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Dec
15

Why and how the H1N1 flu shot impacts your business…

By | Entrepreneur, Success

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The media is at it again.

Stirring up the fears of a pandemic.

Making you think the world is coming to an end with H1N1.

Acting as if this is “the one”.

Making normal people quake in fear when a friend or family member coughs or sneezes.

You know what?

They are full of it!

And they do this to us every year… fear mongering at its finest.

A good friend of mine, Dr Natasha Iyer, is a Medical Doctor, and is absolutely disgusted in what she sees happening out there.

As am I.

Just the other day, my 9 year old daughter had a cough and was
scared to death she had H1N1.

She thought she was dying…
because she had a cough.

That is how far this stupidity has gone.

Little kids thinking their lives are coming to an end… because of something the media has invented.

Dr Iyer wants to do something about it.

Something RADICAL.

It’s called…. education.

For example, did you know that one of the MAJOR ingredients in these flu shots is EMBALMING FLUID?

The same chemical they put in dead bodies to preserve them is being pumped into your blood stream if you choose to have a flu shot.

Despite the FACT that the flu shot does little to actually help.

Most people actually feel worse, and take greater risks by getting the shot… versus the other alternative.

What is your other alternative?

Don’t get a shot… but build your immunity up so that your own body (clean of embalming fluids and dead flu viruses they inject in your blood) can fight off any viruses on its own.

It’s true: your immune system is the only real prevention for the flu virus.

Injecting the flu straight into your blood stream is what the media says is the right thing to do.

Hey… think about how many people are employed by the hype they build, and by the sheer volume of flu shot serums they need to create, and administer.

Not something the media wants you to think about.

Even if you have had the shot already, you still need to understand what works to build a rock-solid immune system.

One December 17th, Dr Iyer is going to share with you her best techniques for building an immune system that can fight off any flu bugs that comes near you.

She will explain why the media is doing this…

…why they want you to be scared to death of H1N1

…why they continually tell you to get a shot that is proven to do more harm than good

…why the public has bought into this blatant lie

…why your body will get sick when you get the shots

…and WHAT you can do about it… naturally.

No shots of embalming fluid and flu bugs.

But real natural solutions to get your immune system ready for flu season.

Don’t miss this call. http://www.fluscandal.com

And make sure you get your friends and family to listen in as well.

There is no charge for this call…

All you need to do is go to http://www.fluscandal.com and sign up for the call.

Talk to you then,

Troy

>>>> NOTE: This is of critical importance to you if you are
self-employed.

Can YOU afford to be away from the office for a week or two because you are sick?

No.

You and I don’t have paid sick days like many do.

If we miss a day of work, it comes out of our own pockets…
and our customers growing frustrations with our absence.

Learn from Dr Iyer what works to build a rock solid immune system.

Sign up at http://www.fluscandal.com


Dec
13

Nuking your neighborhood

By | advertising, Copywriting, Direct Mail, Entrepreneur, Main Content, Neighborhood Marketing, Wacky marketing ideas

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Fellow Business-Builder,

One of my favorite types of businesses to work with are the local brick-and-mortar ones you see on every corner.

Why?

Because it’s real simple to take the type of marketing techniques we talk about here … and make them work in a local market.  There are a number of ways you can find local buyers below. The key is to find just one to start with right away.

I realize that you may not have a business that can market locally. You may sell to a very specific type of business which isn’t found in your city, or you may target a very particular type of buyer.

But I guarantee you that hidden below are a few ideas that will grow your business.  Make them fit.

The first place you should start?
Your local Chamber of Commerce.

Many cities have a fantastic chamber that understands the needs of small businesses, others aren’t so fortunate.  The city I am in isn’t all that tailored to entrepreneurial-run ventures – but there is a new initiative in 2010 that I am heading up with them that will change that forever.  The chamber is a great place to meet like-minded members, and network your way to success.

Some things you need to do:

  • Become a member and attend the functions. Often they will bring in exceptional success stories from the local area that you can learn from. Other times you will meet that new best client.  You won’t know though until you are out there in the midst of other members.
  • Give talks on your area of expertise. Often, the chamber will be looking for people to teach classes during lunch-and-learns, or breakfast sessions, sometimes networking nights.  If you can get in, it is a fantastic way to spread your story.
  • Advertise in their newsletter. The Chamber in Calgary has a print component, a digital e-zine and a website, all of them being read by thousands of other entrepreneurs in the community.  A fantastic place to be seen and heard.
  • Ask them for help. That’s what they are there for!  The chamber’s mandate is to help support the needs of local businesses.  So tell them what you need and see who they can introduce you to.  That’s what your member fees are for.

