Underdog Marketing

Super Affiliate Coaching Club Bonus

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 03:03:00 +0000

FREE video tutorial: this time, Jeff gives you a recipe on how to get a boatload of free traffic to your website. This includes new traffic sources, designed to get you on page one of search engines within minutes rather than days or months.

Watch the video

Watch the first 2 videos: super affiliate coaching club bonus

Follow the true story of Shaun - 19-years old, no experience, no money, nothing but the desire to help people - as he struggles against the odds in a market with well-entrenched competitors with big budgets. He is an underdog, and if you’ve ever had to struggle in your life you know what he’s going through… Shaun KNOWS his knowledge can help people get fit, stay fit, and enjoy life to the fullest – but apart from his friends who’d give their right arm for him, no-one has even heard of him…

Serendipity the key to social marketing strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Ecademy founder Penny Power says you should never underestimate the power of the happy accident on her latest business advice show:

If you're a business person, you like to be methodical, and you like to wake up in the morning and have tasks that you're going to tick off. And you're very controlled and process oriented, because you've lived a life of being very organized. And I've done that. And I've done that, because it's going to help me achieve x and y.

The world's very different to that. It's very random. Information flows at you. And the temptation is just to keep deleting and ignoring that's important to your business and stop you from being focused. And all the time, I have people saying this one of the biggest huddled they have to overcome when they start going into the social networking world, where information is random. And how do they filter?

Well, whether you filter or not is probably the biggest decision you have to make. Because you have to consider if you're part of a community, are you just using that community for what you want, like a utility? Or actually having a sense of belonging to that community. So a sense of belonging means almost treating it like a family. And your family, you have lots of conversations. Your friends, you have lots of conversations. Very random. And then occasionally, you'll get those serendipitous moments where somebody will say, "I've got just the answer for you." Or "I know just the person you need to know." And if you treat your business like you always, if you treat it like that in social networks, in a controlled way, you miss a lot of stuff on the left field; that all the opportunities that people might bring to you, because they just see you as being a user and a taker rather than somebody who is actually belonging to the community.

Aren't social networks a waste of time?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:53:00 +0000

1. Market your business with expert knowledge:
Read the book "Underdog Marketing"

2. Prefer a team of experts to assist you with your marketing?
Join the Million Dollar Challenge

Many entrepreneurs and small business owners understand the great potential of social marketing. Nevertheless, they are concerned that having yet another business process to manage will increase their costs without delivering measurable business benefits.

In this business television show, dozens of social marketing and business experts contribute practical tips on developing a social marketing strategy that ensures you get the best business development results from your precious time and resources.

The first of the social marketing tips given by the business experts on the show is to run a robust social marketing strategy.

Just like in any other area of business, you need to approach social marketing strategically to get the best bang for your buck.

Begin by defining your goals. Then, select the right tools to achieve those goals, develop a plan, and implement it.

The key is to ask yourself at the very outset, what are you trying to accomplish with your social marketing? To increase sales? Refresh your brand? Raise your professional profile? Get user feedback on your products and services?

Once you know exactly what you are trying to do, you will design your profile page and every other aspect of your social marketing campaign to reflect this and deliver optimal results.

This sense of purpose will guide which networks you choose use, and how much time and resource you devote to your online activity. It will help you connect with the kind of people who can help you.

The next tip given by the social marketing experts is to set aside a certain amount of time every week to implementing your strategy, and then stick to that plan. You must recognize that, while it can deliver incredible value, social marketing is not free – it costs time, and time is money.

Watch the business television show for free right here to hear the rest of the experts' social marketing tips and business development advice.

* * *

Many thanks to the experts who contributed tips to this series:

Jana Eggers, CEO, Spreadshirt - http://www.spreadshirt.co.uk/
Jill Hart, president, Christian Work at Home Inc - http://www.cwahm.com/
Joel Comm, author of Twitter Power - http://www.joelcomm.com/
Joel Elad, author of LinkedIn for Dummies - http://www.joelelad.com/
Kelly Karnetsky, CEO, Dreams Redux - http://www.kellykarnetsky.com/
Kevin Palmer, social media strategist - http://www.socialmediaanswers.com/
Lorne Epstein, CEO/founder, InSide Job - http://www.myinsidejobs.com/
Maurice A. Ramirez, High Alert LLC - http://www.mauricearamirez.com/
Monica Hamburg, writer and social media evangelist - www.monicahamburg.wordpress.com/about
Philip Calvert, founder, IFA Life - http://www.ifalife.com/
Shannon Evans, co-founder and director, Small Business Publications - http://www.bainbridgepress.com/
Starr Hall, publicist and social media strategist - http://www.starrhall.com/
Steven Rozenfeld, YaaZe.com - www.yaaze.com/blog
Yana Berlin, Fabulously40.com - http://www.fabulously40.com/

Top Ten Recession-Busting Marketing Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:39:00 +0000

Cross-Promote: Link with a complimentary company and cross-promote your products and services. Examples: a fashion boutique and a make-up artist; a delicatessen and a home wares shop. Think outside the square. A commercial cleaner and a chocolate factory? Think 'free samples' and being memorable.

