The Ultimate Sales & Marketing Mind Map Maximize Profits & Eliminate Waste In Your Advertising

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The Ultimate Sales & Marketing Mind Map Maximize Profits & Eliminate Waste In Your Advertising by Mind Map: The Ultimate Sales &  Marketing Mind Map   Maximize Profits & Eliminate Waste In Your Advertising

1. Online Traffic Generation

1.1. Pay Per Click (PPC)

1.1.1. Google AdWords

1.1.2. Yahoo

1.1.3. Bing

1.1.4. Facebook Ads

1.2. Forum Posting

1.2.1. Good way to establish credibility

1.2.2. Big-Boards.com

1.2.2.1. Search for forums by topics

1.2.3. Put a link to your site in your signature

1.3. Blog Commenting

1.3.1. Commenting on blogs and including an anchor text link back to your site

1.3.1.1. Do NOT spam, add value with your posts

1.3.2. BlogCarnival

1.3.3. Technorati

1.3.4. WordPress

1.3.5. Create Your Own Blog

1.3.5.1. WordPress

1.4. Article Marketing

1.4.1. Write articles on topics in your market

1.4.2. Submit to article directories

1.4.2.1. EzineArticles.com

1.4.2.2. Buzzle.com

1.4.2.3. ArticlesBase.com

1.4.2.4. GoArticles.com

1.4.2.5. iSnare.com

1.4.2.6. SearchWarp.com

1.4.2.7. ArticleCity.com

1.5. Social Networks

1.5.1. Facebook

1.5.2. MySpace

1.5.3. LinkedIn

1.5.4. Twitter

1.6. Directory Listings

1.6.1. Google Local

1.6.2. Yahoo Local

1.6.3. Bing Local

1.6.4. InfoUSA

1.6.5. OpenList

1.6.6. Best of The Web Local

1.6.7. City Search

1.6.8. Kudzu

1.6.9. YellowPages

1.6.10. SuperPages

1.6.11. DMOZ

1.6.12. Yelp

1.6.13. Craigslist

1.7. Social Bookmarking

1.7.1. Google Bookmarks

1.7.2. Yahoo Bookmarks

1.7.3. Digg

1.7.4. Delicious

1.7.5. StumbleUpon

1.7.6. reddit

1.7.7. Searchles

1.8. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

1.8.1. Tools

1.8.1.1. Keyword Research Tools

1.8.1.1.1. Google Adwords Tool

1.8.1.1.2. Google Suggest Tool

1.8.1.1.3. Keyword Discovery

1.8.1.1.4. Wordtracker

1.8.1.2. Search Engine Optimization

1.8.1.2.1. Tools.SEOBook.com

1.8.1.2.2. Firefox Extensions

1.8.2. On Page Optimization

1.8.2.1. Keywords

1.8.2.1.1. Page Title

1.8.2.1.2. Meta Description

1.8.2.1.3. Meta Keywords

1.8.2.1.4. Domain Name

1.8.2.1.5. H1, H2, H3, etc.

1.8.2.1.6. Throughout Copy

1.8.2.1.7. Bold and Italic text

1.8.2.1.8. Image alt text

1.8.2.1.9. Internal links anchor text

1.8.3. Off Page Optimization

1.8.3.1. Incoming Links

1.8.3.1.1. From high PR sites

1.8.3.1.2. .edu and .gov are best

1.8.3.2. Anchor text optimization

1.9. Solo Ads

1.9.1. Your ad gets emailed to a list of subscribers

1.9.2. You usually just pay a flat fee for the ad

1.10. Banner Ads

1.10.1. Cost per click (CPC)

1.10.2. Cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM)

1.11. Traffic Exchanges

1.11.1. EasyHits4U

1.11.2. Traffic-Splash

1.12. Video Marketing

1.12.1. YouTube

1.12.2. Google Video

1.12.3. TubeMogul

1.12.3.1. Use this to automatically submit your videos to a dozen or so video sites

1.12.4. Video Tips

1.12.4.1. Watermark your videos with your URL

1.12.4.2. Have your URL at the bottom (or wherever) during the entire video

1.12.4.3. Have a clear, call to action at the end of EVERY video

1.12.4.4. Lighting can make or break your video

1.12.4.5. Poor audio can make or break your video as well

1.13. Squidoo

1.14. Teleseminars

1.14.1. GoToMeeting.com

1.14.2. InstantTeleseminar.com

1.15. Webinars

1.15.1. GoToWebinar

1.16. Joint Ventures

1.16.1. They promote your product to their list in exchange for a percentage of sales

1.16.1.1. Should give at least 50%

1.16.1.2. The more you give the more interested others will be in promoting your products

1.16.2. Fastest way to build your list

1.16.3. Make it as easy as possible for JV partners

1.16.3.1. The last thing they want to do is more work

1.16.4. Work on building the relationship with JV partners

1.16.4.1. Make their job as easy as possible

1.16.4.2. Help them in any way that you can

1.16.4.3. Be friendly

1.16.4.4. PAY THEM ON TIME

1.16.4.5. The higher the percentage the better

1.17. Free Reports

1.17.1. Give away CONTENT FILLED reports as a way to get noticed and build your list

1.17.2. Have a link to your site in the footer of every page

1.17.3. Link (and short blurb) to your site in the beginning of the report

1.17.4. Link and a clear, call to action at the end of the report

2. Testing and Tracking

2.1. ALWAYS be testing and tracking everything

2.1.1. This means all components, even little ones

2.2. What gets tested and tracked gets improved

2.3. Always looks for faster, cheaper, and easier ways to do something

2.3.1. When you deposit the checks the bank won't give you more money if you earned it the longer, harder, and most expensive way

2.4. Always remember that "small changes equals big profits"

3. Testimonials

3.1. Social Proof - What others say about you is far more important than if you said the same thing

3.2. If you don't already have testimonials, get them now

3.2.1. Types of Testimonials

3.2.1.1. Audio

3.2.1.2. Video

3.2.1.3. Written Letter

3.3. Get permission from your customers to use their testimonials in your marketing

3.4. If your business has your customers waiting (doctors, dentists, etc.), have a binder in the waiting room that is full of your testimonials

4. Stick Strategies

4.1. Items That Are Packaged

4.1.1. 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.

4.2. Follow up with buyer soon after they have purchased

4.2.1. Follow up via e-mail to see if they have any questions or need help

4.2.2. Follow up with a letter to see if they have any questions, need help and to reinforce the benefits

4.2.3. Follow up with a personal phone call to see if they have any questions, need help and to reinforce the benefits

4.2.4. Use this as another opportunity to sell them something else (up sell)

4.2.4.1. Make an irresistible offer with a deadline

4.2.5. Use as an opportunity to ask for referrals

4.3. Newsletter

4.3.1. Keeps you "front of mind" for when customers need the type of product or service you sell in the future

4.3.2. Offers a chance to give value and build a relationship with your customers

4.3.3. Another opportunity to sell your products or services

4.3.4. Monthly newsletters are best

4.3.4.1. Quarterly or longer don't work as well

4.3.5. Best to send an offline newsletter, as in an actually newsletter you mail

4.3.5.1. Email can work but they aren't as effective.

4.3.5.2. Although, feel free to test email vs offline to see which is better

4.3.6. Can also do a paid newsletter

4.3.6.1. You must provide value with this option though for obvious reasons

4.3.6.2. Great way to get recurring monthly revenue

5. Referrals

5.1. Ask for them at point of sale

5.1.1. Ask for them at other times as well

5.1.1.1. When following up with customers

5.1.1.2. Anytime a customer says how great of a job you are doing

5.2. Give incentives to encourage people to give you referrals

5.3. Just getting a small percentage of your clients/customers to give you a referral will dramatically increase your profits