Flyers Distributed Throughout Your Neighborhood
or Community.

This is a very underutilized marketing tool for small businesses.  In most cities, there are professional companies who will distribute flyers for you to businesses and to homes.

In Canada, you can hire private firms or use Canada Post. The price ranges from 4 cents to 11 cents per flyer.

If you have never tested this … you ARE missing out.

One guy teaches piano lessons: any time he needs new business he drops off 5,000 flyers and is booked up for three-six months. Another local pizza shop delivers handwritten letters with bags of flour attached … and they are thriving with their premium-priced pizzas in a down economy.

Some thoughts on how you can use flyers:

  • Target specific areas within your community that have a higher than average number of your perfect clients as residents. Depending on the service available in your city, you may be able to target high income areas, even going as deep as demographic information for only 11 cents per household or business.
  • Consider using your flyers as inserts in your local papers … both the major papers and the weeklies or freebies.
  • Does your local community have its own newsletter or paper? Usually they are hungry for advertising dollars and offer half and full page spreads for a couple hundred dollars.  Each residential community in Calgary has its own mini-newspaper that you can advertise in for dirt cheap.  Not only that … NONE of the ads in these circulars are written properly … so it doesn’t take much for you to stand out and get a response.

Direct Mail

Obvious but highly neglected.  I watch very carefully how much and what type of mail comes across my physical mailbox … and it has been rapidly decreasing in quality and quantity for the past year.

People are not investing in direct mail like they used to, so the opportunity for you to stand out and be noticed is great.

  • Community lists are often available. Sometimes you can get lists of new businesses, new homeowners, new parents, etc.  Depending on who you find as your perfect client, there is almost always a way to find a list of them in your community.
  • Existing names in your database. Basic, I know … but are you using it?  Every week I talk to a local entrepreneur who is totally missing the boat on this.  They have hundreds, maybe thousands of past buyers in their database, but have never ONCE mailed them anything. Start there!
  • Compile your own lists. One client of mine joined an association whose members were his perfect client.  One of the benefits of membership was access to a database of other members.  Names, addresses, and titles for all of his targeted buyers.  We had great success mailing to this list.  Find out which associations contain your best buyers and become a member yourself.
  • Make it fun and make it dimensional. Remember: The types of mailings you know all about … are foreign to those in your community. Dimensional mailings may be a common word in your world, but when a potential buyer receives a mini trash can with a letter inside, he WILL take notice and read your letter.

Joint Ventures

In the Internet marketing community, this is “Marketing 101.”  In your local business community, it will be a foreign concept that they have never heard of, let alone tried before.

  • Partner with other businesses in town that sell to the same clients you do. Do reciprocal endorsements of each other to your lists.  It may take some education to get them to understand what a joint venture is and why it is beneficial to their business.  But the payoff is immense so get busy educating them.
  • Swap advertising space with others who do newsletter marketing.
  • Rent/trade/barter window-space advertising with other local merchants.
  • Look for local JV brokers. Thanks to Internet marketing, there are now a lot more brokers out there who understand the power of a solid joint venture.  There may even be a broker in your city that gets it.  If they do, they will do all the work for you, for a percentage of the profit.  You can’t lose.
  • Post flyers and coupons in other establishments with a tracking code on them.

Networking clubs

I have mixed feelings about these.  When I first started my business eight years ago, I was a member of a local club and attended every week.  It was definitely good to get out and mingle with others.  The problem was that many networking clubs are run very poorly. Be very careful in your choice.

Some of them tell you that you can’t join another club if you join theirs.  Which is bull-crap.

Look for real entrepreneurs who get it.  And look for clubs that aren’t full of network marketers.  Nothing against network marketing, but my experience in clubs with an overabundance of them is that there is no real business happening. They are all trying to recruit each other and it is a ridiculous environment I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

  • Do not stick with lead swap clubs that consider it mandatory you bring X number of leads per meeting. The leads will be of poor quality and rarely are they warm leads.
  • Despite my negative experiences with them, I do know many business owners who have done very, very well by attending one or two clubs every week. It is a great chance to network, to find new buyers, and to learn from others who are going through similar challenges as you.
  • Test out a few before you commit. You won’t know the real deal until you have been to a couple meetings. If they don’t allow you to try them out … run away … quickly.

