Archive for July, 2010
Why Increasing Followers is a Good Revenue Strategy
Posted by: | CommentsIncrease Followers> Increase Market Share then Revenues
That seems too obvious; almost Yogi Bearish.
But let’s say that was your strategy to lead to higher revenues.
Some people blog and tweet to get followers, but maybe it should go further.
Rubio’s recently offered a $2.80 hamburger and fries coupon for their 30th anniversary to everyone on their email list. That is normally a $10 item. Why would they do that?
I went because they are at the end of the pier in Oceanside near my house and I love the dining, but there was a wait to get into a packed house.
Dennys recently (you saw it in the news) gave away free breakfasts that were normally on their menus for at least $4.99. They served 2 million. Why would they do that?
What would you do to get more followers? I like a particular marketing expert that gives away 101 tips on building profits for small business and another that gives you the first 9 chapters of their book over a 30 day period. Why would they do that?
In Relationship Marketing, the idea is to use your keywords to get in front of your ideal prospects and then attract them to your offering. Your offering could be on your website or a Free Report, a coupon, a free service, or even a free sample. (What is Free Information?)
People who push supplements or cosmetics might give you a sample for $3 of a product that costs $40. If you don’t cancel, you will be shipped the product again for $40 in two weeks. I don’t like the practice, but it works for them.
One marketer says you can give away 95% of your expertise to sell 5% and become a millionaire. Most people would be uncomfortable with that formula but it does make a point.
I think the point has to be that in this crazy environment, it is hard to get attention.
It is hard to get people engaged. It is hard to develop trust that you have something worthwhile.
You have to give something away. Developing followers who like samples of your expertise may lead to them trusting you enough to become customers. And while they are following you, they are not following someone else.
If Rubios serves an extra 10,000 hamburgers on their anniversary, they have certainly reduced someone else’s revenues and centered all the attention on themselves. They have earned the opportunity to show their audience why they should come back for a $10 burger or at least a shake.
Get a Free 6 page Report on Building Customers using Automatic Systems
Four strategies to attract followers and convert them to loyal customers
Why is it difficult to get attention from “Crazy-Busy’ executives. Read guru Jill Konrath’s latest book called “Snap Selling”.
Want a comprehensive guide on marketing for small business profits? Corte Sweringens 323 page book on Integral Marketing Systems is the answer.
Call with questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Narrow Your Online Competition;maybe eliminate it.
Posted by: | CommentsSounds outrageous? Its too early to be smoking that stuff?
The economic melt down has made competition more fierce. But at the same time there has been a proliferation of products, services, and media.
People can find anything down to the specific parts of a cell phone. And they don’t have to buy from the manufacturer or store where they purchased.
This is the age of the long tail. What does that mean? Internet pages appear based on the query words you enter. If you want fish you can get millions of pages. Some might have live fish, some the study of fish, some might be how to fish etc.
If you enter “smoked fish” it starts to narrow. If you enter “Cajun smoked blackened fish” it gets even narrower. There are niches you could dominate.
Two things are important. You need a niche with traffic and you need a niche with out too much competition. There is an industry that thrives on this concept. One site http://micronichefinder.com assists you in finding these words.
But you can do the same by using Google Ad words to check traffic and then Googling those words to see how many competitive pages there are.
But I am not suggesting a new business. I am suggesting that if you can find a small niche you can dominate that has traffic, you can start to build extra sales.
But then you can do more. One of my sites http://FreightshippingSeo.com started early as number one on page one Google for those words. But there weren’t any requests for those words. The site is about internet marketing, relationship marketing, new media and so forth. I blog most everyday on those keyword topics.
The “Freight” niche has 56 million pages. The “Shipping” niche has 165 million pages. The “Freight Shipping” niche has 8 million pages. Pretty soon I was appearing on each of those niches for Freight Relationship Marketing, Freight Internet Marketing, Shipping New Media etc.
I was on page one Google and many times number one on page one for over 12 niches the last time I looked. The key was broadcasting the keywords from my site to the point I was dominating the Search Engines on their search for the sites that used those keywords the most.
NewCustomerDevelopment.com is on page one for New Customer Develop using the same process.
It’s a pretty simple formula.
Understand more about keywords and your site
You want to Optimize your site
Your keywords should define your Unique Selling Proposition
Your keywords will attract your Ideal Targets because they are also using those words.