5.3.1. Another reason why you NEED to know the lifetime value of each client/customer

6. Guarantee

6.1. What is your guarantee

6.2. Your guarantee may make a good USP

6.3. If you are selling something you cannot strongly and fairly guarantee, you ought to find something better to sell

7. Advertising

7.1. Test small first

7.1.1. Always test and track

7.1.2. If it makes you money, keep running the ad!

7.2. Headline

7.2.1. Make it attention getting

7.2.2. Benefit filled

7.3. Free Recorded Message

7.3.1. Works well with printed ads

7.4. Use Testimonials

7.5. Irresistible Offer

7.6. Clear Call To Action

7.7. Deadline

7.8. Scarcity

7.9. Contact Information

7.10. Web Address

7.10.1. Better for those who prefer a website to a recorded phone message

7.11. Capture Prospects Contact Information

7.11.1. Your ad should offer a way to capture the name and e-mail of potential buyers

7.11.1.1. Offer a free report

7.11.1.2. Free gift

7.11.1.3. Anything you can think of to offer in exchange for their name and e-mail

7.11.2. Less Info Required = More leads

7.11.3. More Info Required = Less leads but higher quality

7.12. Return On Investment (ROI) is the most important number

7.12.1. If you bring in more money than it cost to run the ad, KEEP running the ad!

7.12.2. Even if you break even, you should keep running the ad

7.12.2.1. Gives you more customers to sell to on the back end

8. Free Recorded Message

8.1. Use as a tool to give out more information

8.1.1. This is a good way for people to listen to testimonials

8.1.2. It's also a chance to answer FAQs

8.2. Get More Information

8.3. Create special offers with a call to action (CTA)

9. Joint Ventures

9.1. Identity, approach and team up with other non competing, yet complementary, businesses and sell THEIR products or services to your list as special offers

9.1.1. Your customers feel grateful to you

9.2. Identity, approach and team up with other non competing, yet complementary, businesses and sell YOUR products or services to their list as special offers

9.2.1. You increase your customer list this way

9.3. Tracking is important

9.3.1. 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

10. Lead Generation

10.1. Always test and track

10.2. Always work on increasing conversion

10.3. What is something you can do today to get business that you didn't do yesterday?

10.4. Ways To Generate Leads

10.4.1. Direct Mail

10.4.1.1. Postcards

10.4.1.2. Sales Letter

10.4.1.3. Lumpy Mail

10.4.1.4. Free Standing Insert (FSI)

10.4.2. Telemarketing

10.4.2.1. Not recommended (bad positioning), but can work

10.4.3. Website

10.4.3.1. Give away free reports in exchange for contact info

10.4.4. YouTube Videos

10.4.4.1. Driving traffic back to your website

10.4.5. Cold Calling

10.4.5.1. Not recommended, very bad positioning, but can work

10.4.6. Print Ads

10.4.6.1. Magazines

10.4.6.2. Newspapers

10.4.7. Press Release

10.4.8. Write A Book

10.4.8.1. GREAT for positioning and becoming an authority figure

10.4.8.2. A book is mainly a positioning tool, don't expect to become wealthy from the sales of the book

10.4.9. Television

10.4.10. Radio

10.4.11. Val Pak

10.4.11.1. High open rate

10.4.11.2. Mostly looked at by females

10.4.11.2.1. Take this into consideration when crafting your message

10.4.12. Teleseminars

10.4.13. Webinars

10.4.14. Speaking

10.4.15. Workshops

10.5. Does a live person answer the phone

10.5.1. If not, why not?

10.5.2. Live person will increase conversion

10.6. Deal Flow

10.6.1. Always work on lead generation, even when you don't need to

10.6.1.1. Better to have too much than too little

10.6.2. Dig the well before you thirst

11. Raise Prices

11.1. Instant way to increase profits

11.1.1. Margins stay the same, so any extra increase in price is pure profit

11.2. Increase Perceived Value

11.2.1. If people don't want to pay, it's because you're not delivering enough value for the money you're charging

11.2.2. Value = Quality + Service + Price

11.3. Only a about 10%-15% of people really buy based on lowest price

11.3.1. People only buy on price when there is nothing else to compare

11.4. A common misconception is that raising prices will make people buy less, this just isn't true

11.4.1. People will find the money for whatever it is they want to buy REGARDLESS of price.

11.5. There is a market at ANY price point

11.6. Some people ONLY buy the most expensive products

11.6.1. Expensive = Quality

11.7. Offer Basic and Deluxe versions

11.7.1. At least 20% of people will ALWAYS select the higher priced version

11.7.2. Also moves the prospect from yes/no to "which do I want" thinking

11.8. There is NO downside to raising prices

11.9. People will pay more money for a specialized product rather than a non specialized product

11.10. People comply more when they are paying more

11.10.1. More skin in the game

11.11. Gives you greater flexibility in your marketing

11.11.1. Margins are now higher so you can afford to spend more on acquiring new customers

11.11.2. Most business owners want to spend LESS on acquiring new customers

11.11.2.1. But the fact is, the person who can afford to spend the MOST on acquiring new clients/customers will ALWAYS win

11.11.2.2. Because acquiring a new client/customer is the MOST expensive client/customer there is.

12. 80/20 Principle

12.1. Sell more to the top 20% of your customers

12.2. Sell more to the top 5% of your customers

12.3. Fire the bottom 10-20% of your customers

12.4. Stock and sell more of the top 20% of products

12.5. Look after and reward the top 20% of sales staff

12.6. Every time you add an 80/20 layer you increase your profit margins 10-50%

12.7. Do MORE of what's working

12.8. STOP what isn't working

12.9. 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?"

