My Best Business Advice - a selection of articles

The economy’s tough, unemployment is at a record high and growing and you’ve decided your best option is to start your own business, be your own boss and put yourself in control. Instead of working for someone who’s living their dream, work for yourself and live your American Dream. That was an easy decision; obviously not…but where do you start?

My first suggestion is to take a deep breath.

Now a second deeper breath.

Is this really what you want to do?

If the answer is still “Yes” then the next decision is just to get out there and get on with it?

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Look Before You Leap.” You’ve also heard, “Ready, Aim, Fire.” Well, these have become good sayings for good reason. You’ll meet plenty of business consultants and sales people who say “Leap, and then look” or “Ready, Fire, Aim” because chances are they are trying to sell you something…make that anything. However, if you don’t have unlimited money and whether you survive or thrive, I think “Look Before You Leap” or “Ready, Aim, Fire” makes much better sense.

So you’ve still decided you really want to start your own business. That’s great and let’s hold onto that dream, as long as it makes sense. So a good next question is…What are your options?

Obviously you have the choice to start your own business, just like you decided. But perhaps you didn’t realize that you actually have three choices? You can start your own business and do everything from scratch. If you’re starting your own business you will be responsible for doing everything from scratch. We’ll come back to this but maybe you should consider the other two options. The next option is to buy an existing business. If you have some money you can get together, then maybe that’s a better option. What’s the third option? The third option is to buy the rights to a local franchise.

So there we go. Perhaps you thought there was only one option and that was to start your business from scratch but in fact there are three viable options. And what’s interesting, each option will appeal to a different person based on their previous business and industry experience, risk tolerance and skill set. If business ownership is new to you, chances are you’ll choose between buying an existing business or buying the rights to a franchise. If you’ve had extensive experience in Corporate America and have specialized in one area such as sales and marketing, tech support or operations, you may feel more comfortable with a franchise where the franchiser brings their clear and defined skill set and responsibilities and you bring your natural skill set you’ve built over the years. The final choice is yours. If you’re just starting your journey to move into business ownership, read, ask questions and talk to those in business so you find the right fit. In my opinion, your chances of success are much greater if you find the right fit for your unique situation of skills, experience, finances, risk tolerance and personality. If you bring it all together success is a matter of hard work.

I think I was too serious here, I didn't get to tell any jokes, so here one is......



People like me own businesses.... And so shall you..... Just remember guys, its not how good you are, its how hard you work. Don't give up on your dreams, or you working in a cubicle and your name will be dilbert. Play to win, don't just play. Oh and if that was funny and stupid enough for everyone today, I have done my job, before my first f***ing cup of coffee.... Good luck

 

Below are a few mistakes to pay attention to and avoid as you market your goods or services:

1. Not Marketing to a Defined Group: Find your target audience and gear your marketing plan to that audience. Trying to appeal to everyone typically does not work.

2. Inconsistency in Your Marketing Efforts: You need to have the same look and feel across all of your ads, promotions, and overall marketing plan.

3. Lack of Diversification: Marketing on television, in print or on the Internet alone will reach only a portion of your potential customers. Plan to market creatively through a cross-section of media so that customers become familiar with your brand and your products at different times and in different places.

4. Not Focusing on Repeat Business: Repeat business typically makes up 80 percent of customers in most businesses. Too often marketing campaigns are heavily focused on bringing in new customers and not building relationships with current ones.

5. Starting Too Late: Time your marketing campaigns to coincide with new products, new services, seasonal sales or an upcoming event that will attract business. This typically means preparing well in advance.

6. Not Having a Clear Marketing Message: Marketing messages that are contrived, confusing, too subtle or too long can easily miss the target market entirely. The most ingenious marketing plan is wasted if no one gets it.

7. Going Overboard: If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Too much hype will turn people away.

8. Forgetting That Slow and Steady Wins the Race: If you blow your entire marketing budget on a Super Bowl ad, then what can you do next? Marketing means building a reputation over time through ongoing exposure.

9. Not Getting Feedback: Test your marketing ideas and do focus groups. Don't launch it without getting some feedback first.

10. Making a Change for the Sake of It: Just because you are tired of your marketing plan doesn't mean it isn't working. Too many marketers make changes because they think they have too. Often a tried and true formula will keep working.

11. The desire for instant gratification. Launching an email campaign is like trying get your car rolling from a dead stop. You think you're going to manage it all in one push? Nope. It takes time to work up some momentum. And before you achieve a decent speed, you're gonna start wondering if you are even up to the task. Be patient! Studies have proved the only variable that influences the success of any campaign is the power of your message. So make sure you are saying the right thing. "Uncover the story that is uniquely yours; focus your campaign; commit to your message."i And be prepared to give it time. Once you get your momentum, it will be hard to stop it! Sure, along the way you're gonna have to give the occasional push, but with the momentum established, the job becomes much easier.

12. Attempting to reach more people than the budget will allow. This is the reach versus frequency issue. Let's say you are going to buy inventory or place an ad in an email newsletter. You can afford to make 100,000 impressions. Do you go for 10 placements in one newsletter that goes out to 10,000 people, or do you opt for one placement that goes out to 100,000 people? Same number of impressions, but the first option exposes fewer viewers to multiple impressions. Think about it this way: Would you rather reach 100% of the people and convince them 10% of the way of them, or reach 10% of the people and convince all of them all the way? When it comes to maximizing your email marketing efforts, this is a useful analogy: Your message is the nail, repetition is the hammer, and a block of wood is the customer. If the nail is sharp and you hammer effectively, you will pierce through the wood and clinch the customer. For more information on this topic, check out "Email As Advertising," written by my colleague Bryan Eisenberg in ClickZ. And it doesn't hurt to remember this: "Retention fades with sleep." Repetition has its rewards.

13. Assuming the business owner knows best. When it comes to stuff in which you have a huge personal investment (your kids, your homes, your businesses), you risk losing your objectivity. Hey, it's a human thing. Too much knowledge about your company and what you offer leads you to answer questions nobody is asking. When you're inside the bottle, it's hard to read the label. But that's also when you risk pushing your own interests at the expense of your customers' interests. Sometimes it helps to bring in an objective outsider to give you some perspective.

14. Unsubstantiated claims. Folks make claims all the time that miss targeting their customers' needs and simply wind up turning them off. Specifics about yourself, your way of doing business and your products are far more persuasive and cut to the chase far more effectively than generalities. So get credibly specific!!

