Archive for February, 2010
Attract Web Traffic The ‘Virtual” Water Cooler Way
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Attract Web Traffic The ‘Virtual” Water Cooler Way
There are of many ways to drive traffic to your website. And savvy online marketers know most of them.
But what about the rest of us?
What can we do to attract prospects if we don’t have deep pockets to run a pay-per-click Adwords campaign or can’t flash our web site URL on Oprah?
Well, here’s a simple, effective and unintimidating strategy you can use to attract a steady stream of qualified prospects to your web site.
Start posting.
Next to Adwords and article marketing, posting to online forums can be one of the most effective marketing activities you can engage in for instantly driving traffic to your web site.
And here’s a bonus - it won’t cost you a penny. Sure you’ll have to invest your time but you have to do that anyway to grow your business.
OK. So what exactly is posting? Posting is simply replying to comments other people have made in an online forum.
First, you need to find a forum that relates to your business or area of expertise. A Google search using relevant keywords coupled with the word “forum” will reveal a number of forum discussions.
For example, say you were financial planner. You could Google “financial planner forums” and the search engines will deliver plenty of forum options for you to choose from. And you can further define the parameters of the forum by using additional keywords like “financial planner trends forum”.
A word of caution: Look for a forum that is active and has lots of members. A good example of an active, lively forum is warriorforum.com.
Most forums will ask you to create an account if you want to post replies to different “threads” or discussions you take part in.
Now , here’s where the rubber meets the road.
The secret to effective posting that will generate sales leads for you is to build an identity in that forum community. To do that, you need to be active and consistent. Schedule your posting in as part of your regular marketing activities. Try to make 3-5 five posts a day to various threads that are in the forum.
This sounds a lot more overwhelming that it is. A reply can simply be two or three sentences. A half hour of posting each day will quickly elevate your status in the forum.
So what do you post? Well, you can initiate a post by asking a provocative question or introducing a controversial topic or you can simply read through the existing posts (which are categorized so you can see areas of interest) others have made and reply to those where you can add value.
Forum discussions are intended to be an environment where ideas are exchanged and counsel is given.
It isn’t a place where you go to flog your latest product or service. If you flagrantly enter posts that are of a traditional selling nature, you will be shown the door.
Besides, you will attract a lot more prospects to your site by giving insightful and practical advice on how to address a certain issue or solve a particular problem that relates to your area of expertise than you will acting like the Slap Chop guy.
Now, here’s where your marketing mileage ramps up.
In exchange for your participation, you are allowed to create a profile that every forum participant can see and a signature that appears at the end of every post.
When you join the forum, you will have an opportunity to create your profile. You can use your real name or a made up name that reflects your expertise. You can also include your pet’s name, your hobbies, your expertise or profession – whatever you want. The idea is to let your profile reflect who you are.
Along with your profile, you’ll be asked if you want to create a signature. Make sure your signature makes it easy for people to visit your site and suggests to them that it might be worth a visit.
Happy profitable posting!
Gerry Black is a marketing writer based in Toronto, Canada who works with clients in the U.S. and Canada.
The Selling Power Of The Monkey’s Fist Approach
Posted by: | CommentsThe Selling Power Of The Monkey’s Fist Approach
Many marketers miss out on profits because they try to take a selling shortcut that almost always fails. They proceed directly to their offer instead of taking time to develop the “know, like and trust” factor that is almost always required before a sale can be made.
The website version of this is a marketer who simply lists products and services and expects the prospect to read the list and call up to order.
Marketers who use this one-shot approach are almost always disappointed in their results.
Thanks to master copywriter Gary Bencivenga for today’s lesson. The universal law of selling identified below is your key to higher profits.
In every sale, either in person or in your marketing efforts, there are at least two sales that have to be made, not just one. This is true of anything you sell, and the sooner you realize this, the sooner you can become a master at selling anything, in person or in your sales copy.