12.9.1. Answer = NO

12.9.1.1. Stop doing it!

12.9.2. Answer = YES

12.9.2.1. Keep doing it

12.10. Testing and Tracking

12.10.1. Always look for faster, easier, and cheaper ways to do things

13. Time Management

13.1. “There is no shortage of time, only a confusion of priorities.“

13.2. Start your day with intention instead of reacting to things around you

13.2.1. Other peoples emergencies are not your problem

13.3. Do NOT check your e-mail as your first task

13.3.1. Train employees in this habit too

13.3.2. Have specific times to read and answer emails. Stick to these times, and also let clients know you do this

13.4. Create and USE systems for everything

13.4.1. Train staff to use them properly and effectively

13.4.2. Review these systems periodically

13.5. Create weekly and daily To Do lists of important, value creating things, and get them done!

13.6. Have a FAQ section on your website

13.7. Always use deadlines

13.8. 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

13.9. Spend more time working ON your business instead of working IN your business

13.9.1. Set aside time every day/week to work on the things that are the most important in helping your business

13.10. Intent vs Reacting

13.10.1. Start your day with a purpose

13.10.2. Most people are always reacting to things

13.10.2.1. Their days are influenced by what's happening around them

13.11. 80/20 Principle

13.11.1. Analyze work patterns

13.11.2. Analyze profits and losses

13.11.3. Analyze client spend

13.11.4. Apply it to EVERYTHING

14. Lifetime Value Of Customer (LTV)

14.1. Tells you how much you can spend to get a new customer/client

14.2. One of the MOST IMPORTANT numbers in your business!

14.3. Know this number, and understand how you got it

15. Proper Positioning

15.1. Proper positioning is crucial if you want others to play by your rules and if you want to command higher prices

15.2. Write A Book

15.2.1. Becoming an author is one of the best ways to properly position yourself

15.2.2. You can hire a ghostwriter to write it for you

15.3. Doing what everyone else is doing will NOT position you properly

16. Niche

16.1. Consider specializing in one area of your industry, in one product, or one service

16.1.1. A brain surgeon does nothing but brain surgery. You wouldn't find him treating a broken bone, the flu, a pulled muscle, etc.

16.2. People pay more money for a specialized product or service

16.3. 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

16.3.1. The "big fish, small pond" approach is best for anybody operating with limited resources and/or budget

17. Follow Up

17.1. You can only follow up with customers/clients if you've captured their contact information

17.2. Follow up after purchases, contact from clients (good or bad), a year later, etc

17.3. Great time to OFFER customers/clients something else to buy

17.4. Great time to ask for referrals

18. Message, Market, Media

18.1. You must send the right message, to the right market, using the right media

18.2. Market is the most important of the 3

18.2.1. Mediocre marketing aimed at a very well selected target market will get better results than great marketing aimed at the wrong market