Local Search Engine Optimization and Marketing

This is a powerful way to get ranked high in the search engines when someone searches for a local product or service.

One good ranking can bring you in a substantial amount of leads every week.

  • Optimized for local search terms.  If someone is looking for a hairdresser, they go to Google and search for “Hairdresser ” and if you are optimized well, you will be near the top.  This is something you need to learn about because people are looking on Google for every type of product and service they can buy locally.
  • Get listed on Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/).
  • Your Google profile set up (http://www.google.com/profiles).
  • Listed on dmoz.org for your local city (www.dmoz.org).
  • Listed on every single local business listing or directory you can find.
  • Local coupon sites can be a fantastic way to drum up new business.

Social Networking Sites

As you may know, I am not a major fan of this for my own reasons.  Not that I don’t use the tools, just that I don’t believe in spending more than half your day on this which is what many people are doing.

That said, I have had success with Social Networking and do recommend you get a presence out there.  An hour or two a week adding articles and blog posts will keep people coming back to learn more.

  • Test advertising on Facebook (I did a small test for an event I was hosting and sold two tickets at $895.  Total advertising cost was less than $10.  You can specifically target Facebook users that live in your city.
  • Offer Facebook-only, or Twitter-only special deals.
  • Invest some time and learn about the different areas of Social networking that will help. Better yet, ask others who you see on the networking sites how they are doing.  Most importantly … ask them about what is working best for them and giving the greatest return.

Golf Courses are an untapped resource

Being a member of a golf club here, I can speak from experience on the quality of people you can reach through a club.

My golf game sucks … but the people I meet there are golden.

They are typically professionals, white-collar, educated and more affluent than the general public.  They are very good buyers for the right type of business.

  • Golf course newsletters often accept advertising.
  • You may want to consider getting a membership. The fees can be large, but the payoff can be much larger. Worth looking into.

Advertising

There are some GREAT deals on advertising now.  Get aggressive with them and negotiate the prices … they NEED the ad revenues.

  • Offline newspapers and magazines that are distributed in your community.
  • Online yellow pages. Almost everyone I know of is bailing from the print versions and sticking to online yellow page ads.  Do what works for you … not what everyone else is doing.
  • AdWords. There are numerous exceptional courses on how to use AdWords to grow your business. For local marketing, this will bring you ample quality leads if done right.
  • The Google Content Network.  A course in itself is needed here.  But, this gives you a means to advertise on specific sites within your community for a very low per-click price.
  • Craig’s list and Kijiji offer free listings – make sure you know the terms and stick with their policies for advertising on their sites.

Trade shows

I used to be a trade show guy … and have sold many different types of products at shows.  If I knew then what I know about proper follow-up and direct mail … Yeesh!  Have you ever actually looked at all the trade shows that happen in your community over the average year?  You will be amazed.

  • Perfect for both finding potential JV partners and for displaying your wares.
  • Don’t do what every other trade show vendor does … actually follow up with the leads you collect! Sounds simple … but from my experience it is rarely done. Most of those names that go in the draw boxes and information boxes get thrown out without even a single thought to who could be in those leads.
  • Make sure you market your booth right to your existing database. Tell them you will be there. Tell them you have a gift for them if they show up at your booth. Make your booth exciting and inviting.  Have skilled people on the floor that actually give a crap about being there (incent them on sales made or warm leads captured).

Association marketing

Have you ever opened up or searched your local Yellow Pages for associations?  There is an association for nearly everything and could be a gold mine of great contacts for you.

Have a look at who they are, what they offer you, and how you can market your business through them.

You know as well as I do that this list is impossible
to tackle in one month, even one year.

The key is to look through it again and find the ones that just seem right to you now.  Get one going and giving you a measurable return, then choose the next while that one runs on autopilot.

A new year is just a few weeks away … and is the perfect time for you to try out some new marketing initiatives.

Set one of your resolutions to implement one or more of the above neighborhood marketing techniques into your business every single month.

Last, if you have had success marketing in your community … please share with all of us!

We would love to hear your success story.

Thanks again.

