In this issue:
- The easiest way to win over your prospects and convince them to buy from you for the first time?…
- Small Business Mastery readers speak out?…
- Templates and samples to use for creating your own sales system?…
- And Much More!
Fellow Business Builder,
Thank you for your excellent response to my article “How to Write Lead Generation Display Ads.” Some of your comments hit a note with me and I first wanted to address these before moving on to the actual templates for creating your display ads.
Steve had said “I never even thought of doing non-traditional small display ads. I feel like a fool.”
My thoughts to you Steve are – don’t feel like a fool – feel like an awakening! Most people look at display ads in a certain way, and it can be difficult to see new ways of looking at them. Which is the problem. After seeing hundreds of display ads in a day or week, all following the same useless format, it’s no wonder we have a tough time seeing the alternatives. This approach works really well for small businesses. It is simple to implement. And it gets you solid results. Try it out and please let us know how it goes.
Olan said “Great article Troy. One question: Where is the Ad for the house painter that you wrote? I don't see it in this article.”
Hi Olan. As Mr. Burns (from the Simpsons) would say – eeeeexxxxxcellent! My house painter advertisement was so deceptive you didn’t even notice it was an ad! The point to running this type of ad in the Yellow Pages is to make it look like an article or warning notice. In the middle of all those same-old-same-old type of ads – yours will be the one and only that looks like something useful to those in need.
Carolyn said “I just finished writing a space ad for a company using this approach. I suggested they offer five free special reports, thinking that at least one of the five would hit a hot button and get the phones ringing. You can tell me if you think that was too much.”
Hi Carolyn. My personal thoughts are for you to space out all the reports and send them individually. Rather than receive all five at once (which chances are they won’t read them all) – send them 7-10 days apart. The overwhelm factor may kick in with too many at once, so this gives you multiple opportunities for follow up. But, this is something you need to test. With 100 of the leads – test sending each separately. With the next 100 send two at a time. The next 100 – all at once. See which version works best. (You must track everything you do to ensure the winner.)
Great questions and comments – thank you!
Below you will see some sample templates for creating your own two-step lead generation system. What we need to do is start designing the ad, the report, and the sales letter – all at once. Today we are focusing on the display ad and the report.
- Start recording newspapers, trade mags, directories, etc. where your ideal clients are reading – get their media kits – and pricing. Start honing in on exactly who your clients are, where they frequent, who they buy from, where they educate themselves, etc. If you know your ideal client like you would your best friend, it will become very easy to find the perfect place to advertise your offer.
- Try crafting a step ad using the template below. This may take some time (it should – perfection rarely comes with your first try). Design two or three variations of the perfect lead generation advertisement.
- What information is most useful to your prospects? What is most interesting? Begin working on a 1-3 page special report you can use for lead generation. Ideally you hit on the Top 7 Dangers of Hiring a _______, or The 6 Most Important Tips For Improving Your Business ________, or a complete report based on industry research – 10 Industry Trends That Could Endanger Your Business ________.
- When you are in your best “sales mode” do you feel differently than normal? How do you get yourself into that mode? I want you to record your best sales pitch. Either speaking to a real prospect, or to a friend or family member. Once it is recorded – you can easily send it to a transcriptionist – and then convert it into a simple sales letter.
Sample best selling headlines for you to play with
and modify to suit your business
(1) What Your Lawyer Doesn't Want You to Know
Change to: What your ____ accountant, dry cleaner, mechanic, etc. _____ hopes you NEVER Find Out
(2) The Truth About Getting Rich
Change to: The truth about doing your own ______ home maintenance, tutoring, car repairs, home sales, etc._____
(3) A Little Mistake That Cost a Farmer $3,000 a Year
Change to: The silly little oversight that cost this ____ family, manager, student, realtor, etc.____ his/her ___________
(4) Get Rid of Money Worries for Good
Change to: Get rid of your ___back pains, flab, teenager problems, retirement, etc. _____ worries once and for all!
