miracle of adoption
...
When I was a college student I chaired the 'Gifts From Santa' program, which sent gifts
purchased by students to servicemen serving overseas
...
It was my small way of giving something back
...
Believe it or not, our dollar goes a long way
in a foreign country
...
In fact, we probably benefit from this charitable act more than our Bolivian family does
...
Search one out this
holiday season and enjoy the sweet feelings you’ll surely receive from helping someone
else
...
Hundreds of
charities are searching for special businesses to help them in their cause
...
- 176 -
Bumps, Up-sells, Cross-sells, and
Down-sells
Too many small business people spend inordinate amounts of time and money trying to
increase their profitability by attracting new customers, when all along they’re allowing a
goldmine of profits to slip by right under their nose
...
” Bumps are offers made at the point of
sale by giving a simple suggestion
...
He likes to meet
new friends and play in the children’s recreation area, and I like to sit down and read a
book
...
This is a
good example of a bump
...
You see, an
important marketing principle to understand is that when people are in the act of buying
something, they are in the buying mood and are highly susceptible to buying more
...
Why wouldn’t your prospect want
to buy more of what they’ve already decided to buy, especially if they can do so at a
heavy discount?
Nine Simple Ways to Create a Bump
There’s a bump for everything — you just have to be creative
...
Example: Unbundle a training kit and offer one of the CDs when selling the training kit
...
Example: An instructional video when selling a new lawnmower
...
Example: A hands-free car adapter when selling a cell phone
...
Example: A hand shovel when selling a full-sized shovel
...
Example: Two pans instead of one
...
Example: Lens cleaner when selling sunglasses
...
Example: Secrets of Do-It-Yourself Beauty Makeovers when selling a haircut
...
Example: A set of VCR tapes when selling a VCR machine
...
Example: Add a shipping and handling fee 30% above the actual cost
...
Your script should be a simple suggestion
made to the customer at the point of sale
...
Make the script simple so that your lowest level employee can use
it effectively
...
Now that you have a script and you’re comfortable that it’s working, weave it into your
business process
...
You might do this with periodic mystery shoppers or simply calculating a percentage of
bumps by employee and charting it
...
You’ll be amazed at the power and the profitability of a simple suggestive bump
...
Creating Profits Out of Thin Air Using Up-sells
Up-sells are offers made to customers for larger, more expensive products and services
...
The key to effective up-selling is in the “value quotient
...
When price stays the same and the perceived benefit
goes up, value goes up
...
Let me give you a few examples
...
As an experienced up-seller your next move should be to
introduce them to the $5,000 model and by explaining all the added benefits of the
premium model and make an offer that includes better payment terms (i
...
for only $15
more a month you can own…) and a host of additional accessories as a free gift (stuff
they would have purchased with the smaller hot tub)
...
But don’t get
greedy
...
”
Up-selling to a Package of Products
Perhaps you have a higher priced product or service package (and I hope you do)
...
As with bumps, your up-sell strategy should be preplanned by developing up-sell scripts
and creating incentives for your salespeople to close the up-sell offer
...
Other Ways to Offer Up-sells
There a many ways to offer up-sells other than in person
...
On this page you can place a short sales letter upgrading them to the
- 179 -
premium version of what you’re selling or simply selling an additional but
complimentary product
...
This creates intrigue and separates the main offer from the upsell offer
...
If they’ve bought from you once
they are likely to do it again
...
So let’s
suppose your customer purchased a lawnmower from you
...
The Art and Science of Effective Cross-selling
Cross-selling is similar to up-selling; however, it happens over a longer period of time
...
” If you’ve ever heard of the term
“back-end,” then you already know about cross-selling
...
To set up your cross-selling system you should start by developing a cross-selling list
...
Once that list is done
then you move on to the next product
...
2
...
4
...
Copywriting Mastery Course
- 180 -
2
...
4
...
Referral Marketing Course
Direct Mail Marketing Course
Print Advertising Course
Free Publicity Course
If I were a CPA and I sold tax return services my cross-sell list would include:
1
...
3
...
5
...
2
...
4
...
Tree Cutting Service
Lawn Care and Maintenance Service
Landscaping Service
Small Hope Repair Service
Mosquito Repellant Systems
What Happens If You Don’t Have Other Complimentary
Products or Services
A common problem is business owners who sell only one product or service and don’t
have anything to sell as a back-end
...
You see, your customers are loyal to you and trust you
...
Your relationship with your customer has value and that value is called “customer
equity,” much like the equity you have in your home
...
Down-selling — The Little-Known Psychological Trick
that Results in Hefty Profits
Down-selling is based on the fact that if people buy respectable amounts of your high
priced product or service, they’ll buy lots of the same (or similar) product or service at a
much reduced price
...
That’s the down-selling concept
...
D
...
If They Don’t Take the Bait — Lower the Gate
Always offer the higher-priced, “bells and whistles” version of your product or service
first
...
For instance, pool builders who sell to home owners should present their high-end megapool that includes a diving board, automatic built-in filtration system, custom shaped
gunite molding, etc
...
Then if the customer says it’s too much, you can offer the next
line down at a reduced price
...
If the
client shies away, then offer a scaled down version that provides the core benefits that the
client is looking for
...
MakeTheGrade
...
Then click off the site and read
the popup
...
Conclusion
Bumps, up-sells, cross-sells, and down-sells can all mean significant additional revenue
for your business
...
To simplify this marketing strategy you always first want to up-sell and then bump on the
up-sell
...
If they didn’t take the bait on your sales effort,
make a down-sell offer
...
Even the
rich and famous want good deals
...
- 182 -
How to Create an Offer that Your
Prospects Can’t Resist
May I share with you a little secret about how people buy? It may sound strange but
people don't buy 'things,' they buy opportunities!
It's true
...
They
buy opportunities like special discounts, long-term financing, bonus products, and simple
payment terms
...
' They key to selling any product or service is to create an irresistible
offer that your prospect can't refuse
...
'
The Risk - Reward Response Rate Equation
Before you learn how to create an irresistible offer its important to understand why
people respond to offers
...
'
There is a risk - reward conversation that takes place in the mind of a prospect when
considering your offer
...
If not, they won't
...
The perceived value of the offer (what you get)
and
2
...
(What you give)
In essence, you could express this relationship as
...
If risk goes up and your perceived value stays the same, your response rate will go down
...
You want to increase your
perceived value and lower your risk
...
'
Perceived Value and Risk
As I've already mentioned, perceived value is defined as what you get from the offer and
risk is what you have to give to receive the benefits of the offer
...
So let's look at several elements that will increase the value of your offer and several
elements that will decrease the risk of your offer
...
Adding free bonus items such as accessories or third-party addons
...
Giving two or more products or services for the price of one
...
Packaging multiple complimentary products together with a lower overall price as
compared to buying the products separately
...
Explaining why your product or service is unique and its specific advantages over
other competing products or services
...
Explaining how well built the product is and giving proof to how long it will last
...
Describing in detail the specific benefits that will be received when using the product
or service
...
Provide the strongest guarantee possible
...
Provide free or low cost extended warranties
...
Try-it-before-you-buy-it offer
...
Provide low, affordable payments
...
Provide a pay-for-performance only offer
...
Delay payments with no accrued interest
...
Give access to follow-on help after the sale
...
Prove a fast or large return on investment
...
Give actual proof of the results of the product or service using real case studies
...
Have other people give proof of the results
...
The more elements you use to increase the benefits and decrease the risk, the higher
the response rate you'll enjoy
...
'
That's because value is based on the prospect's perception and not reality
...
This can be done by explaining that the product or service:
•
Is performed by most qualified and professional people
...
•
Is created using a very meticulous and careful process
...
' By universal benefits I mean, those benefits that appeal to every
warm-blooded human being
...
For example, let's use the 'Thighmaster
...
It was promoted by Suzanne Somers who
became very wealthy as a result of promoting this product
...
'
According to the infomercial the Thighmaster
...
'
•
Because you were more beautiful you would be more popular with the men
...
No
running, sit ups, squatting, or walking
...
V
...
•
The Thighmaster increase your health and vitality and kept you in shape with
minimal work
...
•
And because you didn't have to spend a lot of time at the gym you wouldn't feel guilty
of not being at home when your family needed you
...
Did the Thighmaster actually do all those things? Probably not, but after watching the
infomercial the thousands of people that purchased the product probably thought it did
...
How to Decrease the Risk In Your Offer
To reduce the risk in your offer you need to address the following questions that people
have in their minds when they consider an offer:
1
...
If I don't like it can I get my money back? (guarantee)
3
...
Does it really work? (performance)
Each one of these areas should be addressed when creating your offer
...
Your Price
The asking price is most often the 'risk' that people take to get the product or service you
offer
...
- 186 -
There's no wonder why the most powerful word in marketing is the word, 'FREE
...
Who wouldn't take advantage of an offer that
provides relevant benefits and is free? Even if it didn't work there was no risk so there's
no harm done
...
at least not forever
...
You can also give a perception of a lower price
by
...
Selling the monthly installment price (versus the entire price)
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
6
...
7
...
97 or $
...
You can also reduce the perception of price simply by the way you present it
...
For example, you could introduce your price by saying, 'This Valuable System Can Be
Yours For the Price of a Starbucks Capuccino
...
'
Then you would go on to explain and justify how the simple monthly payment that you'd
normally pay on a Honda Accord will buy you a new airplane
...
Sliding scale discounts
- 187 -
2
...
Time limit discounts
4
...
Discounts based on payback time (i
...
2-10 net 30 days)
6
...
You should
always provide the strongest guarantee possible
...
Don't be afraid to
provide a strong guarantee because statistics are on your side
...
There's a erroneous perception that
if you provide an aggressive guaranteed that a slew of customers are going to take
advantage of you
...
Most people DON'T
...
Send things back when they get broke
...
Ask for their money back if they are dissatisfied
...
Complain when they are frustrated
...
Most people are passive and don't take
action to resolve conflict
...
How many of you who have been paying for insurance for years and years have
actually made a claim? Statistically, very few will ever make a claim on their insurance
and the same goes for a warranty
...
- 188 -
In fact, you can provide a perception of a strong warranty just by providing a phone
number or physical address to call in case things go wrong
...
Pay-for-Performance
And if you really want to make your offer 'risk-free' you might consider a 'pay-forperformance' offer
...
This is the ultimate risk-free offer because it's as close to offering your product or service
for free as possible
...
When entering into this type of agreement, you should increase the price because you
(the seller or service provider) are taking all the risk and hence, your reward should be
higher
...
This addresses the, 'Does it really work?' or 'Is this too good to be true' questions that are
barriers to closing the sale
...
And it's true!
One way to offset the believability issue is to PROVE IT!
There are several ways to prove your offer but the best way is to provide customer
testimonials and case studies
...
Pictures with testimonials are strong but video testimonials of actual customers can't be
beat
...
Case studies are also great ways to prove that your offer really does provide results
...
1
...
Providing the solution or how the problem got solved
3
...
provide compelling proof that your offer really is true and that your
product or service really does work
...
Even if its a far-fetched reason people still need to
reconcile in their mind why and how you're able to make such a great offer
...
1
...
'
2
...
'Our year end is here and we are going to get killed on taxes if we don't clear out our
stock before December 31' (Note: Actually, this will increase their tax burden but it
still works)
4
...
'
5
...
' (Note: Even I've fallen for
this one
...
People want to know the reason why!
Inject Scarcity To Compel People to Action
An offer without a compelling reason to act now is dead in the water
...
They don't act even if its a great offer
...
One of the greatest motivators is the fear of loss and by injecting scarcity into your offer
you're playing on people's fear of not being able to take advantage of a good deal
...
1
...
Limit the quantity that you are offering
...
That's why you see so many weekend sales that end on Sunday
...
It's a good idea to always include a deadline with your offer
...
You can't make it so short that people don't have enough time to act but if you hold an
offer open for a month people will just put off responding and eventually forget your
offer
...
Once you've made your offer you should continue to remind your prospect how much
time is left to take advantage of it
...
1 Megapixel
digital camera for $150 to the first 200 people who arrived
...
Limit Your Choices - Confused Minds Always Say 'NO!'
Always limit your choices when creating an offer
...
This can kill
your offer
...
' It's true
...
With that said, I do believe in giving two options when doing direct mail or on a website,
Option A and Option B
...
'
But when you're developing a print advertisement you should focus on the one action you
want your prospect to do
...
Tell Them What You Want Them To Do
...
You must be clear and
concise when giving instructions on what you want your prospect to do next
...
•
Visit your store today?
•
Pick up the phone and call?
•
Click the order button?
•
Fax in their warranty now?
•
Email you within 24 hours to register?
Notice that each of these 'call-to-actions' starts with an action verb
...
Then you need to tell them what will happen when they do respond
...
'
When you add 'what happens next' the offer becomes clear and concise and leaves no
confusion
...
For instance, you might just want your prospect to call your place of business or you
might want them come down to your store
...
you MUST KNOW YOUR OBJECTIVE!
What is it that you want your prospect to do? Then, and only then can you create the
right offer
...
' This audio seminar is usually sold for $29
...
'
Offer to come down to the store:
- 192 -
Acme Pool and Spa was able to make an awesome deal with a major travel
company to send 20 people on a relaxing three-day vacation
...
We will be awarding the first 20 visitors to our store today with a
complimentary three-day, two-night vacation package to any one of ten
vacation areas in the U
...
This offer won't last for very long so get here
early before all the free vacation passes are taken!
Conclusion
Creating an irresistible offer takes time but the rewards are great
...
Here is a checklist that you can use when you create an offer
...
Always make an offer
...
Every chance you get
...
A bad thing happens when you don't make offers
...
If you don't make an offer you'll never get a sale
...
Make irresistible offers and watch the sales roll in!
- 193 -
How to Radically Reduce Refunds
and Returns
There are few things worse for a small business owner than to watch your product come
back after the sale with a request for a refund
...
If you’re like most small business owners, only a very small percentage of your target
market ever steps into your place of business, and even fewer people open up their
wallets to buy your product or service
...
Why Do People Return Products and Ask for Refunds?
To solve the problem of refunds and returns you need to start at the root of the problem
...
After all,
when you sell a product or service, that customer represents someone who put their trust
in you and believed that your product or service would solve a problem that they had
...
Not because your product was faulty or because it arrived broken
...
People return things because of something called “Buyer’s Remorse
...
People Have a Natural Tendency to Be Disappointed
People have a built in skepticism and a natural tendency to automatically be disappointed
about things
...
If you don’t believe me, set aside
one day and count how many times you complain versus the number of times you sing
praises about somebody or something
...
If you’ve ever
read the book, The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth Blanchard, you’ll know that
managers have a natural tendency to manage by exception — they will point out people’s
faults before they ever “catch” anybody doing something correct
...
After they purchase a product, they will usually feel
slighted in one way or another
...
