The Ultimate Sales & Marketing Mind Map Maximize Profits & Eliminate Waste In Your Advertising
1. Up Sell
1.1. ALWAYS USE AN UP SELL
1.2. The easiest and fastest way to increase your profits TODAY
1.3. Use at point of purchase, when the customer is in buying mode
1.4. Examples
1.4.1. "By the way, Mrs. Jones, we have a special today for people who order the _______. If you wanted to, you could get ______ for just $29.95 today...it's usually $49.95. Should I ring you up for that?"
1.4.2. "Would you like to add a 2 liter of Pepsi for just a dollar?"
1.4.3. "Because you bought _____, you can save 20% off ______ right now."
1.4.4. Actual Case - I was looking at a $90 pair of shoes and right after I said "I'll take them" the saleswomen offered me a 2nd pair for 20% off. I purchased them as well.
1.4.4.1. $90 purchase immediately went to $140
1.4.4.2. That's an extra $50 for simply telling me about the up sell
1.4.4.3. I was also offered another up sell, cost would have been $25, but I declined
1.4.4.3.1. But there is a percentage of people who will take that up sell as well
1.4.4.3.2. If I took that, the initial $90 purchase would have went up to $165
1.4.5. If your business has salesman or technicians out in the field, make sure they are using an up sell
1.4.5.1. If the customer declines the up sell, make the salesman/technician have the customer sign that they were asked
1.4.5.2. This will make sure the salesman/technician asks every customer
1.5. Money is being left on the table if up sells are not being used. Period.
2. Cross Sell
2.1. Offer at point of purchase
2.2. Offer after purchase (in follow up e-mails, phone calls, in person)
2.3. Do they know about everything you sell
3. Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
3.1. Why should customers buy from you instead of your competitors or not buy at all?
3.2. Why are you different?
3.2.1. Low price is NOT good enough
3.2.2. Great quality is NOT good enough
3.2.3. Great service is NOT good enough
3.2.4. ANY company can say these things
4. Customer List
4.1. Capture the contact information of customers
4.1.1. At the very least, name and e-mail
4.1.2. Birthdays and hobbies are good details too
4.2. Give compelling reason for them to give their contact information
4.2.1. "Join our newsletter" is NOT compelling
4.3. Ideas To Capture Contact Information
4.3.1. "Free _______ if you join our list"
4.3.2. "Half price off XX"
4.3.3. XX% discount on any product/service
4.3.4. REMEMBER - Give a great incentive in exchange for their contact information
4.3.5. Free reports filled with great content that is relevant to your market
4.4. MOST important part of any business, the customer list!
4.5. Sell to the top 20% of customers more often
4.6. Consider firing bottom 10-20% of customers
4.7. Can sell to them without having to pay big money to run an ad
4.7.1. Contact at least 12 times a year. Minimum
4.7.1.1. Monthly Newsletter
4.7.2. Build relationships with them
4.8. Carry out regular research: ask them what they want, ask them what needs improvement, ask them anything - reward people for answers
