Marketing

Looking at News Feeds, you might think they’re some of the most complex things to set up. Nothing could be further from the truth. They’re actually super-easy to create once you have the system set up properly.

You can break down the news feed system into a fast, low-cost system that you can do once, or several times over.

First I’ll answer a few of your questions about news feeds. Then I’ll reveal the “secret” steps to setting up and profiting from a news feed.

Common Question #1: What is a news feed?
A news feed is an automatically updating list of the latest news on a particular subject. For instance, the news feed on my Web site is on the subject of small business marketing.

Common Question #2: Why do I need one?
Other than being a really cool thing to have on your Web site, News feeds are also really great traffic boosters. Not only do they make your Web site more attractive to the all-important Web crawlers that view what's on your site, but News feeds also inspire visitors to come back to your site for fresh news.

So the benefits are two-fold:

• new visitors, and
• return visitors.

Please keep in mind there are a few things you need to do to see benefits from news feeds.

1. Choose a subject of interest to your audience. I chose small business marketing news. For you, it could be the latest news on a tough problem gripping your industry. The great part about it is that you don’t have to provide answers, just create a forum where your target market can access information about an issue.

2. Find your news feed. There are several services providing news feeds of various pieces of information. In my experience it’s best to locate news aggregators based only on your industry.

3. Place the feed on your Web site. This is where I initially ran into problems, but a programmer friend passed on a rather affordable solution that I was able to easily place the news feed on your Web site. The great thing about it is, once you set up the feed, you never really have to touch it again.

4. Make your site profitable. Consider placing advertisements on the same page as your news feed. No doubt the regularly updating news will be a hit with your audience and as more people come to the site you’ll be producing passive profits. (Say that five times fast!)

5. Drive traffic to your site. Over the years I’ve found the best way to drive traffic to a site is through article writing and distribution. It’s like an instant shot in the arm for quality traffic.

And that’s the “secret” formula to profiting from news feeds. Really, it’s no secret. It’s all about know which resources to use to make the news feed work for both you and your target audience.

How do you build a list building system that funnels subscribers passively into your database day in and day out?

Well, this one question is one of the major questions I get from many of my subscribers who are interested in building a responsive email list. The majority of my subscribers say that they built a marketable email list by using various tactics like ad swaps, articles, and solo ads. But their major problem comes in the area of sustaining their email list growth.

A lot of my subscribers shared with me that they are actually losing more subscribers than they are actually gaining. So how do we avoid this?

Well, that is the focus of this article.

Now let me start off by saying that you will be deceiving yourself if you just think that you can overcome this problem of constantly losing subscribers without any work.

Sitting on your butt and doing nothing is the hogwash approach to online marketing!

It really frustrates me to even think that there are actual individuals who believe that success can come with no work at all!

So before I move forward, make sure you get the lazy approach to online marketing out of your system as soon as possible. If you do not extract laziness from your life and your business, you won’t see any improvement in your life and online business.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me begin describing a legitimate way to passively funnel fresh responsive subscribers into your database.

I will list a series of steps that you can follow below:

1. Generate a content site for your niche

The goal in this step is to generate a website full of useful content that is related to the niche you are trying to build an email list for. A good content site, when organized well, can actually send repeat visitors to your website.

2. Place a Tell a Friend form at the bottom of the pages on your content site

A tell a friend form is a form that allows a visitor to recommend their friends to your website if they find the information on your website useful. A good content site with very valuable information will be virally recommended to a visitor’s friends and family if they find the content enjoyable and full of high quality information.

Therefore, make every effort to select or add the best quality content you can.

3. Add a popup note to every page of your content site

Adding a popup note to your website is an easy way to instantly grab the eyeballs of your visitors and force them to sign up to your newsletter or ezine. The type of popup notes I am referring to have been known to increase the responsiveness of website visitors to a certain offer just by describing the offer in the note.

To see an example of this type of popup in action, visit the link below:

http://www.free-traffic-generation.com

Now do you get the idea!

Just make sure you put a popup note on every page of your content website and you should see some consistent list growth. Also, make sure the popup is advertising your newsletter or ezine.

4. Write an article or press release about your new content website

Writing an article or press release is just a way to jump start the traffic to your website. Just one press release can send you hundreds of links to your site as well as some media publicity.

5. Generate another content website by repeating steps 1 thru 4...or just continue adding original content to your website.

Now this is all it takes to produce a passive list building machine that consistently sends streams of subscribers to your newsletter or ezine. The more content sites you have, the more subscribers you will be able to passively generate.

List building is one of the most important parts of any online business. By building your own list you have the opportunity to try selling your products more than once. You also have the benefit of being able to offer your subscribers other products, and services when they become available.

So just how would you capture those leads and make them profitable for you?
Here are your 5 simple steps to setting up your own profitable lead capture system.

1) you will need your autoresponder setup, ready to accept your subscribers. To make it easy on yourself you can pre-load it with messages to send your subscribers from the outset, to remind them that they are on your list. Useful, informative and educational messages sent once or twice a week automatically will keep your list subscribers interested.

2) Setup an irresistible offer page, giving something of value to your potential subscribers for filling in the form to subscribe. This page needs to be as powerful as any sales page where you are charging for a product, as you will want it to convert as many visitors to subscribers as you can. Outline the benefits of what you're giving away, and even the benefits of the information in your preset messages (you did setup those messages right?).

3) Most autoresponders allow you to set a url (website address) to send your subscribers to after they subscribe, you should send them to a thank you page, and let them know if they need to confirm their address before they receive the first email from you. If they do need to confirm (they should, this is called double opt-in and may help save you from spam complaints), let your new subscriber know they will only get the email with the gift link after they confirm their subscription to your list.

4) Your first email to your new subscriber should contain the download link for the free gift you offered for subscribing. The ideal situation here is to send them to a web page to download. This page can also contain a special offer, sometimes called a one time offer (or OTO). Make this an unmissable deal related to the subject matter of your emails. Let the subscriber know they will only see this offer right now, if you do not have a special deal to offer, you can instead add a link to a product you sell as an affiliate, but make use of this valuable backend sale opportunity.

5) Keep sending traffic to your offer page and keep those subscribers coming. Join JV giveaway promotions which are happening all the time to put your gift in front of more and more people. Make sure you keep your subscribers by sending them regular informative emails, and it helps to give them more free gifts on a regular basis.

Words of advice, your list can be your own personal goldmine, but don't treat your subscribers as your personal ATM. Your list subscribers are people just like you, treat them as you'd like to be treated. Now get out there, and start building your subscriber list, using your new lead capture system, and watch how your profits increase as your list grows.

1. Yo Yo Advertising
My friend Dottie can precisely predict her sales peaks and plummets accurately...and no, she's not into fortune telling. Experience has proven that March, April, and May will bring a lot of money to her account, while September and January will put her in the slumps

Sound familiar? Have you too been caught in the vicious cycle of high and low sales volumes? Why? Most of us tend to advertise heavily while things are slow - in a desperate attempt to get customers through the door, but back off when things are hopping.

If you're looking for an even-keeled market, develop a steady marketing plan. Steady advertising produces steady growth...and steadily climbing profits!

2. Single Shot Advertising
One shot ads, rarely get results. Most customers are just like you, they don't jump on the band wagon the first time it passes by. They often need to see your sales material several times before they actually make the move to walk through the doors.

Follow-ups are necessary for success. We're not just talking about prospective customers now...even your loyal customers need to be cultivated for sales. How many times have you thought about making a purchase, but just never followed through with it? Sure, we all do it. Sometimes it takes a little pressure to get us to part with our hard-earned money. Make it a point to spend time building relationships with both new customers and your faithful following.

3. MonkeySee, Monkey Do Advertising
How many times have you seen the same advertisement ideas written with just a little different twist? If you're surfing the Web you've come across plenty of the aped ads! Yeah, you can predict what the next paragraph will cover, because you've seen it so many other places.

