BTW – If you don’t have a “swipe” file of marketing samples, you need one..

I was going through a book called “Ogilvy On Advertising” and samples of dozens direct mail campaigns that have proven the test of time. The bottom line here is that human nature is human nature, not much has changed there. The thing that has changed is all of the marketing vehicles that we have at our disposal.

So here was my discovery…

The same marketing headlines to catch attention, create interest and desire still work like clockwork. With all of the buzz about online marketing, Facebook, Twitter and the like we often lose sight of the basics. If you are trying to re-create the wheel each and every time you are missing out.

If you want a glimpse into how the “old school” marketers approached lead generation and marketing go pick up a copy of a book called “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins. After reading this book, you will realize that not much as changed.

On to my discovery…

Here’s what I am doing right now to generate leads like never before. First off, I am going back to leveraging Direct Mail. Postcards, letters, and good old fashion print newsletter. I am leveraging proven headlines and good old fashion curiosity.

But…

Instead of having them make a phone call. I am leading them to a web page to leverage video, email opt-in, and leveraging technology to follow-up on a regular basis.

If you are not leveraging offline marketing as part of your overall marketing strategy you are missing out big time. Especially if you are a local business.

Get out there and be interesting. Merge both offline and print with the power and efficiencies of online marketing and you have yourself a winning strategy.

The key here is strategy before tactics. I know I have said this many times, but get clear this year about who you are marketing to and get after it.

Let’s make 2011 our best year yet!

~Matt

I’d like to add something extra to the promotion: support your local small business, not only on Nov. 27, but throughout the holiday shopping season. When you shop locally with Seattle area businesses, your dollars go to work in your town;  not only for jobs and business owners in the greater Seattle area, but in many cities, your local sales tax helps support essential local services such as transit, emergency services or business development. So shop small and local – and keep your money in your community!

Come on folks. Let’s support our local Seattle area businesses in a big way this Holiday season and BOYCOTT this recession. Oh wait, the recession is over right! Damn right it is.

Go figure, an unhappy prospect! I know, I know, we should be treating all of our suspects and prospects with respect, but this went a little far and has a good lesson attached to it.

So the email goes on to say that he sent an email promotion to his list of prospects that are on his newsletter list with a “Happy Holidays” promotion and discount. This prospect actually “opted-in” to his email list.

So my client is rattled. He has on prospect out of 800+ that have emailed him saying, “Please don’t send me any more of these sales emails. I am tired of being sold to and really don’t appreciate you sending me these promotionally emails all the time”.

Obviously had a bad day, no doubt. But here’s what shocked the heck out of me next.

My client asks me, “Should I keep sending email promotions to my list, it seems like people don’t appreciate it.”

And here’s where I lost it…and my response with a different name to protect the innocent.

“Hi Bob,

This is going to come across somewhat direct. That is the way I intended it.

If you are going to let one person that had a bad day stop you from achieving your goals and dreams you should go work for someone else.

I’m serious. Sales and Marketing your products and services is an honorable job. You create jobs. You support the economy.You have 1 prospect out of 800+ tell you to stop sending “sales promotions” and you want to hand up the towel?.

Don’t quit selling. Don’t ever quit marketing. And by all means, don’t let one single person or anyone for that matter get you off track. Insulate yourself from criticism and put the headphones on and keep doing what you are doing.

Your Coach,

Matt”

I bet Bob isn’t alone either. If you have a spouse, employee, friends, or families getting in your head put on the force fields.

NOTHING gets done until something is sold. NOTHING! I believe the business owner, sales person, and marketer is the most honorable job on the planet. If we don’t sell, nothing gets done.

Never stop marketing or selling. That is your number one job as a business owner.

To your success,

Matt

I remember growing up playing sports, I always had to have the number 10. That number was worth scrapping for I tell ya…

Something just felt right about that nice crisp even number 10. Well in honor of the number 10 on today 10/10/10, I had to pay tribute.

Wrapped in a marketing lesson of course.

Ok, so here we go.

The top 10 signs you need a marketing plan right now:

10.  You tell your sales team to go SELL…they continue to come back empty handed.

9.  You are starting to get a reputation as the “annoying pest” vs. the “welcome guest”.

8. You frequently get referrals from your best clients and you can’t seem to convert them consistently.

7. Your prospects ask you what you do and your response could be mistaken as your nearest competitor.

6. Your nearest competitor is “stealing” all the business in your area using the Internet.

5. Your Employees all have a different answer on why a potential client should do business with you.

4. You can’t define your ideal client in 2 sentences.

3. Growing your business is always on your New Years goals but it never seems to happen.

2. You don’t invest in marketing because you can’t define the ROI.

1. The Economy has changed forever. If you don’t have a marketing plan, you will get eaten alive.

I know, that’s probably not what you wanted to hear but it’s the truth.

The economy has changed, and if you don’t get a marketing plan and strategy together you are going to find your competitors building relationships with your prospects and leaving you behind.

The power of 10…

In honor of 10/10/10, take 10 minutes right now and get clear on the very next steps you need to take to get a solid marketing plan in place for the next 3, 6, and 10 months.

To your success,

Matt

I realized this week that this is a real problem that plagues small business owners. You get so uncertain about whether an investment is going to pay off, you never actually try anything.

If that’s the case, all you have is hope. That’s not a plan to grow a business, or survive in this “new economy”.

Let’s just get this out of the way right now. FAILURE IS GOING TO HAPPEN!

You are going to make investments in marketing that won’t pay off. I had a campaign recently that failed miserably. No doubt it sucked. The good news though is that I learned something in the process. Had I not tried in the first place, I would have never had the discovery of what actually did work to generate new leads for my business.

You don’t have to accept failure, but don’t avoid it. The key here is measuring your investment.

Here are three (3) quick marketing tips to beat the fear of marketing failure:

1) Clearly identify your target. What are their needs, wants, pains, and frustrations? How does your offer address those?

2) Create a clear call to action. Add a special offer with a deadline. Create a reason to act.

3) Measure your results. If you cannot measure your results, you are flying blind. Create a custom link on your website to track. Use a specific phone number for your offer to track how many calls were made for each specific campaign.

The bottom line here is getting really clear, executing, and measuring your results. Test and Tweak!

this isn’t about throwing a bunch of money at a marketing campaign. You can start small, measure your results, then go big. But most of all, expect failure will occur, just be ready to deal with it and move on.

To your success,

Matt

So what question freaks most of them out?

It is the one question that many business owners avoid. They deliver the product or service as promised. The customer is extremely satisfied with the results of their experience, and they drop the ball.

Immediately following delivery the service and/or results promised, you need a method for asking your customer the one question that is guaranteed to improve your income as a result…

Here’s the question:

“Do you know any others that would benefit from my product or service?”

Yep, it’s that simple. If you can, follow-up and hand them a referral card or promotion they can immediately send out to their closest friends, family, and colleagues.

If you think about it, this strategy is simple. The cost is minimal, the return huge. You already spent the money to acquire your customer, you might as well leverage the relationship and expand on it. You are crazy if you don’t start doing this starting tomorrow.

So what is it that freaks you out about asking for the referral? What is stopping you from training your entire staff on leveraging this approach immediately following delivering the service as promised?

I guarantee you that if you just start asking, you will feel more and more comfortable. Besides, aren’t you delivering the service as promised? If so, what do you have to be afraid of.

Get busy and put this into motion now. Remember, solid marketing systems are built but adding one piece at a time and measuring the results.

To higher profits,

Matt

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

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

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

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.