Sample Display Advertisement Template
Best Headline (test in quotes and without) FREE Report is yours for the asking?…
If you seriously want to … this may be one of the most important things you ever read.
My name is _____ … and I admit it _____?… story continues.
I want to share with you my ___?… that guarantees you ____?… FREE.
All you need to do is use what I give you and your ___ will improve. Why free? Because _______________, and I have a little something to give back.
Call me at xxx.xxx.xxxx … leave your info and I will send you the “Special Report Name” Report and a ________ called “_____________”.
Just call xxx.xxx.xxxx right now and I will mail it out to you immediately. No catch.
One I ran with great success – easily modified to fit your business
(average price to run ad this size – $400-$500)
If A Corporate World Flunky Can Write A Simple Letter That Made $47,857 In 48 Hrs – What Can You Do In Your Business?
FREE report is yours for the asking
If you seriously want to improve your income over the next 12 months, this may be one of the most important things you ever read.
My name is Troy White and I admit it – I’m a corporate world flunky. Tired of it, I left to start my own business and discovered the 3 steps to growing your small business (and income)?… rapidly. Easily repeatable, and simple to follow.
I want to share with you my 3-step formula that guarantees you double your income?… FREE.
All you need to do is use what I give you and your income will improve. Why free? Because Business Edge has been a great group to work with, and I have a little something to give back.
Call me at 999.555.1212 … leave your info and I will send you the “3 Ways To Grow Your Business” Report and a best-selling book called The Success Formula.
Just call 999.555.1212 right now and I will mail it out to you immediately. No catch.
NOTE: I leave them two options to respond now. If you read my earlier articles, you will see my newest version of this that is working exceptionally.
In the past I used just a recorded message – now I use the Web and the recorded message. I find 70% of people will go directly to the website and fill out the form – but the other 30% will pick up the phone and leave their information there.
This is the Free Report Offered – along with the sales letter that goes along with it. Try and understand what makes this sequence work – and how it can be modified to fit your business.
FREE REPORT
There are only 3 ways to grow your business?…
don’t make it too complicated – by Troy White
www.SmallBusinessCopywriter.com
999-555-1212
“Turning Your Words Into Wealth”
Every single small business was started with a dream. Provide good products and services, help others with their needs, continually grow and strengthen, and lastly, to put a healthy profit back into the business so that the business owner can enjoy the fruits of their labor.
The breakdown seems to occur as business owners get wrapped up in day-to-day business and forget about the most important parts of their dream – growth and profits.
Without profit, you are closing your doors, employees are out of work and your clients have to look elsewhere for a new supplier.
A very sad day?… that can be avoided.
Continual growth within your company is critical. And growth can happen one of three ways.
You can?…
- Get more clients.
- Get your clients to buy more products or services from you when they buy.
- Get your clients to buy more often from you.
Almost 95% of business focus on only one of these – and that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.
Everyone focuses in on getting more clients – and that’s it.
Get more clients, get more clients, get more clients?… and then once they get a new client and sell them something – they drop them like a sack of potatoes.
Never contacted again, never a thank you, never a reminder to buy again – just take the money and run.
Let me ask you this?… when you buy something of value (let’s say $500 or more), it is a significant investment – right?
- You search high and low to find the right supplier, the right sales person and the right product for your needs.
- You finally make a decision and decide to buy.
- You plunk down your hard-earned money.
- You walk out with your goods – take it home, set it up – enjoy it?… and usually that is it – you never hear back or return to that store – right?
Sounds typical? Usually that is the case.
Now imagine this?… two days later you get an urgent piece of mail (couriered to you) from the person you bought from. Inside is a nice little surprise gift and thank you card.
Very nice!
Not very often you even get a thank you, let alone a gift.
Five days later, you get another letter in the mail from that same person. This time, in honor of your patronage, they send you a $50 gift certificate if you ever want to come back for something else.