Sure, copy cat ads can be effective for a little while, but the results will quickly die down as others join in the copy mania. If you're looking for REAL and LASTING results, be original. Do what only you can do, forget about what everyone else is doing. Be you. When a competitor does have a good idea, improve on it. Don't follow in his footsteps...step out and lead the way to more effective advertisements.

4. Wild Shot Advertising
Ready, aim...yeah aim before you advertise! Don't be caught up in wild advertising that gets your message in front of a lot of people who have absolutely no interest in your product or service.

Target your market...and get better results for your investment. Finding the target market that has a specific need you can fulfill takes a little time and research, but you'll feel the effects when you hit the bullseye!

Think about this...there are advertising venues that your competition is overlooking. What about postcards? These high impact marketing tools are often overlooked. Yet, they're the perfect low-cost way to generate prospective customer interest. Keep an eye open for overlooked marketing gems, and get one up on your competition!

5. Me, Me Advertising
What is it that consumers are looking for? ...Exactly, something that is going to benefit them. They really aren't interested in the facts about your product...they want to know how it will impact their life or lifestyle.

Take a look at your ad copy, and ask yourself what are you portraying...facts or benefits. Multi Level Marketers have this all figured out. Rather than tell you they have a business to offer, they spend a lot of time promising you freedom to work your own hours, countless vacations, summer homes and a host of other things you've probably already dreamed about at some point. Hey, don't knock it...the MLM industry is a steadily growing element in our economy.

Don't bore your readers with the facts...attract them with exciting elements that will fulfill their needs or desires.

Are you getting the results you've been looking for? Take another look at your marketing strategy...are you making the same mistakes many marketers unknowingly make. Hey, real success may only be one change away!

Writing an effective print ad, particularly a classified advertisement, requires that you remember five essential points. Failure to implement these points correctly can cost you much in the way of time lost and a sale missed.

You've just cleaned out the attic and straightened up the garage. You've identified items you no longer need, but they certainly have a cash value to them. You could really use the money, but you don't want to post the information on eBay. What to do? You create a classified ad!

Unlike in times past, the classified advertisement you run with your local paper will more than likely have exposure beyond the printed copy. Smart newspaper publishers, knowing the inroads that the internet has had on their businesses, now allow advertisers to have a copy of their advertisement appear online. This is important as newspaper readership is dropping rapidly as internet usage continues to climb sharply. Still, a printed copy is smart especially if the classified ad section of your local paper is popular.

When designing your ad, you need to come up with an eye grabbing title. The title you choose will help the reader decide whether they want to read more or continue scanning their eyes toward other ads.

List the item you are offering for sale predominately within the name of the title. If you have several items to sell, consider a catchy title such as, "30 Year Contents of Attic" which will indicate to readers that you probably have antiques. If you state, "Assorted Sporting Goods" you will attract people who are looking for a bowling ball, fishing equipment, children's toys, etc. The key is attracting the reader and encouraging them to read your ad.

Beyond the title, the following five points will help you in your campaign:

1. Be descriptive The clearer you present what you have to offer for sale, the better your responses will be.

2. Do not abbreviate Not everyone understands what an abbreviation means. Spell it out and erase all doubt!

3. Specify the price Particularly if you are selling just one item, list the amount you want for that item.

4. Highlights I like ads that stand out. If the newspaper offers decorative symbols, characters, or fonts use them to draw the reader's eyes to your listing.

5. Ad campaign One day listings only work for popular items. Do you believe your item will sell if you list it for just one day? If you list it longer, you can always cancel the ad. Remember to find out what the newspaper's policy is about online ads too. Your buyer may only see the ad online.

Some newspapers will design the ad for you, if you find writing ad copy to be a difficult task. Not everyone is gifted in writing clear, concise copy. If they want your business, they should be happy to provide this service.

1. Get Specific
Nothing can spell out BORING quicker than bland claims that really say nothing. "My clients make more money!" is a perfect example of poor copy that could use a little life. What happens when you change it to, "My clients increased their sales by 23.5% in the first 30 days!" Now that is kicking! It's specific and exciting.

Be sure that your claims sound believable, no matter how unbelievable they are. People are skeptical of "too good to be true" claims. It's better to tone it down, and let them be surprised when it exceeds their expectation.

2. Keep It Short and Sweet
Long paragraphs and complex sentences look too much like work to read. Yeah, readers get bored quickly and easily. Chop it up, and break it up. Don't use paragraphs of more than 7 lines or sentences longer that 18 words. Find ways to shorten it up, and you'll keep the readers attention.

How many long words are in your copy? Replace them with short common words to create a reader-friendly appeal. Let your copy speak to them in the language they are used to hearing. Well, if your readers don't like to spend a lot of time reading... it pays to choose your words carefully.

3. Keep it Active
Eliminate dull passive phrases. They do little, except bore the heck out of your readers. Dig them out and replace them highly active words that will motivate the reader to get up out of his easy chair and DO something.

The call to action is the most important part of any advertisment. Call, subscribe, join, order, buy... make them hear the call loud enough that they do something - NOW.

4. Skip the Humor
In the right place, and at the right time, humor is an effective tool. Written sales copy just isn't it. Ads are short, concise and to the point. Humor tends to get in the way and distract.

Real life stories captivate readers. They relate to them. The human interest of these stories draws the reader into the message, whereas humor distracts them for the point.

5. Us A Powerful P.S.
A P.S. can be a powerful way to emphasize your product, highlight the points of benefit, or dramatize effects of the purchase. It's the perfect way to summarize your page.

The P.S. is most powerful on Web pages. Surfers often read the headlines and skim to the P.S. where they look to get an idea of what's on the page, and if it's worth their time to read it. Put some effort into making your P.S. captivating.

1. Get Specific
Nothing can spell out BORING quicker than bland claims that really say nothing. "My clients make more money!" is a perfect example of poor copy that could use a little life. What happens when you change it to, "My clients increased their sales by 23.5% in the first 30 days!" Now that is kicking! It's specific and exciting.

Be sure that your claims sound believable, no matter how unbelievable they are. People are skeptical of "too good to be true" claims. It's better to tone it down, and let them be surprised when it exceeds their expectation.

2. Keep It Short and Sweet
Long paragraphs and complex sentences look too much like work to read. Yeah, readers get bored quickly and easily. Chop it up, and break it up. Don't use paragraphs of more than 7 lines or sentences longer that 18 words. Find ways to shorten it up, and you'll keep the readers attention.

How many long words are in your copy? Replace them with short common words to create a reader-friendly appeal. Let your copy speak to them in the language they are used to hearing. Well, if your readers don't like to spend a lot of time reading... it pays to choose your words carefully.

3. Keep it Active
Eliminate dull passive phrases. They do little, except bore the heck out of your readers. Dig them out and replace them highly active words that will motivate the reader to get up out of his easy chair and DO something.

The call to action is the most important part of any advertisment. Call, subscribe, join, order, buy... make them hear the call loud enough that they do something - NOW.

4. Skip the Humor
In the right place, and at the right time, humor is an effective tool. Written sales copy just isn't it. Ads are short, concise and to the point. Humor tends to get in the way and distract.

Real life stories captivate readers. They relate to them. The human interest of these stories draws the reader into the message, whereas humor distracts them for the point.

5. Us A Powerful P.S.
A P.S. can be a powerful way to emphasize your product, highlight the points of benefit, or dramatize effects of the purchase. It's the perfect way to summarize your page.

The P.S. is most powerful on Web pages. Surfers often read the headlines and skim to the P.S. where they look to get an idea of what's on the page, and if it's worth their time to read it. Put some effort into making your P.S. captivating.

Marketing has traditionally been broken down to a formula known as “the 5P’s” – the five factors that make up an organization’s marketing strategy. If these are done consistently, well, and for a long enough period of time, these 5 factors also become part of their brand.

