101 Proven Marketing Ideas To Grow Your Business

101 Proven Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business
Get Better Results www.ResultsCorporation.co.uk
101 Proven Marketing Ideas for Your Business By Chris Newton & Haydn Rowe
Copyright Chris Newton & Haydn Rowe Published by Results Corporation Global Support Pty Ltd & Results Corporation Europe plc 2010. This work is copyright. No part of this publication may be re-sold, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical or mechanical, including photocopying, scanning, recording or by any information and storage retrieval system, without prior consent of the authors and publisher. All rights reserved. Not exhaustive.
Warning Disclaimer This book is designed to help you learn and profit from sound marketing strategies that have been proven over many years. But that said, as any book of this nature must, it carries a warning and disclaimer. Every effort has been made to ensure this information is 100% accurate, relevant and timely. The information in this book is no guarantee that you will produce results as described in the actual cases cited. Every business, and every businessperson, is different. These techniques and strategies in this book however, will give you the greatest possible chance of success. As a user of this material, you do need to acknowledge that this cannot guarantee your success. If you do not wish to be bound by the above, you may return the book to the publisher
Contents
Introduction Chapter 1: Chapter 2: 9 Secrets of Great Marketing 20 Simple Tips To Produce Advertising & Marketing That Works! 15 Secrets To Writing Sales Copy That Breaks Through and Get Action! 4 Tips to Harness the Power of Packaged Information 11 Ways to Make Your Website Work for You! 11 Tips for Pay-Per-Click Advertising Success 6 Ways to Make the Most of Email Broadcasting 14 Ways To Take Your Selling To The Leading Edge 10 Tips On Providing Superb Customer Service
Chapter 3:
Chapter 4:
Chapter 5:
Chapter 6:
Chapter 7:
Chapter 8:
Chapter 9:
Hello and Welcome
Hello, And welcome to marketing that really works. Marketing that, no matter what the size (or nature) of your business, will give you proven, dramatic and measurable results. As you read through this special report, youll discover incredibly powerful concepts, strategies, tips and insights. Youll discover idea after idea, based on real case studies, real business success and achievement, that you can adapt and apply to your business today. Concepts that are drawn directly from our Marketing Help Online members only web resource, our Business Builder Programme or our high level Coaching programme. The material that you are about to read breaks some of the so-called marketing rules. It is designed to make you think, and act, in a way that changes your business results for the better, forever. Sometimes, when were too close to our business, we simply dont see the myriad of simple ways to increase our profits. This report is not a magic wand. Owning it and filing it away under L for Later will not change your fortunes. Growing your business will require effort; and not everything here will work for every business. Real success will come when you apply, test, measure and refine these marketing techniques. Here are 101 proven marketing ideas and tips that will help you unlock some of the true potential of your business. Enjoy
Chris Newton & Haydn Rowe Results Corporation
Copyright Results Corporation 2010
Chapter 1: 9 Secrets of Great Marketing
1.
There are only 3 ways to grow your business.
There are 101 proven marketing ideas in this report and many more exist and help boost businesses of all types and size every day. But there are only 3 ways to grow your business. The now famous three ways to grow your business formula was developed more than 20 years ago by Chris Newton, the founder of Results Corporation. Here it is 1. You get more clients or customers 2. You increase the average value of an order or invoice 3. You increase the frequency of purchase - your clients buy more often So, how do you use this to grow your business? The first step is to examine the effect of applying an increase in each area of the formula. In this example we will assume that you can increase your clients, value and frequency by 10%... Clients x Value x Frequency = Sales Revenue 1,000 x 1,000 x 10% x 10% 1,100 x 1,100 x 2 x 2.2 = 1,000,000 10% = 1,331,000
The net effect is not a 10% increase in your sales, but because of the compounding effect an increase is sales of 33.1%!
2.
Measurement is vital to marketing success. Vital.
Youve probably heard this saying What you measure, you can manage. Well in marketing, the exact opposite is usually common practice What you dont measure, you cant manage. Most businesses dont measure their marketing results. You need to ask yourself, if we dont measure, how will we manage this vitally important part of our business? To avoid this costly mistake, there are a few key numbers that youll need to identify and measure Cost Per Lead for any given marketing activity, what does it cost you to generate an enquiry? If you spend 1,000 on an ad or
marketing campaign, and you get 10 phone calls, thats 100 per lead. Simple. Cost of Acquisition the same idea, but this time, what does it actually cost you to win a new client? If two of those enquiries turn into new customers, the cost of acquisition is 500. If youre selling something that generates 500 profit, it might be time to re-think the ad or campaign! Average Sale Value for most businesses, of course, every sale will be different and theres no way of knowing what the next customer through the doors will be worth. So youll also need to consider the Average Sale Value. If you divide your annual turnover by the number of transactions, youll find that figure. Lifetime Value this can make all the difference. Lets say that on average a customer will buy from you 3 times a year, and stay with you for 3 years. That means each of the customers above is worth 4,500 profit over 3 years now paying 500 to win a new client doesnt seem like a bad idea, does it? Allowable Cost of Acquisition its a fancy name, but quite simply its the amount of money youre prepared to invest in acquiring a new customer. With an eye on the Lifetime Value, set yourself a working limit, and use it to rule marketing strategies and techniques in or out of your marketing schedule depending on whether they perform to this benchmark. Measurement is the secret to your success. Its vital to understanding what works for you and what doesnt.
3.
Become a marketing scientist test, test, test.
In John Caples classic book, Tested Advertising Methods, he explains the concept of 'split run testing'. He was describing two ads that ran in the same paper, on the same page, on the same day. How? There are multiple print presses used in printing a newspaper, so printing press 'A' can have ad 'A', and press 'B' can have ad 'B' ... then when they're 'shuffled' as they come out of the other end to be bundled up and sent off for distribution, they offer the perfect split run test! Doing this with ads, direct mail campaigns, email broadcasts, web pages and Pay-Per-Click ads allows us to become marketing scientists we can conduct experiments (tests) and let the market tell us which version they like best. The results will often surprise you. Shock you even. Seriously though, it is a powerful lesson in effective marketing. It tells you that the ad, letter, email or web page you may like, or even love, may well be costing you dearly in lost sales. You owe it to yourself to test your message. You owe it to yourself to measure the responses to all your marketing collateral.
4.
One of the biggest marketing mistakes.
Everyone has heard the famous quote from American department store magnate John Wanamaker ... "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half." Well, Mr Wanamaker was probably wrong - based on the numbers we get from clients when they first start to really measure marketing results, he was being very optimistic. It is usually much, much worse. One of Jay Abrahams (our colleague and Americas highest paid marketing consultant) biggest marketing mistakes is Continuing to run marketing that doesnt work. When you start to measure, you will have the information you need to identify and cut wasted marketing expenditure.
5.
Another big mistake. Big. Huge.
Another big mistake made by many businesses is Failing to continue to run marketing that works. We see it time and time again; a campaign that works is cut to be replaced by a new version, something that is more exciting and fresher, or the next ad, letter or email off the production line. Stop! Clearly identify your winners, and back them to the hilt. Run them as often and with the widest possible target audience as possible until the day they stop working. For some businesses, that can be 5, 10, 15 years or more. This alone could transform your business.
6.
Create a marketing machine.
So, how do you set about making all this happen? The first thing to do is to make a decision, right now, to treat your marketing just like you treat the rest of your business. Your marketing needs to be systematised, and every element must be proven to earn its place in the system. For many businesses, marketing is a glob of randomly developed, ad hoc activities, unmeasured costs and stuff that happens when theres a bit of spare time between doing real business. It looks a bit like this:
For businesses that really make their marketing work, it looks more like this:
Yours might look different: have different activities, different processes; but if you can map out your business like this, youll be able to control it, rather than it controlling you.
The left hand column contains the lead generation activities anything and everything you do to promote your business to the market place and attract people to you. From left to right is your sales process. The steps you go through to take a lead and turn them into a paying customer. In the central column are your prospect nurturing activities the things you do to keep a prospective customer interested and to stay in touch with them until they either become a customer, or rule themselves out. And in the right hand column is your customer nurturing activity. Once youve won that crucial first sale, these are the things you do to keep your customer loyal, happy and spending more money with you. (You can view a short video on how to Create a Marketing Machine at www.resultscorporation.co.uk/MARKETINGSALESMACHINE.asp?S=1.
7.
The hidden dangers of discounting.
Offering your market place a tempting 10% OFF, 20% OFF or even 50% OFF might seem like a great way to get people to put their hands in their wallets. And surely, the crowds of bargain-hungry buyers rushing through your doors will more than cover the cost of discounting, right? Probably not! Take a look at the table below, which shows the true impact on profit of discounting your prices. Run your finger to point where 30% Gross Profit intersects with 10% Discount.
You see that 50%? That means if youre running a business with an average 30% Gross Profit margin, and you drop your prices by just 10% you need to generate 50% more sales just to stand still. Just to maintain today's profitability you and your people have to work 50% harder, you may need to drastically increase stock levels, your machinery and equipment have to handle 50% more output - and that's before you consider the potential negative hit on your cash flow. And you make no more profit. In fact, if you 'only' achieve a 20%, 30% or 40% increase in sales you make less money. While for some businesses a price cut can result in enough new sales to increase profit, the truth is that for most businesses a price cut is a recipe for disaster. Before you decide to discount, make sure you fully understand the consequences.
8.
Charging what youre worth.
What about putting your prices up and charging what you know youre worth? Crazy you think - especially now. You can hear your salespeople protesting
already - you'll lose customers, you'll go out of business and your competitors will have a field day. But consider this. Again based on a 30% gross profit margin, if you put your prices up by 10%, you would have to do 20% less business before it affected your net profit
In other words, 20% of your clients could leave, or your revenue could drop by 20% and you'd actually be better off. You'd be doing less work and making more money. And you have to ask, what are the chances that 20% of your clients would leave if you are doing a great job and providing excellent value? After all, if we all bought on price, wed be competing to see who wears the cheapest clothes who drives the cheapest car and who eats the cheapest food. Do you? Wed be taking legal advice from the cheapest lawyers we could find and trusting our financial performance to the cheapest accountants. Certainly, price is always a consideration, but Value for Money and a clear understanding of what your product or service can offer is, in most cases, more important.
9.
The biggest reason for failure FTI.
FTI or Failure to Implement. Its what gets in the way of most business peoples chances of success. Being too busy to actually knuckle down and put effective marketing techniques in place. Theres a saying: There are no guarantees in marketing; except that if you do nothing, you can guarantee that nothing will happen. You can write fantastic ads; have a great website, create powerful sales letters, and design compelling prospect and customer nurturing systems but if you dont put them in place, they cant help your
business. The only way to identify the marketing techniques that will make a real difference to your bottom line is to roll your sleeves up, get stuck in, and apply. Lets Get Started! So, armed with a clear understanding of the important numbers in your business, a solid map of your existing lead generation and nurturing strategies, and a healthy scepticism when it comes to knock-down prices, lets roll up some sleeves and dive in
Chapter 2: 20 Simple Tips To Produce Advertising & Marketing That Works!

