Client Magnets Official Blog

Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

 

Two business owners compete against one another in the same field.

Business Owner #1 has worked in his niche for 30 years; he has a massive list of contacts; his reputation is impeccable; his clients are among some of the most satisfied in the industry.  His expertise is unmatched.  Word of mouth has been a friend to his business, but his niche is very specialized, which means that his name doesn’t come up at many dinner parties.

Business Owner #2 is relatively new to the industry, also working in the same specialty niche.  She’s still in the process of building her contact list; her clients are largely satisfied, but the verbal buzz hasn’t elevated yet…she’s simply too new.

Which business owner do you think has realized the largest profit in the last 12 months?

Would you be surprised to learn that it’s Business Owner #2?

How could that be?

One word:  Marketing

Business Owner #2 invests whatever she can afford to lose in marketing campaigns, while Business Owner #1 simply can’t seem to get past the initial dollar amount of the marketing expenses, and so, simply doesn’t “get the word out”.

As a result, the first business remains steady, but stagnant.  The second soars.

Business Owner #2 possesses a Millionaire Mindset. Here’s what’s going on inside her head:

•    Marketing is an investment.  Even if one campaign costs $4,000 (which is a significant amount of money for her fledging business), she anticipates that just one resulting sale will pay for the ad.

•    She views the campaign as an investment in her most valuable commodity – herself.  Because she has completed the research and knows that there’s a noted demand for her product, she purchases each new ad with a faith that can only come from believing in herself and her business.  She thinks, I’m the best investment I’m ever going to make.

•    She never invests more than she can afford to lose.  Financially, she only invests what her business can survive without.  Emotionally, she only invests what she can lose and still hold on to a sense of hindsight without depression.

•    She doesn’t ruminate over the dollar amount of each marketing endeavor.  Rather, she concentrates on its potential return.  She understands that she’ll realize direct returns, as well as future, residual ones.

•    She knows that she’ll never reach millionaire status by pinching pennies.

•    She understands that by pulling out her cash and throwing it against the wall of cash that has become frozen in this, a stagnant, economy, she’s multiplying her chances of getting a return.  Unless she spends money, the wall of cash will remain rigid, eliminating a large portion of potential profit.

•    Though it was difficult for her to accept the idea of investment versus cost in the beginning, she becomes more willing to spend money with each profitable marketing campaign.  Because of this realization, she has committed to educate her clients about the benefits of marketing, which will contribute to the stimulation of the economy.

Investment and return will never be a chicken and egg debate.  Without investment, there can be no return.  The return will never come first…in fact, it simply won’t come at all.

If you want to find your own millionaire mindset, you must separate yourself from the competition’s aversion to marketing and getting your name out there.

You could spend your disposable income on a new car, or a summer home, or a vacation.  Or…you could invest that cash in an marketing campaign…so you can afford all three.

I’d love to share more about what it takes to Create A Successful Business That Works For YOUR Life, and makes a DIFFERENCE to others.   I’m running a FREE teleseminar series exactly on that topic.   Join me by registering here:   www.clientmagnets.com/successcalls

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When newspapers are laid out on stands or in vending machines, the part of the paper you normally see is the top. The headline. That part of the paper is considered the fold.

The paper is always folded over so that you see only the bit that’s above the fold. That’s where you see the attention-catching headline that makes you want to buy the newspaper.

This concept also applies to direct mail. It is actually a very important aspect of direct mail because the information that you most want people to see needs to appear at the top third of the paper. In this case, “above the fold” refers to the piece of a letter or a mailing that people read before they have unfolded it. You want that information to be compelling enough to make them want to unfold that paper and continue reading.

Keep this concept of “above the fold” in mind as you create and develop your squeeze pages, too.

On a webpage, “above the fold” basically refers to what people can see in their browser.

If someone has a huge monitor they will be able to see a big part of your webpage at one time. But more and more people use laptops and smaller devices with smaller screens, including Blackberries and phones, to view webpages.

This means that the area above the fold is getting smaller and smaller and smaller.