Another week goes by and you get another letter – this time there is special offer for preferred clients on an item you have been thinking of buying but never got around to it. They are offering a closed door special evening with wine and cheese, entertainment for the kids, and some nice door prizes for showing up.
What do you think the chances are that you would go back and buy again? Ninety-nine out of a hundred people would probably go back – especially if they had been thinking of this type of product before – heck, even just show up for the freebies and wine and cheese.
I am going to let you in on a secret?…
The system I just described will bring you up to ten times the amount of profits you are getting now (and in many cases, much more)!
And yet, almost no one in business does it.
Why?
Two reasons really – lack of knowledge about the system, and laziness.
That’s it – one of those two reasons is what is holding you back from tripling or quadrupling your profits with relatively little work.
I am going to help you with the one reason – lack of knowledge.
From there, it is entirely up to you to implement it into your business.
Fact: If you use a direct sales force, it can cost upwards of $300 per sales call now (based on recent research done). Time, resources, administration etc?… all add up to cost you huge dollars!
Once you have a client – it is your duty to treat them like absolute gold. If you don’t?… someone else will. And the incremental cost to sell something else to this client is almost nothing.
Yet, most business owners forget this, and move on to the next new client?… costing themselves another $300 – instead of $0 – something is definitely wrong here!
Two examples: I asked a friend of mine the other day about his business. He has been in the renovation business for 15 years and has done well for himself. I asked him how many clients he had sold to in that period of time – approximately 5,000 or more had bought something from him. Then I asked him the clincher – have you ever asked them for more business or contacted them again? Guess what – no, he never has. Possible business lost – tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. If he had a follow-up system to contact them again – he would be much further ahead than he is today.
Another case: A couple years ago, I invested $2,000 in some children’s educational products (books, videos, games, courses, etc.). It was an awesome package, and they had a great sales process. Very happy with what I got for the money. Never once, did I ever hear from them again! I phoned the president and asked him about this – his attitude was that it is up to the client to contact them. Awful – I spent $2,000 with them, and he thinks I should contact him again to buy more? If he actually had a program in place to follow-up – I would probably pay $50 – $100 per month for additional products and services for my kids.
This is so common in business, that it is not funny at all. Each and every business owner with this attitude is losing thousands of dollars per month – without even knowing it!
So, how can it be fixed?
Like I said – there are three ways to grow a business. And I will share with you how any business can grow all three ways with relatively little cost – and incredible returns.
1.) Get more clients. The most costly way to do this is with live sales people. You can mail out a physical letter to your target market for $0.50. If you are mailing these to the right audience and you have a very compelling sales pitch in your letter – for $50 you can probably get 3–5 new clients. Much more reasonable than $300 per call for a live person – you think?
And yes, direct mail works in EVERY business. It is cheap, effective and very powerful if done right.
Learning to write effective copy can be the most lucrative skill you can use in your business. Effective copy can be used in direct mail pieces, postcards, thank you cards, upsell offers, advertising, Yellow Pages, faxes, e-mails, websites, business cards?… the list goes on.
Learn to write effective copy!
Or find a copywriter that writes direct response copy.
Very important – do not hire an ad agency unless they write direct response copy pieces. Otherwise you will get a real pretty advertisement that wins them an award, costs you a small fortune – and doesn’t get you one client!
Mail out direct pieces to targeted businesses and people. You can buy or rent mailing lists from reputable list brokers – look up mailing list brokers in your Yellow Pages. Tell them exactly who you are targeting – 45+ year old males, white collar job, 2.5 kids, drives a BMW, makes $107,000+ per year, has a DVD player and has 2 cats and a dog. Yes, you can buy lists that specific – the perfect client – yours for the mailing.
Test out 100 or even 500 names. See what response you get. You will surprise yourself!