4.8.1. Phone calls
4.8.2. Emails
4.8.3. Questionnaires
5. Website
5.1. Important contact information on every page
5.1.1. Don't make visitors search for contact info
5.2. Important information above the fold
5.2.1. Above The Fold = The part of the page people see without having to scroll down
5.3. Opt In Box
5.3.1. Drop down - Pop In
5.3.1.1. Box appears on screen seconds after the visitor lands on your site
5.3.2. Right side
5.3.2.1. Box appears on the right side of the page at all times
5.4. Headline
5.5. Irresistible Offer
5.6. Clear call to action
5.7. Unique Selling Proposition (USP) clearly stated
5.8. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
5.8.1. The purpose of search engine optimization is to make a website as search engine friendly as possible.
5.8.2. Keywords in title tag
5.8.3. Keywords in URL
5.8.4. Meta Description
5.8.4.1. Brief summary of the site
5.8.5. H1 tags
5.9. Up Sell
5.9.1. Placement
5.9.1.1. Between sales page and checkout page
5.9.1.2. After checkout
5.9.1.2.1. One click up sell
5.9.2. On "Thank You" page and/or in thank you e-mail
5.9.3. One Time Offer
5.9.3.1. Let the buyer know this offer will never be available again
5.9.3.2. Don't be surprised if at least 30% of people also buy the OTO
5.9.4. Test to find where the best placement is for your up sell
5.10. Include As Many Of These Components As You Can
5.10.1. Scarcity
5.10.2. Testimonials
5.10.2.1. Audio
5.10.2.2. Video
5.10.2.2.1. Best kind
5.10.2.3. Text
5.10.3. Videos
5.10.3.1. Submit to video sharing sites as well
5.10.4. Blog
5.10.5. Business listed in online directories
5.10.6. Proper Logo's - PayPal, Google, BBB, Credit Cards, etc.
5.10.7. Visible, great guarantee
5.10.8. Exit pop up box
5.10.8.1. One last effort to grab their contact info
5.11. Tracking
5.11.1. Install Google Analytics (it's free) to track website traffic
5.12. Mobile Ready
5.12.1. Consider making your website mobile phone friendly
5.12.2. The amount of people using their phones to search online is increasing every single day
5.13. Online Directories
5.13.1. Submit your clients website to online directories
5.13.1.1. Google
5.13.1.2. Bing
5.13.1.3. Yahoo
5.13.1.4. MSN
5.13.1.5. Yelp
5.13.2. Consider using this service - https://www.ubl.org
5.14. Checkout
5.14.1. Test putting checkout at bottom of the page instead of making visitors click "buy" or "add to cart"
5.15. Traffic
5.15.1. See "Online Traffic Generation"
5.15.2. Offline Traffic To Website
5.15.2.1. URL on printed materials
5.15.2.1.1. Brochures
5.15.2.1.2. Receipts
5.15.2.1.3. Ads
5.15.2.1.4. Direct Mail
5.15.2.1.5. Press Releases
5.15.2.1.6. Events
6. Clear Call To Action
6.1. Put a CTA on and in everything, and include it in conversations
6.2. Never expect the customer to know what you want them to do
6.2.1. Test your instructions on a wide range of people (age, skills, interests)
6.2.2. You must clearly tell them what they are to do next
6.3. Talk about what happens if they DON'T buy
7. Customer "Touches"
7.1. Communicate with your customer list at least 12 times a year. Minimum!
7.1.1. No reason you can't make contact at least once per month
7.2. Ideas To Contact List
7.2.1. Holiday Promotions
7.2.1.1. Christmas
7.2.1.2. Thanksgiving
7.2.1.3. St. Patrick's Day
7.2.1.4. New Year's Day
7.2.1.5. Easter
7.2.1.6. Mothers' Day
7.2.1.7. Fathers' Day
7.2.1.8. Labor Day
7.2.1.9. Memorial Day
7.2.1.10. 4th of July
7.2.1.11. Halloween
7.2.2. Birthdays
7.2.3. Anniversaries
7.2.4. New product or service
7.2.5. Overstock items
7.3. Send out a monthly newsletter
7.4. Keep in regular contact via e-mail
7.4.1. Very cheap solution
7.4.2. Open rates may be low, so consider an offline newsletter instead.
7.4.2.1. Test to see which gives the greatest ROI
7.5. Opinion Polls & Surveys
7.6. Offer them something to buy
7.6.1. Do not just pitch them non stop, but do give them an irresistible offer from time to time
8. Selling To Past Customers
8.1. New customers are 5 times more expensive to sell to than a past customer
8.2. Don't chase new customers when old customers are being neglected
8.3. Craft a 30, 60 or 90-day “New Customer Experience” designed to quickly generate a secondary sale while strengthening the new relationship.
8.4. Be willing to spend AT LEAST as much to KEEP a customer as you're willing to pay to get a new customer.
8.5. This is where "hidden money" is found in your business
8.6. Communicate with them at least 12 times a year. Minimum!
8.7. Past Client Re-Activation Letter
8.7.1. Send a letter to "dead customers"
8.7.1.1. Someone who hasn't purchased in the past 6-18 months
8.7.2. Make an irresistible offer to encourage them to buy again
8.7.3. A 30% response rate is not uncommon
8.7.3.1. HUGE leaps in income can be seen just from using this one strategy every few months
8.8. Analyze your customers and separate into A-B-C groups based on responsiveness and then develop strategies to upgrade C's to B's, B's to A's
8.9. Make more offers to them more often
8.10. Sell renewable products or services
8.11. Learn more about each customer and tailor offers to match
8.12. Reward frequent purchasers
9. Systems
9.1. Take whatever is working and systematize it
9.1.1. Write each and every step down
9.1.2. Make sure every employee follows your systems
9.1.3. Test each step to improve it
9.1.3.1. Test ONE step at a time
9.2. Build a machine that can run without you
10. Irresistible Offer
10.1. #1 Marketing Strategy - Build Everything Around It
10.2. Always give an irresistible offer on everything (website, direct mail, up sell, in person, etc)
10.3. Put an irresistible offer on receipts (**Go to www.YourSite.com to sign up and receive 20% off your next purchase)
10.4. "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" usually out pulls "2 for the price of 1"