The main sale, of course, is the product or service you ultimately want to sell. But before you can even get a chance to sell your main product, you must first sell your prospect on giving you an audience.
That is known as the sale before the sale. In short, you must sell the chance to sell.
Legendary life insurance salesman Frank Bettger used this principle to become one of the greatest salespeople who ever lived. Bettger was such a crummy salesman that he came close to quitting before he stumbled upon one of the most powerful strategies for selling anything.
On a vacation, while standing on the deck of a ship about to dock in Miami, Bettger noticed that the ropes needed to moor a great ship to the dock were tremendous. They were very long and as thick as a man’s thigh. He wondered how any seaman, no matter how strong, could ever lift such a thick rope, let alone hurl it so that it would reach the pier.
So he decided to watch how it was done…
He discovered that the crew doesn’t even try to throw the heavy rope, known as a “hawser.” Instead, he saw a solitary crewman hurl a little iron ball, called a “monkey’s fist,” which was attached to a thin rope about the size of a clothes line. He tossed this monkey’s fist to a longshoreman standing on the pier, waiting to receive it. When the longshoreman caught the little iron ball, he started to haul in the thin rope attached to it. This thin rope, in turn, was attached to the huge hawser, which Bettger then saw moving through the water as the fellow on the dock hauled it in.
And that’s how the big, unwieldy hawser gets tied to the moorings on the pier.
Throwing the hawser was too big a first step for any sailor, just as it’s too big a first step for any marketer to approach ice-cold prospects and instantly persuade them to buy.
So this is the little-known but amazingly reliable formula for opening – and then closing – many, many more sales, in person or online. Make the first step for your prospect irresistibly easy to take.
Resist the temptation to start off trying to sell your product. Break it into smaller steps. As a first step, offer something that makes it easy, irresistibly easy, for your prospect to say yes.
There are countless ways you can achieve this gentle, seductive first step in your marketing.
I have found that offering valuable, free information that targets your prime prospects is the most versatile, economical and usually most effective execution of this strategy. It works so well because it not only makes it much easier to open the sale with your best prospects, but also sets you up perfectly to close it.
If you sell a course on Internet marketing, you can offer a free e-book such as, “The 100 Most Successful E-mail Advertisements Ever Written.”
If you manage a real estate office in, say, Huntington Beach, you can offer a free “Trend Report – Sale Prices of Huntington Beach Homes, Condos and Co-Ops over the Last Six Months.”
If you’re a chiropactor, you can advertise a free guide, “My Seven Best Secrets for Having a Pain-Free Back in Just Six Weeks.”
If you sell a course on public speaking, you can offer a free CD, “Secrets of Getting a Standing Ovation Almost Every Time You Speak.”
All these examples “throw the monkey’s fist” – they make it much easier for prospects to lower their guard, give you their time and allow you into their busy lives. This is how you make the sale before the sale.
It’s the same as courtship. You would never dream of walking up to a total stranger and asking him or her to marry you. The first step might just be a flirtatious conversation, which leads to a date, which leads to more dates, which lead to an engagement, which leads to a marriage proposal, which leads to a lifelong relationship. Trying to race to the ultimate destination from an ice-cold start just won’t work.
Romance your prospects in the same way. Make the first step easy, non-threatening, enjoyable, irresistible! Then make the next small step the same way, and keep going until you’re both in love.
Gerry Black is a marketing writer based in Toronto, Canada who works with clients in the U.S. and Canada.
Your Marketing Funnel: A Key To More Sales Leads
Posted by: | CommentsYour Marketing Funnel: A Key To More Sales Leads
A past client of mine, whom I’ll call “Brian,” is a business coach and a excellent one.
He’d had a web site for several years that pretty much served as an online brochure for his company. When Brian came to me, he was looking for a way to convert more people from qualified prospects to happy purchasers of one of his coaching programs.
The problem?
He was attracting people to his web site and getting them sign up for a free coaching session. But when they discovered at the end of the introductory session that his coaching programs cost several thousand dollars, many ended up thanking him and going on their way.