15. Improper use of passive media. Passive media are sight-based media - newspapers, magazines, billboards, direct mail, and yes, even email - that require the user to sustain focused attention in order to process the message. Intrusive media are sound-based - radio and television. Sound is heads above sight in its ability to get your message lodged into your customers' brains. The best use of passive media is as a follow-up to intrusive media. This is a toughie, and there's not much you can do about it at this stage of the technological game. It is largely one of those obstacles you have to factor into your marketing equation. Trust me, now is not the time to go lining your emails with .wav files - and that misses the point anyway. The huge advantage of email marketing, passive though it may be, is its relative low cost. It's worth the effort, but be aware of the limitations. Passive media is an effective way to reach those customers who are actively in the market for your product or service. You'll improve the effectiveness of your emails if you can use this to your advantage. Exactness is the key attribute of passive media - you can give a lot of specifics that your potential customers can check as many times as they want, simply by revisiting their online mail boxes.

16. Creating individual emails instead of campaigns. Remember the hammer analogy from last time? Good. Now add this: No single ad constitutes a campaign, Rome wasn't built in a day, and friendship isn't a first-sight phenomenon. You have more to say and more to accomplish than can be said and accomplished in a single email. A very important thing to do as you develop your campaign is build upon your previous (successful) efforts. Your individual emails have to be interconnected, with a logical flow and a united presentation - after all, they are all pieces of that big �puzzle� that is your company. In a way, it's like the old Burma Shave signpost campaign � you want to keep your customers eager and on the lookout for more of what you have to offer.

17. Obedience to unwritten rules. Do you really want to be like everyone else? Do you want to communicate the same message as your competitors? No, of course not. You want to be unique, you want to stand out from the crowd. So don't follow it! Dare to be different in a believable way. That's how you get noticed. I'm not suggesting you go overboard (commercial relationship-building requires tact and tends toward the conservative end of the spectrum), but if your emails sound, act and look like everybody else's emails, what's the value in doing business with you rather than them?

18. Ignoring timing. It should come as no surprise that you've got to think about timing your message. Who is your audience and when are they most likely to read your email? Rebecca Leib presents some very useful information on timing in her article Does Anybody Know What Time It Is? Does Anybody Care? Your goal is to give your customers the right message and send it when they are apt to take the time to read it. This isn't the same as suggesting you should time your message to exactly when you think your customer is going to act on it. Seasonal situations aside, an important tenet of advertising is this: "Tell the customer WHY and wait for WHEN. Quit trying to predict the moment of need."i

19. Overtargeting. Be careful to avoid over-segmenting your data base in your efforts to reach your target audience. It's a myth that you only need to get your message to the decision-makers. Truth is, decisions are seldom made in a vacuum. Don't neglect the influencers!

20. Event-driven marketing. It's best to steer clear of designing an email campaign around a single event (unless it's a major, well-branded event that strengthens your Unique Selling Proposition). When an event is over, folks will immediately forget the marketing pitch behind it, and besides, 99.5% of the people you've spent the effort to reach won't be coming to The Do anyway. Where does your message go when this happens? Up in tendrils of smoke.

21. Great production without great copy. "Slick, clever, funny, creative and different are very poor substitutes for informative, believable, memorable and persuasive." The name of the ebusiness game is persuasion; getting people to take the action you want them to take. Don't even dream of neglecting those magical words that are going to help you craft your brilliant, perfect message.

22. Confusing "response" with "results." Slick, clever, funny, creative and different ads are most likely to generate comment, or response." Buzz doesn't feed the bulldog and excitement alone won't bring in the cash. See the problem?

 

good read! thanks

 

glad u liked it..thought it might b useful for all if anyone learns from it i am proud to have helped.

 

Sounds easy enough, right? The problem is, when faced with a huge undertaking, it’s really tempting to get pulled in many directions simultaneously. The result is that you look busy, and feel busy, but nothing ever seems to get completed. Before you know it, you are behind schedule, off on wild tangents, losing money, losing energy and getting more frustrated by the day.

The trick is to slow down…and map out what you need to focus on and accomplish. Be very specific. Then figure out all the next action steps. Write them down, or put them in your Getting Things Done (GTD) application of choice. Better yet, cut them out and post them in front of your work area. Then turn off all distractions so you can get them done. One at a time.

This article is a fine example. I have stressed out about how to get more done, and felt pressure to write more frequently. And finally I realized it isn’t going to happen until I shut out the noise, make a plan and stick to it. Writing more articles starts with this one.

I hope you will commit to getting the things done that matter most to you this year!

Feel free to leave a comment on how you overcome distractions, self doubt and other hurdles in order to achieve your goals.

 

The first dot-com boom was a period when the normal laws of business were
temporarily suspended. But the laws of business cannot be suspended for long. They eventually re-assert themselves. They came back vigorously much like the law of gravity suddenly re-asserting themselves.

The Schumpeter creative destruction at the end of the last dot.com boom had some good effects. It created the technical and market infrastructure needed to support this second, more sustainable dot.com boom. This has created tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurs.

Like a brick-and-mortar firm, the new dot.com will rise or fall on the fundamentals. In addition to a solid business plan, a new dot.com needs additional elements to succeed. This article provides a survey of the basics you need to get started.

Hosting and E-Commerce

Choose a domain name (yourcompany.com) and a hosting company at which to host it. Your choice of hosting company is important because their reliability and ability to increase your capacity smoothly as needed are crucially important. Your e-commerce hosting account is likely to start out as a "shared" hosting (less expensive option) and later may grow to a dedicated" server (more capacity but higher price) later, if needed.

However, the good thing about hosting is that if your host turns out to be unreliable or is unable to scale up to meet your needs, you can always switch hosting companies. Just make sure that you register the domain name under your name and not theirs from the beginning.

Decide if the goal of your website will be to capture leads (which can be done through simple contact forms), which you will then follow-up on later by phone and/or email. Alternatively, is your goal to make direct sales from your website, in which case you will need a shopping cart system. Regardless of your goal, you should also provide good quality content on your website that will capture your prospective customer's interest.

Most hosting companies offer a shopping cart (such as Miva Merchant) with their e-commerce hosting accounts. Find out which cart they offer, and do some research to make sure it is a reputable system. Find out how user friendly the system is for non-technical people to setup and maintain an online store.

In addition to the hosting and shopping cart system, you will need a merchant account that will enable your business to accept electronic payments (e.g., credit cards). You may already have a merchant account, especially if you now run a brick-and-mortar business. For online transactions, you will also need a Payment Gateway (such as authorize.net or Verisign). The Payment Gateway authorizes payments for online businesses. Generally, these services will interact automatically with both your shopping cart system and your merchant account. Once setup, all this happens behind the scenes so your website is selling your products or services day-and-night, without you having to be directly involved. Someone from Australia could buy something from your site while you sleep.

It is imperative that you have the ability to update your shopping cart easily. It is crucial that you have control of this process, as it is likely you are going to want to make changes over time.