Advertising and marketing is one of the most misunderstood business growth opportunities today. And if you get it wrong, it's also a real money-eater. But when you get it right, it can set you apart from the rest ... literally. Great advertising isn't about glossy ads, funny headlines, or "getting your name out there". It's about using every available inch of space to give your audience specific, compelling reasons to do business with you. Every element, from the headline, the copy, the call to action (and yes, even the design), can be tested and measured to find the combination that delivers the best results for you. So, how do you make your advertising really work for you?
10. The fastest way to wealth through advertising is to not have a budget
Now that doesnt mean dont advertise. What it does mean is this once you develop ads that truly work and you can measure the results so you know theyre paying for themselves (and youll see how to do that in these pages), you should recycle the cash. Look at it this way. If you run an ad that costs you 500 but it makes you 1,000, wouldnt you be crazy not to take that 1,000 and make 2,000? And so on Of course, this is a simplified proposition, but youll see the point. With this new way of looking at marketing a business, even the tiniest business could have a massive ad budget and make a mint.
11. If you dont see yourself as particularly creative, then this will be great news!
You see, you dont have to be clever or fancy to create effective ads. In fact as Master Copywriter, David Ogilvy, once said: When I write an advertisement, I dont want you tell me that you find it creative. I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product. Most ad agencies have never discovered that truth. They focus on winning awards instead of sales. Be interesting, be informative and communicate powerful reasons why someone should buy your product, and youll sell your
product in larger quantities than you ever dreamed possible. Research clearly shows that effective advertising has a lot to do with being a skilled salesperson. Simply learn how to communicate this skill in the way you write. And write as you speak!
12. Putting an offer in your advertising can lift the response by 3000%!
How much can you give in order to get business? The power of your offer should never be under estimated and (in most cases) should not be a discount. Work out instead how to add value to your prospects. Package in extra value something for which they have a genuine need that maybe costs you very little to provide.
13. Dont sell your product or service. Sell what it does.

Youve probably heard the saying, sell the sizzle, not the steak. You may have heard the adage that people dont go into a hardware store because they want a drill bit what they want is the hole! Some time ago, we featured 2 small ads in our marketing newsletter, the Results Report. One had a headline that simply said XYZ POOL COVERS. The other XYZ SOLAR BLANKETS. Pool owners dont want pool covers or solar blankets. What the headline should have promoted was year round swimming and all the benefits that come from that.
14. Your name or logo isnt a headline.

No one gets excited about your name. Only what you can do for them. So dont be fooled into thinking your name at the top of an ad constitutes a headline. It doesnt. It is a waste of money. Only put your name in the headline if its with a reader benefit - An XYZ SOLAR BLANKET will keep your pool warm during the cold winter months is a great example. Sell your benefits, not your product.
15. If you didnt believe in your product, you wouldnt be selling it. So why not guarantee it and shout the fact in everything you do?
Many business owners are reluctant to offer guarantees because they fear theyll lose more than they gain from it. In reality, the exact opposite is true. Guarantee your product and be outrageous in just how far youll guarantee it and it becomes something that will set you far apart from your opposition. Done properly, your sales will soar.
16. Every single ad you run should at least pay for itself.
Look at your ad as a sales person in print apart from exceptional circumstances, it has to earn its keep. (The exception? Customer acquisition
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programs that run at a loss initially but have the potential to earn considerable repeat sales). By focusing on creating ads that pay, youll find that your advertising will by necessity become leaner, more efficient and more effective. It will also become more accountable and you wont be wasting your valuable advertising pounds.
17. Your headline is the most important part of your ad.

This one statement will pay for itself 100 times over! Once youve written your headline, youve spent between 75% and 80% of your entire advertising pound on that ad! You see, if you dont flag your prospect, all the best copy and offers in the world will go unnoticed. The worlds best copywriters often spend weeks writing headlines, and then months testing headlines because they understand the dynamics. A great headline can lift your return on advertising twenty times!
18. But how do you come up with a good theme for a headline?
Strangely enough, its usually hiding in the body of your ad. Why? Because by the time youve written some copy, youve warmed up and you start to get excited about what your product can do. Look in your ad for the powerful selling theme that should be your headline.
19. Ads that look like blown-up business cards are a complete waste.
They merely state the companys name, address, phone number and perhaps the slogan. We call them name, rank and serial number ads. You must offer reasons to a potential client if you want them to do business with you.
20. If it isnt broken, dont try to fix it!

Because you live, eat and breathe your business, its very easy to become bored with your advertising. However, the market place is a passing parade. They flow in and out of your market with their needs. To them, your message is fresh and new. So an ad should only be dropped if and when you come up with another to beat it or if it stops working for you. One of our clients heard this at one of our marketing seminars and then and there, whacked himself on the head. Hed dropped a successful ad purely because he was tired of it. When he got back to his business, he rekindled it and generated 40,000 in new sales.
21. Targeting the 1,000% leverage factor!
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Imagine it! Getting a ten times increase in your sales simply because you targeted your market better. The results are absolutely proven. Are you using the right newspaper, magazine, direct mail list? And that leads to
22. Test! Test! Test!

