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Archive for December, 2008

A Most Unusual & Odd Request from Charlie

By Charlie Cook   |   December 17, 2008

What’s one of the biggest challenges in small business marketing?

It’s getting your prospect’s attention. If they don’t know you exist, much less know how you can help them, you’re going to have a tough time closing sales and making more money.

How do you get your prospects’ attention when they’re overwhelmed by advertising messages and have conditioned themselves to tune them out?

Use INTERRUPTION marketing!

Break into your prospects’ train of thought. Get them to switch from whatever they were working on or pondering to thinking about how much you could help them. Interruption Marketing is the conversation starter.

What is interruption marketing?

It’s the headline, the bold graphic, the creative layout, the audio, etc you use to grab your prospects’ attention so you can have a conversation with them.

“A Most Unusual & Odd request from Charlie”

In order to get you to open this post, I used a headline to pique your curiosity. If you want your prospects and clients to open your emails, you need to do the same. Use a subject line that makes them stop what they are doing and open your email.

Want to see another example of Interruption Marketing?
See this >>

The Purpose
The purpose of interruption marketing is to distract your prospect from what they were thinking and then to capitalize on the opportunity by telling them what to do next. And you’ve only got a second to move them from a second of attention to having a conversation, even if its a virtual one, similar to what you and I are doing now.

What’s the risk of using Interruption Marketing?
You can easily go too far and turn off some of your prospects.

What’s the even greater risk of not using Interruption Marketing?
No one pays attention to your marketing and you go out of business.

Before you use Interruption Marketing, understand the difference between giving your prospects’ a choice and just plain annoying them. One leads to a possible sale, the other to a lost customer.

You want your interruption to leave your prospect feeling positive about your products and services. Sales calls during dinner and the online ads that jump up and cover your emails are not positive experiences.

Want to know what one of the best ways to get peoples’ attention is?

Ask a QUESTION.

At the top of the homepage for MarketingForSuccess there’s a pertinent question in large, bold type at the top of the page. Why? Because when people read a question, their natural inclination is to stop what they are doing and try and answer it.

Isn’t that what you do?

But… I can hear my wife saying it and maybe you’re thinking it, too, “Isn’t interruption marketing ugly, often garish and hard sell?”

You’re right! A lot of interruption marketing is done in poor taste and doesn’t work. But when it’s done well, it’s original, clever and it keeps your attention.

If your marketing is plain vanilla, no one will ever read it. If it’s garish or simply badly done, it won’t be taken seriously. Depending on your target market, smack dab in the middle is where the money is.

What’s my Most Unusual & Odd Request?
Take a look at this page and tell me now what you think >>
I bet you can’t look at the image at the top of the page without stopping to watch the dancing image. It gets your attention. Is it too much or on target?

My wife thinks it’s totally inane and annoying. A graphic designer, she hates animated kitschy things like this. And while I wouldn’t call it great art nor would I use this approach on every sales page, it’s been a huge sales success.

What do you think >>

If you already saw this page and joined my Monthly Marketing Mentoring Program, you’ll be having a great Christmas. You’ll be opening up my gift box with the huge bonus I sent you. And each month you’ll be hearing from the most successful marketers and sales people in the country, including people like Denny Hutch.

Denny is a veteran of direct marketing and can explain to you better than almost anyone exactly how to use interruption marketing to increase your sales and profits.

You haven’t joined YET?

I’ve only set aside 35 new member bundles for this holiday snow special. , Each is worth over $1,024, and I’m giving them away for just $39.95.

Last time I checked we only had a few left. So to get one,

You need to take action right away>>

FINAL REMINDER

This offer ends on December 20th, 2008!

USE THIS URL >>

-Charlie

P.S. The key to making Interruption Marketing work is to know your audience, know where to find them and how to talk to them. Then Interruption Marketing will work to increase your profits.

Speaking of profits – want to make 2009 your most profitable ever?
Start here >>

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4 More Low-Cost Marketing Tactics To Maximize Small Business Sales!

By Charlie Cook   |   December 3, 2008

Just one month left and we’re in the midst of the holiday shopping season. Are you on track to make your revenue goals? Should you just sit back and wait for 2009 so you can get a fresh start?

Regardless of how you did the rest of the year, whether you’re on track to make 2008 your best year ever or you’re sales stagnated, don’t quit yet. December can still be your best month.

The days are counting down, with less than 30 left in the year. NOW is the perfect time to apply these last-minute holiday marketing strategies to end the year on a high note.

Time is running out… don’t procrastinate, take action today!

You’ve got just a few weeks left to achieve your small business marketing goals for this year, don’t let them slide by and wish later you’d done something to maximize your profits.

Apply these 4 low-cost and no-cost small business marketing strategies TODAY!

Strategy #1: “Target Your Sales Copy to What’s On People’s Minds”

Most people are thinking about giving and wondering two things:

* What would make a great gift for my son or daughter,
* What would make a great gift for my spouse,
* What would make a great gift for my father or mother in-law.

… and they’re wondering

* What should I put on my own holiday list,
* What gift should I give myself this year, Yes, a lot of people, while out buying gifts for others, buy gifts for themselves too!