Website

It is a given that you need a professional looking, well-organized website to sell online. This does not mean fancy. In fact, fancy can work against you, as it can confuse your visitors. Your designer can integrate your new website with your shopping cart system. Make sure you retain a designer who has specific experience in the shopping cart system you wish to use.

While you will likely hire a design firm to do the initial website design, it is important that you have the ability to update the website. This means the design firm needs to put some sort of content management system (CMS) in place or learn to use one of the Web design/maintenance software packages (such as Dreamweaver or MS FrontPage), if you do not already know how to use one. You do not want to have to call your website designer every time you want to make some minor change or addition to your site.

While the designer will develop your site initially, it is important to give some thought to this process so you can provide plans and guidance to your designer. What are the goals of your site? Do you want leads captured with a contact form? Do you primarily want direct sales captured through a shopping cart system? If you have more than a few items, your database design becomes very important.

Make sure your design consultant has solid database design experience (ask for examples and references). How do you organize the products so people can quickly find what they are looking for? What market segments will be visiting your site and how do you appeal to each? Both site and product navigation are key components of a useable site.

The next step is to determine the various pages that will comprise your site, what content will go on each page, and how it will all fit together. While you map this out, always keep your goals in mind -- direct sales, sales leads, etc.

A good way to start this process is to go out on the website and carefully analyze what similar businesses have done. You can probably get a decent e-commerce website starting at about $500 for the design.

Once you have done the research, draw up plans for the various pages of your site to provide to your designer. In addition, since you have been surfing the web, you may be able to provide your designer with examples of sites as models of how you want your site to look. This will be helpful to your designer in thinking through what you want.

Achieving Your Independence

During the early stages while you are getting a shopping cart and a website setup, it is important to spend some time learning the basics of how to maintain them. You could discuss this with your designer ahead of time, to make sure that you can get some initial training on updating both your site and your shopping cart. You absolutely do not want to have to call someone every time you want to change something on your website or in your shopping cart system. The truth is that once you learn how to do it, making
changes to your website and shopping cart system is simple.

Now What?

You now have a website giving you an online presence and the ability to capture leads or make sales directly. Now, how are you going to get people to people to visit to your site?

While clearly a survey article like this cannot answer these questions definitively, it can at least serve as a starting point. It is important to do some research and find some articles on each of these topics.

Search Engine Marketing

At some point -- if your business experiences enough growth to pay for it -- you will likely consider hiring a professional search engine marketing consultant to help you. Until then, you need to make some solid progress on your own.

Search Engine Optimization

To increase your site's ranking in Google and other search engines, it is crucial to have quality content on your website that includes reference to the keywords that you want to optimize. The place to start optimizing your site is during the planning and design phase. This is definitely something you will want to read about further, and discuss with your designer from the beginning.

Once you complete your site, you will want to seek out reputable directories and other sites relevant to your industry, and request to have your site listed in these. Ideally, the link provided on these sites would reflect the keyword you are trying to optimize. For example, if you are optimizing "financial planner in Seattle" you would make sure that the clickable link is "financial planner in Seattle" not just www.yourcompany.com. This is
easy to do in HTML.

Some directories require payment to be included. Some are worth it; some are not. Be choosy but err on the side of sites that have a high rank, the Google toolbar (available for both Internet Explorer and Firefox) can be a valuable tool in determining the Pagerank of a particular site. For example, Yahoo Directory charged $300/year for expedited consideration of your submission, which Yahoo organizes by topic. We have found this to be a worthwhile $300 for our websites.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

There are a number of services out there that provide PPC like services, including Google AdWords, Overture (Yahoo), and business.com. You will likely want to start with Google and then expand to one or more other services over time.

Maximizing conversions is your goal but you need to define exactly what a conversion means to your business. Generally, it is either a lead (normally a customer submitting a web form requesting more information) or it is a direct sale (a customer actually purchases your product or service directly). Your website can offer both of these primary types of conversions or focus on just one - or it is possible you have other measures of success you want to measure.

If your goal is to get leads, then that is the sort of conversion your website and advertising should encourage. In addition, do not forget to ask your prospects to request more information or whatever the action you are seeking.

One of the most effective ways to get qualified leads to your site in the first place is through pay-per-click advertising. It is important to read and become familiar with pay-per-click advertising, and then to continue to learn and refine by doing.

In Google AdWords, you set a daily budget (say $20 to start) and a maximum bid on specific keywords (say $2.50). You only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Therefore, if you are bidding $2.50 you might only pay an average of say $2.45 per click. It depends on the keywords you choose and how much you bid. Spend some time choosing good keywords. Google Adwords has tools to help you choose the most powerful keywords. You will also want to embed some special code in your website to enable Google to track conversions.

I have learned through experience that it is best to start with a low bid and increase it incrementally depending on the number of clicks and conversions you get. Your goal is not to outbid the competition but to get the maximum number of clicks (and ultimately conversions) for your budget. Your optimal bid, at your budget, may be much different from the optimal bid for a larger competitor with a much larger budget. The way to find that sweet spot that maximizes clicks for your budget is to start low and increase your bid until you find the optimal bid. That should be your bid for the time being.

Through systematic trial and error, it soon became apparent that the Google Search Network had a much higher conversion rate than the Google Content Network. I responded by dropping the content network completely and focusing exclusively on the search network, which resulted in an immediate increase in our conversion rates.

Over time, I was able to optimize Google AdWords. Now, it pretty much runs on its own and brings in a predictable number of leads and direct sales. We make adjustments here and there, and regularly run tests using different landing pages and so on.

Article Marketing

By putting your knowledge in articles for the benefit of others, the benefits that flow back to you are substantial. You can build a reputation as knowledgeable in your field, resulting in leads and more sales. In addition, part of the process of article marketing means including a bio of yourself. This bio usually includes links back to your website, thus helping increase the PageRank of your website. That means that people who do a search for relevant keywords are more likely to find your website.

You increase the effectiveness of your search engine optimization efforts by making clickable links back to your website the actual keywords you wish to optimize - such as "Guatemalan Shade Grown Coffee" -- not just a simple URL, such as www.yourcompany.com.

This process takes months to show results but the effort and the patience are well worth it. Our site went from the fifth page of Google results to page 1 in about a year. It took sustained effort but it was worth it as we get many more leads and sales because of this time investment.

The fact is that you have much more to gain by sharing information than by hoarding it. The most effective means to disseminate your knowledge is to write articles and publish them on the Web. In return, you can get a higher search engine rank, sales leads, and new business. If you diligently share your knowledge with the world, rewards will flow back to you in due time.

Email Marketing

A crucial but often overlooked component of starting an online business is to have an email marketing solution in place and integrate email marketing into your operations from the beginning. This insures that you collect customer email addresses and ask them from the beginning if they want to receive emails from you. Email can include invoices (often automated), product updates, announcements, special promotions, and email newsletters.