10.4.1. Same thing but the first one sounds better
10.5. "Gift with purchase" works well
10.6. Make what you're selling "free"
10.6.1. Example - New energy efficient windows will pay for themselves after a few years
11. Test and Identify
11.1. What's working NOW
11.1.1. Do more of it!
11.2. What's Not Working Now
11.2.1. Re-asses and re-vamp
11.2.2. Or STOP doing it asap!
12. Direct Mail
12.1. Create and test each component
12.1.1. Message, Market, Media Match
12.1.1.1. Send the right message, to the right person, using the right media
12.1.2. Headline
12.1.2.1. Does it pass the "stand alone test"
12.1.2.1.1. If you ran just the headline and a phone # as a classified ad, is it enticing enough to get calls?
12.1.3. Benefits
12.1.4. Overcome objections
12.1.5. Testimonials
12.1.6. Compelling Offer
12.1.7. Clear call to action
12.1.8. Scarcity
12.1.9. Deadline
12.1.10. Free Recorded Message
12.1.11. P.S.
12.1.11.1. Second most read part of a letter (headline is first)
12.1.12. Lumpy mail vs flat mail vs postcards
12.1.13. No copy on outside of envelope vs. putting copy on outside
12.2. Test Small First
12.2.1. No sense in mailing to a HUGE list only to find out it bombs
12.2.2. Test small first so you don't waste as much money
12.3. Must grab attention
12.3.1. Without grabbing your prospects attention nothing else matters because they won't see/read anything else
12.4. Send out mail to qualified lists
12.4.1. One step process
12.4.1.1. Attempting to get the sale on first contact
12.4.2. Multi-step process
12.4.2.1. Asking the prospect to "raise their hand" first
12.4.2.1.1. This is done by offering a free report, free recorded message, etc.
12.4.2.1.2. Great way to qualify prospects and weed out tire kickers
12.4.3. Dunning Method
12.4.3.1. Send a series letters
12.4.3.2. First letter
12.4.3.3. "2nd Notice" letter that refers to the first letter
12.4.3.4. "Final Notice" letter that refers to the first two letters sent
12.5. Return On Investment (ROI) is the most important number
12.5.1. If your profits are more than your print and mailing costs, KEEP mailing
12.6. Don't focus too much on response rates
12.6.1. Business owners have gone broke on a 10% response rate while others have become rich with a .05% response rate
12.6.2. ROI is the only thing that matters
12.7. Always use first class postage
12.7.1. Nothing screams "junk" faster than bulk mail
12.8. Always focus on the reader and not your company. People are always wondering "what's in it for me?"
12.9. Envelope
12.9.1. Teaser copy on outside
12.9.1.1. If you go this route, you mine as well use the entire envelope for copy
12.9.1.2. Put testimonials on the back
12.9.2. No Teaser Copy
12.9.2.1. Looks more personal
12.9.2.2. Use an invitation size envelope
12.9.2.3. Use first class stamp
12.9.2.3.1. If you don't, it will scream "ad" so you won't sneak in under the radar
12.10. Lumpy Mail
12.10.1. Great way to get attention and get your envelope opened
12.10.2. You include something that adds bulk to the envelope thus creating curiosity
12.10.3. Remember - You Always Want To Tie In Your Lumpy Piece To Your Sales Letter
12.10.4. Great source to buy "lumpy" items is OrientalTrading.com
12.10.5. Lumpy Mail Ideas - Tie In
12.10.5.1. Bag of peanuts - "Are you nuts?"
12.10.5.2. Rubiks Cube - "Can you solve the puzzle?"
12.10.5.3. Sand Timer - "Time is running out!"
12.10.5.4. Shoe - "Now that I have my foot in the door"
12.10.5.5. Fake Gold Coins - "treasure to be found in your business"
12.10.5.6. Magnifying Glass - "No fine print"
13. Packaging - Bundling
13.1. Good way to increase transaction size
13.2. Offer bargains
13.2.1. Buy 10 oil changes and get 1 FREE
13.2.2. Buy one Get one FREE
13.2.3. Pay up front for 10 months, get two months FREE
13.3. Offer bulk discounts
14. Continuity
14.1. Work out and implement a way to get people to automatically pay $XX every month for your product or service
14.1.1. Customers credit card automatically gets charged every month until they cancel
14.2. Examples