You get the idea. Don’t assume people know what they want to buy. I’m often at a total loss myself as to what to buy for my 22 year-old son. So whether you sell to businesses or direct to consumers, help them out with your sales copy by targeting the questions that are on your customers’ minds at this time of year.

Strategy #2: “Use the End of The Year To Up-Sell & Cross-Sell Clients”

December 31st marks the end of 2008 and while it’s just a day on the calendar, it has a strong emotional effect on your prospect’s and clients. People see it as a clear ending and Jan 1st as a new beginning.

At the end of December people tend to reflect a little bit on their past performance and on their aspirations for the coming year. This is the perfect time to tap into their psyche and get clients to review their needs, what worked and didn’t work, and what they’d like to do better next year.

Whether you sell consulting services, or flat screen TVS, the end of the year is an ideal time to cross-sell and up-sell your products and services.

Strategy #3: “Strengthen Your Relationships with Prospects and Clients”

Your primary small business competitive advantage is the number and strength of your relationships with prospects and clients. Use this time to show your appreciation to them. How?

* Tell them. Thank them for their business and loyalty. Gifts are nice but ultimately it’s the thought that counts. Make sure to let them know you value their business and enjoy working with them.

Unless you’re the only source for a product or service clients can always find someone else to buy from. The best way to prevent this is to maintain a strong relationship and this starts with saying thank you.

* Send your most valued clients a gift, but not just any gift. For years I had an investment advisor who each Christmas sent me something from Tiffany’s that cost hundreds of dollars.  As you may know by now, I’m not a Tiffany’s kind of guy and ended up returning almost every one of these to the store.

The key is to give something that your client would appreciate. It’s hard to lose with food. In my case I would have been much more impressed if my investment advisor had sent me something that was 25% as less expensive like a lift ticket or ski lesson at my favorite ski resort.

Strategy #4: “Offer Special Deals For A Limited Time Only”

The end of the year is fast approaching and everyone likes a deal. The problem is we all tend to procrastinate. What’s the solution?

You have the products and services prospects want. Now all you need to do is motivate them to buy.

Combine special offers with limited time availability. If you have a website you can put a countdown timer on your offer sales page to increase the sense of urgency.

Just use the links below to find code you can easily add to your web pages and include your countdown clock. There are tons out there. Here are three.

http://www.christmasbuzz.com/countdown/
(the site I grabbed my Santa countdown from)

http://www.countdownclockcodes.com/christmas-countdown-clocks/

http://www.7is7.com/otto/countdclock.html

That’s it!

Four easy, no-cost ways to increase your end-of-the-year sales and beat, or at least get closer, to your goals for the year.

And don’t forget the countdown clock is ticking for YOU too. If you’re at all interested in getting into the Monthly Marketing Mentoring Program for 20% off the first month, you can… if you take action today!

Go ahead and “play Santa” and buy yourself access to this wealth-building program, but act fast if you want in. There are were only 15 holiday specials left last time I looked. And whether these sell out or not, this offer ends on December 20th.

Grab it before it’s gone >>

-Charlie Cook

Small Business Marketing That Gets Results

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How To Cash In On Social Media Marketing

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35 Profit Building Giveaways

By Charlie Cook   |   December 1, 2008

This has been a tough year for many small business owners, but I’m feeling great. Why? There are 3 reasons. I’ve had my best year ever, with sales growing each month right through November. Second, my clients are experiencing similar results. Last but not least, it’s snowing in Vermont.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my work and work comes first, but skiing is my second passion. The mountain where I ski has already gotten 35 inches of snow. I’m stoked and feeling generous.

So generous that I’ve decided to help you put your marketing and your profits on track with my Monthly Marketing Mentoring Program. To get you started, I’m going to give away 35 new member bundles at 20% off.

That’s one new member bundle for each inch of snow that has fallen so far this ski season at Sugarbush in Vermont, where I’ll be found carving turns any day now.

I’ve only set aside 35 new member bundles, each worth over $1,024, for this holiday snow special and I’m giving them away for just $39.95. But to get one, you need to take action right away.>>

When you test-drive this membership program you’ll discover:

- How to Make 2009 Your Best Year Ever
- How to Close the Sale and Make $20,000 More Next Month
- How to Think Like a Winner
- Which Mistakes 95% of Small Business Owners Make and How to Avoid Them
- 4 Easy Ways to Sell More
- How to Fix Your Web Site in One Week or Less

And I’ll include:
- The Essential Marketing Checklist
- The Ultimate Copywriting Checklist

And if that’s not enough, I’ll send it to you free if you claim your copy today.

Let it snow,

-Charlie

P.S. If Sugarbush gets more snow before December 20th, I’ll release an additional copy at this ridiculously low price for each inch of new snow. Otherwise, once the first 35 copies are gone, this special will be sold out. So unless you know how to make it snow, take action in the next few minutes before this offer sells out >>

P.P.S. Here’s what Rob Calabrese, from Sydney, Nova Scotia had to say about the monthly marketing mentoring program:

“Using just one idea from this program, I landed a new client in 40 minutes. These monthly CDs are full of small steps you can put to use immediately to get results with your marketing.”

Want to find out what he did to land a new client in 40 minutes?
Sign up >>

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