Email is a powerful tool that can help you reduce costs and increase efficiency but perhaps even more powerful is the power of email to increase customer loyalty and retention. As the provider of a product or service that your customers need, you also have information that could benefit your customers as well. If you produce a newsletter and regularly put in the time to create useful content, you will increase your mind share among your customers and they will very likely think of you next time they need to make
a purchasing decision.

Provide consistently good content and special deals for the subscribers to your newsletter. Make sure that your customers feel they are getting multiple tangible and intangible benefits from listening to what you have to say.

At a minimum, an email marketing service should make it easy for you to create eye-catching emails, manage multiple email lists, and place newsletter sign-up forms on your website. There should be powerful list management, robust reporting, and reliability.

Your email marketing service should include an easy way to track the results of your email campaigns. Who opened your email, how many times, and when? Did they click on the link you provided? Did they purchase anything or submit a lead? The service should enable you to track message reads in real time, and read detailed reports online or export them to a spreadsheet.

In addition, your email marketing service should give you the ability to manage multiple lists and divide lists into multiple segments. Last, but not least, it is preferable that your email marketing service provider give you a private IP address, rather than one you share with other customers. A private IP address is preferable to a shared IP address, because with a shared IP address you are vulnerable to the shared IP address being blacklisted because of the mistakes of other customers of your email marketing service provider. With a private IP address, you are the only one who sends email through your IP address.

It is also important that your email marketing provider knows the CAN SPAM regulations and makes it easy for clients to comply with them. Knowledge of and compliance with CAN SPAM is crucial for successful email marketing implementation, and with earning and keeping the good graces of ISP's and other networks. In addition, nothing will ruin the good will of your customers faster than spam. On the other hand, properly implemented permission-based email marketing is one of the most powerful forms of marketing. Done well, email marketing can earn you a reputation as an expert and help you make giant leaps in customer loyalty.

This article is a primer, a survey, of the topics you need to consider from the beginning to have a successful online business. You will want to research each of these topics in much greater depth than I covered them here. It is worth your time to read articles on each of these topics, and even invest the time to read books as well. The effort you put in educating yourself about the various components of starting your online business will pay off, making it well worth the time investment.

 

Its not time wise to take each step each time.
And when you take one step each time,you will take long time to complete the project and this will decrease profit.

 

Well,talking is easier than doing.
You need to have all the required paper work and license before starting any business.
And its always better to work for other people first before own and business due to lack of experience.

 

In the long run however, it increases the stability of your company. So if you are in it for the long haul, this is what you do, if you are trying to make quick buck and then quit, then you can skip all the proper ways of doing things and get banned or in trouble because you didn't plan an escape or ahead. This is how we have gotten so far. Its just advice, you don't have to take it. And it hasn't decreased profits, it increases profits for us in the now and in the future as well, because we are ever growing. Thank you very much for your time.

 

Well, that should be just a given and part of the research that you should have done before even reading the instructions. And I have already done the work for other bit before, and I have owned 4 successful business before, and now we are on the most ambitious adventure of all. I'm afraid that you think, since we are new to this site, we have absolutely no idea what we are doing. Your advice may be good because you have people working for you, and that may sound harsh, because we have people working for us as well, and your right, everyone has to start somewhere, but we are way further than you think. But thank you for your opinion, we appreciate that, because I did forget to include the proper licensing and such. I take it for granted that some people may just think its instantaneous in starting a business. To me, its just something that I don't even consider, having done it several times.

 

i am glad minds r open..remember what worked for me may not work for u..its info to learn from.....my stance is that if u r here u should know the basics..if not u r jumping aheadbut still might not fail...just do not move faster than ur ability...sure footing is the way to make sure u dont make fatal mistakes.

 

This article condenses all sales tips and selling advice in the history of sales tips in short, concise statements. 101 in total:


1. Always Be Closing (ABC)
2. Persistence pays
3. Always ask for business referrals
4. Always carry business cards
5. Take a new sales course
6. Read a new sales book
7. Subscribe to a sales ezine
8. Make 10 cold calls a day
9. Learn a new sales closing technique
10. Don’t overexert yourself
11. Read Selling Power Magazine
12. Practice you sales pitches
13. Learn from your sales manager
14. Read Selling Power Magazine
15. Know what your competition is doing
16. Attend business networking functions
17. Join online business networking sites like Ryze or LinkedIn
18. Take advantage of any free advertising
19. Ask family and friends to make business introductions

20. Do whatever it takes to motivate yourself
21. Post free classifieds online
22. Create a professional website and submit site to search engines
23. Read Jay Conrad Levinson's Guerrilla Marketing series of books
24. Offer sales tips and advice to fellow salespeople and ask them to reciprocate
25. Look for fresh sales leads
26. Create a Trade-Pals.com profile
27. Submit articles about your business niche to ezinearticles.com
28. Role-play your sales closing techniques with colleagues
29. Take notes at sales meetings
30. Create an infomercial
31. Present ideas with conviction
32. Write thank-you letters to clients
33. Sex sells
34. Be in the right state of mind to achieve success
35. Make it your goal to exceed your quota each month
36. Write your personal goals on paper
37. Create a professional blog
38. Make it your goal to set at least one new appointment each day
39. Don’t forget customer service
40. Have an "elevator pitch"
41. Smile
42. Have empathy
43. Upsell your existing clients
44. Learn when to move on
45. Hire a telemarketing firm
46. Have a sales forecast
47. Visit industry trade shows
48. Take your clients golfing
49. Increase your sales closing ratio
50. Learn from the best
51. Ask for the order
52. Make a good first impression
53. Dress for success
54. Buy a great business suit
55. Write a press release
56. Seek local media coverage
57. Have a good attitude
58. Be better than your competition
59. Know your product or service inside-out
60. Buy a yellow pages ad
61. Buy targeted sales lists from infoUSA
62. Make sure your cellular phone is always on
63. Build lasting business relationships
64. Attend sales training seminars
65. Ensure you have proper certification to be considered an expert
66. Give your prospects choices
67. Know hot to handle customer complaints
68. Give you customers "value"
69. Have a sales mentor
70. Be a cold calling pro
71. Be a marketing pro
78. Join a Toastmasters group to practice your public speaking
79. Ask for testimonials
80. Carry a portfolio of past accomplishments
81. Have a business coach
82. Learn how to use current technology
83. Buy an organizer
84. Practice good time-management
85. Always present your sales pitch to the decision maker
86. Sell benefits, not features
87. Learn from successful entrepreneurs
88. Differentiate your product
89. Get more face-to-face time
90. Learn to listen
91. Offer a one-hundred percent guarantee
92. Turn negatives into positives
93. Interview your customers and ask for feedback
94. Don’t be afraid of change
95. Respect the gatekeeper
96. Know when no means no
97. Research your prospects
98. Learn how to deal with stress
99. Submit your service to business directories
100. Start each day off right
101. Enjoy you sales job

what do u think does this help?

