Marketing Daily Tips

Thirty percent of all the drinkable water that runs between the plant and your faucet is lost to leaky pipes. In marketing, thirty percent of our business is lost to leaky follow up. Even professional sales people have leaky follow up when they stop after one or two contact points.

How much business are you letting get lost to your leaky pipes. Here are some ways to tape them up or you may have to replace some fittings:

1. Do a check up of your follow-up system from the time of precontact to six months later. Since only 2% of sales occur after a first contact and does not go up until the fifth contact — it goes to 80% then — what is your follow- up plan of action between the first contact point and the fifth?

This means that if you e-mail them once or twice there is less than 2% they will read it. People are very busy and even if you put the same message out week after week, there is less than 13% chance that they will even notice it’s the same message.

And they will need to see it at least 5 times before they will “really” read it. Follow- up is an easy plan, that is, once you sit down and plan it out.

2. I read a book this weekend, Marketing Outrageously. In it, Jon Spoelstra, puts it so well, “Prepare yourself in writing.” Another favorite saying I keep on my wall is, “If it ain’t written down, it’s a wish floating in the wind.” I don’t remember the author.

Create a plan. Even if it is a struggle to do so, create one the best way you can, yet it needs to be in writing. Creating a marketing plan is not something that comes by osmosis.

I have read plenty of books on creating a marketing plan, however, until I worked with an expert I just could not make it simple. And until I made it simple, I would do it — catch 22. Find an expert, hire them, and learn it. It will make the difference between success and struggle.

3. Never stop marketing — not even in the good times. Never be too busy to market. There is a time lag in any marketing between the time of first contact and the buy. That lag time can be devastating to a business operating on the edge. It also causes a feast or famine roller coaster ride for the business. If you are too busy, leverage your resources by outsourcing.

4. Find your rhythm and make it work with productivity. Are you a morning person or does your energy crash around 2 PM?

Tony Robbins taught me an exercise a long time ago that still works to this day. I read all my research material, write down all the questions, and then go to sleep. When I wake up the plan is outlined for me and most if not all my questions are answered. You can use this same exercise by doing this before you talk a walk or exercise.

A few of my clients told me they do it before they get in the shower or are taking a long drive with someone who doesn’t talk much. When the answers or plan is not answer in the morning, it usually presents itself within a few days all on its own.

What I like about this method is how more innovative methods show themselves that can be completed with fewer resources. My last leak pursuit began with 20 steps and missing pieces that ended up with five steps and no holes. The unconscious mind is a power tool we forget too often that is on our side.

5. Stop all unproductive marketing activities that are not boosting your profits. If the ROI isn’t there almost immediately, rethink it and adjust or eliminate.

You need be able to measure your marketing efforts in some form. Most people just don’t like doing it, so they jester it off as impossible. Know where your clients come from. If you only have a few, then trace them back to their origin. If you do not know, ask them, and then record it.

Next, ask the question, “What can I do more to attract clients in this same method?” A client in New Zealand just recently learned that her ad in the local paper is productively attracting clients. Originally, she wanted to change it. It wasn’t delivering the 5 to 1 ratio I recommend for her industry — coaching — yet it is attracting a 3 to 1 ratio.

A good ratio for a country that is just learning about coaching. Shoot for a 5 to 1 ratio — for every $1 you spend, you need to make $5.

6. Market more frequently to your current customer base - much more often. Very few professionals that I have talked too stay in touch with existing and past customers often enough. They think they might be “bothering” them by telling them about new products or opportunities you have. Guess what, this is a fable.

The easier you make it for them, the more they will appreciate it. There is so much hype of “too much e-mail.” Some people are going to be offended if they get one a month from you, do not be concerned, let them go.

Staying in touch is must for keeping your name in front of people. And if you don’t, people are too busy to remember you when they need what you offer again. They will always use whatever is easiest to remember at the time. Even if you were dynamic before.

7. Leverage your time by outsourcing whatever mechanical tasks you can. Hire a virtual assistant to help manage communications. The lag time between the time you hire them and the ROI (return on your investment in them) is about 2-3 months (before the dollars follow your leveraging).