14.2.1. ProActiv Solution (acne product)
14.2.2. Weight Loss Pills
14.2.3. Continuities work best when the product is consumable; meaning the customer uses it up and has no choice but to buy it every month, like in the above 2 examples
14.3. Forced Continuity
14.3.1. When a person buys a product or service, they automatically get billed on a monthly basis (or whatever time period you choose) until they cancel
14.3.2. Good way to get recurring income
14.3.3. Make sure you are honest and up front about the continued billing, misleading people will only lead to big legal issues
15. Membership
15.1. Increases Retention
15.1.1. Think credit cards with "rewards programs"
15.2. VIP Club
15.2.1. After Hours Private Sale
15.2.2. Airlines "Frequent Flyer" Miles
15.3. People will visit a restaurant more often if they are a member
15.4. People will pay more to be a part of something
15.4.1. Country Club
15.5. Monthly Newsletters
15.6. Book Of The Month Club
15.7. Online Membership Sites
15.8. Coaching Groups
16. Takeaway Selling
16.1. People want what they can't have
16.1.1. The more they can't have it the more they want it
16.1.2. This is why scarcity works so well
16.2. Indifference
16.2.1. The more you act like you don't want their money, the more they'll try and give it to you
16.2.2. The more you act like you don't want their business, the more they'll try and give it to you
16.3. You must learn to speak using takeaway selling terms
16.3.1. "If you qualify"
16.3.2. "This may be too expensive for you"
16.3.3. "I'm not even sure this is right for you"
16.3.4. "If you still want to go ahead with this"
17. Influence and Persuasion
17.1. If you can describe someone’s problem better than they can, they automatically and unconsciously created you with knowing the solution. They assume you know the answer.
17.1.1. So ask yourself “What is my prospects problem” and “How can I describe it to them”?
17.2. Enter the conversation already going on in the persons mind.
17.3. People Buy Feelings
17.3.1. Remember, people buy based on emotion and justify it with logic
17.3.2. Give people emotionally reasons (benefits) to buy and logical reasons (features) to justify their purchase
18. Profit Leaks
18.1. Not Using An Up Sell
18.1.1. Biggest mistake you could make
18.1.2. Luckily, it's the easiest to fix
18.2. Not Selling To Past Customers
18.2.1. Easiest sale to make
18.3. Not optimizing what's already working
18.4. Not stopping what ISN'T working
18.5. Not Giving Irresistible Offers
18.5.1. Make your offer to good to pass up
18.5.2. Put offers on receipts
18.6. Not Having a Clear Call To Action
18.6.1. People need to be told exactly what to do
18.7. Mystery call your business to make sure staff is selling properly
18.7.1. Was the phone picked up or did the call go to voicemail
18.7.2. Phone should be answered by a live person
18.8. Not capturing the contact information of customers
18.8.1. Can't follow up with them if you don't do this
18.9. Not capturing the contact information of POTENTIAL customers
18.9.1. Can't follow up with them to make the sale
18.9.2. Not everyone is ready to buy right away.
18.10. Not Testing Everything
18.10.1. Simple A/B split testing can explode profits
18.10.2. Test prices and offers first
19. New Market Checklist
19.1. Large base of reachable, passionate fans?
19.2. Good margins?
19.3. Repeat business potential?
19.4. Easy up sells and cross sells?
20. The 13 Ultimate Marketing Rules
20.1. Always use an up sell
20.2. Find a hungry market first and fill their need, do not create a product first then look for someone to buy it
20.3. Always be testing and tracking
20.3.1. Deadlines and scarcity work wonders, use them
20.4. Always have a clear, call to action
20.5. Always remember that people are always thinking "What's in it for me?"
20.5.1. Answer that question in your marketing
20.5.2. Put your customers needs above your own
20.6. You must answer the question "Why should I, your prospect, choose to do business with you over any and every other option available to me?"