So far, so good. But the problem is that no one can seem to agree on exactly which 5 P’s are important, so the list typically includes: people, product, place, process, price, promotion, paradigm, perspective, persuasion, passion, positioning, packaging, and performance.

Wow. Sounds complicated, huh? I’m going to try and simplify effective marketing into five moves – five concrete actions – that you can implement immediately. Your challenge: try one or more of these NOW.

Move 1: Move Up

Want to try something different? The next time you’re speaking with a prospect, when the question of price comes up, DOUBLE your normal price and see what happens.

Am I crazy?

Maybe, maybe not. The other side of the coin is that maybe YOU’RE crazy for not charging for VALUE, but instead competing on PRICE. Businesses that compete on price lose. Period.

The easiest thing your competition can do is undercut your price. In fact, the first thing they will copy is your price. It takes no imagination, no creativity, no innovation, no market leadership, and no vision to lower the cost of something. And it hurts all parties involved. Lower prices always mean lower profits. Studies have shown that a 1% drop in price leads to an 8% drop in profit.

What happens when you double your usual price?

Several things. Prospects perceive:

* An increase in the value of your product/service

* An increased level of prestige in owning/using your product/service

* An increased level of trust in you – and all your other offerings (the halo effect)

* An increased level of confidence that your product/service really works

A marketing consultant that I respect once gave me a very valuable piece of advice. She said, “Be expensive or... be free.” Being one of the most expensive providers of a service is remarkable – people talk about their $200,000 Italian sports car or $21,000 platinum-plated cell phone. Nobody talks about their $19,000 GM sedan.

I’ve helped companies double their prices, with great success, and I’ve helped independent consultants double [and in one case triple] their fees. In each of those cases, they got more clients, not fewer. Details on how to do this in Move 3. And perhaps this means you’ll lose a few unprofitable clients along the way. If you don’t lose some unprofitable clients, you won’t have room to serve the more profitable ones when they come along. It’s professional suicide to continue focusing on serving a market sector “that can afford” to pay your old (low) prices. Price doesn’t find clients. VALUE finds clients. And those clients that value your work should – and will – pay according to that value.

Free is also a powerful price point. And, of course, free is remarkable. Which is another facet to moving up – you move up when you give VALUE first. For free. Got a great idea for a prospect? Great! SEND IT TO THEM. Even better, got a business lead for them? Hand it over! Did you come across an article, a profile, or a piece of research that directly impacts their business? Clip it and mail it to the top person with a brief note. That prospect’s door is now open.

Move 2: Move In

Moving in means moving closer to the customer. Live in their world, think about their problems, and think about their clients and prospects. What’s the first step? Research. Preparation. Homework. Industry, regional, business, and company news is now at every salesperson’s fingertips on the Internet. If you’re not intelligently researching your prospect’s issues, challenges, and pressures, how can you possibly come in with a credible solution?

Don’t like sitting at the computer all day? An even better idea is to hit the street. Visit businesses, talk to your contacts in the fields you serve, get some firsthand information about what’s going on in their world – what are their challenges, perspectives, obstacles, priorities; what are their dreams, their “only-ifs,” and their biggest aspirations?

Is this a lot of work? You bet. Do the majority of salespeople put in this kind of effort? No way. Which is exactly why YOU should. That brings us to Move 3.

Move 3: Move Ahead

Moving ahead means going above and beyond what most salespeople are doing. It means putting in the work – yes, the real, hard work – that makes the difference between being a peddler and being a partner.

Want to move ahead? Start by avoiding doing things your prospects dislike.

Here are the top 10 things salespeople do that buyers dislike according to a Purchasing magazine survey. See if you (or your sales team) might be guilty of any of the following professional no-no’s:

10.Failure to keep promises

9. Lack of creativity

8. Failure to make and keep appointments

7. Lack of awareness of the customer's operation ("What do you guys do here?")

6. Taking the customer for granted

5. Lack of follow-through

4. Lack of product knowledge

3. Overaggressiveness and failure to listen

2. Lack of interest or purpose ("Just checking in")

... and the Number 1 dislike: Lack of preparation.

You can also move ahead by charging more (remember Move 1?) and DEMONSTRATING the VALUE of your product service with hard numbers.

In his insightful book, How to Become a Rainmaker, author Jeffrey Fox calls this process dollarizing. Dollarizing is one of the most powerful sales techniques because once you show (with real numbers that your prospect will provide you with) the return on investment – how THIS much spent will generate THIS much savings, or profits, or sales, or new clients, or hours, etc. – you basically shift the conversation from selling what you’re selling to SELLING MONEY.

In my seminars, I do an exercise called “The Money Machine” that will help you spell this out in hard dollars, very clearly.

The Money Machine goes one step further because you can use it monetize against:

* competing products/services

* the prospect doing nothing

* the prospect doing it themselves

* other things the prospect is already comfortable spending money on

For a free copy of my Money Machine worksheet, email me: david@unconsulting.com.

Suddenly, your product/service becomes a real “investment”: meaning, you can show people the math behind “this much IN” for “this much OUT.” There’s nothing much easier than selling money at a discount!

Here’s another way to move ahead: stop the ridiculous game of “closing the sale.” Closing is not a technique; closing is not a trick; closing is not about magic phrases and looks and power games. Closing should be a natural extension of your conversation, and the two most effective questions you should ask your prospect as you near the end of your value-based discussion are:

1. Does what we’ve talked about so far make sense?

2. What would you like me to do next?

Answer to Question 1: If you’ve prepared for the meeting, discussed the prospect’s key issues, and monetized the value of your solution, of course it makes sense!

Answer to Question 2: “Let’s go ahead” or “Let’s do the paperwork.” Or if your prospect answers this with “Get Out” or “Drop Dead,” you have a pretty good idea that the sale is not ready to close. Seriously, carefully listening to the answer to this question will allow you to address any hidden concerns, hesitations, or issues – right then and there before the prospect would otherwise blurt out an abrupt “No!” to any other traditional “ask for the sale” verbiage that so many sales trainers recommend. Remember, you’re not there to sell – you’re there to HELP THE PROSPECT BUY. If you need to tattoo that on your forehead, be my guest.

Move 4: Move Aside

Here’s another thing that most sales and marketing people have a hard time with: you can’t be all things to all people. Move Aside is about finding your niche, and claiming your expertise in a narrow area of specialty. In plain English, this means you want to become the “Go-To Guy” for your specific product or service – the exact opposite of a “jack-of-all-trades and master of none.”

The people you speak with will have a very different reaction to these two mental images of your product/service:

* “I think we can make this fit.”

* “This is exactly what we’ve been looking for.”

Let me give you an example. There’s a real company that lists among its services “Carpet removal, house cleaning, odd jobs, catering.” Now, I don’t know about you, but when I want a caterer, I’m looking for someone who does catering 24/7. I don’t want to have to worry about “Did they wash their hands after the carpet removal job and before serving my guests?” In fact, if I’m looking for a caterer for a wedding, I might even be drawn to “Wedding Bells Catering” much more so than “Sam’s Catering” or “Good Eats Catering.”

Here’s another example. There are lots of graphic design companies that do all sorts of work – websites, logo design, brochures, collateral material, wine labels, book packaging, etc. You name it, they do it. And business is generally OK. (But let’s face it, if they were going like gangbusters, they probably wouldn’t have sought out my help!) Some of them had a hard time differentiating themselves from the competition and others found it challenging to develop a strong client base and referral network. We’ve had some good success developing their current business, but when we delve into the possibilities of “Moving Aside” and carving out a real niche, or developing one thing that is their flagship specialty, most of my clients get cold feet.