Weve discussed testing earlier in this report. But in terms of your advertising look at it this way. If you can lift your response by 1,000% by changing your targeting and 300% depending on the offer you make, arent these things worth testing? Testing to find the winning formula and double your profits or more! This is perhaps the most valuable piece of advice in this entire report. Because you can become a marketing guru by testing what works. Unless you do, youll never know how high is high!
23. The more you tell, the more you sell.

People are hungry for information especially when they have to make a decision. A copy intensive ad will generally out perform an arty, clever ad that uses a lot of white space. Why? When theyre about to invest their hard-earned savings in a product or service, people like to know exactly what theyre getting for their money. So tell them.
24. Never assume that because you know exactly what you mean, your reader will too. They dont.
As weve already discussed, you live and breathe your business. You know your product and everything about it. Youre an expert. Never assume your clients and potential clients share this wealth of knowledge. If something is important, tell you reader again and again.
25. How long should your ad or sales letter be?

This is perhaps the most frequently asked question in advertising. And the answer seems trite: It should be as long no longer, no shorter than necessary to make the sale. You see, the length of your ad or sales letter depends entirely on what you intend to achieve and what you must say in order to achieve that goal. Obviously, if your reader is familiar with your product, your ad will be shorter than if your reader has no idea of who you are and what you can offer them. But one very important point: Dont be frightened to write long copy when the situation demands. Experience shows us over and over that well written, benefit orientated, long copy sells. Some of the most successful sales letters of all time are 11 pages or more. Study mail order ads. Now your product
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may not be mail order but believe one thing those people measure exactly what works. Their copy intensive ads out perform short, catchy ads.
26. Your advertising should be as specific as possible.

If you were to advertise a drill bit, you shouldnt simply say: The XYZ drill bit is made from the most advanced industrial drilling compound known to man. Be more specific and tell the reader exactly what they stand to gain from using your product. Here is a far better example. The XYZ drill bit is made from the most advanced industrial drilling compound known to man which means youll be able to drill holes 23 times faster than any other drill bit and into 45 different building substances. This is quite simply, the most advanced drill bit on the market! So be specific in your advertising it really works!
27. Hot words to make your ads sizzle.

An analysis of 100 of the most successful headlines ever written revealed an amazing pattern. Certain power words keep appearing time and time again. Here they are (with the number of times they appeared in brackets): YOU (31) YOUR (14) HOW (12) NEW (10) WHO (8) MONEY (6) And 4 appearances of NOW, PEOPLE, WANT and WHY. Does the word YOU or YOUR appear in your headline?
28. Typefaces can really make a difference!

Using a sans serif typeface (like this) may look trendy. But in controlled tests using printed material, participants scored a low 12% comprehension when reading body of copy set in sans serif compared to 67% comprehension with the same body of copy set in a serif font such as this. N.B. sans serif works great for headlines but not body copy.
29. Business cards the forgotten form of advertising.

Is yours a plain piece of white board with the minimum information on the front and nothing on the back? Or does it really spell out everything you do, using front and back and is it unusual enough that people will want to keep it?
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Chapter 3:
15 Secrets To Writing Sales Copy That Breaks Through And Get Action!
To make your business letters, emails, sales letters and direct mail really work; you have to crash through a barrier put up by the reader. This barrier may be pure disinterest. It may be the stress and pressure of their own problems. Or it may be their pre-existing antipathy to junk mail On top of that, you have some challenges that you may not have even considered illiteracy. Astonishingly, 15% of the population over 15 years of age is completely illiterate. 30% is semi-literate. Only 32% according to research are able to think analytically! Makes you think about the truth of that adage K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple Stupid!, doesnt it? But despite these challenges, written communication plays an absolutely vital role in the day-to-day operation of your business. So how do you break through these barriers? How do you make your mail really work for you? And how can you write more effective sales letters? Here are 15 key secrets to achieve those objectives
30. Your hottest prospects are just sitting there, waiting to be asked to buy. They have six to ten times the propensity to buy!
Before you consider writing to a cold prospect list (people who arent already your clients), remember this point. The hottest and most profitable prospects your business will ever have are those whose details you already have! Youll find them in your filing system under customers and past customers. By developing this market alone (without any outside advertising) weve helped business boost sales by 125% and more at a fraction of the cost of using general media.
31. So youve saturated your existing mailing list and you need to attract new customers.
What do you do? Think the unthinkable! Talk to other business people who attract a similar customer profile to you and discuss the possibility of swapping lists (for example, a painter and a renovator).
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Its a win-win situation because both parties increase their client base and a wealth of new business opportunities. And the result can be dramatic. Especially if the other person will endorse you to their past clients, you can achieve up to 10 times the response youd get from renting a cold list! We often help our clients with the writing of these letters because done properly its a virtual gold mine! The money they pay us is returned many fold.
32. Try breaking through the barriers with unusual paper stock.
By using graph paper, cloth, burned edges, copy on clear film, very heavy parchment type paper, canvas anything that dramatises your message or ties in to your product you can dramatically improve the readership and effectiveness of your letter. A brilliant idea from one of our colleagues was in a promotion for a particular type of window. The letter was printed on the glass pane of a miniature window! Expensive per unit, but with thousands at stake, a tiny investment!
33. Taking the positive role in your sales letters.

Youve written an awesome sales letter or email spent hours sweating over every sentence. But does it go out to the prospect with a closing line that effectively says, Please dont hesitate to throw this letter in the bin or delete this email? Of course it wont use those words, but if it says Please dont hesitate to call me for more information or words to that effect, you may as well have said that! Dont let it happen, wherever possible, say something pro-active like: Because this is so important for your business, Ill call you in the next few days Then call. Will this make you more sales? Up to 500% more.
34. What should your covering letter say?

A magic way to get a prospect into your brochure is to lead them by the hand in your covering letter. Dont say, Thank you for your enquiry. Please find our brochure enclosed. Do not hesitate to contact us for further information. Instead (using short, punchy sentences and paragraphs), try something like this:
Thank you very much for phoning today. It was exhilarating talking to you about your plans for expansion.
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Your future business is clearly going to be an exciting time for everyone on your team. And thats why we know youll be thrilled with the way our widget will help you in your expansion. Look, for example, on page 2. Based on what you told us on the phone, this model will solve the 3 main problems you have right now. Specifically, youll also see on page 6, how your extended service warranty will (and so on).
Its almost like youre actually there with them, isnt it?
35. How to open your letter so it doesnt end up in the bin?

If you can get your prospect to read the first 50 words of your letter say the first half page they will generally read the next 500 or 1,000! What does this tell us? The only way to keep your letter out of the bin at least until its been read is to get your prospects attention and build their interest in the opening of your letter. So, be different. Be interesting. Be provocative. Offer something of real importance to your prospect in the very first sentences. By giving your opening impact, the readership of your letter will soar!
36. The power of a second opinion.

It simply doesnt matter whether youre a full time advertising copywriter or a now and then letter writer, a second opinion is one of the most powerful letter-writing tools. When youve completed your letter, have an uninvolved person preferably from your market read through it and give you feedback. Ask them about the opening of the letter, its length, the structure of its content, the power of its offer and most importantly, whether or not they could understand it. A word of warning: Take advantage of the observations a fresh eye can make, but dont let your letter be hacked about until its a camel. (A camel is a horse that was designed by a committee!).
37. Say what youd say in person.

Ever noticed the difference between the letters you receive and the emails you receive? Strangely, emails arent couched in the same archaic language that still pervades most letters. They are more alive. More now. That is how your letters should be! Can you imagine going up to a friend in the street and saying Dear John, with reference to your correspondence of the fifth instant ? Hardly! Theyd have you locked up.
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Better to say Hello John, thanks for the letter you wrote back on the fifth. Hey, those suggestions you made were terrific .
38. Some golden rules for your coupon or order card.

