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| The Worst Number In Business |
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Do you know the worst number in business? Did you say zero? Almost… The worst number in business is the number 1. Here’s why… If you are dependent on ONE source of leads for your business, you are already in trouble. I don’t care if it is referrals, pay per click (PPC), direct mail, or email marketing. Relying on a one source is dangerous, especially in this new economy. Smart small business owners are realizing that the convergence of offline and online marketing is the WAY to build a marketing system to generate leads on a regular basis. More importantly, having the peace of mind that if they lose one lead or revenue source, they can keep trucking along. Here’s how you can start moving your business in the right direction today: 1) Grab a piece of paper and write down all of the way leads and prospects come into your business today. 2) Highlight which of those sources produce the most results for you now. Ask yourself, “Does my business depend on one source for leads and new business?”. If so, move to step 3. 3) If you are in fact dependent on one referral partner, one lead source, or one tactic you need more sources. From the list you created, start outlining a list of more ways you could cost effectively generate leads for your business. 4) Create a plan. Now, grab that calendar and I want you to focus on building one lead generation tactic each month. If it takes 2 months, don’t worry about it. Just keep adding to your system, one layer at a time… 5) Pat yourself on the back. I know, it sounds corny but most business owners don’t get to step #2. I guarantee if you take the five steps above, your business will be better off for it. More importantly, you will be generating more leads and business than ever before. As you know, it doesn’t happen overnight. Through patience and persistence you will have a marketing system you can rely on, even in this economy. To your success, Matt |
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Tags: | Process As A USP? |
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As I coach small businesses, many folks stumble trying to come up with what makes them different. They often state that all of their competitors offer the exact same thing. In fact in many cases, businesses just flat copy the marketing from their competitor and change the name of the product or service. Or even more insane, they start with the price from their competitor then mark it down 10% or more and call it a strategy.CRAZY! I won’t rant too much on this, but many businesses don’t even understand their true cost prior to making this decision…Don’t do it! Remember, there is always someone out there willing to out of business faster than you. Just don’t let it be YOU…Price isn’t the game you want to play. I know this is easy to say, but I am going to give you a different perspective on providing your product or service, then use that as your USP. I want you to go through a really quick exercise and write down all of those things that make doing business with you unique. But instead of focusing on price, product, features, or benefits, I want you to focus on your process. Keep in mind that as you think through this process, you may find gaps. No problem, just write them down. Start with the first interaction with your prospect during your sales process, then continue through the FIRST interaction with your client, then on to the experience with you after you have just finished the transaction. I want you to get really detailed here. Pay special attention to all of the details you create as an “experience”. Think about the experience from your prospects perspective. Then look at how you engage with your customers while you are doing business with them. If you are a carpet cleaner, this might be as small as putting booties over your feet. Or, if you are a Realtor providing a moving truck at no cost to move your customer into their new house. In my opinion, you can create an experience that is so excellent that your customers will be raving about the “experience” you created. The small things you did as part of your operations process that made doing business with you easier. See how powerful this is? So here’s your homework… If you don’t have a process that creates a “Wow” experience for your customers, create one. Start right now and create a simple list of processes you could add one at a time to create this experience. AFter you put them in place, make sure you leverage this in your marketing. Leverage testimonials, and get the word out there that you are DIFFERENT and UNIQUE because your process is different. If you have to, go experience your competitors service or product then make yours better. If you are committed to this, you will have an advantage and by the way… A USP, a true differentiator, and a reason to NOT focus on price and instead focus on the value you are providing for your customers. To Your Success and Prosperity, Matt |
| Ride The Elephant To More Revenue For Your Business |
