Client Magnets Official Blog

Posts Tagged ‘sales strategy’

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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The thank you page is one of the most overlooked places of real estate on the web.

That quote, from one of my mentors, Yanik Silver, speaks volumes. There is so much opportunity to promote more business and further your relationship with a new client on your thank-you page.

That client has just indicated that they trust you by opting in to your offer. Signing up to your list is a sign that they want to hear more from you.   Don’t let them leave wanting; offer them even more before they click off your thank-you page.

When developing your thank you page, think about what you can do to increase your client’s involvement. Marketing research has shown that the more people are involved, the more likely they are to buy – again.

That’s one reason companies hand out scratch-off cards with prizes or discounts hidden beneath the ink. It’s called an involvement device. When someone physically has to do something, it increases their involvement, which increases response and increases conversion.

The content on your thank you page needs to be relevant to your target market. Think about what you want them to do next, where you want them redirected to, and if there’s an opportunity to make them another offer.

There are several key ways you can accomplish this.

•    Make another offer. While letting the client know you’re glad they signed up, also let them know about another offering. Make a special offer. Offer a special prize or a special bonus that new clients will receive, but only if they sign up there and then.   Remember to use language that encourages action.  For example, “This is the only time you will see this offer. It’s for new subscribers only and you won’t have access to it again.”

•    Ask for more information. Once a new prospect joins your list, ask them to describe their biggest problem. You can then direct them to other offers you may have to help with the problem, or develop that new offering if you don’t have one.

•     Create a “tell a friend” campaign. Invite people to tell three friends about your offering in exchange for a special bonus. “Congratulations. Your place on the call is reserved. But just before we continue I would like to offer you this free gift……..”

Everyone who opts in helps you spread the word to other people. This will make a massive difference to your opt-ins and really help to increase your list. You can automate this process using Viral Friend Generator software.

When saying “thank you”, the key is to include only one of these options on your page. Either attempt an additional sale by making another offer, ask new clients for more information, or create a tell-a-friend page.

Any one of these options added to your thank-you page will start increasing your sales immediately.

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

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Do you know what the most valuable page on your website is?

It’s not your “About Me” page. It’s not your “Testimonials” page.

It is the page where people give you their contact information and purchase your products or programs. That is the goal of your business.

To achieve that goal, you need to get people to opt-in. Nothing else can happen until they do this.  That is why the design of the page where they opt-in – your squeeze page – is so important.

Getting your prospects to hand over their contact info isn’t always easy, but if you focus on your squeeze page set-up, you will successfully obtain client information, build your list and make sales.  Use my tips below to maximize the effectiveness of your squeeze page.  These strategies work!

•    Make your homepage a squeeze page

To get maximum results, make your squeeze page your homepage. This will lead to a significant increase in your opt-ins and in your list.

•    Model successful squeeze pages

To get ideas for your new home page, model other successful squeeze pages. Look at other people’s pages with new eyes. Emulate the elements that make them successful while using your own unique copy that speaks to your own target audience.

•    The important information should appear within the browser window

The pages that are most attractive give the most important information at the top, without having to scroll down. Everything your visitors need to see should appear within the browser window in front of them. Don’t make them have to “lift a finger” to find the best of what you have to offer.

•    Use headlines and bullets to present your message

Announce your best information in the area that most people notice first – the headline. Develop a headline that will grab your visitors’ interest and get them to stay online to hear the rest of your message. Use a prehead and a subhead to deliver your best copy.

Successful pages don’t include one long paragraph of copy after another. A successful squeeze page presents its best content as great mini headlines in a bulleted format.

•    Make big, bold promises

Use numbers within your bullet headlines. State that you’re going to solve problems. Make big promises in your bullets. You’ve done the research, campaigns and surveys to determine what your target audience wants, now highlight that information in your bullets.

•    Make a personal connection

Your target audience want to know who you are.   Don’t keep your personality a secret. Make your squeeze page personal. People buy people. Although we’re all speaking virtually, on Twitter and on teleseminars, people want the personal human connection.

