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Apr
26

Lead generation at it’s finest

By | Facebook, Leads Generation

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Every single business I know of needs a steady flow of quality leads that ultimately become buyers.

And not every lead does become a buyer.

It depends on the quality of the person coming to your site or store (Groupon-junkies are typically not a good fit – they just want the cheapest price and blatantly admit they will never be back to pay regular price. They jump from deal to deal, not caring about the loyalty factor that every small business needs to survive).

It depends on your conversion capability on your site or in your store.  This is your copy, your lead magnets, your enticements or bonuses, and your sales system.

It depends on your ability to FIND the right people and the right conversion tools.

As you have seen, I am doing a stupidly cheap webinar series on Facebook Ads.  Not fan pages – not timelines – but PAID ADS.

If you want FAST LEADS… this is how you do it.

http://blog.smallbusinesscopywriter.com/facebook-ads-training/

You follow a system, run some ads (testing them the right way without blowing a fortune), measure what happens from your advertisements, analyze WHO is responding to your ads (or even what type of person is clicking on the ads without become a lead – yes, you can find this out too).

The system can work – it takes some basic knowledge, a fast track plan, and an ability to see between the cracks to find the gold.

And there IS gold there:

* Monthly (!) active Facebook users now total 901 million (up from 680 million a year ago).
* Daily (!) active users are up to 526 million (up from 372 million last year).
* Monthly mobile users now total 488 million.
* 300 million photos are uploaded to the site each day.
* 3.2 billion Likes and Comments are posted daily.
* 125 billion friendships are forged per day.
* Revenue for the first quarter of 2012 was $1.058 billion, up from $731 last year.
* Net income dropped to $205 million for the quarter, down from $233 last year.

And I am going to deliver some kick-ass content on how YOU can tap into this potential lead goldmine – all with a whopping $39 investment in the course.

So don’ delay…

…get your little behind over to
http://blog.smallbusinesscopywriter.com/facebook-ads-training/
and get signed up before it fills up!

And we will create some truly powerful campaigns together.

And I won’t charge you thousands of dollars… use that money for actual ADS… not padding my wallet.

Fair deal?

See you there.

Troy

PS: Just a recap – this isn’t for everyone or every product.
Some things are easier to target and market on Facebook.  BUT,
there IS a way to make it work if you come in with realistic
expectations and a back-end budget to actually run ads. Doesn’t
have to be thousands.  A hundred bucks can get you some GREAT
traffic.

Don’t expect to be a billionaire in 4 weeks after taking this.

I don’t promise that kind of crap – and hopefully you don’t buy
that kind of crap.

I will give you a solid blueprint to get your Facebook marketing
campaigns up and running quickly… with oh-so-powerful information
to be collected and minded for even BETTER campaigns.

All for a whopping $39.

Not a bad deal me thinks.
http://blog.smallbusinesscopywriter.com/facebook-ads-training/

Apr
17

Does Facebook advertising work?

By | advertising, Leads Generation, Success

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Spring 2007.  I was gearing up for my first Wild West Wealth Summit, and was trying some different lead generation tools.

One of them was Facebook ads.

If I recall right, the advertising part of it was fairly new, and even Facebook was nothing big (compared to the hyper-addiction it has now become for many).

The ads were cheap, cheap… so I thought I would try them out.

Low and behold, $15 in advertising clicks and I had sold $1,300 worth of tickets to the Summit!

THAT is my kind of ROI !!

Fast forward 5 years to today…

…does it still work like that?

It can.

But it can also bomb.

Just like any kind of marketing.

Saying Facebook advertising doesn’t work is like saying email marketing doesn’t work…

…or that direct mail doesn’t work…

…or that referral marketing doesn’t work.

I call BS on anyone that says that kind of nonsense.

It ALL works.

Not necessarily the first time you try it though.

You have to try different ad approaches.  Different landing page approaches.  Different copy.  Different graphics.  (change one thing at a time and measure the difference in response you get).