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This single strategy (if executed correctly) has put $100,000’s of dollars in my clients pockets. So pay attention here… Most all businesses I work with have what I like to call “power partners” that they are either working with now or can identify very quickly with a 30-60 minute exercise. The key here is to get real clear about who your “power partners” are in your local or online markets. After you are clear, it will be much easier to identify the “Elephants” to target directly for joint venture opportunities or referrals. Let’s walk through three (3) steps to identify your the “Elephants” you can ride all of the way to more revenue and profits for your business. Step 1 – Get Clear, Identify your Power Partners. Set aside 30-60 minutes and go through this exercise. It is important that you get clear on potential partners, and also industries that align well with your business. Start writing down Industries that can potentially refer you business, then make another list of businesses that you can refer business TO. Remember, the whole goal here is to create VALUE for the Elephant first. In order to find that one “Elephant” you need to be clear on what industry they exist in first. Ok good, we have our list and we can move on to step number 2… Step 2 – Create The List This step takes a little more research. But hey, we are talking about growing your business here. This might take you 3-4 hours initially but well worth the effort. Take your list, pull open your web browser and start searching for businesses in your city, state, or region that are potential partners in the key industries that you identified in step 1. Try to focus on the top 3-5 largest in your area. Dig deep here and try to find key contact information for each organization. You may have to call to ask for the person responsible for referrals. One strategy I have used is call a business and say, “If I wanted to refer business to your company, who would I need to call?”. See what we are doing here…? We are creating value first, then building a relationship.. An example would be a house painter. I might build a list of contractors, plumbers, electricians, and basically any other trade that might reach my potential prospect. Step 3 – The “Magic” Bullet Ok, so here’s where the real magic happens… For each contact, you want to write a quick letter and email to introduce yourself, then follow-up with a few key questions to open the conversation. This is very powerful! 1) I am looking for a partner to refer business to in the <Profession> industry in my area. Who is your ideal client? 2) What is the best way to refer you business? If you want a sample email I use, click here to email me and I will send it over to you. Just like any marketing system, it may take several contacts to get in touch with the right person. With a little sweat and persistence you will find the Elephant in your market. All you need is one, that’s it! Now get out there and take some action. The tip I gave you today is enough to grow many small businesses by 10%+ if you do something with it…That is always the key, you have to take the action. Go Target, Attack, and Profit! ~Matt |
| Referral Engine Is Live! |
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The Referral Engine is live! As an authorized Duct Tape Marketing coach, I couldn’t be more thrilled with John Jantsch’s new book “The Referral Engine”. This is a must read for all small business owners that want creative ideas for generating business from your current customers, and creating an automated referral system that feeds your business for life. Stay tuned for more information on upcoming workshops and content on how to build your business with a proven referral system. Check out this video: The Referral Engine from John Jantsch on Vimeo. I encourage you to pick the book up at your local bookstore or visit Amazon. Click here to grow your referral network. |
| Creative “Tip” To Generate More Referrals |
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Committed? Ok, good… This is a lead generation tip I picked up recently from The Referral Engine by John Jantsch. I believe this tip is so powerful every business needs to add this to their marketing system. Here are the steps: 1) Write a quick letter to your top 10-15 clients, and tell them you are starting a professional referral network. You have selected them as the 10-15 you trust to refer business. Let them know that to participate they need to refer 10 professionals they trust as well to join the network. 2) Create a referral page on your blog or website. Add all of the contacts and links on your referral page for everyone to participate. An email inviting everyone to do the same on their websites or blogs would be even more powerful. 3) The last step is marketing to your customers. The best way to get leads flowing your way is to give first. I would send an email out to your customer base announcing your “trusted” referral network if they are looking for professionals in your area. Imagine if you had 100 people in your referral network. Powerful! Even if you are in an existing referral group like LeTip or BNI, this is an extremely powerful addition to your network. After reading this tip, I have already sent my letters and will be building my resource page as well of professionals I trust to refer business. If you want to be in my referral network, let me know. Have a great day! ~Matt |
| Starting Up Your Referral Engine |