Would you like a Blog site and a Plan? See Our Plan
Call with questions 1-800-646-0717 or email
Are You Hunting for Things Out of Season?
Posted by: | CommentsShould Your Marketing Efforts?
Literally you would not hunt animals or fish out of season. Partially because of big fines, but you just know it isn’t right.
Why are we not more conscious of being efficient in our marketing? The world is waking up to the reality just as we learned that crazy fax machine could actually move things faster. Maybe we should have been more careful about what we wished for.
If you’re marketing becomes more efficient are you ready? You could be doing other things than soliciting people blindly.
Is your organization ready to spend more time providing Free Expertise to targets? Are you ready to stop advertising and ready to start putting out quality information on what you know?
You laugh, but businesses that should, have not shook the Traditional Marketing shackles. It took me a long time to give up cold calling, partly because I liked it.
Fact. In any 24 hour period, globally, there is a large audience seeking information on what you know.
Fact. It would be to your advantage if each of these people could find something you published or made available. Wouldn’t you love to talk to each on the phone for a few minutes?
You can reach them. An optimized website on Page One Google would give you a great start. (its not that difficult). A regular blog that had been developing followers interested in your expertise would tell them what you know and what kind of professional you are.
Developing keywords that are useful and describe your Expertise or Unique Selling Proposition is how they will look for you. Getting your keywords into the right places is how the product and device proliferation phenomena still functions.
Linking is the structure that brings them to you. It is the speed train that brings targets to your door. When they arrive they are pre-qualified in that they are in season. Tweeting is one way to instantly get a global audience.
You lead them to Free Information in the form of Reports, White Papers, Case Studies, FAQs, Newsletters, videos, podcasts, and webinars.. When they exchange their contact information for your free information they become Prospects.
Now you have Prime Targets. You have dropped hunting and become a gatherer.
View 4 Strategies to Collect your Ideal Prospects and convert them to Loyal Customers
Get a Free 6 Page Report on How to Gather Prospects Automatically
Call me with questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Return to FreightShippingSeo Home Page
Find Customers in Their Buying Cycle
Posted by: | CommentsThe Best Way to Know the Customer is in their Buying Cycle is when they contact you.
That contact may be a visit to your website, reading your blog or article, reading your email or responding to a newsletter.
The rest of the time the Suspects are not interested in you or your message.
The expense and ineffectiveness of Traditional Marketing is that Sellers spend a lot of time advertising and contacting people when they have no interest in the message. This can be expensive and deflating.
How many businesses hire commissioned sales people to intrude on others looking for that Buying Cycle? No wonder most commissioned sales people burn out quickly. The Sherpa Marketing Survey discovered 8 out of 10 executives don’t use solicitors.
Relationship Marketing using New Media Technology attracts your ideal targets during their Buying Cycle. This increases your ROI and shortens your Lead to Loyal Customer Cycle.
Let me break it down. Relationship Marketing focuses on attracting, not intruding. But it can be very aggressive. The Buying Cycle is when the Suspect wants to learn about your expertise. The Buying Cycle is when your expertise has risen to the top of their agenda and become a priority.
The rest of the time it is of little interest. This is important to understand for your own efficiency.
The Buying Cycle may last a week to two years depending on the complexity of the purchase. During this time, the Buyer wants reliable information from a trustworthy source.
Your website should not only be a brochure for the traffic you drive, it should be a fountain of information for the people in the NICHE you are trying to serve. Your aggression should be in getting your site at the top of that niche on the internet.
This involves keywords, site optimization, social media publishing, and linking at the minimum. Emailing and Responders play a large role in reaching and following up with anyone interested enough in your message to exchange their email for your information.
This is how Relationship Marketing attracts Suspects, Converts them to Prospects, and then to Loyal Customers. (Suspects, Prospects, Loyal Customers)
(Soon to come-my E book on getting to Page One Google, Converting Suspects to Loyal Customers and following up to get more business and referrals. Sign up to be notified of its arrival. It will sell at the start for only $7.99)
Call me 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Match Your Business With Your Customers Needs
Posted by: | CommentsIn Relationship Marketing, you want to attract Targets looking for your expertise on the problem they need to solve.
You may have a Unique Selling Proposition(USP) that defines your core business and may include how you are better than your competitors. If you sell “inventory software” or are an outsource for “inventory and shipping management”, you may define your USP as “saving customers time in managing inventory” or “reducing order to delivery time.”