Add-Value: Instead of discounting an expensive dress, make a gift of a scarf, bracelet or pair of earrings. Instead of reducing the price of your service, offer an extra service for the original price. The gifted item or service will likely cost a business much less than providing a discount, and be valued more.

Permission Marketing: Your business will benefit from having a more credible profile and audience who invite you to talk to them about your products and services. Develop a simple online newsletter (e-news) or direct mail newsletter that provides interested parties with new, relevant and useful information that will benefit them.

Create News: Work effectively with the media and provide journalists with credible, newsworthy and interesting information suitable for their audience. Don't provide advertising masquerading as news; understand their audience and their needs. Provide an angle that informs, educates or warns.

Hold an Event: Invite customers and potential customers to your office or factory for a tour followed by a light lunch or after work drinks. If you can't host people in this way, use a local hotel to host clients to a light lunch, or drinks & nibbles, provide information about your business and also get to know their needs better.

Speak in Public: Offer to be a guest speaker on your topic of expertise at a conference or business lunch. Service clubs often are looking for people to speak on interesting topics. Contact your local Business Enterprise Centre or Industry Association and investigate opportunities to speak to their members.

Call to Action: Whether it's an advertisement, brochure, flier, website text or direct mail letter, always include a call to action. Tell the recipient what you want then to do. Examples: "Visit our website" or "Call us now" or "First 10 Callers Only" or "Order Now" or "Come and see us now". This simple addition will make a big difference.

Use the Internet: People will not flock to your website for no reason. Develop your online presence by having interesting content on your website that is up-dated regularly, an active blog, a relevant e-newsletter or media resource area, and submit material to online article directories. Join social networking sites, such as Twitter, Ecademy and MySpace but use them wisely. Get good advice from a credible internet expert, not just a graphic designer.

Ask Questions: Don't make statements about your products or service, instead ask questions. Examples:

DON’T SAY “Our containers hold 500 and can expand to 750’

ASK “How much capacity are you looking for?”

DON’T SAY “We have blue, green yellow, red, orange and purple”

ASK “What color did you want?” or “What is your color scheme?”

DON’T SAY “Our widgets are $100”

ASK “How much did you want to spend?”

DON’T SAY “This car is the best medium-sized car on the market today”

ASK “How many people in your family?” and “What will you be using the vehicle for?” and “Do you drive mostly in the city?”

Extend Your Reach: Many businesses market only to their customers, yet there are other groups that can help promote you. Keep your suppliers informed of your business activities. Develop a list of people who can refer business to you and people who can influence favourably what customers think of you. Don't forget your staff; they can be your best Ambassadors.

Material taken from the book 'Underdog Marketing' by Dr Alex Davidovic and Penelope Herbert. 'Underdog Marketing' is crammed with step-by-step guides, killer tips, proven formulas and fresh marketing solutions. Available now at: UnderdogMarketingChallenge.com

Getting your social marketing right first time: A beginner's guide

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:35:00 +0000

1. Market your business with expert knowledge: read the book "Underdog Marketing"

2. Prefer a team of experts to assist you with your marketing? Join the Million Dollar Challenge

By now, most business people have read or heard about leveraging online social networks as part of a small business social marketing strategy. Twitter in particular has had a lot of coverage in the media.

Many entrepreneurs see the potential of this approach, but lack the skills to set up a campaign. In this business television show, experts share their latest business advice on getting started with social marketing.

The social marketing tips on the show have been contributed by dozens of business experts to assist even the most technophobic businesspeople with Facebook marketing, Twitter marketing, and other online social networking.

The first part of the show explains how to select the social network or networks that best fit your needs and your business development needs. There are many different networks to choose from, from well known general purpose networks like Facebook and Twitter, to specialist networks like LinkedIn or Ecademy.

In their small business marketing tips on the show, the experts suggest starting with Facebook and Twitter, then investigating other social networks.

Different networks attract different types of users, so you need to think about your target audience and the kinds of networks they might be on.

Once you have decided on the networks which you will use as you platform, you need to set up a profile page.

This is a critical task in your social marketing campaign, say the experts, and it is very important to get it right. The purpose of your profile is to give your contacts an idea of the person behind your business. By leaving your profile page blank, you are missing a key opportunity to let people know who you are and what you do.

In the rest of the business television show, the experts explain how to create a highly attractive profile page that will get you found online. Then they explain how to grow your network of contacts by becoming a highly active participant within the online community.

Sales Monster: A global collaboration to help you sell more

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Sales Monster: Build your sales with social proof

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:57:00 +0000

24 proven tactics to pump up your mailing list subscription rates

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:03:00 +0000

Great news: as a boost to the promotion of the "Underdog Marketing" book here is a valuable gift from Dennis Gaskill who runs Boogie Jack.