One company (not my client – too bad for me!) that has done this with fabulous results is MaxEffect. They made a tough call. They moved aside. They could obviously do a wide variety of things with their graphic design and advertising skills, but they do ONE THING: they work exclusively on yellow pages ads. That’s it. If you want a killer yellow pages ad with bold graphics, custom or stock photography, clean layout, and a strong, compelling message, these are your go-to people. They’ve designed hundreds and hundreds of yellow pages ads and they’ve built a fanatical client base, and they get a steady stream of referrals – not to mention the steady and growing flow of client work.

Check it out for yourself: http://www.max-effect.com

Move 5: Move Alone

Right now, you are lost in a sea of gray. Me-too rules the day. Everywhere you look, there is more and more and MORE of the SAME OLD THING sold by the SAME OLD PEOPLE in the SAME OLD WAY. Boring. And deadly.

The problem is that people don’t buy gray. If you and your company and your offerings blend into the background, you might as well close up shop right now. Let me put it another way: all companies go bankrupt. It’s just a matter of time. Want proof? Out of the 100 largest companies of 50 years ago, 17 survive today. And none of those 17 are the market leaders they used to be.

Why? Shift happens. If you’re not separating yourself from the crowd, you’re blending in – and nobody will even notice you, much less seek you out and tell their friends about you.

Here’s an example of a company that really hasn’t been doing a bad job – but they’re also not the standouts they used to be.

On a recent call to American Express, an executive was straightening out a billing problem. At the end of the call, the operator asked her, “Have I exceeded your expectations for this call?” and the exec flatly answered, “No.” She had a billing problem, and the rep fixed it. That’s the expectation.

Now, if the rep had offered the executive a $50 American Express gift check to be used at any of American Express’ online retail partners, THAT would have exceeded expectations, right? That story would be worth repeating to 10-20 people. Can you imagine the executive telling anyone, “Hey, I called AmEx to fix my billing error. Guess what? They did it!” That’s not moving alone.

Here’s a good test to see if your marketing and sales strategies are in the category of “moving alone” – they are if you’re doing something that:

* is “simply not done” in your industry

* customers will make a remark about (remarkable!)

* goes against conventional wisdom (I call this “uncommon sense”)

* others (including your competition) think is “crazy”

* others (including your competition) will actually be AFRAID to copy

Get silly. Get crazy. Get an attitude. Get noticed.

Author Seth Godin perhaps put this most succinctly when he said, “Safe is risky. And risky is safe.”

Let me conclude with a recap of the 5 Marketing Moves:

1. Move Up = Get more valuable

2. Move In = Get closer

3. Move Ahead = Get smarter

4. Move Aside = Get specialized

5. Move Alone = Get noticed

Taken together, these will also help you make the Ultimate Move = Get insanely great.

And remember the immortal words of Jerry Garcia:

“You don’t want to be considered the best of the best.
You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.”

Marketing has traditionally been broken down to a formula known as “the 5P’s” – the five factors that make up an organization’s marketing strategy. If these are done consistently, well, and for a long enough period of time, these 5 factors also become part of their brand.

So far, so good. But the problem is that no one can seem to agree on exactly which 5 P’s are important, so the list typically includes: people, product, place, process, price, promotion, paradigm, perspective, persuasion, passion, positioning, packaging, and performance.

Wow. Sounds complicated, huh? I’m going to try and simplify effective marketing into five moves – five concrete actions – that you can implement immediately. Your challenge: try one or more of these NOW.

Move 1: Move Up

Want to try something different? The next time you’re speaking with a prospect, when the question of price comes up, DOUBLE your normal price and see what happens.

Am I crazy?

Maybe, maybe not. The other side of the coin is that maybe YOU’RE crazy for not charging for VALUE, but instead competing on PRICE. Businesses that compete on price lose. Period.

The easiest thing your competition can do is undercut your price. In fact, the first thing they will copy is your price. It takes no imagination, no creativity, no innovation, no market leadership, and no vision to lower the cost of something. And it hurts all parties involved. Lower prices always mean lower profits. Studies have shown that a 1% drop in price leads to an 8% drop in profit.

What happens when you double your usual price?

Several things. Prospects perceive:

* An increase in the value of your product/service

* An increased level of prestige in owning/using your product/service

* An increased level of trust in you – and all your other offerings (the halo effect)

* An increased level of confidence that your product/service really works

A marketing consultant that I respect once gave me a very valuable piece of advice. She said, “Be expensive or... be free.” Being one of the most expensive providers of a service is remarkable – people talk about their $200,000 Italian sports car or $21,000 platinum-plated cell phone. Nobody talks about their $19,000 GM sedan.

I’ve helped companies double their prices, with great success, and I’ve helped independent consultants double [and in one case triple] their fees. In each of those cases, they got more clients, not fewer. Details on how to do this in Move 3. And perhaps this means you’ll lose a few unprofitable clients along the way. If you don’t lose some unprofitable clients, you won’t have room to serve the more profitable ones when they come along. It’s professional suicide to continue focusing on serving a market sector “that can afford” to pay your old (low) prices. Price doesn’t find clients. VALUE finds clients. And those clients that value your work should – and will – pay according to that value.

Free is also a powerful price point. And, of course, free is remarkable. Which is another facet to moving up – you move up when you give VALUE first. For free. Got a great idea for a prospect? Great! SEND IT TO THEM. Even better, got a business lead for them? Hand it over! Did you come across an article, a profile, or a piece of research that directly impacts their business? Clip it and mail it to the top person with a brief note. That prospect’s door is now open.

Move 2: Move In

Moving in means moving closer to the customer. Live in their world, think about their problems, and think about their clients and prospects. What’s the first step? Research. Preparation. Homework. Industry, regional, business, and company news is now at every salesperson’s fingertips on the Internet. If you’re not intelligently researching your prospect’s issues, challenges, and pressures, how can you possibly come in with a credible solution?

Don’t like sitting at the computer all day? An even better idea is to hit the street. Visit businesses, talk to your contacts in the fields you serve, get some firsthand information about what’s going on in their world – what are their challenges, perspectives, obstacles, priorities; what are their dreams, their “only-ifs,” and their biggest aspirations?

Is this a lot of work? You bet. Do the majority of salespeople put in this kind of effort? No way. Which is exactly why YOU should. That brings us to Move 3.

Move 3: Move Ahead

Moving ahead means going above and beyond what most salespeople are doing. It means putting in the work – yes, the real, hard work – that makes the difference between being a peddler and being a partner.

Want to move ahead? Start by avoiding doing things your prospects dislike.

Here are the top 10 things salespeople do that buyers dislike according to a Purchasing magazine survey. See if you (or your sales team) might be guilty of any of the following professional no-no’s:

10.Failure to keep promises

9. Lack of creativity

8. Failure to make and keep appointments

7. Lack of awareness of the customer's operation ("What do you guys do here?")

6. Taking the customer for granted

5. Lack of follow-through

4. Lack of product knowledge

3. Overaggressiveness and failure to listen

2. Lack of interest or purpose ("Just checking in")

... and the Number 1 dislike: Lack of preparation.

You can also move ahead by charging more (remember Move 1?) and DEMONSTRATING the VALUE of your product service with hard numbers.

In his insightful book, How to Become a Rainmaker, author Jeffrey Fox calls this process dollarizing. Dollarizing is one of the most powerful sales techniques because once you show (with real numbers that your prospect will provide you with) the return on investment – how THIS much spent will generate THIS much savings, or profits, or sales, or new clients, or hours, etc. – you basically shift the conversation from selling what you’re selling to SELLING MONEY.

In my seminars, I do an exercise called “The Money Machine” that will help you spell this out in hard dollars, very clearly.

The Money Machine goes one step further because you can use it monetize against:

* competing products/services

* the prospect doing nothing

* the prospect doing it themselves

* other things the prospect is already comfortable spending money on

For a free copy of my Money Machine worksheet, email me: david@unconsulting.com.

Suddenly, your product/service becomes a real “investment”: meaning, you can show people the math behind “this much IN” for “this much OUT.” There’s nothing much easier than selling money at a discount!