Your USP is the tactic Customers need in their strategy of reducing costs. Their strategy leads to their goal of increased profits. Or their goal may be greater customer satisfaction which leads to more orders and higher revenues.
Most of your Targets goals in this economy are higher revenues or reduced costs. They also work toward stronger Brand, market share, inventory turn, profit margins, employee turnover, energy consumption, customer share and many more.
Your value to your customer is how you increase, decrease, improve, slow, build, grow, squeeze, shrink, and eliminate to name a few of their principal drivers. Jill Konrath, “Snap Selling”
In traditional marketing, you advertise your USP to an industry or use direct mail or perhaps solicit by phone to reach potential Buyers (Suspects). You want to reach Buyers who might have your Service as a Priority right now ( Buying Cycle).
In Traditional Marketing this is a continuous effort to match your service to the time when they need it. In Relationship Marketing, you use New Media technology to have your USP available when they go searching in their Buying Cycle. Now, when they find you, it is already a priority.
You can see how the ROI would be much higher in Relationship Marketing.
New Media includes Website Optimization for the Internet, Emails and Responders, and Social Media Publishing as three broad categories. At the heart of these Media are permission, interaction, and free information.
You use Keywords to find the niche where your Suspects are going to look for Free Information. You invite them to read all you can offer on your expertise. You invite them to engage and trade their contact information for your free information. With their emails, you follow up with more information or newsletters to build a trusted relationship. You can offer incentives to convert them to customers.
This can be all automatic with New Media Technology. First, you become a trusted resource and they become a Prospect. Secondly, when they decide you are in alignment with their objectives, they become a Customer. There is no limit on how many Suspects you can reach or Prospects you can have in the pipeline. Once the systems are established, they work automatically.
See a 6 page Free Report on Automatic Customer Building
Read a 12 page report on Relationship Marketing
Call with questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Posted by: | CommentsMost organizations provide a number of services.
They rarely are the only ones that provide the service whether its a big business, independent contractor, sole proprietor, non-profit, or charity. To raise money and survive each has to have a reason a prospect would select them.
Even if they are not the best at what they do they might have a geographical, price, speed, or selection advantage to name a few over their competition. If two companies did the same thing next door to each other and one was clearly superior, the outcome is obvious.
Many industries like to be close to competitor because each has a USP. For example, coffee, car dealers, furniture outlets, restaurants, entertainment, clothing stores all like to be together so that they can get their share of customers.
In all these situations and especially online, you must be able to pick out the one or more differentiators.
Because of the long tail, (niches with three or more keywords) such as Midwest product fulfillment, you can target a very specific audience. Or if you do not have a lot of notoriety, you have to start with a smaller niche and maybe a more specific service. For example, a “Fulfillment” company may have to start with a Midwest audience before it can attract a national audience.
Broadcasting your keywords through your website, emails, or social media publishing will draw the attention of a specific audience in need of your specialized “expertise” or “competitive advantage.”
This is Not Your Father’s Consumer
Posted by: | CommentsThis is not even the consumer of three years ago.
“Relationship Marketing through new media often requires transforming an organization to support the marketing.” Seth Godin “Meatball Sundae” founder of Permission based marketing
Economic pressure and greater choice has created a new consumer looking for information through a proliferation of new sources. The new consumer has shown a disdain for Traditional Marketing which is often labeled Intrusion Marketing and even Spam.
Part of the reason that unsolicited marketing becomes so intrusive is that we sign up for so many news sources that we want to read, we can’t find our stuff among the unwanted stuff. Therefore we are deleting, unsubscribing and spamming the consistent intruders.
The way to get an unsolicited Email opened is to direct it at a Target that might be looking for your expertise. If you have your own industry or contact or association list, you might have an idea about this group’s interests.
That might lead you to understand their biggest challenges. If you have a solution for one of their challenges, you have a tactic that will fit into their strategy to achieve their goal.
They might be interested in learning something about your solution, expertise and experience.
Whether you are emailing, getting page ranking for your website, or Social Media Publishing, you will want to find your best niche (keywords) and work your way in. This is your best opportunity to get readership for an unsolicited “news piece”.
Then you will want to give away information on what you know, what you can solve, and who you are. Readers will want the information in that order.
Leverage is having your information is as many places as your Niche market might search for solutions as possible. In this age, it requires technology systems to communicate with technology systems. Then you need a full marketing strategy to include your message in your Broadcasts and convert Responders to Customers (4 strategies)
Develop your best Unique Selling Proposition (solution), use the best systems for broadcasting it, and find today’s consumers. See a 6 page Free Report on Why and How to Use Automatic Systems.