He generously made his latest $49.95 eBook "List Building Made Easy -- Over 24 Proven Tactics to Pump Up Your Mailing List Subscription Rates" available as a present to all friends of Dr Alex and Penelope. Quite simply, the knowledge he imparts is first-class and allows you to grow your list bigger and faster than ever.

Get more info and download the eBook

Also, a reminder: there are only days left until 1st of June 2009 when the "Underdog Marketing" book promotion ends - unless you have already done so, get your copy now. At the time of writing, there were 87 copies still available, with $903.20 in commercial business-building bonuses.

Average book delivery times:

US and Canada 2 days
Australia 2 days (while stock lasts - 23 copies left)
UK and Europe 7 days
Rest of the world 7-12 days.

Warmly,
Dr Alex and Penelope
Authors of the book "Underdog Marketing" -- Enrich Your Reputation, Fashion Free Publicity and Wrestle Your Market Share from the Top Dogs
www.UnderdogMarketingChallenge.com

The book "Underdog Marketing" - published and available

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:18:00 +0000

First, a personal note: this Friday I'll be getting the keys to my brand-new home at Mawson Lakes in Adelaide, and my daughter, I, and Buffy (the Vampire Slayer) - our little Pomeranian x Chihuahua, will be moving in over the weekend!

And now for the main news: the book "Underdog Marketing", which I co-authored with PR expert Penelope Herbert has just been published by Trafford in Canada.

In this 300-page all-revealing book (my 4th and Penelope's 1st), we detail:

1. How to find out precisely what your current and potential clients value and what is important to them

2. How to use the findings to compose an irresistible offer based on quality and innovation, not the price

3. How to reflect your customers' values through branding of your business - which your competitors cannot copy

4. How to ensure your market thinks of you ahead of your deep-pocketed competitors

5. How to become a magnet for the Internet and traditional media to secure insane amounts of publicity, and

6. How to carve-up your market share - regardless of the size of your budget.

Penelope and I have been flat out securing the commercial business-building bonuses to celebrate the publication of the book. So far we've secured first-class software and resources to the value of $853.25 out of the planned $1,500 - but we'll keep adding bonus products and services until the promotion ends on 1st of June.

All of the bonuses - commercial software, business publications, professionally designed resources and online business services - are to be given away for $1 to first 500 people to purchase the book.

Order "Underdog Marketing" online directly from the publisher now, we expect the first 500 to be snapped up really quickly.

How to drive a successful SEO web strategy by publishing great content

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:03:00 +0000

One of the key ways to drive search engine traffic to your website is to publish lots of high quality written content online.

In this new business television show, dozens of SEO experts give business advice on what kind of content you need to publish, how much you need to publish, and how often, in order to drive a very successful SEO web strategy.

Google and other search engines index all websites regularly by searching and recording all the text that they carry. So, if you want to be found on Google, the business advice is clear: you need to publish plenty of web copy and that copy needs to be rich in relevant keywords.

Relevant keywords are keywords which relate to what your business does and what it sells.

That’s the broad outline. In this business television show, however, the business experts give further internet marketing tips on boosting the effectiveness of your keyword rich web copy.

First, the business experts stress the importance of writing for your audience. When you produce copy for your website, you will need to use your keywords and phrases often in your headings and body text.

However, it is important not to get carried away with keyword density at the expense of your website’s fundamental purpose, which is to communicate with your audience. Whatever you do, don’t forget about your readers in the rush to load your site with keywords.

It pays to research your customers, to ensure that they are getting what they want from your website.

Next, say the business experts, you need to produce and publish as much as you can.
An SEO web strategy is not simply a matter of building a website, putting it up, and never looking it again.

Producing lots of fresh content is essential to effective SEO because search engines love sites that are growing and adding content all the time.

For further internet marketing tips on all aspects of SEO and web strategy, watch the other shows in yourBusinessChannel’s Search Engine Optimisation series.

To turn your business into a million-dollar enterprise, join the Million Dollar Challenge

How to use triggers to bring qualified traffic to your website

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 05:29:00 +0000

The aim of any online social marketing strategy is to get customers talking about your business and its products, and driving traffic to your site. Social marketing guru David Meerman Scott calls this a World Wide Rave.

In this business television show, Scott shares his latest internet marketing tips on creating online triggers to bring your customers to your virtual doorstep.

The show is part of Scott’s six-part business television series explaining step by step how to create social marketing buzz around your product.

In this episode, Scott gives web strategy and internet marketing tips on creating the kind of content that will trigger people to share your stuff online.

The secret, says Scott, is to create really interesting content that is not gimmicky, but that people really want to share. You need to give your audience a real reason to share your material online.

So what makes for interesting content? Lots of things, says Scott. People love to share content that is funny, for example. Just think of the kind of YouTube clips that your friends like to share with you via email or Facebook.