You need as much of the relevant information about your business as possible to appear above the fold. Your opt-in box – the specific box where people put in their name and their email address – should be right at the top of your page.

For example, if you are giving away a free CD or a free report, you should insert the opt-in box above the fold.

In the past, people would scroll down pages on a website looking for information, but it’s a fact that the attention span online is getting shorter and shorter. Fewer people scroll through pages anymore. If you click on a page and don’t immediately see what you’re looking for, how long would you stay on that page?

Everything relevant should appear at the top so people don’t need to scroll down.

Make certain that all of your most powerful and motivating information, your most compelling headline, your best bullet, your best offer, and your best call to action appear above the fold wherever possible. Catch people’s attention right away and make them want to buy what you’re offering.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

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Do you have excited, hungry prospects – knocking at your doors, just waiting to get a piece of what you have on offer?   Or does it feel more like your prospects are suffering from a touch of sluggishness, or a loss of appetite for your offerings?

Your prospects should be jumping at your product, and if they are not, it’s time to do some serious “tweaking” to your current marketing efforts.

Step 1:  Give Your Prospects A Reason To Buy

Let me ask you — Are you motivating your prospects enough, or in the right manner so that they want to buy what you’re offering? If your prospects aren’t acting, perhaps you’re not giving them enough compelling reasons to do so.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself (and answer them honestly) to discover new ways to motivate your prospects …

•    “How can I present my product or service differently?”

•    “How can I ask my prospects, in a new way, to change the way they operate, to do things differently?”

•    “What alternate forms of motivation can I explore?”

•    “How can I communicate the rewards differently?”

•    “How can I more clearly communicate the high cost of doing things the old way to my prospects?”

•    In short, “What do I need to do differently?”

Step 2 :  Get Clear About The End Reward

For the benefit of yourself and your prospects, it can be helpful to paint a mental picture of the end reward.  Often, prospects cannot be motivated to purchase unless they can gain a solid grasp of how their lives will change once your product or service is integrated.

Step 3 :  Challenge Negativity, Focus on the Positive

Often, our human nature dictates that when we come upon an obstacle, or obstacles, we tend to fall into dialogue that sounds like, “It’s hard,” “This is difficult,” or, “It’s impossible.”

Many times, conversation among professionals can further negative attitudes about obstacles.  If you’re hearing things like, “No one’s moving right now,” “Nobody takes professionals like us seriously,” or “They don’t know what they’re missing,” you run the risk of being pulled into that mindset.  And from that mindset springs prospect inactivity.

This phenomenon has been referred to as the “conspiracy of mediocrity,” and there’s really no better way to describe it.  After all, what better way for your competition to pilfer success than to convince you that your own hopes of success are unlikely to be realized.

When you encounter these attitudes, it can be helpful to remove yourself from the pervading negativity, and to instead focus on how you can make your company the one that’s breaking through that negativity.

Don’t allow yourself to be sucked into the conspiracy.  In order to reap rewards for you (and your clients), it’s imperative that you begin to challenge common beliefs that pervade the air of your particular niche.  Determine for yourself whether a principle is true or false.

If you want to motivate your prospects to buy, you must relieve them from the burden of listening to the same old song.  You must play a new tune, change the key, or even invent a new type of music.  If you take the time to really listen to what they’re asking for, and answer those needs, it won’t be long before they’re back on their feet, feeling better, and jumping on your bandwagon (which is, by the way, quite handy at steering around those pesky obstacles).

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

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So much about business today is about marketing. How do you connect with customers? How do you tell them about your products? How do get them to want to buy from you? Essentially the most important part of marketing is creating a profile that people want to associate with. Talks provide you with the perfect opportunity to raise your profile and connect with potential customers.

Your Event doesn’t need to be Big to be Effective

When people think about putting on an event they think they have to have an audience of 500 people. But even a training session to just 20 people can help you raise your profile. When you put on an event it provides you with a great opportunity to get the word out about your business and what you are doing. The marketing for the event puts your business in the spotlight. Traditionally 20% of the people you invite or target will attend your event.