They want to know you. They want to see the person behind the site. At the very least, include a photograph of yourself. Add audio and video to increase the personalization.

•    Use a thank you page

Don’t lose that personal touch once your visitor has opted in on your squeeze page. Your thank-you page is a great place to further your relationship and offer your new client even more. You could make another sale just by asking for it on your thank-you page.

•    Remove Navigation Bar and Banner

There are a couple of web page staples that should not appear on a successful squeeze page. These items do nothing to help you get people to opt-in. So, strip out the navigation bar and ditch your banner. They should not be on your squeeze page.

•    Test, measure and improve your conversation rates

Make sure you test and measure your conversion rate on your squeeze page. Find out how many visitors are actually buying into your offer. Regularly measuring your conversion rates will tell you what’s working and what isn’t on your page.

When you apply at least one of these tips, and you will see an improvement in your conversion.

Make a checklist and work through it. Improve your squeeze page one component at a time and you’ll be in a much stronger position – I promise!

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

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Marketing Mastermind Call:

Boost Your Speaking Sales with “The Invisible Close”

Tuesday, 27th July, 2010

8:00pm UK Time (3pm EASTERN, 12 noon PACIFIC)

It’s a disservice to let interested consumers walk away without securing the benefit of your fabulous products or services. They came to buy from you. Give them what they need to say “YES!”

Join me and my guest Lisa Sasevich, the “The Queen of Sales Conversion, for this action-packed call where we will be covering…

• Exponentially grow your platform sales using Irresistible Offers

• Get massive results without being “salesy”

• Maximize your profits with no marketing budget!

• Simple, no-cost things you can do to instantly double or triple your sales conversion.

• The secrets to inspiring someone to act now…without being pushy or “salesy”!

• How to craft your “Irresistible Offer” to support Big Sales and your Big Life!

• And most important, how to share the wealth of your wonderful and unique talents and receive wealth in return!

This call is FREE for my hundreds of Marketing Mastermind and Stepping UP! members. They also get the CD and transcript of this call at no extra charge, plus a tonne of other member benefits – such as access to our online members forum.

Not a member?  Then click here to join the Marketing Mastermind Group today so you can take advantage of this call and all the other member goodies each and every month.

I look forward to “meeting” you on our call.

Best Wishes
Bernadette Doyle
www.clientmagnets.com

PS – Even if you can’t make the call, all Mastermind members receive a FREE CD of the call as well as a digital version of the audio and transcript! Take advantage now.

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Looking for an opportunity to shine from the depths of the direct mail slush pile?

Though it might sound a bit cliché, everyone, even those of you who feel encumbered by a limited budget or a relatively small business volume, can do that.  Whether you’re sending out 10 pieces of mail per week, or 1,000 pieces, you can not only entice people to open your mail, but you can keep their attention with a creative, lumpy insert.

Maybe you have, at times, felt intimidated by the “big boys” – the companies who have thousands or millions of dollars to spend on direct mailing.  But, despite what you might have come to believe about these huge corporations, you actually have an advantage over them for creative direct mailing.  If you have an inventive idea for lumpy mail, you don’t have to sit in countless meetings with marketing committees, pitching your idea, enduring criticism, and perhaps, ultimately, having your idea shot down.  You are your final decision maker.

When you’re creative with your lump mail insert, you can spur your recipients to action.  Here are few examples to stimulate your imagination:

• If you’re intent on helping companies and individuals to find their own hidden treasures, you might consider including an old-fashioned scrolled treasure map with your promotional letter.

• If you consider a message to be of the utmost importance, you might want to stuff it into a bottle before mailing it.

• If you’re hoping to entice inactive customers to fall back in love with your company, you might insert a boomerang with a message like, “Boomerangs always come back, don’t they?”

• If your company has a mascot, you can have a lovable likeness of him or her reproduced as a lump.

• If your company helps people to find resources, for instance, you might want to include an ornamental needle-in-a-haystack.