Always remember, though – the copy is the most important piece you can have in your sales arsenal. A good sales letter is as good as your best sales person. Basically that’s exactly what a good sales letter is – a clone of your best sales person’s best sales pitch.
(Hint: One of the best ways to write a sales letter is this – get your best sales person in their selling ‘mode’ (be it practicing or actually in front of clients) and have them record their sales pitch, along with objections and questions the typical client brings up. Have this tape transcribed into text. Cut it up and paste it together like a real letter. Put a killer headline in there to get their attention. And test it out in a mailer.)
Direct mail will help you get new clients – period. So start using it. Especially in this day and age with the state of e-mail and spam – direct, physical mail is almost a rarity. Learn to use it in your business and you will rapidly grow your business and the number of new clients you have.
2.) Get your clients to buy more. Let’s say your average order size is $147 based on past client’s buying habits. Now let’s say that you could get people to spend another $50 at the time of purchase (called an upsell). This $50 extra is much more profitable as they already have the check book or credit card out and are ready to purchase – so there is no cost of sale (except for the product cost). Usually upsells are where most of the profit is. (“Would you like fries with that?” This one question puts billions of dollars in McDonalds franchise owner's pockets.) Asking one question – and raking in the extra money.
Find something else you can sell to the clients at time of purchase. If you don’t have something now – go find something. Every business owner has one thing constantly on his or her mind – profits! If you know of a product that your clients would love – go to the supplier of that product and make them a deal. You will help them sell more products in return for a discount on the purchase price (so you can make some money).
Put some thought into this – what else would your clients like to buy.
Ask them.
Notice what other people are doing to upsell at the till or at time of order. Test it out in your business. And make sure that everyone that takes orders is asking for the upsell. Doesn’t do much good if only 30% of your people are asking the clients.
3.) Get your clients to buy more often – Most people only buy products and services at the frequency they should when they are reminded. Without a reminder, it is very easy to forget?… or put off. Think about it – without the dentist reminding you to book your check-up for six months from now – or your doctor making sure you get your yearly – it is so much easier to put it off for a while.
Right? Same goes with your own product or service.
If you have a product that is consumable, or should be replaced every xx months – make sure you are in a position to contact your clients to remind them.
Even if you have a one-time purchase product, there are probably other products that you could sell to them after the fact. Maybe they replace the product every 10 years and just bought. What if there was a new special report that came out that shows the advanced secrets to using your products that has never been revealed before. Or maybe it is a car – should last them 5 to 10 years or so. What if one year down the road you offer them a deal through a joint venture partner to give them an interior shampoo and clean that will extend the life of their interior by a couple more years.
Use your imagination here a little and do some brainstorming on what else your clients could use that enhances their experience with your product or service. There must be something. If you don’t find it and bring it up to your clients?… someone else will and they will start buying elsewhere.
Once again, the best way to keep in touch with your clients is through a direct mail campaign. Every month or so, send them an offer for something. Or even just send them a monthly tips newsletter – the point is to keep your name in front of them so that when they are ready to buy again, or they know someone that is ready to buy, then you are the first person they think of.
Many people get concerned about mailing their clients that often, thinking it is too much. It is not too much if you provide them with a good reason to get in touch, an incentive to buy from you again or a great story to tell. It is proven that if you make $XXX dollars from your client list by mailing once a year, you will double the $XXX amount by mailing twice a year. It will double again if you start mailing every three months and so on.
The optimal frequency is once a month – with a compelling offer, tip or story to tell.
To summarize?… most of your profits will come from your clients AFTER they have first bought from you.
It is your duty to keep in touch with them, find out more about them, treat them like gold, offer them additional products and services that can change their life and make it more enjoyable for them.
Show them you are an expert in your field, that you understand them and their situation in life, that you have solutions to their common problems and most importantly that you care more for them than you care about your own business.
