Aug
05

90% of retailers blow it (websites included)

New survey resultts are in from the YouGov research group. They went out and surveyed buyers of products they found either online or were driven online from direct mail.

Some fascinating info:

* 57% of British consumers would be prepared to include their email address when placing an order through a catalogue and more than 43% would when placing an order in response to direct mail.

* In spite of this willingness, however, just 10% per cent of consumers said that a retailer had asked them for their email in a catalogue order form and just 6% had ever been asked via direct mail.

* Nearly a third (27%) of consumers, however, claim to have been motivated to make a purchase in a high street store after being alerted to a product in a marketing email.

* 69% per cent said they would share their email address with a brand if they were an existing customer.

* “The research clearly shows that customers are willing to trust their contact details with established brands or companies with whom they already have an existing relationship — this gives email marketers a fantastic opening to increase the size of their email databases by adding existing customers to their programmes at a minimal cost.”

For the full article (and a download link for the entire report – great sleeping material – the facts above are all that are needed. Go to Internet Retailing.

So – the question to you is – are you doing everything possible to collect email addresses from your buyers? Your prospects?

Evvvvvverything?

Obviously your buyers want you to ask… the rest is up to you!

Jun
29

7 Critical Email Marketing Rules

Here’s how you can increase your sales numbers and attract a better quality client

Email marketing has transformed the way we can grow businesses. From the costly (yet still highly effective) direct mail world with the postage and printing costs… to the new age of instant delivery and little out-of-pocket costs for a mailing.

Email can bring life to your marketing mix and give your prospects and customers an insiders peak into your personality and business endeavors.

That said, email marketing is not a guaranteed moola maker.

In fact, more of them go wrong than right (despite what nonsense many of the ‘gurus’ are feeding you this week).

It doesn’t take much to sit at your computer like I am doing now, and put together a letter to your clients, much like I am to you right now.

What it DOES take is some grey matter to go into your campaign and some formulas that help ensure your odds are improved.

1) Write to ONE person… not hundreds or thousands. Know who your perfect client is. Know them like your best friend. Know what they would say if they were the one writing their life story in a journal.

What would they tell you?
What are their challenges?
What are their frustrations?
What keeps them awake at night tossing and turning?

If you don’t know this – you can’t write effective emails to them. They will come across as bland, stale, and without a personal connection. BUT, when you DO know who they are (intimately) your email will strike a chord with them unlike any others they receive. (fyi: I actually got to know my one client so well that I ended up marrying her :o ) 11 years now… twin 9 years daughters to add to the mix. You could say I know her very well :)

Marriage and kids... the roller coaster ride of your life!

2) Leverage your personality. One of your greatest assets, yet highly unlikely being used to its potential. Here are a few key things you can use in your copy that may help.

The key to this is to let loose. This is a unique way of getting inside your head and finding real life ways to position you and your business in the buyers mind. Don’t worry about if it is too much or too little… just dump your thoughts on paper.

Sometimes the most unusual of things about you can be the big breakthroughs we are looking for in the marketing and positioning of you.

Have fun… share freely.

* Pet Peeves
* Physical Characteristics (Uniqueness)
* Core Beliefs
* Politics
* Birthplace
* What Are You Pathological About?
* Significant Childhood Events
* Beliefs
* Hobbies
* Education
* Skills
* Interests
* Family
* Talents
* Life Events You Remember Most
* Adventures You Will Never Forget
* Incompetence At?
* Anything You Are A Legend Of?

If you invest a few hours on this, and write down the points you think of as they come to you, that docuement will help you write promotions, articles, blog posts and campaigns for years to come.

A definite worthwhile investment.

3) Always try and include something in your promotions that gives an insight, a tip, or something helpful. Even in your promotions, include a PS or a side bar that is helpful. It helps them justify the time they invest in your materials.

4) What makes you unique in your field? Everyone talks about a USP – but, as you’ve probably seen, they are not that simple to create. Ask anyone what the best USPs are, and you will always hear Dominos Pizza, Fedex, etc. Always the same. Why? Because they aren’t that easy to do. Especially in today’s market with soooo many competitors out there – all doing the same thing you are. But there must be something, just one thing, that makes you unique. Right? Find it – then mention it in every email that goes out. Use it on your websites. On your blog. On your invoices. Everywhere you can – spread the word about the one thing that makes you unique. It doesn’t have to be rocket science – Microsoft doesn’t have one – Coke doesn’t have one – even Apple doesn’t have one. So monster success stories didn’t always get that way with an official USP – they just found one or two things they were good at and made that the focus of their marketing.

5) Call to action. Obvious… but not used. Every email you send should have a call to action. That does not mean you sell something every time you email… that is a dangerous path to take. The call to action could be to visit your blog, or reply back with comments, or to fill out a survey (the unsung hero of getting to know your customers). Just ask them to do something.

You should aim for 4 times as much content as promotions.

So one out of every 4 – 5 emails you send can be a promotion.

6) Have more fun with graphics. I am as guilty as charged here – but have been testing different approaches with some retail clients of mine. I found some interesting conversion improves with some very untraditional graphics.

Something I recommend you try.

Think about how people ‘traditionally’ think about your business, product or industry. What is the opposite of that? What graphic could be used to show the 2 opposites? Test it – you may be pleasantly surprised with the results.

7) Always remember Murphy’s Law in your email marketing. If something can go wrong, chances are it will. Pay very close attention to (speaking from my own mess ups): Deadlines are correct, contact details are correct, dates or holidays are the right one (like my mixup on when Canada day is this week – whoops!), etc.