• A complete comprehensive service might be accompanied by a small, silver platter and the statement, “I’ll give you everything you need for start-up on a silver platter.”

• Fortune cookies can be purchased, complete with customized messages inside, that deal specifically with your purpose or promotion.

If you’re stumped for lump ideas, there are resources that can help.  Two examples are www.LumpyMail.com and www.ImpactProductsMarketing.com.  There, you’ll find lots of creative ideas for lumps.  Maybe you want to announce a promotion, invite inactive customers back to the fold, broadcast an upcoming campaign, publicize a grand opening, or announce a new product or service.

Simply using bulk to create a piece of lumpy mail will, indeed, prompt people to open the envelope, but if you want to stay with them for longer than it takes to empty your promotional pen of ink, or to use that pad of custom sticky notes, you’ll want to put some innovative thought into your lumpy insert.

Make your mail memorable with creative lumps…because when your lump is specific to your purpose, and unlike any other lump, it deems you memorable, worthy of the call or the click, and the investment.

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

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Have you drawn the attention of potential clients? Are you giving off positive vibrations and getting plenty of hits on your web page?

Do you feel that you are doing everything right marketing-wise, but you’re still not closing the sale?  Are you blaming your business circumstances on the economy?

While this is a more difficult economy to operate in than it was a few years ago, and people are more prudent with how they’re spending their money, the economy has absolutely nothing to do with your ability to close the sale.

I recently compared notes with some of my internet marketing buddies. The general consensus was that up until last year, most of us had done quite well because we were getting the low hanging fruit. We were achieving our goals and earning revenue that was easily attainable and didn’t require a great deal of effort.

But last year, most of us had to go a little further, work a little harder and dig a little deeper to get the results. My business grew, as did the businesses of most of my mastermind colleagues.  We would not allow our businesses to be affected by what people were saying about the economy.

Nor should you. Your ability to close a sale has more to do with the effectiveness of your presentation than it does with the state of the economy.

If you’ve got the desire, the proper mindset, and the ability to communicate the need for your offering, the clients are out there.  And, they will buy.

If a customer has a need for your product or service, and the means to pay for it, whether or not you close that sale depends on how well you communicate why they need to buy it.

Have a good listen to what you’re saying to your potential customers. Make certain that you are giving an effective presentation and not backing off on any of your selling points.

Give customers all the information they need. Explain exactly how your product or service will deliver the results they want.

This may require you to explain your offering in a little more detail. Give clients as much of the finer points they need to make it just seem logical for them to make the purchase.

Once you get them to understand why, that sale is an automatic close.

If you have something a person needs, and they have the means to pay for it, you have every reason on earth to believe that you can close that sale.

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

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

One-time Webinar

How To Deliver Your Expertise Online And Get More Clients

Wednesday, 30th June, 2010
8.30pm GMT/ 3.30pm EST

You can have FREE access to a one-time webinar with myself and one of my VIP students, Nicola Bird. If you’re a coach, consultant or trainer you need to be on this webinar.   Nicola Bird will reveal how she used JigsawBox to generate an income stream of over $24,000 of revenue in one month.

Here’s some of what we are going to cover …

• The number one reason your business model means you’re not getting as many clients as you should be (HINT: 95% of solopreneurs are making this exact mistake!)

• The four reasons why YOUR COMPETITORS will soon be delivering their expertise online

• How to SAVE TIME AND MAKE MORE MONEY by creating ONE set of content and using this as the foundation of your business

• How to use JigsawBox as a perfect platform for upselling HIGH-VALUE COACHING and CONSULTING

• How JigsawBox can help you deliver your expertise online EASILY, even if you’re a complete technophobe!

• The ONE THING you must do with your JigsawBox to START ATTRACTING CLIENTS quickly

Click here to claim your VIP invitation

Best Wishes
Bernadette Doyle
www.clientmagnets.com

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What is your definition of opportunity?

Imagine that it’s a typical week for your website – the one that you have planned, designed, to which you have driven traffic, and through which you have made booking and registrations possible. Let’s assume that during a given week, 100 visitors cross into the realm of your site; 2 of them make the decision to purchase; however 98 of them leave without investing in your product.