18.3. Create a very detailed profile of your typical customer

18.3.1. "Everyone" is NOT your market

18.3.2. When you identify your market you can speak directly to them

18.4. A lot of money is wasted on not getting these 3 things correct

18.4.1. 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

19. Know Your Market

19.1. What are your customer's choices?

19.2. What are they already being offered?

19.3. What problems are they facing?

19.4. What benefits are they being told they'll get?

19.5. How are they being sold?

19.6. Is there a gap in the market?

20. Buying Motivators

20.1. People buy to either avoid pain or gain pleasure

20.1.1. For most people, avoiding pain is a greater motivator than gaining pleasure

20.1.2. People buy when the pain of the problem is greater than the cost of the solution.

20.2. People buy based on emotion then justify it with logic

20.2.1. Sell to their emotions but give them reasons to justify their purchase later on

20.3. People buy what they WANT

20.3.1. Ironically, selling something they need is often times difficult

20.3.2. This is why you see satellite dishes and flat screen TV's in trailer parks

20.3.3. Sell things people REALLY want, not what YOU think they SHOULD want

20.4. People buy the results they get from your product or service, not the actual product or service itself

20.4.1. You don't buy gas because you like gas. You buy it because you want to drive somewhere

20.4.2. Don't focus on what your product or service is, focus on what it DOES

20.4.3. 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

20.5. People buy to transfer responsibility

20.5.1. This way if something goes wrong they can blame someone or something else

20.6. People Buy Because Of Their Feelings

20.6.1. To feel superior

20.6.2. To feel frugal

20.6.3. To have a story to tell

20.6.4. To feel successful

20.6.5. To feel important

20.7. Sell the cure, not a preventative

20.7.1. People don't buy preventatives

20.7.2. They buy things when they are already experiencing the pain

21. The Vault

21.1. Hi

21.2. Show some love and leave a testimonial on the WSO thread for this product

21.2.1. Least you could do since this was free for you ;-)

21.3. Warrior Forum WSO Thread - Click icon -->>

21.4. If that link becomes dead for whatever reason, link to Vagabond 007's profile -->

21.5. Link to Vagabond 007's blog

21.5.1. NoBsMarketingAdvice.com

21.6. Take action and add value to the world

22. Educate

22.1. to gain authority

22.1.1. New node

23. Up Sell

23.1. ALWAYS USE AN UP SELL

23.2. The easiest and fastest way to increase your profits TODAY

23.3. Use at point of purchase, when the customer is in buying mode

23.4. Examples

23.4.1. "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?"

23.4.2. "Would you like to add a 2 liter of Pepsi for just a dollar?"

23.4.3. "Because you bought _____, you can save 20% off ______ right now."

23.4.4. 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.

23.4.4.1. $90 purchase immediately went to $140

23.4.4.2. That's an extra $50 for simply telling me about the up sell

23.4.4.3. I was also offered another up sell, cost would have been $25, but I declined

23.4.4.3.1. But there is a percentage of people who will take that up sell as well

23.4.4.3.2. If I took that, the initial $90 purchase would have went up to $165

23.4.5. If your business has salesman or technicians out in the field, make sure they are using an up sell

23.4.5.1. If the customer declines the up sell, make the salesman/technician have the customer sign that they were asked

23.4.5.2. This will make sure the salesman/technician asks every customer

23.5. Money is being left on the table if up sells are not being used. Period.

24. Cross Sell

24.1. Offer at point of purchase

24.2. Offer after purchase (in follow up e-mails, phone calls, in person)

24.3. Do they know about everything you sell

25. Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

25.1. Why should customers buy from you instead of your competitors or not buy at all?

25.2. Why are you different?

25.2.1. Low price is NOT good enough

25.2.2. Great quality is NOT good enough

25.2.3. Great service is NOT good enough

25.2.4. ANY company can say these things

26. Customer List

26.1. Capture the contact information of customers

26.1.1. At the very least, name and e-mail

26.1.2. Birthdays and hobbies are good details too

26.2. Give compelling reason for them to give their contact information

26.2.1. "Join our newsletter" is NOT compelling

26.3. Ideas To Capture Contact Information

26.3.1. "Free _______ if you join our list"

26.3.2. "Half price off XX"

26.3.3. XX% discount on any product/service

26.3.4. REMEMBER - Give a great incentive in exchange for their contact information

26.3.5. Free reports filled with great content that is relevant to your market

26.4. MOST important part of any business, the customer list!

26.5. Sell to the top 20% of customers more often

26.6. Consider firing bottom 10-20% of customers

26.7. Can sell to them without having to pay big money to run an ad

26.7.1. Contact at least 12 times a year. Minimum

26.7.1.1. Monthly Newsletter

26.7.2. Build relationships with them

26.8. Carry out regular research: ask them what they want, ask them what needs improvement, ask them anything - reward people for answers

