Here is your first tip: Forget Branding and Marketing Your Company Image.

Some say spending money on branding and imaging your business is the same as owning a boat. If you like standing in the shower getting wet while tearing up $100 notes branding is certainly for you. Not for this little black duck, thank you!

Most ordinary advertising has elements of branding because it is all about pretty pictures and involves copy cat marketing. In the corporate world glitz and pizzazz is rife! Unlike us small business owners they have the budget to waste, not to forget they have to feed those egos of all the new university marketing graduates providing their advice.

Take a look at your local yellow pages and you will see what I mean. Most yellow pages advertisements are nothing more than expensive, oversized, pleasant to see but telling the reader nothing to influence them to call the business.

Your business card is another example. Cards and ineffective printed matter can’t sell anything without having a strategy [more about this later]. For successful advertising there should be:

- an offer,
- a headline,
- testimonials
- a guarantee.

There has to be some motivation provided that compels the reader to respond to your message!

If you are wasting money on advertising that doesn’t work, stop it now! That’s your first step in moving your business into more profit. Most people I’ve come in contact with who sell advertising don’t know anything about effective advertising, sales letters or fliers that motivate the reader to respond. Only one kind of advertising will do that and it’s called: ‘Reaction Marketing’.

Reaction marketing is the #1 kind of marketing any small business should use. It’s measurable, accountable, gets your readers attention and motivates them to action. After all, that’s what we want, isn’t it?

To Get my FREE CD that reveals “How to Make any Business Bring in More Dollars, More Leads and Customers in any Economic Climate” Guaranteed! Simply go to: http://bit.ly/6secret

The reason you have to differentiate between the two is because it has a direct impact on the way you deliver your marketing message. For example, you don’t have to pay for an advertisement to market to your existing customers because you know where they are already!

Conversely, you can’t write your messages to people who haven’t bought from you because you don’t know who those customers are yet. That’s why advertising comes first so you can identify who your potential customers will be. Then the one-on-one relationship starts to sell those you do know.

Here’s where most business owners view it wrongly. They will chase new customers tirelessly and spend thousands over time to do it and yet ignore their existing customers.

TIP: Once you have a database of customers the very best, simplest and most effective form of marketing is with ‘reaction mail’ directly to them!

I hear you saying direct mail doesn’t work! You’ve tried it and didn’t get anything for your money. Most business owners never get good results because they either do it incorrectly or don’t create the ‘Reaction Element’ that is required to make it work better.

You can be assured if it hasn’t worked well for you, it is because you’re doing it the same way most others do it and you are making the same mistakes. The most common mistake business owners make is only sending a mail piece once.

Sending a once only mail piece is virtually a waste of time and money because you will only get about 30% of the money to be collected! Knowing this trick and sending more than one piece to the same list will instantly multiply the response!

TIP: The secret is to contact more than once!

The next key is to have a whole year planned with the marketing campaigns scheduled so a series of letters will be sent to them.
TIP: The amazing thing about this is that most business owners think that if a potential customer has said no to them once, they won’t say yes the second time around.

How do we solve that problem? We use a series of letters that asks for payment and we collect up to 95% of overdue monies from people who initially couldn’t or didn’t want to pay.
What is it worth to have a customer come back as a regular paying customer for a full year? Many small businesses that I help had no system in place to turn their once only customer into a regular customer. At best they may ask at the point of sale to buy another product but if the response is ‘no thanks’ that’s where it is left.

Don’t accept this half baked approach because it costs you dearly!

To Get my FREE CD that reveals “How to Make any Business Bring in More Dollars, More Leads and Customers in any Economic Climate” Guaranteed! Simply go to: http://bit.ly/6secret

TIP: Using reaction mail ensures new customers keep coming back.

Reaction mail can also be used for customers you haven’t seen for a long time. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made was ignoring this valuable source.

This is a WOW TIP: Your customer base is like your garden.
You plant the seeds, water, care for, nurture and fertilize. With the business, you nurture through special offers, customer incentives, birthday and thank you cards and other demonstrations of appreciation.

The fact is, businesses do lose customers. The terrible thing about that is most businesses don’t know why they left, worst still, some don’t know they have in fact left!! Stop doing that! It is not smart business.