Another of Scott’s social marketing tips is to create something that is really valuable, for example a high quality piece of research or market data that people will want to share.

Another effective trigger is using a celebrity. People are always interested in celebrities and are much more likely to share content that features well known person.

Yet another very effective trigger is content which is outrageous or entertaining. On the show, Scott discusses the example of Blendtec, and American firm who have a very popular YouTube channel. On the channel, they feature clips of various items, from golf balls to iPhones, being blended in an industrial blender.

David Meerman Scott is one of over 70 leading business experts who contribute free business advice and small business marketing tips to yourBusinessChannel.

If you have not already done so, join the Underdog Marketing Challenge. If you do not invest into yourself and your knowledge, who will?

Internet Strategy Explained: Ronaldo vs Jose Mourinho vs Kate Winslet

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:58:00 +0000

With defending champions Manchester United taking on Inter Milan in the Champions League we saw some of footballs top digital superstars go head to head. And in this show we analyze their secrets to bring you business development advice for your own internet and search marketing strategies.

Generally recognized as the world's best player, Christiano Ronaldo is now averaging nearly three million internet searches on Google every month..... Which compares pretty favorably with people like David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and even Oscar winning Kate Winslet.

But when it comes to a web strategy that makes you a digital superstar, Jose Mourinho is also showing how to blow away the competition, generating more than 3 times the search traffic compared to his peers like Sir Alex Ferguson. What's his secret?

These guys are both successful coaches - but there is a simple internet marketing tip for anyone wanting to become a digital super star.

Don't be boring!

In a recent interview with our business TV channel, Shel Israel said:

Basically corporations worldwide have got into the habit of shoveling out crap. They go to the PR people who add adjectives in, they go to the legal people who take that which is interesting out and they send something out which is just pure crap.

So here is our business advice:

Being good is not enough - you've got to create great content that attracts the fans!

Recession is the time when many businesses are afraid to act - which could be a great business opportunity for you: sign up for the Million Dollar Challenge and let the team of experts turn your business into a million-dollar enterprise. Low risk - results based!

Be wary of client incentive schemes

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:08:00 +0000

Quick link: apply for the Million Dollar Challenge

Client incentive schemes seem to be an appealing tool for leveraging better results from your business networking strategy. Work is referred your way, the referrer gets a little reward, and everyone wins - right?

Giving sales advice and business development tips in his new show on yourBusinessChannel, networking expert Andy Lopata suggests that client incentive schemes are not all they’re cracked up to be.

People who pay for referrals may be missing the wider point, he says in his sales advice. If you are having to pay a person to refer you, then there might be something seriously wrong with your current business networking strategy.

In his business networking advice on the show, Lopata explains what motivates someone to refer business, in an ideal scenario. To refer business, a referrer needs have total confidence in the quality and reliability of your products and services, and they need to be proud of their association with you.

Lopata’s business networking advice is to concentrate on inspiring this kind of confidence and pride in others. In time, this will bring referrals, more so than financial inducements.

After all, he says in his sales advice on the show, if one of your business contacts has real faith in you, why would they need money to be encouraged to refer you? And if they don’t believe in you, what amount of money could be worth the potential damage to their reputation of making a bad referral?

This is the problem with client incentive schemes and with paying for referrals in general. Lopata believes this also explains why they are rarely a very effective business sales strategy.

Start by focusing on the product or service you offer, says Lopata. Make sure it is worthy of referring. That should be the foundation of you business networking strategy.

Would you like to know how to generate astounding business results on a microscopic budget? Join the Underdog Marketing Challenge.

Or, do you prefer a seasoned team of experts helping you every step of the way? Join the Million Dollar Challenge.

Free means free: why email sign ups could be wrecking your social marketing efforts

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:15:00 +0000

Many digital marketers have yet to fully understand the way the online world works, according to leading social marketing expert David Meerman Scott.

Meerman Scott, the author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR and the upcoming World Wide Rave, share his latest social marketing tips on developing a successful small business marketing strategy online in a new series of business TV shows on yourBusinessChannel.

In this, the fourth of seven shows, Meerman Scott describes a rule that must be followed in order to roll out a really effective social marketing web strategy. The aim of his social marketing tips is to create a World Wide Rave about your product, In other words, a major buzz that has people visiting your website because they genuinely want to be there, and global communities are eagerly linking to your site.

In earlier shows, Meerman Scott explains that social marketing involves dropping the traditional product-centric and ego-centric approach to marketing, and instead adopting a web strategy based around creating highly attractive content that customers genuinely want to access and share.

In this show, Meerman Scott urges viewers to give up control of their message as part of their small business marketing strategy. While the idea is frightening to a lot of marketers, according to Meerman Scott it is vitally important part of a successful web strategy.

The essential point is that the great content that you create for customers to enjoy and share should be freely sharable. So if you create a valuable white paper for download from your website, then make it genuinely free.