They simply weren’t ready to plunk down that kind of money so early in the relationship.
After learning about the problem, I asked Brian what he was doing with the people who didn’t decide to invest in his coaching program.
I can still remember the frustration in his voice when he told me that there was really nothing he could do at that point. He didn’t have an answer. Which, for Brian, was a real dilemma because, like most us, he has a genuine passion for wanting to help people.
So I introduced him to the strategy of using a marketing funnel. If you picture a funnel, you know it’s wide and open at the top, and narrow at the bottom. At the top of the funnel, where you offer free stuff, is where most of your prospects will enter. At the bottom of the funnel is your HIGHEST PRICED service or product. The middle should offer in-between levels of services/products and prices.
The idea is to create a marketing funnel that gives your prospects the option of jumping in where they want, and then move them along so they can benefit from your higher priced products and services.
In Brian’s case, he had three things in his funnel: his free coaching session, a hardcover book that was priced about $300 and his coaching programs that ranged from $4,000 – $10,000.
He had the first step down pat: Get your prospect IN the funnel.
Offering something FREE is the ideal way to get lots of people into your funnel. Most business owners collect prospects by giving away something free, suchas a report, an ezine, or a teleclass. When people sign up for these valuable giveaways, you get their names and e-mail addresses, allowing you to contact them again.
At the top of Brian’s funnel was his offer of a free exploratory coaching session. And at the bottom were his pricey coaching programs. But there was really nothing in the middle.
Many self-employed professionals, such as coaches and consultants, fall into this trap. There’s either free or high-fee. This is the reason many of them have so muchtrouble converting prospects — people usually aren’t ready to make that big jump from $0 to several thousand dollars.
Without a less expensive way for prospects to sample the value Brian had to offer, the prospects simply fell by the way side.
I recommended he create several information products (“info-products”) along with a home study coaching program for do-it-yourselfers that would allow him togo back to those who weren’t ready to jump into a coaching program and offer them a less expensive way to get started.
It has expanded his marketing funnel and created a passive income stream he didn’t have before.
You can do the same thing.
By packaging your knowledge into info-products, you give your prospects the chance to “sample” you at a lower price, filling the middle of your funnel.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
* Books
* E-Books
* Special Reports
* Manuals
* Workbooks
* Audio downloads, CDs
* Video downloads, DVDs
* Home Study Courses
Creating and selling these products on your web site gives you passive income which means you aren’t trading time for money.
But most importantly, it gives you a practical means of converting interested prospects into lifelong clients instead of having to turn them away because you don’t have a less-intimidating way they can test the waters.
Take some time now and see where your marketing funnel could be adjusted so that it’s easier for your prospects to sample your expertise and buy from you.
Gerry Black is a marketing writer based in Toronto, Canada who works with clients in the U.S. and Canada.
How To Get Your Emails Opened
Posted by: | CommentsHow To Get Your Emails Opened
Without question, email can be an effective and cost-effective marketing tool.
The trick is getting your recipient to open your message. And that’s getting tougher to do as people become very selective as to what they will and won’t allow past their cyber force field.
Research shows that when people receive your emails, the first question most of them ask themselves is, WHO is this from? not WHAT is it about ? So that’s the real sniff test.
But assuming you are able to penetrate the outer shield, you face the task of getting your email opened.
That`s the job of your SUBJECT LINE. With all the competition out there vying for your reader`s attention, your subject line must offer something of value.
Not everyone will be interested in what you have to offer but you want to make sure that those who are will be rewarded for their decision to open your email.
Keep in mind, it can hurt your reputation (and it’s against the law) when you send unsolicited email. If there has been some interaction between you and your recipient, send the email but make sure your reader has the option to Unsubscribe if he/she doesn’t want to receive future communication.
Today`s article deals with the ins and outs of grabbing attention, slipping in under the radar and earning a chance to present your message in front of your intended target
Before we get started, here’s something to think about:
If you were trying to get someone`s attention in a face-to-face communication, it`s unlikely that you would stop in mid- sentence and hope you`d said enough to get the response you want.
