Month: May 2011

Why do We Believe the Big Fat Lies about Internet Marketing?

Post author By
Post date May 19, 2011

As you may know, I am on a MISSION to shine a great big TRUTH spotlight on all the Big Fat Lies you’re most likely telling yourself about Internet Marketing right now.

However, I can only do so much.

I can tell you what the truth is. And you may even believe it. (In your head that is.)

But then, come the darkest part of the night, you’ll wake up in a sweat. And you’ll be thinking: “What if Michele is wrong? What if the reason why I’m having so much trouble succeeding on the Internet really IS all about me?”

During the day it’s easy to be rational. We understand in our heads that some marketing strategies will succeed, some will fail, and the best way to grow a successful business is to analyze why the failures failed and use that information to create more successes.

But in the dead of night, all of those good, objective intentions can fly away, leaving us alone with our doubts, fears, frustrations and anxiety.

So what IS it about these Big Fat Internet Marketing Lies that can wreak such havoc in our mental and emotional health?

This is what I believe — marketing pushes entrepreneurs’ hot buttons more than anything else out there.

Think about it. What other activity do you do for your business that is knotted up with all these MAJOR fears and blocks you’re dragging around right now? Marketing DIRECTLY relates to:

Fear of success
Fear of failure
Fear of visibility (including being seen, becoming famous, etc.)
Any blocks you have around making money
Any issues you have around the value you offer to your clients or the world
And more

The problem is, if you want to make enough money in your business to actually live on (much less get rich with your business) you’re going to have to make marketing a priority. But if you have any of these blocks or fears rattling around in your head, more likely than not you’re going to self-sabotage your marketing strategies.

(Or find yourself waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with these Big Fat Internet Marketing Lies swirling around in your head.)

Worse, these blocks can also suddenly appear when you start reaching for another level in your business. (It’s like that darn onion — peel away one layer and another one appears.)

So what do you do? Well, first off, knowing there’s a connection between marketing and blocks/fears is a good first step. Now, if you see any sort of sabotage (or find yourself waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat) this is what’s happening.

And the second thing to do is get help.

Because even though I can tell you the truth, I can’t make you believe it. Only you can do that.

Tags copywriting, internet marketing, online marketing strategies, small business marketing strategy, strategic internet marketing

Sales & Marketing

Selling a Price Increase: Is There a Good Time?

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date May 17, 2011

Article Contributed by Mark Hunter

When is the best time to sell a price increase? I get asked this question a lot and my response is “right now.” After I say this and see the expression on the person’s face, I then have to back up my response with my rationale.

Taking a price increase is not something to be taken lightly. It has to be done with confidence, and too often, salespeople will put off taking a price increase under some false belief that if they only wait a couple of weeks, some how things will be better.

Sure, waiting is an option, but often the only thing you’ll experience is more of a belief as to why you can’t take the increase, as well loss of the added revenue during that time frame.

My perspective is you can take a price increase anytime any of the following conditions occur:

1. A competitor has gone up in price.

2. You’ve incurred an increase in your costs.

3. Your customers have just taken their prices up.

4. Other key players in the industry are increasing their prices.

These four reasons are all what I refer to as “market factors,” and any one of them is certainly reason enough to advance.

Keep in mind, though, that just because one of the above is true does not mean you should increase your price. It merely means the marketplace is giving you permission to do so.

Listed below are what I call “value factors.” These are the real reasons why you would want to take a price increase.

1. Has your customer realized added value during the past year from using your products and/or services?

2. Is your customer going to be realizing added value from what you provide them in the year to come?

3. Are there improvements in service or performance you can document that your customer would see value in?

4. Will you be able to increase your strategic importance to your customer in the year to come?

5. Can you show your customer how what you provide them will give them a competitive advantage or minimize their risk in the year to come?

These are the real reasons why you can take a price increase. The reason I say you can take an increase is because your customer is seeing increased value in what it is you provide.

When the customer can see increased value, you have every right to increase your price. Yes, there could very well be other strategic or even tactical reasons why you would still not want to take a price increase. Those questions are going to be answered only when assessing your overall business plan.

Again, my perspective is you should take advantage of increasing your price whenever possible. Being proactive protects your bottom-line and provides you some protection against price increases with which you will have to deal on the production or operation side of what you make.

The more confident and comfortable you become in your pricing – including your price increases – the less likely you will be to devote precious effort and energy to worrying about your pricing. That effort and energy is better spent on showing your customer how the value of your product or service meets their needs and the benefits they desire.

About the Author:

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability. For more information, to receive a free weekly email sales tip, or to read his Sales Motivation Blog, visit www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also follow him on www.Facebook.com/TheSalesHunter, www.Twitter.com/TheSalesHunter and www.LinkedIn.com/in/MarkHunter. Reprinting of this article is welcomed as long as the following is included: Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” www.TheSalesHunter.com, © 2011

Sales & Marketing

Can You Only Market to People Like Yourself?

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date May 16, 2011

Article Contributed by Lynda-Ross Vega

As internet marketers, we draw people to our offerings by shining a spotlight on ourselves, our personality and our unique gifts and talents. The way we do this is by utilizing our “Spotlight Style.”

Much of what we sell is information – products and services based on what we know, and that we think will be of value to others. Our products and services carry a heavy stamp of our own distinctive personality and they ‘Spotlight’ who we are.

Each person’s Spotlight Style is unique to his skills, talents and life experience, but there are high level communalities that can be grouped together. The three Spotlight Styles we have researched are Brand Evangelist, Practical Engineer, and Trusted Advisor. These titles are a shorthand way to understanding the way that people of each style approach marketing and promoting themselves, the types of marketing tools they are comfortable using, and the manner in which they interact with both prospects and clients.