Call with Questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
New Tactics for the New Consumer
Posted by: | CommentsChances are you are not marketing the same as three years ago
Three trends have intersected to necessitate marketing differently
>>The economic melt down put more budget and time pressure on everyone
>>The product and media proliferation have created more choices
>>The New Buyer has changed how they want to be Sold
In a sense they are like ocean waves that have been coming from different directions and then collided to require new interpretation.
Basic results are:
>>That everyone has decided “impersonal and one message for all” does not get their undivided attention.
>>With all the information available from so many new sources, people would rather get educated before they begin personal interaction
>>The people delivering the messages need permission to create successful communication
>>The new advertising requires providing lots of Free Information and Education where Buyers can find it.
>>The birth of the long tail results from people being able to find information on the smallest of topics or products, so have to find those niches. (long tail-keyword phrases with three to four words)
The most successful new businesses create an organization that can thrive on Relationship Marketing or the New Media. The successful traditional businesses transform their organizations to incorporate the New Media or continue to use Traditional Marketing and build on their existing customer base.
Making the decision to continue as you are or transform is the subject of Seth Godin’s book “Meatball Sundae” in which he defies you to blend traditional with New and not come up with a Meatball Sundae
Jill Konrath, a traditional marketing guru, in “Snap Selling” explains considerations necessary to get through to the new “crazy-busy” executives.
If you are going to adapt to the New Media there are Automatic Systems in place at this point to let technology do the heavy lifting.
Websites are no longer to sufficient to market your business on their own. They need complementary support. You might look at “Four Strategies” to provide it.
Call with questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Increasing Revenues in a Recession
Posted by: | CommentsA wise businessman says if they won’t buy what you have, find what they need.
If you can’t change your business, think about which aspect might be the most helpful for someone running on a tight budget. Think about how you could get someone started with you easier or make your bundle more attractive.
If you are marketing, think about the topic and headline that might be a priority right now. Everyone is trying to increase revenues and cut operating expenses. This includes becoming more efficient and increasing customer satisfaction.
Executives and consumers in the cut back mode only take care of emergencies and items that lead to important results. Their Buying Cycles are longer. Only some priorities are ever at the top of the list.
Phrase your product or service in the terms that fit into these priorities.
This is a good time for some research. Observe what your best competitors are doing to attract or retain their customers. Observe what other companies not in your industry are doing to attract customers or make the start up process easier.
Because your targets are risk adverse, you need to have guarantees and trials and bonuses to induce them to make a change. The status quo is like a lead anchor and it is extremely difficult to cut it loose.
Your offering should have solid statistics or metrics and testimonials. If you are in the Freight Shipping business, it is recommended to get the best referrals you have on your website landing page.
This is a good time to get into the long tail of keywords for your industry. That means finding the niches that have little traffic but little competition so that you can rise to the top of an internet page.
Then have a great solution for those Prospects and a rock solid proposition with easy start, guarantees, trials, testimonials and everything you can throw in. Getting 20% of a small pie is better than 1% of a large one. It is more efficient and rewarding.
Have someone do research for you and evaluate your services, your industry, and your customer needs to find smaller niches in which you can dominate and create customers. Looking for keyword niches
Put your marketing on Automatic so that systems are always working while you are helping customers.
This may be a time to start Emailing. Constant Contact has an inexpensive system with a Free 60 Day trial.
Call with questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or email
Engage Targeted Traffic to Create Customers
Posted by: | CommentsEngaging Targeted Traffic to Become Customers
A good question to ask is, “What do customers want when they come to your site?”
A second question is “What do you want them to do when they visit?”
A corollary question is “What is the long term purpose of your website?
If the two answers for the Visitors and yourself are in conflict, you are likely to get no action.
Many websites want the Visitors to buy today. Why not? Isn’t that the purpose of the site?
The visitors in this market are (unless you have a very generic product or service) are looking for information and a trusted provider that they might engage at some point.
The focus of Traditional marketing is to target Suspects and find the few that need your offer right now. The reason the focus is now is that it doesn’t try to engage Suspects in continuing communication, it tries to induce them to take up an offer.
The focus of Relationship Marketing is that it tries to engage the Suspect by offering Free Information on solving their problem. Most marketers would say they are Suspects until they engage by somehow registering with an email or phone call or, of course, buying.
