Author Archive | Lawrence

If you’re an experienced online marketer, you may never have considered working with brick and mortar type businesses, but after reading this you might rethink your position.

First, it’s great money.

Second, it’s great money FAST.

Third, you don’t actually need to do any of the work yourself, since you can outsource everything.

The hard part? Getting clients. At least, it tends to be hard for most marketers trying to run a marketing business for offline clients.

But I’m going to show you how to get all the clients you want, using three easy techniques.

All three of the techniques center on one thing – offering a FREE 20 minute consultation about why their website isn’t getting them enough customers, and how to fix it.

Think about it – how many businesses want more customers? Nearly all of them.

How many businesses would like those customers to find them on the internet and then walk in the door, ready to buy? Nearly all of them.

And how many businesses would like someone to tell them why their website is doing such a lousy job of getting new customers, and how they can fix it?

Just about all of them.

So your offer is going to be a free 20 minute consultation on why their website isn’t getting them business and how it can be fixed. Totally free, no obligation, no nothing beyond you honestly and earnestly helping them.

There are two keys to your offer – first, it’s only 20 minutes. Most business owners are happy to find 20 minutes to have an expert look over their site and give them some helpful advice.

Second, you are going in without expectation of self-profit. Your entire motive is to help them. And when you think like this, it will show. They’ll let their guard down and have a real conversation with you.

And more often than not, they’ll also hire you to do the work for them.

The three methods you’ll use to get these appointments are:

• Posting on Craigslist or a comparable website if you’re outside of the U.S. Of the three methods, this one tends to get the lowest response. Yet the appointments you do get – perhaps 1 to 2 per week – will very often result in a sale. However, if you scale this up and post in numerous cities, this method alone can be enough to keep you busy. You’ll just have to conduct your appointments via Skype or phone. Be sure to find ways to post that don’t conflict with Craigslist rules, since they can sometimes get a little cranky if you post the same ad in multiple cities.
• Create cards that you leave in strategic places. First, create your cards. They could be brochures, or they can be oversized business cards. Spend plenty of time getting your wording just right. Next, scout your locations. You want to find places where business owners have down time – for example, accountants, suppliers, repair shops, computer shops, etc. Mark each card with a code so you can give a commission to the business where your new customer found your card. Done correctly, this will yield several appointments per week.
• Email business owners directly. You can generally find their email address on their website, or you’ll find a ‘contact me’ form. Either way, let them know you’ve been studying their website. You’ve discovered 3 things they could be doing to bring in a whole lot more customers, and you’d be happy to stop by and show them what those things are.

And finally, because you go in with no expectation of self-profit, business owners will feel completely confident in recommending you to other business owners.

This will be a natural outcome of your business model, but it’s not the one to rely on. Some months you’ll get several referrals, and other months you might not get any.

So when they come, be thankful, be happy, and by all means go out of your way to show appreciation to the person who referred the new business owner to you.

Start offering free consultations, and deliver great value to everyone you meet with! Before long, you’ll have more people wanting to do business with you than you can handle by yourself. In fact, the next skill you’ll need for growing your business after implementing the action plan above is learning how to outsource or hire effectively! 😉

None of these take much time, but any one of them can add significant sales to your bottom line. Or try all six, and see your sales explode.

Your Prospects Are Afraid…

Provide your real contact information, including name, company name, snail mail address (physical is better than P.O.) and phone number.

Why? Because your prospects are afraid you are not who you say you are.

On your ‘about me’ page, provide all of this info again, along with photos of you, any employees you have and maybe even your location. Make it super easy to trust you and you’ll get more sales.

Elevate Your Prospects’ Status to Make More Sales

People want to prove they are better than others and have people look up to them. This isn’t bad, it’s just human nature. And you can use this tidbit of knowledge to make more sales, too.

Play up to this tendency to feel more important. Show prospects how buying your product will raise their status among peers, friends, family, etc. Show them how important they will become as a direct result of buying your product.

Have Your Sales Message Come from a Peer

One of the ‘secrets’ to boosting response of your sales message is to have it come from a peer of your ideal prospect.

In other words, you want your message to come from someone of the same group you are selling to.

Are you selling to women in their 40’s? Have your message come from a woman in her 40’s. Selling to investors? Have your message come from another investor, and so forth.

You can likely take any promotion you are running right now, change the message to come from the prospect’s peer, and increase your response considerably.

This technique is even more important when you are selling to someone who is highly skeptical. Nothing melts resistance faster than hearing a message from someone you perceive to be very much like yourself. Split test this and see the response – I think you’ll be shocked at the increase in sales you experience from this simple technique.