Often direct mail response devices (coupons, order cards, etc) become separated from the main letter package. So make sure your mailing address appears on them. If it doesnt, you wont get the order regardless of how much the prospect wants to make it! Ensure your response device isnt ridiculously small. Theres nothing more frustrating than needing a magnifying glass to read a coupon, let alone complete one.
39. Make it easy to buy.

Wherever possible, offer your prospects credit facilities. Its been proven to increase response by up to 100% or more. Or have a hotline free phone number. And whatever you do in your coupon, dont let a typesetter set your response device in reversed out type (white on a black background). It has happened. And unless you have some white space, how on earth can you fill in the coupon?
40. Test your direct mail and email.

Using direct mail can be very expensive. So its vital you get it right. The best way to do this is to test your letter, offer, response device, payment terms, envelope, mailing list everything that may have an effect on the outcome of your mailing. But with one proviso only test one element at a time, otherwise you wont know what improved your response. Also, by testing your letter on a small section of your market before launching your full campaign, youre able to identify and change any problem areas and inconsistencies that may exist. It will make your letter more effective and it will save you thousands of dollars in wasted opportunities. Constant testing is the key to successful direct marketing whether you are using direct mail or email.
41. The power of your P.S

Interestingly, the P.S in a letter is read first by most people. So dont waste the opportunity. Use this hot spot to tell your prospect something valuable, to emphasise a key point in your letter or to ask for them to act in a particular way (for example, Call us before June 30 to receive your special bonus ).
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And another point. With direct mail letters, try handwriting your P.S. for a personal touch. That is, have it printed in blue ink in handwriting. It will increase the readership of this most read part of your letter even further.
42. Indent your way to success.

Once they start, its important to keep your reader reading your letter. Because soon youre going to ask them to take some action the action you want them to take. A highly effective involvement device that helps you do this is the indented paragraph. By indenting (heavily indenting) certain paragraphs, you highlight those paragraphs to the readers' eye. Its a great way to emphasise a key point. It also helps to break up the layout of your letter so that you dramatically improve its readability. That will keep your reader reading.
43. Write to one person.

Lets face it. Writing can be tough. The blank piece of paper or computer screen seems to thumb its nose at you while you sit there suffering from writers block. Here are some final trade secrets. Firstly, think of just one person a client, a friend and write just to them. This takes away much of the fear of writing to a mass audience, makes your letter more personal and warm, and allows you to focus on the things that are important to one person. (Incidentally, if your letter is offset printed and not personalised, dont use the salutation, Fellow Members or To All Our Customers. Only one person can read a letter at a time. Write it as if youre writing to them!). Secondly, to overcome writers block just start writing! Writing is hard, editing is easy. So write anything just start. Sooner or later, your thoughts will flow. Then you can just go back and edit!
44. Write or Email More Than Once.

Research shows that response rates to sales letters and emails dramatically increase if you continue to contact your targets over time. Consider: if you write one sales letter and send it to 1000 people, youre taking a chance on a number of coincidences. Firstly, that your audience has a need for what youre offering right there and then. But if youre selling computer software systems, and someone you write to just replaced theirs it doesnt matter how good your message is, theyre not going to buy today.
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Secondly, of course, youre trusting that your letter gets through. Postal service interruption, diligent gatekeepers there are a number of reasons why your target may not get your message. Thirdly, if youre writing to a cold audience, youre hoping that, if they have a need for what youre offering, and they get your message, they trust you enough to get in touch after just one approach. So, consider instead of writing to 1000 people, the advantages of writing and emailing to 200 people, 5 times each. By spreading your message over a period of time, and over two mediums (email and post) there are several advantages. Of course, you increase the chances of coinciding your message with your audiences need. You also get to drip feed them critical information, and you get to build a relationship simply by staying in touch. How frequently you contact them will depend on the nature of your offer and your product. However, research shows that response rates to multiple contact strategies increase exponentially, until you leave more than 90 days between contacts, at which point you effectively start again from scratch so consider 90 days as your maximum break.
90 Day Calling Cycles The First Cycle The Second Cycle The Third Cycle The Fourth Cycle The Fifth Cycle
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1-2% 2-3% 7% 30% 60%
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Chapter 4: 4 Tips to Harness the Power of Packaged Information

If youre looking for a way to get ahead of your competition; set yourself up as an authority in your field, and create a stream of new enquiries from people who are sat squarely in your market place, then Packaged Information could be the solution. Writing a White Paper, Buyers Guide, or Free Report could deliver a 2000% boost to your enquiries. Heres how
45. Understanding First Need and Second Need.

For many products and services, the customer has two needs. The second need is for the product or service but the first need is for information. If youre selling or providing something with any degree of technical specification; or where a truly considered purchase is required, then this is likely to be the case for your customers. While your competitors scrap over winning sales, you can carve a niche for yourself by offering information that helps people make the right decision, and positions you as both a voice of authority and a trusted advisor. Here are just a handful of Packaged Information titles to illustrate the point:
10 Things You Must Know Before Replacing Your Office Telephone Systems How to Avoid the 5 Most Costly Mistakes Most Print Purchasers Make 7 Questions You Should Ask Your Martial Arts Instructor How to Get the Best Price When You Sell Your Home
By offering answers to the questions your customers are posing, you can get more response from your marketing and from qualified prospects. You can build a really positive relationship with them from a very early stage, and then go on to nurture them towards a sale.
46. Balance your content.

The content of your guide, report or white paper is critical.
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Whatever subject youre writing on, you need to position yourself as the voice of authority in your field but you dont want to scare off your audience by baffling them with jargon and concepts they dont understand. Try breaking your content down into 3 categories: Firstly, write down a few points that your audience may already have considered. You can put them at their ease by doing this and make sure they dont simply dismiss your guide as being too complicated. Then, give them some ideas that will really help them make the right decision show them how they can save money, save time, avoid stress Finally, hit them with a couple of real nuggets. You want to get them thinking Wow, if I hadnt found that out, Id have wasted my money buying something that wasnt right for me at all!
47. Remember: this isnt an ad.

Packaged Information should offer your audience useful information that helps them make the right decision. If its written as an advertisement for your company, it loses its value (of course, it will display your contact details, and a conclusion inviting the reader to contact you if they have other questions is perfectly acceptable). Dont write about yourself or your company, write the content as though you had been paid to write an impartial guide, the definitive guide on the topic. However, the objective of course is to generate leads, so as you write the guide, remember to double check that your business ticks all the boxes that way, when the reader calls, youll have all the right answers to their questions.
48. Dont simply give it away.

The beauty of Packaged Information is that it is free to the user. It allows them to begin building a relationship with you without having to either spend money, or step into the buying circle until they are ready. But Packaged Information is not completely free. As a lead generation tool, its given in exchange for the prospects contact details, and in with that permission allows you to continue to market to the reader over time, and nurture them towards a sale, like this: When someone requests the guide, contact them to let them know youve received their request, and let them know when and how they will receive it. Critically, casually ask why they requested it. This will help you to identify their needs and decide if theyre in the right market for you.
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Set a specific time frame for them to review the information, and tell them you will be contacting them afterwards to ensure that they got what they wanted from the guide. At the agreed time, contact the prospect. Do not ask if they received the guide (this gives them an easy way out of the conversation by saying no). Instead, begin nurturing the prospect towards a sale discuss the next stages (perhaps a free assessment of their needs, or a proposal for the product or service best suited to their requirements). Continue to nurture the prospect. By requesting the packaged information they have identified that they have a need they probably will purchase a solution, and it is now a matter of consistent contact and education to ensure that they see you as the natural provider of that solution.
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Chapter 5: 11 Ways to Make Your Website Work for You!

Now more than ever, having an effective and powerful website is a critical part of many businesss marketing success. Websites that succeed offer their visitors far more than simply an online brochure. They educate your prospects, help you build credibility and rapport, and generate pre-qualified leads. And they help you build a database of contacts that are actively seeking the products and services you supply. If youve got a website now, or youre considering building one, here are some key considerations to help you review or create your site and to ensure it delivers real success in an increasingly online world.
49. Set your objectives.

