Want to grow your business this year?

I noticed a lot of people forgot to use the link below to download their FREE report and discover one of the basic secrets to attracting more business.

Want it? In this report I detail the ‘Simple Secret to Selling More’.

Read it today to get find out how to get inside your buyers’ heads and discover exactly what they want.

How valuable is that?

This exclusive report normally goes for $29, but it’s yours FREE just for answering one simple question.

Use the link below, to tell me what you want help with to grow your business this year. It takes less than 7 seconds.

Give your answer at >>

Why am I giving away a free report just to get you to answer one simple question?

Ever hear of the law of reciprocity. You know how it works. Do something nice for someone and they’ll do something nice for you.

That’s what I’m doing here, giving you a special report and in return simply asking you to answer one question.

Make sense?

Use this link to give your answer and get your free report >>

Thanks in advance for your input.

Charlie
MarketingForSuccess

/ helping you attract more clients //

P.S. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have in the comment section below.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Everybody needs a delivery system – but most businesses are missing the most important one to their success.

Imagine you owned a bakery, specializing in healthy artisanal breads or double deep fat fried doughnuts, serving the restaurants in your neighboring towns.

You’d be up early… baking and then once your baked goods were done for the day, you’d load them into your trucks and deliver them to the restaurants you work with.

You wouldn’t question the need for a delivery system because you know that without one you’d be out of business. Buying the truck, paying your monthly payments, buying gas, maintenance etc – all just part of the cost of getting your delicious baked goods to your happy customers.

Now, here is where most businesses fall flat.

Most business have a delivery system for their products and services but…

…they are missing a client delivery system. And this defies logic.

Every business owner knows it makes sense to spend whatever money it takes to deliver their products. I never hear a business owner tell me they don’t have money for delivery of their products and services.

It’s just a cost of doing business.

But take the exact same person, (does this describe you?) and ask them to spend the same amount on marketing, on attracting new clients, their client delivery system and typically they choke.

They see marketing as an added expense, instead of as a necessary way of filling their pipeline with more and more new customers.

When I talk to struggling business owners, I hear it over and over. They don’t want to spend money on marketing. Or it’s too expensive.

And here’s the difference between frustrated business owners and the ones I work with who have one to twenty million dollar businesses.

Successful business owners understand that to attract new clients, to bring in new business, they need to spend money on their client delivery system.

They understand that as long as their marketing brings in more revenue than it costs – it’s worth every penny.

Take Sarah – who called me from California yesterday. She sells dental equipment to dentists. Last year she netted $90,000. And this year she wants to make $400,000.

When I asked her how much she had set aside for marketing – the answer was zero, nothing, nada.

Now I’m sure you’re more savvy than that so let me put it to you like this:

How much should you spend to bring in the next $400,000 in income this year?

$10,000, $150,000 or even $250,000?

What’s the right answer?

Any of the above, as long as your marketing system, your client delivery system generates more income than it costs. (Of course the more effective your marketing is, the lower your costs.)

Do the math for your business:

A. How much would you like to generate in additional revenue over the next 2 years?

B. How much would you be willing to spend to build a client delivery system to reach your goals?

Want to join the successful business owners who ring in one million to twenty million in annual sales?

Check your marketing budget and your client delivery system.

To your success,

Charlie

P.S. Questions about your marketing? Ask away.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Did you know my skiing and marketing strategy are the same?

A few years back I used to go up to Vermont for the occasional weekend and more often than not I missed the good snow. You see the weather in Vermont is fickle…In New England, the weather changes on a dime, and if you waited for reports of good snow to make your plans, you’d probably never go, because more often than not, by the time you got there it could have changed to rain (premature snow) or worse, ice.

This past week was no exception. Monday was sunny and the snow was good, then Tuesday evening it rained. Thursday night it snowed five inches and Friday morning was a fabulous powder day.

Which is why I came up with a simple strategy for skiing. Just go out every morning and give it a try.

This past week, the day after it rained when my brain was saying don’t bother, it turned out the ski area had done a great job of grooming the snow and the skiing was lots of fun.

Then this weekend when the snow was getting thin, my son and I hauled some ten-year old skis out of the closet and went and skied the trails that were now full of rocks, and had a blast.

Having a plan and doing it consistently – works for getting the best days on the ski slopes – and, yes, for marketing too.