Traditional marketing which might be PPC advertising, Cold Calling, Direct Mail, or Media Advertising is trying to find people in their Buying Cycle and build Brand and make a sale.
Relationship Marketing is trying to give away Free Information and make the Suspect a Prospect by accepting the offer. Relationship marketing does not need to sell today. It is looking for a relationship first and a sale second. It wants to survive the Buying Cycle and create a trusted relationship during the cycle.
The ROI on Relationship Marketing is several times that of Traditional Marketing, which in this economy is a necessity for most firms.
The second advantage Relationship Marketing enjoys is that by broadcasting its Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to a niche market, it can more directly target the Ideal Suspects in need of the solution.
Developing a niche market is about Site Optimization, Keywords , and understanding how your USP is a need for certain customers and has an advantage over competitors. See “Creating A Solution for the Right Target Market”
Just as crucial is ensuring that you are “Creating a Solution that Customers Want.” It is of no value for creating a Service or Product that is low in demand or for which you cannot compete. You do not want to ship packages overnight against existing common carriers.
By targeting the Suspects that might want your USP and striving to create a relationship with them, your website and your marketing plan are congruent.
The next level will be to determine if your Business Lends itself to Relationship Marketing or New Media. Seth Godin’s Book “Meatball Sundae” discusses mixing a good business with the wrong marketing strategy.
Relationship Marketing technology can make the process automatic. If you want to spend more time taking care of customers and responding to inquiries and less time pursuing suspects, this could be a worthwhile investigation. See Automatic Customer Building.
Call with questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Is Your Website Increasing Traffic and Customers? Few Are.
Posted by: | CommentsIf Your Business Needs Marketing to Prosper, You are Not Alone.
Site owners expect a lot of a website. Most sites are originally designed to be just a brochure or fancy business card. Even if the designer said he would set it up for full SEO. Web design and SEO by the same person does not usually get the expected result.
Then, this isn’t your dad’s internet. There are millions of sites and billions of pages. The age of product proliferation and the long tail have created niches for more things than you can think of.
There is an active industry on how to sell to the long tail or in other words how to give advice in niches that are just a little popular but in which there is no competition. What is one of these niches? Over a thousand searches a month but not more than ten thousand competing pages.
Contrast that to the industry you are probably in. If you Google the main word like “Freight” there are 56,900,000 pages. And not nearly enough searches to give everyone a prospect.
So if you have a site that doesn’t have tremendous Authority (5 years in existence, search engine optimized, high traffic relative to your industry) then you need a keyword niche to be somewhere in length between a main word and four additional words.
But, the first question is “How do people who want to find you go about that?” First, the people who know you maybe finding you through your own efforts. Secondly, if you have done some linking, people are referred from another site. Thirdly, the people who need to find your type of services Google, in their own words, what they think will get the desired sites.
Understanding how to get this free and high volume traffic is crucial. The second step is understanding how big of a fish you are in the pool. The third crucial element is understanding how to get the traffic that wants you and converting them to Customers.
This isn’t your fathers internet and making money on it requires a little work. But it can be done.
My Freight Shipping Seo site is in a very big pool and it is on Page One Google and often the number one position for at least 12 keyword phrases. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
The best place to start is with your Unique Selling Proposition. It defines what you do and which part you do better than your competitors. Someone is looking for your expertise. You and they can use keywords to find each other.
But that is just the first part.
For you to be found, you have to optimize your site for the key words and you have to broadcast your USP to the right audience. This may involve advertising or Social Media Publication.
If you are attracting your ideal audience, you already have a leg up. Now you have to convince them to be a customer. In Relationship Marketing, you give first. You provide them with Free Information on how your expertise will solve their problem.
Once they have engaged, a follow up program continues to supply them with free information during their Buying Cycle. The reason you want a great program to keep track of your prospect is that it could take up to 2 years before they make a decision.
This is how relationships are built in the New Media age and if this is not a part of your strategy, it partly explains why your marketing does not produce more customers. You have to target, engage, follow up, and convert.
Monetizing a site takes insight and good resources. There are plentiful resources to make you successful. It also takes your commitment to move gradually and steadily.
I have produced the first chapter “Achieving Page One Google” of my E Book for “Attracting and Monetizing Traffic” as a Free download.