Once you understand “the Lifetime Value of a Customer” [LVC] you will find that it may be a good strategy to make a loss on the initial incentive for a new customer to your business. To have a tool like this is very valuable and you can have access to mine [and others] if you want.

Knowing how to use the LVC tool will help you increase business. Just go to my website: http://www.howtogrowasmallbusiness.com scroll down about half way on the home page on the left to “free earning calculators” and you’ll have access to quite a number of powerful tools to monitor and manage your retail business.

What doesn’t make sense is to lose your customer after they have taken advantage of the initial offer and you haven’t had the skills to offer other services in order to keep them as a regular customer. It’s almost criminal to let those customers slip away.

TIP: If you want to spend less on gaining new customers, then you must lure some of your former customers back to your business.

To entice them back is simple. You have to write to them with a compelling offer with a follow up of three consecutive letters.
TIP: The first letter offer must be too good to refuse.
That’s a problem for most business owners. After all, you may not be a salesperson let alone someone who can put those selling skills into print. Even if you do have the skills, you have other priorities in running your business. No one actually enjoys sitting down at the keyboard and grinding out letters to customers.

YOU STILL NEED TO DO MORE:
1. You do need to advertise a little because you need new blood.
2. You also need to plug the leaks in your business where you are losing existing customers.
TIP: Don’t forget to always record names and addresses of every customer who has visited your business.

To Get my FREE CD that reveals “How to Make any Business Bring in More Dollars, More Leads and Customers in any Economic Climate” Guaranteed! Simply go to: http://bit.ly/6secret

They are:
1. Marketing
2. Product

Being good at your job is not good enough. Thousands of people are good at what they do. Even your competitors are doing well. So what! You maybe be saying to yourself, you wouldn’t have any customers if you weren’t good enough. Sure you may have some but how do you get double, triple and quadruple that number to really make a difference?

You simply have to be different, not necessarily better, in order to get more than your fair share of business.

Marketing is about re-packaging what you sell so it is perceived to be different and better than what your competition has. But to get this out in the market place I’ve had to tell as many people as I can about it. If you don’t do this, your customer will always go for the cheapest product. That’s human.

When a business person’s only intelligent reply to selling more is to price cut. I can’t help but think they deserve to starve. The sooner they get out of business or go broke the better because discounting is the death to businesses. The worst thing is that customers begin to expect it!

All is not lost though because there are things you can do to raise your prices and still outsell your competition:

TIP: Put a dollar value on your FREE product or service.

Build into the price of a paid service something you may be providing for free! Build up the free product by advertising it for a price. Then be prepared to give it away. The customer will then realise the value of a free gift. Remember something easily obtained is easily squandered so put a value on it with limits for its attainment.

TIP: Instead of calling your commonplace product or service a generic name like ‘dog food’ call it something that turns on the imagination, something your customers’ desire but don’t need!
An example of this is would be to call ordinary dog food, ‘Champ food’ the food that champion dogs love to eat! Are you still with me? I know we are still introducing more concepts that need to be done to be successful, but remember it’ll all be worth it. Here’s where it all starts to come together.

To Get my FREE CD that reveals “How to Make any Business Bring in More Dollars, More Leads and Customers in any Economic Climate” Guaranteed! Simply go to: http://bit.ly/6secret

1. The Headline
Never make your business name the most dominate part of your letter. Your business name means nothing to a customer except when it’s time to find the door to visit your business. So move your business name from the top of your letter and stick it at the bottom [so you can be found].
The headline has one job to do and that’s to gain the reader’s attention and create a desire to want to know more. The headline must state your biggest and most important benefit of your product or service to the reader! Optimally, if the headline was the only information you gave, it should motivate a person to seek you out.

2. The Offer
Remember an offer is not a discount in price. Build in the value. List everything you do, have or are providing and give it a retail value. It has to be something that the reader will say to themselves WOW! That sounds great! How can they do that? I want some of it! The offer is perceived as value for money and if it costs a little more than your competition so what! It’s not the price but what the price represents value for money.