The truth is that, having a system that works and applying it consistently is the key to attracting new clients.

I can’t tell you how many business owners I’ve talked to who told me they’d tried this or that marketing strategy and it worked for them but then they never used it again.

Hello!

If a marketing strategy works, use it consistently, once a month, once a week or even once a day.

Some days, you may see little in the way of results. Other days – the phone will ring off the hook.

What’s your daily, weekly and monthly marketing plan?

Which strategies are you using to get results?

Just leave your comments below and let me know.

To your success,

Charlie
MarketingForSuccess

P.S. Which day is best to market?

Simple. Every day your target market is thinking about your product and services.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

“I saved hundreds of dollars doing it myself!”

That’s what Dave told me when he explained how he’d spent his weekend replacing one of the wheel bearings on his aging car.

He filled me in on all the details of how it’d only cost him $60 in parts. Of course it took him and his brother…an experienced mechanic most of a day and the use of a friend’s fully equipped home garage to get the job done.

And if you multiplied the number of hours Dave and his brother spent, equipment used etc, the real cost would have been 2-3 times the cost of paying the local garage to do the job.

The truth is – it wasn’t about the money. Dave and his brother grew up tinkering with trucks and other things mechanical, which is why for him, spending a total of 14 man hours to replace his wheel bearings was not only fun, but yes a money saver.

Dave is a do-it-yourself mechanic – for one reason – he loves getting his hands dirty and fixing machinery, especially because he spends the rest of his work week inside as a physical therapist, well, fixing people – but that’s another story.

Now in business, over the years I’ve discovered there are two types of people. Ones who truly love marketing, writing copy, planning marketing campaigns, understand search engine marketing and more. They love learning about marketing and they are marketing do-it-yourselfers.

Do-it-yourself marketers, will spend weeks on a project and like Dave, they’ll tell their friends how much money they are saving by doing it themselves. But the truth is their marketers, people who like doing it for fun – as well as for profit.

And I have to admit I’m one of these types, though as my business has grown I’ve moved on and don’t do any of my marketing myself anymore other than quick posts like this.

But here is the shocking truth I discovered.

Hardly any business owners really like marketing. (No, I don’t take it personally.)

But ask yourself:
- Do you like writing weekly articles about your business?
- Do you like working on your web site?
- Do you like coding your website for the search engines?
- Do you really like messing with social media, twitter, linkedin, facebook, youtube etc?

Be honest with yourself.

The truth is most people don’t love marketing, which explains why so few business owners actually have a marketing plan, a marketing strategy and in fact do any regular marketing.

While most people like to think of themselves as do-it-yourselfers —- the real truth is most of us prefer to have things done-for-us including our marketing.

Quick – make a decision here.

Are you someone who loves marketing and if so are you doing-it-yourself? Or are you someone who likes the idea of attracting more clients with your marketing and which you could just have it done-for-you?

If you’re a true marketing do-it-yourselfer – you can find everything you need to do your marketing yourself at www.marketingforsuccess.com/store.

But if you are like 96% of business owners and would prefer to focus on working with clients, and rather have your marketing done for you, go to www.clientsdelivered.com.
One more funny thought.

Imagine you’re eating breakfast, and you feel something go crunch in your mouth – something you know isn’t the cocoa puffs or cereal you’re eating. You investigate and find you’ve cracked a tooth, and part of one your teeth is now in your hand, not in your mouth.

What do you do? (Keep in mind you’re one of those do-it-yourselfers.)

Well you could easily go to the library and look up basic dentistry, or youtube how to repair a broken tooth. And you good order online some basic dentistry tools, Novocain and a mirror. Then you could try and repair your tooth yourself – I mean how hard could it be.

Is that what you would do?

Of course not!

You wouldn’t fix your own teeth or just ignore your broken tooth – you’d have it done-for-you by your local expert in dentistry.

Get my point?

The same applies to your marketing.

Ignoring it or trying to fix it yourself is rarely the best solution.

Find out more about the done-for-you marketing services here >>

Gotta go. My new ACL is working great (no I didn’t do my own knee surgery) and it’s warmed up to a tropical 10 degrees, great for some skiing.