Troy White

PS: This was originally written for Clayton Makepeace and his incredible blog at http://www.smallbusinessmastery.com


Dec
11

Million dollar marketing for beer budget marketers…

By | advertising, Affluent buyers, Copywriting, Direct Mail, Entrepreneur, Marketing on the web, Neighborhood Marketing, Social Networking, Success, Time management and productivity, Wacky marketing ideas

I looove to learn! And I hope you do too. Creating success also means developing an insatiable appetite to learn about all kinds of varied subjects – marketing being the main one for small business owners.

You know what is truly scary?

One number I saw recently said that the average US or Canadian citizen invests only $48 PER YEAR on books. Those same people probably spend much more than that on coffee in a month.

Is caffeine more important than training your brain for success?

That is a sad statement to where people place their priorities. They think nothing of dropping $2,000 on a big screen television … but ask them to invest that in a seminar or home study course and stand back for all the excuses.

Fortunately, I love to learn … and I invest in my education.

I can say from past years, my investments in books, home study materials, newsletters, audio programs and live seminars usually runs $15,000 – $30,000 per year.

Never before have we had access to so many experts and such powerful training materials as we do now … and those who are not investing in these tools are missing out on some incredible breakthroughs.
I am going to save you some time and money though.

I have summarized some of the main points that you should all immediately start applying to your life and your business. These are just a few of the tips I have learned from marketing masters like Clayton Makepeace, Ted Nicholas, Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham and Bill Glazer. These are tips I gladly paid big dollars to learn (and remind myself of) … and I want to pass them on to you.

From there – it is up to you.

Will you keep doing what you have always done?

Or will you make a change and profit beyond your wildest expectations?

It is entirely up to you. I want you to profit. But I will not hold your hand along the way though. If you take action on just a few of these, you will experience some powerful results … that I guarantee.

Let’s get on with it!

1 – Ask yourself this question – “Are Your Goals Worthy of You?” Read it and ask it again. It is the opposite of what 95% of people ask – they switch the words and ask if they are worthy of their goals. WRONG! You need to have confidence in your self and your vision in life. Are your goals big enough and grandiose enough? Make them so. Dream big, really really big. And then ask again – is that goal worthy of you?

2 – Start working in time chunks. Set aside 2-4 uninterrupted hours for you projects. Most people will start a project and deal with interruptions as they come through the door, or e-mail, or phone. WRONG! You are now a time ‘chunker’ – and people around you need to understand this is the way you now work. Get used to this way of working and you will accomplish amazing things.

3 – Start seeking the valuable lesson in everything you do, hear, experience and pass by. No matter if the project fails or succeeds – write down what you learned from it. Every person you meet and everything you do – has a lesson you can learn. It is up to you to find out what that lesson is though. And do it before you forget. Write it down in your journal (if you do not have a journal – go get one).

4 – Read your lesson journal - which lesson can you apply today to your next project? Or your next problem? Then do it. Find a way to apply and use that today – do it and record your results.

5 – No matter what your business is – get your journal out and write down this question at the top of the page – “How can I personally make my clients lives better?” A simple question but very powerful. Think about it – how many companies that you deal with offline or online – apply this model? Less than 10% I bet. Most of them are out to get the sale and then move on to the next “prospect.” If they actually considered how they could help your life be better – how effective could they be? For example – there is a company that I personally dealt with offline that sell kids educational products. I spent $2,000 on their products about a year-and-a-half ago. And never heard from them again. If they had thought about how they could help me and my kids have a better life they would quickly realize that they could offer me products to help us at least monthly. I would gladly spend $100/month on my kid’s future and success. And yet I have never heard from them again. Do you know anyone like this? How does it apply to your business?

6 - Always have your antennae up. Look and listen for ideas, insights, and concepts that you have never thought of. Write them down. Talk to anybody and everybody you run into. Ask them what they do, how they do it, why they do it, what could make their jobs better, their offerings better, what are their dreams and aspirations?

7 – Ask yourself – “what don’t I know that is absolutely critical to my success?” Then decide where you can find that information quickly. Start writing down ideas on how you can work with people that have that knowledge. If you do not have money to pay them for their expertise – how else can you work with them? Is there any way you can trade services for services or services for products or products for products?

8 - Start writing a book. On whatever you are good at, or whatever you want to be good at. Start researching the industry and successful businesses in that industry. A book is one of the most important tools to building your credibility and to build on publicity for your business. The book is not necessarily one you sell – it can be a bonus for prospects or clients to show them you know what you are talking about.