20.6.1. Your USP should answer this question
20.7. Make IRRESISTIBLE offers
20.8. Build systems so your business can run without you
20.9. Always work on building your list
20.9.1. Your list is your #1 asset in your business
20.10. Always provide value
20.11. Stay away from image advertising and only use direct response advertising
20.12. Don't forget the 80/20 in every aspect of your business...and life
21. Online Traffic Generation
21.1. Pay Per Click (PPC)
21.1.1. Google AdWords
21.1.2. Yahoo
21.1.3. Bing
21.1.4. Facebook Ads
21.2. Forum Posting
21.2.1. Good way to establish credibility
21.2.2. Big-Boards.com
21.2.2.1. Search for forums by topics
21.2.3. Put a link to your site in your signature
21.3. Blog Commenting
21.3.1. Commenting on blogs and including an anchor text link back to your site
21.3.1.1. Do NOT spam, add value with your posts
21.3.2. BlogCarnival
21.3.3. Technorati
21.3.4. WordPress
21.3.5. Create Your Own Blog
21.3.5.1. WordPress
21.4. Article Marketing
21.4.1. Write articles on topics in your market
21.4.2. Submit to article directories
21.4.2.1. EzineArticles.com
21.4.2.2. Buzzle.com
21.4.2.3. ArticlesBase.com
21.4.2.4. GoArticles.com
21.4.2.5. iSnare.com
21.4.2.6. SearchWarp.com
21.4.2.7. ArticleCity.com
21.5. Social Networks
21.5.1. Facebook
21.5.2. MySpace
21.5.3. LinkedIn
21.5.4. Twitter
21.6. Directory Listings
21.6.1. Google Local
21.6.2. Yahoo Local
21.6.3. Bing Local
21.6.4. InfoUSA
21.6.5. OpenList
21.6.6. Best of The Web Local
21.6.7. City Search
21.6.8. Kudzu
21.6.9. YellowPages
21.6.10. SuperPages
21.6.11. DMOZ
21.6.12. Yelp
21.6.13. Craigslist
21.7. Social Bookmarking
21.7.1. Google Bookmarks
21.7.2. Yahoo Bookmarks
21.7.3. Digg
21.7.4. Delicious
21.7.5. StumbleUpon
21.7.6. reddit
21.7.7. Searchles
21.8. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
21.8.1. Tools
21.8.1.1. Keyword Research Tools
21.8.1.1.1. Google Adwords Tool
21.8.1.1.2. Google Suggest Tool
21.8.1.1.3. Keyword Discovery
21.8.1.1.4. Wordtracker
21.8.1.2. Search Engine Optimization
21.8.1.2.1. Tools.SEOBook.com
21.8.1.2.2. Firefox Extensions
21.8.2. On Page Optimization
21.8.2.1. Keywords
21.8.2.1.1. Page Title
21.8.2.1.2. Meta Description
21.8.2.1.3. Meta Keywords
21.8.2.1.4. Domain Name
21.8.2.1.5. H1, H2, H3, etc.
21.8.2.1.6. Throughout Copy
21.8.2.1.7. Bold and Italic text
21.8.2.1.8. Image alt text
21.8.2.1.9. Internal links anchor text
21.8.3. Off Page Optimization
21.8.3.1. Incoming Links
21.8.3.1.1. From high PR sites
21.8.3.1.2. .edu and .gov are best
21.8.3.2. Anchor text optimization
21.9. Solo Ads
21.9.1. Your ad gets emailed to a list of subscribers
21.9.2. You usually just pay a flat fee for the ad
21.10. Banner Ads
21.10.1. Cost per click (CPC)
21.10.2. Cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM)
21.11. Traffic Exchanges
21.11.1. EasyHits4U
21.11.2. Traffic-Splash
21.12. Video Marketing
21.12.1. YouTube
21.12.2. Google Video
21.12.3. TubeMogul
21.12.3.1. Use this to automatically submit your videos to a dozen or so video sites
21.12.4. Video Tips
21.12.4.1. Watermark your videos with your URL
21.12.4.2. Have your URL at the bottom (or wherever) during the entire video
21.12.4.3. Have a clear, call to action at the end of EVERY video
21.12.4.4. Lighting can make or break your video
21.12.4.5. Poor audio can make or break your video as well
21.13. Squidoo
21.14. Teleseminars
21.14.1. GoToMeeting.com
21.14.2. InstantTeleseminar.com
21.15. Webinars
21.15.1. GoToWebinar
21.16. Joint Ventures
21.16.1. They promote your product to their list in exchange for a percentage of sales
21.16.1.1. Should give at least 50%
21.16.1.2. The more you give the more interested others will be in promoting your products
21.16.2. Fastest way to build your list
21.16.3. Make it as easy as possible for JV partners
21.16.3.1. The last thing they want to do is more work
21.16.4. Work on building the relationship with JV partners
21.16.4.1. Make their job as easy as possible
21.16.4.2. Help them in any way that you can
21.16.4.3. Be friendly
21.16.4.4. PAY THEM ON TIME
21.16.4.5. The higher the percentage the better
21.17. Free Reports
21.17.1. Give away CONTENT FILLED reports as a way to get noticed and build your list
21.17.2. Have a link to your site in the footer of every page
21.17.3. Link (and short blurb) to your site in the beginning of the report
21.17.4. Link and a clear, call to action at the end of the report
22. Testing and Tracking
22.1. ALWAYS be testing and tracking everything
22.1.1. This means all components, even little ones
22.2. What gets tested and tracked gets improved
22.3. Always looks for faster, cheaper, and easier ways to do something
22.3.1. When you deposit the checks the bank won't give you more money if you earned it the longer, harder, and most expensive way
22.4. Always remember that "small changes equals big profits"
23. Testimonials
23.1. Social Proof - What others say about you is far more important than if you said the same thing
23.2. If you don't already have testimonials, get them now
23.2.1. Types of Testimonials
23.2.1.1. Audio
23.2.1.2. Video
23.2.1.3. Written Letter
23.3. Get permission from your customers to use their testimonials in your marketing
23.4. If your business has your customers waiting (doctors, dentists, etc.), have a binder in the waiting room that is full of your testimonials
24. Stick Strategies
24.1. Items That Are Packaged
24.1.1. Include small yellow label on outside inviting them to call a toll free # to hear a free recorded message. Message just reinforces the benefits of the products, reassures them they made the right purchase, etc.
