Archives for April 2012

A couple of weeks ago I saw a documentary called ‘Life After People.’ Grim title. But the gist of the documentary is about what happens on earth after humans suddenly become extinct.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the documentary is that after 500 years, an alien coming to earth would never know that human civilisation had even existed.

The final scene in the documentary is 500 years after the extinction of humans. The Hoover Dam Shatters. A massive wall of water thunders towards the Pacific Ocean and the wetlands at the mouth of the Colorado River return. The last human monument gone – not a trace of civilisation left on the planet.

It talks of the massive power of persistence. Drip enough water on a stone and it erodes away, but it takes time. Lots of it.

Over time, water carved out the Grand Canyon. It will destroy The Hoover Dam – the most permanent structure modern man ever created.

Your newsletter works the same way – given enough time it can carve out your Grand Canyon – and in it will flow ‘a river of customers.’ Coming directly to you. Customers that are willing to pay any price you ask. And are ready to buy now.

The problem is one of time and persistence. A mentor of mine is fond of saying “Most people over estimate what they can get done in a year but underestimate what they can get done in 5 years.”

In our newsletter suitability audits we spend a lot of time showing customers just how little a newsletter has to do in the first 12 months in order to get a return on their investment.

Many times we neglect to paint a bigger picture because of our own short sightedness and that of others. Nobody starts a business with a plan to run it for a year. They are looking for something to sustain them over their lifetime. But most of us only look to getting through the next week, month or quarter.

Rarely do we think about long term market dominance and forging a strategic advantage that nobody can overtake quickly.

Persisting with a newsletter will carve out a grand canyon for you. Give it the time to work its magic. You’ll be the dominant player in your market; you’ll have so much good will built up that customers won’t think of shopping around. You’ll be the one they buy from because in their minds you are the only one who is out there.

Think Big. See the Whole Picture.

Zac Nelles.

P.S. Michael McLean took this Long Term view of his business and now gets a return on investment of between 2:1 and 7:1 on his customer newsletter mailing it 12 times a year to all his customers. We’ve just posted an audio interview with Michael McLean. Download it and listen to it and I’d be surprised if you only come away with one good ideas you can implement in your business.

Who Is The Better Marketer?

With Easter been and gone Bluesfest over and a lot of time sitting in airports… As I’m writing this I’m in a departure lounge about to fly to Cleveland, Ohio for a 2 day intensive copywriting workshop with Dan Kennedy (24 others and myself – you don’t get a chance at that much of Dan’s attention)

I’ve had plenty of time to stop, reflect and occasionally do some thinking about useless things. One such topic was Santa Claus vs. The Easter Bunny and who is the cooler guy?

Santa keeps a list and whoever has been deemed to be nice gets a present.

The Easter Bunny gives EVERYONE Chocolate.

Both strategies have merit. But I think the Easter Bunny is the better marketer. Apply this to who you send your newsletter to… Everyone? Or just the ‘nice ones?’

Considering that you don’t know who is in a person’s network, it makes sense to be like the Easter Bunny at first. Send your newsletter to everyone on your list. Build up the emotional bank account.

If you get a referral from someone who you didn’t think was going to even become a customer you have done yourself a service. The cost will be well below what you can get a new customer from advertising.

You never know, some of those unconverted leads may become a customer too thanks to your newsletter.

Santa would say watch them and if they do something nice, reward them with newsletters.

I hope we are all grown up enough to know that the law of reciprocity is at work here. If you don’t give first it is unlikely that you will receive anything in return. So that is why the Easter Bunny is the better marketer.

But we know that if someone doesn’t give back after you have given them a lot consistently and persistently. (in money terms not because you are impatient and want a referral now) I mean years of newsletters – they are cheap to send each month. (If you had 36 chances over three years to get a referral from a customer for $72 would you take it?)

However, if they are nice and send us a reward in the form of purchases or referrals then they certainly deserve to be sent more newsletters so that they have a chance to reward us again.

But Best to be like The Easter Bunny with your past present and potential customers for now.

Happy Easter.

Below is aa article that debunks the ‘false’ information about marketing that small businesses have unknowingly been ‘tricked’ to believe. Although most of these ad agencies and media reps are telling you lies, most of them truly believe what they tell you. They have not been taught any different and are passing on false information that is costing you BIG money.

I’ve come from a media and printing background so I’ve seen it first hand, I know the profits that are made from people being ‘oblivious’ to the truth. It’s time to take a stand and stop believing these lies.

BIG LIE # 1 – You Need To Spend A Lot Of Money On Advertising To Make It Work

Traditional advertising isn’t exactly cheap. But you don’t need to spend a fortune on it to get results from it. Most people have come to this limiting belief because they’ve tried different forms of advertising before and haven’t had any great results. This lie has become the reality for so many businesses because they’ve never been shown the ‘smart’ way to advertise. If you leave your advertising design to be created by: the newspaper, the yellow pages rep, the commercial printer or the graphic designer, you will never experience great results because, 1- They don’t know how to create ads that compel people to contact you. 2 – If they did know, they wouldn’t tell you because it conflicts with their “bigger is better” and “get your message out there” principals that they earn their money from.

BIG LIE # 2 – Get Your Message In Front Of As Many People As Possible

Many of us have been tricked into believing that if our ad is heard or seen by more people that we’ll get more results. We slap it on a billboard. Paint it on a park bench. Cover our cars in it. Put it in newspapers or place it on the radio. We do whatever we can to get our message in front of as many people as possible. This is the wrong approach. It wastes your money and energy and the results are usually very poor. Instead you should be crafting a compelling, targeted message to a small group of people who are potentially interested in what you do. Instead of just advertising here and there and praying to the advertising gods, you should be creating a strategic plan for your marketing where each ad has a specific purpose and everything is reliable, predictable and measurable.

