Charlie Cook's MArketing for Success Insider's Club

Referral Marketing

How I Make $10,000 Per Networking Event

By Iman Aghay   |   October 28, 2014

Doing networking effectively is one of the challenges that entrepreneurs face. In this episode of Marketing Experts Cafe I explain how I create the potential of making $10,000 per networking event that I attend. Always remember the key in networking events is to find people who are connected to people that you would like to connect with.

Listen to the show to discover a simple 2 step introduction process that helps you to identify the best connections for you in the room and how to follow up with them.

Marketing Experts Cafe is a daily show from Noon to 1pm (PST) that you listen online or can contact the show to ask your specific questions about marketing.

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High Impact Marketing On A Shoestring Budget

By Iman Aghay   |   October 27, 2014

Do you want to learn strategies on how to market your business effectively on a shoestring budget?

Listen to the first episode of Marketing Experts Cafe and find how.
Marketing Experts Cafe is a daily show, on blog talk radio at noon (PST)/3pm (EST) that you can call and ask your questions from world class marketer Iman Aghay and the member of Marketing For Success team.

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How I built a 6 figure business in 4 days with less than $2k investment

By Iman Aghay   |   May 17, 2014

Imagine a person who has a mailing list of 200,000 people in your niche market, promote your business tomorrow. What can that do for your business?

In February 2014, I did a case study where I walked into several cities that I had never been to before and within 4 days I built a 6 figure business with less than $2000 investment. Read More »


How To Make It Rain Referrals

By Charlie Cook   |   February 8, 2011

It was about a month ago, when Steve, one of my coaching clients, was at an industry tradeshow. A fellow exhibitors, an old friend Andrew, stopped by and noticed that Steve’s marketing materials looked different. They got to talking and Steve told Andrew how much more new business he was getting with his new marketing strategy. Read More »


When Should You Ask For A Referral?

By Rocky Cipriano   |   July 25, 2010

When is the best time to ask a client for a referral for work done? It’s a question many of us overlook when working with a new client, but is so important in keeping the pipeline of new business opportunities flowing.

It has been my experience the best time to request a referral is just before the completion of a project. It would be presumptuous to ask for a referral in the early stages of a business relationship. Likewise, if you wait until the project is completed, your client may have emotionally moved on. Read More »


Want More Repeat Business & Referrals? Stay In Touch!

By Colleen Kilpatrick   |   July 4, 2010

It’s common knowledge that staying in touch with customers is essential to a thriving business.

Yet, too often savvy business people invest a tremendous amount of time, money and effort trying to find new customers, but zero time staying in touch with the customers they already have.

The consequence: No repeat business or referral marketing done on your behalf. Read More »


How to Generate a Flood of New Profits

By Paul Martinez   |   May 12, 2010

As a MarketingforSuccess.com reader, you already know how important it is to stay in touch with your past clients.  But if you’re like most successful entrepreneurs, you’re probably not exploiting this profit center as effectively as you could be.

The fact is, very few of us really take the time to stay in touch with our past clients.  If we do, we’re usually not doing it in a way that really connects with them and makes them feel valued.  And that, my friends, is a big—and expensive—mistake. Read More »


The Small Business Marketing Secret to Getting Referrals

By Charlie Cook   |   June 10, 2008

“I get most of my new business from referrals.”

Every small business owner and marketer wants to be able to say these 9 words. When you can say this, it means you aren’t struggling to increase leads or frustrated with trying to convince prospects to buy from you.

When it’s true, your clients and business associates are doing your marketing for you.

When a prospect is referred to you, they’re relying on someone else, another client or a supplier to vouch for you and your products and your services. Your credibility and the value you provide is already established.

And this is a big relief because I don’t know anybody who truly enjoys having to prove themselves to prospects.

Typically you’ll convert 5 to 7 times as many referred prospects to clients. Let me repeat that; typically, you’ll convert 5 to 7 times as many prospects that come to you through referrals. Referrals make it a lot easier to be highly profitable.

For most small business owners and sales people the occasional referral drops out of the sky like a pleasant surprise. Don’t you love it when a new client is sent your way pre-sold and ready to buy? Everyone does!

If you like getting referrals so much, and they are so profitable, what are you doing to generate more? For most business owners and sales people the answer is… nothing.

What can you do to generate a steady stream of referrals so you can grow your business by leaps and bounds?

Want to know what works? Use this link >>

The 2 Marketing Secrets to Generating Referrals
The simple truth is that generating more referrals is as easy as
growing grass.

Recently my wife and I decided to do something about our sorry-looking lawn. We had done only the bare minimum of maintenance for several years. Last fall we surveyed the weeds and bare patches and decided we wanted to actually grow some grass.