 

5 Fast Tricks For Making More Sales!

You've got a killer headline...

You've lined up benefit after benefit...

But it won't make you a dime unless you can close the sale and make the reader of your sales letter hand over their cash. And a solid close on your sales letter will do just this.

Following, 5 essential parts for a "get your wallet out" sales letter close.

1) SHOW THEM THE PAIN

The reader of your sales letter needs to understand what your product/offer will do for them. But once they understand that, they need to know that things won't get better, problems won't be solved, and nothing in their situation will change.

"Passing today means nothing will change for you. You'll still work at a job you hate and pray that one day a sensible and real opportunity will fall into your lap. But I tell you, this IS your real opportunity, and now you just need to act."

Let them feel the pain. Tell them the downside of not jumping on your offer. Ask them questions so they can personalize the loss by actually thinking about what they'll be missing.

2) SHOW THEM THE VALUE

Justify the value of your product or service by explaining the price you've chosen:

"$67 is s true bargain when you consider this one time investment will come back to you at least 10 times. By simply investing a small amount right now, you're guaranteed to get all the information you need to make 10 to 1000 times you investment back in under 30 days"!

3) SHOW THEM THERE'S NO RISK

Take away any doubts in your potential customer's mind. Assure them they're making the right decision, and risk nothing by taking you up on your offer:

"You are guaranteed to learn step-by-step how I made a fortune in network marketing. But if you feel you can't follow my plan, or just don't want to, then simply return my package--keeping the $97 in FREE bonuses--and I'll give you a 100% no questions refund."

4) SHOW THEM TIME IS LIMITED

If the reader doesn't act right away chances are good they'll forget about your offer and never take action. Give them a reason they MUST take immediate action.

Tell them they might lose bonuses. Tell them that supplies of your product are limited. Give them a strong reason to act immediately:

"The $39.95 price is simply a test price. After 100 visitors to this web site, I will access changing the price, and guarantee you it will be rising. So to guarantee you get everything you need to get started day trading for thousands for the test price of only $39.95 you must act immediately."

5) SHOW THEM YOUR OFFER AGAIN

After you've given them details for ordering place a P.S. that goes over your deal again and explains the benefits. A P.P.S. can be used to details that there is no risk:

P.S.: You get immediate access to my complete "Fat Burning Without Exercise" system that will have you shedding 30 pounds in 30 days. Plus, when you act now, you also get $400 in FREE bonuses for helping you reach and maintain your desired weight. But to get everything, you must order now.

P.P.S.: Don't forget ... you're guaranteed to see amazing results or you keep the $400 in FREE bonuses and get a complete refund. Nothing to lose except those extra pounds starting today!

 

In this article, I'm revealing six powerful secret psychological tricks that you can use to increase the effectiveness of your advertising and marketing. What if you don't sell anything? Should you ignore this information?

You ARE selling something. Whether you are a Real Estate agent selling multi-million dollar homes, or a worker trying to sell your boss on the idea that you are a valuable employee, everybody is selling something. So it would be wise to learn these secret tricks and use them to achieve your own personal success.

The secret psychological tricks that I am going to reveal are not really secret. They have been used by shrewd salesman for millennium. Their existence was revealed back in 1984 by Dr. Robert Cialdini in his book "Influence : The Psychology of Persuasion".

You will recognize these tricks being used everywhere in advertising today. Now you will be able to put them to use to enhance your own personal success.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 1: Reciprocity

Reciprocity works like this: you give someone something of value for free. That individual feels an obligation to return the favor. Reciprocity is a very powerful principle.

To use reciprocity as a marketing tool, you give people something of value for free, they reciprocate by purchasing your product or service. But you would be surprised how many advertisers totally blow it. Either they don't understand the concept of "free", or they don't have total faith in the principle of reciprocity.

For example, consider the offer "get a free camera when you subscribe to our magazine for two years." That's not free. Or, "free installation with a one year commitment." That's not free. The customer is paying with an obligation. No sale.

Consider the offer, "receive the latest issue of our magazine absolutely free. No bill will be sent." If the prospective customer finds the magazine to be of value, they feel an obligation to subscribe. Or, "one month of free Internet service. No credit card required." If the Internet service performs well, the prospective customer feels an obligation to sign up.

The trick is to create something that has high perceived value to a prospective customer, but costs you little or nothing to produce. Free information is a good example. Here again many advertisers totally blow it. The free information turns out to be nothing more than blatant advertising.

Free samples of your product or service is another good example. Again, many businesses blow it. They either produce a cheaper version of their product to use as free samples, or they use the free sample campaign as a means to dump reject product.

The largest Internet Service Provider is well known for giving away hundreds of hours of service for free. No credit card required. The largest cookie company is famous for giving away free cookies. Reciprocity is a very powerful marketing strategy.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 2: Scarcity

Scarcity works like this: There is a limited amount of the item available. After those are gone, the item will not be available. "urgency" implies Scarcity. For example, "this offer will be honored only for a limited time".

The effectiveness of the scarcity principle is well demonstrated by the large segment of the population involved in pursuing antiques, collectibles, and memorabilia simply because these items are scarce. Scarcity is often contrived, as when a company produces a "limited edition".

For example, when Disney releases a limit edition of one of its classic stories - yes, limited to a production of more copies than they could ever possibly sell - then it goes in the "vault". And how fortunate we'll be a few years from now when they decide to do us the favor of taking it back out of the vault.

Note: Manufactured items, especially DVDs and CD-ROMs, cannot be "scarce". It's a simple matter to put the manufacturing dies back into production. All scarcities of manufactured items are contrived.

One popular incarnation of scarcity is the "going out of business sale". Customers somehow don't pick up on the fact that the mark-downs are not that great, or that the store has new merchandise coming in the back door to take advantage of the increase in traffic.

Scarcity is a very powerful marketing tool. There are many ways to contrive scarcity. You can create a limited edition, or for items like information products, scarcity can exist in the form of urgency by creating a limited time offer.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 3: Commitment

Commitment involves getting a prospective customer to take a tiny step towards a goal. For example, you might get them to request free information, or fill out a survey. When the prospective customer takes that first step, they have made a commitment, however tentative, towards the goal you have set out for them. They are likely to take another step.

One example of this process is the "two step" method used in mail order. When a mail order marketer runs an advertisement, they don't even try to sell the product. Instead, the advertisement offers free information. A prospective customer makes that first commitment towards purchasing the product by requesting the free information. The free information they receive is designed to entice them to take the next step.