26.8.1. Phone calls

26.8.2. Emails

26.8.3. Questionnaires

27. Website

27.1. Important contact information on every page

27.1.1. Don't make visitors search for contact info

27.2. Important information above the fold

27.2.1. Above The Fold = The part of the page people see without having to scroll down

27.3. Opt In Box

27.3.1. Drop down - Pop In

27.3.1.1. Box appears on screen seconds after the visitor lands on your site

27.3.2. Right side

27.3.2.1. Box appears on the right side of the page at all times

27.4. Headline

27.5. Irresistible Offer

27.6. Clear call to action

27.7. Unique Selling Proposition (USP) clearly stated

27.8. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

27.8.1. The purpose of search engine optimization is to make a website as search engine friendly as possible.

27.8.2. Keywords in title tag

27.8.3. Keywords in URL

27.8.4. Meta Description

27.8.4.1. Brief summary of the site

27.8.5. H1 tags

27.9. Up Sell

27.9.1. Placement

27.9.1.1. Between sales page and checkout page

27.9.1.2. After checkout

27.9.1.2.1. One click up sell

27.9.2. On "Thank You" page and/or in thank you e-mail

27.9.3. One Time Offer

27.9.3.1. Let the buyer know this offer will never be available again

27.9.3.2. Don't be surprised if at least 30% of people also buy the OTO

27.9.4. Test to find where the best placement is for your up sell

27.10. Include As Many Of These Components As You Can

27.10.1. Scarcity

27.10.2. Testimonials

27.10.2.1. Audio

27.10.2.2. Video

27.10.2.2.1. Best kind

27.10.2.3. Text

27.10.3. Videos

27.10.3.1. Submit to video sharing sites as well

27.10.4. Blog

27.10.5. Business listed in online directories

27.10.6. Proper Logo's - PayPal, Google, BBB, Credit Cards, etc.

27.10.7. Visible, great guarantee

27.10.8. Exit pop up box

27.10.8.1. One last effort to grab their contact info

27.11. Tracking

27.11.1. Install Google Analytics (it's free) to track website traffic

27.12. Mobile Ready

27.12.1. Consider making your website mobile phone friendly

27.12.2. The amount of people using their phones to search online is increasing every single day

27.13. Online Directories

27.13.1. Submit your clients website to online directories

27.13.1.1. Google

27.13.1.2. Bing

27.13.1.3. Yahoo

27.13.1.4. MSN

27.13.1.5. Yelp

27.13.2. Consider using this service - https://www.ubl.org

27.14. Checkout

27.14.1. Test putting checkout at bottom of the page instead of making visitors click "buy" or "add to cart"

27.15. Traffic

27.15.1. See "Online Traffic Generation"

27.15.2. Offline Traffic To Website

27.15.2.1. URL on printed materials

27.15.2.1.1. Brochures

27.15.2.1.2. Receipts

27.15.2.1.3. Ads

27.15.2.1.4. Direct Mail

27.15.2.1.5. Press Releases

27.15.2.1.6. Events

28. Clear Call To Action

28.1. Put a CTA on and in everything, and include it in conversations

28.2. Never expect the customer to know what you want them to do

28.2.1. Test your instructions on a wide range of people (age, skills, interests)

28.2.2. You must clearly tell them what they are to do next

28.3. Talk about what happens if they DON'T buy

29. Customer "Touches"

29.1. Communicate with your customer list at least 12 times a year. Minimum!

29.1.1. No reason you can't make contact at least once per month

29.2. Ideas To Contact List

29.2.1. Holiday Promotions

29.2.1.1. Christmas

29.2.1.2. Thanksgiving

29.2.1.3. St. Patrick's Day

29.2.1.4. New Year's Day

29.2.1.5. Easter

29.2.1.6. Mothers' Day

29.2.1.7. Fathers' Day

29.2.1.8. Labor Day

29.2.1.9. Memorial Day

29.2.1.10. 4th of July

29.2.1.11. Halloween

29.2.2. Birthdays

29.2.3. Anniversaries

29.2.4. New product or service

29.2.5. Overstock items

29.3. Send out a monthly newsletter

29.4. Keep in regular contact via e-mail

29.4.1. Very cheap solution

29.4.2. Open rates may be low, so consider an offline newsletter instead.

29.4.2.1. Test to see which gives the greatest ROI

29.5. Opinion Polls & Surveys

29.6. Offer them something to buy

29.6.1. Do not just pitch them non stop, but do give them an irresistible offer from time to time

30. Selling To Past Customers

30.1. New customers are 5 times more expensive to sell to than a past customer

30.2. Don't chase new customers when old customers are being neglected

30.3. Craft a 30, 60 or 90-day “New Customer Experience” designed to quickly generate a secondary sale while strengthening the new relationship.