3. Discounting is not an option.
A successful sales letter should make an offer that has massive perceived value but actually costs you little. Make sure that your customers feel that even though they’re receiving extras for free, it is of value. The only thing your customers are interested in is the value they perceive they are getting, not what it costs you to deliver!

4. Urgency
If you give away something put a ‘valid to’ date on it. When do you want your customers to call? Now or in ten years time. You have to create urgency, make a deadline and show that you are giving away something temporally for something in return. If this element of your marketing is missing, you will attract the freebie hunters who will only react to low prices and we don’t want them, do we?

5. Testimonials
If you don’t have anyone who will say a good word about you, you had better find someone soon! 80% of people buy based on the recommendation of others. If I asked you where most of your business came from, where would it be? Some of your business will be by word of mouth.
What is a referral if it’s not a verbal testimonial? Even referrals are personal marketing.

To Get my FREE CD that reveals “How to Make any Business Bring in More Dollars, More Leads and Customers in any Economic Climate” Guaranteed! Simply go to: http://bit.ly/6secret

The reason for that is your prospect is afraid! Afraid of making the wrong decision, making themselves look silly, not getting what they paid for and other reasons. So why not remove that risk and make it easy for them to come to you. In other words, take the risk on yourself. This is imperative. The Guarantee!
I’m sure you’ve been in the situation where you’ve been unsure of making a purchase. Is it good? Should I do it? Worse still, you’ve bought it and wondered if you should have bought it? This is the same process a new customer goes through every time they are asked to buy.

If you offer a guarantee, that feeling is lessened [not eliminated] in the mind of a customer. That’s why guarantees can be viewed with skepticism. You’ve heard the expression ‘oils ain’t oils’ well in my books, all ‘guarantees ain’t guarantees’.

TIP: If you don’t have a good guarantee, get one.

If you have a half-baked guarantee put some real protection into it for your customer. Remember the lifetime value of a customer so get them to buy your product and if it’s good, you’ll have them for life. Not a bad philosophy to have, right? A guarantee will turn most wary customers into purchasers. Your guarantee actually drives sales!

TIP: The benefit of a strong guarantee far outweighs the risk of having to deliver on it!

So how do you identify or more to the point, how does your customer identify a great, no risk guarantee? Let’s look at some different guarantees. The ‘Big Con’ guarantee looks something like this:

‘Money Back Guarantee’
Simply notify us 30 days prior to using your ‘dog food’. It must be unopened and in the same condition it was at the time of purchase for a full refund.

Fear is the only reason a business would use a conditional guarantee like this. They are fearful that they will have to process many returns due to faulty product or perhaps they have something to hide. This type of guarantee becomes completely worthless to you and in the minds of your potential customers. Your guarantee should be iron clad and risk free for the customer!

The ‘Totally Risk Free Guarantee’ looks something like this:
‘Totally Risk Free Guarantee’
Return it for any reason within 30 days and get your money back.

A genuine guarantee is nothing to be worried about because it makes your customers think twice before going to your competition.

To Get my FREE CD that reveals “How to Make any Business Bring in More Dollars, More Leads and Customers in any Economic Climate” Guaranteed! Simply go to: http://bit.ly/6secret

I used to think ideas were the greatest thing in the world after all it all begins with an idea doesn’t it? When I started on my journey to success [financial success], I made it a habit of getting a new idea every day and telling people about it.

I went on and on and on and this habit of getting Ideas almost destroyed me. A flood of Ideas were coming to me and in the process I became the most scattered person on the planet.

Completely unfocused I was caught in what I call the ‘business blindness’. The ‘business blindness’ is the entrepreneur’s curse. You have so many ideas and then you look back years later and you’ve accomplished next to nothing.

I wasted so much time and energy it was a load off mind when I realised what was happening. Ideas are neutral. They can be good or bad.

What raised me from failure to success wasn’t tons of ideas, it was discovering how to focus and concentrate. That isn’t easy.

I see so many people suffering from a lack of focus. They follow the ‘latest, greatest, gimmick’ and that’s where it stops. It doesn’t move. Like me you’re better then that. Much better.

Find something to focus on. Take one step at a time, remember an inch by inch is a chinch. You can do it if you try you know you can. Stop being busy and start being productive. You can do it.