Here’s another way to move ahead: stop the ridiculous game of “closing the sale.” Closing is not a technique; closing is not a trick; closing is not about magic phrases and looks and power games. Closing should be a natural extension of your conversation, and the two most effective questions you should ask your prospect as you near the end of your value-based discussion are:

1. Does what we’ve talked about so far make sense?

2. What would you like me to do next?

Answer to Question 1: If you’ve prepared for the meeting, discussed the prospect’s key issues, and monetized the value of your solution, of course it makes sense!

Answer to Question 2: “Let’s go ahead” or “Let’s do the paperwork.” Or if your prospect answers this with “Get Out” or “Drop Dead,” you have a pretty good idea that the sale is not ready to close. Seriously, carefully listening to the answer to this question will allow you to address any hidden concerns, hesitations, or issues – right then and there before the prospect would otherwise blurt out an abrupt “No!” to any other traditional “ask for the sale” verbiage that so many sales trainers recommend. Remember, you’re not there to sell – you’re there to HELP THE PROSPECT BUY. If you need to tattoo that on your forehead, be my guest.

Move 4: Move Aside

Here’s another thing that most sales and marketing people have a hard time with: you can’t be all things to all people. Move Aside is about finding your niche, and claiming your expertise in a narrow area of specialty. In plain English, this means you want to become the “Go-To Guy” for your specific product or service – the exact opposite of a “jack-of-all-trades and master of none.”

The people you speak with will have a very different reaction to these two mental images of your product/service:

* “I think we can make this fit.”

* “This is exactly what we’ve been looking for.”

Let me give you an example. There’s a real company that lists among its services “Carpet removal, house cleaning, odd jobs, catering.” Now, I don’t know about you, but when I want a caterer, I’m looking for someone who does catering 24/7. I don’t want to have to worry about “Did they wash their hands after the carpet removal job and before serving my guests?” In fact, if I’m looking for a caterer for a wedding, I might even be drawn to “Wedding Bells Catering” much more so than “Sam’s Catering” or “Good Eats Catering.”

Here’s another example. There are lots of graphic design companies that do all sorts of work – websites, logo design, brochures, collateral material, wine labels, book packaging, etc. You name it, they do it. And business is generally OK. (But let’s face it, if they were going like gangbusters, they probably wouldn’t have sought out my help!) Some of them had a hard time differentiating themselves from the competition and others found it challenging to develop a strong client base and referral network. We’ve had some good success developing their current business, but when we delve into the possibilities of “Moving Aside” and carving out a real niche, or developing one thing that is their flagship specialty, most of my clients get cold feet.

One company (not my client – too bad for me!) that has done this with fabulous results is MaxEffect. They made a tough call. They moved aside. They could obviously do a wide variety of things with their graphic design and advertising skills, but they do ONE THING: they work exclusively on yellow pages ads. That’s it. If you want a killer yellow pages ad with bold graphics, custom or stock photography, clean layout, and a strong, compelling message, these are your go-to people. They’ve designed hundreds and hundreds of yellow pages ads and they’ve built a fanatical client base, and they get a steady stream of referrals – not to mention the steady and growing flow of client work.

Check it out for yourself: http://www.max-effect.com

Move 5: Move Alone

Right now, you are lost in a sea of gray. Me-too rules the day. Everywhere you look, there is more and more and MORE of the SAME OLD THING sold by the SAME OLD PEOPLE in the SAME OLD WAY. Boring. And deadly.

The problem is that people don’t buy gray. If you and your company and your offerings blend into the background, you might as well close up shop right now. Let me put it another way: all companies go bankrupt. It’s just a matter of time. Want proof? Out of the 100 largest companies of 50 years ago, 17 survive today. And none of those 17 are the market leaders they used to be.

Why? Shift happens. If you’re not separating yourself from the crowd, you’re blending in – and nobody will even notice you, much less seek you out and tell their friends about you.

Here’s an example of a company that really hasn’t been doing a bad job – but they’re also not the standouts they used to be.

On a recent call to American Express, an executive was straightening out a billing problem. At the end of the call, the operator asked her, “Have I exceeded your expectations for this call?” and the exec flatly answered, “No.” She had a billing problem, and the rep fixed it. That’s the expectation.

Now, if the rep had offered the executive a $50 American Express gift check to be used at any of American Express’ online retail partners, THAT would have exceeded expectations, right? That story would be worth repeating to 10-20 people. Can you imagine the executive telling anyone, “Hey, I called AmEx to fix my billing error. Guess what? They did it!” That’s not moving alone.

Here’s a good test to see if your marketing and sales strategies are in the category of “moving alone” – they are if you’re doing something that:

* is “simply not done” in your industry

* customers will make a remark about (remarkable!)

* goes against conventional wisdom (I call this “uncommon sense”)

* others (including your competition) think is “crazy”

* others (including your competition) will actually be AFRAID to copy

Get silly. Get crazy. Get an attitude. Get noticed.

Author Seth Godin perhaps put this most succinctly when he said, “Safe is risky. And risky is safe.”

Let me conclude with a recap of the 5 Marketing Moves:

1. Move Up = Get more valuable

2. Move In = Get closer

3. Move Ahead = Get smarter

4. Move Aside = Get specialized

5. Move Alone = Get noticed

Taken together, these will also help you make the Ultimate Move = Get insanely great.

And remember the immortal words of Jerry Garcia:

“You don’t want to be considered the best of the best.
You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.”

Spring has sprung. The birds are singing as they busily build nests and do their mating dances. Yeah, it won't be long before the flowers bloom, and grass starts growing. You know what that means...grass needs mowing. When you parked the riding mower last fall, you knew that it would be a miracle if you could get it through another summer. You're going to need to replace old "Betsy" sooner or later, and start thinking about the features you want the next mower to have.

Well, you haven't tried starting the old mower, but hey, it's raining cats and dogs outside. With nothing better to do, you head for the mall and find yourself among a line of shiny lawn mowers with a wide variety of prices and features. What are the advantages of each one compared to the difference in costs?

Yep, not every customer that walks through your door is ready to make a purchase. Maybe they're still in the "thinking about it" stage. Yeah, when you think long enough, you usually talk yourself into doing it. That's why it's important to treat every customer's question with respect. You never know when a properly answered question will lead to a sale.

Here are some tips to keep in mind for effectively answering customer questions:

1. A Question is the Sign of a Potential Sale.
Yeah, if a customer is taking the time to look you up and ask questions, you're dealing with a high level of interest. Don't take it lightly. A prompt and quick response laced with the added benefits of the product will go a long way toward closing a sale.

2. Make it Easy to Ask A Question.
There's nothing more frustration than having a simple question and having to move heaven and earth to get an answer. Make it easy for your customers to ask questions. Make your website question friendly and include a phone number with all of your sales material.

3. Organize - Set up a Frequently Asked Question File
What questions have you emailed answers to sixteen times this week? Keep a file with those repeat questions. You'll be able to copy and paste the answers into responses. Hey, your customer will be happy and you can spend time doing something else. Everyone wins!

4. Get Back - Quickly
How many times have you shopped around while waiting for someone to get back to you? Yeah, it's easier than ever on the web. Customer attention spans are ever shortening with the vast global competition at their fingertips. Don't dilly dally - get back to them pronto!

5. Make Every Question a Sales Opportunity
When someone asks you a question, you've got their attention! They're waiting for an answer that is important to them. Yeah, it's the perfect opportunity to expand your response to include benefits of the purchase.

Questioning customers wear a badge that says, "Buyer on Board!" Read it and pay attention. Often a little nudge will mean a sale to tally at the day's end. Think of it like this...learning to effectively answer customer questions is a low-cost and effective way to boost your profits this year!

There are many ways to reach out and find the people you are trying to attract for your business. Here are just a handful of ways to get you started:

1) Attend organization meetings

Where do people in your target market hang out? Research this, and then plan to attend a meeting or two to mix and mingle. What better way to meet and get to know these individuals while learning more about the market?