24.2. Follow up with buyer soon after they have purchased
24.2.1. Follow up via e-mail to see if they have any questions or need help
24.2.2. Follow up with a letter to see if they have any questions, need help and to reinforce the benefits
24.2.3. Follow up with a personal phone call to see if they have any questions, need help and to reinforce the benefits
24.2.4. Use this as another opportunity to sell them something else (up sell)
24.2.4.1. Make an irresistible offer with a deadline
24.2.5. Use as an opportunity to ask for referrals
24.3. Newsletter
24.3.1. Keeps you "front of mind" for when customers need the type of product or service you sell in the future
24.3.2. Offers a chance to give value and build a relationship with your customers
24.3.3. Another opportunity to sell your products or services
24.3.4. Monthly newsletters are best
24.3.4.1. Quarterly or longer don't work as well
24.3.5. Best to send an offline newsletter, as in an actually newsletter you mail
24.3.5.1. Email can work but they aren't as effective.
24.3.5.2. Although, feel free to test email vs offline to see which is better
24.3.6. Can also do a paid newsletter
24.3.6.1. You must provide value with this option though for obvious reasons
24.3.6.2. Great way to get recurring monthly revenue
25. Referrals
25.1. Ask for them at point of sale
25.1.1. Ask for them at other times as well
25.1.1.1. When following up with customers
25.1.1.2. Anytime a customer says how great of a job you are doing
25.2. Give incentives to encourage people to give you referrals
25.3. Just getting a small percentage of your clients/customers to give you a referral will dramatically increase your profits
25.3.1. Another reason why you NEED to know the lifetime value of each client/customer
26. Guarantee
26.1. What is your guarantee
26.2. Your guarantee may make a good USP
26.3. If you are selling something you cannot strongly and fairly guarantee, you ought to find something better to sell
27. Advertising
27.1. Test small first
27.1.1. Always test and track
27.1.2. If it makes you money, keep running the ad!
27.2. Headline
27.2.1. Make it attention getting
27.2.2. Benefit filled
27.3. Free Recorded Message
27.3.1. Works well with printed ads
27.4. Use Testimonials
27.5. Irresistible Offer
27.6. Clear Call To Action
27.7. Deadline
27.8. Scarcity
27.9. Contact Information
27.10. Web Address
27.10.1. Better for those who prefer a website to a recorded phone message
27.11. Capture Prospects Contact Information
27.11.1. Your ad should offer a way to capture the name and e-mail of potential buyers
27.11.1.1. Offer a free report
27.11.1.2. Free gift
27.11.1.3. Anything you can think of to offer in exchange for their name and e-mail
27.11.2. Less Info Required = More leads
27.11.3. More Info Required = Less leads but higher quality
27.12. Return On Investment (ROI) is the most important number
27.12.1. If you bring in more money than it cost to run the ad, KEEP running the ad!
27.12.2. Even if you break even, you should keep running the ad
27.12.2.1. Gives you more customers to sell to on the back end
28. Free Recorded Message
28.1. Use as a tool to give out more information
28.1.1. This is a good way for people to listen to testimonials
28.1.2. It's also a chance to answer FAQs
28.2. Get More Information
28.3. Create special offers with a call to action (CTA)
29. Joint Ventures
29.1. Identity, approach and team up with other non competing, yet complementary, businesses and sell THEIR products or services to your list as special offers
29.1.1. Your customers feel grateful to you
29.2. Identity, approach and team up with other non competing, yet complementary, businesses and sell YOUR products or services to their list as special offers
29.2.1. You increase your customer list this way
29.3. Tracking is important
29.3.1. A coupon code or a unique URL for tracking purposes to show how much business was referred through the joint venture mailing can be set up