Before you even think about what your website will look like, and ideally before you approach a website designer or developer, you should be clear about your objectives. What does your website have to do for your business to be considered a success! There are up to four main objectives you can have for your website... 1. 2. 3. 4. To To To To Generate Leads Create Sales Communicate Establish Credibility
For some organisations a website which achieves one of these objectives will be the perfect website, while for others, your website can and should achieve all four objectives. By being clear about your objectives you can make good decisions about the development of your website.
50. Analyse!
Google Analytics is a fantastic free tool which gives you comprehensive performance statistics on your website. It tracks all your traffic sources, gives you invaluable information about where your visitors are coming from, what search terms theyre using to find your site, how long they spend on different pages, and what they do when they are on your site.
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Its a great way to see which parts of your website people are using, and which parts are under-performing, and it lets you make some smart decisions about where to invest your time and money in future changes. This information can tell you which parts of your website are most popular, which convert the most sales and which parts are bouncing your visitors back to the search engines. Understanding your sites current performance will help you to develop the site in a way that will improve your sites overall performance. Google Google Analytics for more information. Your web developer will be able to quickly and easily add this to your website.
51. Create a clear site structure with topic specific landing pages.
People who search online want information fast. They dont always have the time or inclination to hunt through your site for what theyre looking for. Make it easy for them to get what they want by creating separate landing pages for each product or service that you wish to promote. This will ensure that your page is relevant to searchers, which minimises "bounces", maximises conversion rates and will also play a key role in search engine optimisation. Landing pages should be product or service specific so for example a supplier of bikes and cycling products may include the following landing pages on their website... Mountain Bikes Road Bikes Comfort & Leisure Bikes Kids Bikes Racing Bikes Cycling Accessories Lights Helmets Body Armour Cycling Clothing While this may seem daunting at first, especially when you consider how much copy and content will need to be created, the good news is that you don't have to do it all at once. Create detailed landing pages for your most popular and profitable products and services first, and then expand your site as you go.
52. Keep your navigation simple.

This may sound obvious, but its an important point.
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You should consider how easy it is for people to find their way around your menus and bear in mind that they dont know your business they same way you do. So, avoid layers and layers of sub menus, which require the reader to know which category to start with to find what theyre looking for and make sure your pages and menu buttons are clearly named and intuitive, so people can see at a glance where theyre going.
53. Use your website to create credibility.

Websites today arent just about promoting your products and services. Visitors want to be able to check you out to establish your track record; find out what others think of you; see where you are based, and check out your credentials. Credibility pages such as your About Us, Testimonials, and even Contact Us pages can give your prospective customers the confidence to deal with you, so make sure they give all the information they can.
54. Build your mailing list.

Your website doesnt just exist to give information to your customers. A key role of your website should be to convert site visitors into database contacts. You need your website to be designed and structured in a way to help you grow your business by inspiring visitors to part with their contact information, so that you can continue to market to them after theyve left the site. The simplest way to do this is to offer a free newsletter, or other information or guide (for more on Packaged Information see Chapter 4), which people can request in exchange for an their contact details and email address, or whatever contact details you need. Well talk more later in this guide on how to best use these contact details but for now, make it easy for people to give you their email address, phone number or postal address. These are warm leads that have already shown anninterestninnwhatnyounhaventonoffer.
55. A word on fonts.

Making your website easy to read is vital if youre going to get people to stay on the page and read the information youve worked hard to put there. Using a sans serif font such as verdana or arial is proven to increase retention of information when read on the screen. Verdana should be used for 10pt and smaller (it looks very loopy above 10pt font size) Arial can be used for 10pt fontnsizenandnabove. Screen readability and understanding of Arial and Verdana Arial 12 pt 59% vs Verdana 12 pt 40%
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Arial 10 pt 34% vs Verdana 10 pt 64% Arial 9 pt 21% vs Verdana 9 pt 74% To prevent your site looking cluttered and clumsy, stick to 2 main fonts: one for headlines and one for the main copy. Keep it simple. The colour you choose for the text on your site will depend on the overall design, but be very mindful of the fact that simple black on white is the easiest to read. If you do use a coloured font, double check that youre not making it hard for people to get the information they want.
56. Optimise!
Search Engine Optimisation is a huge topic that requires its own guide. However, theres one simple technique that will help you to ensure that the text on your page is optimised for the product or service that youre promoting. We call it the Rule of Three. In simple terms, each page should feature 3 keywords (these can be individual words or short phrases) that relate specifically to the product or service on that page. Each keyword or phrase is then repeated at least 3 times on the page, including within the headline, and the first few paragraphs. The keywords should also feature in the metatags for the page, including the page title, description tag and keyword tag. Well optimised pages are easier for people to find, and help the overall performance of your site in the search engine marketing.
57. Use more links.

Internal links in your website serve two major functions: Firstly, they help visitors find their way around. Making it easy for people to find what theyre looking for is key, so as well as simple menus your site should feature intuitive links throughout the copy. Crucial Tip: Avoid click here syndrome! Links that say click here are uninspiring and ineffective. Instead, use longer text to get people to take action. Instead of: click here to contact us try: you can email us direct or find our phone number here. Secondly, internal links based on your keywords help the search engines learn more about your site. Thats a good thing, because once they see that youre making it easy for people to get what they want, theyll reward you with better positioning in the search results.
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58. Call to action.

If you've ever employed sales people who could not, or did not ask for the order, the chances are they had a very short career with your business. For some reason most web pages, on most websites, make exactly that mistake. They conclude with... er, that's right, you guessed it... nothing at all. They fail to effectively ask for the order, and subsequently fail to generate the enquires leads and database contacts that they should. In most cases, this can be quickly and easily resolved by adding a simple sentence to each page to ask for "the order", whether that is an enquiry, a newsletter signup, special report request or other appropriate action. Almost every page on your website should end with a sentence like this one... "To get started, to request a proposal or to find out more -please call us now on 01234 567890, email xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.co.uk or request our special buyers guide." Do yourself and your business a big favour and check your website now.
59. What about design the look and feel of your site?
Wow, were up to point 11 and weve only just mentioned the design! And theres a reason for that. Of course, the look and feel of your website needs to be right: it needs to show your company in the right light; to make you look professional, and be welcoming to your visitors. But starting out with the design is a sure way to force compromise in the important points above. Only once youve made your decisions about how you want your website to work for your business should you go about deciding what it will actually look like.
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Chapter 6: 11 Tips for Pay-Per-Click Advertising Success

If youre not already using or testing Pay-Per-Click to see what it can do for your business, now is a great time to start. Pay-Per-Click is one of the fastest, most controllable and most effective way to drive high-quality traffic to your website. In this guide, well focus on some ways to use Google AdWords to promote your business online the principles can be carried across to most other PayPer-Click platforms, such as Facebook.
60. Research your keywords.

Keywords are at the heart of every Pay-Per-Click campaign. Theyre the words and phrases that will trigger your ads to show when someone types them into a search engine such as Google. Getting your keywords right can make the difference between a campaign that works and one that doesnt or between a campaign that costs you a fortune and one that runs on pennies per day. Once you have a starter list, you can use the Google Keyword Tool to develop it. You can find Googles Keyword Tool here: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal This tool will tell you not only what phrases to consider, but also give you information about how many others businesses are using that keyword, and in a competitive market that may help you find the keywords with low competition (and therefore a lower cost). When you use the same keywords in your Pay-Per-Click ads as you do on your web pages, youll get better results, for a lower spend.
61. Test Long Tail keywords.

When Pay-Per-Click advertising first came to prominence, you could set up a campaign around a keyword like accountants and do reasonably well. Today if you try that, youll be throwing your hat in with around 21,200,000 websites many of which will also be running a Pay-Per-Click campaign (not to mention that your ad could show to someone in a different town, or even a different country!). Long tail keywords help you bypass your competition by pinpointing very specific search terms that few other advertisers are competing for. For example, if you created an ad group around the keyword small business accountant Romford (or whichever town you happen to be in), your ads
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would appear for much fewer search queries but users who trigger your ads are more likely to be in your target audience.
62. Create tight campaigns and ad groups.