The After-Sale Comparison Shop
- 194 -
As a young serviceman stationed in San Diego, California I wanted to purchase a stereo
...
I wanted to buy the
biggest, baddest, most awesome stereo system I could find
...
But it carried a
hefty price tag ($1,500 as I remember)
...
Never
had I spent that amount of money before
...
After the purchase I found myself shopping harder than ever before, looking at features
and prices of other stereo systems
...
I wanted to throw up
...
Instead of feeling great
about my new purchase, I felt a twinge of sickness every time I turned it on
...
Secretly, people are scared that they made a wrong
decision and that they, in fact, could have gotten a better deal elsewhere
...
The secret key to overcoming buyer’s remorse is to reassure your
customer that they made the right decision buying your product or service and that they
were smart for doing business with you
...
My father always told me “it’s far better to prepare and prevent than to repair and
repent
...
Crosby Had It Right — “Quality is Free”
For those of you who were around in the 80s, you probably were exposed in one way,
shape, or form to the “quality movement
...
S
...
U
...
cars were being poorly manufactured while the Japanese were putting out cars that
kept going, and going, and going
...
Edwards Deming, known as the father of quality,
- 195 -
preached the simple act of investing in quality during the production cycle, rather than
wasting money with qualify service problems
...
What he tried to
say in his book was that the investment you put in up front to ensure quality more than
pays for itself with good products and happy customers
...
Good products = happy customers = more referrals and repeat sales = higher profits
...
The more you invest the moment your customer
purchases your product or service; the lower your refund and return rate will be
...
Each of these strategies takes little effort or time
...
Whatever strategy you choose to overcome buyer’s remorse, do it consistently for each
and every purchase
...
”
Strategy # 1 — Package It Right
Tests have shown that the packaging itself can lower return rates
...
Remember my story about
my stereo? It had a ton of packaging with special Styrofoam wrapping and plastic
coverings
...
You’ll find
that many of your customers will feel the same way
...
Consider inserting a personal note from you
thanking your customer for their business and assuring them that they just purchased the
best product available
...
Not one! The recording is ugly, my voice is
ugly, there isn’t any musical score at the begging or the end, and you can easily tell that it
wasn’t recorded in a studio
...
The reason I haven’t received one single return is because I send a note with each audio
product that says, “This is NOT a studio recording
...
People don’t expect to get a thank you note from anybody, let alone from the person they
just purchased something from
...
Make sure that you include the following in your note:
1
...
2
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
6
...
Strategy # 4 — Include an Extra Surprise Gift in Their Package
There are few things that engender goodwill more than surprising your customer with
even more than you originally promised
...
The sure formula for success is to “under-promise and over-deliver
...
” For all you Star Trek fans out there you might remember all the times
Captain Kirk asked Scotty, the ship’s engineer, how long it would take to make a repair
...
Then he got the job done faster than
expected
...
Include something
that is low cost to you but has a high perceived value
...
It could be something that you
bought as an overstock item or at a clearance sale
...
If you sell a high ticket item, go to my favorite gift store,
www
...
com and give your customer a year round gift basket
...
Last year I was having severe lower back pain
...
He gave me some electrolysis stimulation and a great lower back massage with deep
heating rub
...
That night I was shocked to get a phone call from the doctor
...
Wow
...
Strategy # 6 — Ask for their Testimonial
A couple of years after my wife and I were married our old, worn out Toyota Tercel
“gave up the ghost
...
After we had signed the papers and before we had gotten out of the dealership, the
finance person asked us to fill out a survey, which asked how satisfied we were and what
we liked most about our experience
...
We were giddy and excited about
the thought of owning our “almost new” Honda Civic
...
We felt a warm fuzzy inside seeing our testimonial in writing
...
We would have
been too embarrassed
...
The chance of them
returning a product or asking for a refund decreases dramatically
...
This reduces the risk that people take when they are
considering buying your product or service
...
” When you put a conditional guarantee on your product or service,
you’re just asking for an ugly scuffle every time someone asks for their money back
...
Another word to the wise — when your customer asks for their money back, give it to
them
...
Don’t question them
...
Give their money back promptly and with a smile
...
I’ve known too many marketers that
simply didn’t honor their guarantee by not giving their money back and they got shut
down fast
...
Unsatisfied Customers Spread the Word with Vigor
As I said before, people have a built in tendency to complain, even when there isn’t much
to complain about
...
It spreads like wildfire!
Not standing behind your product or service and honoring returns and refunds is
committing small business suicide
...
Studies have shown that unsatisfied customers tell nine to twenty other people about your
dissatisfaction
...
(It’s
called revenge
...
It’s a fact of life
...
You
can’t please everyone all the time
...
You see, 95% of all
unsatisfied customers don’t complain
...
These are the silent minority that are killing your business
...
They are a gift
...
Customer complaints give you raw, honest feedback that about real things that are
happening in the trenches of your business
...
But here is the real key to breeding ultra-loyal customers for your business
...
Why? Because
their expectations are at their lowest
...
They aren’t expecting to get royal treatment
and when they do get it, it not only takes the wind out of their anger, but it catches them
off-guard and surprises them
...
” By seizing the moment and going the extra mile to satisfy
them, they’ll become your advocate
...
Did you also know that there have been studies that have shown that the most loyal
customers are NOT ones who have never experienced a product failure, but are those that
HAVE experienced a problem with the product or service that they purchased, and
received great service?
Think about that for a while
...
If a customer does want his money back, give it to him with a smile
...
Go the
extra mile to make sure they are happy
...
- 200 -
Internet Marketing Strategies for
Local Small Businesses
Not long ago I was speaking to a CPA friend of mine who had invested a significant
amount of his marketing budget to build an online presence
...
Once the site was completed and the switch was turned on there was a sense of pride and
accomplishment, with high hopes that the website would provide a marketing spark that
would help to increase his client base
...
After all, he
mentioned, it’s not like he was selling his services to clients outside his local town
...
If you are a small “offline” business
you may find several of these innovative strategies useful to your local Internet marketing
efforts
...
You provide the free vacation
drawing tickets and they give them to their customers
...
The free vacation certificates cost
$10 (admin fee) and you can get as many as you want from Roger Aderholt at
www
...
com
Lest you think these mini-vacations are a scam, I have used them myself and had a great
time
...
So they give away free mini-stays
...
Taco Bell gave a ticket with a code on it to everyone
who purchased a quesadilla
...
When you announce the winners (which cost you $10 a winner) they will be required to
come to your office to pick up the certificate
...
- 201 -
Strategy #2 (Business Card Drawing) — Ask local businesses, such as restaurants and
dry cleaners, to sponsor a monthly business card drawing giveaway with you, in
exchange for an electronic list of their customers
...
You commit to paying for the two free
lunches and to converting the business cards into an electronic customer list for the
restaurant
...
Once you have the endorsed mailing you can continue to email market (or send an
informative ezine) to those people again and again with the email addresses from the
business cards
...
Unfortunately, there
isn’t one central location where you can access local sports scores and highlights
...
You can call it “YourTownHighSchoolSports
...
” Of course you will
have banners and links leading to your site because you are the sponsor
...
Not will you get local website traffic, you’ll receive a
lot of valuable goodwill as well
...
One way to do this is by dedicating a day or two to calling
customers and offering to send them a coupon via email in exchange for their email
address
...
Put a viral marketing spin on it by sending your customers an offer for a free gift if they
forward your email offer to three local friends using a tell-a-friend or refer-it script
...
The flyer will
offer a $10 mini-vacation (same as in Strategy #1) to those who go to your website and
enter in a special code that was given to them on the flier
...
TheVacationMan
...
Make sure you create a customized landing page with an offer on it for your free
vacation visitors
...
Once a super-controversial topic hits, develop a quick one-page
polling website that allows visitors to vote on how to solve the controversy
...
Now call the local newspaper (or write a press release) and let them know about your
voting site
...
whichquarterback
...
Strategy #7 (Free Site) — Develop a FreeYourTown
...
You can charge the vendors for placing
coupons on the site and of course your links and banners will be on the front page
because you are the primary caretaker of the site
...
You might even ask your advertisers
to giveaway handouts about the site to their customers
...
com
site sponsor local youth sports teams with the domain name on the back of their shirts
...
Once a visitor leaves the site of one local vendor, an exit popup or
pop-under appears of a second local vendor
...
Make sure you sign
up local vendors that only do business locally
...
Once a local
visitor exits the site, a newsletter signup form pops up offering the visitor the opportunity
to sign up to newsletters generated by local merchants
...
You send an email endorsing your partner’s services with a link to her
site and she sends an email to her customer base endorsing your services with a link to
your site
...
In email marketing, as well as direct post mail marketing, the list determines,
in large part, the success of the offer
...
Many times I have found suppliers in my own small town
using the Internet that fulfilled my requirements
...
My
search on Yahoo was “patent lawyer” and “Friendswood
...
My search on Metacrawler was
“audiocassette supplies” and “Houston
...
Of course you could just spend a lot of money and advertise your website address, but the
most successful, low cost, alternatives to drawing traffic to your website are joint
ventures with local business people who also have a web presence
...
Local high schools and churches
are always looking for different fundraising and promotional activities
...
It’s not that I forgot it
...
If you’re going
to have a website, put it everywhere you would normally have your business name
...
Your website can be a powerful
marketing tool
...
- 204 -
16 Small Business Website Mistakes
(and how to fix them)
Small businesses are flocking to the Internet
...
Additionally, thousands of people
are turning to the Web to start their own home-based businesses
...
I’m sorry to say, but most of these under-performing websites were built by
graphic designers and technical developers that have no real marketing experience
...
The following are the 15 most common
website design mistakes being made today — and tips on what you can do to avoid them
...
Mistake # 1 – Not Clearly Differentiating Yourself from
the Competition
How many websites have you been to that look the same, same the same thing, have the
same functions, and generally are just same-ole, same-ole websites -- probably a lot
...
If your visitor doesn’t have a clear understanding of why you are different and that you
are the only solution for them to logically choose, they will click on over to your
competitor
...
Meaningful, in a sense, that whatever difference
you claim to have must benefit the customer
...
There’s no use in gaining a unique advantage in an area in which people don’t care
anything about
...
If you’ve done your job right, your visitor will feel that they would be foolish to not buy
your product or service
...
Just because you build your site, don’t think that people will come to it, no
matter how well designed it is
...
Search Engine — Your search engine strategy should include both free search
engines and paid search engines
...
This way you can build your pages and write your content from scratch for
keyword optimization
...
The following are several reputable search
engine optimization companies that will help you place high in the search
engines:
-
www
...
com (Steve Kiges)
www
...
com (Jim Maddox)
www
...
com (Stephen Mahaney)
www
...
com (Robin Nobles)
www
...
com (Sumantra Roy)
2
...
Not
only does linking bring you direct traffic from other sites, it is a key factor in your
search engine position in several important search engines
...
linking101
...
linkingstrategies
...
linkagexpress
...
Banner Advertising — Although banner advertising is not as effective as other
marketing strategies, it is still the primary method used by major websites to sell
advertising
...
Here are several resources for banner
advertising:
-
www
...
com (Scott Covert — how to make banners)
www
...
com (free banner ad creator)
- 206 -
-
www
...
com (free banner ad creator)
www
...
com (free banner exchange)
4
...
An affiliate program is much like
establishing a group of commissioned salespeople that you pay only if they sell
something
...
The following are several
resources that will help you set up and run your affiliate program:
-
www
...
com (Paul Galloway — Affiliate software)
www
...
com (affiliate software and merchant account)
www
...
com (Neil Durrant — Announce your program)
www
...
com (Neil Durrant — Running an affiliate program)
Note: To run a successful affiliate program you’ll need to build marketing tools
for your affiliates
...
makethegrade
...
htm to see the
types of affiliate tools you should expect to develop for your sales force to use
...
Email and Ezine Marketing — Email advertising includes either renting opt-in
email addresses that have agreed to receive your marketing message, or doing
bulk email messaging (i
...
spamming) by purchasing and sending your message to
large quantities of email addresses that have been extracted from websites
...
DEMC
...
ClickZ
...
Ezine advertising is much like email marketing but you actually purchase
advertising space from an ezine (online newsletter) owner
...
To learn more about ezine advertising visit
www
...
com
...
lifestylespub
...
TopEzineAds
...
Viral Marketing — Every site should have a viral marketing component
...
A
few of the best viral marketing tactics include:
-
Give away a free ebook that contains links back to your site
Offer a free multi-part ecourse containing links to your site
Install a tell-a-friend script (www
...
com)
Offer greeting cards that people can send from your site
Write articles for other web publishers with links to your site
Publish an ezine and encourage people to pass it on
Install a “send this webpage to a friend” script
- 207 -
7
...
However, to spur your thinking here are 35 places where your website address
should be seen or heard
...
This is critical, because once you have
your visitors’ names and email addresses, you can contact them again and again free of
charge
...
Strategy # 1 — Place Your Opt-in Box On Every Page of Your Site
As your visitors roam your site and are impressed with your content, they may feel
impressed enough to sign up to your newsletter
...
Strategy # 2 — Place a Popup on Your Site Offering Something of
Value
Although pop-ups are annoying, they are undeniably effective
...
I
advise using entrance pop-ups sparingly, but I recommend using an exit popup and
possibly even a pop-under to entice your visitor to give you their name and email address
...
These tools may be financial calculators, graphic compressors, email reminders,
etc
...
jimtools
...
Strategy # 4 — Withhold Access to Interesting and Helpful Information
Only allow your visitors to have access to the introduction of your content and articles
but offer them full access by giving their name and email address
...
For a good example of this tactic visit www
...
com and visit their resources
section
...
This might be an actual download of your software product,
access to a flash demo of your product or service, or access to a part of your information
product
...
MarketingWithPostcards
...
In each of these strategies to collect names and email addresses, you’ll notice that you are
offering something that your visitor will find valuable
...
If what you use to bait your customer is
desirable, you’ll receive a lot of email addresses
...
If your sign-up rate is below 5% you
need to provide something of stronger value with which to bait your visitor
...
Mistake # 4 — No Use Of Compelling Headlines and
Sub-headlines
It is said that 80% of the success of a direct mail letter is attributed to its headline
...
The Web has brought us universal access to photos and
graphics but in the end, it’s the copy that sells…period
...
The sole purpose of your headline should be to make your visitor want to continue
reading the text below it
...
You may even want to use a sub-headline to support your main headline
...
Most web surfers are skim
readers so the chances of having your copy read without the use of sub-headlines is slim
...
Again, people are 8 times more likely to
read your content if you have a headline
...
MakeTheGrade
...
InternetMarketingBookstore
...
Here is a sample website with a headline that draws you in and makes you want to
continue reading:
“Take a Vacation 365 Days a Year
Without Ever Leaving Your Home!”
“How a Colorado Couple Fell in
Love All Over Again After 30 Years”
Free Vacation
Drawing: Sign
Up Today!