30. Lead Generation
30.1. Always test and track
30.2. Always work on increasing conversion
30.3. What is something you can do today to get business that you didn't do yesterday?
30.4. Ways To Generate Leads
30.4.1. Direct Mail
30.4.1.1. Postcards
30.4.1.2. Sales Letter
30.4.1.3. Lumpy Mail
30.4.1.4. Free Standing Insert (FSI)
30.4.2. Telemarketing
30.4.2.1. Not recommended (bad positioning), but can work
30.4.3. Website
30.4.3.1. Give away free reports in exchange for contact info
30.4.4. YouTube Videos
30.4.4.1. Driving traffic back to your website
30.4.5. Cold Calling
30.4.5.1. Not recommended, very bad positioning, but can work
30.4.6. Print Ads
30.4.6.1. Magazines
30.4.6.2. Newspapers
30.4.7. Press Release
30.4.8. Write A Book
30.4.8.1. GREAT for positioning and becoming an authority figure
30.4.8.2. A book is mainly a positioning tool, don't expect to become wealthy from the sales of the book
30.4.9. Television
30.4.10. Radio
30.4.11. Val Pak
30.4.11.1. High open rate
30.4.11.2. Mostly looked at by females
30.4.11.2.1. Take this into consideration when crafting your message
30.4.12. Teleseminars
30.4.13. Webinars
30.4.14. Speaking
30.4.15. Workshops
30.5. Does a live person answer the phone
30.5.1. If not, why not?
30.5.2. Live person will increase conversion
30.6. Deal Flow
30.6.1. Always work on lead generation, even when you don't need to
30.6.1.1. Better to have too much than too little
30.6.2. Dig the well before you thirst
31. Raise Prices
31.1. Instant way to increase profits
31.1.1. Margins stay the same, so any extra increase in price is pure profit
31.2. Increase Perceived Value
31.2.1. If people don't want to pay, it's because you're not delivering enough value for the money you're charging
31.2.2. Value = Quality + Service + Price
31.3. Only a about 10%-15% of people really buy based on lowest price
31.3.1. People only buy on price when there is nothing else to compare
31.4. A common misconception is that raising prices will make people buy less, this just isn't true
31.4.1. People will find the money for whatever it is they want to buy REGARDLESS of price.
31.5. There is a market at ANY price point
31.6. Some people ONLY buy the most expensive products
31.6.1. Expensive = Quality
31.7. Offer Basic and Deluxe versions
31.7.1. At least 20% of people will ALWAYS select the higher priced version
31.7.2. Also moves the prospect from yes/no to "which do I want" thinking
31.8. There is NO downside to raising prices
31.9. People will pay more money for a specialized product rather than a non specialized product
31.10. People comply more when they are paying more
31.10.1. More skin in the game
31.11. Gives you greater flexibility in your marketing
31.11.1. Margins are now higher so you can afford to spend more on acquiring new customers
31.11.2. Most business owners want to spend LESS on acquiring new customers
31.11.2.1. But the fact is, the person who can afford to spend the MOST on acquiring new clients/customers will ALWAYS win
31.11.2.2. Because acquiring a new client/customer is the MOST expensive client/customer there is.
32. 80/20 Principle
32.1. Sell more to the top 20% of your customers
32.2. Sell more to the top 5% of your customers
32.3. Fire the bottom 10-20% of your customers
32.4. Stock and sell more of the top 20% of products
32.5. Look after and reward the top 20% of sales staff
32.6. Every time you add an 80/20 layer you increase your profit margins 10-50%
32.7. Do MORE of what's working
32.8. STOP what isn't working
32.9. Always ask yourself "is what I'm doing moving me closer toward my goal?" "Is what I'm doing right now the most important thing for creating value?"