9 – Find or pick a charity that you deeply believe in. How can you help them accomplish their goals? Possibly volunteer your services or donate products they can auction off to raise funds. Donate a percentage of all revenue you receive to the charity. Find multiple ways to help them and you will quickly find opportunities knocking on your doorstep.

10 - Start building a dream team. These people can be people in your life now (if they are motivated and positive people) or people you would love to work with. If you do not know them now – think of ways you can give back to their interests, passions or charitable causes they are interested in. Start interviewing these people and find out what makes them tick.

11 – Create your stadium pitch. Get some paper out and think about your product or service. Imagine you have a stadium of 50,000 people at your beck and call. You get 30 – 60 seconds in front of the audience to convince them of you and your offering. What would you say? How could you get your point across so convincingly that they would be stupid to say no? Now consider the fact that any one of them can walk out at any point in time and do not have to listen to your pitch. Would your pitch change? What can you say to make them stay? What can you say to make them buy?

12 - Consider that there are only 3 ways you can grow your business. You can increase the number of clients, increase the average sale price, or increase the number of times they buy in a year. Most people (90%) focus in on increasing the number of clients – and it is the least effective and the least profitable. So what can you do to increase the other 2 methods?

13 - Use a shotgun approach to marketing your business. Think of multiple ways to promote your offering – and have them all happen at once. Very similar strategies to war – air, land, water – each of which has multiple resources and firepower coming at the target (the customer) at once. How does this apply to your offering? What types of firepower will you use?

14 - Test all of your crazy ideas. No matter how crazy they sound – try it out. Find out which ones work. Then optimize how effective they are. Test all variations of that idea. Find out which variation works best.

15 - Think of your offering your prospects see. What can you do to educate your prospects to the extreme that they know everything there is to know about what you do? If you are an expert (which you need to be) in your business – how can you show your clients how they too can be experts – before they purchase?

16 - What is your “magnificent obsession”? You must have a passion so deep that everyone who you talk to understands what you stand for and what you want to accomplish. When you build your obsession and ingrain it into your soul – nobody will be able to derail you from obtaining your goal – no matter how negative they are.

17 - A 30 second personal drill you must do. Ask yourself – am I having fun? What could you do to enjoy your life more? How big or small of a company do you want to run (2 people or 200 to manage)? What would happen to your business if you decided to take a month off? Once you have these answers you now understand areas you MUST start working on immediately.

18 - Your customers are marketing geniuses - they know exactly what they want and it is your job to find that out. Find ways to phone, e-mail, fax or talk to them about their needs, wants, desires, passions, concerns etc. When you know what type of a company they want to deal with – you have your ticket to fortunes. People deal with you because they want you to change their life – do you deliver on their wants?

19 – Always follow your gut feelings, intuition and instincts – they will lead you in the right direction. If you do not know how to tap into these resources or want to build on them to strengthen them – learn how. There are a multitude of resources out there that show you step by step how to build on them.

20 – What would you do differently in your business if it was treated like a movie theater? Admission is charged at the door and word travels quickly if it is a box office hit or a box office flop? How would your movie be received?

21 – Referrals can be one of the most important tools you can use to exponentially grow your business. There are hundreds of ways to generate referrals. Do you use any of them now? How could you reward people to refer others to your business? If you have not done your job on making your clients happy – you cannot ask for a referral. Are you comfortable asking? Some of the tools available to generate referrals; pay them per lead, ask your competition, bribe people in a fun way, ask your vendors, automate the referral process, donate to charity, be outrageous, put on an event, publicity, conference calls, family and friend programs and there are many many more. The key is to start writing down ideas on what works for you. Then start doing it.

22 – Think about the lifetime value of your clients. Maybe your front-end sale is $40 but how many times will they buy in a month, a year, a lifetime? Add the numbers up – what is one client worth to you in a lifetime? How much do you spend to obtain 1 new client? Do you see the difference here? Most people spend under $10 to obtain one new client and yet the lifetime value of that client is $1,000. Do you see the problem? For every $10 you invest you receive $1,000. How many $10 bills will you now invest in client acquisition?

23 – Ask – “who else does business with my ideal client?” Now go talk to those people – competitors or not. Explain your mission in life and the goal of your business. Find out how their business is doing and if they are looking for new ways to generate business. Start finding ways to deal with everyone that your clients buy from.

24 – What can you say to your clients or prospects to make them ask “huh, what did you just say?” Make your statements so outrageous that they ask you to prove it. And then prove it.