According to Meerman Scott, creating a World Wide Rave about your product is not about generating sales leads, collecting email addresses or filling out forms. All those things will irritate customers, and therefore undermine your web strategy.

Meerman Scott shares the rest of his social marketing tips in upcoming shows on yourBusinessChannel.

View videos from worldwide experts to help develop your own small business marketing strategy. Use our videos to help develop your own social marketing or Facebook marketing strategies.

Tired of running a one-man show? Have a team of experts assist you -- apply for a spot in the Million Dollar Challenge.

Understand the purchase cycle and conversion processes to enhance your SEO web strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:56:00 +0000

The world of search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) is highly dynamic and remains unfamiliar for many businesspeople. In this new business TV show, ecommerce expert Finlay Clark share his best business ideas and latest sales advice on getting the best return from your SEO and PPC campaigns.

Clark focuses his sales advice on protecting your brand name with PPC, and planning a web strategy that focuses keywords on different stages in the purchase cycle.

One of the key issues that ecommerce clients are interested in, says Clark, is how brand and generic keywords work together in an SEO/PPC web strategy. Many clients, he says are unsure of whether or not to use their brand name as part of a paid search campaign, since they will already be getting very high rankings for it in natural search through the major search engines.

Clark’s sales advice is that in general businesses should bid on their brand name for PPC campaigns. This is because PPC gives you a great deal of flexibility in terms of running PPC ads designed for a particular sale or special campaign at a particular time of year. This can be a very effective business sales strategy, and it allows businesses to develop copy specially for these ads, and integrate them with other promotional material.

In his sales advice on the show, Clark also gives business development tips on using generic keywords and brand keywords together. Generic keywords are really the key to building your online sales, he says. People usually search on generic keywords early in the purchase cycle, and only use brand name searches when they are closer to the actual purchase.

Clark strongly advises using click path analysis and similar tools as part of your web strategy in order to find out exactly which keywords have played a part in a purchase, and therefore where best to focus your investment.

A controversial and provocative, all-revealing book by Dr Alex and media/public Penelope Herbert is about to hit the bookstores - Underdog Marketing:
Enrich Your Reputation, Fashion Free Publicity and Wrestle Your Market Share from the Top Dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:34:00 +0000

For even the most self-confident person, arriving at a networking meeting can be daunting moment. With the right business networking advice, however, you can overcome unhelpful emotions like self-doubt, to make the most of your business networking strategy.

In this business TV show, business expert Andy Lopata shares some commonsense, practical business networking advice on developing a business networking strategy to let you conquer the fears and doubts that we all feel from time to time.

In the show, Lopata tells the story of a client he spoke to recently who was very nervous about approaching other people at events, because she feared they would reject her. Her crisis of confidence was seriously compromising her business networking strategy. This was despite the fact that, in her professional capacity, she was dealing with CEOs on a daily basis in a competent, confident manner.

When it came to networking events, she couldn’t help asking herself , “why do these people want to speak to me? What do I have to offer?”

In his business networking advice on the show, Lopata explains the business networking strategy that he recommended for this client.

He told the woman to write down two lists. In the first, she wrote down what her clients valued her for, and what they liked about her. In the second, he asked her to write down why someone would like to go on a date with her, why a night out with her would be a lot of fun.

When she read back the list, Lopata asked her if she thought people at a networking event would like to meet someone with these qualities. Of course the answer was yes. The idea of his business networking advice is to reinforce to yourself all the positive qualities you possess. Often your fear of networking can be subconscious and irrational, and takes a business networking strategy like this to counteract.

Score more sales: refuse to take rejection personally

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:05:00 +0000

If there is one piece of business sales advice that everyone working in sales needs to take to heart in order to become successful, it is to refuse to take rejection personally.

That’s according to Lori Richardson from Score More Sales, a leading sales blogger and one of yourBusinessChannel’s regular business experts. In her weekly show on yourBusinessChannel, Richardson offers practical business sales tips to boost your sales results.

In this week’s sales advice, Richardson stresses the importance that everybody working in sales learns not to take rejection personally. In her business sales tips, she explains how to separate out the fact that you might have been turned down by a prospective client, from any feelings of personal rejection that you may experience.

It is essential to separate out these feelings, says Richardson in her business sales tips. There are many reasons a prospect might turn you down, but none of them relate to you as a person. It could be about the service for product you are trying to sell, or it just might not be the right time for them to buy.

Richardson’s expert sales advice is to think about an prospect who turns you down as a future customer. Perhaps the timing isn’t right, but they will be interested in buying in the future. Perhaps you can refer them to someone else who ahs a product or service that is more closely aligned to their needs.

The most important thing, says Richardson in her sales advice, is that you don’t shut down when someone says no. Once you make this switch, she says, your rate of success will climb and your business sales strategy will be transformed.

Richardson shares more expert business sales tips in the remainder of this show, and every week on her regular spot right here on yourBusinessChannel.