I have tested two different ways of doing the special report. One of which makes the report the actual sales letter for your offer. The other gives them a content type report and the sales letter follows. Both work exceptionally. The method I am using right now with the ad I showed last week using the report first (in that case it is two booklets and a DVD). I tested the sales letter/report combination first – but this method is returning me greater sales and ROI.
Again – it is all about you testing the variations of everything we have covered.
Only your customers will determine what works best?… no one else. When they buy at greater frequency and profit – you have a winner.
Invest two hours this week and create a few variations of your display ad – and then your special report (break it into two 1-hour sessions to make sure it happens). It may take you more than two hours – but at least get it started.
Display ads and the report are simple little tools that you can create quickly. Once you have them tested and working at optimal performance – you have a solid money making funnel you can use to generate as many new paying clients as you can handle.
Let me know how your tests go!
The day you fall in love with your clients more than you love your business is the day that you move forward at a rapid pace to living the life you have always dreamed of.
To your success,
Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Looking for resources related to this article? Try some of these.
Looking for more of Troy’s articles? Check these out.
Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.
?
To your success,
Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Looking for resources related to this article? Try some of these.
Looking for more of Troy’s articles? Check these out.
Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.
A Final Note:
If you have specific subjects you would like addressed, or have any comments on what you have seen here, please send me a message and I will see how I can help.
“To escape criticism – do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”
— Elbert Hubbard
Turning Your Leads Into Buyers
In this issue:
Fellow Business Builder,
Thank you for your excellent response to my article “How to Write Lead Generation Display Ads.” Some of your comments hit a note with me and I first wanted to address these before moving on to the actual templates for creating your display ads.
Steve had said “I never even thought of doing non-traditional small display ads. I feel like a fool.”
My thoughts to you Steve are – don’t feel like a fool – feel like an awakening! Most people look at display ads in a certain way, and it can be difficult to see new ways of looking at them. Which is the problem. After seeing hundreds of display ads in a day or week, all following the same useless format, it’s no wonder we have a tough time seeing the alternatives. This approach works really well for small businesses. It is simple to implement. And it gets you solid results. Try it out and please let us know how it goes.
Olan said “Great article Troy. One question: Where is the Ad for the house painter that you wrote? I don't see it in this article.”
Hi Olan. As Mr. Burns (from the Simpsons) would say – eeeeexxxxxcellent! My house painter advertisement was so deceptive you didn’t even notice it was an ad! The point to running this type of ad in the Yellow Pages is to make it look like an article or warning notice. In the middle of all those same-old-same-old type of ads – yours will be the one and only that looks like something useful to those in need.
Carolyn said “I just finished writing a space ad for a company using this approach. I suggested they offer five free special reports, thinking that at least one of the five would hit a hot button and get the phones ringing. You can tell me if you think that was too much.”
Hi Carolyn. My personal thoughts are for you to space out all the reports and send them individually. Rather than receive all five at once (which chances are they won’t read them all) – send them 7-10 days apart. The overwhelm factor may kick in with too many at once, so this gives you multiple opportunities for follow up. But, this is something you need to test. With 100 of the leads – test sending each separately. With the next 100 send two at a time. The next 100 – all at once. See which version works best. (You must track everything you do to ensure the winner.)
Great questions and comments – thank you!
Below you will see some sample templates for creating your own two-step lead generation system. What we need to do is start designing the ad, the report, and the sales letter – all at once. Today we are focusing on the display ad and the report.
Sample best selling headlines for you to play with
and modify to suit your business
(1) What Your Lawyer Doesn't Want You to Know
Change to: What your ____ accountant, dry cleaner, mechanic, etc. _____ hopes you NEVER Find Out
(2) The Truth About Getting Rich
Change to: The truth about doing your own ______ home maintenance, tutoring, car repairs, home sales, etc._____
(3) A Little Mistake That Cost a Farmer $3,000 a Year
Change to: The silly little oversight that cost this ____ family, manager, student, realtor, etc.____ his/her ___________
(4) Get Rid of Money Worries for Good
Change to: Get rid of your ___back pains, flab, teenager problems, retirement, etc. _____ worries once and for all!