30.4. Be willing to spend AT LEAST as much to KEEP a customer as you're willing to pay to get a new customer.

30.5. This is where "hidden money" is found in your business

30.6. Communicate with them at least 12 times a year. Minimum!

30.7. Past Client Re-Activation Letter

30.7.1. Send a letter to "dead customers"

30.7.1.1. Someone who hasn't purchased in the past 6-18 months

30.7.2. Make an irresistible offer to encourage them to buy again

30.7.3. A 30% response rate is not uncommon

30.7.3.1. HUGE leaps in income can be seen just from using this one strategy every few months

30.8. 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

30.9. Make more offers to them more often

30.10. Sell renewable products or services

30.11. Learn more about each customer and tailor offers to match

30.12. Reward frequent purchasers

31. Systems

31.1. Take whatever is working and systematize it

31.1.1. Write each and every step down

31.1.2. Make sure every employee follows your systems

31.1.3. Test each step to improve it

31.1.3.1. Test ONE step at a time

31.2. Build a machine that can run without you

32. Irresistible Offer

32.1. #1 Marketing Strategy - Build Everything Around It

32.2. Always give an irresistible offer on everything (website, direct mail, up sell, in person, etc)

32.3. Put an irresistible offer on receipts (**Go to www.YourSite.com to sign up and receive 20% off your next purchase)

32.4. "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" usually out pulls "2 for the price of 1"