Focus on the Benefits of the Benefits

You already know how important benefits are to the selling process. Features are great, but it’s the benefits that sell. For example, that weight loss book is pretty and it has 300 pages – those are features. The benefit is the reader will lose weight if they follow the plan laid out in the book.

But what are the benefits of the benefits?

In the above example, ask yourself what are the benefits to losing weight? For example:

• Looking better
• Feeling better
• Becoming more attractive
• Living longer
• Fitting into clothes they already own
• More confidence
• Turning heads and getting dates
• And so forth.

Talking about just the main benefit – in this case, losing weight – isn’t enough. You want to dig deeper and expound on all the benefits your customer is going to get, and then paint a picture of their new life after they use your product.

Find the Story

Every product has a story buried somewhere – you just have to dig it out.

For example, look at this headline from John Carlton:

“Amazing Secret Discovered by One-Legged Golfer adds 50 Yards to Your Drives, Eliminates Hooks and Slices… And Can Slash up to 10 Strokes from Your Game Almost Overnight!”

I have zero interest in golf. None. Yet after reading this headline, I want to know about the one-legged golfer.

Now imagine if I did golf – and imagine what all the golfers who read this headline did. Yup – guaranteed, they couldn’t help but keep reading to find out about that one-legged golfer.

That’s the power of a good story.

Get More Micro-Commitments

The more a person commits to something, the less likely they will change their mind.

For example, if you can get someone to opt-in to two or more of your lists, they are more committed to staying on your lists.

And get this… they are also more likely to make purchases, too.

It’s a principle of psychology that the more a person commits to something, the more likely they are to stick with it for the long haul.

For example, someone might say they are going to start running. But all they do is say it – they don’t do anything else – and within a week they’ve forgotten all about it.

But if that same person buys new running shoes and clothes, visits running websites, subscribes to a running magazine and joins a running club, then I can almost guarantee they’re going to run.

It’s the same with your lists. If you can get subscribers to opt in to multiple lists, they become more committed to you and to the niche or topic itself.

So let’s say your niche is dogs. You might ask your new subscribers to opt in to a special course on potty training, another course on bad behavior modification, another course just on their particular breed of dog and so forth.

By getting more of these micro-commitments from your readers, you greatly increase the odds they will become your customers and even purchase from you multiple times.

Now how great is that? Apply these 6 forgotten tips, and start making more sales!

Manny Khoshbin arrived in the U.S. at age 14 when his family fled civil unrest in Iran. They were penniless and lived in a station wagon for weeks before finally affording an apartment. Manny got his first job at Kmart, stocking shelves for $3.15 an hour. Fast forward to today and he’s a multi-millionaire.

His advice?

• Have BIG Goals. “Average goal-setting techniques create average results, Khoshbinn warns. He says you need to be more aggressive in charting exactly where you want to be in 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 years. “Set goals you can 100 percent commit to each year, and then stick to them.”
• Make a Plan. “You can’t drive from point A to B if you can’t see where you’re going,” Khoshbin says. So plan every step of the journey to achieving each one of your 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 year goals.
• Learn from the Best. To get to the top, you must become really good at what you do. Surround yourself with successful, like-minded people and learn everything that you can about your business. Experts aren’t born, they’re made, which means you can become an expert at whatever you choose.
• Check in Every Week. Once a week sit down with your goal list and see if you’re on the right path. Make adjustments, decide what needs to be done and let your subconscious find the solutions and paths to achieving your goals throughout the week.
• Be Stubborn. Too many people give up before they reach their goal. Remind yourself daily on why you are doing this in the first place. You might want to write out your big “Why” and tack it to the wall in front of your desk, to be reminded daily of why you are working hard to achieve your dreams.

One last note: If a Kmart stock boy can become a multi-millionaire… what can you accomplish?

I received a marketing email telling me how GREAT a new video making product is, because it works in conjunction with a piece of software almost everyone already has.

Cool!

So I go to check it out, and guess what?

They NEVER show you what the videos you’ll be making will look like.

Not ONE single example!

Worse still, the video they use to sell the video maker is a regular talking head type of video, NOT the kind you’re supposed to be able to make with this software.

What thinking person will take this offer seriously?

It’s like someone trying to sell you their artwork without letting you SEE the artwork.

If you’re selling software, and especially video creation software, let people see what it can do, rather than just telling them.

Otherwise, who’s going to believe you?

Do you have a list? Or do you have access to a list? (Think JV with a list owner)… If so, you have the potential to make money fast.

Let’s explore some possibilities… I received an email the other day from a mate who is changing niches. Apparently he is moving from IM to the coaching niche. And as he’s transitioning over, he’s making one last offer to his IM list:

For six weeks, he will answer any questions you have about IM in the areas he knows best. Not only will he answer every question within 24 hours – he will also point you to a great resource that explains his answer in detail.