25 – If you are in a retail business – do not sell the products. Sell the experience of your store. This is the biggest reason retail business go out of businesses so quickly – they are there to discount products – and that is it.

26 - Set the buying criteria for your prospects. One they have seen your offering – they have to reevaluate how they decide who to buy from because you made them realize – you are the only one that provides an experience as high quality as you do.

27 - Plan your long-term strategies before you plan your tactics. Strategy shows where you plan on going, who you want to be, and what types of clients you want as your friends. Tactics show how to get all of your strategy accomplished.

28 – Use risk reversal in your offer. Make it so your clients come out so far ahead by dealing with you they would be stupid not to. Even if they decide that your product is not for them and they return it – they still come out of the deal with the refund and many bonuses that they never had before dealing with you.
Most importantly – TAKE ACTION TODAY.

To your success,

Troy White

PS: This article was originally written for the Small Business Mastery Column, which I write every Friday for the World’s Highest Paid Copywriter, Clayton Makepeace.

You can get weekly power packed, and content rich, articles at http://www.smallbusinessmastery.com … check it out… great info.


Dec
10

Cheap Marketing That Works…

By | advertising, Copywriting, Direct Mail, Entrepreneur, Neighborhood Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, Success

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Let’s talk about inexpensive ways to get to your buyers:

Are you leveraging community newspapers?

And yes, this does apply if you are in a business to business market. You just have to look at what papers and newsletters (print ones) are going out to your ideal target market.

But, if you are targeting consumers, have a look at these numbers:

Community newspapers reach:

77% of affluent Canadians

75% of women

76% of parents

75% of homeowners*

(Community Media Special Report 2008)

(This is from a study in Canada, but the numbers would be the same anywhere else who uses quality community newsletters).

Who reads them?

The most recent survey showed that 74 percent of Canadian adults read the last issue of their community paper. That figure was even higher in some provinces; in Saskatchewan it was a record 83 percent. The study also revealed that 76 percent of adults with household incomes over $75K are regular readers, as are most adults with a university education. 50 percent of the surveyed readers do not read any daily newspaper at all.

Think about this now.

If you target a higher income family that you cannot reach via email or newspapers, this is a potential goldmine. 74% of your ideal buyers read the community paper regularly. They earn more money, they are better educated, and they are looking for appropriate products and services (see the survey below for more details).

The best part?

The price of community newspapers! To get a quarter page ad – $50. Full page (with color) – $150. That gets you in front of thousands of targeted prospects (you can choose which community you advertise in by the average income in the community, choose communities that have a higher percentage of golfers, have more than average numbers of school aged children, or have a significant number of boomers and seniors.

All it takes is a little research on your part and you can tap into a very powerful source of potential buyers.

To add to that… community newspapers are filled with crappy advertising! Yours done right, using the information you pick up for free through the Total Package, and you can get some exceptional results.

Definitely worthy of some testing.

Right now, with the economy as it is, people are travelling less and spending more time at home, and in their yards. What better way to reach them than through a paper that 74% of them open every chance they get.

Try and get that through email!

One other inexpensive marketing tool at your disposal

The lowly flyer

What amazes me with these little unsung heroes of direct marketing is the sheer impact you can get with minimal dollars invested.

Here in Canada, we can send “unaddressed admail” to as many homes or businesses as we want for $0.11/per piece. So we can go to 1,000 businesses for $111.

Where else can you get that breadth of distribution? For that price?

Especially now that you can do geographic and demographic targeting of those businesses and individuals?

Thompson Rivers University received a 1.43% response rate to its latest flyer campaign! Higher than the industry average for addressed direct mail… at a fraction of the price.

“The sheer volume and ability to geo-target by postal code keeps my cost per inquiry low and, in general, helps to build brand awareness.” Thompson Rivers University

These days, you can also very selectively target who receives your flyers…

Let’s say, for instance, you want to target upper-class households in central Canada with an interest in golf?

Targeting like this is not only possible, but cost-effective because it eliminates unreceptive audiences. Again, for $0.11/home.

There are firms that do this for little charge… and are a goldmine of great information for you.

Imagine the power you hold in your hands when you combine neighborhood community newspapers, combined with flyers.

You could be blanketing an entire community (or city) for very little money out of pocket.

You can select exactly the type of demographic you want reading it.

You can target their interests and hobbies.

And you can dominate your industry using little used techniques like this.