To your success,

Charlie
MarketingForSuccess

P.S. Actually there are 3 types of people: Do-it-yourselfers, people who prefer done-for-you services and then there are the do-nothing people. I trust you are one of the first two action takers.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

If you’ve got children you know that the help they need depends on how old they are and what stage they’re at.

From toddler, to adolescent to twenty-something, the advice you provide (when they’re looking for it) depends on the stage they’re at in their life. The same is true with…

your business. What you need to increase your income is going to depend on what stage you’re at too.

So what kind of help do you need now…

The answer is that it depends.

It depends on what stage you’re at as an entrepreneur and business owner. Just scan through the following 4 stages, pick the one that describes your business and find the answer.

Stage I – Startup

You have an idea for a business, a new product or a better way of delivering a service, one you see a need for and you want to support yourself and your family. At this point your biggest concern is taking your idea and turning in into a saleable product or service.

It sounds simple but 50% new businesses fail in the first four years.

So what do you need to succeed?

Focus!

Over the last 20 years I’ve worked with hundreds of business owners, eager to launch a new business. The most common problem isn’t lack of hard work, commitment or even smarts.

The biggest mistake that most startups make is trying to do too much, to be everything to everybody. What almost every entrepreneur and startup needs to be more successful is to focus on clarifying their target market, the problem they solve and the primary benefits of their product and service.

Figure out what your business is, who it helps and how. Then come up with a killer marketing message so your prospects understand the value of your product and services. It’s a simple step that all too many businesses ignore, even well established ones, at their own peril.

Here’s the simple formula to focus your business and your marketing >> 

Stage II – New Business

After a few months of working around the clock, you have a product or service ready to sell. You land a few customers and sales start to trickle in, but that’s when the frustration sets in.

You’ve worked hard to create top quality products and services but your business is still the best-kept secret going. Hardly anyone knows about it and too few are becoming buyers.

What do you need to get more than the occasional client and sale?

It’s at this stage that entrepreneurs and service providers who are experts in their industry niche, in accounting, web design, dentistry, in financing realize that they’re not experts in marketing.

What do you need to grow your business at this point?

Ideas!

Even the smartest entrepreneur needs marketing ideas so they can discover the proven ways to attract clients, increase sales and generate a steady income.

Are you looking for more ideas, low-cost proven ways to skyrocket your business?

Use the ultimate marketing success formula >>

Stage III – Profitable Business

It happens to every smart entrepreneur and business owner. You apply a few solid marketing strategies and business starts rolling in and pretty soon you’re overwhelmed.

You’re trying to do everything, do the work, do all the routine stuff and keep marketing so you avoid roller coaster swings in the number of clients you have.

The problem now is, that because you did a few things right your business is the ball and chain around your life. You’re making good money, but you’re working way too hard and have yet to break into the upper six-figures or seven-figures.

At this point, you don’t need more ideas. You already have too many ideas.

At this stage the challenge is taking what you already know, all the good ideas you’ve been accumulating, and figuring out which ones to apply and how.

What do you need help with?

Implementation.

This is the stage in your business when a mentor, a coach can help you. You need someone to work with you one-on-one to help you sift through all the ideas you have, figure out which ones to use first, second and third to help you keep the sales rolling in.

Do you have a profitable business? Looking for ways to grow it?

Get one-on-one help growing your business >>

Stage IV – Successful Business

This is when things get really crazy and your life feels like controlled chaos or just plain chaos. Sales are rolling in at a steady clip and you keep coming up with even more ideas to grow your business.

It’s at this point that many otherwise successful entrepreneurs let themselves get buried by their business success, and end up missing the big opportunity to not just double their business but grow it by a factor of ten.

I’m sure you know friends who own a business. They’ve got a steady business and are bringing in a couple hundred thousand dollars a year but then they stop short. The problem, as you know, is that they’ve become their business instead of running it.

What do you need help with at this stage, once you have a successful business?

Expansion.

After all the hard work you’ve put into creating a profitable business why not continue to grow it and help even more customers enjoy your products and services.

Can you imagine if Bill Gates had stopped after he’d sold his first client? He’d only be worth a few hundred thousand dollars.

Instead he’s worth billions, has a huge team that runs his company for him and spends his time giving some of his billions away and giving back.

Any successful business has the potential to keep growing. It’s just a matter of taking your products and services and multiplying the number of people you sell to. Or course this involves a couple of key steps such as making better use of your time, building your team and mastering the art of delegation.