After pulling out the weeds, what was left was pretty ugly. The first step was to spread grass seed. The next was to make sure it was watered twice a day. Without regular watering, as you know the seed would just dry up and blow away.

Here in Connecticut, rain is a random event. If we relied on nature there was a good chance the seed wouldn’t germinate and we’d be left with patches of dirt instead.

The solution? We cranked up the automatic sprinkler system. If you have one you know you can set it to water your lawn twice a day as we did. Now a few weeks later, the seed has sprouted and our lawn has filled completely filled in and looks great.

Want to fill in your sales with referrals so you can increase your profits? Get the details here >>

Generating a steady stream of referrals is the same as growing grass. Here’s the small business marketing ideas you need:

1. Prepare the Seed
To generate more referrals, plant the seeds with your best salespeople. Give your existing clients, suppliers and sales partners the marketing materials they need to promote you so they can spread the word.

This can be as simple as giving them the words to use to describe your business. A concise statement (8 to 12 words) of the problems you solve and the benefits of your products and services will help them spread the word. They can easily explain the value of contacting you to people they know.

You could go beyond just sharing your marketing message and produce a client-focused brochure that paints a clear picture of the situations you help people with and details the benefits of your services.

Or write and share articles that entertain and educate, and help prospects see you as the go-to expert.

And you could make sure that all of this information is readily accessible on your web site, so that existing clients can point people to your site.

In sum, if you want to generate more referrals, give your network of referral partners the right small business marketing tools to promote you.

2. Make It Rain Every Day
The second marketing secret to generating referrals is to make the process less random. We needed the automatic sprinklers to make our grass grow; you need an automated system for following up with your referral partners.

Stay in touch on a regular basis so they know what to do and when to do it. I schedule a call every month with each of my super affiliates, and then ask them to commit to a schedule of mailings and activities they can to do that will send referrals my way.

As a result, I can’t say that 100% of my business comes from referrals, but over 50% does. You can do the same by applying these two simple strategies.

Ready to discover the rest of the secrets to growing your profits that most business owners and marketers will never know or apply? Find out how to reach and exceed your business goals >>

Charlie
Revealing the Small Business Marketing Ideas Used By Self-Made Millionaires

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How I Lost a Great Client…

By Charlie Cook   |   April 16, 2008

Ever have a client you really liked working with quit? You know how upsetting it can be.

This week, one of my favorite clients, wrote me to let me know that he wanted to stop working with me after just two months.

Did I blow it, tick him off or what? You be the judge.

Kris Simmons, of FireEye Productions owns a web and video production company. In 2007 he’d seen a devastating slow down in business and been forced to layoff most of his staff. Kris had signed up as a mentoring client in early February of 2008.

He thought his business was a victim of the slowing economy but believed there were still plenty of clients out there if only he could get their attention and their business. Then 8 weeks after signing up Kris quit!

Why? Why did Kris quit as a mentoring client?

From the start, Kris jumped on each strategy and idea I provided him and put as many of them as he could to use. The result?

Kris sold 30 projects in less than two months, which in his words “Is HUGE!” In fact it was more than he’d ever signed up in any two-month period since he started his business eight years ago and to boot he did it in the midst of a recession.

Kris wrote me to say that he had to stop working with me because even with outsourcing 90% of the new projects, he was working around the clock to keep up with the demand that I’d helped him tap. With all the new clients he’d landed he didn’t have time to keep up with the mentoring program and wanted to stop working together, at least for now.

I’ll miss working with Kris. He was fun to work with and most importantly followed through on the strategies and ideas I shared with him.

Want to benefit from my misfortune?

Fill Kris’s spot.

I now have one new space available in my mentoring program and if you act quickly and apply and you’re accepted you could be the next person to discover how to get more business than you ever imagined.

Use this link to apply >>

To your success,

Charlie
www.marketingforsuccess.com

P.S. Be forewarned! Kris had the same complaint that other clients have mentioned in the past. He told me I should have warned him about the tsunami of business that he could expect.

So consider yourself warned. The marketing strategies and ideas I share with my clients can bring you in more new business than you ever imagined.

P.S. II Want to see what Kris had to say? Use this link to view his video comments online >>

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Should I Get Your Networking Guide?

By Charlie Cook   |   January 19, 2005

“Charlie, I already purchased 15 second message and 5 principles and am very satisfied with both. I was looking at the Next Step Networking ebook and noticed that the 15 second book was included. Is there sufficient additional content to make it worth the full cost to me? Thanks for really useful products.” – Bill Benitez

You’re right Creating Opportunity with Next Step Networking includes some of the same content that’s in 15 Second Marketing in addition to the next generation nextworking strategy. If you already purchased “15 Second Marketing” you can send me your order number and I’ll send you a link to upgrade it to the “Creating Opportunity with Next Step Networking” manual for the difference, or just $20. – Charlie Cook

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