Initially you may not think that this is a great result, but remember that the remaining 80% are still getting to hear about your business. You may not get their attention the first time around, but your next event may be something that interests them.  They are still being made aware of your business.

More Talks and Training Seminars can raise your Profile

If you start to put on regular talks about a variety of topics you will soon start to have a noticeable profile.  With regular events it doesn’t take long to build up the perception in the marketplace that you are an expert in your industry. When I started out I was giving talks about once a month. But then I sat down and strategized a bit and worked out that if I did more events in a month and focused all my energy on marketing those talks I could really boost my business. It was a big step but the result was a snowball effect. When I sent out an invitation that listed several seminar dates it immediately boosted my profile. People sat up and took notice. If I had so many events on a key area of expertise then I must be worth listening to. The more talks I did, the more people got to hear about me.

Talks create a Personal Connection with Customers

Hosting a special event, a training session or a live seminar gives people the opportunity to get to know you. That personal connection with potential clients shows them who is behind your business. This is especially valuable if you offer a consulting service or are in an industry where there is a high level of personal input. When clients know who you are and get to hear what you are about they will be more inclined to buy from you.

Why giving talks and hosting events is so effective in raising your profile

• Marketing an event provides a wider scope of exposure for your business. More people get to hear your business name and what you are doing.

• People may not respond to an invitation to your event but they still become more aware of your business and who you are.

• When you give talks on key areas of expertise you can become known as a leading authority in your field. This raises your profile significantly.

•  People who attend your talks and are impressed with the event are likely to tell co-workers, friends or business associates about you. In this way your business gains further exposure.

Talks are an excellent way to set your business up for success. Talks help you to establish a presence in an industry and raise your profile. By hosting events you can become known as an expert in a certain field. This then forms a solid platform from which you can launch other marketing efforts for your business.

Event Money Machine II Telesummit – It’s free, and 10 of the hottest names in marketing will join me to share with you their strategies, tools and advice for highly profitable events! http://www.eventmoneymachine.com

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If you are able to implement only one single marketing method for your business –  one valuable resource that can make the biggest difference in your business and your income – put out an email newsletter.

It won’t cost you a lot of money. It doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time. You don’t have to know all the technical aspects of it, so long as you’re willing to learn as you go along.  All you have to know is what you already know. Your business and your clients.

A newsletter is the most effective way to attract the attention of the clients you’re trying to reach.

To get started, follow this sage advice from Julia Cameron, an adviser to writers: “Don’t get it right, get it written.”

Aiming for perfection can be a major stumbling block in getting your newsletter done. Maybe you’re not up on the technology used to put out a newsletter. Don’t let that stand in your way. Don’t let the fact that you’re not a Pulitzer Prize writer stop you either.

Instead, concentrate on the people you’re writing the newsletter for and what they want to read.

The 80/20 rule is quite important here. Focus 80 percent of your attention on who you’re talking to and figuring out what they really want to read. Later, you can spend the other 20 percent of your time on the technical formatting and how to send the newsletter out to clients.

Ask …
There is one vitally important question to ask yourself when thinking about your newsletter: “Who am I writing for?” You’ll ponder long and hard about what you should write, but first you need to know who you’re writing for.

Next, you need to determine what your audience needs help with. Once you’ve answered both of these questions, deciding what you should write about will come quite naturally.

Write …
Now it’s time to just get started. Get your newsletter out of your head and onto a written page. Take some time to review your presentation, but don’t obsess about how it looks. It’s much better to have a plain newsletter with the right content than to have a beautifully formatted one that doesn’t speak to your readers.

Stay focused on what it’s saying to your audience.

Send …
If you spend a lot of time reworking and re-thinking your newsletter after you’ve written it, perfecting it and figuring out software, it’s going to take you a long time to send it out.

Once your newsletter is written, you need to get it into the hands of your audience – your potential clients are just a click away. You can only make a connection with them if you hit that “send” button.

That is when your subscriber list will grow. That’s how you’ll start receiving more feedback and know what your clients want from you.

If you do only one thing to start marketing your business this week, make it an email newsletter. It will make a huge difference to your business success!