Name:
Email:
Jacki and Danny Lawson were on the brink of divorce
...
ON the
recommendation of a friend they decided to purchase a
spa from Colorado Spa and Pool
...
That was 6 months ago and today the Lawsons are
having the time of their lives
...
” Said Jackie
...
Most small business sites
provide copy that is boring and useless
...
Suggestion # 1 — Include Stories of Real People
Humans are voyeurs at heart
...
If you don’t
believe me then please explain the explosive popularity of “reality television
...
Why? Because people like to look at other people
...
For instance, who can resist the
headline, “An Open Letter from A Once-Flat-Broke Nebraska Housewife Who
“Stumbled Across” A Business That Made Her Rich, One That You Can Start Too For
As Little As $15
...
” This headline almost forces you to continue reading
...
Suggestion # 2 — Use Case Studies
Case studies are important in several ways
...
Second, they demonstrate your credibility by
proving your ability to get results
...
They answer the “What’s in it for me?” question
...
In other words, the case study should present the problem, reveal the solution, and report
the results
...
People seem to find the results of surveys and studies not
only interesting, but very credible
...
Displaying evidence is another very effective method of exciting your visitor while
building credibility
...
buyingwebbusinesses
...
Notice the scanned image of the check that Kirt
Christiansen received when he sold his small diamond website for over $100,000
...
Another tactic that I use in my web copy as evidence is to use actual newspaper articles
...
toxicmoldanswers
...
It is very
effective
...
Like the saying goes, “A
picture is worth a thousand words
...
- 211 -
Suggestion # 5 — Use Short Words and Paragraphs
To make your copy easy to read, use short words and paragraphs
...
People won’t read it,
no matter how interesting it really is
...
Mistake # 6 — Confusing Navigational Instructions
The cyberworld is impatient and unforgiving
...
Providing good navigation on
your small business website is a must if you want to convert your visitors into customers
...
com developed
...
The reason your website
exists is to achieve your MWR
...
Whatever
it is, you need to decide what it is and develop a pathway to your MWR
...
Providing a pathway means strategically designing your site to lead your visitors down a
specific path that gets them to act on your MWR
...
At each turning point in the pathway you need to ask
yourself the same question, “What is the first thing I want my visitor to do now?” Then
design your site to help your visitor accomplish that thing first
...
Your closing page should provide an irresistible offer that even you couldn’t pass up
...
Several other navigational elements include…
- 212 -
1
...
3
...
Always allowing for a way to get back home
...
Here is a good example of using benefit statements on navigation buttons:
“Home”
“How We Can Help You
...
”
“Our Typical Results
...
”
”Why We’re Different
...
When you look at the before and after home pages,
think to yourself what the most wanted response is of the “after” home page
...
nespas
...
spapoolsuccess
...
htm
Now go back and look at your site and ask yourself if your MWR can be clearly
interpreted by your visitor
...
However, it’s been shown in many user interface tests that
overwhelming graphics can have a negative effect on the user experience
...
For instance, if you have
a process that you want to explain to a visitor that may be a bit complex, you might
consider using Flash to create a presentation
...
teletechplus
...
Try to avoid using Flash splash pages
...
- 213 -
The use of blinking graphics (commonly called “GIF animations”) can have its place as
well
...
Using overwhelming photos can also be distracting
...
harlydavidson
...
Go check it
out…you’ll feel as though you’re really on the open road, which is what the people at
Harley Davidson want you to experience when you come to their site
...
You can’t be boring and expect
to get people’s attention — let alone hold their attention for any length of time
...
For example, go to www
...
com and click into “System Series” under the “Spa
Galleries” heading
...
What do you see? Boring
specifications and data
...
Who cares about gate valves, weir
gates, and hose bibs? Although data and specs should be accessible through a link, a
benefit-laden, USP-driven sales letter should accompany this product
...
ThinkGeek
...
If you sell a product or service, study the ThinkGeek
...
NOTE: You not only should be providing sales copy for each of your products but you
should be offering up-sell items as well
...
sharperimage
...
Here are several additional tips for livening up your web copy that describes your product
or service:
Tip # 1 — Show an action photo of your customer enjoying your product or service
...
If they can
see someone else enjoying its benefits, it will be easier to visualize themselves enjoying
the same benefits
...
You can see
examples of this at www
...
com
...
The third most looked at area of your website (after an eye-catching graphic and
headline) will be the caption under the graphic, so make sure that it is benefit laden
...
”
Tip # 3 — Display testimonials of people who have used your product or service
...
Testimonials provide a credibility factor that is
difficult to duplicate
...
Also, make sure that the testimonial is specific to your USP
...
Tip # 4 — Use Flash demos or website audio to explain your product or service
The Internet was made to be an interactive medium
...
Consider including audio or video to your site to present your product or service
...
Display an audio button below the graphic that presents your product or
service (or you!) that allows your visitors to hear an audio clip while looking
at the still graphic
...
Insert a full motion video using RealPresenter at www
...
com
...
Insert a Flash presentation that sells your product or service
...
presentationpro
...
(It’s a very slick product
...
)
Mistake # 9 — No Tools That Overcome Your Visitors’
Skepticism
...
They are taught to be
highly skeptical of anyone selling anything
...
Your biggest hurdle to making an online sale will be overcoming your customer’s
skepticism
...
- 215 -
At the bottom of each of your webpages you should display your full contact information
...
The majority of people will not call you, but the fact that
you make your phone number available tells them that they could call you if they wanted
to
...
I have found that my “About Me” page is one of the highest traffic pages on any of my
websites
...
Having an “About Us” page tells your visitor that you have no problem revealing
yourself and that you have nothing to hide
...
If you have a brick and mortar store or office it means that you have been around and
your really do have a real business
...
No one wants to get ripped off in a fly-by-night deal, and the
picture of your office shows that you’re not going anywhere soon
...
Are there independent professionals in your industry that have (or are willing to) endorse
your product or service? Displaying an endorsement from a known expert can give you
an immense advantage in winning people’s trust
...
Taking orders over the web by asking your customer to send you a check or money order
not only screams “amateur,” but will be a huge roadblock to getting orders
...
When net-savvy people see that
you’re using PayPal it tells them that you are not selling the volume necessary to afford a
real merchant account
...
One of the fear factors that net consumers have is not being able to get their money back
if something goes wrong
...
Element # 7 — Provide a picture of you and your staff
...
People buy
from people, and people who work for businesses buy from people who work for
businesses
...
- 216 -
Element # 8 — Provide case studies with successful results
...
If they
see that you’ve helped someone else out that had the same (or similar) problem with
successful results, it proves that you can help them as well
...
For a good example of this
visit www
...
com/results
...
These are…
1
...
3
...
5
...
7
...
Who are you?
Why should I believe you?
Exactly what is your offer?
How will it solve my problem?
What is your competition telling me that I should know?
Who else has bought your product or service and what were their results?
How do I get the product or service?
What if I don’t like it?
Answer these questions and your chances of getting the sale will rise dramatically
...
NEWSFLASH! No one cares about you or any of your awards
...
I see this problem time and again — small
business website owners focusing all their content on their company and how good they
think they are
...
Why? Because, generally speaking, deep down, people are greedy, self-centered, and
only care about themselves! Although you might find that hard to hear…it’s true
...
Step 1 — Believe it or not, people strangely feel better when others suffer anguish from
the same problem(s) that they do
...
So start out your copy by confirming their feelings of anguish so
that they know that you know what they’re going through
...
You see, people usually won’t do anything about a problem unless they
feel a great amount of pain
...
Credit counseling example: “Are you too busy paying off bills to become debt free? Sick
of making payments every month only to find out that the balance on your credit card
statement hasn’t budged? Fed up with all the creditors hounding you early in the
morning and late at night to get money you just don’t have? Imagine the
embarrassment you’ll face if you have to file bankruptcy, not to mention the anguish of
having your credit completely destroyed
...
If you’ve sold your product or service for any period of time you’ve probably heard all
the objections that your prospects give when selling your product
...
Create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section on your site and address any and all
potential objections
...
You might even want to record yourself as you stand in front
of your product and verbally address each objection and then transcribe your recording
...
Read your copy and circle every time the words “I” or “we” are used
...
”
Bad Example: “We have won multiple industry awards for our customer service
...
”
Tactic # 4 — Show testimonials and case studies of people that have achieved positive
results
...
Mistake 11 — Links, Banners, And Pop-Ups That Pull
Your Visitors Away From Your Offer
...
StopYourDivorce
...
It is a one page
sales letter site that sells an $80 ebook about how to mend your broken relationship
...
His answer was one I’ve always remembered, “David, I make $25,000 a month off this
site
...
”
Using links, banners, and pop-ups can distract a visitor and impede them from acting on
your Most Wanted Response
...
Here are a few hints to using links, banners, and pop-ups so that their
distraction is minimal
...
Don’t hide the page (to me that’s unethical), but don’t make it pronounced either
...
Hint # 2 — Use the “ target = “_blank “ html command for links to other sites
...
This way you will be able to achieve both goals
...
DestinationSite
...
Your content pages should drive your visitors to your sales pages
...
It’s OK to have
links on your content page, but you shouldn’t include anything that will distract your
visitor from buying once they’ve made it to your sales page
...
marketingtips
...
Hint # 4 — Use pop-unders or exit pop-ups instead of entrance pop-ups
...
This means that a visitor
has already seen or done what they wanted to do on your site and only then are they
presented with another offer
...
When your visitor returns, they won’t be presented with the
entrance popup again
...
To see a good example of this visit www
...
com
...
An even more effective method of driving visitors to you your sales
- 219 -
page is to use text links
...
Mistake # 12 — Slow-Loading Site
Your visitor will give your site no more than 10 seconds (sometimes less) to appear
...
With all the new advances in graphics, it’s hard to resist the
temptation to place a lot of graphics that slow down your site
...
You should build your page with the slowest
user in mind
...
Your home page should be even
less
...
Thus,
they’ll be motivated to stay until the page loads
...
I use the graphic optimizer at www
...
com
...
If a user sees your
graphic loading and you’ve used descriptive Alt tags, they’re more likely to wait while
your entire site loads
...
As your visitor reads your headline and opening copy, your other graphics
will be loading in the background
...
You can’t improve what you don’t measure
...
The following are
just a few metrics that you need to keep track of to measure the effectiveness of your site
...
Not only do these metrics help you improve your website, but they also let you know
how much you should be willing to spend on advertising
...
Example: If three out of
one hundred people go to your site and purchase your product, your sell-through is 3%
...
Example: If three out of one hundred people purchase your product, and your profit
per sale is $100, each visitor is worth $3 because 100 visitors equals $300 in sales
Metric # 3 — Opt-in signup rate
Your opt-in rate is the percentage of people that sign up (give you their email address)
when they visit your site
...
Metric # 4 — Traffic stats
Traffic stats could consist of any number of metrics
...
Metric # 5 — Source of visitors
Knowing where your traffic came from is also important, especially if they were driven
to your site through a paid promotion
...
Metric # 6 — Average visitor time
Knowing how much time your visitor spent on a certain webpage (such as your home
page) will let you know to what degree your visitor finds your site interesting
...
This metric is important to
know for each webpage
...
With the metrics that I just mentioned you’ll be able to answer several key questions
about your site’s performance
...
- 221 -
For example, if your visitor value is $1
...
20 per click to
drive new visitor to your site (unless you’re strategically acquiring new customers at a
loss)
...
In the offline world there is an old saying: “If everyone is your target market, no one is
your customer
...
General
Electronics
Women
Business
Food
Health
Pets
Parenting
Niche
Palm Pilots
Pregnant Mothers
Marketing for CPAs
Low Carb Recipes
Bodybuilding
Pit Bulls
Dealing with Troubled Teens
You get the picture
...
If the content on your site is general in nature, then you
won’t be able to appeal strongly enough to your visitors to get them to take action
...
The closer your content is to your visitor’s interests or problems,
the more involved they will be with your content
...
To find a profitable niche on the Internet, consider following these important steps:
Step 1 — Write a list of your interests and hobbies (things that get you excited)
...
Step 3 — Go to inventory
...
com and enter in all your keywords and phrases and
document the number of searches for each (this site is Overture’s “inventory” tool, which
tells you how many searches were done on a key phrase or keyword on the Overture
search engine in the previous month
...
overture
...
xx” at the end of the last line of
each description
...
08 to get into the top three positions
...
In the long term, you’ll want to compare the number of searches to the total number
of websites that come up in a keyword search as Google
...
Visit
www
...
com/ to learn more about it
...
sitesell
...
To be honest, if I had to do it over again, I would have NOT built
www
...
com as a general small business marketing website
...
Why?
1
...
3
...
5
...
It’s a tighter niche and I could have provided more specialized content
...
There are a lot of CPAs
...
Most CPAs are dying for new clients
...
Mistake # 15 — The Wrong Domain Name
When discussing why some retailers are so successful you’ll often hear the phrase,
“Location, Location, Location
...
If you’re store is hidden away in some obscure
neighborhood, the chances of you being a success are slim
...
I can’t
tell you how many website reviews I’ve done in which the owner has either used his
business name or some weird variation of it
...
Company
ABC Pest Control
Joe’s Locksmithing
Able Construction Inc
...
com
JoLock
...
biz
Quality-TireB
...
Don’t be fooled
...
With some creativity and research you can land yourself a great name
...
If
someone wants to find your business on the web, the first thing they’ll do is type your
business name into their browser without hyphens or abbreviations
...
Mistake # 1 — Using an extension other than a “
...
org,
...
net,
...
biz,
...
co
...
cc
...
com was the first extension to become popular and today,
because of its popularity, it’s the first domain that people will use to find your company
...
com extension than to have a great
name that is a
...
info
...
In addition,
the more hyphens you have the more confusing the name becomes
...
Mistake # 3 — Using unnatural abbreviations
Many times people will want to abbreviate their business name to use as their website
address
...
Words can be abbreviated in many different ways, and most people don’t know how you
abbreviate your domain name
...
Mistake # 4 — Not using a keyword in your domain name
...
The search engines will match the word in their
domain to the title of the their page and give it a higher ranking
...
overture
...
Out will come a list of potential keywords to consider
as your domain name
...
You want to be able to just
quickly shout out your domain and have someone understand it and remember it
...
If not, change it
...
A good
name might be www
...
com
...
com” into the browser
...
JuzelliandHorowitz
...
FastDivorces
...
I recently had a client whose business name was Montana Hot Springs Spas
...
MtHotSpringSpas
...
“ They were doing a lot of radio commercials
and had a very difficult time giving out their website address (for obvious reasons)
...
LoveTheTub
...
Now they give their website address
out in all their commercials with no problems
...
com extension?
•
Is it somewhat short (less than 15 characters)?
•
Does it match the keywords of your site?
•
Does it avoid combinations of letters that are difficult to remember (i
...
www
...
com)
- 225 -
Don’t Forget Expired Domain Names
Thousands of domain names are expiring every day! Many of them are great domain
names that for one reason or another have been abandoned
...