32.4.1. Same thing but the first one sounds better

32.5. "Gift with purchase" works well

32.6. Make what you're selling "free"

32.6.1. Example - New energy efficient windows will pay for themselves after a few years

33. Test and Identify

33.1. What's working NOW

33.1.1. Do more of it!

33.2. What's Not Working Now

33.2.1. Re-asses and re-vamp

33.2.2. Or STOP doing it asap!

34. Direct Mail

34.1. Create and test each component

34.1.1. Message, Market, Media Match

34.1.1.1. Send the right message, to the right person, using the right media

34.1.2. Headline

34.1.2.1. Does it pass the "stand alone test"

34.1.2.1.1. If you ran just the headline and a phone # as a classified ad, is it enticing enough to get calls?

34.1.3. Benefits

34.1.4. Overcome objections

34.1.5. Testimonials

34.1.6. Compelling Offer

34.1.7. Clear call to action

34.1.8. Scarcity

34.1.9. Deadline

34.1.10. Free Recorded Message

34.1.11. P.S.

34.1.11.1. Second most read part of a letter (headline is first)

34.1.12. Lumpy mail vs flat mail vs postcards

34.1.13. No copy on outside of envelope vs. putting copy on outside

34.2. Test Small First

34.2.1. No sense in mailing to a HUGE list only to find out it bombs

34.2.2. Test small first so you don't waste as much money

34.3. Must grab attention

34.3.1. Without grabbing your prospects attention nothing else matters because they won't see/read anything else

34.4. Send out mail to qualified lists

34.4.1. One step process

34.4.1.1. Attempting to get the sale on first contact

34.4.2. Multi-step process

34.4.2.1. Asking the prospect to "raise their hand" first

34.4.2.1.1. This is done by offering a free report, free recorded message, etc.

34.4.2.1.2. Great way to qualify prospects and weed out tire kickers

34.4.3. Dunning Method

34.4.3.1. Send a series letters

34.4.3.2. First letter

34.4.3.3. "2nd Notice" letter that refers to the first letter

34.4.3.4. "Final Notice" letter that refers to the first two letters sent

34.5. Return On Investment (ROI) is the most important number

34.5.1. If your profits are more than your print and mailing costs, KEEP mailing

34.6. Don't focus too much on response rates

34.6.1. Business owners have gone broke on a 10% response rate while others have become rich with a .05% response rate

34.6.2. ROI is the only thing that matters

34.7. Always use first class postage

34.7.1. Nothing screams "junk" faster than bulk mail

34.8. Always focus on the reader and not your company. People are always wondering "what's in it for me?"

34.9. Envelope

34.9.1. Teaser copy on outside

34.9.1.1. If you go this route, you mine as well use the entire envelope for copy

34.9.1.2. Put testimonials on the back

34.9.2. No Teaser Copy

34.9.2.1. Looks more personal

34.9.2.2. Use an invitation size envelope

34.9.2.3. Use first class stamp

34.9.2.3.1. If you don't, it will scream "ad" so you won't sneak in under the radar

34.10. Lumpy Mail

34.10.1. Great way to get attention and get your envelope opened

34.10.2. You include something that adds bulk to the envelope thus creating curiosity

34.10.3. Remember - You Always Want To Tie In Your Lumpy Piece To Your Sales Letter

34.10.4. Great source to buy "lumpy" items is OrientalTrading.com

34.10.5. Lumpy Mail Ideas - Tie In

34.10.5.1. Bag of peanuts - "Are you nuts?"

34.10.5.2. Rubiks Cube - "Can you solve the puzzle?"

34.10.5.3. Sand Timer - "Time is running out!"

34.10.5.4. Shoe - "Now that I have my foot in the door"

34.10.5.5. Fake Gold Coins - "treasure to be found in your business"

34.10.5.6. Magnifying Glass - "No fine print"

35. Packaging - Bundling

35.1. Good way to increase transaction size

35.2. Offer bargains

35.2.1. Buy 10 oil changes and get 1 FREE

35.2.2. Buy one Get one FREE

35.2.3. Pay up front for 10 months, get two months FREE

35.3. Offer bulk discounts

36. Continuity

36.1. Work out and implement a way to get people to automatically pay $XX every month for your product or service

36.1.1. Customers credit card automatically gets charged every month until they cancel

36.2. Examples