Sample Display Advertisement Template
Best Headline (test in quotes and without) FREE Report is yours for the asking?…
If you seriously want to … this may be one of the most important things you ever read.
My name is _____ … and I admit it _____?… story continues.
I want to share with you my ___?… that guarantees you ____?… FREE.
All you need to do is use what I give you and your ___ will improve. Why free? Because _______________, and I have a little something to give back.
Call me at xxx.xxx.xxxx … leave your info and I will send you the “Special Report Name” Report and a ________ called “_____________”.
Just call xxx.xxx.xxxx right now and I will mail it out to you immediately. No catch.
One I ran with great success – easily modified to fit your business
(average price to run ad this size – $400-$500)
If A Corporate World Flunky Can Write A Simple Letter That Made $47,857 In 48 Hrs – What Can You Do In Your Business?
FREE report is yours for the asking
If you seriously want to improve your income over the next 12 months, this may be one of the most important things you ever read.
My name is Troy White and I admit it – I’m a corporate world flunky. Tired of it, I left to start my own business and discovered the 3 steps to growing your small business (and income)?… rapidly. Easily repeatable, and simple to follow.
I want to share with you my 3-step formula that guarantees you double your income?… FREE.
All you need to do is use what I give you and your income will improve. Why free? Because Business Edge has been a great group to work with, and I have a little something to give back.
Call me at 999.555.1212 … leave your info and I will send you the “3 Ways To Grow Your Business” Report and a best-selling book called The Success Formula.
Just call 999.555.1212 right now and I will mail it out to you immediately. No catch.
NOTE: I leave them two options to respond now. If you read my earlier articles, you will see my newest version of this that is working exceptionally.
In the past I used just a recorded message – now I use the Web and the recorded message. I find 70% of people will go directly to the website and fill out the form – but the other 30% will pick up the phone and leave their information there.
This is the Free Report Offered – along with the sales letter that goes along with it. Try and understand what makes this sequence work – and how it can be modified to fit your business.
FREE REPORT
There are only 3 ways to grow your business?…
don’t make it too complicated – by Troy White
www.SmallBusinessCopywriter.com
999-555-1212
“Turning Your Words Into Wealth”
Every single small business was started with a dream. Provide good products and services, help others with their needs, continually grow and strengthen, and lastly, to put a healthy profit back into the business so that the business owner can enjoy the fruits of their labor.
The breakdown seems to occur as business owners get wrapped up in day-to-day business and forget about the most important parts of their dream – growth and profits.
Without profit, you are closing your doors, employees are out of work and your clients have to look elsewhere for a new supplier.
A very sad day?… that can be avoided.
Continual growth within your company is critical. And growth can happen one of three ways.
You can?…
Almost 95% of business focus on only one of these – and that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.
Everyone focuses in on getting more clients – and that’s it.
Get more clients, get more clients, get more clients?… and then once they get a new client and sell them something – they drop them like a sack of potatoes.
Never contacted again, never a thank you, never a reminder to buy again – just take the money and run.
Let me ask you this?… when you buy something of value (let’s say $500 or more), it is a significant investment – right?
Sounds typical? Usually that is the case.
Now imagine this?… two days later you get an urgent piece of mail (couriered to you) from the person you bought from. Inside is a nice little surprise gift and thank you card.
Very nice!
Not very often you even get a thank you, let alone a gift.
Five days later, you get another letter in the mail from that same person. This time, in honor of your patronage, they send you a $50 gift certificate if you ever want to come back for something else.
Another week goes by and you get another letter – this time there is special offer for preferred clients on an item you have been thinking of buying but never got around to it. They are offering a closed door special evening with wine and cheese, entertainment for the kids, and some nice door prizes for showing up.