You can pick up a great expired domain name for less than $10
...
BIZMINT — www
...
com
UNCLAIMED DOMAINS — www
...
com
Domain Naming Services
Can’t think of a good domain name? Here are a few services to help you find your ideal
domain name
...
nameboy
...
domainfellow
...
123finder
...
e-gineer
...
whoix
...
html
RAINING NAMES — www
...
com/advanced
...
domainguru
...
homepagenames
...
snapitnow
...
com/domain-name-generator
...
eyeondomain
...
html
RED HOT DOMAIN NAMES — www
...
com
What If The Domain I Wanted Is Already Taken?
It’s disappointing to come up with a great domain name only to find out someone has
already reserved it
...
But if it’s a
valuable domain name, you can bet that its going to be swept up fast
...
SNAPNAMES — www
...
com
EXPIREFISH — www
...
com
Choosing a good domain name is important and should be considered carefully
...
- 226 -
Mistake # 16 — Online Myopia
...
A vision defect in which objects are seen distinctly only when near to
the eye
...
lack of foresight
“Online myopia” is immersing yourself in the online world to the exclusion of the brick
and mortar world
...
Electrons will never totally displace the physical world
...
This is false, and will always be false
...
2
...
4
...
6
...
Receive a postcard or letter via snail mail than read an electronic letter
...
Talk to people over the phone or face-to-face than communicate through email
...
Sit down in Barnes and Noble to read a book than read an online ebook
...
After millions and millions in venture seed money, Webvan closed it doors
in disgrace
...
They like to feel their
tomatoes, inspect their meat, push their shopping carts, and read the National Enquirer
while waiting to check out
...
A baby can’t survive sitting in a room by itself, even if it is fed
...
So do we
...
Here are a few tips to leverage your online presence with the human element
...
This shows your visitor that you’re willing to speak with them by any means
...
The online world has learned that
their customers don’t like email as a means of customer service
...
Tip # 3 — Advertise your online presence offline
...
guaranteedhits
...
I also received an awesome postcard a few
days ago that asked me to go to a website to claim a prize
...
Tip # 4 — Don’t be afraid to deliver your products or services using snail mail
...
In addition, I know several people who have a thriving
offline audiocassette business that is driven by their online presence
...
There are few things that beat a
heartfelt, sincere, thank you letter received in the mail
...
Conclusion
While this list doesn’t cover all of the possible website mistakes, it does describe some of
the most expensive, destructive and most common made by many online business
owners
...
However, it’s even easier to lose thousands of dollars by making these
website mistakes
...
He
was having trouble downloading my free ebook off my website
...
About a minute later he replied with a generous thank you
...
When I thought about it, I
marveled
...
Perhaps the greatest tool to come from the Internet
is e-mail
...
You can send documents, pictures and even videos with
sound around the world in under a minute
...
But e-mail can also control emotions, make people happy, sad, or even mad through the
power of words
...
E-mail allows you to do this by creating an electronic newsletter, commonly referred to
as an ezine, which is short for "electronic magazine
...
Benefits of Having an Online Newsletter
I've already stated that the biggest benefit to sponsoring an online newsletter is the cost - or lack of cost
...
Other benefits are:
1
...
People equate good customer service with timely communication
...
2
...
- 229 -
Contrary to conventional wisdom, loyalty is built as a result of what you do when things
go wrong, rather that the quality of your product or service
...
3
...
Frequent communication makes people feel as though they are a "part" of something
...
" Consistent
communication can create a sense of community among the list members
...
Provide you with a ready market
...
In fact, your list of subscribers may be the most
important asset in your business
...
The return on investment for creating and maintaining a
newsletter is tremendous
...
Step 1 - Decide on the Objective of Your Newsletter
Step 2 - Decide on Newsletter Name and Content
Step 3 - Decide on Newsletter Frequency
Step 4 - Decide on Newsletter Format
Step 5 - Decide on How to Capture, Store, and Manage E-mail Addresses
Step 6 - Set Up Your Bulk Mailing System
Step 7 - Create and Test Your First Newsletter
Step 8 - Launch Newsletter
Step 9 - Continue to Review and Improve Newsletter
Each of these steps are simple but require some thinking on your part
...
- 230 -
Step 1 - Decide on the Objective of Your Newsletter
Newsletters can have a variety of objectives depending on your goals
...
Establishing your name and reputation
2
...
Selling your product or service
4
...
Writing a book (my objective with the MBP letter)
6
...
Keeping in touch with customers
8
...
Allow me to give you a good example
...
He never sells ad space in his newsletter to other people and he is the sole
author of the content of the newsletter
...
He doesn't because his main objective is to establish a relationship of exclusive trust with
his readers so that they'll purchase only his products and services
...
The name of your newsletter should be in line with the content of the newsletter
...
"
To jumpstart your thinking, here are the names of a few of my favorite online newsletters
(in no particular order):
- 231 -
1
...
TreyRyder
...
"Words that Sell"
Author - Kris Mills
Topic - Copywriting, Direct Mail
Website: www
...
com
...
"Web Business Today"
Author - Damon Zachariades
Topic - Damon's whimsical comments on emarketing
Website: www
...
com
4
...
BillCates
...
"The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week"
Author - Joan Stewart
Topic - Publicity tips
Website: www
...
com
6
...
GivetoGetMarketing
...
"More Clients"
Author - Robert Middleton
Topic - Marketing for independent professionals
Website: www
...
com
8
...
DanKennedy
...
"The Marketing Tip of the Week"
Author - Ken Varga
Topic - Small business marketing strategies
Website: www
...
com
10
...
WDFM
...
"MarketingProfs Today"
Author - Various Writers
Topic - Articles on marketing topics
Website: www
...
com
12
...
WebsiteMarketingPlan
...
"Marketing Nugget”
Author - By Referral Only Company
Topic - Marketing tips for realtors
Website: www
...
com
14
...
Bizweb2000
...
"All the Secrets"
Author - Phil Wiley
Topic - eMarketing tips and new product announcements
Website: www
...
com
16
...
Wordnet
...
"Internet Marketing Secrets"
Author - Michael Campbell
Topic - Search engine and affiliate marketing tips
Website: www
...
com
18
...
MarketingTips
...
"Web Marketing Today"
Author - Ralph Wilson
Topic - eMarketing strategies
Website: www
...
com
20
...
SuccessDoctor
...
"Web's Worth Watching"
Author - Ryan Deiss
Topic - Recommended websites for emarketers
Website: www
...
com
...
"DEMC"
Author - Abbey Drew
Topic - E-mail marketing
Website: www
...
com
23
...
SucceedinginBusiness
...
I get more newsletters than
this but I usually only open up and read the ones I've noted above
...
I like the longer, more involved newsletters because they provide me with
substance and value
...
That way I know they'll get read
(oops, too much information, Dave)
...
If I was into dogs
I would probably have the same size list but they would all be dog oriented newsletters
...
If its to build
relationships you might consider using only personally written articles with an interactive
question and answer section
...
Again, whatever you include in your newsletter should have a specific purpose that is in
line with your objective
...
Recent industry or company news
2
...
Reader's answers to other reader's questions
4
...
Readers testimonials, opinions, and feedback
6
...
Guest experts corner (for guest articles)
8
...
Recommended web resources
10
...
Contests
12
...
Product reviews (books, tools, websites etc
...
Jokes, quotes, and anecdotes
15
...
Progress on specific projects
Your content is only limited by your imagination
...
For instance, the Wordnet Chronicles has a project called, "SquiddlyBob
...
In each issue Ralph Hilliard survey's his readers for input on the project an he also
updates the reader on the progress he's made
...
Both the Publicity Hound and DEMC newsletters include answers from readers that were
asked by other readers
...
Some people think they can't write and so they
don't
...
Everyone has something worthwhile to say
...
Now, I know that sounds like a silly recommendation but you'll never get
started if you don't try
...
If your
newsletter is scheduled to go out every Wednesday, then your article deadline should be
noon on Tuesday
...
Step 2 - Make a list of topics that you want to write on
...
You should develop your own editorial calendar so that you know
what you’re going to write well in advance of your deadline
...
It will also discipline you to think and plan
- 237 -
in advance for your articles
...
Step 3 - Once you sit down to write, gather any sources of information that you’ve
collected on the topic
...
anything
that comes to your mind about the topic
...
Step 4 - Now that you have a bunch of ideas, start to categorize them and put them into
some semblance of order
...
Yes, some ideas won’t fit anywhere, but for the most part, you’ll easily be able to create
an outline that has order and makes sense
...
Start writing what you know under each topic that is
in your outline
...
What If You Just Can’t Create Content or Don’t Have the
Time?
I always recommend that people come up with own content but if for some reason that
isn't possible, here are some options:
1
...
Elance
...
2
...
However, these directories
usually contain marketing-type articles
...
MarketingSeek
...
IdeaMarketers
...
EzineArticles
...
Don’t underestimate the positive benefits that your
article can bring to your business
...
Here are some ideas to get a lot of mileage out of your articles once you’ve created them
...
Then submit your article to newsletter article
directories such as the ones I’ve given you above
...
Idea # 2 – Develop a list of ezine publishers and ask them for their permission for you to
send them your completed articles for consideration in their newsletter
...
” This list of publishers will become a goldmine for
you as you continue to publish more articles
...
Many
small magazines are dying for good content
...
There are also a lot of offline newsletters and journals that may be
interested in your article
...
Make sure you search engine optimize
your webpage for the article that you’ve written
...
Once your website gets spidered, your articles may land in the top ten under the
keywords and phrases you’ve chosen
...
Send them out to your list and
invite them to pass them along to their friends and associates
...
Idea # 6 – Assemble your articles and create an ebook that you can sell for profit
...
You might even consider self-publishing the
book
...
booksjustbooks
...
MorrisPublishing
...
Idea # 7 – Assemble a few of your articles into a five or six part email Autoresponder
course that you can offer to your visitors in exchange for their email address
...
I space my ecourse installments four days apart and send it
to every one who signs up to my newsletter
...
You can even take your articles and create an audio recording of them and sell
the audiocassette tapes off your website for a higher price
...
The
possibilities are endless
...
A successful ezine is one that people open up and read as soon as it arrives
...
Factor # 1: Interactivity
People like to get "involved" in things
...
Interactive newsletters by nature make the reader get involved
...
Factor # 2: Personality
People are attracted to real personalities - - if you don't believe me just turn on the
television
...
Injecting your personality into your newsletter makes it interesting
...
It is written with a
whimsical personality woven into his opinions and comments
...
Don't hold back
...
Factor # 3: - Utility
Newsletters that don't give useful information will not get read
...
If you are promoting yourself or your business, give your best tips
...
I've received many e-mails asking me why I give out such in
depth information for free
...
By giving your best information your subscribers will
come to trust and respect you as a true expert and will call on you when they need your
services rather than do it themselves
...
Ezines that are easy to read and attractive get read
...
Factor # 5: - Relevant
Your newsletter should be relevant to your target market
...
Write about
marketing topics
...
That's not a problem because they probably weren't going to be your customer
anyway
...
You'll find that there are usually six
choices when deciding on when to send a newsletter:
1
...
Usually
daily ezines consist of brief tips, quotes, or news updates
...
2
...
Most publishers will tell you that Tuesday,
Wednesday, or Thursday are the best weekdays to send your ezine
...
Another thought is to send your ezine exactly seven days after their sign up day
...
3
...
Some marketers will tell you
that every 21 days is the "right" customer contact period that doesn't abuse the reader and
arrives right at the "forgetting" point
...
Monthly
Once a month is just beyond the forgetting point
...
5
...
Why do it
...
People will forget who you are and just delete your message when it arrives
...
6
...
The most effective newsletters follow a consistent delivery
schedule
...
Step 4 - Decide on Your Format
The format of your newsletter takes on many issues
...
Basically, there are two formats to choose from - - text or html
...
A text newsletter is simply a message sent with
words and no graphics
...
Many e-mail systems still treat html newsletters in unpredictable
ways
...
It's my
opinion that in a couple of years, the debate will be over and every one will be sending
html newsletters
...
Ads with colors and graphics generally outpull
those that don't graphics
...
- 242 -
If you do decide to develop an html newsletter, consider buying a professional newsletter
template
...
Visit
http://www
...
com for a look at some templates
...
Text Formatting
If you decide to send your newsletter using a text-based format there are a number of
tricks you can use to make it readable and pleasing to the eye
...
I've taken
the best of what I've liked from other newsletters and use them in my own
...
Wrap your lines at between 55 to 60 characters long
...
Rule 2
...
It allows your reader to
skim through your newsletter and find topics of interest
...
Leave two or three spaces on the left margin
...
Rule 4
...
The header I use was adopted from Jim Daniels Bizweb
Gazette
...
The heading should also give the newsletter name and publication information (i
...
issue
number, issue date, your name and website address, maybe even your circulation count
etc
...
Leave a lot of space (one line minimum) between paragraphs
...
" It's easier on the eyes and simpler to read
...
Never use more than six to seven lines per paragraph
...
When you have more than six lines, paragraphs
become intimidating
...
Don't create your newsletter in MS Word and then copy and paste it into your
text editor
...
Rule 8
...
Lists are simple to read and are easier to
comprehend
...
to start the lines in your
list
...
word
>
word
~ word
Rule 9
...
You can include specific instructions, your
contact information, and any copyright clauses
...
Use a table of contents if you have multiple, distinct sections of your newsletter
...
Step 5 - Develop a Strategy for Capturing, Storing, and
Managing E-mail Addresses
It makes no difference if you have a fantastic newsletter if you have no one to send it to
...
Here are a few tips to start you off
...
Go to
http://www
...
com and notice Joan Stewart's optin box
...
Tip # 2 - Use a popup to ask people for their e-mail address
...
Your optin rate will increase the moment you start using a popup
...
This is less obtrusive
...
You'll find I use this
strategy on every one of my sites because I've tested it and it works
...
MarketingBestPractices
...
When
someone lands on my sites there is no confusion as to what I want them to do first, before
anything else
...
A good example of requiring e-mail addresses to access valuable tools can be found at
http://www
...
com and http://www
...
com
Tip # 5 - Buy subscribers
...
10 - $
...
Here are a few;
1
...
LeadFactory
...
Hip Lists http://www
...
com
3
...
WorldWideLists
...
List Opt http://www
...
com
5
...
com/co-reg
I always recommend that you start your newsletter by purchasing around 1,000
subscribers
...
I personally use Lead Factory
...
Tip # 7 - Hold a contest with your customers in which the winner will be announced by
...
Tip # 8 - A variation of this is to do a joint venture with another business
...
Your JV partner would receive the goodwill of giving something of value away to their
customers for free and they would be able to start building their own, in house e-mail list
...
Each has its pros and cons
...
1
...