Find a worthy purpose for your business resources

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:33:00 +0000

It may surprise many people, but according to acclaimed business expert and author Roger Hamilton, aligning your business resources and objectives with a worthy purpose can have really great results for both outcomes.

Hamilton explains this idea in his latest business TV show on leading online business TV network yourBusinessChannel. He contributes his latest business advice every week on the channel.

Great businesses are focused on creating true worth, says Hamilton, so business resources are directed at more than just profits. In his business advice, he recommends that all businesses consider whether they are creating true worth, and if not, that they give themselves an injection of purpose.

Try as you might, if you focus solely on trying to become wealthy, you will not achieve this. This is simply because none of your contacts and customers care about making you rich. On the other hand, if customers or investors know that they can work with you to make the world a better place, they will be much more willing to buy your product, or contribute business advice or business resources.

In his business advice on this business TV show, Hamilton gives an example of a business who grew beyond all their expectations by aligning their business resources with social and environmental outcomes.

The owners of the business found that suppliers more willing to work with them, that customers were keen to buy their service, and soon they had to upsize their business resources in order to cope with demand.

Says Hamilton in his business advice: “I would say that anyone who is thinking about being in business, or wondering how to make their business more successful today, turn it from something that is a vehicle of wealth to a vehicle for worth.”

Roger Hamilton’s shows appear every week on yourBusinessChannel, alongside over 70 other world leading business experts.

News: the book by Dr Alex and Penelope Herbert is about to be published: Underdog Marketing: Enrich Your Reputation, Fashion Free Publicity and Wrestle Your Market Share from the Top Dogs

The book has the power to transform your business - and ships on the launch day with $2,000+ in COMMERCIAL business-building bonuses. Not to be missed!

The IT sales tools you need to drive more sales

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 05:57:00 +0000

Sales 2.0 is a widely used term used to describe many new aspects of selling, developments that have changed the way we sell. It’s now faster, and far more effective, which is great within the context of this slower economy. The well rounded sales business experts know that it’s also about the internet, and the tools that the web can now on offer that simply were not available before.

Today there are myriad Sales 2.0 Tools available to the online business owner. And these are tools that offer far more than CRM to track what sales people do for management - these tools actively work with sales people to help them sell more.

In this business TV show, Nigel Edelshain, CEO of Sales 2.0 shares his top expert business tips on sales 2.0 and how it can help you to increase your sales success. He also offers some examples o tools that sales people should definitely be looking at.

“We looked at our own research ...to see how Sales 2.0 is playing out in the area of prospecting. We identified 3 variable factors that will tell us your probability of getting into the buyers office,” sales and business expert Edelshain reveals. “These variables include the quality of your prospect list, trigger events that change in the buyers environment, and your actual relationship with the buyer.”

See this business TV show to find out which tools Nigel Edelshain recommends to ensure you have covered each of the three variables. This business TV show is one of several featuring Nigel Edelshain’s top expert business advice, and you can find many more top business tips in this Expert Tips series, with new releases each week here on yourBusinessChannel.

Create a Sales Monster: sales advice on using social proof to build a case

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:59:00 +0000

As anyone who has worked in sales for long can tell you, there are a lot of barriers to overcome in successfully converting a sale. One of the most important pieces of sales advice that experts can give is to use social proof to support your customers through the sale process.

In this business TV show, world leading business experts discuss the importance of using social proof to enhance your business sales strategy. The show provides more than just sales advice, however. In this series, sales advice is actually put into practice, so you can see the results. In a sense, it’s like the ultimate business reality TV show.

Entire books have been written about the importance of social proof in implementing a successful business sales strategy, but in simple terms 'social proof' means that the customer is more like to purchase if they can be shown evidence that someone like them has bought in the past, and that it was a positive experience.

If this kind of business sales strategy sounds unfamiliar to you, just think of the last time a friend or family member recommended a movie or restaurant or hotel. That’s exactly what social proof is all about. Those kinds of testimonials are incredibly powerful, and that’s why experts recommend that businesses incorporate social proof into their business sales strategy.

With the growth of user generated content on the web, some say social proof is the most important form of sales content you can have on your sales website. Most large online retailers, from Amazon to eBay, use consumer reviews on their sites.

Some online retailers might be wary of this sales advice, thinking that the public is unpredictable and might write unfavorable reviews of their products. In fact, research has shown that most online reviews are 4 or 5 stars.

You can access far more expert sales advice about using social proof in your business sales strategy by watching this show right here on yourBusinessChannel.

How to improve your online sales conversions by 10% or more

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:17:00 +0000

TV is a powerful medium: last week, on Saturday 15th of November 2008 at 5pm on Channel 9, we featured Abbott Printers and the interview with Paul Abbott, and within an hour we had 42 sign-ups for our newsletter.

By the way, with Christmas just around the corner this might be good time to check out some of business Christmas cards at Abbott Printers.