What number captures your attention in the above example? Is it the 2 buyers? Will you wait for another 2 buyers next week? Will you count on luck, or “spray and pray” to deliver a sprinkling of voluntary customers next month, and next year?

Or, do you view the 98 departees as 98 new opportunities for sales?

In truth, your best profit potential lies in the 98 visitors who chose not to buy. If you plan well, after they leave, you will have 98 names and addresses that can lead to potential sales. All you need to do is have a plan for following them up. Just think – if you can get even 2 of those 98 to say “yes,” you have converted a larger percentage than you did with your sales page alone.

Here are some points to show why you should be following up:

• When you follow up with website visitors, you are targeting prospects who have already expressed an interest in your product. They clicked, which means, at the very least, that they are curious. For my regular readers, you know that this means you have gathered an audience of people with “raised hands.”

• Targeted follow-up correspondence answers questions that many of your visitors are not willing to ask (and many people have the same types of questions). Every time you answer a question, you take the opportunity to dispel an objection or a fear.

• Follow-up breeds interaction, which begs conversation. Think of your follow-up e-mails, postcards, and teleseminars as ice-breakers in a conversation that everyone wants to have, but no one knows how to broach.

• Marketing research doesn’t lie. It tells us that more follow-ups equal more conversions. Stay relevant in the minds of your prospects, and you’ll be the first person they turn to when a problem arises.

• Follow-up is a circular phenomenon. It gives you the information you need to devise better methods of follow-up. When questions are posed, and objections voiced, you are given valuable insight into the minds of prospective clients. With this information, you can plant more seeds and dispel more fears.

• Follow-up contact is an invaluable vehicle for conveying the idea of urgency. If a conference is set to take place 6 months from now, people will put off registration. But, if you can communicate a special offer through follow-up correspondence, you will light the fire to sign up. Often, discount deadlines and space limitations work well.

To increase conversions and increase your sales, it’s absolutely necessary you follow-up with all your prospects – even the prospects that don’t buy from you. You cannot follow up too often – you just need to vary your medium to keep your prospect engaged.

Don’t hesitate to use the invaluable follow-up for attracting and retaining clients. Leading prospects to your door is never enough – you must give them the incentives to revisit, and to invest.

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

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Consider your role as a consumer. When you’re shopping, do you look at the products first, or the price tag first?

If you looked at the price tag first,
retailers would pick up on that and simply offer a collection of price stickers inside the front door. You would choose what you could afford, and then the actual product would be a surprise – possibly an unpleasant one.

You don’t shop that way, and neither do the people that you have identified as your perfect clients.

Prospects want to know your prices, but unless your prices are preceded by the benefits that you’re offering, consumers will have nothing to gauge those prices against.

Follow these four steps to eliminate your fears in revealing your price. Gain the confidence you need to make the most out of your requests for cash:

1. Present what you’re offering. Answer the timeless questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Keep it simple. If you make it too complicated, those raised hands might start to return to laps.

2. Summarize the benefits. Because you’re offering specific solutions to specific problems, this step should turn on light bulbs in your prospects’ minds. This is the step in which you convince them that you are their answer.

3. Introduce the price. By now, your listeners or readers are absorbed in what you’re offering. The benefits are foremost in their minds, as is the question of price. Reveal your pricing while the question is still in their minds; and before it reaches their lips. Perfect placement of price revelation makes it comfortable for you and acceptable to your audience.

4. Map out a direct route for the money. Make it crystal clear how easy it will be to sign up, jump on, or join in on your program. Prospects should leave your teleseminar, your sales page, or your conference without any questions about how to participate. Or, better yet, they should leave already having signed on. Make it possible for them to sign up immediately. Make it easy for them to do so.

When your appeal is placed correctly, while all of the most fantastic points of your product or service are fresh in the minds of your audience, you will not only feel more confident in asking for money, but your prospects will have more confidence in their spending.