Visit my event money machine blog site, where you’ll find articles with money making strategies that will help you make your next event everything you hoped it would be.

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What first catches your eye when you pick up a newspaper or magazine or when you pull up a website? My guess is that the big, bold letters printed across the top of the page first get your attention.

That is the primary purpose and goal of a headline – to grab the reader’s attention.

Creating headlines may take time, but it’s well worth your while to spend time getting your headline right. People won’t read the rest of your web page if they aren’t drawn in right from the beginning.

One way to accomplish this is to create a headline that declares a big, bold promise. Headlines are at their best when they reveal the relevance and benefits to the reader up front.

Make your biggest promise and state your best benefit right away, in your headline.

Be thrifty with the number of words in your headline. The fewer and the catchier, the better. While it’s easier to describe your offering in hundreds of words, people don’t have time or the attention to read more than a handful.

If headlines prove to be daunting for you, Headline Generator Pro is a program that can generate a variety of suggested headlines for your promotion very quickly. Based on your answers to four simple questions, it creates headlines using tested and proven headline structures. You may not like some of them, but others are real gems.

Major companies pay big money to marketing experts for catch words and phrases that will make people stop and take notice. This program will cost you a lot less and save you valuable time.

When you construct your headline, include a pre-head and a subhead. The pre-head is the line right at the top of the page that flags those people you are targeting. This line needs to be really relevant to your target audience. For example, “Attention: Trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, and therapists.”

You can also use terms that describe what your target market is currently experiencing in your prehead: “Attention: Frazzled, overworked working moms.” “Attention: 50-somethings who are going through a life change.”

The sub-head is a mini headline that comes after the main headline. It enables you to elaborate a bit more on the headline. Use the subhead to add in some extra information about your offering and establish your credibility

Your subhead should follow naturally from the headline, keep people reading, and lead them into the body of your squeeze page.

Take the time to create compelling headlines. Pay attention to what you say and how you say it in your headlines so that you will get your visitor’s attention. Once you have their attention, you can present the finer details of your offer. The more they read, the more they’ll want to be involved with you.

Bernadette Doyle created Client Magnets to help self-employed people solve one of their biggest business problems: attract a steady stream of clients www.clientmagnets.com.

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Ask yourself the question: What is the difference between those people who have achieved great levels of success and people who get only average results? Quite often it comes down to determination and a willingness to put in everything they have and more in order to achieve their goals. Successful people keep going when unsuccessful people give up or stop putting in the effort. It is all well and good to have big dreams and set expansive goals, but are you willing to personally invest the time effort and money it will take to achieve those goals?

No great dream, goal or strategy ever fulfils itself on its own. They are certainly important elements of success but they need to be backed up by an investment on your part.  To get from where you are now, to where you want to be in terms of your goals there is going to be a cost. It is going to cost you time. It is going to cost you effort. And it is going to cost you money. It may also cost you emotionally. Achieving your goals may require you to face your fears and take risks that you haven’t taken before.

Some people say that you must first look at your financial commitments and cash flow and then decide if you want to invest in something. But it doesn’t always work that way, sometimes it is the other way around. As an example there was once a seminar that I wanted to attend. It was about how to create high priced programs and I knew that I needed insight on that strategy for my business. The problem was that the price tag of the seminar would empty out my bank balance. It would take every last cent that I had to be able to attend the seminar. That was a big risk, but I decided to take it anyway, it would be worth it. When I arrived there I even had to take the metro from the airport because I couldn’t afford a cab. Today that investment has paid off more than tenfold but at the time I didn’t know that. I just knew that I was willing to invest in the seminar.

Keys to Remember in Terms of Investing in your Goals

• There will always be a cost to achieving success. That is why it is important to have goals that you are passionate about, it makes weighing up the costs less daunting.

• You can’t always calculate all the costs in advance. Sometimes an opportunity will present itself and you need to be able to make a quick decision as to whether it will be something worth investing in.

• Listen to your gut. If you believe that investing in something will help you to achieve your goals, make the sacrifices needed and take the opportunity. It is rare that you will regret it.