2) Offer to speak at a meeting or conference

What do you have to offer that you feel could be of value to those you are trying to reach out to? Present a short talk or slide show on a helpful topic. Be sure you present something of value to the group. What helpful tips or other material would hold ther attention, and entice them to learn more about you and what you do? Just give them a small taste of your skills and knowledge. Chances are, they will want to talk to you after the presentation.

3) Advertise in publications your target market reads

The Internet is a great place to research what publications are out there. You can probably even get your advertisement to appear online as well as in the hard copy of a publication. Advertising can be rather expensive, so be careful with this one!

4) Present a free teleclass

If you are not confident in your public speaking skills, but still feel you have something of value to teach those you are trying to influence, try offering a no-cost teleclass. It is usually fairly inexpensive to rent a bridge line to host your class. You can teach from the comfort of your own home, too. This is also a great way to get a list of names to add to your subscriber list for mailings. If you are comfortable with this option, you can charge a small fee for future teleclasses you hold, which will bring you some passive income.

5) Start a blog

Write daily or weekly posts related to subject matter that will pique the interest of your target market. Spend time researching particular topics that you can write about. Then, add some pizazz...get excited when you post the information to your blog. If you're excited about something, others will be too. And don't forget to use keywords. These are what the search engines will use to find the content in your blog and draw others to it.

Are you ready to kick off a marketing campaign that will send your sales to the moon? Whether you're ready to create a Web page, sales letter, or other sales copy, take a moment to ask yourself these important questions before you dive in. Think before you advertise.

1. Who Do You Want to Target?
Is your prospective customer an avid outdoorsman who likes to hike? Know exactly who you are talking to before you start. Once you know the characteristics of your ideal reader, it's much easier to create a dynamic sales message that will address their interests and needs. Talk directly to the reader, and watch them respond.

2. What Action Do You Want Your Reader to Take?
Not all advertisements are intended to spur immediate sales. Are you looking for a list of prospective buyers, first time inquiries, or direct sales? Word your sales copy to stimulate the action you want the reader to take.

3. What Do You Have That Your Competitors Don't?
Before you can expect your audience to head out for your place of business, you've got let them know why they need to do business with YOU. Do you provide faster results, a better guarantee, personalized service, easier to use products? What is it that makes your product better?

How important is it to identify your competitive edge? A good rule of thumb is that it should cover about one half of your advertising space. Pretty important, huh? Yeah, you'll want to keep a close eye on the competition and continuously update to KEEP the competitive edge.

4. How Can You Verify Your Claims?
You don't believe everything you hear...especially from someone wanting to sell you something, and neither will your prospective customers. You've got to make them believe that what you say is the gospel truth. Gather testimonials from current customers, dig up some reliable research that will back up your claims, and find someone well-respected to endorse your product or service. Just don't expect blind faith from people who don't know you.

5. How Do You Spur The Readers to Action
Let's face it...procrastination has a good foothold in the lives of many of the people we are marketing our products and services too. Yeah, they're a lot like us. They see the ad, think "Hey, I need to get one of those," and go on about life without every getting around to making it to your place of business.

Deadlines can spur action. Hey, if you know you're going to pay 25 percent less if you buy it by Saturday, you're not likely to wait until Sunday to do your shopping. Put together a list of sales you want to introduce, specify the end dates, and your set to put a little motivation in your copy. Hint: You don't have to have new sales every time - recycle the ones you have every so often...especially those that bring good response.

Motivating sales copy doesn't have to be written by professional marketers. Implement these questions in your sales page and you'll have high-quality copy the produces top-notch results.

There are four ways to overcome the wrecking ball in your online business but seem to elude the faint hearted. If allowed, it will destroy the very fiber of your being!

I was almost classified in this category. Do you remember the song, “I just wish that I knew what I know now?” I don’t remember the artist, but I do remember the catchy tune. Knowing what I know now sure would have saved me a lot of heartache when I was younger.

When I was about ten I remember having a lemonade stand in the middle of fall. It was cold out then and my friends ribbed me so harshly that I almost gave up on my sales escapade. After I stayed outside for an hour or so with no sales money in my little cup, I began to believe what my friends were saying was true.

I guess my father saw my disappointment wrote all over my face through the window because he came out to keep me company. Now I don’t know about anyone else’s dad, but mine was like Superman in my eyes. Little did I know then pop taught me a few lessons that afternoon about business and life in general.

He sat and talked to me about 4 things I need to know to survive in any type of business. The 4 concepts are actually very simplistic in nature. They are belief, passion, patience, and perseverance.

Dad asked me if I still believe people will come and buy my lemonade. I answered by saying I didn’t know but if they were coming, I wished they would come soon. He told me to be patient and they will come. He said for right now, I need to know if you believe they will come or not. Of course I said yes, but I still wasn’t sure.

I learned the awesome power of belief that day. I found out that when I truly believed they would show up and buy, I became very passionate about selling. I didn’t know the first thing about advertising or marketing like I know today, but I went into the house and began to call some kids in the neighbor. Little did I know, my mother already called their parents.

In the mean time I went back outside, only to find dad ready to tell me a story about some old farmer and his mule. Bet your bottom dollar I wasn’t very interested in his story then, but it kicked in about thirty years later. It was a perfect illustration about perseverance.

Pop told me this mule fell in an abandoned well. The farmer attempted its rescue. Unable, he was determined to bury his friend and dumped a load of dirt down the well. That mule kicked, stomped, and snorted, until he stood two feet higher. A few more loads of dirt a lot of kicking, snorting, and stomping down that dirt, the mule walked out on level ground… a survivor!

I bet by now your asking “What in the world does this story have to do with an online business?” It has everything to do with overcoming the wrecking ball!

Unlike the mule, often Internet marketers get caught in a well, but they see no way out so they give up! In actuality, the wrecking ball is a form of self-destruction! It’s so deadly! I truly believe this is the reason it is so elusive to the faint hearted. Not practicing these concepts in our business is like inviting a wrecking ball into our minds that can, and will, demolish everything in its path including our self esteem and confidence.

If you are one of the faint hearted, I urge you to keep your chin about you. Try believing that people will buy from you! Once you believe they will come, your passion level will be higher than you can possibly imagine!

Now get out there and advertise the heck out of your product(s). Just don’t expect it to happen overnight. It does take hard work. Be persistent and have patience prudence, they will come.

By the way, about that lemonade stand… within a half hour or so people started to come and buy my lemonade. I made $56.30 that day. It may not seem like a lot of money to you, but back then, at ten cents a glass and age 10, it seemed like a goldmine to me.


Article may be freely distributed in its entirety! Absolutely no selling, editing, or altering of content including the link provided. You may add your text box with link under author's text box.

While the rest of the world have developed many barriers and protections to keep their e-mail accounts spam-free, there are also those that subscribe to mails that promotes their products, services and their site. This is mainly because these subscribes wants to know more about what these sites are offering and can be beneficial for them. They expect to get be kept posted on what they are interested in and what are new in the market or field they have chosen.

Businesses would be so lucky to have these kinds of customers; the basic element needed to get these types of people is trust. When your customers trust you they will reward you with their loyalty. Many internet users have gone to great lengths in protecting their email accounts from spam mail. Some free-mail internet providers and internet service providers offer spam protection while there are also some internet based companies that screen your mails for you.

With an opt-in mail list, the mails you send containing your promotional materials such as newsletters, catalogs and marketing media will go through. Your intended recipient will be able to read and view what you have sent making it a successful transfer of information. To be able to be allowed to do so, you will need permission from your recipient, to get this permission; you need to be able to get their trust. With the great lack of disregard for privacy in the internet, getting the trust of an internet user you don’t personally know is a big achievement.