It doesn’t all have to be through email or in-house database work.

This is a VERY effective way to generate sales and build your prospect database…

… using very targeted, very effective tools available at your disposal.

If you have recently used these types of tools, let me know. I would love to hear what you did, how it worked, and if you had used it to it’s fullest ability.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Trying times call for more interaction and help from you!

Dec
09

New Years Success For Those Tired of 2009

By | Entrepreneur, Success, Time management and productivity

It’s almost here… what have you done?

2009 is flying by in a flash… and 2010 is here waiting for those who can handle what she brings.

Not only will this coming year prove to be an exciting one, it will also bring out the best and worst in people’s personal financial situations.

This past year was trying for many.

It forced many of them to close up shop and go back to the dreaded j-o-b …if they could find one.

Sadly, quite a few people are not prepared for further tough times…

…are you?

What if this recession keeps sticking around?

What are you going to do?

I suggest you finish the year and start the next one with a plan.

They have thought through what they will do differently this year, month and week. They think through the long term consequences of the businesses they start, the projects they get involved in, the investments they put money into, and the priorities they make in their life.

Early January 2011, about one year from today, some people will reflect back with awe over what happened in 12 short months. They tripled their income. They bought rental properties for pennies on the dollar. They started that new business, or expanded their existing one.

They are living the life they once thought was just a vision in the back of their mind.

On the flip-side… January 2011 will also see some people overwhelmed with fear, sadness and depression. Maybe they lost their job and couldn’t see the foresight to find a new job in a new industry. Or they panicked and sold off their remaining investments, only to see those investments return back to their former levels. Or they just went about their day-to-day activities as they always have, and, surprise surprise, things look pretty well exactly the same for them this January as they did last January.

The choice IS yours… you know that.

But, if you have not at least started thinking through (on paper) what you are doing differently this year… how can you expect any different results?

If you have not set some goals for the coming 12 months, how can you expect to achieve them?

How will you know what it is you’re aiming for?

By now, you should have put together your best of/worst of lists for 2008. This is a great way to reflect back on the year… to give yourself a pat on the back for everything you did that worked out for you on the plus side.

It’s also the chance to reflect back on the things you did in 2009 that didn’t work out all that well for you.

The defeats.

The failures.

The constant frustrations you met with.

When you look at the good AND the bad… you will see trends.

And those trends you see can revolutionize 2010 for you.

The failures… have they happened before? Constantly?

What are you going to do differently about it this year so they DON’T happen again?

Here is what I would suggest you do right now…

…set aside 60 minutes.

Turn off the tv. Forego a lunch break. Get up an hour earlier. Or stay up an hour later.

Lock yourself away somewhere without phones, tvs, or email.

And get busy writing!

List out everything good that happened to you in 2009.

List out everything not-so-good that happened to you in 2009.

And look for the trends.

Things that keep repeating themselves… things that have positive and negative results for you.

Then come up with a plan on how you will do 10 times more of the positive things in the coming year.

And how you will eliminate the negative things you do that cause bad things to happen in your life.

The best way to write your plan?

This is something I have done for many years now, and I love how it feels once you are done.

After reviewing your good and bad. And after thinking through what you will be doing differently in the next year.

Write a letter to yourself (or your spouse, your kids, or whoever is most important to you in your life right now)… but the letter is dated January 1, 2011… a year from now.

And talk about all the incredible things that happened over the past year.

Gush about your accomplishments, your successes, your biggest ah-hah moments.

Talk about what a wild ride 2010 was… and how much fun it was to accomplish all those dreams in one year.

See yourself in that state, a year from now, and really feel how exciting it will be for you to be there celebrating your best year ever.

Lock that feeling in.

Get that letter typed up – or leave it in long hand.

Important: Read it every morning for the next year (it takes you 1 minute… you CAN find the time). When you read it… see yourself there enjoying the moment. Feel what it will feel like to celebrate the big wins you wrote about.

You do that, right now, before you forget and “put it off for later”, and I guarantee you that 2010 will break all of your previous record years.

You do that, and review it every single morning, and some amazing things WILL happen for you.

It helps you think big.

It helps you plan the year.

And it helps reprogram your mind for success, with a daily boost to keep out all the negative stuff the media is throwing at you.

Despite what the media is saying, right now is an incredible opportunity for success minded individuals like you and I. More wealth is made in the down times than the good… and that time is right here and now.