I also have a Free 6 page Report on Automatic Customer Building
If you would like to see a short article on “How to match your USP with your Customer’s goals”
You might be trying to mix a traditional business with New Media or trying to make New Media work for the business in which Traditional Marketing is losing its punch. This is not always easy. You have to make some new decisions.
Start with this article on “Focusing Your Marketing on the Right Goal” and you owe it to yourself to read Seth Godin’s “Meatball Sundae”, a book in which he clearly illustrates the problems of taking a good business and a different marketing scheme and winding up with a Meatball Sundae.
For a great comprehensive view and marketing plan Corte Sweringen’s 323 page book Integral Marketing Systems gives you enough to do to for years, but he is right on the money. It shows how a small business can be profitable with the right marketing systems.
You can see how to put one scenario of Systems in place
Call with any questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Identify Your Best Targets and Make them Customers
Posted by: | CommentsFollow the Steps from Identifying Targets to Making them Loyal Customers
Thought I would continue the last three blogs since they were getting a lot of interest. Step one was understanding your USP and the Best targets for your services. Step 2 was broadcasting to attract Suspects to your message. Step 3 after they have registered their email to get your free information is to close them and make them a loyal customer.
I have simplified these steps for brevity to get to the message.
The last three blogs are: (from my sister site, NewCustomerDevelopment.com)
1/ http://newcustomerdevelopment.com/2010/07/your-unique-selling-proposition-and-customer-goals/
2/ http://newcustomerdevelopment.com/2010/07/create-a-solution-customers-want/
3/ http://newcustomerdevelopment.com/2010/07/your-roi-skyrockets-when-you-match-targets-goals/
When the Suspects visits the link you left on your website, email, blog, article, direct mail or other, they are doing so because you mentioned the tactic they need to fulfill their priority strategy.
(I mention priority because if you call on business you know that during the year their agendas are long lists and priorities work their way to the top. They only work on emergencies and top priorities. It is important for information on your service to be available when their priority for it is at the top of the list. This is often referred to as their Buying Cycle)
(Next week I will have an extensive Ebook on this subject with the first part available for download for free.)
Prospects in their Buying Cycle have a few desires. They want to get information so they are more knowledgeable about how to solve their problem. While they are gathering information, they are judging the providers to see who knows the most and who might be most aligned with their own organization and objectives.
The more they know about solving the problem, the more likely they are to make a wise decision. They are not really trying to steal your expertise. They are trying to determine if you know more than they do or more than your competition. They are also trying to determine if they can work with you.
So if you give it everything, your closing percentage will be higher. Sometimes depending on the price and complexity of the Need, Buying cycles could be short term or two years.
Automatic email responder systems will provide them with information while they determine when they want to engage. In this process you can contact them and ask if you are on the right track. You also should start offering incentives and guarantees.
In this era, companies offer free trials, limited offers, bonuses, and anything else valuable to keep their Prospects from walking away. You have targeted the right audience and they have responded. Now you can’t lose the most prime candidates for loyal customer status.
See more about Systems to handle the full Buying Cycle.
See a Free Report on Automatic Customer Development.
Get a comprehensive view and marketing system in Corte Swearingen’s 353 page Integral Marketing
Have questions? Call me 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Your Expertise Increases your ROI with Right Targets
Posted by: | CommentsWhat happens to your ROI when you identify your ideal targets?
Your customer conversion count could go through the roof if you have a message that reaches your ideal Suspects. Suspects are people who need your services that haven’t engaged with you yet.
How do you identify your ideal Suspects?
How well can you describe your business in high traffic keywords and then your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)? Your USP will be the service you provide and the particular aspect that you do better than your competitors.
You don’t need to be better than your competitors in all aspects of your business, but you should identify the one aspect as your primary point to broadcast. The reason is that you will broadcast your USP and attract Prospects interested in that solution. Then you have to convince them that your are the best choice for that solution.
Therefore it is best to choose a point in which you can clearly defend as being better than your competition. It makes closing easier.
Now you want to attract the Targets that would be interested in this expertise and your special advantage. Your USP is a tactic your customer needs to make their strategy successful. They have a strategy your USP drives.
For example, if they want to reduce their operating costs for warehousing and you have a software product or you are an Outsource for inventory control that will provide savings, your tactic fits into their strategy. If reducing their inventory costs is a strategy that leads to their goal of higher profitability, you are a key player.