Always hire others that you can pay less than yourself. If you are paid to write at $75 an hour, hire a typist at $15 an hour. Stop wanting it all. Keep the money flow going and you will attract more. It is also good for the economy. If errands are not productive for you, hire a high school or college student part-time to do them. If you can hire a student for less than what you make, do it.

Fight the fear of, “Will I be able to pay them?”

Well, here are six great ideas to check for leaks in your business. Don’t let the fish get away, fish with the right hook.

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Having a marketing strategy and marketing approach is very important. Thus, instead of recreating the wheel, here is a short, sweet, easy-to-understand marketing strategy template to help you place your ducks are in a row in designing your marketing strategy.

MARKETING STRATEGY FOR INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONALS …coaches, consultants, accountants, lawyers…

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Business Strengths

Our extensive knowledge of the adventure travel industry is our greatest strength, in addition to our positioning in the region.

Business Weaknesses

The greatest weakness our business faces is our ability to handle new competition. Currently, we are the only providers of our services in the area, and any competitor that moves in will pose a threat to our stability.

BUSINESS GOALS

Profit

Our current profit goals are: Year Two: $__________ post-tax profit Year Three: $________ post-tax profit We have not established any other long-range profit goals at this time

Sales

Our long-term sales goals are to operate at or close to cash flow break-even by Year Two and to be profitable from Year One onward. We would like our profit margin to be 7 percent by Year Three.

Marketing

Our long-term marketing goals are to develop an extensive Web site, to increase our public relations activities, and to create an informative store window to draw in customers.

POSITION IN THE MARKETPLACE

Description of Our Customers

Our customers are ___ to ___-year-old professionals, married or unmarried, without children, who are ___________.

Our Customers’ Needs

Our target customers are looking for customized planning services that will provide them with all the information necessary to take an adventure vacation in Europe. Often, they do not have the time or the resources to do the research themselves, so they turn to us for hassle-free planning services.

Why Our Customers Choose Us

Our well-informed, up-to-date staff, combined with our extensive knowledge of the ______________, allows us to surpass the services provided by other agencies.

What Sets Us Apart From the Competition

What sets our company apart from our competitors is the fact that we sell custom-designed packages for people. We ask them questions, find out exactly what they want and need, and direct them to the appropriate destinations.

MARKETING CAMPAIGN SPECIFICS

STRATEGY

Goals of the Campaign

We would like to increase our visibility, attract new customers, and display special offers that are currently available.

Campaign Focus: Specific Products or General Promotion?

Our primary focus is to expand our customer base. We would also like to keep our current customers aware of special promotions we are offering and secure their future business with us.

Products to be Advertised

We will be advertising our complete range of European adventure travel services, special discounts on travel packages, and sales on seasonal clothing and gear.

Measurements of Success

We will measure this ad campaign’s success by the number of inquiries received after its launch. This includes phone inquiries as well as inquiries made in person at the store.

Evaluation of Effectiveness

We will be reviewing the campaign’s effectiveness one month after its launch. We will evaluate its effectiveness based on the number of inquires we receive and any corresponding increase in revenue.

MESSAGE

Our Marketing Message:

No one knows more about [what] than [Your name]. TIME FRAME

Campaign Start Date

We will launch this marketing campaign in ________.

Length of Campaign

This campaign will run through __________, for a total of ________ months.

BUDGET

Annual Marketing Budget $40,000

Budget For This Campaign

$81,025. This includes $41,325 for Web site and database design, implementation, and hardware purchases, which will be useful for more than one year and will therefore be capitalized and depreciated accordingly.

Cost-Saving Measures

We plan to keep advertising costs down by targeting the most appropriate advertising methods for our business, which include online advertising, newspaper ads, and classified ads.

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Expanding your subscriber list, whether it be for your ezine, newsletter — printed or electronic — takes persistence, and commitment. Not to mention time and letting go of the frustruation of it all.

Marketing Master, Catherine Franz, is sharing with you twenty- one methods, strategies, and ideas all located in one spot on how you can expand your list.

1. Keep your subscription form easy to find on every web page. Preferably, add it on your navigational bar. If the form is to large for the bar or page, add a hyperlink and send them to a popup or a separate page so that the previous page on your site doesn’t disappear. It is easy for them to return.