A few software options
for doing this are:
•
Gammadyne Mailer http://www
...
com
•
Mailloop http://www
...
com
•
Group Mail http://www
...
com/
The PRO's of using a desktop-based system are:
•
More control over your own data
•
You know what got sent and what didn't
•
Usually a one-time only cost
The CON's of using a desktop-based system are:
•
It is a very labor intensive process
•
You could be accused of spamming by your ISP
NOTE: If you're sending bulk e-mail through your ISP, give them a call and let them
know you're sending out your newsletter in advance
...
Internet-Based Newsletter Management
- 246 -
This approach requires you to subscribe to a monthly service
...
1ShoppingCart
...
GetResponse
...
Aweber
...
ProAutoResponder
...
SparkList
...
Topica
...
e
...
)
•
Less worries about getting accused of spamming
The CON's of using a desktop-based system are:
•
Monthly fees can be expensive
•
If your service goes down, so do you
•
You lose some control over the sending process
More and more people are turning to Internet-based systems to manage their lists
...
com to manage my list
...
Step 6 - Set Up Your Newsletter Management System
Once you have decided on the objective, name, content, frequency, format and tools
you'll use to manage your newsletter, it's time to actually set up the system
...
But the first step is to
...
Gather all your e-mail addresses
Gather the e-mail addresses from all the business cards you've collected, the contact
information in your rolodex or contact management system, and any other source of
contact information
...
The second step is to
...
Install and set up your system
This will include setting user preferences and options to customize your newsletter
service
...
If you went the Internet-based route there should be some online instructions
...
The third step is to
...
Hook up your website to your system
Finally, you'll need to modify your website to work with your optin boxes so that
subcribes and unsubscribes are automatic
...
You can
always call on a technical person to help you over at http://www
...
com
In some cases, your website and newsletter management system might not be hooked
together at all
...
Step 7 - Create and Test Your First Newsletter
It's time to actually create your newsletter and test it
...
As I already mentioned, consider sending it to multiple e-mail accounts that use different
email programs such as hotmail, yahoo, MS Outlook, or Eudora
...
You'll find their comments
helpful, because they'll probably see some things that you've missed or they might have a
different email program that manages your newsletter in a different way
...
TextPad
...
TextPad is a free tool text editor that will save you a lot of time formatting your
newsletter
...
* * Spam Checker * *
You should also consider sending it to a spam checker service
...
Most spam checkers will give you a number score that
represents the likelihood of your newsletter getting misinterpretted as spam
...
com has recently produced a free spamchecker for ezine publishers
...
http://spamcheck
...
com
Step 8 - Launch Your Ezine
Launching your ezine is the simplest step
...
If you've made your newsletter interactive you'll start getting
emails back from people
...
Step 9 - Continue to Improve Your Newsletter
Make sure that you ask your subscribers for their opinion on how to improve your
newsletter
...
Subscribe to other newsletters and
incorporate what you like from their newsletters into your own
...
By that I mean that you should
always be looking for new and different ways to make it achieve your objectives
...
Again, they are not in any particular order
...
so pay attention
...
That's just a part of
doing business, whether its online or offline
...
Deal with complaints professionally, pleasantly, and unemotionally, always giving the
benefit of the doubt to your subscriber
...
I've been hammered on this
too many times
...
Spelling and grammar does affect the way people perceive you, even if you have great
content (unfortunately)
...
Put them in a testimonial file
and use them in your marketing efforts
...
Advice # 4 - Save all your articles
...
Also, submit your articles to other website and newsletter publishers
...
This will bring you a fresh stream of new visitors from content that you had to create
anyway
...
Advice # 5 - Put you articles on your website and make sure you optimize your meta tags
(i
...
title, description, and keywords) so that they get found by the search engines
...
Additional Resources
The following are several additional resources that will help you start and manage your
own ezine
...
EzineQueen
...
howtowriteanewsletter
...
com/
- 250 -
Measure Your Marketing Efforts
Allow me to start out with a typical scenario that has played itself over and over again in
my consulting career, one that illustrates an important point about performance
measurement
...
” I ask, “So what kind of response rate are you getting?”
The response? “We don’t know but we get a lot of people coming when we run our ad
...
We don’t track all the numbers
...
”
It’s true
...
It’s also true that they
aren’t doing some very basic tasks that could make them even more profitable
...
In fact, in many
cases, many years of experience can actually be a detriment to your success
...
The fact is that they have probably been playing with bad golf habits for many
years, and the habits are now such an ingrained part of their game that they can’t even see
what they need to improve
...
Your
marketing efforts have vital signs as well that will tell you whether you are doing well in
your marketing efforts
...
When I walk into a business I ask three questions
...
How can you start to improve if you don’t know where you stand today?
Incoming Calls and Walk-in Traffic
Any effort to get the phone to ring is called marketing
...
One of the biggest mistakes I see is underestimating the importance
of a phone call
...
The important question about measuring the number of incoming phone calls is not how
many you should be getting
...
The critical information that you need from every call is how did you
hear about us, what is your name, home address, phone number, and email address
...
Remember, the 24-hour information line is a recorded
message line that offers free information to prospects and can take names and addresses
that allow you to send them follow-up information
...
Now just because you are getting a lot more calls doesn’t mean you are successful
...
This would not be good!
You must now track how many of those callers visit your store
...
This will tell you whether they were a caller that put down the phone and came
into the store, or if they are a walk-in visitor with no prior contact
...
For instance you will know how many visitors come in from the following marketing
efforts:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Phone calls
Storefront sign
Yellow page ad
Newsletter offer
Newspaper advertisement
Radio advertisement
T
...
advertisement
Referral from a friend
Website visit
Home show visit
Direct mail campaign
Newspaper insert
Flyer
It would be extremely helpful to know which of these marketing efforts are paying off for
you
...
I have known some
businesses to stop doing Yellow Pages completely because the numbers told them that it
wasn’t a good use of the marketing dollar
...
The idea is to improve your phone call close rate over time
...
Make them an offer to come in
...
You might have gotten a great deal on a premium that you can
give out to those who come to your store (towels, shirts, mugs, movie tickets etc
...
Don’t unnecessarily give out your prices over the phone
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
If they come
soon they’ll be able to get one of the last ones
...
Make specific appointments and particular time slots
...
7
...
8
...
It’s better if a female answers the phone,
because females are more trusting and pleasant than men
...
Measuring Closure Rate
The third measurement to be concerned with is how many visitors you convert to spa and
pool owners
...
These
numbers should be segmented by the source
...
887 Restinia Blvd
...
com
MTHammer@ev1
...
com
Joe@aol
...
com
Source
Status
News Ad Close
News Ad Close
Referral Pending
Drive By
News Ad -
Phone
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
The “phone” column means that they called before they came
...
From this information
you can determine the measurements we have talked about which will help to determine
how well you are spending your marketing dollars
...
In general, people aren’t sure where they heard about you
...
V
...
However, I would still
maintain a log because it’s an effective way to capture referrers and other forms of
advertising
...
The book is
often the first place that buyers go before they decide from whom to buy
...
That is why Yellow
Pages are so important!
People go to the Yellow Pages with intent to buy
...
All you have to do is convince the buyer that you should
be the business that they call first
...
It’s not a
one-shot deal
...
It is essentially the same as
going down to your local paper and making a deal to run an ad every day for the next
year without the opportunity to stop or change the ad throughout the year
...
I don’t know any businesses that do that except for car dealerships, but they get to
change their newspaper ads as often as they like
...
That’s why you need to be very careful about any ad that you place
...
If it isn’t, you’ll be flushing your money right down the tube every month and
there’s nothing you’ll be able to do about it
...
The good news is that 95% of all Yellow Pages ads are WEAK
...
Far too many businesses let the Yellow Pages company do the ad design and
layout
...
They only care
about how much they will make from the ad
...
Listen, it
costs the same to run an ineffective small business Yellow Pages ad as it does to run a
super-responsive one
...
I’ll cut to the chase right now
...
Not to sell them on your product, not to get them to come into your
store, but to call you
...
Knowing this now, you should design everything in your ad to get them to not only give
you a phone call, but to be the first and only one they will call
...
Once
you get the phone call, your primary objective is to get them to visit your store
...
People looking in the Yellow Pages for a small business selling products are looking for:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Something that differentiates you from your competitors and matches their wants
An indication of price affordability and high quality
Specific brands of products or services
Location of store and store hours
Contact information
A warm, fun feeling
People looking in the Yellow Pages for a business selling services are looking for:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Something that differentiates you from your competitors that match their wants
An indication of price affordability
Quality of your service
Experience and credibility
An indication of trust and honesty
Location of office and office hours
Contact information
A warm, fun feeling
Notice the slight differences between consumers who are looking for businesses selling
products versus businesses selling services
...
This information makes a BIG impact on how you develop your
Yellow Pages advertisement
...
They have usually already thought
that through
...
Now they are moving into
phase two: the gathering of pertinent information that will help them make their decision
...
Most ads in a given category say the basic same thing
...
Now, who do you think has produced many of the other ads
in that section? Right, the Yellow Pages ad company, probably the same guy (or gal) who
is selling you the ad!
This is a big mistake
...
They don’t want to shop all day and make a bunch of
calls
...
You must be different! You must design your ad so that it stands out and provides the
right information for your customer, which forces him to call YOU instead of your
competition
...
- 258 -
Your Attention-Getting Headline
All good ads start with a dynamic, attention getting headline…NOT your company name
or logo
...
Don’t
blow it by splashing your company name
...
Up to 75% of the impact of your ad is determined by the headline
...
You may
also want to put a sub-headline to support the main headline
...
Don’t get hung up on the spa and pool stuff
...
This headline does both! It will also give you a chance to tackle the
price issue right up front
...
Headline and Sub-headline # 3:
Take a Vacation Every Day Without
Ever Leaving Your Home!
“Imagine Being on Vacation 365 Days a Year with
Your Own Fly Away ‘Virtual Vacation’ Spa”
- 259 -
Comment: Who wouldn’t want to have a life of luxury and fun in their own home? This
headline provides a strong benefit and psychologically combats the competition (RV’s,
travel agencies, or Disneyland)
...
It is a powerful
headline that almost forces your reader to look at your ad
...
People almost always read editorial matter over
advertising (by a six-to-one margin)
...
Headline and Sub-headline # 5:
“With 15 Years of Custom Pool Design and Construction
Experience and 1,000’s of Happy Customers…
…You Can Be Assured that You Will Get Exactly What You Ask For
(and a whole lot more…its our promise!)”
Comment: This headline calls out your extensive experience in providing high quality
services and that you have a high rate of customer satisfaction
...
If your guarantee is strong and you are proud of it,
why not use it in your opening headline? Customers will perceive it to be a unique
advantage over your competitors
...
Again, the most common mistake that small businesses make is to
slap their company name in the headlines and think that it is going to persuade someone
to call them
...
It’s not unlike building a home
with contractors, permits, parts and
supplies, schedules and deadlines
...
Did you know that 80% of all custo m
pools built in Austin last year ran an
average of $3,500 over budget? Among
the 80% were many of the so- called
“national pool companies
...
Most are home builders
turned “pool experts
...
We are
family-owned and operated and are
quality maniacs
...
We have certified testimonials
from over 500+ happy Austin residents
for whom we have installed the finest
custom pools and spas in the state of
Texas
...
Many pool companies will give you a
choice of only a few designs, and once
you sign the check you won’t hear from
them until they need more money
...
After that we personally review the
construction schedule and any other
concerns you might have every week!
We are so sure that you will receive
the pool of your dreams that we offer you
a 100% lifetime guarantee
...
Our guarantee is rock solid
...
They eat, sleep, and
drink pools
...
Here is another Yellow Pages ad for a pool builder
...
You have decided to build
your own backyard pool
...
What was once a dream
has now turned into a nightmare
...
Choosing a pool provider and
having it built
...
And after tons of
cost overruns your provider
At Janis Pools we have a client
list of literally 1,000’s of happy
customers
...
Every one of them!
We guarantee that we will do
the job right the first time
...
We Keep Our
Dear Joe:
We thought we would write
you a note to let you know
how much thrilled we are
with our new pool and spa
...
It’s the only time me
and Sally get to have a
decent conversation
...
Joe, it’s never felt better
...
Mike and Sally Robles
Promise!
•Free Designs
•Free Estimates
•100% Financing
Call Right Now!
Bells and Whistles
• Gunte Pools
• 450 SqFt Water
• 3’-5’ Deep
• Pool Pu mp
• Heater/10’ Gas Line
• Auto Clean System
• Auto Chlorinator
• Moss Rock Waterfall
• Flagstone Coping
…and more!
- 262 -
“Insider Secrets to
“Insider Secrets to
Building the Pool of
Building the Pool of
Your Dreams”
Your Dreams”
Call our toll free 24hour message line at
800-876-4435
To Get Your FREE
Special Report Today!
Alvin • Spring
1420 FM 392 East
Humble, Texas 77077
345-876-9928
(Next to Walmart)
JanisPools
...
Give him a good excuse or strong reason to pick up the phone and call you
...
This form of marketing is commonly referred to as Education-Based Marketing, and is in
my opinion, the most effective marketing that a business can engage in
...
Your first step is to create a report that you think would be valuable from your prospect’s
point of view
...
” Your prospects desperately
need this information and will want to contact you to get the information
...
If you were an attorney you might include phrases in your Yellow Pages ads such as:
1
...
yourfirm
...
In the Dark about Divorce? Download “Divorce By the Numbers” at
www
...
com
3
...
yourfirm
...
For example, assume you were an accountant
...
What is the single biggest overlooked tax deduction for small businesses? Ext
...
What is the number one mistake that small business people make when doing their
own books? Ext
...
Want to know a local Friendswood small business has legally avoided paying taxes
for the last 10 years? Ext
...
I strongly
urge you to include this component in every one of your Yellow Pages ads
...
It can be, in some instances, even more of a grabber than the headline
...
You want your prospect to see themselves receiving the
same benefits that they see in the photo
...
Remember, the bigger
the picture the smaller the selling space you have to work with
...
In fact, big pictures attract attention but do little to
get your reader to actually call you
...
Make the picture an eye-grabber and make sure
that it shows people using and enjoying the benefits of your product or service
...
Over
dramatize the picture so it catches people’s eyes
...
Another good example for a house cleaning service would be a picture of a business
woman with here hair going in a thousand directions (like she just put here fingers in a
light socket) while she’s crying and her makeup is streaking
...
Be sure to put your photo on the left side of the ad
...
In addition, don’t include drawings and
sketches
...
If you are going to use illustrations always use photos
...
Ask yourself why people would
want to do business with you and not anybody else
...
Your customers don’t care about that
...
For example:
- “100% No-Questions Money-Back Guarantee”
- “Houston’s ONLY Board-Certified Specialist”
- 264 -
- “We’ll Do It Right, Or You’ll Get It FREE”
- “FREE Checkup, FREE Cleaning, FREE Treatment”
- “Nation’s Only Chip-Free, Crack-Free, Rip-Free Surface”
- “Delivered Same Day… Guaranteed!”