• Be willing to go the extra mile and to keep investing in your strategies and goals. If you continue when others are giving up there is a far greater chance of you achieving the success that you dream of.

No road to success is a smooth path. There will always be challenges, set backs and obstacles. Some can be foreseen and calculated but others can appear from nowhere. In the same way often opportunities pop up sooner than expected and it stretches your resources to be able to take advantage of them. Be willing to invest in whatever it takes and you may find yourself on the road to success sooner than you expect.

Bernadette Doyle created Client Magnets to help self-employed people solve one of their biggest business problems: attract a steady stream of clients.  Register FREE for instant access to her teleseminar series on How to Get New Clients.

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Income streams are essential to building a high six- or seven-figure income. Ultimately, to be that successful, you not only need to determine your income streams, but also the order in which you should do them.

One thing you shouldn’t do is trade your time for money. Even if you charge significant sums of money in exchange for your time, this type of revenue isn’t a steady stream. It doesn’t flow into your business without your physical presence to guide and propel it.

The bulk of your income needs to come from leveraging products, programs, events and other more passive types of income.

My own million-dollar plus business relies on no more than five income streams. I like to keep things simple, and these income streams do the trick.  Here are some tips to help you implement your income streams.

Get really good at planning.

Plan at least one year in advance. Look for the two, three or four projects that will yield the big income – the projects that will take you easily to your income goal and beyond.

Determine which projects you’re going to work on during each quarter, rather than month by month.  You may find that you will be working on only three or four big projects across the entire year, but they will be BIG projects, with big revenue.

Connecting those projects so that one leads naturally to the other will also help to maximize your revenues.

By planning, you’ll know precisely where the revenue will come from, how much you’ll earn from each project, and where to focus your time.

Determine which income streams to implement.

Start by creating a product that requires no fulfillment from you. This cannot be a predominantly time-based product. The idea is to offer a product or program on your website. When the order comes in, the fulfillment house – the company that ships the product – fulfills the order without any further input from you.

Offer a Rolls-Royce program. Designed for your top tier of customers, this program is that extra-something-special that elite clients crave. It’s set at a much higher price point, but they’re willing to invest because of your credibility and the value you bring to the table. It’s never too soon to offer your Rolls-Royce program; in fact, I encourage you to start at the top and actually create that program first.

Offer a continuity, or subscription or membership program. This concept turns a one-time sale into recurring monthly income because people are automatically billed once they sign up for the product or program the first time.  This is actually one of the criteria big companies use to evaluate products sold on infomercials – there needs to be an ongoing element of continuity.

Big paydays are another essential income stream. Plan your year around periodic big paydays, such as live events, teleseminars and talks, which will bring in huge windfalls of cash to boost your income significantly.

If you’re hesitant about these big paydays, allow me to inspire you: my first three-day event, with all the income streams that came from it, was worth more than $375,000. You need to implement all of your income streams so that you make money in many different ways from a single event.   And if you’re looking for more inspiration – be sure to register for the Event Money Machine – it’s your last change to register for my very first telesummit!

Once you determine and implement your income streams, the experience will amaze you. There is nothing quite like that flood of income that comes in on a consistent basis.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

If you’d like to know more about making money with your events, register for her free Event Money Machine Telesummit.

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Why spend unnecessary time and energy marketing your product or event? A strategically designed marketing system can do most of the work for you. Got a killer product or event? Have a genius sales letter guaranteed to convert? It doesn’t matter. Without a good marketing system in place, you’ll have a hard time selling, period. Don’t automatically blame your sales letter if your product or event isn’t selling. Instead, spend some time evaluating your marketing system and make sure you’re reaching your prospects.

Map Out Your Marketing System
At one time, my clients asked me a lot of questions that signaled they needed help creating a marketing system. Mapping out your marketing system is a quick tool to help you evaluate and supplement it, and it’s a step that absolutely warrants attention. Visually mapping out your marketing system can help you understand its flow and determine its effectiveness.