And yet, this happens all the time in email marketing where an online marketer`s attention getter – the subject line – exceeds the number of characters that are visible to the email recipient. The result is, the reader only sees part of your message. (note: savvy marketers sometimes use partial subject lines to effectively attract attention.) But, most of the time, it’s unsavvy business owners who don’t know any better.
Fifty characters is all the space you have in a typical subject line to catch your reader’s eye and entice him to open your email and take the action you want. A good subject line can get your email opened in a flash. A weak one and it’s goodbye Charlie.
Here are 9 tips for creating subject lines that get you where you need to be:
1. Offer a benefit. By highlighting the key benefit of your offer, the reader can easily decide if it is a subject of interest.
2. Write what the field asks for. Be direct. Let the reader know exactly what the subject is. Be clear and succinct. This often works well.
3. Ask a question. This immediately involves the reader. Make your question straightforward.
4. Avoid cryptic phrases. Although this approach can sometimes be effective in conventional direct mail, it is often regarded with suspicion (read `deleted quickly`) when used in an email subject line.
5. Use a teaser. An attention-getting teaser can work well. Example: Are you making this sales letter mistake?
6. Use a deadline. If your offer has a time limit, indicating that in the subject line can boost response.
7. Stay away from hype. We all have seen the emails that promise to, Triple your sales in two weeks! Riiiiiight. Click!
8. Remind readers they requested the information. People forget they asked you to send them something. Don’t be shy about writing, “Here’s the info you asked for”.
9. Avoid using the word FREE. Most Spam filters will pick off your email long before it gets close to your intended target. That’s why you see things like fr*ee from time to time. If you feel you absolutely must use this approach, try using no charge, no cost or complimentary.
Try using some of these tips and see if your “open” rate increases.
Gerry Black is a marketing writer based in Toronto, Canada who works with clients in the U.S. and Canada.
A Sure Way To Torpedo Your Email Sales Messages
Posted by: | CommentsA Sure Way To Torpedo Your Email Sales Messages
Just felt like a little mini-rant here.
Got an email from a company today wanting me to consider buying their new CD-ROM. (I’ve changed the names but you’ll get the picture.)
Here’s how it started (and ended as far as I was concerned):
Dear Gerry Black,
Joe Smith, President and CEO of CDPro has just released a brand new CD-ROM that every service professional must see. Smith says, “It’s the lowest priced CD-ROM we’ve ever released, with prices as low as $1.79 each.”
It’s called “3 Questions Every So & So Must Ask.”
Learn all about it by Clicking Here
This approach is going nowhere except on a fast track to Clicksville.
Here’s why:
Red Flag #1: The double-barrelled name in the salutation couldn’t telegraph it any clearer that this is coming from some list. No warm and fuzzy here.
Red Flag #2: The first line informs me that Joe Smith, President and CEO has something I must see. Now, is the guy’s title supposed to make me instantly reach into my jeans and pull out my wallet? Never mind that. It’s not even Joe Smith writing the email! It’s being sent on his behalf!! Don’t know about you but I think I know a little bit already about how things run around Joe’s place if he doesn’t get his way.
Red Flag #3: The email goes on to reveal…It’s the lowest priced CD-ROM we’ve ever released. As low as $1.79. Wow, there’s a compelling reason to spend more of my life learning about a product. It’s the cheapest they’ve ever offered!
C’mon. This is hucksterism. To be fair, the email did contain some potential ways this CD might be able to improve my life but they were at the bottom where most people will never see them. They will be long gone.
If the company had started the email with an indication about how their product could help me, then they have a chance. But when a marketer opens up beating his chest, he throws away an opportunity to generate a sale his product may have earned.
OK. I’m done. Thanks. Back to work!
Gerry Black is a Marketing Writer based in Toronto, Canada
and serving clients in the U.S. and Canada.