Give your reader your strongest selling points — or the single biggest benefit they’re
likely to care about most
...
Readers should be able to look at your ad and say to themselves, “I’d be a
fool not to call this business
...
End your ad with a firm call to action
...
Tell the reader to pick up the phone and call now, or tell them how they’ll benefit from
calling you right now
...
If you ran two Yellow Pages ads that were
identical in every way, but one had just a phone number, while the other one instructed
the reader to “pick up the phone and call now,” the one with the call for action would outpull the other by a large margin
...
We as humans have
an internal urge to follow what other people do; we have an internal resistance to venture
out on our own and be guinea pigs
...
Why do you think people put a few dollar bills in their tip jars at the beginning of the
night to simulate tips left by prior customers? Or why do you think some Evangelical
preachers have been known to seed their audience with “ringers” who come forward at a
specific time to give witness and donations? It’s the same reason we label some of our
products “best sellers
...
The fact that so many other buyers can’t be wrong is proof enough
...
Include your email address, phone number, fax number, address and if you’re the owner,
you might even consider leaving your personal number! Take customer calls at home?
Egad, no!
- 265 -
What stronger statement can you make about customer service than to give your personal
home number? The fact is that most people won’t call you
...
You might even consider — no you should strongly consider — including a small map to
your store location
...
If you speak Spanish and that is important, make sure you tell
your reader, “Si, se habla español
...
But there are so many things you
can get wrong on a Yellow Pages ad that it would be suicide not to get a proof before it
gets printed
...
One plumbing company had their non-local address printed in their ad three years
running, which dropped calls from 40 per day to only four
...
” He had people calling in asking how much more
...
”
Are Bigger Ads Better?
Yes, ad size definitely matters, but you can waste a small fortune buying more than you
should
...
They also get
the best placement, which is at the front of your category
...
The good news is that all things are seldom equal
...
The first thing to do is have your rep show you where you would be placed, based on the
size of the ad you’re considering
...
Determine if you can move up a little by making your ad the next size bigger
without a big jump in cost, or move back a little by reducing your ad size without a
significant shift in placement but a reduction in cost
...
Suppose you currently run a simple listing and get
- 266 -
X responses
...
If you further increase its size to a 1/8th of a page, your cost will less than double
(because of volume discounts), but you’ll pull another 5X the response
...
Increasing a 1/4 page ad to a 1/2 page ad brings in another 3X
response, again for less than twice the cost
...
Frankly, that sounds like quite a bargain
...
I rarely recommend using a full-page ad; it’s just not worth it
...
Should You Use Color?
This question is always one of the first asked of me by small business people
...
” Red, blue, green, and white are all eye-catching but is it
worth paying 50%-60% more?
Unfortunately, color ads usually cost at least two times (or more) the normal price
...
However, I am also convinced
that a well-developed black and white Yellow Pages ad can have the same or even
stronger pull
...
Remember, people will call you based on the content of the ad
...
If you get the content right, even
if it’s not in color, you are going to enjoy an advantage over all your competitors
...
For the up-andcomer, I suggest being conservative — be a smart advertiser before being a flashy one
...
Track your ads
...
If you have
multiple ads under different headings or listings or even in different directories you may
want to ask them, “What page of the phone book did you find our number on?” The book
- 267 -
will probably be right in front of them
...
If you advertise in multiple Yellow Pages, consider using separate phone numbers
...
This will
allow you to have empirical data from which to decide whether it’s advantageous to be in
more than one Yellow Pages book
...
Suppose you came up with two
or three (or more) Yellow Pages ads and tested them individually by running them in the
local paper
...
Put your best-pulling ad in the Yellow Pages! If you really get serious about this you may
want to try more than two or three ads in your test
...
Find the combinations that work the best
...
How to Save up to 50% on your Yellow Pages Ads
Yellow Pages advertising is a huge investment for most small businesses
...
There are few things worse than
having to advertise in not one, not two, but three or even four Yellow Pages books just so
that you’re not left out of the game
...
This advice alone will be worth thousands of
dollars to most small business owners
...
There are
basically three types of business phone directories — the phone company’s directory (i
...
AT&T or SWB), regional directories, and local neighborhood directories
...
To what
extent they get used will vary from market-to-market, depending on the quality of the
independent’s book and the size of the market you live in
...
Don’t rely on the sales reps from each of these companies for nonbiased information on their usage
...
- 268 -
See which book they use
...
Take the cover of each of
the books and show them
...
You may be surprised as to which books are being used in your area
...
If you have three different phone books in your area,
as I do in mine, and you determine that the phone company book gets used 60%, the
regional type book gets used 30%, and the neighborhood book gets used 10%, then spend
your dollars in the same proportions
...
When people go to the Yellow Pages they already know that they
need the product or service you provide
...
If you aren’t there, guess what chance you
have of getting that customer? That’s right: zero!
How To Negotiate With Your Sales Rep
Now that you have determined how much you are going to spend in each directory, it is
time to teach you how to negotiate with your rep
...
Most of the independent phone book companies typically extend deep discounts
...
” Utility or phone companies will typically be less likely to offer
discounts and are harder to negotiate with, depending on the strength of their book
...
When your sales rep comes knocking and says that it is time to renew your ad, or they
would like to show you why you should advertise with them, welcome them in and be
friendly
...
When meeting with your sales rep there are two ways to approach the negotiating,
depending on whether you are renewing your ad or buying a new one
...
Give him/her friendly nods and buying
signs
...
This will immediately put your rep on the defensive
...
The sales rep will typically try to find out and then
explain why this is a mistake
...
Just don’t make anything up, otherwise you will find
yourself on the defensive trying to justify this
...
)
At this point tell your sales rep that you may be willing to reconsider but to contact you
towards the end of the campaign for your final decision
...
At
the end of the campaign make sure that you contact your rep back if they don’t call you
(you don’t want to risk being left out)
...
Sit
back, listen, and wait for them to start offering deals
...
You can take it from there
...
Give him/her friendly nods and buying signs
...
Typically your rep will not be working your account at that time and will want to close
the sale now
...
If it is not 50% tell them that you will think about it and to contact you later
...
If the sales rep you are
dealing with now will not give a discount, wait until the last two weeks of the campaign
and contact the sales office to talk with another sales rep
...
Make sure that you have a plan of attack before you start negotiating
...
- 270 -
Call around to other advertisers that are not competing with you in your heading and ask
them what type of discount they were offered
...
Your Yellow Pages sales rep desperately wants to sell you ad space
...
Yellow Pages Resources
www
...
com — Designs Yellow Pages ads
www
...
com/index
...
adfx
...
yellowpageexperts
...
Foreign Yellow Pages — Go to www
...
com and search for “Yellow Pages”
www
...
com — National Yellow Pages account management
www
...
com/ — How-To manual and tips
Conclusion
Yellow Pages ads are critical to small businesses; however, they present a big risk as
well
...
Use attention-getting headlines and offer an information product to entice readers to call
you
...
Consider using customer testimonials to build trust and make sure you tell the reader to
call you now!
The bigger the ad the better, but always remember to get a proof before the ad is placed
...
Use color if you can afford it, but make it a low priority
...
Hold out to the end of the phone book’s promotional period and then ask for a significant
discount
...
Don’t accept less than a 50% discount
...
If you
have any follow up questions about Yellow Pages advertising, for your small business
don’t hesitate to call me
...
You know, that look that says, “Oh
gosh, here we go again
...
In fact, it turned out to be a colossal waste of time and
money for her and her business
...
As I usually do, I began
to question my client
...
”
Now you’re going to learn how to do direct mail the right way
...
Few other
marketing tools can deliver your message with exact precision at such a low cost
...
(If it
didn’t work, your mailbox would be empty!)
Here are eight reasons why I believe direct mail is still king:
Reason # 1: It works when you’re not
Like the old saying goes, “in rain, sleet, or snow” the mail arrives
...
It gives
your best sales presentation over and over again without you having to be present
...
If you do this, you’ll only sell one widget at a time
...
That’s called “leverage!”
Reason # 3: Allows you to target with precision
- 273 -
Instead of “spraying and praying” your message to people who may or may not be
interested or even qualified to take advantage of your offer, direct mail allows you to
pinpoint the people who fit your psychographic, demographic, and geographic profile
...
Within
one to two weeks you’ll receive about 80% — 90% of all those who are going to respond
...
If it’s a bomb, you’ll learn that
quickly as well
...
With direct mail marketing you can code your mail pieces to determine the
exact number of responses you received from each campaign
...
Reason # 6: It’s relatively inexpensive
With just $
...
It is amazing what you can get into a small
business size envelope and keep under the $
...
Photos, newspaper articles, letters,
special reports, and more can be put in these envelopes for under $
...
This means you
can reach 100 target prospects for only $34
...
It gives you the best chance of catching your prospect’s
attention and keeping it for a period of time
...
It’s not made of electrons that
can be deleted with the twitch of a finger
...
It is physical
...
It has “lingering” marketing effects
...
- 274 -
- 275 -
The “Junk Mail” Myth Exposed
Too often I hear people complain about junk mail and how “nobody opens that crap
anymore
...
Simply put, “junk mail” is mail that is sent to the wrong list of people
...
However, one person’s junk mail is
another person’s solution (that they’ve been waiting for)
...
How do you know it’s junk mail? Think about how
you sort your mail
...
Most of your mail goes
into the wastebasket and the other mail you set aside to open
...
To do this you
must first send your mail to the right list of people
...
The most important
factors for direct mail success are:
1
...
The offer
3
...
In fact this is the
number one reason for direct mail failure
...
2
...
4
...
6
...
People who RECENTLY purchased something related to what you are selling
...
People who have shown a propensity to buy or respond via direct mail
...
People in affinity groups who have a strong want for your particular product
...
Normally, people that belong to the same affinity group would
have a tendency to purchase similar items
...
Or a member of the local Parents Teachers
Association (PTA) may be interested in a new child safety video program
...
The ultimate mailing list would represent a group of people who belong to the same
organization, who have purchased a similar or complimentary product within the past 90
days through mail order, that are financially well-off
...
It’s important to know the difference, because it could mean the difference between
success and massive failure
...
A compiled list is one that has been “put together” using demographic, psychographic, or
geographic data
...
For example, I buy a lot of marketing courses
...
If you send me one, there is a high likelihood that I’ll buy it
...
I throw away CPE class
catalogs all the time because I’m not a practicing CPA, but my name shows up on the
Texas Society of CPAs compiled list
...
Again, it
could mean the difference between success and failure
...
A list broker is someone who
helps you to identify good lists for your direct mail campaign
...
A list broker gets paid based on a percentage of what the list costs you
...
So in the
long run, a good list broker should not only NOT cost you anything, but also make you
tons of money
...
- 277 -
I have a personal list broker who I think is tops
...
For instance, I’m about to roll out a comprehensive system that helps parents teach their
high school and college-age kids to make better grades in school
...
He cares about my success
...
He and his company, Direct Contact Marketing Group, can be
reached at 877-262-8105
...
com
Mailing List Resources
Here are some other resources for finding the right list for your direct mail campaign
...
This is where you should begin
your search for the right lists if you decide not to use a broker
...
Go to www
...
com for more information
...
— If you’re looking for business professionals such as CPA’s,
doctors, teachers, etc
...
pcslit
...
ACT ONE Mailing List Services — A compiler of mailing and tele-marketing lists
compiled by SIC codes, occupations, hobbies/Interests, and demographics
...
actonelists
...
Venture Direct Worldwide — Recognized as one of the largest compilers of mailing lists
as well as card decks, package insert programs, and online co-op advertising programs
...
Best Mailing Lists — Compiled lists by demographics, industry, and occupation
...
BestMailing
...
Mailer Software — Compiled lists by demographics, industry, and occupation
...
MailersSoftware
...
I-Centrix (Information Centrix Solutions) — Now if you do very large mailings and you
need to really hone in on your target market to increase the ROI of your mailing, you
should have a conversation with a friend of mine, Jason Powers of I-Centrix
...
Go to www
...
com or call Jason at 518-689-0480
...
If the numbers work in your favor,
direct mail can become a cash flow profit-generating machine
...
Here are the terms you need to know:
1
...
(Total Responses / Total Mailings)
2
...
(Total Orders / Total Mailings)
3
...
(ROI = Net
Profit / Total Investment)
4
...
5
...
Overhead Cost — All fixed costs (salaries, office supplies, utilities etc
...
Breakeven Point — The number of products or services you must sell to equal
the amount of money invested to do the mailing
...
(A 1% conversion rate is considered pretty good
in the direct mail world)
Rule # 3 — Caveat to rule # 2… If you have a healthy back-end it may be smart to gain
customers through direct mail even at a loss
...
01% response rate on a mailing for some
products can be wildly profitable (just ask the credit card companies)
...
A Real-Life Example of Direct Mail Mathematics
Today I received this email from a close marketing friend of mine who understands direct
mail marketing mathematics
...
Follow his
logic closely!
Dear David:
I got a quote on my postcards
...
5 x 8
...
5,000 quantity
...
00
...
1734 cents each
...
37 cents (after June 30), and the total cost
is
...
Total cost to mail 5,000 cards comes to $2717
...
If I make $300 on a package, it will take 9 packages to break
even on the initial mailing, not counting any reports or sales
letters that need to be sent out
...
0018
...
At $300 each,
would total $15,000
...
remember, my shipping and
handling costs cover the printing costs also
...
79 to
break even on the mailing
...
Now, all of this assumes that my mailing list is accurate,
which it isn’t
...
If I figure that say, 20% are incorrect (that’s figuring pretty high), it
still beats renting a list from a broker at 80 cents per name, and only
- 280 -
being able to use the names one time
...
So
...
Just as we started eating
the phone rang
...
Sorry to say, I didn’t let
him get past his third sentence before I hung up on him
...
It was a colleague of mine that I hadn’t
heard from in awhile
...
What was the difference between the phone call I took and the one I hung up on? It’s
obvious
...
That’s the difference between a cold call and a warm call
...
It’s the same with direct mail
...
Not face-to-face necessarily, but introduced to in some form or
fashion
...
Strategy # 1: Voice Broadcast Introduction
Do a voice broadcasting campaign to your direct mail recipients to introduce your mailer
...
Once
the phone is answered, you can have the voice messaging system either deliver your
message or hang up
...
This technique is very effective for getting your
letter noticed
...
I just wanted to let you know that
we’re having a private, closed-door sale for a few of our special customers this weekend
...
Watch for the letter
...
Thanks for being one of our special customers
...
My recommendation for voice
broadcasting services is Automated Marketing Solutions
...
AutomatedMarketingSolutions
...
Strategy # 2: Radial Direct Mail Campaign
Radial direct mail campaigns are direct mail offerings that are sent to people who live in
the vicinity of someone who just purchased from you
...