You broadcast your tactic (“software system will reduce your warehouse operating expenses.” ” Outsource your inventory control to us and save money”). Prospects that have that need as a priority are in their Buying Cycle for your expertise. They respond to properly placed articles, blogs, P/R, emails, videos, podcasts, and websites.
When your Suspect takes you up on your offer for more information and gives you an email in exchange, they become your Prospect. In a sense the Prospect is pre qualified. Now all you have to do is close them. That takes you to the next step which I include in Systems.
Get a Free Report on Automatic Systems to Reach and Convert Suspects to Loyal Customers
Soon to be completed: A free report on how to be on Page One Google and utilize that in your drive for more customers and revenues.
Creating a Solution for the Right Target Market
Posted by: | CommentsDeveloping a Solution That Customers Want
Yesterday I discussed broadcasting your Unique Selling Proposition to attract Prospects who need your expertise. It is just as important to have a solution that is needed by your Prospects.
How clear are you on your targets’ top priorities?
I know the word “Freight” has 25 million sites discussing it; hard to compete there. I know that “Midwest Liquid Freight Shipping” has fewer pages and fewer competitors. I could compete more easily in that category.
If you broadcast a “Solution” you have to understand the demand. You have to understand how large of a demand. You have to understand how much competition there is. You have to understand how to broadcast to the wide range or narrow range of targets that are looking for your “Solution” or Unique Selling Proposition.
If you bake croissants there is a large market. If you bake chocolate almond croissants, there is a narrower market. If you bake hemp seed croissants you are really narrowing it down. Where are the targets for each product? You have to broadcast to the right market.
For plain croissants, I could seek any coffee and bakery shop in America and I would have big competition. For hempseed croissants I would only target health related outlets and my market would be smaller, but I might be a bigger fish.
You have to determine the demand, the competition, your Authority (ability to play) and then select the right message for that audience. Your expertise has to be in alignment with the exact market you expect to attract.
Hempseed croissants to the plain croissant market will fall on deaf ears. But to the health industry, you might peak a lot of attention. Attract the Suspects and have them engage and they become Prospects. Follow up on a regular basis with the new Prospects and you may develop a following of Loyal Customers.
See Systems for developing automatic capture and follow up to develop loyal customers.
Optimize your website for your niche.
Call me if you have questions 1-800-646-0717 Mark Kaplan or Email
Customers are Seeking Your Unique Selling Propositon
Posted by: | CommentsIt is More Efficient to Attract Your Ideal Prospects than go looking for them.
If you could sit across the table from a Prospect and ask them what their current priorities were, you would have a great customer developing opportunity.
They would tell you their priorities in creating revenues, cutting operating expenses, building brand, training personnel, improving warehouse efficiency and so forth. You would tell them you could solve one of their issues. You have the most competitive software process for improving warehouse efficiency and you would let them try it for 30 days at no cost.
This might create a prospect that would then become a customer. But life isn’t that simple. You might have to interview 50 people to find a fit for your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and we just don’t have those opportunities.
So in Relationship Marketing we reverse part of the procedure.
We broadcast through every viable means how we have the solution to a priority. If the priority is achieving efficiency in warehousing which usually means driving down costs and increasing production, we have the solution.
So our Unique Selling Proposition to your audience becomes “Reduce Costs and Increase Efficiency in Your Warehouse”. The solution is your software that is better than anyone’s because of your USP.
Those with your solution and expertise as a current priority will be drawn to your message. You now have a suspect that becomes a prospect. You will then provide all the free information they can absorb on your knowledge of their problem and how you solve it. You follow up until they have developed a trust for your expertise and style.
When they see alignment between your organizations, they will become loyal customers.
You can reach your suspects through your website, an email campaign, Social Media broadcasting as articles, blogs, and P/R, Associations, Conventions, and so forth.
The value of broadcasting your USP through Relationship Marketing is that you reach a wider audience than if you had to interview people one at a time and you only draw the people who declare they need your solution. Now you have become more efficient and can process the Prospects Automatically with New Media Systems until they become Loyal Customers.
See a Free Report on Building Customers Automatically
Understand the difficulty of getting through to today’s “crazy-busy” executives with Jill Konrath’s widely acclaimed new book “Snap Selling”
Seth Godin, the founder of Permission Based Marketing, in “Meatball Sundae” explains how a business has to support the New Media and how you cannot get New Media to form around traditional practices. Why traditional businesses and New Media blend two different concepts to get a meatball sundae.
Questions call Mark Kaplan 1-800-646-0717 or Email