What do you think the chances are that you would go back and buy again? Ninety-nine out of a hundred people would probably go back – especially if they had been thinking of this type of product before – heck, even just show up for the freebies and wine and cheese.
I am going to let you in on a secret?…
The system I just described will bring you up to ten times the amount of profits you are getting now (and in many cases, much more)!
And yet, almost no one in business does it.
Why?
Two reasons really – lack of knowledge about the system, and laziness.
That’s it – one of those two reasons is what is holding you back from tripling or quadrupling your profits with relatively little work.
I am going to help you with the one reason – lack of knowledge.
From there, it is entirely up to you to implement it into your business.
Fact: If you use a direct sales force, it can cost upwards of $300 per sales call now (based on recent research done). Time, resources, administration etc?… all add up to cost you huge dollars!
Once you have a client – it is your duty to treat them like absolute gold. If you don’t?… someone else will. And the incremental cost to sell something else to this client is almost nothing.
Yet, most business owners forget this, and move on to the next new client?… costing themselves another $300 – instead of $0 – something is definitely wrong here!
Two examples: I asked a friend of mine the other day about his business. He has been in the renovation business for 15 years and has done well for himself. I asked him how many clients he had sold to in that period of time – approximately 5,000 or more had bought something from him. Then I asked him the clincher – have you ever asked them for more business or contacted them again? Guess what – no, he never has. Possible business lost – tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. If he had a follow-up system to contact them again – he would be much further ahead than he is today.
Another case: A couple years ago, I invested $2,000 in some children’s educational products (books, videos, games, courses, etc.). It was an awesome package, and they had a great sales process. Very happy with what I got for the money. Never once, did I ever hear from them again! I phoned the president and asked him about this – his attitude was that it is up to the client to contact them. Awful – I spent $2,000 with them, and he thinks I should contact him again to buy more? If he actually had a program in place to follow-up – I would probably pay $50 – $100 per month for additional products and services for my kids.
This is so common in business, that it is not funny at all. Each and every business owner with this attitude is losing thousands of dollars per month – without even knowing it!
So, how can it be fixed?
Like I said – there are three ways to grow a business. And I will share with you how any business can grow all three ways with relatively little cost – and incredible returns.
And yes, direct mail works in EVERY business. It is cheap, effective and very powerful if done right.
Learning to write effective copy can be the most lucrative skill you can use in your business. Effective copy can be used in direct mail pieces, postcards, thank you cards, upsell offers, advertising, Yellow Pages, faxes, e-mails, websites, business cards?… the list goes on.
Learn to write effective copy!
Or find a copywriter that writes direct response copy.
Very important – do not hire an ad agency unless they write direct response copy pieces. Otherwise you will get a real pretty advertisement that wins them an award, costs you a small fortune – and doesn’t get you one client!
Mail out direct pieces to targeted businesses and people. You can buy or rent mailing lists from reputable list brokers – look up mailing list brokers in your Yellow Pages. Tell them exactly who you are targeting – 45+ year old males, white collar job, 2.5 kids, drives a BMW, makes $107,000+ per year, has a DVD player and has 2 cats and a dog. Yes, you can buy lists that specific – the perfect client – yours for the mailing.
Test out 100 or even 500 names. See what response you get. You will surprise yourself!
Always remember, though – the copy is the most important piece you can have in your sales arsenal. A good sales letter is as good as your best sales person. Basically that’s exactly what a good sales letter is – a clone of your best sales person’s best sales pitch.
(Hint: One of the best ways to write a sales letter is this – get your best sales person in their selling ‘mode’ (be it practicing or actually in front of clients) and have them record their sales pitch, along with objections and questions the typical client brings up. Have this tape transcribed into text. Cut it up and paste it together like a real letter. Put a killer headline in there to get their attention. And test it out in a mailer.)