Plan for a contingency.

Think through your email from the point of view of a brand new prospect to your email list. How would they see it? What would they like about it? Dislike aoutb it? Is it worthy of being passed on?

Do your best to factor these 7 rules into your marketing.

More to come.

Have a great week.

Troy White

PS: REMINDER – If you haven’t snapped up one of the Cash Flow Calendars at 63.27% off, get your copy now through this special link:
https://responsivedm.infusionsoft.com/saleform/nathniit

You can read all the details at www.cashflowcalendars.com (but must use the link above to get the 63.27% discount)

PPS: SPECIAL OFFER. If you are looking for a unique email (or print) marketing campaign this summer, email me back. I have a very unique and unusual exciting alternative for you this summer – one that’s guaranteed to be highly profitable for you.
This is available to you at just a fraction of the cost of our full service campaigns. No obligation – just email me and we can set up a time to talk for 5 minutes about it.

May
11

Story telling for non story tellers

Are you taking yourself for granted?

You have heard me talking about the power of story telling in your marketing and you know how important it is.

Despite that, few do anything about it.

Why?  They are either scared of sharing their story or just don’t know how to tell their story.

Which is why you must practice.

Very few people are gifted story tellers.

The majority of entrepreneurs are like me… struggling to get a story out.

An admission: I am an introvert.

Not exactly earth shattering news.

If you have known me for some time, it is probably quite obvious.

Story telling has always been a struggle… still is.

BUT, I practice.  I learn. I do the drills. That is the difference between mediocrity and success.

You must learn to tell stories too!

Because a great story can do more for growing your business than near anything else.  People are CRAVING a good story right now.  Tell it, and they will be drawn to you.

Here are some pointers that will get you started.

The key to this is to let loose.  This is a unique way of getting inside your head and finding real life ways to position you and your business in the buyers mind.  Don’t worry about if it is too much or too little… just dump your thoughts on paper. Sometimes the most unusual of things about you can be the big breakthroughs we are looking for in the marketing and positioning of you.  Have fun… share freely.

  • Pet Peeves
  • Physical Characteristics (Uniqueness)
  • Core Beliefs
  • Politics
  • Birthplace
  • What Are You Pathological About?
  • Religion
  • Significant Childhood Events
  • Beliefs
  • Hobbies
  • Education
  • Skills
  • Interests
  • Family
  • Talents
  • Life Events You Remember Most
  • Adventures You Will Never Forget
  • Incompetence At?
  • Anything You Are A Legend Of?
  • Successes
  • Likes
  • Curiosities
  • Failures
  • Dislikes
  • Are People Amazed By Anything You Do Or About You?
  • What Are You Ambitious About? What Fires You Up?
  • Self Disciplined About?
  • People Are Envious Of You Because _______?
  • Do People Desire What You Have?

Please go through this and fill these out.

You will find more gold nuggets in there than you will need – and each one of them you fill out can add $ to your business.

Troy

Apr
20

Information Overwhelm… or Opportunity Galore?

There is an overwhelming amount of information right now

I said that 4 years ago.
I said that 8 years ago.

Some things never change…and the sheer volume of information coming at you and I is mind boggling.

Not to mention how the average Joe business owner tries to make some sense out of it all.

I make a living out of it…so I have to be doing my reading to stay on top of it.  But I feel like I am burried by it.

Blog setup
Blog content
Blog SEO
Blog traffic
Blog reader relationships
Linked in
Facebook
Myspace
Twitter
Digg
Stumble Upon
(insert any one, or ten, of 547 other social medias here)
Email marketing
Autoresponders
Article marketing
Syndication
Html vs Text
Web page design
SEO
SMO
PPC
PPV
CPA
CPC
Web traffic
Page Stickiness
Sales copy
Branding
User experience
Lifetime Value of Customers
Joint Ventures
Direct marketing
Direct mail
Lead generation
Squeeze pages
Landing pages
Upsells
Downsells
Cross sells
Best practices
Up and coming trends
Special reports
White papers
Mp3 podcasting
Ebooks
Ebooks for Kindle and iPad
Free content
Paid Content
Online video
Online audio
Display Ads
Text ads

The list could go on for a looooong time.

And you wonder why it is difficult to make $ online?

It’s NO WONDER so many people get overwhelmed and give up.

But, there is something lurking in the list that is key to your success in 2010.

One of 2 things:

1) If you are a business owner looking to make money online:
all you need to do is pick one or two of the above and you can make money.  Get good at them.  Study the free and paid resources out there.  Become a master at doing that one technique to build your online presence.

Each and every one of them works.

Makes money.

Independent of each other.

You don’t need to master them on – just a few.

2) If you are looking to start a business providing products and services to others: pick one or two of them above and you can make money. Get good at them.  Study the free and paid resources out there.  Become a master at doing that one technique to build your client’s online presence.

It is impossible to become an expert in more than a few of these at once.

Run from anyone who says they are.

But it is quite easy to pick one or two and start learning more than enough to be dangerous.

Dig through articles, ebooks, youtube videos, paid resources and free resources.

Invest some time every day learning your new craft.

Test the ideas immediately.

Track the results you get from everything you test.

Find what works for your situation.

Rinse, wash, repeat.

Then, when you become a master at your craft – do what others do and sell your knowledge.  The more you teach others, the better you learn yourself.

It’s a vicious circle.

But it works.

What doesn’t work is to try and master it all – and end up mastering none and back at a job you hate.

It won’t be easy doing it this way (no such thing, imo)… but it sure is rewarding!

Jan
22

Frank Talk About EMails That Work

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