It all DOES work, and HAS worked for many people.

But it can fail badly just as easily.

I am working on a project right now in a specific niche, and Facebook advertising is a part of the lead generation efforts.

I targeted a specific geographic area, set my daily spend low to start, set my targeted likes and demographics… then let it loose.

And it bombed.

So I rewrote the ad, put a different picture in, refined the targeting.

Nailed it.

Got exactly what I wanted…

…good click through rates, good landing page results, and some VERY telling demographic information.

Facebook has some exceptional demographic reporting.

I found out that a certain sex between 45-64, that live in 4 Canadian provinces are VERY good prospects for me.  They clicked the highest and responded the highest.

Now I can refine my ads and target JUST THEM.

So I eliminate the money I was spending on the wrong age groups and wrong provinces… while narrowly targeting my most likely prospects.

The results are exceptional when you do measured and targeted marketing like this.

Are you?

You know you should… and NOW is the time to start!

If you are interested in a webinar around Facebook advertising, let me know and I will put one together. It will be a paid one (low priced), because this kind of information is very powerful (and profitable) when in the right hands… but most people consider free events useless… so paid it would be.

If you want better quality lead generation at lower prices… let me know by reply to this.

Have a great day.

Troy

PS: 2 LEFT…

2 more can grab it now before I pull it down.

Here are the details…

==========================================
I am offering a special deal to 2 more people only.
==========================================

Story Selling Home Study Course (sells for $99 online right
now). Turn your stories into wealth and master the fine art of
leveraging personal stories into sales and marketing success.

Wild West Wealth Audio Libraries. 2007 and 2008 MP3 Recordings.
This is the SAME information that helped Chris V become a multi-millionaire
before he hit 30 years old! Sold for $29 for 30 days only in
March.

Small Display Ads Report. Shows you how to create effective
sales funnels that attract the ideal buyers, and convert them to
loyal clients. Sells for $20 online.

Direct Mail Detox. The simple formula that lets anyo on or
offline business virtually eliminate the competitive masses, and
become their own industry of ONE. Sells for $49 .

Entrepreneurial Spirit Sauce – never before released stories of
14 entrepreneurs who mastered the money game and built businesses
that worked. ($9 ebook)

2012 Cash Flow Calendar – 365 days of marketing ideas and
copy/paste templates you can use to grow your business and fatten
your bank account (digital version – sells for $59 online now)

==========================================
All in all, this adds up to $265
…yours today, for the next 4 people for $113

Just use this link and pay via paypal
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ETEJJ7BLJBCKS
(after 2 come in I will just refund those after)
==========================================

I will send you all the files, links and downloads.

Feb
27

Content is king in a pitchfest world

By | Email Marketing, Leads Generation, Writing

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Who else is sick and tired of pitch after pitch?

Ezines. Blogs. Twitter feeds.  Websites. And on, and on, and on.

The actual product launches are great examples of marketing, but the sheer volume of them in the internet marketing space is
deafening.

Same with Social Media, which I am still working on.

Now that everyone is starting to use the same formulas to grow their Social Media followers, it is a very busy world on there, everyone pitching their wares, with little real content.

So, what can you do?

Start thinking like your actual customers would be a great start!

Do you like being pitched at 24×7?

Of course not.

Something useful would be a nice change, wouldn’t it?

Or something entertaining added into the mix?

Think through what you could be giving them that would help them, hook them, get them more involved with you and your business, or keep them coming back for more.

You could try:

* A simple 4 page print newsletter instead of always using email

* Create an ebook of your best blog posts or articles, and give it away to your existing leads, and/or use it to generate new leads.

* Turn your ebook into a physical book.  Self publishing tools like lulu.com make it extremely easy to do small run printing of your books.

* Interview your own people.  Get insider information from your customer service people, your engineers or technical people.  Talk to the sales people. The marketers. Etc.  Find out 3 interesting things from each of them about their perspective on your business and products and share it with your contacts.