Direct mail will help you get new clients – period. So start using it. Especially in this day and age with the state of e-mail and spam – direct, physical mail is almost a rarity. Learn to use it in your business and you will rapidly grow your business and the number of new clients you have.
Find something else you can sell to the clients at time of purchase. If you don’t have something now – go find something. Every business owner has one thing constantly on his or her mind – profits! If you know of a product that your clients would love – go to the supplier of that product and make them a deal. You will help them sell more products in return for a discount on the purchase price (so you can make some money).
Put some thought into this – what else would your clients like to buy.
Ask them.
Notice what other people are doing to upsell at the till or at time of order. Test it out in your business. And make sure that everyone that takes orders is asking for the upsell. Doesn’t do much good if only 30% of your people are asking the clients.
Right? Same goes with your own product or service.
If you have a product that is consumable, or should be replaced every xx months – make sure you are in a position to contact your clients to remind them.
Even if you have a one-time purchase product, there are probably other products that you could sell to them after the fact. Maybe they replace the product every 10 years and just bought. What if there was a new special report that came out that shows the advanced secrets to using your products that has never been revealed before. Or maybe it is a car – should last them 5 to 10 years or so. What if one year down the road you offer them a deal through a joint venture partner to give them an interior shampoo and clean that will extend the life of their interior by a couple more years.
Use your imagination here a little and do some brainstorming on what else your clients could use that enhances their experience with your product or service. There must be something. If you don’t find it and bring it up to your clients?… someone else will and they will start buying elsewhere.
Once again, the best way to keep in touch with your clients is through a direct mail campaign. Every month or so, send them an offer for something. Or even just send them a monthly tips newsletter – the point is to keep your name in front of them so that when they are ready to buy again, or they know someone that is ready to buy, then you are the first person they think of.
Many people get concerned about mailing their clients that often, thinking it is too much. It is not too much if you provide them with a good reason to get in touch, an incentive to buy from you again or a great story to tell. It is proven that if you make $XXX dollars from your client list by mailing once a year, you will double the $XXX amount by mailing twice a year. It will double again if you start mailing every three months and so on.
The optimal frequency is once a month – with a compelling offer, tip or story to tell.
To summarize?… most of your profits will come from your clients AFTER they have first bought from you.
It is your duty to keep in touch with them, find out more about them, treat them like gold, offer them additional products and services that can change their life and make it more enjoyable for them.
Show them you are an expert in your field, that you understand them and their situation in life, that you have solutions to their common problems and most importantly that you care more for them than you care about your own business.
I have tested two different ways of doing the special report. One of which makes the report the actual sales letter for your offer. The other gives them a content type report and the sales letter follows. Both work exceptionally. The method I am using right now with the ad I showed last week using the report first (in that case it is two booklets and a DVD). I tested the sales letter/report combination first – but this method is returning me greater sales and ROI.
Again – it is all about you testing the variations of everything we have covered.
Only your customers will determine what works best?… no one else. When they buy at greater frequency and profit – you have a winner.
Invest two hours this week and create a few variations of your display ad – and then your special report (break it into two 1-hour sessions to make sure it happens). It may take you more than two hours – but at least get it started.
Display ads and the report are simple little tools that you can create quickly. Once you have them tested and working at optimal performance – you have a solid money making funnel you can use to generate as many new paying clients as you can handle.
Let me know how your tests go!
The day you fall in love with your clients more than you love your business is the day that you move forward at a rapid pace to living the life you have always dreamed of.
To your success,
Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Looking for resources related to this article? Try some of these.
Looking for more of Troy’s articles? Check these out.
Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.
?
To your success,
Troy White
Editor, Small Business Mastery
Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Looking for resources related to this article? Try some of these.
Looking for more of Troy’s articles? Check these out.
Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.
A Final Note:
If you have specific subjects you would like addressed, or have any comments on what you have seen here, please send me a message and I will see how I can help.
“To escape criticism – do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”
— Elbert Hubbard