Recently a business owner with whom I was working expressed how excited she was to discover that her natural Spotlight Style supported a whole different approach to marketing than she had been pursuing. She was excited because she wasn’t really comfortable with the tools she was using, but had chosen them because that was what everyone else was using. She saw immediately that the tools highlighted for her style fit her to a tee! She did have one big concern. She was afraid that as she approached marketing in a new and different style, she would lose some of her current clients because they had bought the ‘old’ her. Her concern was based on the belief that she could only attract people who shared her Spotlight Style. She worried that many of her current clients would leave because their style would no longer match her own.

I have run into this concern before- that you can only attract and market to people like yourself. Most often, people initially confuse style with content. In the case of our program participant, she thought that as she chose marketing methods that more accurately reflected her Spotlight Style, what she was marketing would also have to shift and that this shift would cause her to lose clients who liked the ‘old’ products and services. Here’s the great news: content will have a tendency to reflect your style, but awareness of each of the styles will allow you to create copy, products, and services designed to appeal to people with any of the three styles.

Discovering and claiming your Spotlight Style will not limit your appeal to your current or prospective clients. Quite the opposite; as you become more and more comfortable with the natural marketing tools associated with your style, both current and prospective clients will experience and respond to the inner confidence your offerings and your marketing efforts reflect. Additionally, your comfort with yourself and your own talents will lead to a level of solid integrity that will appeal to those who can benefit from what you have to offer independent of your or their style.

So, don’t let anyone tell you that you can only market to people like yourself. Discover your own Spotlight Style and let its brilliance attract all who can benefit from what you have to offer!

About the Author

A partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., Lynda-Ross specializes in helping entrepreneurs and coaches build dynamite teams and systems that WORK. She is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory, a revolutionary psychological assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their deepest potentials for success. For free information on how to succeed as an entrepreneur or coach, create a thriving business and build your bottom line doing more of what you love, visit www.ACIforCoaches.com and www.ACIforEntrepreneurs.com.

Newsletter

BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 115

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date May 15, 2011

Cover Story

HitchSafe Secure

The HitchSafe slides into your current standard Hitch Receiver on your Truck, SUV or Van and is secured inside the Receiver Hitch via two bolt retaining bars inside the HitchSafe. The Hitch Receiver itself is a solid steel vault that combined with the HitchSafe provides the most secure location on your vehicle to store spare keys, credit cards….

Continued in BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 115 >>>

Networking as Your Sole Marketing Vehicle

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date May 15, 2011

Article Contributed by Jeff Beals

As people realize we like them and respect their opinions, they share information about themselves that can be helpful in analyzing whether they can use our products or services.

So says Canadian businessman Michael J. Hughes, who is known as “THE Networking Guru.” Hughes runs a highly successful Ottawa, Ontario-based consulting business that works with Fortune 500 companies and international associations across North America.

The most interesting thing about Hughes’ business? He built it using networking as his sole marketing vehicle.

Networking is simply one of the most important activities in which professionals engage. As Hughes says, the opportunity to create, nurture and develop relationships is one of the most rewarding processes of human activity. If we capitalize on networking opportunities properly, they can be quite profitable for us while making the world a better place for everyone else.

The problem with networking is that too many professionals don’t do it very well. What’s worse is that some people are terribly intimidated by the process.

That’s where Hughes comes in. He breaks networking encounters into six logical steps. To succeed in networking, you need to master all parts of the process:

1. The first five seconds

2. The next 20 seconds

3. The next two minutes

4. The last five seconds

5. The next 24 hours to seven days

6. The final outcome

At the beginning of the networking encounter, Hughes believes the key is to make your discussion partner comfortable. After all, most people are stressed by networking events. You will make a great impression if you take charge, smile, listen carefully and “pretend you’re the host.”

In the next 20 seconds, the key is to build rapport and make your networking partner feel “safe.” Active listening is crucial, because “wanting to know more about a person is one of the biggest compliments we can pay,” Hughes says.

The most important part of the networking process occurs in the next two minutes. Hughes says this is where the real test occurs for both partners. The more you structure the discussion around your partner, the more earnest interest you show in him or her, the more you develop trust.

Once you have trust, your discussion partner is open to your ideas. This is when you present your message, your unique selling point. But don’t get preachy, because as Hughes says, “the objective of networking is to create a relationship, not make a presentation.” The value comes over time.

Trust is especially important if the purpose of your networking efforts is ultimately to make a sale and land a deal. “Selling is a people business, not a product business,” Hughes says. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

When the networking encounter is coming to an end, Hughes recommends you take control in order to transition out of the conversation and help the person bridge to another conversation. In the last five seconds, try to create an opportunity. An offer to keep in touch or a scheduled appointment makes the conversation much more productive.

Finally, be sure to thank the other person for conversing with you and for giving you their precious time.

Lest you think you are done, remember that networking is a process. Follow up with the person or you will eventually be forgotten. That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? Find a legitimate reason – one that benefits the other person – to stay in contact. Not only does follow-up keep you front-of-mind, it makes an impression in other ways. After all, “following through on commitments and promises goes against the grain of how the world works today,” Hughes says. In other words, you will shock people if you’re one of those rare professionals who actually returns email and voice mail messages.

When it’s all said and done, good networking can lead to career-long relationships. This means you might take care of clients together, create referral opportunities and find complementary products. Gaining exposure to others’ networks will increase your opportunities.

By the way, if you would like to learn more about Michael Hughes, go to NetworkingForResults.com.

About the Author:

Jeff Beals is an award-winning author, who helps professionals do more business and have a greater impact on the world through effective sales, marketing and personal branding techniques. As a professional speaker, he delivers energetic and humorous keynote speeches and workshops to audiences worldwide. You can learn more and follow his “Business Motivation Blog” at JeffBeals.com.