Our show #3, filmed at Mawson Lakes,
is on TV on Saturday 6th of December 2008 on Channel 9 at 5pm, as the regular segment within the Felling Good program - don't miss it!

This week on Business TV

Ecommerce expert shows how to improve your online sales conversions by 10% or more.

Lori Richardson gives business networking advice: What YAMCTYK means for your sales.

See you at the Underdog Marketing Challenge lab!

Underdog Marketing Challenge is on TV!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:17:00 +0000

Yes, we're on TV for the whole season - 8 episodes!

Underdog Marketing now has a regular segment within the Felling Good program on Australian TV, Channel 9.

Filmed at Glenelg, Adelaide, the first episode was on Saturday, 8th of November 2008 at 4.30pm. If you missed the show on TV, watch it on-line.

The show dates/times are available on the Underdog Marketing home page. Over the weeks to come, we'll be giving away PR and marketing tips and featuring the members' businesses and the interviews with members.

Are you a member of the Underdog Marketing Challenge? If you are, there's a chance for you and your business to appear on TV!

It's quite an opportunity - last year 550,000 people saw the show.

Raiffeisen Bank and their terrorism charges

The last post was about the ridiculous terrorism charges by the Raiffeisen Bank. Raiffeisen Bank officials are aware of the case and by now they must know they've made a BIG mistake - but they have decided to remain silent.

It's a shame - when a huge international bank such as Raifeissen decides to drag your reputation through the mud for no reason, you'd think they'd start acting responsibly when they know they've been wrong.

The good news is, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs were able to confirm that none of the foreign sources checked have financial transactions freezing measures against Dr Alex Davidovic.

Also, to all the people who have expressed their support in their comments and the outrage that this could have happened - THANK YOU!

Hopefully the day will come for the Raiffeisen Bank to get its act together.

Crisis Management

This brings me to the next topic: crisis management. A crisis can strike at any time in a variety of forms and shapes and no businesses - or individuals - are immune.

Do you have a crisis communication plan in place? To find out how exposed is your business, we've set up a free on-line Crisis Assessment calculator. It only takes 5 minutes and it can help you avert a major business crisis -- just follow the link to crisis management

Brand Salience: How do Buyers Remember?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:41:00 +0000

Article by Terry Reeves, expert on salient marketing and mentor at the Underdog Marketing Challenge

In recent years a better understanding of how the mind, and in particular the memory works, has enabled marketing science to evolve considerably, particularly in understanding why people choose one brand over another or one business over another. For the last several decades business management thinking, business texts and many academics have centered on developing a sustainable competitive advantage, a point of difference from the competition for your business that is sustainable.

Although this strategy has been pivotal to success for many businesses in the past, with the ever increasing rate of change businesses face in the present business climate, and the ever increasing number of businesses (and therefore brands) the question must be asked “is this still the case today”? Can business growth or simply maintenance of market share still be achieved through the development of a sustainable competitive advantage? The answer is a resounding NO!

There is no doubt that most businesses have a point of difference from their competitors, but it is usually not sustainable, and not significant enough to be persuasive in the buying decision. In today’s market customers see brands and businesses as “look-a-likes”. The reality is that in today’s world there is absolutely nothing, except your brand, that a competitor cannot copy sooner or later, including staff, who they will simply poach if they have to.

To customers in your market every brand is simply a look alike because customers see very little difference in brands (businesses) that are in the same product or service category, be it fast moving customer goods such as coffee, soap powder, spring water, canned foods etc., durable goods such as cars or audiovisual equipment, or services such as real estate agents, trade contractors, hairdressers, insurance companies or accountants. This of course begs the question “how can my brand (my businesses’ name) be used to gain a competitive edge?”

It’s all to do with what is happening in the long-term memory of the customer during the buying decision. If your brand comes to mind first during the buying decision then chances are that the customer will buy your brand. Ah yes, I hear you say, this is simply the old “top of mind brand awareness”, and to a point it is, but brand salience is much more than this. But let’s focus on top of mind brand awareness for a moment.

Let’s say I’m in the market to purchase a new car and the most important “attribute” (feature if you like) to me in the buying decision is safety. What brand of car do you think would most likely come to mind straight away? Volvo of course. But whilst excellent safety features is an important attribute that I want in my new car, it is not the only one that I will consider in the buying decision, and besides, aren’t all cars now built to minimum safety requirements? I know the new Mitsubishi Lancer for example has eight air bags and other excellent safety features that compare very favorably with Volvo.

Further to this, the proportion of the market who would consider just one attribute such as safety features is very small (say 5%), so focusing marketing tactics on just one attribute means that the brand is essentially only remembered (in the buying decision) by 5% of the market. Volvo has of course now realized this and their advertising now promotes several attributes over the cyclical period of their promotional activities.