2. Not only must the form be easy to see, it also needs to be easy to read. Label each field. I’ve seen a few where I didn’t know what to enter. Be kind to computer readers suffering from dry eyes, make the font large and easy to read.

3. Do you write your own ezine articles? Add a “please subscribe here line to your byline. Begin the line with a benefit they get from subscribing and then add a few invitational words along with a URL hyperlink. Example: “Learn more about this topic. Subscribe to [name of your ezine] by visiting….”

4. Generally, people are impulse buyers. So, give them that impulse. Give away a free ebook. Instead of letting them see that the ebook is free. Regularly charge for the eBook. Six dollars is a good price, just explain them that it is a limited special offer.

They will perceive it even more valuable when there is a price connected to it. An example of the wording could go like, “Normally this ebook sells for $6 at [your web site URL or even a middle man ebook site].” Always give them a reason why you are giving it to them free. Make the reason believable.

5. Do you belong to networking groups, or attend other events? Invite everyone you meet if they would like to register for your ezine. Give them a story about the free, but not so free, ebook offer. Always, make this offer limited.

In fact, have a list of these free but-not-free ebooks, written either by you, affiliates, or from resale right products. Move them around. Put one on the calendar for January through December and then repeat them the next year. Then in the third year, change it. Also, share with them how easy it is to opt-out if they don’t like the ezine and they can keep the ebook.

6. Don’t stop at networking groups, contact trade or professional organizations you do or don’t belong to that have a high percentage of your type of readers. Ask for the membership list. Look for the people you have identified as your gatekeepers (people that know lots of others in your target market).

For accountants, it’s lawyers and bankers. Call them and introduce yourself. Ask if they could recommend your ezine to a few of their friends. You can also attend their networking events and ask, ask, ask.

7. Instead, or in addition to, calling the gatekeepers you have identified on the membership lists, you can send them a letter of introduction — a direct mail piece. The piece can ask them (a call to action) to visit your web site for more information on your newsletter and/or receive a copy of the free but-not-free ebook.

8. Share the wealth. Exchange recommendations to each other’s newsletter. Be prepared for these so that it doesn’t cost you valuable time when you are working on a deadline. If you work with a virtual assistant, let them respond to these opportunities. Prepare three or four examples and offer the exchanger their choice to use one that they feel is appropriate for their audience. Ask them for a reciprocal and equal announcement.

9. Make comments and include your byline at the end. Comments can be product review on Amazon, ezines you enjoy, or local newspapers. Give suggestions, share your stories on how it helped you, ask questions, or give ideas that emerged from your reading. Blogs are also good places to comment on as well.

10. It takes 7 times before people start to trust. Present them 7 opportunities to have two-way conversations with you. Not one-way conversations (you write, they read). Provide the two-way with surveys, questions, contests, games, things that they need to ask for are just a few.

If you are offering a contest, send them a testimonial from the winner. If you can, create an opportunity for many winners. It spreads the hope and attraction.

11. Use a conversational writing tone. It makes a connection. Yet, don’t get lax on the grammar and spelling. Use personal pronouns (I, me, you and your). Limit the percentage of I’s to half or less of the yous.

12. Spread the knowledge even further by asking your readership to forward a copy of your ezine to family members, friends, colleagues, or co-workers. Create a “please forward this ezine to” line or two. Give them an incentive, offer a free but-not-free item. This can be challenging to design.

13. Do you give presentations with slides or a projection system? Add a paragraph about your ezine and how to get it on the test slide. A test slide is the slide you leave up there when they are seating themselves. Leave it displayed until a few minutes before your presentation and then turn it off.

By turning it off, it creates a “loss feeling” and they will pay attention to it the next time you turn it on. Turn the system on with the test slide displayed and then switch to the next slide. The next slide can explain how they can get your free but-not-for-free product and the directions on how to receive it. Return to this same slide at the end of your presentation.

14. At this same presentation, pass around a clipboard asking them if they want to register for ezine. Start passing at the beginning or even before you start. Use a short piece, different colored paper, with a note about the free but-not-free item. Give them three incentives to register at that time.