The cure for the business blindness is to make a CONSCIOUS attempt to bring 1% more focus and concentration into your life daily.

There you have it I can feel you getting it you’re becoming a individual with laser like focus. I see you becoming an individual who can concentrate incredibly. Start now.

Yours in abundance

Dan

Here are some helpful tips: Be happy give a smile to everyone, tell your sons or father “You’re proud of them.” Tell your wife, mother or sister “I love you.” You can say to a colleague, “I believe in you” and always say to people who are close to you, “I appreciate you.”

COMMIT to encouraging at least ONE person in the next 24 hours and let me know what happens by leaving a comment below. If we look for the worst in people that’s easy but when we look for GOOD in others if we try we always find it too. Why do we do the things we do when we know the things we know? Because of our habits. When this becomes a HABIT in life, our happiness and success soars.

If you’re in, let us know in the comments below. The thousands of people reading this right now I believe in YOU all you have to do is believe in yourself.

Yours in abundance

Dan

Question:
What can I do quickly to generate business?
Answer:
Send out a text to your clients [presuming you have names and numbers of your customers]. The text should offer [example only adapt for your business services] “FREE gift worth $60 with every 30 min [your services] this wk only PLUS 1st 5 get a FREE $30 gift voucher for next visit”. When you get it to work schedule the same strategy for your expected down time. Planning something like that every single week is an even better strategy!

Question:
I read an article you recently wrote about closing techniques and I disagreed with the points you made. Today’s buyers have become much more sophisticated. They are so much more ‘aware’ of all the old selling ‘techniques’. Can you please clarify your position?
Answer:
Thanks for your comments they are appreciated and I couldn’t agree with your comments more. You certainly are right that today’s buyer has become much more sophisticated. They are so much more ‘aware’ of all the old selling ‘techniques’.
It’s really about joint problem solving and an eventual win/win situation - not about ‘how many closes’ can I remember. In this day and age there are many different views about selling methods. I find using a combination of all selling techniques adds value to the customer.
The consultative process means that the buyer will want to buy from you - you don’t do ’selling’. This is a common misconception. It comes down to ones definition of what selling is. Every day in life someone sells and another buys.
Example: What do you want for dinner John we have fish, eggs or sausages? You have to answer to make a decision. You just can’t stare and hope the other person picks up on what you want. If you ask in the appropriate manner you shouldn’t feel ‘beaten into submission’.
Alternatively, although hard closes are something to avoid and is generally associated with ‘Cold Calling’ or the ‘Peddler’ salesperson there are times when they can and should be implemented in the hands of a responsible person.
This is in the case of where a person is indecisive and finds it hard to make decisions. It can be used a lot in the role of caring parents. Often children or adolescents clearly don’t know what is good for them and they need help to make correct decisions.

Questions
I’ve tried everything to get more business. My prices are competitive even though I am in a very competitive market. Should I continue to lower my prices to beat the local competition?
Answer:
I’ve always been an advocate to definitely not lowering your prices to get more sales as your competitors may follow you down. That will destroy business profits for all concerned. Instead, offer something different. This is why smaller companies have the advantage over large business.
Here are a few suggestions that may make a difference:
1.Create a compelling customer offer (or a discount for double the purchase).
2.Make it easier for your customer to use your product. For example, if you are a travel agent offer to meet your customer’s airport taxes. Make it easier for them to decide to travel.
3.Start a marketing campaign. Pack it with the characteristics of your most profitable products and then place a few ads in the media for a “We’re making it easier” campaign.
What else can you offer your customers? This is the question all business owners need to be asking themselves every day.

Questions
We have relied on a large marketing budget to keep generating leads. The downturn means we have to cut back on costs which includes marketing. Do you have any suggestions on what I should cut back?
Answer:
Don’t cut your marketing budget. Increase it. Cut elsewhere to fund it. What you also need to do is change your marketing strategy one from lead generating to one that gets cash in the door. I’ve heard it said cash is king, but times have changed. Now cash is gold and marketing is cash! First focus on increasing the average spend of customers. Do this by selling add ons. You’ve heard it. “Do you want fries with that?” Try getting your customers to frequent more. It’s called repeat business. Encourage loyalty by getting a bigger spends from existing customers.
Ensure your staff are behind you and together declare war on the downturn. Teach staff to up sell and structure their product offerings accordingly. Sell in packages rather than single items.