The choice is yours… will you do something differently right here and now that guarantees January 2010 will be a massive celebration at your house? Or will you keep hoping and praying something will change… “one of these days”?

Make the right choice… I am here to support you in your quest.

To your success,

Troy White

PS: If you are in need of more leads and sales, you need to run on over to www.cashflowcalendars.com right now. The 2010 Version is READY!

Seriously, this product WILL help you stand out from the crowd. It will improve your cash flow. It will help you attract a better quality of client. And it will get your past clients back to buy more.

I give you actual copy and paste templates that are guaranteed to build your business.

Plus, there is well over 1,100 ides in the 2010 Cash Flow Calendar for promoting your products and services. All it takes is to get off your ass and implement just one or two ideas a week and you will see a dramatic difference in your revenues.

The perfect start to your new business year!

Dec
04

Marketing quick hits

By | advertising, Copywriting, Direct Mail, Entrepreneur, Main Content, Marketing on the web, Neighborhood Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, Success, Time management and productivity, Wacky marketing ideas

I wanted to start a series of quick-hit tips to help you get better results in your marketing.

These are some of the top things you need to understand moving into the new year and the new mindset of today’s buyers:

  • Copy is not advertising. It’s salesmanship in print.  You do not need to always be selling a product or service (not recommended), you should be selling your prospects and clients on you, your ideas, your values, etc.  Get them over to your side, and then, once they are warmed up, then you can sell your products and services.  Trust always comes first.
  • You don’t need to be a 10/10 in marketing to get great results, you can be a 6! Everyone else is a zero. If you doubt this… LOOK around you.  Their ads suck. Their yellow page postings suck. Their websites suck.  They do not understand marketing… and it shines through.  Big reason why so many companies are failing right now… they think price cutting is a winning marketing strategy.  It’s not!
  • The receptivity of the recipient is MORE IMPORTANT than the copy it self. (message to market match). You can have the best copy in the world… but if it is targeted at the wrong audience… it WILL fail.  Mediocre copy targeted at the right audience will almost ALWAYS win.  As a copywriter and marketing consultant, I hate to say copy isn’t ALWAYS king… but I know it… and I make sure my copywriting clients know it too.
  • Your own customer list is (by far) the best recipient of your marketing. Keep in touch regularly with your existing clients and make sure they are getting special materials that are ONLY available to paying clients. Word spreads. Give them value. Give them fun. Give them your personality.
  • Your second best list to market to is a joint venture list. Find other people who market to the same type of client you market to. Approach them and educate them on the power of reciprocal joint ventures.  Offer to write their promotions for them (they, of course, get full approval on anything getting mailed out to their clients).  Arrange a mutually beneficial profit split on the campaign. Then make sure you do mutual mailings to your list and theirs.
  • Your third best list to market to is the lead generation list you create. Use the principles I outline in the Small Display Ads Lead Generation Report. Use 2-step marketing.  Use consistent follow-up. Educate them. Share your personality with them.  Do and say things you competitors are scared to do. Be different in a very cluttered marketplace!
  • Narrowly define your best market, and then spend as much as you can to sell them. Understanding that this is counter-intuitive… but it works. The tighter you can define your ideal clients, the more effective your marketing will be. For example: I like to beat up on realtors. They all look the same, act the same, and get the same dismal results.  FOR GOOD REASON. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and there are 5,000 or so realtors here, in a city of one million.  One for every 200 people! That is a very competitive situation… and explains why 90% of the realots here barely eke out a living.  In the city of 5,000 realtors, there is only ONE realtor that advertises herself as “the pet lovers realtor”. She advertises with pictures of her and her dogs. She puts her ads in the kids magazines, in the pet magazines, in the pets section of the classified ads.  And she STANDS OUT in a very cluttered realtor environment.  The more tightly you define your market, the easier it become to reach them and match your message to their needs.
  • If there is something you provide that your competitors don’t, build your whole sales pitch around this. Dig deep into why you started the business. Why you created this type of product or service. Why you are the one to deliver it over all the others out there.  Tell the complete story… good and bad.
  • Make it look like a friend sent it. (best to use “blind” format with new prospects. When they know who you are teaser copy is best. Use front and back of envelope; testimonials, teasers,etc.)
  • Lumpy mail gets dramatically better results.

A few quick and dirty tricks that are guaranteed to get you better results in your marketing.

More to come.

Let me know your results. Troy

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