For this, he is charging about $300.

Think about it – he knows his niche. He knows how to do online marketing. So answering questions is pretty simple for him, I’m sure. But he’s also pointing to a resource for every answer he gives.

Frankly, as long as you are somewhat familiar with your niche and good at using Google, you can do this, too.

Receive the money, stay on top of your emails, spend 5 minutes (or less) researching a good article that answers each question in depth, and you’ve got it.

You might be thinking, “What if people ask stuff I don’t know?” Google it. “What if they bombard me with a million questions?” It won’t happen. Maybe the first day or two they will, but after a while they’re going to run out of questions. After the first two weeks, I bet you don’t even hear from some of your students.

I don’t see why anyone with a halfway decent knowledge of their niche can’t perform this service.

And who says you can only do it once? You can offer this service over and over again, as many times as you want.

Google is your research partner. And list owners are your JV partners.

One thing – make sure you really do send your people honest, accurate and useful info. After all, you want to help others as much as possible. That’s the way business works. 💡

Take a look at your monthly subscriptions – software, autoresponders, membership sites – and then decide to make them pay for themselves.

Sign up as an affiliate for each one, post a review for each on your website along with your affiliate link, and then add a resources link on your main page.

No, you won’t make a fortune this way, but you will likely make enough to more than cover all of these monthly expenses.

And with some of the expensive upgrades available on subscriptions, you might also find yourself making some good money along the way, too.

In fact, your profits can be increased further if you optimize your reviews for Google, and point some good quality backlinks to them. Then you can start picking up free traffic to your reviews whenever people search for the product you’ve reviewed in Google and other search engines. Done well, you can have an entire side business built on reviewing products and services you are using yourself.

If you’re trying to contact people via email and they’re ignoring your messages, here’s what you do. Send them the “magic” email.

I didn’t name this. In fact, you can find several good articles about the magic email online.

And no, it’s not really magic. But in many cases it does indeed get a person to talk to you and even invite you for a meeting.

It works like this:

You’ve sent out one or more emails to your leads. Some have answered, some have not. Some of those who initially answered are now ignoring you.

For all those who are not communicating, send them this email:

“Since I have not heard from you on this, I have to assume your priorities have changed.”

You can add to this or send it as is. I’m told (I haven’t tried this myself) that your response rate will typically be 50% or more, which is really, really good.

Why does it work? Because you don’t sound needy. Heck, you don’t sound like you need them at all. You’re making it clear you are moving on. And when you take something away from someone, what happens? They suddenly WANT it. So they reply back – often immediately – to try to keep you from walking away.

Try it – you’ve got nothing to lose and plenty of sales to be gained.

So, you’ve decided to start a home based business. Congratulations, and welcome to the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship. While there is a lot to learn, your effort will be worth it. The thrill of growing your business, the freedom and flexibility to set your own hours, and the possibilities of ever-increasing financial rewards are all wonderful reasons to start a home based business.

Now that you’ve decided to start your business, you might be wondering “How can I get it off to the strongest possible start?” These 7 tips will help:

Set up a separate working space in your home. It doesn’t matter if this is a small bedroom, one part of the garage, or a corner of the living room. I used to work out of my closet. The important thing is to have some space that you can designate as your working area. This will give you the space and room you need to craft your dream.

Stock your working space with materials. This sounds basic, perhaps, but one underlying element of success is that you have easy access to the tools, materials, and other resources you need. Gathering everything close by also keeps you from wasting time searching for it, so this step can be considered a time management strategy, too.

Speaking of time management, your third step is to define the parameters of your business. What days and hours will you work? When will you do your marketing? When will you provide services or products to clients? How will you keep all of this straight?

Balance action with planning. One of the most common pitfalls to successful entrepreneurship is getting too caught up in action without enough planning. Stated another way, this means that you confuse “being busy” with “working on important projects.” The best approach is to plan your next couple of goals and then work backwards to create step-by-step action plans to reach them. Once you have the plan, then it’s time to take action.

Network like crazy. One of the fastest ways to grow any business is to make connections with other people. Be sure to share your passion and enthusiasm with others at every opportunity. Let people know who you are and what you offer. Remember, people can’t buy if they don’t know you’re selling.

Present a professional image. If you want to be treated professionally, present a professional image. Set up a separate bank account for your business. Install a separate phone and fax line. Create professional marketing materials. Be courteous and pleasant in all your customer-facing interactions. Basically, be someone people want to do business with.