32.9.1. Answer = NO
32.9.1.1. Stop doing it!
32.9.2. Answer = YES
32.9.2.1. Keep doing it
32.10. Testing and Tracking
32.10.1. Always look for faster, easier, and cheaper ways to do things
33. Time Management
33.1. “There is no shortage of time, only a confusion of priorities.“
33.2. Start your day with intention instead of reacting to things around you
33.2.1. Other peoples emergencies are not your problem
33.3. Do NOT check your e-mail as your first task
33.3.1. Train employees in this habit too
33.3.2. Have specific times to read and answer emails. Stick to these times, and also let clients know you do this
33.4. Create and USE systems for everything
33.4.1. Train staff to use them properly and effectively
33.4.2. Review these systems periodically
33.5. Create weekly and daily To Do lists of important, value creating things, and get them done!
33.6. Have a FAQ section on your website
33.7. Always use deadlines
33.8. Start being more critical about what's an emergency and what's not an emergency; what is a crisis and what is not a crisis; what is important and what is not important
33.9. Spend more time working ON your business instead of working IN your business
33.9.1. Set aside time every day/week to work on the things that are the most important in helping your business
33.10. Intent vs Reacting
33.10.1. Start your day with a purpose
33.10.2. Most people are always reacting to things
33.10.2.1. Their days are influenced by what's happening around them
33.11. 80/20 Principle
33.11.1. Analyze work patterns
33.11.2. Analyze profits and losses
33.11.3. Analyze client spend
33.11.4. Apply it to EVERYTHING
34. Lifetime Value Of Customer (LTV)
34.1. Tells you how much you can spend to get a new customer/client
34.2. One of the MOST IMPORTANT numbers in your business!
34.3. Know this number, and understand how you got it
35. Proper Positioning
35.1. Proper positioning is crucial if you want others to play by your rules and if you want to command higher prices
35.2. Write A Book
35.2.1. Becoming an author is one of the best ways to properly position yourself
35.2.2. You can hire a ghostwriter to write it for you
35.3. Doing what everyone else is doing will NOT position you properly
36. Niche
36.1. Consider specializing in one area of your industry, in one product, or one service
36.1.1. A brain surgeon does nothing but brain surgery. You wouldn't find him treating a broken bone, the flu, a pulled muscle, etc.
36.2. People pay more money for a specialized product or service
36.3. Your target market must be small enough so that the resources you can and will use can have a big impact. There's no point to spitting into the Atlantic Ocean
36.3.1. The "big fish, small pond" approach is best for anybody operating with limited resources and/or budget
37. Follow Up
37.1. You can only follow up with customers/clients if you've captured their contact information
37.2. Follow up after purchases, contact from clients (good or bad), a year later, etc
37.3. Great time to OFFER customers/clients something else to buy
37.4. Great time to ask for referrals
38. Message, Market, Media
38.1. You must send the right message, to the right market, using the right media
38.2. Market is the most important of the 3
38.2.1. Mediocre marketing aimed at a very well selected target market will get better results than great marketing aimed at the wrong market
38.3. Create a very detailed profile of your typical customer
38.3.1. "Everyone" is NOT your market
38.3.2. When you identify your market you can speak directly to them
38.4. A lot of money is wasted on not getting these 3 things correct
38.4.1. Lamborghini would be wasting money if they spent time and money trying to sell their cars to people with an income of $35,000 per year
39. Know Your Market
39.1. What are your customer's choices?
39.2. What are they already being offered?
39.3. What problems are they facing?
39.4. What benefits are they being told they'll get?
39.5. How are they being sold?
39.6. Is there a gap in the market?
40. Buying Motivators
40.1. People buy to either avoid pain or gain pleasure
40.1.1. For most people, avoiding pain is a greater motivator than gaining pleasure
40.1.2. People buy when the pain of the problem is greater than the cost of the solution.
40.2. People buy based on emotion then justify it with logic
40.2.1. Sell to their emotions but give them reasons to justify their purchase later on
40.3. People buy what they WANT
40.3.1. Ironically, selling something they need is often times difficult
40.3.2. This is why you see satellite dishes and flat screen TV's in trailer parks
40.3.3. Sell things people REALLY want, not what YOU think they SHOULD want
40.4. People buy the results they get from your product or service, not the actual product or service itself
40.4.1. You don't buy gas because you like gas. You buy it because you want to drive somewhere
40.4.2. Don't focus on what your product or service is, focus on what it DOES
40.4.3. Women buy creams and lotions so they can look 10 years younger, they don't buy them because they want the cream and lotion. They want the results the creams and lotions will give them
40.5. People buy to transfer responsibility
40.5.1. This way if something goes wrong they can blame someone or something else
40.6. People Buy Because Of Their Feelings
40.6.1. To feel superior
40.6.2. To feel frugal
40.6.3. To have a story to tell
40.6.4. To feel successful
40.6.5. To feel important
40.7. Sell the cure, not a preventative
40.7.1. People don't buy preventatives
40.7.2. They buy things when they are already experiencing the pain
41. The Vault
41.1. Hi
41.2. Show some love and leave a testimonial on the WSO thread for this product
41.2.1. Least you could do since this was free for you ;-)
41.3. Warrior Forum WSO Thread - Click icon -->>
41.4. If that link becomes dead for whatever reason, link to Vagabond 007's profile -->
41.5. Link to Vagabond 007's blog
41.5.1. NoBsMarketingAdvice.com
41.6. Take action and add value to the world
42. Educate
42.1. to gain authority
42.1.1. New node