To build a good opt-in list you need people to trust you, for a faster and quicker build up, you need to get your opt-in subscribers to trust you quickly. The faster you build your opt-in list the faster word about your site and company gets to be spread. The bigger the scope of your opt-in list the more traffic you get spelling more profits. Its easy math if you thin about it. Getting the numbers is not that simple though, or maybe it is?

•Getting the trust of your clientele shouldn’t be so hard especially if you do have a legitimate business. Getting your customers trust should be based upon your expertise. People rely on other people who know what they are talking about. Garner all the knowledge and information about your business. Ell, frankly if you decide to go into a business most probably you have an interest in it. Like how many basketball payers become coaches, you don’t really venture into something you don’t have any interest in.

•Show your clients that you know what you are talking about. Provide them with helpful hints and guidelines that pertain to what you are selling. Talk about how to install a roof if your into hardware products or provide articles on insurance settlements if you’re a settlement lawyer. You don’t have to be a big corporation to make use of an opt-in list. If your customers see you as someone who knows what he is doing and saying, they will trust you quickly.

•Be true to your customers, if you want to hype up your products and services, provide guarantees. The more satisfied customers you get, the bigger probability there is that they will recommend you. Generally, people will trust someone they know, when that someone recommends you then you’re a shoo-in. They will go to your site and check it for themselves and be given a chance to experience what the other shave experienced from you, so make sure to be consistent in the service you provide.

•Another tip in getting a customer to trust you quickly is to provide them an escape hatch. Show them that you are not there to trap them. Keep a clean list that would enable them to unsubscribe anytime they want. Elaborate your web form by providing information on how to unsubscribe from the list. Guarantee them that they can let go of the service when ever they want to. Many are wary that they may be stuck for life and would have to abandon their email accounts when they get pestered with spam.

Remember that when you get the trust of your clients don’t lose that trust. Because if you do anything with their email addresses like sell them or give them out, you will lose many members of your list as ell as potential members. The true quickest way to gain the trust of your subscribers is when you are recommended by someone they trust.

1. Get Specific
Nothing can spell out BORING quicker than bland claims that really say nothing. "My clients make more money!" is a perfect example of poor copy that could use a little life. What happens when you change it to, "My clients increased their sales by 23.5% in the first 30 days!" Now that is kicking! It's specific and exciting.

Be sure that your claims sound believable, no matter how unbelievable they are. People are skeptical of "too good to be true" claims. It's better to tone it down, and let them be surprised when it exceeds their expectation.

2. Keep It Short and Sweet
Long paragraphs and complex sentences look too much like work to read. Yeah, readers get bored quickly and easily. Chop it up, and break it up. Don't use paragraphs of more than 7 lines or sentences longer that 18 words. Find ways to shorten it up, and you'll keep the readers attention.

How many long words are in your copy? Replace them with short common words to create a reader-friendly appeal. Let your copy speak to them in the language they are used to hearing. Well, if your readers don't like to spend a lot of time reading... it pays to choose your words carefully.

3. Keep it Active
Eliminate dull passive phrases. They do little, except bore the heck out of your readers. Dig them out and replace them highly active words that will motivate the reader to get up out of his easy chair and DO something.

The call to action is the most important part of any advertisment. Call, subscribe, join, order, buy... make them hear the call loud enough that they do something - NOW.

4. Skip the Humor
In the right place, and at the right time, humor is an effective tool. Written sales copy just isn't it. Ads are short, concise and to the point. Humor tends to get in the way and distract.

Real life stories captivate readers. They relate to them. The human interest of these stories draws the reader into the message, whereas humor distracts them for the point.

5. Us A Powerful P.S.
A P.S. can be a powerful way to emphasize your product, highlight the points of benefit, or dramatize effects of the purchase. It's the perfect way to summarize your page.

The P.S. is most powerful on Web pages. Surfers often read the headlines and skim to the P.S. where they look to get an idea of what's on the page, and if it's worth their time to read it. Put some effort into making your P.S. captivating.

Spring has sprung. The birds are singing as they busily build nests and do their mating dances. Yeah, it won't be long before the flowers bloom, and grass starts growing. You know what that means...grass needs mowing. When you parked the riding mower last fall, you knew that it would be a miracle if you could get it through another summer. You're going to need to replace old "Betsy" sooner or later, and start thinking about the features you want the next mower to have.

Well, you haven't tried starting the old mower, but hey, it's raining cats and dogs outside. With nothing better to do, you head for the mall and find yourself among a line of shiny lawn mowers with a wide variety of prices and features. What are the advantages of each one compared to the difference in costs?

Yep, not every customer that walks through your door is ready to make a purchase. Maybe they're still in the "thinking about it" stage. Yeah, when you think long enough, you usually talk yourself into doing it. That's why it's important to treat every customer's question with respect. You never know when a properly answered question will lead to a sale.

Here are some tips to keep in mind for effectively answering customer questions:

1. A Question is the Sign of a Potential Sale.
Yeah, if a customer is taking the time to look you up and ask questions, you're dealing with a high level of interest. Don't take it lightly. A prompt and quick response laced with the added benefits of the product will go a long way toward closing a sale.

2. Make it Easy to Ask A Question.
There's nothing more frustration than having a simple question and having to move heaven and earth to get an answer. Make it easy for your customers to ask questions. Make your website question friendly and include a phone number with all of your sales material.

3. Organize - Set up a Frequently Asked Question File
What questions have you emailed answers to sixteen times this week? Keep a file with those repeat questions. You'll be able to copy and paste the answers into responses. Hey, your customer will be happy and you can spend time doing something else. Everyone wins!

4. Get Back - Quickly
How many times have you shopped around while waiting for someone to get back to you? Yeah, it's easier than ever on the web. Customer attention spans are ever shortening with the vast global competition at their fingertips. Don't dilly dally - get back to them pronto!

5. Make Every Question a Sales Opportunity
When someone asks you a question, you've got their attention! They're waiting for an answer that is important to them. Yeah, it's the perfect opportunity to expand your response to include benefits of the purchase.

Questioning customers wear a badge that says, "Buyer on Board!" Read it and pay attention. Often a little nudge will mean a sale to tally at the day's end. Think of it like this...learning to effectively answer customer questions is a low-cost and effective way to boost your profits this year!

There are many ways to reach out and find the people you are trying to attract for your business. Here are just a handful of ways to get you started:

1) Attend organization meetings

Where do people in your target market hang out? Research this, and then plan to attend a meeting or two to mix and mingle. What better way to meet and get to know these individuals while learning more about the market?

2) Offer to speak at a meeting or conference

What do you have to offer that you feel could be of value to those you are trying to reach out to? Present a short talk or slide show on a helpful topic. Be sure you present something of value to the group. What helpful tips or other material would hold ther attention, and entice them to learn more about you and what you do? Just give them a small taste of your skills and knowledge. Chances are, they will want to talk to you after the presentation.

3) Advertise in publications your target market reads

The Internet is a great place to research what publications are out there. You can probably even get your advertisement to appear online as well as in the hard copy of a publication. Advertising can be rather expensive, so be careful with this one!

4) Present a free teleclass

If you are not confident in your public speaking skills, but still feel you have something of value to teach those you are trying to influence, try offering a no-cost teleclass. It is usually fairly inexpensive to rent a bridge line to host your class. You can teach from the comfort of your own home, too. This is also a great way to get a list of names to add to your subscriber list for mailings. If you are comfortable with this option, you can charge a small fee for future teleclasses you hold, which will bring you some passive income.

5) Start a blog

Write daily or weekly posts related to subject matter that will pique the interest of your target market. Spend time researching particular topics that you can write about. Then, add some pizazz...get excited when you post the information to your blog. If you're excited about something, others will be too. And don't forget to use keywords. These are what the search engines will use to find the content in your blog and draw others to it.