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When I meet with most small business owners, I always ask them “What is your #1 lead source?”. Guess what the #1 answer is? Yep, you guessed it “word of mouth” or “referrals”. Then, I ask them a second question. Do you have a system in place to make it easy for your raving fans or customers to give you more referrals? Well, that’s usually where the party stops. I know I beat this one into the ground a bit, but it comes down to having a system in place. One of the things that many networking groups (LeTip,BNI etc.) do well is they coach you on describing what a good lead is for you. Often, this is done as a mini-commercial in front of a larger group. But, you can use this with your customers as well. Just make sure they are a raving fan. For example, in my business I usually say, “A good lead for me is a small business owner that is interested in developing an automated lead generation marketing system”. Fairly specific, and it gets your customer thinking about how they can send you business. More importantly, who is “pre-qualified” to do business with you. Makes it a little easier doesn’t it. So take a minute right now, and answer these three (3) questions: 1) Who is your ideal target? 2) What is an excellent referral for you? 3) What solution will your product or service provide? Ok, now the fun part. Take these answers and create your own sound bite describing what a good lead is for you. Make sure it identifies your ideal client, and describes how you can help their friend, partner, or colleague when they refer you business. Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals. If you are doing a great job for your customers, you should expect referrals. Go Target, Attack, and Profit…Because I said so. Best, Matt P.S. For more tips on building your referral engine check out John Jantsch’s new book coming out May 13th title “Referral Engine”. Download the free chapter here -> http://referralenginebook.com |
| A special gift for your business (don’t miss this event) |
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I have some really exciting news. MarketFin is sponsoring a Duct Tape Marketing Boot Camp in Bellevue this coming week. I have reserved 10 tickets for my customers and readers of my blog. The event was created to show you how to create more leads for your business. Interested? I thought this would be a great way to show my appreciation for you and your business. We have the fees covered for the event, you just need to show up. John Jantsch with Duct Tape Marketing will be sharing the “7 Steps For Marketing Success”. These proven techniques are tailored for you the small business owner to build a lead generation system that is both affordable and effective for attracting new customers. You need to act fast! These will go quick… I have10 tickets reserved to give away for this event. I don’t want you to miss this opportunity. I believe your business will benefit with more leads and revenue as a result… Enter this free discount code: johnjantsch Here’s the link to register: Don’t miss this investment in your business to learn how to: o Build Your Social Media Marketing Lead System Here’s what Inc. Magazine says about John: “A great resource for small business owners looking for hands-on marketing ideas they can use today…” – Inc. Magazine Reserve your seat now: Remember to enter this discount code: johnjantsch We look forward to seeing you there. To Your Success, Matt |
| 3 Lead Generation Tips For Your Business |
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Are you short on leads? Do you need a system to create leads on auto-pilot for your business? Sure you do… I have small business owners consistently ask me how to generate more leads for their business. While these tips aren’t a shortcut to a successful lead generation system, they will kick start your efforts… Here are a few lead generation ideas for your business: Tip #1 - Ask More Questions - Head right over to search.twitter.com and start searching for keywords related to your product or service. Find those conversations that are already occurring and send a Direct Message to the person and ask them how you can help. Ask them what they like and dislike about your particular industry, product, or service. Focus on adding value to them. I guarantee if you make this a habit you will grab a couple new clients in the process. Tip #2 - Yelp! For Help - Customer service sites like yelp are making it possible to eaves drop on your customers. Although we are more likely to say things on the net we would not say face to face does not mean your customers will say it on your site. Companies like Yelp encourage customers to come to their websites and lay at the good, the bad and the ugly of other companies. You may find it worth while to visit these sites to find customers that are satisfied with your company and reward them or find customers unsatisfied and try to make them happy again. Trolling these sites should defiantly be part of your market strategy. Tip #3 - Be a Connector – If you want more leads for your business, give first. Here’s what you can do. Target one business in your network that you think you can promote to your list of clients or even prospects. Send an email or highlight that business as a business of the month. I guarantee if you do this once a month, you will start getting referral leads back into your business like never before. Remember, if you create value for others first you will always win. I am testing a few strategies using this technique. They are already yielding some great results. More to come on my little experiment soon… These are just a few quick tips I thought will help you if you are stuck. As always, let me know if I can help you. My purpose is to help you and your business make more money faster with proven lead generation and marketing systems for your business. |
| Part 2: Riding The Long Tail |