Another example of using commitment as a marketing tool is a survey. By checking a few boxes and answering a few questions, a prospective customer takes that first step towards a commitment. The result they receive from the survey is designed to entice them to take the next step.

Yet another example of using commitment as a marketing tool is a lottery. For example, people enter their name and address on a ticket for a chance to win a new car. A salesman uses that information to contact them. By entering their name and address on the lottery ticket, the individual has made a commitment to own that new car.

The most common example of the principle of commitment are those long-winded full page advertisements in magazines. The prospective customer invests a great deal of time reading through the entire advertisement. That investment of time represents a commitment. They are likely to take the next step, responding to the advertisement.

To use the psychological power of commitment in your advertising, don't try to sell your product or service in your ad. Instead, use a survey, contest, or free information to get a prospective customer to make that first step towards a commitment to purchase your product.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 4: Consensus

Consensus involves getting prospective customers to believe that "everybody's doing it". Everybody is just waiting in line to purchase your product. Everybody can't be wrong, so the product must be fantastic!

Of course you're smart enough to know that everybody CAN be wrong. Everybody thought that SUVs were safe vehicles (they roll over). Everybody thought Enron was a great investment (it went bankrupt). Everybody thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (well maybe not everybody). You're an independent thinker.

Here are some examples of headlines using the consensus principle: "It's the new sensation crossing the country", "People are signing up in droves", "People just can't get enough of them", "Record sales", "Unbelievable response!" and "Join millions of smart consumers". Combine this with a stock photograph of a large group of people, a long line of people, or a crowd of people, and you have a powerful consensus message.

Note: Many people don't think they're having fun unless they're in a large, noisy crowd. Unfortunately, every large crowd contains a few lunatics. When things go wrong, the crowd stampedes and people get hurt, or killed. When I see a large crowd, I head the other way.

Fortunately, most people are not independent thinkers. They act like a herd of cattle. Use the consensus principle in your advertising, and people, like lemmings headed for the sea, will come in waves to buy your product.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 5: Authority

Authority involves getting prospective customers to believe that someone who is knowledgeable or famous uses your product or service. If a knowledgeable or famous person uses your product, then it must be fantastic!

The bigger the authority, the more powerful the advertising message will be. For example, doctors are authorities. "Most doctors prescribe Tylenol for arthritis pain". Large organizations are authorities. "The National Heart Association says - Quaker oatmeal is good for your heart." The Federal Government is an authority. "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says whole wheat bread is part of a complete diet". If only we could think of a way to use God as an authority!

Here's how to use the principle of authority in advertising: search the Internet for any references to your product or service. Find an article that alludes to your product being of value. For example, let's say you sell black T-shirts. You find an article by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that says "bees are attracted to bright colored clothing". Your copy: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture that says my T-shirts protect you from attack by stinging insects."

Most advertising using the authority principle is taken out of context and exaggerated. Some advertising uses totally fake authorities. "My dog biscuits are recommended by the International Association of Dog Nutritionists" (an organization I started last week). Some advertising uses a "study" as an authority. "A recent study found that my lemonade tastes better than any other brand" (my mother liked it better).

I don't recommend that you use a fake organization, a fake study, or take information out of context or exaggerate, but if you can locate a legitimate authority or study related in any way to your product and quote it without exaggeration, you will have a powerful authority message.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 6: Greed

Greed involves taking advantage of many peoples belief that there is a secret short cut to wealth. They believe that wealthy people didn't earn their wealth, instead they know a "secret".

Note: I am not recommending that you use the principle of greed because it is used by unethical scammers. I'm simply informing you of it's existence in order to make this series of articles complete.

The simplest method of using the principle of greed is the chain letter. You have no doubt received a chain letter at some point. A chain letter contains a chart specifying the massive amounts of money the recipient will get when they follow the instructions. The first instruction is to send money.

The multi-level or network marketing scheme works similar to a chain letter. The prospective recruit gets a chart showing the massive amounts of money they will receive when they join the network. After parting with their money, the victim is instructed to con their friends and relatives into joining.

Another method of using the principle of greed is the lottery or casino. The odds of winning most lotteries are about the same whether you buy a ticket or not. A casino allocates only a tiny portion of it's customers money to winnings in order to create the illusion that the odds of winning are good. Many people don't understand statistics. In their mind, the phrase "win a million dollars" translates into "get a million dollars".

Another example of the principle of greed is the business opportunity scam. We know it works because successful scammers invest millions to run business opportunity infomercials, and they make hundreds of millions in profits. They prey on people who believe there is a secret short cut to wealth. The scammers think people who fall for their scam are stupid, lazy, and greedy, so they deserve to get ripped off.

The way to use the principle of greed is to contrive a "secret plan". Run an ad describing how the plan requires absolutely no work to make massive amounts of money. Include a few bogus testimonials and a legitimate looking chart that shows the massive amount of money the plan will bring. Some scammers include pictures of fake checks or fake bank statements.

Never divulge any details of the plan in the ad. The prospective customer is required to send money to get the plan. The typical plan instructs the purchaser to run the same scam.

The principle of greed is very powerful. People who have been ripped of by this scam a thousand times before will, like hypnotized zombies, send you their money. They think THIS TIME they will receive the REAL secret plan.

 

1. Combine a product and service together in a package deal. It could increase your sales. If you're selling a book, offer an hour of consulting with it.

2. Out source part of your workload. You'll save on most employee costs. You could out source your secretarial work, accounting, marketing, etc.

3. Ask people online to review your web site. You can use the comments you get to improve your web site or you may turn the reviewer into a customer.

4. Include emotional words in your advertisements. Use ones like love, security, relief, freedom, happy, satisfaction, fun, etc.

5. Take risks to improve your business. Sometimes businesses don't want to advertise unless it's free, sometimes you have to spend money to get results.

6. Model other successful business or people. I'm not saying out right copy them, but practice some of the same habits that have made them succeed.

7. Remember to take a little time out of your day or week to brainstorm. New ideas are usually the difference between success and failure.

8. Start an auction on your web site. The type of auction could be related to the theme of your site. You'll draw traffic from auctioneers and bidders.

9. Brand your name and business. You can easily do this by just writing articles and submitting them to e-zines or web sites for republishing.

10. Find a strategic business partner. Look for ones that have the same objective. You can trade leads, share marketing info, sell package deals, etc.

 

Virtually every person in sales experiences price objections. Unfortunately, the majority of sales people take the wrong approach and try to box customers into a corner by asking questions such as:

“If I can do that price do we have deal?”

“Is that the only thing holding back?”

“What do I need to do to earn your business?”

“If I can offer a solution would you be willing to buy today?”

“What do I have to do to get you into that unit?”

Give me a break! These are nothing more than manipulative sales tactics that, ultimately, make a customer feel uncomfortable and coerced into buying the product or service.