Your marketing system should start with a squeeze page, which then directs people to your online sales page and marketing materials. On either side of that, map out your online and offline marketing avenues. Did you list plenty of avenues, or is one area deficient in marketing opportunities? You may need to add marketing channels to better reach your target audience.

Use a Squeeze Page to Capture Information
One of the most important components of your marketing system is your squeeze page. Your squeeze page is where you capture your prospects’ information before you send them along to your online sales information. By capturing information, you have an avenue to reach out and follow up with your prospects. You can also use a squeeze page to evaluate how many people have viewed your sales letter, and to calculate the conversion rate of your marketing materials.

Create Well-Crafted Materials
A good marketing system is useless without the right marketing materials. You need a comprehensive online sales letter so people can find all of the information they want about your product or event. If people are unable to find information and are forced to call you, they’re less likely to buy your product or register for your event. By making it all available online, you’re removing a barrier to sales and making it even easier for people to take action.

Follow Up with Your Prospects
Once you have everything in place, it’s vital to follow up with your prospects. You can triple your conversion rate – or even improve it by 10 times as many conversions – by following up appropriately with your prospects. People almost never make a decision about something the first time they read a sales letter. They might wait for days or weeks before they’re ready to make a decision, based on things that are going on in their lives or how much commitment your product or event requires.

The best way to ensure they take action is by following up periodically. Remind people that they need to take action. Don’t contact them too frequently, but a gentle nudge every few days can make a huge difference in your conversion rates.

Evaluate Your Marketing System
Once you’ve mapped out your marketing system, evaluate it. Are any areas of your marketing system lacking? Do you need to add a squeeze page, improve your sales letter or follow up with your prospects more frequently? The best products and events in the world won’t sell themselves. With the right marketing system in place, though, you’re a huge step closer to realizing your success!

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

If you’d like to know more about making money with your events, register for her free Event Money Machine Telesummit.

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You know that creating products is a superb way for you to earn more revenue from your business. You may even have a good idea of what your product will offer and how you will present it.

But, you may have one particular problem that’s holding you back from getting that product to your clients. Maybe you feel that you just don’t have the time to create it.

You can’t magically create more time for yourself. Like the rest of the world, you have 24 hours in your day. You really don’t need more hours so much as you need a solid plan for getting your product done.   Let me share my formula for creating quality products the quickest way possible …

1.  Set a Date

The very first thing you need to do is set a date. Have a date that your products are going to be launched. There is nothing like giving yourself a deadline to get you moving.

2.  Get Paid To Create Your Products

Think about ways that you could get paid to create your products. If you did a live event, such as a workshop for example, you could record it, and use that recording to sell as your product. In that sense, you are getting paid to create your product.

I get paid to create my products when people pay to attend my workshops, and afterwards, the sales come in from the DVD recordings of that product.

If you don’t want to have a workshop, consider doing a teleseminar instead. A client in my mentoring group has just put together her own teleseminar series which she did once live, and is now selling as a boxed product. She has done the work once. She got paid to do the work, to create the product. And now, she’s going to be selling it over and over and over and over.

3.  Promote a Pre-Launch Offer

You might also consider doing a pre-launch offer. This is a tip I got from Michael Port.   He knew the only way he was going to get his first product done was to do a pre-launch offer. He emailed his list with a special offer for the audio he was putting together. “It will sell for $79, but if you order it now, you can have it for $59.”

He received a whole bunch of orders which lit a fire under him. He now had people who had paid him money and were waiting for this product to be released. He knew he had to get it done!

That knowledge made it easier for him to block out other things that might have generated revenue and focus on one single produce, since he knew the money was there. He had already been paid to create that product.

One of the challenges in getting a product finished – particularly your first product – is that it’s so easy to keep tweaking, refining and improving. You’re not earning any money whatsoever by doing that.

4.  Get Past Perfectionism

Remember that good is good enough. Just make sure that you’ve included all the elements that someone is going to need in your product. If they use it, and follow the advice that you’re telling them to follow in your product, they will get the results that you promised. Get past perfectionism. Good is good enough.

You are never going to have that two-week window that you think you need to get your products done. You’ve actually got to decide to get your product created in spite of your lack of time.

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