Are you ready to kick off a marketing campaign that will send your sales to the moon? Whether you're ready to create a Web page, sales letter, or other sales copy, take a moment to ask yourself these important questions before you dive in. Think before you advertise.

1. Who Do You Want to Target?
Is your prospective customer an avid outdoorsman who likes to hike? Know exactly who you are talking to before you start. Once you know the characteristics of your ideal reader, it's much easier to create a dynamic sales message that will address their interests and needs. Talk directly to the reader, and watch them respond.

2. What Action Do You Want Your Reader to Take?
Not all advertisements are intended to spur immediate sales. Are you looking for a list of prospective buyers, first time inquiries, or direct sales? Word your sales copy to stimulate the action you want the reader to take.

3. What Do You Have That Your Competitors Don't?
Before you can expect your audience to head out for your place of business, you've got let them know why they need to do business with YOU. Do you provide faster results, a better guarantee, personalized service, easier to use products? What is it that makes your product better?

How important is it to identify your competitive edge? A good rule of thumb is that it should cover about one half of your advertising space. Pretty important, huh? Yeah, you'll want to keep a close eye on the competition and continuously update to KEEP the competitive edge.

4. How Can You Verify Your Claims?
You don't believe everything you hear...especially from someone wanting to sell you something, and neither will your prospective customers. You've got to make them believe that what you say is the gospel truth. Gather testimonials from current customers, dig up some reliable research that will back up your claims, and find someone well-respected to endorse your product or service. Just don't expect blind faith from people who don't know you.

5. How Do You Spur The Readers to Action
Let's face it...procrastination has a good foothold in the lives of many of the people we are marketing our products and services too. Yeah, they're a lot like us. They see the ad, think "Hey, I need to get one of those," and go on about life without every getting around to making it to your place of business.

Deadlines can spur action. Hey, if you know you're going to pay 25 percent less if you buy it by Saturday, you're not likely to wait until Sunday to do your shopping. Put together a list of sales you want to introduce, specify the end dates, and your set to put a little motivation in your copy. Hint: You don't have to have new sales every time - recycle the ones you have every so often...especially those that bring good response.

Motivating sales copy doesn't have to be written by professional marketers. Implement these questions in your sales page and you'll have high-quality copy the produces top-notch results.

There are four ways to overcome the wrecking ball in your online business but seem to elude the faint hearted. If allowed, it will destroy the very fiber of your being!

I was almost classified in this category. Do you remember the song, “I just wish that I knew what I know now?” I don’t remember the artist, but I do remember the catchy tune. Knowing what I know now sure would have saved me a lot of heartache when I was younger.

When I was about ten I remember having a lemonade stand in the middle of fall. It was cold out then and my friends ribbed me so harshly that I almost gave up on my sales escapade. After I stayed outside for an hour or so with no sales money in my little cup, I began to believe what my friends were saying was true.

I guess my father saw my disappointment wrote all over my face through the window because he came out to keep me company. Now I don’t know about anyone else’s dad, but mine was like Superman in my eyes. Little did I know then pop taught me a few lessons that afternoon about business and life in general.

He sat and talked to me about 4 things I need to know to survive in any type of business. The 4 concepts are actually very simplistic in nature. They are belief, passion, patience, and perseverance.

Dad asked me if I still believe people will come and buy my lemonade. I answered by saying I didn’t know but if they were coming, I wished they would come soon. He told me to be patient and they will come. He said for right now, I need to know if you believe they will come or not. Of course I said yes, but I still wasn’t sure.

I learned the awesome power of belief that day. I found out that when I truly believed they would show up and buy, I became very passionate about selling. I didn’t know the first thing about advertising or marketing like I know today, but I went into the house and began to call some kids in the neighbor. Little did I know, my mother already called their parents.

In the mean time I went back outside, only to find dad ready to tell me a story about some old farmer and his mule. Bet your bottom dollar I wasn’t very interested in his story then, but it kicked in about thirty years later. It was a perfect illustration about perseverance.

Pop told me this mule fell in an abandoned well. The farmer attempted its rescue. Unable, he was determined to bury his friend and dumped a load of dirt down the well. That mule kicked, stomped, and snorted, until he stood two feet higher. A few more loads of dirt a lot of kicking, snorting, and stomping down that dirt, the mule walked out on level ground… a survivor!

I bet by now your asking “What in the world does this story have to do with an online business?” It has everything to do with overcoming the wrecking ball!

Unlike the mule, often Internet marketers get caught in a well, but they see no way out so they give up! In actuality, the wrecking ball is a form of self-destruction! It’s so deadly! I truly believe this is the reason it is so elusive to the faint hearted. Not practicing these concepts in our business is like inviting a wrecking ball into our minds that can, and will, demolish everything in its path including our self esteem and confidence.

If you are one of the faint hearted, I urge you to keep your chin about you. Try believing that people will buy from you! Once you believe they will come, your passion level will be higher than you can possibly imagine!

Now get out there and advertise the heck out of your product(s). Just don’t expect it to happen overnight. It does take hard work. Be persistent and have patience prudence, they will come.

By the way, about that lemonade stand… within a half hour or so people started to come and buy my lemonade. I made $56.30 that day. It may not seem like a lot of money to you, but back then, at ten cents a glass and age 10, it seemed like a goldmine to me.


Article may be freely distributed in its entirety! Absolutely no selling, editing, or altering of content including the link provided. You may add your text box with link under author's text box.

Let's be honest... everybody knows that people are in business to make money. Yeah, customer's know you've got our eyes set on making a profit, but they still want to believe that you are in business for more than just their money. Do your customers know that you really care about them? Here are 4 "tried and true" techniques to show them you care.

1. Be Personal
I recently walked into a well-known store and spoke with a salesperson who really seemed to have it going on. I felt pretty good about the interaction, until I walked away and heard him reciting the same spiel he had just used with me moments earlier.

Customers are looking for personal one-on-one recognition. In this automated world, they are used to feeling like just a number, and crave to have real interaction. Take the time to discover their lifestyle before you try to sell them a one-size-fits-all product. Think about the ways the product will benefit THEM.

You'll find that there are pockets of people with similar interests and needs. Hey, that's the perfect opportunity to customize your sales campaign to the needs of different market niches.

2. Look Out For The Customer
Sure, you've sat and listened to boring sales speaches that went on and on about every feature, aspect and guarantee a product had to offer. Yeah, BORING! Customers don't give a hoot about the specific details and credentials of you and your product nearly as much as they want to know how it will benefit them.

Make sure your advertisements on the Web, sales letters, and other promotions point out the advantages to the customer. Keep the focus on them. How will the modern features make life easier? How will your credentials make you better equipped to help them?

3. Stay in Contact
There are a lot of customers who don't buy on the first visit. Sure, there are a fair number of impulsive shoppers, but not everyone shells out the bucks the first time the idea pops into their head to make a purchase. Wise shoppers take a little time to consider it first.

What happens in the meantime? Well, that depends on you. Do you follow up regularly with customers? Give them a little additional information each time, and build a relationship of trust. Before long, you'll have a loyal customer spreading the word about your business.

Internet marketers need to devise ways of getting email addresses to use for follow-up strategies. Free newsletters and complimentary reports are perfect for opening the door for future communications.

4. Be "Question Friendly"
Nothing says, "I really care," like taking the time to thoroughly answer a question - no matter how small. Think of it this way... a customer who is asking questions is considering the possibility of making a purchase. Hey, it might not be today or tomorrow, but someday you'll reap the benefits of the time you spend answering their questions.

Is it easy for your customers to ask a question? Now, I'm not talking about calling an automated answering service that you spend 25 minutes pushing buttons and end up back at the main menu. Can they ask questions, and get personal answers?

Always provide a phone number where a person can be reached, or an email address that someone will personally answer. You can save a lot of time by posting a frequently asked question page, where they can find answers without the effort of making contact.

Assuring customers of their importance is one of the greatest ways to make loyal, life-long customers.