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1) You have a list of short one and two phrase keywords that relate to your product or service. (at least the one’s you think are related) 2) You have done a little research online, trying to find a couple keyword phrases that have the “long tail” we are looking for Ok, that’s a great start so let’s dive deeper. The whole goal in this process is to find the pockets of online searches for content that are less competitive and you can compete with right out of the gate. So now that we have our short one and two word phrases we can start getting a list of our “long tail” keywords to attack. Step #1: Use The Google Keyword Tool The most extensive tool I’ve found with data from “actual” searches is from Google. Of course, seems pretty straight forward. I am going to encourage you right now to go open a Google Adwords account. Go to www.adwords.com and sign up. Don’t setup any campaigns, just get an account so we can use the keyword tool. We will move on to Pay Per Click advertising this coming month. Of which, the long tail keywords will help you. If you don’t want to sign up for an Adwords account, you can use their free Keyword Tool The process will be pretty much the same. So all you are going to do is take the one and two phrase keywords you came up with in part 1 and start plugging them in to the tool. What I usually do is keep a spreadsheet that outlines the “main” keyword, then I branch off to the long tail keywords in a separate column. This spreadsheet will act as your main keyword list for many online marketing efforts so don’t lose it. Repeat the process, until you have a good solid list of about 50 long tail keywords. Remember these are phrases that are typically 3 or more words in combination like “lead generation consultant Seattle, WA”. Or, “marketing consultant Seattle WA”. Step #2 – Competitive Research So now that we have our list of long tail phrases, it’s time to isolate the competition. I am going to give you the free, cheap and dirty route. There are tools that help automate this further but this method works well for just getting started. The first step is to open up Google. Then, I want you to type each keyword in quotes and do a search. In your spreadsheet, I want you to write down the top 3 domains that are ranked 1,2, and 3. Then I want you to write down the number of competing pages. This is important because it will tell you where you will be able to compete quickly for traffic online. Ok…take a breath. I know, this is a lot but if you want to get good at online marketing you have to go through the process. So, now that we have the domain names of the top 3 for each search phrase, I want you to visit these sites. We are now going to do a little online “espionage”. When you visit their page, I want you to go to web browser and go to VIEW then SOURCE. You will see a page that is a bunch of programming code that makes the website. What we are interested in is everything at the top of the page between the <META NAME=”keywords” > These are all the keywords that your competitor is optimizing their website for. So what you are going to do is add any to your list that you didn’t have already. If you focus on your top 5-10 keywords with your process, you will be miles ahead of many in your market. So go ahead and take some time and do your research. In the next series, I am going to give you some additional ammo on how to use your list of keywords. As a starter, you will start seeing trends develop in the keywords and phrases. Start outlining those and start including them in your Blog content, in your articles, and other Social Media posts. You will even want to use these keywords in your digital real estate. This includes images, audio, and video… Have a prosperous week! Cheers, Matt |
| Marketing Tip: Market Research Using Yelp |
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The beauty of Yelp.com and other social search websites is that you can read real authentic reviews from prospects just like yours. Why is that important you say? Well, first off you can find out potentially what customers are saying about your competitors. Do a search and find out. If you can’t find your competitors, search lateral markets and get a sense of what consumers like and dislike. If you find that your competitor is getting beat up for always being late, guess what…You may want to focus on responsiveness and timeliness. If you are a plumber, and the complaints are about leaving messes to clean up. Guess what…Again, focus on how your crew is the cleanest in town. By all means don’t just go out there saying you do stuff and don’t actually follow through. If you have to tweak your operations first, it may be required. But you get my point…Here’s the real nugget. What I want you to do is start searching using keywords from your industry. Open up a text editor on your computer and start reading, copying and pasting the comments and reviews from Yelp or other Social Search sites. After you have compiled a good set of information, (both good and bad reviews) you are ready to dive a little deeper. Make a list of the things they like and dislike. If Bob the landscaper is always on time, note down timeliness. But more importantly, highlight the EXACT phrase they use to describe what they like or don’t like. This is the nugget. When you are marketing to your suspects and prospects you need to use THEIR language to describe their problem and the solution. NOT your words. Yelp and other sites are perfect for this because you can literally use the words right out of their mouth to create your headlines, blog copy, direct mail, and even email campaigns. With the power of Social Media, you have enough market research ammo in Yelp alone to keep you busy for a bit. So get out there and…Target, Attack, and Profit! Cheers, Matt |
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