The real key to solving objections is to work at eliminating them altogether. You can accomplish this by investing more time qualifying your customer. Salespeople who ask more questions generally face fewer objections during the selling process. The reason is simple…they uncover potential objections early in the sales cycle. Questions that will help you uncover potential objections include:

“Who else is involved in this decision?”

The purpose of this question is to establish who else has input in the decision making process. If someone else has influence on the final decision you may end up spinning your wheels trying to close the sale without her present.

“What time frame are you working with?”

This question is much more effective than asking, “When were you looking to buy?” which can put people on the defensive.

“Who else are you talking to?”

This helps you understand what other vendors or companies are bidding on the project. This can assist you in differentiating yourself from your competitors.

“What was your experience with…?”

Based on the customer’s previous experience(s) you can now position your product or service to exceed their experience at your competitor.

These questions will draw out information from your customer. This information then allows you to position your product or service in a manner that best suits the customer’s needs and wants. I’ve had many salespeople in my workshops question this line of thinking and approach with objections such as:

“Asking all these questions takes too long.”

“People won’t give me the answers I’m looking for.”

“I’ve tried this and it doesn’t work.”

“I’ve been given a script to use for every objection so I don’t need to do this.”

“My customers care only about price so it doesn’t matter what questions I ask.”

I certainly understand and appreciate each of these objections because they are valid. Here are my responses:

“Asking all these questions takes too long.”

You’re right, qualifying DOES take time. However, proportionately speaking, it takes less time to ask these questions than it does to overcome an objection because a customer is less defensive. Many salespeople actually spend more time trying to overcome objections than they would have asking questions.

“People won’t give me the answers I’m looking for.”

People will tell you anything you want to know providing you give them a good enough reason. Once you establish a safe, comfortable environment customers will open up and tell you things you never dreamed of. Your goal is to ask questions in a non-threatening manner, to listen to their responses, and to help them relax and feel comfortable.

“I’ve tried this approach and it doesn’t work.”

I won’t dispute the fact that some salespeople have a difficult time applying this concept. In fact, many actually experience a decline in sales when they first try to implement this concept. I suggest that you keep practicing until you become comfortable asking questions such as these. Once you become relaxed your customers will also become more comfortable and this will result in more sales.

“I’ve been given a script to use for every objection so I don’t need to do this.”

Many businesses give scripts to their sales staff. However, this approach seldom addresses the real concern a customer has and can sometimes offend them.

“My customers care only about price so it doesn’t matter what questions I ask.”

This is not an uncommon perception among salespeople. However, this perception may be incorrect. Although price is a factor in virtually every sale it is seldom the primary issue. Many people look for overall value, not price. When you ask them quality questions, you begin to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Once you begin separating yourself from other similar businesses you give people a reason to focus on issues other than price.

Asking questions such as these will help you prevent some objections from arising. The goal is to learn enough about your customer’s situation to present a product/service that fits his or her needs and want so closely that you give them a compelling reason to buy from you, today, at your price.

 

You've got just a few seconds to grab your prospects' attention, spark their interest and motivate them to keep reading whether they're looking at your web site, your letter or your brochure. Headlines are the first thing your prospects read. Four out of five people determine whether they keep reading to learn about your products and services on the basis of your headline.

Do your headlines capture your prospects' attention or do they confuse them and send them away?

Are your headlines prompting prospects to learn about your products and services or click to another web site or throw away your letter?

Avoid the three following headline mistakes.

Don't Emphasize Obscure Company Names Most small businesses and many not so small businesses names aren't household words. Unless your name is among the top ten most recognized brands such as, Craftsman, Waterford, Rolls Royce, the Discovery Channel, WD-40 or Crayola there is a very good chance people won't associate your company name with anything.

Have you ever visited a web site or read a print ad where the company's name covered the top part of the page and it was something like, "Pharos Partners"? Unless the name of your company describes what you do, it is not going to grab prospects' attention. Move it to the side and make room for a creative headline.

Avoid Welcome Statements On many web sites the first line you read is, "Welcome to our Site". There is a reason you don't see these in print ads. Welcome statements are a waste of time in marketing materials; they do little to help prospects understand what you do.

Delete Vague Descriptions and Statements Statements like, "Our purpose is to connect you with information and resources to achieve your maximum potential", could apply to a number of different professions. It could refer to a cooking school, a management consultant or an eldercare program.

- Are you wasting valuable space where your headline goes to feature a company name that doesn't describe what you do?

- Does your headline include "business speak" terms your children or mother-in-law can't explain?

- Is your description of product and services specific or is it so generic that it could apply to other types of businesses?

- Does your headline focus on the selling points that distinguish your products and services from the competitions?

Writing Headlines that Get Your Prospects' Attention People look at web sites the same way they look at magazine ads. They scan the page quickly to see if the product or service is something they want. On the web or in a marketing brochure, if you capture their interest, they'll keep reading.

The best way to do this is to give them a clear idea of the problems your products or services can solve and/or the benefits you provide. Use a few carefully selected words such as:

- Leverage your expertise to attract a steady stream of clients - Reliable Office Supplies, free next day delivery. - In-home sports training for exercise enthusiasts - Web and print design that helps your business grow - Costa Rica Travel, Unique off-the-beaten track tours to jungles and beaches

Your page headline should communicate clearly what you offer clients, which problems you solve and the benefits you provide. Do your headlines:

- Clarify what you do? - Describe the problems you solve? - Define whom you do it for? - Explain the benefits? - Emphasis a key selling point? - Compel your prospects to keep reading?

Imagine that you worked at an exercise facility and wanted to attract clients for your massage business. Here are some possible headlines you might use for your flyer and associated critiques.

- George Jenkins Massage (It's your name but so what)

- Are You Bothered By Back Pain (Better, it defines the problem)

- 7 Ways to Get Instant Back Pain Relief (Defines the problem and a solution)

- How Computer Users Can Banish Back Pain in One Hour (Defines who your target market is, the problem and the benefit)

Grab your prospects attention in the first few seconds with your headline. Then follow with compelling copy that clarifies the value of your products and services and you'll generate many more sales.

 

Did you know that there are seven psychological techniques that literary persuade people to buy?

When I first used them in my sales letter I increased the response rate by 257% overnight! You can use them not only in your sales letter but also in your ads, headlines, and even newsletter.

Trigger #1: Reason Why

Tell people WHY you're doing something. Don't be a mystery for your customers. People are more likely to buy from an ordinary person they know something about.

Are you giving 25% discount on your product? Give the people honest reason why. Are you limiting the number of products you want to sell? Tell people why.

If you tell your visitors about the reasons of doing something they will be more likely to trust you and to buy from you.

Trigger #2: Specifics

Tell the specifics. "How I made $1,057 in a week" sounds more believable than "How I made $1,000 in a week".