15. Send out a press release every time you have a new free but-not-free item available. Send whenever you have new context, new article published, or whenever anything else occurs. Since press releases require special writing, you might want to delegate this, especially if you are challenged with writing from another perspective.

If you choose to learn the lingo, you can learn the how-tos with a Google search: Search example: “press release” and “how to”. Leave in the quote marks. Don’t be nervous about sending out too many, some are always missed. http://www.prweb.com/ is a great place to post your press releases.

16. Locate web sites that give out awards for outstanding ezines. Apply and keep applying. Keep tweaking. Look at previous winners and model. When you do win one, post it everywhere on your site and on every issue of your ezine for a year. Also, send out a press release when you do. If they create a press release as well, ask to use that one. Make copies of theirs and give it out at networking events. Remember, you can’t win the lotto unless you play. So, get in the game, and apply. Try: http://emailuniverse.com/bestezines/ or search on Google with: “ezine award”.

17. I’m frequently asked, “How much information should I ask for?” My recommendation is to KISS your subscriber form — “keep it short and simple.” Ask for the e-mail address and/or their first name. If you ask for their first name, tell them why. Example: We like to personalize our correspondence with our subscribers.”

18. Set up section for past issues of your e-newsletters. I recommend just listing their main topic or name of the article and not by date. People don’t like to read things that they consider “old news”. If you use a pdf format to deliver past issues there are pros and cons. The pros are: pdf files are smaller to store and send. The con is that you loose the opportunity for tagging the item for search engine listing.

19. After you post your articles in the ezine, expand or submit as is to multi-media web sites. Possibility: http://www.goarticles.com. Locations where publishers and editors will pick up the article. Normally, there are no fees paid, just opportunity for visibility. When published send out a press release. Link their site, not yours, in the press release, Send them a copy of the release.

20. Readers are tired of not getting any value and are dropping off lists fast. faster than ever. To keep them there you MUST provide valuable information (their perception not yours). The 25/75% rule (you give them 25% and sell them the remaining 75%) is acceptable. After reading thousands of ezines, I found many publishers don’t come close to providing that percentage.

21. Add an invitation to all your automatic e-mail signatures. Also, mention the free but-not-free item of the month. Include an expiration date for that free but-not- free offer. Change the e-mail signatures weekly to maintain interest.

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This is it what I use BEFORE I begin to write any marketing copy or launch any new product or service.

I complete this exercise even when I think I’m sure that I have it done. The mind plays some funky games, by redoing this exercise, my thoughts zone into what I’m working on, and my mind becomes razor sharp.

In other words, if I am writing marketing copy and I do this every day for many different projects, even though I did the exercise yesterday for the same project, I repeat it without looking at the previous version.

Almost every time something new emerges that surprises the ding-dongs out of me. This works on the principle that when you dump it on a page, your mind becomes free to allow what is underneath to rise to the top.

By Hand Method

On a new sheet of paper, draw a vertical line down the center into two columns. Title the left column “Features” and the right “Benefits.”

Let’s first start by listing the features. Leave the Benefits for after you dumped as far as you can at this sitting. Features are the adjectives that describe the product or service.

Here is a few questions that will help speed your progress: * What does it look like? * What does it do? * How does it help? * What unique advantage does it offer?

How is it different from other products/services?

Your goal is to list at least 10 features.

Now let us switch to the “Benefits” column. Here you need to describe the outcome (results) of each feature. They need to describe the results of the feature you listed. If you don’t come up with anything, ask yourself if that is really a feature. If not, scratch it out and keep moving down.

Here are a few questions to get you started: * How does that particular feature bring value to the customer? * Will they sleep better, eat better, make more money, or what better because they have it?

Next, contact some prospects or past customers (not current customers). Ask them to identify the benefit they see in your product/service. Usually they can give you benefits you could not see. This is usually an eye-opening experience so don’t skip over it.

Now, number each of the benefits in significant order from the prospect’s perception. You can number them and then e- mail ten or so prospects, present and past customers, and ask them to number them. Then you can see how well you know your prospects. If you are way off to their perspective, then at least you know you need to get to see things from their viewpoint and you can work on that.