One of the most common mistakes people make when they start out with Pay-Per-Click, is throwing all the keywords they can think of into one big Ad Group. Its important to remember that search engines reward relevance above all else. So, the more focused your Ad Groups are, the more youll be rewarded. Think of your Campaign as the topic youre advertising and the Ad Groups as themes within each topic. For example, a hotel advertising on Google may have a Campaign called Accommodation and another called Dining. Within Accommodation they may have Ad Groups such as cheap accommodation, luxury accommodation, family accommodation and so on.
63. Use your landing pages.

Remember those highly focused, well-optimised landing pages you wrote when you built your site? Use them! People searching the Internet for information want it fast, and they want to make the fewest number of clicks to get it. So if you sell an ABC model 92 with an optional Widget, and someone searches for that dont waste time sending them to your Homepage and hoping theyll bother to find it for themselves. Send them straight to the best page on your site for them to see. You can set the destination URL within your ad to do that.
64. Use geographical targeting.

One of the quickest ways to eliminate a lot of competition is to target your ads geographically. Within Google AdWords you can set the geographical area that you want to target for example an accountant in Romford could choose only to display ads within a 20-mile radius of Romford. This way, you ad is more relevant, and your site visitors are more likely to be in your target market.
65. Split test your ads.

Pay-Per-Click is not a format that simply works or doesnt work. Its success can be measured in degrees, and those small degrees can make a massive difference to your return on investment. Heres one way to ensure that your Campaigns performance is constantly improving: For each Ad Group, create 3 to 4 variations on your ad. For example
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Using Google AdWords?
Google AdWords User?
Get the Most Out of Your AdWords by Reading This Simple Free Guide Reading This Simple Free Guide Get the Most Out of Your AdWords www.freeguidetoadwords.co.uk www.freeguidetoadwords.co.uk
Use Google AdWords?

Get Your Free Guide to Using Google AdWords Here. Call or Email Today! www.freeguidetoadwords.co.uk Because Google will display ads in rotation, as the ads run, youll see performance statistics build up, giving you information such as the number of times each ad has been shown, how many clicks each has had, and at what cost. If you were using Google Conversion Tracking (more on that later), youd be able to see which ads have actually resulted in people requesting the Free Guide too. Whichever statistic youre using as your measure of success, every month you can pause the ads that are performing worst, and write new variations to try and out-perform your best ad. That way, youre constantly striving to improve performance, and never resting on your laurels.
66. Show people where theyre going.

One neat trick with AdWords is that the URL (Web address) you display in your ad does not have to be identical to the URL youre sending people to. Of course it cant be misleading, and there are some other rules it needs to comply with, but if your landing page address is actually this: www.mywebsite.co.uk/products/gadgets/mobilegadgets/ABC_92_Widget.html try using something like this: www.mywebsite.co.uk/ABC92Widget If people can see the phrase they searched on (ABC92Widget) in your web address, theyre much more likely to click on your ad.
67. Track your conversion rate.

Pay-Per-Click is fantastic for generating traffic. But on its own, it wont make you money. To do that, you need to convert your visitors into leads, and ultimately customers. What youll find is that some of your keywords, and some of your ads, do a much better job of sending the right type of visitors to your site, who are moreneasilynconvertednintonbuyers.
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With Google Conversion Tracking your web developer can add some code to your Thank You page (it shows after someone buys, enquires or requests your packaged information offer) which will allow you to tell which keywords and ads convert the most website visitors. And you will be able to see how much you have paid on average for each conversion. This is a hugely valuable tool. Once you know which ads and keywords are generating business, you can then adjust your budget to get even better results.
68. Understand your budget.

Theres a common misconception that Pay-Per-Click is an expensive way to advertise. In fact, exactly the opposite can be true, if you know what youre doing! You can set your own maximum daily budget, which lets you stay in complete control of how much money you spend. So heres the way to make it work for you: First, set yourself a small daily budget; an amount youre comfortable investing in the testing phase. Then, once youve identified the keywords and ads that bring you the best results, increase your budget until your ads are showing enough to bring you the volume of visitors and sales you need.
69. Google Image ads.

Banner ads are back, but this time Google have figured out how to make them work. Banner Ads were all the rage in the dotcom boom and they got a bad name. Really bad. Back then, advertisers purchased large bundles of ads, for seemingly small amounts per impression - which usually added up to large invoices with nothing to show for it. It took Google to come along and invent the Pay-Per-Click model (supported with Conversion Tracking) to rehabilitate the reputation of online marketing. However this was based on Text Ads, like the small classified ads that used to fill page after page in newspapers. Now Google have combined the Banner Ad format with their Pay-Per-Click model, Conversion Tracking and the Content Network (Ads displayed on other people's website's) to give you a really effective new online marketing tool. Google call the new generation of Banner style ads Image Ads. The good news is, whilst Google AdWords, based on the traditional Google Text Ad, is becoming more and more competitive and harder to crack, with Google Image advertising the field is wide open.
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It is estimated that 60% to 70% of all AdWords clicks come from the Content Network, and that around 30% of AdSense Advertisers carry Image Ads - yet only 2% to 5% of all advertisers use Image Ads!
70. Apart from Google?

There are several other platforms that carry Pay-Per-Click advertising includingnYahoo,nFacebooknandnMicrosoft. With the exception of Facebook the others usually represent such a tiny market share that it is rarely worth your while bothering. Facebook, now one of the worlds most popular websites, can be very good for consumer focussed Pay-Per-Click advertising.
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6 Ways to Make the Most of Email Broadcasting

In a world where spam emails, phishing emails, viruses and other electronic assaults abound, is there still room to market your business via email? Absolutely! Regular email bulletins, or newsletters, can be a powerful and incredibly costeffective way of staying in touch with your customers and prospects. But gone are the days when email newsletters sent via your Outlook account would find their way to your target audience. With todays sophisticated (and sometimes a little over-zealous) spam filtering technology, you need to make sure that your messages are getting through and keeping your audience engaged. Here are ten things you can do to get the best results from email broadcasting.
71. Get white-listed.

White listed email broadcasters (such as newzapp) are approved by the major Internet Service Providers, and can deliver messages that get through most spam filters, meaning more of your audience actually get to read your emails! Whats more, theyll help you create a professional looking email template that will give your message extra credibility, and improve your results even further. Theyll also give you sophisticated tracking tools that will let you see who opens your emails, who forwards them on to others, and who clicks on your links. You can discover which topics your audience find most exciting, and find out who are your most avid readers.
72. Build your list.

The more people youre emailing, the more likely you are to see results. So make it easy for people to join your mailing list. Include a sign-up box on your website (and ideally on more than just the Contact Us Page); mention it in sales letters, on your invoices, and on the telephone. You can even offer to add every new client to your mailing list in person if you do it with a smile, theyll often say yes!
73. Get your content right.

There was a time when the average company newsletter consisted of a quick roundup of leavers and joiners, an update on the company dog, some recipes (there were always recipes!), and very little else.
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Today, you need to be a lot savvier about what you say to your reader to ensure they dont hit the delete or even worse the unsubscribe button. Your emails are your opportunity to educate your readers to the benefits of engaging with you. Theyre a fantastic way to deliver useful information that can show your prospects (and remind your customers) how you can make their lives easier, save them money, save them time, and deliver outstanding benefits. So rather than boring your readers with the latest adventures of Bob in Accounts, try answering some common questions, or writing a feature on an issue that your customers struggle to overcome. Giving away free information like this will keep your readers reading and make them open to receiving your sales message. Which brings us on to
74. Mix sales messages with valuable, useful and compelling information.
Its hard to get anyone to sign up to a barrage of sales pitches. But, its incredibly easy to get people to sign up for relevant, valuable and helpful free information; and good old-fashioned helpful hints, tips and advice. So, use a good percentage of your messages to give information, hints and tips, to answer common questions, and genuinely give something of value to your readers then intersperse them with sales letters offers, promotions, product features and similar. The perfect ratio will vary for every business but by monitoring your unsubscribe rates, and how many people respond, forward and reply to your emails, youll find the ideal balance for your audience.
75. Dont overwhelm the audience.