So most people, like me, will consider other attributes of a new car during the buying decision along with safety (and many will not consider safety is important at all). These might include nice styling, a good sound system, good fuel economy, engine size, handling characteristics, a GPS system as standard, rear DVD screens etc. As I consider all of the attributes that are important to me only one or two brands will dominate my thoughts and they will be the ones that have been relentlessly promoting these attributes (that are important to me) over a period of time prior to my purchasing decision. So chances are it will be one of these brands that I will ultimately purchase.

So, this being the case how can you ensure that your brand is one of those that I will think of during the buying decision? Simply by developing a higher “brand salience” than the competition.

The tendency of a brand to be thought of in a buying situation is known as “brand salience”. Brand salience is “the propensity for a brand to be noticed and/or thought of in buying situations” and the higher the brand salience the higher it’s market penetration and therefore its market share. Salience refers not to what customers think about brands but to which ones they think about.

Brands which come to mind on an unaided basis are likely to be the brands in a customer’s consideration set and thus have a higher probability of being purchased. Advertising weight and brand salience are cues to customers indicating which brands are popular, and customers have a tendency to buy popular brands. Also, an increase in the salience of one brand can actually inhibit recall of other brands, including brands that otherwise would be candidates for purchase.

It is widely acknowledged that buyer’s do not see their brand as being any different from other brands that are available. They buy a particular brand because they are more aware of it, not because it is more distinctive, or has a point of difference. We now know that all decisions made by humans involve memory processes to a greater or lesser extent. Incoming information from the external environment travels by the sensory memory into the short-term (or working) memory (STM) but if it is not acted upon in a very short time the brain simply discards it.

But salient information that is important and received on a regular basis through different channels is passed to the long-term memory (LTM) where it can be stored for many years. Memories are stored or filed via connections between new and existing memories in the different parts of the memory. They are laid down in a framework making some memories easier to access than others. Recall is the process by which an individual reconstructs the stimulus itself from memory, removed from the physicality’s of that reality.

Hence, cues such as product attributes aid in the recall of brands stored within it. Ever been listening to the radio and a favourite song you haven’t heard for years comes on taking you back to a different place and time? I bet you heard it many times over at that time. Same thing, its lodged in your long term memory!!

The more attributes your brand has in the mind of the customer the greater the number of brand recall triggers there are and the more likely it is that your brand will be thought of in the buying decision. But how do you know what attributes are important to your target market, and once you know this how do you develop the right marketing mix to ensure the maximum number of recall triggers in the collective minds of the target market?

It’s simple, you use a “Customer Value Survey” to discover these attributes, and then design a marketing mix to build your brand salience within your target market. This is cutting edge marketing science that will get you more clients and keep your business flourishing, it is innovative marketing for innovative businesses.

Note: Shaun, our underdog has been very busy working on branding his business (we're proud of his progress!) - and this time we bring you the article "Brand Salience: How do Buyers Remember?" by Shaun's mentor Terry Reeves, the Underdog Marketing Challenge salient marketing whiz.

Our members of the Underdog Marketing Challenge 12-step mentoring program have described the information they get from Terry as "an eye-opener", "mind-blowing - changed completely the way I look at marketing", "a turning point for my business" - so if you too find it valuable, sign up for the priority updates below.

This gives you access to ALL the articles, tools and resources, not just what you see on the blog.

What do your customers really want?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Fri, 23 May 2008 03:38:00 +0000

With the help of the Underdog Marketing Challenge team Shaun has completed the research analysis - which tells him precisely what is it his potential customers want and value.

Why is this step important? Because:

It allows you to meet the needs of your customers 110%
It helps you develop your marketing message to reflect your customers' values back to them, and
The analysis also tells you which keywords to use to have the best domain name for your website - a name that is short, relevant and easy to remember (in Shaun's case: GetFitEnjoyLife.com).

Next time we talk about brand salience and strategic marketing planning... stay tuned!

To all the people who signed up to follow this story - I hope that you've enjoyed your present, the website wizard software which generates great-looking websites instantly!

Shaun gets his business research underway - but a conflict develops!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr Alex) — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:03:00 +0000

With the help of the Underdog Marketing Challenge team Shaun gets his business research underway...

... and he puts his heart and soul in it! The idea is to find out exactly what his target market wants - and to use this information to develop:

The product/service - which meets the needs of his audience 110%, and
The marketing message - which reflects back to the market the values they seek!

Things are going well - but Shaun is finding it hard to stay focused, stay on track, and show up on time! He's late for the meeting, and next time he is a no-show.

For the first time there's a rift - and the conflict develops! Dr Alex goes ballistic (you gotta see this for yourself!), and Shaun retreats into the who-me? mode:

Next: We analyze Shaun's survey - so he can start developing the solutions his potential clients are looking for - but an unforeseen problem puts the Underdog Marketing Challenge in jeopardy!

Would you like to know the exact questions Shaun is asking in his survey? Get 8 fantastic tips on how to conduct your own market research? Be able to tell precisely what's important to YOUR market?

Get all the answers - sign up for the priority updates (top-left of the page) -it's FREE!