Finally, yet importantly, choose the top, number one, ultimate benefit that stands out. THAT, my friend, is the foundation of all of marketing and writing marketing copy. This isn’t the end, now you need to build your marketing strategy around this ONE, repeat ONE, benefit.

Don’t make the mistake juvenile marketers make by expressing all the benefits. This only confuses the buyers. Moreover, if your prospects are responding, “I need to think about it” more frequently then you prefer — let this be your clue.

You can complete the form with the same by-hand method listed here or use the form that I’ve created (available in the FORMS section of our web site, http://www.abundancecenter.com/forms/main.htm).

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As a business owner, you know how valuable being good at marketing is. Yet, I have found working with business owners for the past 20 plus years that 99.9% of them have never defined what a good marketer is — what it means in their terms.

Let’s take a moment right now and think about what you are measuring yourself against. Without a measurement, you can’t possibly know what you are shooting for and this will lead to a misconstrued representation or always believing you are never good enough or doing enough.

Yes, the best measurement of good marketing is the revenue you are receiving. Yes, there’s nothing like the confirmation that people are opening their wallets to your business. There’s also feedback — the testimonials — they are good for pats on the back or to show other people that someone cares about what you offer. Is that it though? To most big companies it always the bottom line — profit after taxes. It’s how much the stockholders make or some other reference to money.

Yet for entrepreneurs who purposes when their own direction because they “wanted something more” what is the measurement. What is the “something more?” Okay, you want to be happy and have fun along way. Oops and before I forget to have balance between the business and the rest of your life.

Hey, I think we’ve made good progress so far in starting to define what your measurement definition of a “good marketer” is, didn’t we? Not actually, we defined what you want for the whole business most of the time with a few exceptions, like the revenue. But what makes up a “good marketer” in your definition.

Great, I love challenges, don’t you? Today, let’s take a few minutes out sometime and ask ourselves, “What is my measurement of who I would be if I were a good marketer?” Here is a list of questions to guide you as you think through and create our own definition. On a scale of 1-10, give each of these a measurement of where you know you stand right at this moment.

1. How well do you think you know who you are selling to or who has purchased from you in the past?

2. How well do you KNOW the principles of marketing?

3. How well do you practice those principles?

4. How well does the public understand what you do?

5. How do you teach them what they need to know to understand what you do?

6. Are you leaving it up to someone else to do this, or have you taken it upon yourself to make sure you educate at every possible opportunity?

7. How well do you know what you are selling - your uniqueness, your product’s uniqueness?

6. Do you change your marketing strategy frequently whenever you get tired of it?

7. Is the change timing when the market has changed or when you are tired of it?

8. Are you enjoying what you have accomplishments or beating yourself up for what is left to do?

9. Are you enjoying the learning process as fun or frustrating? Are you allowing additional time to learn and grow? Are you including the learning time to be included in with the “this needs to give me results” time? How are you measuring that growth?

10. Do you repeat your offers frequently? Did you know that the “open” rate of emails is only 48% on a good day and 8% on a bad day? The 48% rate is for opt-in material. This means that there are a low number of people taking the time to read your material most of the time. This is why it is important to repeat your messages. Yes, a few will read it several times, however, they will use the delete key quickly.

11.Are you commitment 100% to marketing when you do it? Are you playing full out when you are in marketing mode, or is your heart only half in it?

12.Is it making the money you expected?

13.Do you take “no” personally?

14.Do you take good care of your health and other parts of your life as well?

There are lots more questions that you may want to ask yourself. What you want to come up with are 5-7 measurements for you to measure yourself against. If you still are having problems with defining this for yourself, ask other people who you feel meet that description.

Is all of it dependent on “results” only? When I get” when I’m over there” when I have $X dollars in the bank, then I will be a good marketer.

When you know what you are shooting for you will not ever come short or overshoot. This will keep you focused, clear and very attractive in the universe. Especially since most of it is competing against you.

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You want to be more flexible? You have to stretch your muscles. Want to be physically stronger? You have to find a way to workout and build your muscles. Want to be a stronger marketer? You’ve got to work your marketing muscles.

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