The letter would say something like this:
“Dear Neighbor:
We wanted to let you know that Dan Jantzen, one of your Heritage Park neighbors on
Widerop Lane, was in our store the other day and he won one month’s worth of free gas
in our free monthly gas giveaway contest
...
”
Using Dan’s name gives you a type of silent introduction and endorsement because Dan’s
their neighbor
...
The strategy is called a “radial mailing” because you send it to people living within a
certain distance from your customer
...
Haines
...
Strategy # 3: Endorsed Joint Venture Mailing
An endorsed joint venture mailing is a twist on strategy number three
...
- 282 -
For example, if you run a restaurant then most likely your target customers are people
who live within a mile or two from your business
...
Ask the dry cleaner if they would be willing to send a letter endorsing your restaurant to
their customers
...
The power of this strategy is in the relationship (remember warm mailings?)
...
Strategy # 4: Referral Letters to Existing Customers
Anytime you mail to your customer base you should receive a good response (if you’re
providing good service)
...
But no matter how much your customer loves you, they usually need to be bribed to
action
...
Strategy # 5: Community-Based Mailing
If your market consists of local neighborhoods, then a local neighborhood mailing may
be successful
...
If you include a picture of your business, your readers will
connect the letter and your business and you will have instant credibility
...
For
instance, I do direct mailings to spa and pool business owners
...
The closer your mailing list matches the demographic, psychographic, and geographic
characteristics of your target market, the higher your response rate will be
...
The Power of Sequential Direct Mailings
It’s said that a marketing message has to be seen at least seven times before a consumer
takes action on the offer
...
People buy from people they have a relationship with and trust
...
However, what if that isn’t possible? What if you have no
relationship with the person we are mailing to at all?
To get an above average response, you need to build a relationship with your readers the
same way you would in person, which is through an introduction and repeated
interactions
...
Many times people don’t respond on your first contact — not because they didn’t want
what you were offering, but simply because the time might not have been right or the
they got distracted
...
It’s nothing different than having to remind someone every once in a while to
get something done
...
The higher the lifetime value of a customer, the more sequential mailings you can
afford to do
...
2
...
In three mailings you should be able to attract a good response
...
Each mailing needs to be linked with the last mailing
...
I often do it by putting a red
stamp at the top of the letter that says, “SECOND NOTICE” with some copy talking
about the previous mailing
...
Don’t let too much time elapse between mailings
...
5
...
If your direct mail items don’t look similar (envelope, letter, offer etc
...
In fact, some
direct mailers use the exact same letter and offer for each step in the sequence
...
Use an automated system, such as a contact manager like ACT or Goldmine, to
remind you when to send each letter in the sequence
...
7
...
- 284 -
8
...
Do this by
putting a super offer in your first letter that compels your reader to respond
...
9
...
If your reader didn’t respond to
the first offer, perhaps it because they didn’t see the value of your offer
...
10
...
After
several letters that look the same and read the same people will be able to predict
what’s inside and not even bother opening the letter
...
Grab Your Prospect’s Attention Using Grabbers
One of the biggest obstacles to overcome using direct mail is the inability to get the
recipient’s attention
...
If you want to increase your
direct mail response rate with dramatic success, use a “grabber
...
A
grabber seizes your prospect’s attention and interest and practically forces him to sit there
and give your letter the attention it deserves
...
They were
attached so that you could see them through the window of the envelope
...
With the other, buy hyacinths for the soul
...
The price of the subscription ended in an uneven amount, so they told the reader to send
back one of the pennies to accept the offer…and keep the other for their change!
This promotion turned out to be so successful that they ended up sending out tons and
tons of pennies
...
S
...
- 285 -
The Rest of the Story…
This story has an interesting twist at the end
...
”
Pretty soon, Reader’s Digest had thousands and thousands of these nixies
...
The Post Office said they couldn’t legally destroy or dispose of the pennies, so Reader’s
Digest ended up with a growing warehouse full of the penny mailings
...
The Mt
...
The Digest had the mailings trucked over the to the Boys Club, and the
boys spent countless hours stripping 50 million pennies out of the mailings
...
The Mt
...
Great
marketing!
Here are Some Great Grabber Ideas
The following are some creative grabbers you can use to get your readers attention:
Mini-CD’s — Today you can buy mini-CD’s that are as big as your business card and
can be cut into many different shapes
...
Give your prospect a “secret code” that will “unlock” your website and
allow them to “Discover the Hidden Secrets to XXXXXX
...
Make
them leave their contact information so that you can send it to them
...
Start your letter out something like this… “You’re probably
wondering what the little pill attached to this letter is for
...
Grab it
...
Take a look at it
...
Would it be great if you could just take a little
pill and get rid of all your financial problems…”
Money Letter — Nothing is more luring than a dollar bill
...
Using a dollar bill grabber
isn’t a new concept
...
- 286 -
The prospect opens the letter and immediately sees a real dollar bill attached to the top of
it
...
Why have I done this? Well actually, there are two
reasons
...
And secondly, since what I’m going to tell you is
going to save you a lot of money, I felt that a dollar bill would be an especially
appropriate, “financial eye-catcher
...
Send out
three pieces of the four piece puzzle one day and then send the last piece the following
day
...
Only your imagination and creativity will limit you from a successful direct mail
campaign
...
Imagine how many more of your letters would be read with a good grabber
...
You can double
or triple or quadruple your success rate with grabbers
...
Note: For more grabber ideas contact Jon Goldman
...
and a source for the largest and most
diverse selection of such products I have ever seen
...
which you may purchase
...
LumpyMail
...
The Envelope: Getting Your Direct Mail Piece Opened
If you’ve looked at your mail lately, you’ve probably noticed all kinds of urgent, official
looking envelopes
...
Direct mailers use all kinds of different designs to get you to open their envelopes
...
Do you want to get your mail opened? Make it look like a letter from a personal friend or
family member
...
A plain white envelope with a typewritten (courier font)
or handwritten address and a first class stamp will get opened every time
...
O
...
- 287 -
I also use one other type of envelope that gets opened every time
...
You can find these types of envelopes at
www
...
com
...
NOTE: One note about the stamp you use
...
If you meter your mail, your
recipient will know that you mail in bulk, which contradicts your attempt to make your
letter appear personal
...
Creating and Using a Swipe File
Perhaps the easiest and most value-added habit I have formed as a marketer is to create a
“swipe file” — a collection of other people’s creative news articles, newspaper and
magazine advertisements, or direct mailings
...
Why not use
their work as a “creative starting block” for your direct mail piece?
Before you start to say, “That’s copying and it’s illegal!” I should explain that all you use
your swipe file for is to get your creative juices flowing
...
”
I have sat for hours thinking about what I want to create for an ad
...
I just
open my swipe file and within minutes I’m creating
...
Put any ad or direct mail piece in your swipe file
that jumps out at you and catches your attention
...
I see it
as the most inexpensive marketing education that I could ever receive
...
Testing: The Key to Ultimate Direct Mail Profits
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!” How many times have you heard that quote?
It’s true in real life and its true in direct mail marketing
...
How many times have you heard this quote, “If you keep doing what you’ve always
done, you’ll keep getting what you always got
...
- 288 -
Once you get a respectable response from a direct mail piece it becomes your “control
piece
...
A respectable test mailing should be at least 1,000 pieces
...
Two of the biggest questions I receive in regards to testing are (1) How do I know what I
should I change, and (2) What’s the best way to track my response rate?
To answer the first question, the following are the elements of the mail that I would
tweak in order of importance:
1
...
3
...
5
...
7
...
Headline — The headline could account for 80% of your success
...
Guarantee — Skepticism and fear stop most people from responding
...
Long vs
...
It includes splitting a list into two groups and sending one piece to group A
(control piece) and the other piece to group B and evaluating response rates
...
The first step is to code your direct mail piece
...
This allows you to know from which campaign the response is coming,
resulting in an accurate response rate count
...
I like to use one toll-free phone number with
different extensions to track response rates
...
This saves me a lot of
money because it gives me empirical data that shows me where I should be spending my
precious marketing dollars
...
This isolates the difference,
which allows you to conclude with some certainty that the tweak you made was the cause
of the difference
...
This removes any biases that might be in the list
...
Before rolling out a large direct mail campaign start with a
small part of the list first
...
You might start at
5,000 then send 10,000 then on to 25,000 and so on
...
Rule # 4 — Code every direct mail piece you send and set up a tracking system in
advance
...
Test the tracking system to make sure it’s working properly
...
Always continue to try to beat your
control
...
Before sending out any direct mail piece, review your effort to make sure that
you have applied each of the 17 success tips properly
...
1
...
The best
mailing list you can get your hands on is your own mailing list! It’s the list you’ve been
compiling since the first day you opened your doors
...
There is a direct correlation between the number of times to send to your mailing list and
the size of your bank account
...
People who
have recently responded to direct mail campaigns offering similar or complimentary
products or services are the highest response candidates
...
Just look in the Yellow Pages under mailing list
brokers (If you don’t use Gil Terriberry)
...
Don’t try to save money with a cut-rate compiled list
...
Never forget that
...
Get Your Letter Opened
If you are like me, you probably open you mail as you are standing over the wastebasket
...
The “A” is mail that you
will open and investigate
...
Your
goal is to get your letter put into the “A” pile, the pile that gets opened
...
Research shows that metered mail
has a lower chance of survival than stamped mail
...
As a matter of fact, I’m really less likely to throw away a
letter that has multiple stamps (hint)
...
They usually come from someone I know
...
This confirms direct mail research that states the highest “letter opening rates” for plain
white letters with a real stamp and a simple from and to address either hand written or
typed on the front of the envelope
...
All you have to do is send
them through the printer and you can’t tell the difference between hand addressing and
computer addressing
...
The Headline
Once a piece of mail is opened you have about five to eight seconds to overcome the next
obstacle — getting it read
...
Every direct mail piece, whether it be a Val-Pak ad, a
postcard, or a letter, should have an attention-grabbing headline
...
Do not put the name of your business at the top of the
letter
...
They’re too busy asking themselves, “What’s in it for me?”
I included a rather lengthy explanation on how to develop headlines in the chapter on
advertising, so I won’t spend a lot of time on this topic
...
Eighty percent of your time should be spent on developing a good, attentiongrabbing headline
...
“What’s In It For Me?”
As I stated before, you’ve got to make sure your writing answers the question, “What’s in
it for me?” Write with the understanding that people are constantly asking themselves
that question
...
Your copy should be benefit-laden
...
It should tell the story about why their life would be so much better off with a spa or
pool
...
Just tell them
in simple, easy words how your spa or pool is better than all the rest
...
You will quickly learn whether you’re
writing to your ego or to your prospect
...
It’s one of the most
common mistakes in marketing
...
Write Like You Talk
People like to talk to people
...
But that is exactly how our school and university system teaches us to
write
...
People would rather read prose that is warm, real, believable, and down-to-earth
...
This means you can break all the
grammar rules you want, as long as you are communicating on a personal level and
you’re building your case for taking action
...
They are far too difficult to read
...
Don’t worry
too much about grammar
...
They just want something that is easy and
interesting to read
...
It’s not to get a good grade from your
English teacher
...
Don’t try to write like you think you should
...
Besides, in which scenario would it be easier to make a convincing
argument? Standing in front of a thousand people giving a speech or talking to your
friend at work?
6
...
Readership of advertising falls off
at two critical points: once at around 350 words, and not again until over 10,000 words
...
If you can get your prospect to read past the first 350
words, you can keep them reading for many more pages
...
I have written successful sales letters that are 14+ pages long!
7
...
The term “advertorial” means a combination of editorial and advertisement
...
- 292 -
Research shows that editorial articles get read 5 to 6 times more often than
advertisements that look like typical ads
...
This is one of the biggest marketing mistakes that people make
...
Your reaction to a given type of promotion or marketing
effort is irrelevant
...
The only
way to know the results of the success of your mail piece is to test it
...
What type of
response did you get? Most assuredly it was a much better response than to one of your
“sales” ads
...
Use Sub-headlines for Dual Readership
People tend to skim through letters to look for something that interests them before they
read them in their entirety
...
To do this use sub-headlines
...
Sub-headlines also break up your paragraphs and make it easier and more inviting to read
your copy
...
This is how you keep
your reader interested and reading
...
Many of the “throw away” headlines that you
developed are probably great candidates for putting in the body of your letter
...
Typestyles
Don’t use several different fonts when writing your copy
...
Never use all capital letters in your letter or headline
...
You want the meaning and message of the headline to
shout, but not the letters themselves
...
I am writing right
now in Times Roman, which is a serif font
...
)
10
...
For example, if you list “7 Ways to Kill a Cockroach”, you’ll give the impression that
there are only seven ways
...
Non-round
numbers just sound more believable
...
So try to end your numbers with a seven
...
Guarantees
The more powerful the guarantee the lower the risk you put in your offer
...
This simply isn’t the truth
...
The ones that do take advantage of your guarantee will have done so no matter what type
of guarantee you have, even if it’s weak and you didn’t promise anything
...
12
...
It won’t work! Big
purchases require a significant amount of education and relationship building
...
Nothing more
...
People are naturally skeptical
...
Convincing people to go to
your website or to your information phone line is a non-threatening step that your
prospect may be willing to make
...
It could mean the difference between a successful or
failed mail offer
...
13
...
You should just write to a single
person as if they were the only person with whom you are talking
...
In this case it might be
a man between the ages of 40 to 55
...
Some problems that I might include are not enough money, doesn’t need it right now,
their problem isn’t that bad etc
...
- 294 -
This little copywriting tactic helps me to focus on who I am writing to and what problems
I need to address in order to get the person to respond
...
One Objective Only
It’s easy for a prospect to get sidetracked and confused
...
You need to determine this objective before you start
writing your letter
...
If you are trying to
get people to call your information line to request a free report, don’t confuse them by
asking them to come into the store
...
If it’s to make a phone call then
your testimonials should say, “And when I called the toll free information line…” and
your benefit section should say, “and when you call right now you’ll receive…” and your
call to action at the end of the letter should be, “Call right now
...
Test and Improve
Sometimes you don’t know if you have a bomb on your hands or a true winner
...
Your first test mailing should always be small
...
If you’re getting well below a 1% then
you should alter something and then test again
...
If your response rate goes up, then your second piece becomes your
control piece on your next mailing
...
You
continually tweak and test until you have a control piece that is bringing in the desired
response rate
...
My answer is that I
have no idea
...
16
...
S
...
Make
your P
...
a restatement of your offer, your prime benefit, your main idea, and a request to
order right now
...
Code Everything
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In order to test your mailer you should code it so that you know how to track it when
responses come back in
...
This will tell
you what your response rate is by counting how many name and addresses are left in this
voice box
...
Make sure you keep a copy of the exact mailer that went
out so that you know what your control piece is
...