36.2.1. ProActiv Solution (acne product)

36.2.2. Weight Loss Pills

36.2.3. 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

36.3. Forced Continuity

36.3.1. 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

36.3.2. Good way to get recurring income

36.3.3. Make sure you are honest and up front about the continued billing, misleading people will only lead to big legal issues

37. Membership

37.1. Increases Retention

37.1.1. Think credit cards with "rewards programs"

37.2. VIP Club

37.2.1. After Hours Private Sale

37.2.2. Airlines "Frequent Flyer" Miles

37.3. People will visit a restaurant more often if they are a member

37.4. People will pay more to be a part of something

37.4.1. Country Club

37.5. Monthly Newsletters

37.6. Book Of The Month Club

37.7. Online Membership Sites

37.8. Coaching Groups

38. Takeaway Selling

38.1. People want what they can't have

38.1.1. The more they can't have it the more they want it

38.1.2. This is why scarcity works so well

38.2. Indifference

38.2.1. The more you act like you don't want their money, the more they'll try and give it to you

38.2.2. The more you act like you don't want their business, the more they'll try and give it to you

38.3. You must learn to speak using takeaway selling terms

38.3.1. "If you qualify"

38.3.2. "This may be too expensive for you"

38.3.3. "I'm not even sure this is right for you"

38.3.4. "If you still want to go ahead with this"

39. Influence and Persuasion

39.1. 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.

39.1.1. So ask yourself “What is my prospects problem” and “How can I describe it to them”?

39.2. Enter the conversation already going on in the persons mind.

39.3. People Buy Feelings

39.3.1. Remember, people buy based on emotion and justify it with logic

39.3.2. Give people emotionally reasons (benefits) to buy and logical reasons (features) to justify their purchase

40. Profit Leaks

40.1. Not Using An Up Sell

40.1.1. Biggest mistake you could make

40.1.2. Luckily, it's the easiest to fix

40.2. Not Selling To Past Customers

40.2.1. Easiest sale to make

40.3. Not optimizing what's already working

40.4. Not stopping what ISN'T working

40.5. Not Giving Irresistible Offers

40.5.1. Make your offer to good to pass up

40.5.2. Put offers on receipts

40.6. Not Having a Clear Call To Action

40.6.1. People need to be told exactly what to do

40.7. Mystery call your business to make sure staff is selling properly

40.7.1. Was the phone picked up or did the call go to voicemail

40.7.2. Phone should be answered by a live person

40.8. Not capturing the contact information of customers

40.8.1. Can't follow up with them if you don't do this

40.9. Not capturing the contact information of POTENTIAL customers

40.9.1. Can't follow up with them to make the sale

40.9.2. Not everyone is ready to buy right away.

40.10. Not Testing Everything

40.10.1. Simple A/B split testing can explode profits

40.10.2. Test prices and offers first

41. New Market Checklist

41.1. Large base of reachable, passionate fans?

41.2. Good margins?

41.3. Repeat business potential?

41.4. Easy up sells and cross sells?

42. The 13 Ultimate Marketing Rules

42.1. Always use an up sell

42.2. Find a hungry market first and fill their need, do not create a product first then look for someone to buy it

42.3. Always be testing and tracking

42.3.1. Deadlines and scarcity work wonders, use them

42.4. Always have a clear, call to action

42.5. Always remember that people are always thinking "What's in it for me?"

42.5.1. Answer that question in your marketing

42.5.2. Put your customers needs above your own

42.6. 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?"

42.6.1. Your USP should answer this question

42.7. Make IRRESISTIBLE offers

42.8. Build systems so your business can run without you

42.9. Always work on building your list

42.9.1. Your list is your #1 asset in your business

42.10. Always provide value

42.11. Stay away from image advertising and only use direct response advertising

42.12. Don't forget the 80/20 in every aspect of your business...and life