People are skeptic. If you include specifics people will be more likely to believe you.

If you state a fact, make it specific. General numbers never sounded plausible.

Trigger #3: Curiosity

We all are extremely curious. We want to know answers to our questions. Tell people not to open this email and they will open it. Because they want to know what's inside.

Headlines like "Discover the hidden secret of free ezine advertising" are always producing great results. You immediately want to know "What secret?".

Curiosity trigger is a great way to get your email opened. It also works great in ads and in articles. Like the title of this article: "What Are 7 Psychological Triggers That Make People Buy?"

Trigger #4: Fear to Lose Something

People are most likely to buy from you if they are motivated by fear to lose something than if they are motivated by desire to gain something. That's why deadlines and limited production numbers works well.

Use deadlines in your copy. Run 3 days specials or limit the number of products you want to sell. Make people act now by letting them know that it is a limited time offer.

Trigger #5: Questions

Ask questions. By asking questions you get people involved, they automatically start to think to answer your question and become more responsive to your message.

What headline would grab your attention:

"You are wasting money on ezine advertising" or "Are you wasting money on ezine advertising?"

Trigger #6: Stories

Nothing can be better than a good story. It's easy to influence people just by telling them a good story.

A lot of famous copywriters used this method in their sales letters. You can tell a true story about your customer. Or about yourself.

A real life story about something the product has done to improve someone's life will build your credibility and motivate people to buy.

Trigger #7: Facing a Problem

Every product is a solution to particular problem. Don't rush into presenting the solution you have, make sure you first make your visitors to face the problem.

Present the problem and agitate it so people would feel the pain of situation. Spell out the problem, tell them how it feels. Only after you've got readers interest present your product that provides the solution.

Apply these seven psychological techniques to maximize your sales and increase the response rate of your ads.

 

I paid bills last night. After writing checks on the business account I noticed a little sticky note on the next check reminding me to get more checks printed.

My mail this morning included a sale catalog from an office supply company I use. The back cover included a picture of the same style business check I've been using. Printed over the check was the following personal message: "Bob ...Don't be caught short. Stock up now for the coming year and save up to 73 percent." I immediately called them with my order.

This big corporation understands the value of personalized messages. Their system "remembers" how often I order certain items and produces a personalized offer on schedule. I'm sure this personalization develops sales for them at a rate many times greater than their nearest competitor.

Personalized messages offer an even greater advantage for small businesses. Plus, it's an easy and inexpensive procedure to implement.

The Most Important Word

What's the most important word you know? It's your name. The most important word your prospects and customers know is their name. It's a powerful magnet you can use anytime you want to get their immediate attention.

For example, I always include my customer's or prospect's first name on the subject line of my outgoing email messages. It immediately attracts attention and guarantees my message gets read. I do this manually. But you may want to investigate some of the software developed to merge different text into the subject line and body copy of each email message.

You Need A Real Name

You already have the personal names of your customers. You'll also have personal names when you compile or rent a prospect list for postal mail. The name is part of the postal address. But you may not have the personal name for most of the prospects you collected online at your website or from email requests. Often you have only their email address.

I discovered an effective alternative to use when I don't have a person's real name. It's hidden in every email address. It's the part of the email address to the left of the "@" symbol. For an email address of "AB6@y...", it's the "AB6" portion. I insert this part of the email address where I would normally put the person's first name. It's not as personal as the real first name but it attracts more attention and produces a higher response than no personalization.

Make a habit of collecting and storing the real name of each prospect in addition to their email address so you can use it to personalize your messages to them. Look for it in the header of the email message when the sender doesn't "sign" the message.

Tip: You'll automatically get more real names in email messages by revealing your real name first. I do this by using my real name as my email address. Over 75 percent of the email messages I receive include the sender's real first name.

Don't Overdo It

Use a person's name no more than 2 or 3 times in a communication. Inserting it too many times annoys the reader and broadcasts that the message is part of an automated mass mailing.

Sometimes you don't need much more than a prospect's name to get results. For example, I send a lot of prospecting postcards by postal mail to targeted lists. The only message on the postcard is the recipient's name followed by a benefit statement plus a phone number, email address or website address where the prospect can get more information. I always get a high response because each recipient is attracted by their name and can't resist reading the rest of my brief message. None of these postcards get tossed without being read.

Start personalizing your communications to prospects and customers. It will substantially increase the response you get - without increasing your costs.

 

The following 3 simple selling tactics produce sales by responding to the way customers normally think and behave. They work for any business - regardless of what you sell, how you sell or where you sell it.

1. Pay Attention to Getting Attention

Can you remember the last 3 advertising messages beamed at you? Can you remember even one of them? Most people can't ...including your prospective customers. That's because they automatically ignore the steady stream of advertising directed at them.

This illustrates a major obstacle you need to overcome before you can sell anything. You have to get your prospect's attention - and get it fast - or your sales message will be ignored.

Here are 3 proven ways you can capture a prospect's attention quickly:

* Make a dramatic statement: Example: "Even My Doctor Uses These Health Products"

* Surprise your prospects with something unexpected: Example: "Try our service without charge for one month"

* Ask a provocative question: Example: "If you're such a smart business owner why aren't you making six figures?"

Tip: Include attention getting headlines on all your web pages. Many visitors arrive at a web page then immediately click away - unless something instantly catches their attention.

2. Emphasize the Human Relationship

Prospective customers are more receptive to buying from a real person than from an impersonal company. Look for ways to create a personal relationship with your prospective customers. For example:

...If you sell face to face, spend some time early in the selling process getting to know a little about your prospects and letting them get to know you.

...If you sell online or in some other way where you don't talk with prospects, include some information about you in your presentation. What you say about yourself will have the greatest impact if it highlights why you are uniquely qualified to provide what your customer wants.

Tip: Sell yourself to make prospective customers comfortable with the selling process. But sell your company and its history of producing results to make prospective customers confident of your ability to deliver what you promise.

3. Trigger Your Customer's Imagination

Convert the benefits delivered by your product or service into vivid word pictures. Then put your prospect in the picture by dramatizing what it feels like to be enjoying those benefits.

Be specific. If you sell financial products, describe what it feels like to enjoy an affluent living without debt. If you sell boats, describe what it feels like cutting through the waves with your friends onboard. If you promote a business opportunity, describe what it feels like to be at home working without a boss.

Tip: Be sure your word pictures are dramatizing benefits and not describing features. People don't really care about the new high-tech insulation used in their beverage cooler (a feature). They just want to be able to enjoy ice cold beverages all day long on a hot day (the benefit).

These 3 selling tactics produce sales by responding to normal human behavior. Use them in your web pages, sales letters and personal presentations. The volume of business they produce will surprise you.