After
about a week or two you can count your responses and determine your response rate
...
www
...
com — Direct Marketing News magazine site
...
nmoa
...
the-dma
...
whosmailingwhat
...
www
...
com — Newsletter about direct marketing
...
napco/dmm/dmm1
...
directmailquotes
...
Conclusion
Whew! We covered a lot of ground, but honestly, we’ve just scratched the surface
...
It’s been honed over many years
...
Every business should be using some form of direct mail in their marketing mix
...
Try to educate yourself as much as possible on direct mail marketing techniques, but
don’t let that stand in the way moving forward
...
What you’ve learned today, coupled with my 12-Step, Foolproof
Salesletter Template, will propel you past 90% of the people who are mailing today
...
” The headline immediately caught my
eye because I recently developed a system for high school and college students to
improve their academic performance
...
It included her contact information and website address
...
When I saw the article I wondered to myself how much that same article would have cost
her if she had paid for it
...
Both can be very effective, but the all-mighty news release can provide the level of
credibility and respect that can spark on-the-spot sales for your business
...
Surveys have shown that
the vast majority of people believe that all advertisements contain false or misleading
information
...
Hence, their believability is high
...
People read editorial style
(news article format) seven times more than an advertisement!
Why Are Some News Releases Chosen and Other Not?
Knowing how the press chooses one news release over another will give you an
advantage in getting the coverage you’re looking for
...
When yours comes in, it competes with all the others
that come in with it
...
This person is in charge of reviewing the incoming
releases and either assigning them to editors or trashing them
...
If a news release doesn’t catch their eye they immediately trash it
...
If you don’t have a catchy headline that grabs the
editor’s attention then it won’t stand much of a chance making it to the next step — the
first paragraph
...
The opening paragraph needs to get to the
point fast with no fluff
...
What News Stories Get Covered?
To give your business the best chance of being covered by the local news media, give
them what they are looking for
...
Newspapers want information that is interesting and informative
...
Radio is a bit more loose and has an “anything goes” type of style
...
One of the most popular five minutes
of a local radio station here in Houston is the “Birthday Scam,” in which the DJs call up
an unsuspecting person (on their birthday) and proceed to create a combative and hostile
conversation full of accusations and lies
...
Television gets excited about anything that can provide great visuals
...
V
...
All media love human interest stories
...
In fact, the number one topic of talk radio is relationships
...
Lastly, the biggest mistake that most PR novices make is to pitch an advertisement for
their business
...
they are not your personal marketing
department! You must be newsworthy!
- 299 -
How Muhammad Ali Landed In Life (I love this story!)
Getting free publicity is more about making yourself newsworthy than about being
newsworthy
...
” With creativity and a little
effort you can make almost any situation newsworthy
...
It’s a story about how Muhammad Ali received massive
amounts of free press in Life magazine, the biggest magazine in the country in those
days
...
During
the photo shoot with the Sports Illustrated photographer, Ali asked who else the
photographer did work for
...
Muhammad knew that if he made himself stand out somehow, that the magazine might
write him up
...
The photographer responded, “All kinds, but my specialty is
underwater photography
...
Ali then
told him that he’d do an exclusive if Life wanted to do a story about him
...
It wasn’t long after that Life did a
huge spread on Muhammad Ali
...
20 Ways to Make Your Small Business Newsworthy
As I previously mentioned, the key to getting publicity for your business is to make
yourself newsworthy
...
To get your creative juices flowing let me suggest 20 ways you can make your business
newsworthy
...
Do a customer survey and include controversial questions
...
The media loves survey results
...
Create a top ten list about something in your business
...
” Top ten lists are very
popular: just ask David Letterman
...
Develop an annual award that you give out to someone in the community or a
business in your industry
...
Or if you’re a supplier you can give
an award to the “Best” business (customer) in the industry you service
...
Offer surprising facts about your industry or business
...
”
5
...
For example, when the rumors of a recession hit, one
business wrote a story about how their business actually improved as a result of the
recession
...
)
6
...
For example, tell the media how
your massage therapy business helps to reduce stress during the Christmas season and
provides gift certificates for welcome relief
...
Give a rags-to-riches story about yourself as a high school nobody that started her
own business and became successful
...
8
...
Go to your local library
and find articles from 50 years ago that may somehow tie into the product or services
you provide
...
Be first
...
Be the first
to offer an on-site car wash with every sale
...
Think of something at which you can claim to be the
first
...
Host a “Kids are the Boss Day!” Hand your business over to your 14 year old kid or
one of your employee’s young children for the day
...
Run a “silliest thing” or “dumb mistakes” contest with your customers
...
If you’re a sport goods retailer ask your customers for the
dumbest mistakes they’ve made while camping
...
12
...
For example, if you’re a dry cleaner,
clean the clothes for all the visitors of the local food shelter
...
If you’re a car repair shop, offer
oil and lubes to the parents of Boy Scouts and donate all the proceeds to the Boy
Scouts of America
...
Throw a one-of-a-kind customer appreciation theme party, such as a luau with
Polynesian cultural dancers, or a magical theme party in which customers can bring
their children to watch a magician do incredible tricks
...
Do you have a customer that uses your products in an unusual way or uses your
product to become a high achiever? If you run a gym, is one of your customers a
bodybuilding champion? If you own a bike shop, is one of your customers a
champion trial racer? If you manage an electronics store, do you have a customer who
has invented a whiz-bang contraption?
- 301 -
15
...
If you’re a human
resource consultant, give employee-of-the-month programs a severe drubbing
...
If you’re a home-based business person, write about how corporate
America is suffocating good people
...
Close down your business for one day a year and have your entire staff do a day of
charity work
...
Recently I had a client whose business burnt down
...
Has your business survived a tragic incident (like the
recession) and made it through with flying colors?
18
...
If
you’re a car detailer you could write about how oxidation and rust destroys the
integrity of your car and makes it unsafe to drive
...
19
...
For instance, you went into the Italian restaurant business because the
Italian food in the local area wasn’t authentic
...
20
...
For instance, if you’re a hot tub
dealer, show a man who sits in his hot tub every night and has 12 children (meaning
the hot water really doesn’t kill your sperm!)
...
Remember, there are no boring stories, just boring approaches to interesting
stories
...
Pay attention, because
these people have been doing PR for years and have learned the insider secrets to getting
free publicity from “in the trenches” experience
...
Code your releases to track the results
2
...
Use an “angle” to turn common products into news
4
...
Read the National Enquirer, Cosmopolitan and Readers Digest to learn how to write
headlines
6
...
Tell a story; write the release just like you’d like to see it in print
10 Tips from Joan Stewart, (a
...
a
...
Send news releases about new products and services, contests, awards, open houses,
speaking engagements
...
Write “how-to” articles for newspapers, magazines, trade publications and
newsletters, and offer lots of free advice
...
3
...
Speaking to community groups and trade associations
is a wonderful way to “create the buzz” about your business
...
Create a web site that offers free advice, reciprocal links, articles by and about you,
story ideas about your business and a list of experts the media can contact
...
Start an ezine
...
6
...
Offer yourself as someone they can call on for background,
commentary and story ideas
...
Start your own TV show on your local cable TV company’s public access channel
...
You pay a minimal amount to rent the camera equipment
...
Look for photo opportunities
...
Call the
media with ideas, or submit your own photos
...
Give free classes and demonstrations through adult education programs, at schools
and colleges, or at your own business
...
Participate in online discussion groups and offer lots of helpful advice
...
Link to your web site
...
Providing insufficient or wrong information, particularly telephone numbers
...
2
...
They should be no longer than two pages
...
Sending too late
...
4
...
News is what happens that is different
...
5
...
Using flowery words and phrases such as “spectacular,”
“incredible” and “the only one of its kind
...
Omitting a contact name and phone number
...
7
...
Questions like “Did you get my news release?” or
“Do you know when it will be printed?” will brand you as a pest
...
Most reporters and editors don’t
have time
...
Using outdated media reference books
...
A
news release sent to an editor who left the paper ten years ago eventually will be
routed to the right person, but they’ll think you don’t care about the paper or who
works there
...
1
...
Within that 20 seconds pitch something
that’s newsworthy, not yourself, your service, product or book
...
Study the style of the publication or show and match your style to theirs
...
Propose a topic that is relevant to the producer or editor’s audience
...
”
4
...
5
...
Highly charged
subjects mean better ratings for TV and radio shows, and a greater readership for
print publications
...
Gain a producer or editor’s interest in one paragraph rather than inundate them
with materials
...
7
...
Many members of the media respond
more quickly via email
...
Email only a paragraph and make sure
your headline is a real head-turner
...
- 304 -
8
...
Not including your cell phone, pager number,
fax, phone, or email can mean making or missing an interview for a story
...
Become a walking sound-bite
...
10
...
If you haven’t come up with the right angle today, try again, and
again, and again
...
com
1
...
” Journalists hate this
...
2
...
Most papers are morning editions
...
m
...
Don’t call during this
time! The best time to reach a newspaper journalist: 10 a
...
to noon local time
...
Don’t start pitching right away! This is rude, as the editor may be on the other line,
working on a story, entertaining guests or who knows what else
...
Smith, my name’s Bill Jones and I have a story suggestion
you might find interesting
...
Pitch to the voice mail
...
Keep
it very short and end the message with your phone number
...
5
...
If a
telemarketer doing the same thing has ever called you, you know how annoying it can
be
...
6
...
Newspapers do not exist to give you
publicity
...
Make your pitch
newsy, exciting and relevant
...
Follow up immediately
...
Be sure you have a press kit (including news release and photo) ready to send
...
8
...
Now it’s appropriate to call to see if the editor received your stuff
...
If she likes what she sees, you’re about to get some
very valuable publicity!
- 305 -
Answers to Common Questions that Improve Your
Chances of Coverage
Perhaps the main roadblock for many is not coming up with the news idea, but the
technical details of submitting the release
...
These are not hard and fast rules but only suggestions to use as guidelines
...
It’s better to use the normal established channels
...
If you do call an editor, always ask, “Is
this a good time to speak with you?” If not, then ask when you can call back
...
Be able to give the what, who, where, when, how and why it
would interest their audience in 60 seconds or less
...
Never use the word “publicity
...
Send a thank you note when you
get published
...
Get to know the editor that’s most important for you
by offering your expertise as a resource
...
Once a week is a bit much but once a month
may be just right
...
Question # 4: How do I format the release?
At the top of the release include your name and address, and then include your current
contact information
...
There’s nothing worse than
an editor trying to get a hold of you and getting a recording
...
Include the name of your city and conclude
with a “# # #” which signifies the end of the article
...
Bay Area Blvd
...
com
For Immediate Release
...
Houston, TX— blah, blah, blah
###
Here is an actual press release that resulted in an traffic explosion:
MEDIA
For Immediate Release
Contact: David Frey, President — MaketheGrade
...
com
Direct Line Phone Number: 281-993-5657
Cell Phone Number: 713-301-4022
Beating the Back-to-College Blues
Six Stress-Saving Tips for Parents and their College
Students
Parents can relieve a lot of their college student’s anxiety — and their own — as the
beginning of a new school year approaches, according to David Frey, author and teacher
...
” says Frey
...
com
...
1
...
In addition, help your child
clarify their career goals
...
- 307 -
2
...
Purchase a student planner that will allow your child to note special
events, track expenses, schedule classes and study group times, and create “to-do” lists
...
Create a Successful Living Environment — Make sure there is a place for
everything and then make sure that everything is in its place
...
Consider buying your college student some
motivational wall posters
...
successories
...
)
4
...
Be sure to set expectations with
your child about what you will and won’t contribute to financially
...
5
...
Urge them to participate with other students
in volunteer, academic, and creative campus associations
...
Review Basic Study Skills — The difference between mediocre students and
successful college students is not necessarily how smart they are, but knowing how to
apply successful study skills to their everyday academic life
...
David Frey is the author of the “Make Straight A’s in School” academic improvement
system, which can be found at www
...
com
...
Question # 5: What other things should I send with my release?
- 308 -
Some PR experts say that you should include a cover letter with your release or a press
kit
...
If your press release is strong enough to stand on its own it won’t need all the extraneous
other items
...
The easier you make it for them,
the higher chance you have of being published
...
There are advantages and disadvantages to each medium
...
The advantages of a fax is that it’s already in print form, it’s very simple to
blast it to many editors, and it’s very inexpensive to do
...
If you address the letter to a specific editor make
sure you have their name correct and spelled right
...
Email is becoming very popular as a way of sending press releases
...
Editors are scared of viruses and
will delete it immediately
...
To pitch your story by phone prepare a twenty-second elevator speech about your
newsworthy story
...
If
they say yes, deliver your pitch
...
It will get a look and there
are a lot of resources that can blast it out to hundreds (thousands) of locations
...
They did get it and if they have any questions they will call you, rest assured
...
get-free-publicity
...
www
...
com — Joan Stewart, (a
...
a
...
- 309 -
www
...
com/ — Bill Stoller is a veteran PR professional with a wealth of
experience who has worked with big names such as Colgate, Coca Cola, and Hasbro to
name a few
...
com/ — This site belongs to 101publicrelations
...
www
...
com — Paul Hartunian is one of the best known “free publicity” people
around
...
www
...
com — Susan Harrow is known for getting people on the Oprah Winfrey
show (where instant millionaires are made)
...
Automated Press Releases — Reasonable prices for industry-specific e-mail distribution
of releases www
...
com/
BookFlash — Just $145 for distribution of news about your book to 5,000+ editors,
reviewers, booksellers, librarians, etc
...
bookflash
...
businesswire
...
newswire
...
ereleases
...
S
...
hispanicapress
...
S
...
hispanicprwire
...
25 a page www
...
com/
Internet News Bureau — Email news release distribution service for Web-related
material www
...
com/
- 310 -
M2 PressWIRE — Europe’s largest international press release distribution network;
charges a flat annual fee rather than per release www
...
net/
MediaWeb — Distribution to media within South Africa
www
...
co
...
asp
Press Release Centre — Low-cost distribution of your news to Australian media
www
...
com
...
prnewswire
...
pressflash
...
pressreleasenetwork
...
www
...
com
Question # 10: Where do I find editors to send my press releases to?
Alternative Press Online Directory — Jump site for hundreds of leftist, feminist and
alternative-lifestyle publications www
...
org/direct
...
bizmove
...
htm
Ecola — Jump site for more than 8,400 newspapers and magazines and 1,100 TV stations
www
...
com/
e-TradingPost — Free submission of your release to your selection of national TV
stations, newswire syndicates and top 100 daily newspapers
www
...
com/publicity
...
mediainfo
...
news365
...
newslink
...
S
...
usnewspaperlinks
...
There are so many ways and methods of making you and your business
newsworthy and getting the media’s attention
...
The experience of writing and submitting a release itself is invaluable for your own
personal marketing education
...
Plan events throughout the year that will get aired on the radio and local
TV stations and be covered by the newspaper
...
- 312 -