Your readers are typically busy people who receive lots of emails every day. So dont expect them to spend an hour trawling through your 6 article masterpiece! Instead, little and often is the way to get people to read your content. Ideally, each email should be on one single theme structured with a beginning, middle and end that draw the reader through the piece.
76. How often?

The Golden Rule of on-going communications (whether its via email or regular mail), is never to leave it more than 90 days between contacts. After 90 days, youre effectively re-introducing yourself each time, rather than building up awareness and trust. So consider a quarterly email broadcast at the very least. Given the low cost and fast implementation, theres no reason why a monthly or even weekly
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broadcast shouldnt be feasible, providing you have enough information to give to people. Again, the important thing is to keep an eye on how your readers respond. If youre emailing them every day and seeing a high unsubscribe rate, try leaving a bigger gap and if youre emailing monthly and people arent opening the messages, bring them closer together.
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Chapter 8: 14 Ways To Take Your Selling To The Leading Edge.

In the world of professional selling, life isnt easy. Times are tight. Competition is tough. So how do you go about lifting the selling skills of your sales people? How do you raise their vision of service excellence? And how do you set them (and hence, your business) apart from the pack? Here are 14 proven ideas that will definitely get you heading in the right direction
77. The 3 letter word that increases your business.

Are you sure youre getting all the possible business from your clients? Or are you and your people maybe assuming theyll come to your with all their needs? Ask a three letter word that can turn your business around.
78. Your purpose should be to get advances.

The best sales people dont simply collect information. They set purposes to get advances. By advances, we mean a particular action that will move the sale forward. And by predetermining this direction, it has a significant influence on their overall sales results. If your sales team doesnt work to get advances, more often than not theyll only get continuations which actually prolong the sale and frustrate the client.
79. Are you charging too little?

We were convinced that a particular financial adviser was undervaluing his time setting his fees too low. We urged him to increase them. Sceptical as he was, he lifted them by nearly 30%. The result? No one batted an eyelid. But he added 30% to his annual income!
80. What about the people who nearly bought from you?
Obviously, you cant get every sale. But you can still profit from the prospects that didnt buy. Maybe the timing wasnt right. Maybe your product wasnt quite right. But whatever you do, dont just forget about them. Maintain your relationship with them, nurture them and keep open the opportunity of doing business with them at a later date.
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But it doesnt end there. If your product or service really isnt right for them why not swap the leads or sell them? Maybe to your competitors who do have a suitable solution. We know of one marketer who did this and made more from the on-selling of leads than from the original campaign!
81. People perform to expectations.

The most succinct example of setting expectations weve ever come across was in an article in Inc Magazine. It was citing General Stormin Norman Schwarzkopf and his experience when taking command of helicopter maintenance early in his career. Hed asked how much of the fleet was able to fly on any given day, taking into account maintenance schedules. 75% was the reply. Wondering why it wasnt 73% or 74%, he decided to set a new standard. 85% was his pronouncement. Sure enough, in very quick time, 85% operability became normal. Interesting isnt it? People perform to expectations. Set them low, and thats what youll get. Set them high and watch the new level become reality!
82. Bouncing back to even greater profits.

The MFR rule. Monetary. Frequency. Recency. Now this may go against the grain. It seems crazy, but when you understand the power of it, it can revolutionise your profitability. The MFR rule states that the most likely prospect to buy your product is one who has bought before. In the same monetary price bracket, and who purchases frequently, and (the key factor and hardest to accept for some) the one who is the most recent purchaser. How can you profitably use this rule? When you have just delivered a purchase to a client, let them know of something else that you have thatd be just terrific for them. Invite them to make another purchase? Theyve flagged the fact that theyre in need so you mustnt deny them the service of purchasing more. Seriously, you can do a customer a dis-service by not offering something else. Ever been to a hardware store to buy paint only to get home and find they didnt suggest brushes, and yours are caked hard? Simple example but the point is valid.
83. Balancing the solution.

Obviously, your prospects wont always say yes. But likewise, theyll very rarely say no. They generally touch their no with put off phrases like Ill come back later or Ill think about it or I have your details, leave it with me. Your job at this point is to reassure them that the solution youve identified is the best one for them. How?
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Isolate their concerns about your product and then balance these with the benefits. Once they can see the benefits outweigh their concerns, they become far more likely to buy.
84. Make it easy for your prospects to become customers.

When you go into a shop ready to buy a product, theres nothing worse than being subjected to a long, drawing out sales pitch. Your customers probably feel the same way. An effective sales team must be able to identify the buying signals that indicate when a prospect is ready to become a customer. And when they do, they must be able to make the buying process as easy as possible.
85. The sales letter of the future.

Have you ever had a real hard nut of a prospect? Write them a letter that begins: You havent received a note like this. Yet. But some day I hope I can write it to you The body of the letter then goes one year into the future. You begin another letter (inside the first, using the prospects first name now) as if you are already an established supplier and friend of the prospect, talking in glowing terms about the fantastic sales he or she has enjoyed as a result of your relationship in the last 12 months! The letter ends back in the present by asking them to help make it a reality. Use a different typeface for the future letter.
86. What did you really say?

Heres a tip from a millionaire salesman: In negotiations, state in writing up front that everything you say will be confirmed in writing. It protects you from misinterpretation and gives you an upper hand in the process.
87. Referrals a great way to focus your business.

Research shows that its at least 4 times easier to gain business from someone to whom you have referral! The reason is quite simple. By obtaining referrals from your existing clients, youre able to identify and focus your attention on people who are genuinely interested in your product or service. And because 9 times out of 10 theyre friends of the client, theyll share similar sets of values and expectations that further increase their likelihood to buy.
88. Have fun doing what you do.
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If your sales team doesnt enjoy what theyre doing, their performance will suffer. So it is essential to make their working environment as comfortable and fun as possible. Dont get me wrong. Of course you must have expectations for your team, but dont forget that without their 100% dedication to the task, youre fighting an impossible battle. Success in retail is all about helping others get what they want and making sure that every member of your team understands that. When this happens, your sales and profits will begin to take care of themselves.
89. The five card trick.

A subscriber proffered this idea. Our customers are always delighted when theyve experienced our terrific service. And theyre always receptive to giving referrals while theyre hot. But rather than give them just one card, we give them five. Its amazing how much extra business that generates for us! A highly powerful, yet incredibly simple, idea. We incidentally have specialised in the area of creating referral programmes that generate tens of thousands in sales. After all, in many cases, 76% to 90% of someones business can come from referral. Why would you leave that to chance?
90. The power of presentation.

Mel Shapiro is a super-successful dry-cleaner in Las Vegas. His secret takes the form of 4 golden rules:
Keep a smile on your face. Happy people work better and convey
that feeling to your customers.
Keep your promise. Do what you promised you would do or better. Make a good presentation. Clean up your workplace, develop a
distinctive look. Pay for quality.
Do good quality work sell good quality products.

Now if youre saying this is all very simple and why even include Shapiros painfully obviously basic formula here? Its relevant to point out that in his marketplace, he has 126 competitors, and only 8% of the stores, and yet he gets 40% of the business! These ideas open up some exciting opportunities for your business and give you some proven ways to improve the effectiveness of your sales team. "Sales" is an incredibly exciting leverage point in a business. By lifting sales conversion rates from 2 out of 10 to 3 out of 10, you can effectively generate a 50% increase in turnover. All that without spending one penny more on marketing and promotions! Simply focusing on sales conversions rates can reap enormous rewards.
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Chapter 9 10 Tips On Providing Superb Customer Service.