Automate your business as much as possible. Granted, you are just one person (right now) and might have a lot of extra time to take care of all the details. This might work for now, but won’t work into the future as you get busier and busier. It’s best to set up automatic systems and processes right from the start to free up your time to concentrate on the most profitable activities.

Working at home can be a dream come true for many people, and these days with computers and the internet, it’s more realistic than ever before. That said, building a business requires strong prioritizing skills and self discipline to take action toward your goals. If you have these qualities and are committed to doing whatever it takes to be successful, the dream of working from home can soon become your reality.

Don’t quit your day job just yet. If you are a baby boomer looking to start a home business, there are 5 essential things you must do first.

Leaving the security of a job with an established 401(k) plan, health insurance or other benefits can create a real tug of war for baby boomers who want to pursue their dreams of owning their own business.

Analyze Your Exit Strategy

At the time of this writing, the youngest of the baby boomers are turning 42 and the oldest are turning 60. No matter where you fall into this group, analyzing and preparing your exit strategy from your job will be crucial to your long-term success as a home business entrepreneur. Do you have adequate savings? If you’re married, will you be able to participate in your spouse’s health insurance?

Create a Financial Plan

How much is your salary now? What are your fixed, variable and frivolous expenses? Create a solid plan so that you and your family will know exactly what the financial picture will be until your business gets off the ground and starts generating revenue.

Choosing a Business Model and Legal Entity

There are several business models to choose from; home party plans, consulting, and affiliate marketing to name a few. You have to make the decision based on your personality and what you are best-suited for. Choosing a legal entity for your business should be discussed with a tax accountant or your attorney. Options are sole proprietor, LLC or Subchapter S- Corp.

Set Business Benchmarks

You wouldn’t travel across the country without a road map, your business is the same. Setting financial and business-building benchmarks will help you to create a focused plan that will help you to reach your success.

Get a Physical

What does getting a physical have to do with your business? Once you leave your job, most likely your health insurance will change and as unfair as it may be, trying to get new health insurance when in your 40’s, 50’s or 60’s can be difficult. While pursuing your dreams of a home business is something you are probably very passionate about, if you do not have good health to enjoy the rewards of your efforts, not much else is important.

The baby boomer generation is like no other before it or after it. Technically, we are considered middle-aged, but we are anything but middle-aged in mind, body and spirit. We know there is more meaning to life than a commute to an unrewarding 9-5 job, but there are also important steps we must take first. Planning and preparing for your home business now will reduce headaches later on, and increase opportunities for success.

One of the attractions of working at home is the vision of freedom it invokes — no time clock, no time sheets, and no one to account to for how you spend your time. Yes, it is an attractive proposition, but like so many attractive propositions there is a heavy downside — you are likely wasting a lot of time.

I used to loathe making a daily schedule for my work and have always dismissed it as a waste of time — that is until my home business really took off and I realized there simply wasn’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all my goals if I didn’t have a solid daily plan.

I now have my own spreadsheet and agenda for the day and I have improved my productivity and reduced my stress immeasurably. If you don’t think you need a schedule for your home business then think again — and read on.

After a spate of relatively unproductive days when my “To Do” list seemed to grow exponentially every time I looked at it I knew something had to change.

Granted I was going through a rough patch. My home business was experiencing growing pains and taking up more than the usual time, my home life was putting a lot of extra demands on me, and my extended family was experiencing a number of crises that required my input as well. But I’m also old enough to know there is never a perfect time in life — you just live the one you’ve got. These are simply the problems I’m dealing with this year… Next year these problems will be traded in for new fresh ones.

After studying my time and chatting with some other work-at-home folks, I discovered five reasons to embrace a schedule:

1. It’s too easy to waste time doing non-priority tasks
2. It’s too easy to get sidetracked or distracted from your current task
3. Unscheduled work time can often overlap into your free time costing you freedom
4. Your free time can cross into your work time so you fall behind with important projects
5. Concentrating your time and effort on highest priority projects means more gets done

I’m not the only work at home business person using a daily schedule. I recently participated in an online forum discussion where men and women had moved to embrace a schedule in their own business — and found it more freeing than restrictive. After all, you are still the one setting the schedule so you are free to schedule yourself off for a 3-hour lunch, an afternoon, or a whole day whenever you choose.

If you find it difficult setting up your schedule and priorities for the day and week then perhaps your significant other or a friend can help you set your schedule. The important thing is to set one, and hold yourself accountable to it. As you do, your productivity will improve, and your business will grow faster.

Just because you work from home, doesn’t mean you can afford to be loose with your schedule. In fact, you probably need to be even more disciplined with your schedule than if you worked outside the home, because there will be many more distractions at home trying to pull you into non-work activity.