* Test putting together an autoresponder series that educates your clients on how to use yoru products and services.  You could have one series for new users. One for intermediates. And one for advanced.  As soon as they finish one level, offer them the next.

* Implement some form of membership program into your business.   I worked with a massage therapist in the past and we changed his entire business model from one-off purchases to a membership-only model. From a $45 massage, to a $900 membership.  Or what about the Lobster guys who I have written extensively about through this blog. They went from selling $5 lobsters on the docks (with every other fisherman), to selling $3,000 memberships (and making a fortune along the way).

* Become a problem publisher.  Share the fact that you are not invincible (like so many of the gurus out there pretend to be).  Show them your challenges you faced, and what exactly you did to overcome them.  Show the problems your customers faced, and how your products helped them overcome them.  Be real. Be human. And admit you have flaws.  Everyone loves a real person… and detests the fake snake oil salesmen.

* Do a teleseminar series with experts in your field.  Get 4 or 5 experts together and host an educational series your prospects and clients would want to be a part of.  Side benefit: you have a product after you can sell or use in lead generation.

* Be unusual and outrageous in your marketing.  Take California Tortilla for example.  They have a fabulous newsletter (CalTort Taco Talk – http://www.californiatortilla.com/taco-talk.html) that is exceptional. They are personal.  They come up with funny contests and sayings (like their Pop Tarts a Go Go Day, or their Wall of Flame that talks about their “Ass in the Tub”, “Ass in Space” and the ever-popular “Ass in Antarctica”, hot sauces).  I WISH there were more restaurants doing this… actually, anyone could be having more fun with this type of approach… including me (a writer-downer for myself).

* Create a Top 10 list or a buyers guide to help them in their decision making process.  Show them the proper way to decide on their purchase.  With real content, little sales talk, and lots of personality.

* Be the first in your field to bring out a Tales-From-The-Toilet (or something like that) publication.  This could be a monthly or weekly publication that comes out that shares wacky stories from around the world, and then relate those stories back to your field.  Give them a laugh.  Break up their day.  And keep them coming back for more.

* Bring out a regular book, movie, or website review.  Anyone in the marketing field needs to be an avid reader and researcher… so share some of your findings!  Tell them what you are reading, and what you thought.  Or tell them about the movie you just saw with your kids.  Or the aweful experience you had last week at the mall when trying to buy clothes.  The opportunities are endless to do this, all it takes is some initiative.

Break the damn rules.

Just because someone, somewhere said this is “best practice” doesn’t mean it applies 100% of the time, across 100% of the industries.  For every one person seeing success with “the rules” there are just as many, or more, seeing bigger and better numbers by breaking the rules.

Feb
06

Simplified email marketing ideas

By | Copywriting, Email Marketing, Leads Generation

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…Frank talk about emails that work.

Email marketing is a powerful tool you need to add to your marketing toolkit.

Email alone has added millions of dollars to my clients bank accounts in the past few years.  Many of the big launches I have helped with were driven completely digital and combined emails, with articles, driving everyone back to the web pages that took their orders.

I will be the first to add that you MUST use offline marketing as well.

Especially in a challenging economy like we are in now. People are acting different, buying differently, and, frankly, overwhelmed with everything around them.  Email volume has gone up in the past few months… and direct mail (on paper) has dropped.  So I highly recommend you add in some direct offline mail to your mix as well.

That said; email marketing is an incredible tool for getting fast results, for testing the approaches you are going to test offline, and for improving your cash flow quickly.

We would be crazy not to be using it in our marketing.marketing-fears-erased2

There are a number of types of emails you can use in your marketing, I would recommend mixing and matching some of the following.  Test what approach works best, and then use more of that moving forward.

One thing I recommend you get used to is to write the email without any sales pitch, then add in a PS that links to your sales pitch. That way, they get useful information from you in the body of the email and an option to buy something if they want.  If you are constantly delivering useful content, they will continue to bring you traffic, buyers and prospects for as long as you continue to use them.