After you identify your sea of raised hands (those people whose problems you can solve, and whose interests you have piqued), you’ll need to devise an effective method for telling them how much cash they will need to jump onboard.

The steps I’ve outlined here make up an excellent plan for starting to ask for money. As you proceed, you will learn to tweak your own presentation to meet the needs of the people in your particular niche. You will learn to identify the exact moment in time when they are most receptive to pricing, and when your presentation best complements that revelation.

When considering how to properly sandwich your asking for money in your presentation, consider your own shopping habits. You see the product. You consider how it could benefit your life. You look at the price tag. You proceed to the check-out. You leave the store with the satisfaction of knowing that you fashioned your own shopping experience.

Give your prospects that luxury. Take the time to learn about what price placement gets the most lucrative results for your business. You’ll soon discover that timing is everything – especially when it equates to money on your pocket.

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

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Once your teleseminar is over, the income stops, right?  Wrong.

Whether you’ve chosen to conduct a free or paid teleseminar, it’s only the beginning of your earning potential.  One of the things you can do to keep the money rolling in is to have your teleseminar transformed into a product to sell.

Maybe your participants want to see what they’ve just heard, in writing.  Or, maybe the teleseminar wasn’t conducted at a time that was convenient for them, but they’d still like to learn about your topic.  Or, maybe they’re anxious to share what they’ve heard with their friends, in concrete form.

If you choose not to offer a transcript of your teleseminar, there’s no telling how much profit you could be losing.  Here are some guidance points for creating a transcript, and drumming up additional cash flow:

• Create a sales page for your transcript. Your teleseminar’s registration page’s text can serve as a basis for this.  You’ll simply need to add some graphics and fulfillments.  A standard webpage will never sell a transcript.  You’ll need real sales language…the kind you used to fill your teleseminar.

• Record your teleseminar. You can request that this be done through your phone service provider, who can send you an MP3 recording afterward, or you can purchase a recording device (like an Olympus WS-100) to record it on your own.  Then hire a transcriber to put it into writing.

• Hire someone to edit the transcribed text, so that it more closely resembles an article, with headings and sections, so that readers can easily access the information and sections that they’re most interested in.  Typically, transcriptionists will type text that runs on and on, from one subject to the next.  Segmenting the information, and removing conversational elements, will make the document more reader-friendly.

• Hire a graphic designer to design a document cover for the transcript. This image can also be used in the sales letter.

• Decide if you’d like to offer digital transcripts on PDFs, or if you’d like to ship out hard copies.  Whatever your preference, hire someone to handle distribution (like 1ShoppingCart for instant, digital copies, or a company that specializes in creating on-demand hard copies, as orders come in).

• If you’re planning to distribute paper copies of the transcript, don’t sink a boatload of money into stocking shelves with copies waiting to be sold. It’s more cost-effective to have copies created on-demand.  Even though it may cost a bit more per copy, you won’t run the risk of losing your money in unsold, warehoused copies.

• The price of your transcript should range from the same as the cost of the teleseminar, down to a 25 percent discount.  Don’t price the transcript higher than that of the original event, but at the same time, don’t devalue the information just because it’s not live.

• The selling of your transcript doesn’t have to end when you hang up the teleseminar phone.  To the contrary, future customers might be interested in owning transcripts from teleseminars that took place before they were onboard.  Run promotions occasionally, highlighting a transcript.  Or, insert a blurb in newsletter, directing readers to a particular transcript’s sales page (choose a transcript that’s relevant to a current event or some other topic outlined in your newsletter).

Your teleseminar is like a flower seed.  You plant it, care for it, and enjoy its benefits once it matures.  But once that flower withers, your enjoyment of its advantages doesn’t have to end.

Harvest the seeds from that flower.  Plant those seeds by mentioning the availability of transcripts as you close your teleseminar, create transcript sales pages, insert newsletter blurbs, and promote your transcripts as the profitable products that they are.  Continue with this practice, and soon, you’ll have an entire garden filled with a rainbow of limitless income.

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

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