BIG LIE # 3 – Bigger Ads Are Better. – If Your Ad Isn’t Working, Try A Bigger Ad

We’ve all heard it from the ad agencies; if we make a comment about the poor response we had from our ad, they will try to sell you that bigger ad. They are not interested in getting you results; they are interested in selling you more space. Certainly bigger can be better, if you have a successful ad, then if you make it bigger, generally it’s more exposed and you may see an increased response rate.  But the reality is – The smallest size ad on a page can have more eye appeal and garner more response than the biggest one on the page. It’s all about the message and the approach you take. By changing a single headline on an advert, I have seen cases it results in a 600% increase in the response rate. It didn’t cost a cent extra, whereas, if you went “bigger” with the same message – it would cost you more and probably give you similar results. So only once you “know” your ad works, then you test going bigger.

BIG LIE # 4 – Pretty, Colour Ads Stand Out And Get Better Results

You’re probably thinking “this isn’t a lie” – But if you approach your advertising from this angle, you will generally see poorer results. The average graphic designer is paid a minimal amount on an hourly rate with no incentive to get you results. They have a set formula they use to pump out ads quickly, this structure is “This is who we are, This is what we do/sell, This is how to contact us.” And then they pretty it up in colour. But this structure doesn’t work. Don’t get me wrong, pretty has its place, but in the cluttered advertising world, if it looks like and ad, then you’ve got less than 2 seconds to get their attention. An ugly ad can have and often does have a much better result. And in a pretty, full colour world, the monochrome ugly stuff stands out! Colour does have it’s place, but use it intentionally, not just beacause it looks nicer!

BIG LIE # 5 – Use Images! – A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

This is a completely false statement, it’s true that images can be impactful, certain images evoke emotions and can make people feel a certain way. But the images that most businesses put on their advertising are pointless and just filling space. Images distract people from your message and the space is usually better utilised with more text, a testimonial or in some cases left blank. If you need to use an image make sure it actually ads to your message, evokes the right emotions, and isn’t just used to make the ad look prettier. If the image does not add to your message then lose it.

BIG LIE # 6 – With Advertising, You Can’t Expect Results Overnight

There are two kinds of advertising: branding and hardcore, retail-oriented, direct response, lead generating, low cost, overnight results-getting advertising. Building a strong, lasting, competitive brand image takes a long time. It’s built over generations with millions of advertising dollars. That’s why you don’t and can’t just brand your business. What you need is results. The good news is… results can happen overnight! – If your system is sound, your ads are positioned correctly and your message is crafted right, the results will be immediate. You can turn it on and off like a light switch. So stop trying to brand your business and focus on getting results instead. When you have a spare million then we can talk branding.

BIG LIE # 7 – You Can’t Control Word-Of-Mouth Advertising

We all rely on word of mouth advertising. It is by far the best form of advertising. Most businesses who fail at traditional advertising are only in business still because of this form of advertising. But almost everybody also agrees that it’s impossible to control. That’s a load of bull – started by the pay-per- advertise media. They don’t want you to find out that there’s a way to control the best advertising process of all – the one that’s 100% free.  There are many things you can do to encourage referrals. It starts by altering your internal operations to stand out and be remembered, give them something to talk about, provide unbelievable service, and deliver massive value. Then implement a referral system that encourages and rewards referrals. This is such a low-cost method that will have a massive impact on your business.

Below are 7 key actions that I recommend to the majority of businesses that I talk to if they are looking to get the strategic advantage in business and want to dominate thier industry.

There are many other actions that will allow you to dominate even more, but these 7 are what I would call the “Key” actions that if done properly will make all the difference.

1.) Define & Promote To Your Clients, Why They Should Use Your Business Over Every Other Competitor

If you can clearly define a unique reason why prospective clients should use your business over every other competitor it will give you a strategic “angle” for all your marketing. You will no longer be comparing your business to other businesses based on price alone because you offer something unique that they cannot get with any of your competitors.

2.) Create A System That Attracts New Clients

What you need to create is a predictable, reliable, profitable marketing system that delivers you with an abundance of pre-qualified prospects who are ready to buy from you and only you.

3.) Build A Database Of Prospects & Clients

You need to build your database of prospects and clients so that you can market to them. If somebody enquires and does not proceed with the work, then chances are they may still be interested, just not now – If you have a database, it becomes much easier to contact that prospect again and get the sale “down the line”

4.) Create A System That Retains Customers and Build Relationships

By keeping in contact with your clients on a regular basis, they know you better and when it comes to your product or service, you are in to fore-front of their mind. The contact is not “sales” contact, it is friendly, educational and entertaining contact. This builds the relationship with your database. It can be done online, in print or even over the phone. You want to systemize this contact as much as possible and use a combination of different methods of contact.

5.) Implement Strategies To Generate Repeat Sales From Existing Clients

You need to build in systems that make your clients spend more money with you more often, there are a variety of different options such as loyalty programs, gift cards, special offers, buy 5 get 1 Free deals etc. By building this into your business you ensure that you extract the highest possible return from each client.

6.) Stimulate Referrals From Existing Clients

Word of mouth is still the best method of building your business, so it makes sense to put a system in place to stimulate it! You can create referral programs that encourage your existing clients to refer business to you and reward them for it. There are strategies that make it extremely easy to get the exact message you want to your clients “friends, family and associates” which takes very little time to implement.

7.) Stay Educated & Constantly Innovate To Stay Ahead Of Your Competitors

Don’t get complacent with your systems and success, always be on the look out for new ideas, new technologies, new marketing avenues. Get yourself a mentor who can keep you informed and educated about the latest marketing tricks and strategies.