Story telling emails

By far one of the most powerful and easiest (with practice) emails you can send.  Who doesn’t love a good story?  Especially one that is sent to your prospects and clients that draws them closer to you, even dropping any form of resistance they were feeling.

If you are not a natural story teller, then you need to practice this.  Story telling was never a natural thing for me, and is something I am always working on getting better at.

Here are a couple shortcuts to get you thinking:

Discovery stories.  Is there something in your business, in your product line, or in your life that you just discovered?  Share it.

Before and after stories.  One of the most compelling proof elements you can use in your copy.  Show people (through a story) how life was for you, or yoru customers, before your product or service, and how it evolved after.  Show pictures if you can through the links in the email as well.

3rd person testimonial.  Do everything in your power to get your customers to share their experiences with you and your products.  Make sure you get their approval to use their testimonial, then publish it in its full glory.  Make sure to include their full name and city (at a minimum), which further adds credibility to your claims.

Sceptic turned believer emails. Much like the testimonials above, but look specifically for people who were highly sceptical first, and are now believers in you and yoru business.  Have them tell the story that way… I was a sceptic, now I am a believer… and here is why…

Long lost secrets

People love to believe there is some secret you know that they don’t. So give them one!

If you are an expert in your field, there ARE things you know that they don’t.  Share a few here and there.  You will be amazed at how people respond to you when you reveal a secret or two.

As soon as you do… the floodgates open and you are now officially an expert and people will follow your every word.

 

Why?

Why should they listen to you?  Why are you the one writing this email?  Why do you do what you do?

You must get comfortable telling your story… again and again.  People want to know who they are buying from and it is entirely up to you to tell them why you.

The reason why is one of the most compelling sales arguments you can tell them… so this one is a good one to test, refine and test again with.

 

Fear and Anxiety

Sometimes you just have to scare them.  If your product or service helps them overcome something dramatic or dangerous… make sure they understand the pain they will go through if they don’t fix the problem.

Many people I deal with are scared of scaring others.

Despite the FACT that it is one of the most powerful ways to craft emails that get results.

If you are going to scare them really scare them

 

Common enemies

Pick on common enemies in your emails.  It may be the government. It may be the media. It may be all the blatant lies in the marketplace.

Taking sides WITH them against the enemy will win your friends and make you money… guaranteed.

 

Techniques for email marketing.

Test using short emails vs long.  The short emails would be a teaser to your long copy.  What you will likely find is that some of your prospects and clients like short emails, others like long.  Both sides work… you just have to test to find out which way works best with your list. And having a link in each email they can click through to gives you the ability to test both approaches and see if the short emails get more clicks than the long.

Only testing will tell you the truth.

Make sure you are consistent in your emails too. Don’t send one a day for 2 weeks then take 3 months off.  I would aim for 2 or 3 a month at the minimum.  2 or 3 a week at the maximum.

Again, it is highly dependent on the type of people on your list, and the type of information they want to see from you.

Email marketing works, and can be highly profitable.  Don’t expect to make millions overnight though… despite all the big promises you see out there.

Test, tweak, test again.

Figure out what works, use it again and again, and again.

Dump that which doesn’t work… and always remember what you tested (so you aren’t retesting the same failed approach).

Truly simply in many ways.

Troy

PS: The Story Selling Home Study Coaching program
http://www.storysellingtips.com is ready and is an incredible way
to introduce your clients and prospects to your backstories…
where your real money will be made.

Jan
13

Big data small data all data

By | Direct Marketing, Entrepreneur, Leads Generation

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A good friend of mine is a math geek (PHD) and is right up near the top of a very large, very public organization.  His job is to determine what data is needed and then sends his stats squadron in to analyze data and find trends.

Much of what they find the general public never knows about… it’s just too scary.

What fascinates me about what he does (it sure isn’t the math stuff!) is the power that these anaylatical types hold in their hands.

When they analyze data, they can find some oh-so-useful-and-powerful information.