There is no doubt that companies who distinguish themselves through providing superb service also distinguish themselves with far greater levels of sales and profits. Here are some more statistics to ponder. Research into why customers stopped buying unearthed that
3% stopped because of inconvenience 9% stopped because of a relationship at a high level with someone in a
competitive company they were seduced away wasnt fast enough, or the product wasnt right
15% stopped because the price was too high or the delivery time 5% stopped because of some other miscellaneous reason
which leaves 67%. Why did this whopping 67% stop buying?
Perceived Indifference they didnt think the supplier cared

whether they came back or not. Superb service holds the key!
91. Customer retention gives you enormous leverage.

Heres another astonishing piece of research for you to dwell on for a moment. A change of just 5% in your customer retention rate will produce a staggering 25% increase in your profits! (Source: Bain & Company Consultants). Clearly, creating clients or a customer is only the tip of the iceberg. You should do everything in your power to keep your existing clients coming back to you. And that means implementing systems that guarantee your team members give superb service every time.
92. Cross sell and up sell

It might seem incongruous to include cross and up selling in a section about customer service. But actually, it makes perfect sense. You see, if you sell products, or offer a service, that you truly believe in (you do, dont you?) then youre actually doing your customers a diservice if you dont let them know. If youre in retail, the cross and up selling can be done face to face (its best to put a system in place, so you know if someone purchases product X theyll also be offered product Y and be told why thats happening).
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If youre a service-based business, then using a simple Windows of Opportunity matrix can highlight areas for potential cross and up selling activity. Using a simple spreadsheet, list your key customers on one axis, and your key areas of service on the other. Mark which customers take which products and services, and the gaps will show you where you can most effectively market for the best return on your investment. If your products or services offer genuine benefits that your customers should be taking advantage of, let them know about it!
93. Show you customer you really do care.

The single largest reason why people change from one company to another an incredible 68% is perceived indifference. Another way of expressing this is when your customers feel you just dont care. The key word here is perceived! You see, you may care more than anybody in the world about your customers. But unless you communicate that care, and demonstrate it, youll lose them.
94. Service standards like you wouldnt believe!

Question. Whats the difference between Waitrose and Sainsburys? Answer. Clear performance standards and a culture that works. At Sainsburys, if you ask where the dried fruit is, you will probably be pointed in the direction, and maybe be given an aisle number. At Waitrose in exactly the same situation you will be taken to the exact aisle and location by a helpful and polite assistant. Given the choice, where would you shop? No contest.
95. Prioritise your ideas.

Business people have good ideas a wealth of good ideas. And one of the most common problems is knowing how to implement them in your business. Obviously, you cant do them all at once, so how? Prioritise! List them in order of importance. Draw up an implementation schedule. Brainstorm them with your team to further develop the ideas and to let the team members own the ideas. And appoint team members to put them in place. Youll get far more accomplished and the results in your business are often quite mind-blowing!
96. Just a quick note to say

Imagine how you would feel receiving a note like this after youve purchased something from a store.
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Good Morning David, You know, customers are the absolute lifeblood of any business. Thats why were so delighted to welcome you to ABC Ltd. You see, were committed to providing you with first class products and total quality. Plus, of course, the kind of service youll be happy to tell others about. Again, thank you for choosing ABC Ltd. It really does make us feel very special
Would you be inclined to go back to a business like this?
97. Shout it from the mountain tops!

If your business does something different something unique tell your clients and prospects all about it. A great example is Pret a Manger the coffee and sandwich chain. Every coffee cup, sandwich box, brownie rapper and drink container has a uniquenstory.nOnenofn99nPretnPassionnFacts. Each tells a story about the product, the recipe, the source of the food, or a fact such as their commitment that all sandwiches are made fresh on the premises every day (unsold sandwiches are given to charities). The result? They are successfully selling hundreds of thousands of the most expensive sandwiches for sale today, to people all over the country, day in day out. Why does it work? Simple. They make a big song and dance about what they do so everyone and I mean everyone knows about them and what they do!
98. Customer satisfaction is not enough.

Your aim should never be to satisfy your customers. It simply must be to delight them. Think of it this way. People expect to be satisfied when they go to a store. So when theyre only satisfied it really is nothing special. However, when you exceed their expectations you have an overwhelming impact on them and their chances of coming back to you become very good.
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99. You have to think outside the box.

Perhaps the single biggest hurdle you face in providing superb customer service is a mental one learning to think outside the box. We often impose rules on ourselves that are never actually imposed by the problem we face. We inadvertently conform to traditions and norms, rather than seeking the very best solution. So what should you do? Try to break away from the rules that youve learnt over the years. Be different. Be daring. And go with the ideas you really think will work not just the ideas you feel obliged to use.
100. C.O.M.F.O.R.T.
Yet another Singapore example. Imagine yourself riding in a cab provided by the Comfort Cab Company that has this on the dashboard: C is for Caring O is for Observant M is for Mindful F is for Friendly O is for Obliging R is for Responsible T is for Tactful The sign tells the cabbies whats expected of them and it tells you and me exactly what we can expect when we travel in a Comfort Cab. But thats not all. Underneath the sign is another one that reads, I am the best person for his job and no-one else can provide a better service because I am a Comfort cabbie. Now thats dedication and service! Understanding the need for superb customer service is one thing. Getting your team to deliver is another. So, thats 100 Proven Ways to Increase your Profits. And heres number 101
101. Small Things = Big Differences.

As youre no doubt beginning to see, it really is the small things that make a world of difference in your business. Going that extra mile. Making that extra effort. Showing you really care. They might not cost you much they often cost you nothing at all but the difference it will make to your customers perception of you is enormous. And youll see the rewards where it counts most on your bottom line. Heres the final tip and it is one that will truly help you to implement these ideas with passion and commitment. It is annualise everything!
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What do we mean by that? Very simply, train yourself to see the big picture ramifications of small improvements. For example, if you try a cross selling concept, dont just figure the profits for the week. Extrapolate it for the year. It may translate to thousands of pounds. Tens of thousands. If you run a new headline on a campaign and it generates and additional 10 sales at (say) 1,000. Thats not just a 10,000 in extra sales. Annualised, that represents 500,000 in extra sales. It puts everything into perspective and helps keep you hungry for new ideas and new strategies. What is your next step? To begin implementing these ideas! Just take one or two and see the leverage they give you for lifting your sales, for delighting your customers, for achieving your objectives. And please do take advantage of our help. Each of the services we have created to support you is proven and powerful.
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101 Proven Marketing Ideas To Grow Your Business

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101 Proven Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business

Get Better Results www.ResultsCorporation.co.uk

Hello and Welcome

Chris Newton & Haydn Rowe Results Corporation

Copyright Results Corporation 2010

Chapter 1: 9 Secrets of Great Marketing

There are only 3 ways to grow your business.

Measurement is vital to marketing success. Vital.

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Become a marketing scientist test, test, test.

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One of the biggest marketing mistakes.

Another big mistake. Big. Huge.

Create a marketing machine.

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The hidden dangers of discounting.

Charging what youre worth.

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The biggest reason for failure FTI.

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Chapter 2: 20 Simple Tips To Produce Advertising & Marketing That Works!

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13. Dont sell your product or service. Sell what it does.

14. Your name or logo isnt a headline.

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17. Your headline is the most important part of your ad.

20. If it isnt broken, dont try to fix it!

21. Targeting the 1,000% leverage factor!

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22. Test! Test! Test!

23. The more you tell, the more you sell.

25. How long should your ad or sales letter be?

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26. Your advertising should be as specific as possible.

27. Hot words to make your ads sizzle.

28. Typefaces can really make a difference!

29. Business cards the forgotten form of advertising.

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33. Taking the positive role in your sales letters.

34. What should your covering letter say?

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35. How to open your letter so it doesnt end up in the bin?

36. The power of a second opinion.

37. Say what youd say in person.

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38. Some golden rules for your coupon or order card.

39. Make it easy to buy.

40. Test your direct mail and email.

41. The power of your P.S

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42. Indent your way to success.

43. Write to one person.

44. Write or Email More Than Once.

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1-2% 2-3% 7% 30% 60%

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Chapter 4: 4 Tips to Harness the Power of Packaged Information

45. Understanding First Need and Second Need.

46. Balance your content.