Ask your staff what customers want? Design a package around that to get customers in the door with special offers.
Send an email campaign to customers reinforcing their value to your business and back that message up with a purchase linked reward.
Don’t panic or cut. Change your strategy and plan for a glut!

Question.
How do I get my phone to keep ringing?
Answer:
The short answer is to use reaction marketing. That’s using “Reasons Why” in your advertising and direct mail. If you did nothing else this year except spend your money on “Reason Why” reaction marketing you would end up with more customers than you can handle.
How does reaction marketing work as opposed to normal marketing?
What makes customers choose you over others?

You should not spend any money on advertising if you’re prone to blame the advertising medium for poor results without using reaction marketing techniques. All media has its place and is effective in its own right. There’s no such thing as bad media only poorly targeted and ineffective marketing. What kind of advertiser are you?

Take this test! Do you write compelling text that:
1. Gets attention immediately.
2. Creates interest and stirs emotion.
3. Explains why and tells a very interesting story that’s believable.
4. Offers an irresistible incentive to motivate the reader now.
5. Asks for a positive reaction and makes it easy for people to do it.
You should put all your marketing and advertising through these steps. The number one priority is to get attention. To do that it must be read first. Your advertising will not stimulate responses unless it is read and it won’t be read if it is not noticed. And it won’t be noticed unless it Gets People’s Attention! Success of any ad is in direct proportion to how well the headline gains attention. Are your advertising headlines standing out and exciting? Are you saying or doing anything different from anybody else?

A common mistake people make in marketing is taking the professional approach that attempts to appeal to people’s sensibilities. Logical advertising is dead advertising. Emotions are what motivate people to take notice and respond. If people aren’t beating down your doors and your phone isn’t ringing off the hook change what you’re doing and take up reaction marketing. If you want your phone to ring off the hook your advertising must include “Reasons Why” Advertising.

Question
How should I advertise, as a single product or a multiple package?
Answer
A “bundled package” is the way to go. A “bundled package” can refer to a specific selling package for sale once or sold over time, that offers your services (not usually products) anytime they want them for a limited amount of time. For this service they would pay an amount upfront.

You might run an extended selling package for 3 months and include in this package 4 services, 4 small products, 4 additional services and 4 bonuses. Total value may be $1,400 and you sell the special package for 1 payment of $1,000 (all figures are examples only).

Of course, you need to do your own maths and see what could work for you. If it’s a great offer then it could result in cash flow into the business quickly. It’s usually promoted to your existing client base. Although, with consideration and structure this can be sold to new customers as well.

Question:
I plan to send out an ‘under new ownership’ letter to all the current customers. What should it contain?
Answer:
Don’t just send out a new management letter as a notice. Whatever you send out, make sure the thing has a compelling OFFER to get them into your business even if it’s a FREE $10 gift voucher. It gets them in and gives you an opportunity to establish a relationship with them and sell them something.

Direct Mail has one purpose only and that’s to get your prospect or customer to buy or give you their name and address. In other words, do ANYTHING to get them into the business…. a New Management Introductory Free product Valued at X dollars, for example.

The real secret to direct mail campaigns is the follow up letters. Follow up with at least three letters designed to remind the reader of what they are missing out on.

Question:
I am about to do a voucher campaign for referrals which rewards the referrer. Should the vouchers have an expiry date?
Answer:
Referrals are a great way to reward those special clients who refer others to your business. The main idea here is to provide your customers with a number of gift vouchers that they can hand out to their friends. I would definitely include an expiry date on these vouchers.

Why? Because in all your marketing you want to create a sense of “urgency”. The expiry date encourages the recipient of the voucher to act now… not some time in the distant future.

Also a point to consider is this. If you put an expiry date on the voucher and it expired and the referrer wanted to redeem it, would you do it? I most definitely would to make the referrer feel extra special to show them that you value their efforts in referring business to you. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t put an expiry date on it. If I did I would make it at least 3 months and redeem it if that time period expires.

I’m sure there will be more to come so watch this space.