So when I read an article in reuters.com called Big Data Big Impact, I thought of him and how this all is becoming the lifeline of small business owners like you and I.

Data IS the future.

Knowing how to use it is where you find incredible breakthroughs that can grow your business by leaps and bounds.

Consider a few statements from this article: (reuters.com)

* “…if you use big data to track your sales more precisely, you need fewer salespeople.”

* The McKinsey Global Institute, trumpeting big data as “the next frontier for innovation, competition and productivity.”

* “To understand how much data is now at our fingertips, consider a few striking facts from the McKinsey report. One is that it costs less than $600 to buy a disk drive with the capacity to store all of the world’s music. Another is that in 2010 people around the world collectively stored more than 6 exabytes of new data on devices like PCs and notebook computers; each exabyte contains more than 4,000 times the information stored in the Library of Congress.”

* McKinsey believes that the transformative power of all of this data will amount to a fifth wave in the technology revolution, building on the first four: the mainframe era; the PC era; the Internet and Web 1.0 era; and most recently, the mobile and Web 2.0 era.”
So what does this mean to you and I, and all other non-math-stats-geeks?  

It means yeeeeeeee haw!

It’s time for us all to get a real grip on our customer data.

It means it’s time to start digging deeper into our customer databases to look for unique trends and commonoalities (imagine if you found out that 63% of your big ticket buyers were fans of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”, or that 51% of your Facebook fans were members of the CPSA).  

Think about it!

THAT is power in your hands.

You can customize your marketing and lead generation to find MORE of those people.

You could go to the CPSA and buy ad spots on their site, their blog, and inside their members newsletter.

You could and you should.

I specialize in helping small businesses grow (small business being defined as 75 employees or fewer, most fewer than 20).

That’s you.

That’s me.

That’s where our biggest opportunity is in 2012 folks.

   This is something I truly hope you “get” and that you really start tracking customer information better.

Perry Marshal has his new Fanalytix program which helps you analyze Facebook data.  I am just starting to test it – if it is even half as good as I think it could be, WOW – that is some SERIOUS power in your hands.

Every single chance you get to talk to a customer, or collect survey data, or do a questionare with them… look for information like books, movies, hobbies, memberships, and associations.

Track them.

Record them.

Look for trends.

…and when you find a trend or common trait… make sure you modify your marketing to capture MORE people like those who already buy from you.

   Small Data is just as powerful as Big Data.

But it is up to you to find it and capitalize on it.

Start now.

Troy

Nov
15

The Action Reaction Success Formula

By | Copywriting, Direct Mail, Leads Generation, Wacky marketing ideas, Writing

1 Comment

I was fortunate to learn early on that money loves speed – and that failure is actually a form of success. You have to try things and find out what works… and it will never happen perfectly the first time.

If you aren’t trying to fail, you will never succeed.

In fact, the faster you fail – that faster you will find success.

Money loves speed.

The more speed you have in your business, the more you will attract money. And the best way I can say it is “TAKE IT SERIOUSLY!” Don’t pretend you will try one thing this week and another thing next week. Take 10 things and try 2 of them a day! MAKE the time. If you want serious change in your life and business – make a serious change!

Me?

Many times I feel like my head is swimming as I have so many things on the go at once. But it has reaped great rewards for me in a short period of time

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Some of my daily actions I take – and I recommend you do too:
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1) Habits - get up early and write. Huge rewards. I had a 6 month span where all I did was wake up at 5:30 am and I would write for 2 hours before my kids got up. I got so much done in an average week just from that alone.

You can easily write 2 books a year at that speed. If you don’t want to write – read a motivational or uplifting book (non-fiction). BUT, I can say this: writing every day will turn into the most profitable habit you ever have! You can use these writings in numerous ways in your business, and the rewards will be great.

2) Nutrition - find what works best for you for energy, and a clear mind. Eat fruit only in the mornings is a great way to feel good and clear – and keep a healthy system going. One fabulous tip I learned was the 3 apple a day technique. 3 apples a day is an excellent health foundation that will keep you healthy. Eat them throughout your morning (with no other foods) or spread the apples out so you eat one an hour before each meal. Try it for a couple weeks and see for yourself how good you feel.

3) Exercise. Guilty! I put on 30 pounds when quit my corporate job to work on my own. At the time I was doing 5 days a week of kickboxing and Muay Thai, and went from that to sitting at a desk all the time.
Troy White and his Tae Kwon Do Black Belt
5.5 years ago I got back into marital arts (Tae Kwon Do now – First Degree Belt, working on second), and LOVE IT! Averaging 4 times a week gives me a great escape and a fantastic calorie burning regiment. I also walk Casino, my trusty marketing assistant (and dog) twice a day for a fast paced 30 minute walk that gets my heart racing. That “rush” feeling from a great workout is something that I missed deeply and look forward to experiencing every chance I get. Find something, anything, that helps you work up a sweat. 3 times a week for 30-60 minutes at a time is the perfect start.

4) Hire a coach. Years ago, those in business didn’t quite get this. Athletes made sense – but business? Now it is more commonly understood and adhered to. And it makes sense.

Coaches can see things you can’t – both good and bad. They can motivate you. They can hold you accountable to your actions and promises. And they can make it happen for you, versus stumbling along trying to tackle it all yourself.

My thoughts: hire one making much more money than you. And check their references. I made the mistake of hiring one once that sounded good on paper, but was a disaster as a coach. I now have one who is phenomenal and I suggest you find one too. If you are interested, I have a small coaching program I run for a select group of people. It is not cheap – and you will be held accountable for your own results. But those results can be fabulous!

5) Read – lots. I am guilt of reading too many business books – and too few novels. I think the advice to read 4 business books for every 1 novel is a good one. Business books – the reason is self explanatory (remember the one big idea philosophy). Novels – because you need to expand your mind and because much of what makes for a successful business involves building character into your marketing and day-to-day operations. Novels provide you with exceptional character building ideas… if you put your mind to it.

6) Invest in seminars. But be careful. Seminars can be a very powerful way to fire yourself up, meet incredible entrepreneurs, and discover techniques to grow your business that you may have never even thought of before. But, make sure the speakers are all high quality success stories. Make sure there is some form of a guarantee. And make sure the seminar promises to help you with your existing business, not distract you with another business “opportunity”. Those are a dime-a-dozen, and are not the answer to success.

Learn as much as you can about marketing, advertising, and the mindset of the successful.
Master those 3 and you will succeed in any business you decide to take up.

7) Start or join a mastermind… preferably more than one. If you haven’t read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, go get it! It is only $10 new, and you can probably find one at your local used book store. That one single book has created more millionaires than any other book in existence… you think there may be an idea or two for you in there? Damn rights! One of the best ones is the mastermind principle.

In a nutshell: meet regularly (bi-weekly or monthly preferred) with 3 to 5 other driven entrepreneurs. Discuss your business challenges, and ask for suggestions on what to do or who to talk to. Keep the conversations positive and helpful. Look deep to find the right people – preferably get people from other industries as you will expand the viewpoints and not get pigeon holed into thinking like everyone else does in your industry.

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The key with the action reaction is to do many things…

…all at once.
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Take MASSIVE ACTION and see what happens.

Test new ads, new sales campaigns, new success mindset ideas, new client referral ideas… weekly… all at once.

Some will work and some won’t.

But the ones that DO work will make you a fortune.

To your success!

Troy

PS: Don’t forget to check out the Canadian Profits special offer as well at http://www.entrepreneurprofit.com - the ultimate resource for expanding your business in good times and bad.

2012 Cash Flow Calendar and Marketing Plan
PPS: If you want a step-by-step, day-by-day marketing action plan for 2012… the Cash Flow Calendar is READY! This is a copy and paste, simple solution for those who don’t want to have to create the marketing ideas or copy – and just want it done for them. Have a look at what you get http://www.cashflowcalendars.com

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