The challenge at this stage – is to move from doing all the work to leading your team and building your company. It’s not easy – to make the shift while you’re in the thick of it. Which is why we provide a complete done-for-you online marketing and sales support system, that comes with one-on-one coaching.

Ready to lead your business to the next stage?

Get Started >>

To your success,

Charlie Cook
MarketingForSuccess.com

P.S. Both my “children” are in their mid-twenties now, and aren’t looking for the basics anymore, but seek out advice on how to get the next promotion, how to get the next job, and how to advance their careers, in both the non-profit and for profit worlds.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

It was only a matter of time before people got bored with the static look of websites.

Lately we have been seeing more 3D images, rotating images, and audio to accompany a business website. These new tactics hope to… catch a reader’s attention and then keep them on the page long enough to get involved. However, this quick and catchy type of work is not always ideal. Many businesses find that they have more knowledge and more expertise that they want to share with customers, and a long static article just isn’t doing the trick.

While the fast paced life of Americans certainly makes it seem as though a catchy headline is the only answer, businesses have discovered something much more exciting—podcasts.

Generally, people love to use their IPods and let someone do the reading for them (hence the continuing popularity of TV and voip business phones systems). Podcasts allow businesses to get their information out to the public without asking consumers to sit down and read an article. This is becoming extremely popular because Americans are always on the move. A podcast can be played while someone is driving in their car, riding the train, or walking to work, and this is something that a traditional article simply cannot offer. When it comes to podcasts remember the alliteration: podcasts are pleasingly portable. Podcasts can be uploaded directly onto a person’s hard drive so the information is ready to go when the person is on the go.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 6 million US adults have downloaded a podcast. If you want to get in on the action, consider a few tips that will help you create your own company podcast:

How Your Company Can Get in on the Podcast Action

• Buy a podcast kit—There are now many kits out there that will supply you with all of the equipment you will need to create your first podcast. If you are not interested in buying an all-in-one setup, the materials are generally not expensive. Be sure you have a microphone for each speaker and an audio editing program, and you should be ready to go.

• Write engaging content—You do not want to write a script that is too long or too short. A podcast is not a commercial and it is not a novel. Usually 20 minutes works well for a podcast, and your content should show off your expertise in the field and aim to teach, not sell.

• Consider the frequency—Some companies put out a regular podcast so that listeners will know exactly when to tune-in. This is usually a best practice once a company gets the hang out creating podcasts and locks in a few regular listeners. Until then, a podcast once every few weeks should be appropriate.• Advertise the podcast—People will need to subscribe to your podcast in order to get your podcast heard. Let people know you have created a podcast by putting a link on your website or in a commercial.

Creating a podcast may sound complicating, but in the end most businesses are pleasantly surprised. With the recent popularity of YouTube, there is no denying that video is the future of marketing. If you can spend the time to create a podcast, there is a good chance your company will look a little bit less static in the eyes of the newest generation.

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to employee background checks. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including business credit card applications to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading B2B Directory, Business.com.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

There is an analogy we use when we think about our marketplace, it is like a pie that can only get bigger.

In order for that to be true, we must be able to think differently. Many times we limit our opportunities to grow our business or organization by not looking outside of the perimeter of our present client base. Too often we focus on the type of potential client we have sold to in the past or the ones who belong to our competitors and ignore the non clients. We try to play the game of a cheaper price, better service or better quality.

In their book Blue Ocean Strategy, authors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, give the example of how the company Callaway Golf created a huge demand for their products by looking at people who did not play the game of golf.

Here is what Callaway Golf did. They surveyed sports enthusiasts and members of country clubs and asked them why they avoided playing the game of golf. Their answer was stunningly simple.
It was too hard and frustrating for a novice to try and hit a little white golf ball with the small head of a golf club. People did not want to take hours and hours to learn and practice how to get good at this sport.

Once Callaway understood this revelation they moved into action to create a new demand for its’ products. What they did is they created the Big Bertha Golf Club. This club had a large head that made it much easier to hit the golf ball. Big Bertha not only turned non- clients into new clients, it also won over its’ existing golf clients to upgrade to the new drivers that Callaway had created. They wanted to improve their game and saw Big Bertha as the way to do it instantly.

Who are some of the groups of people who are not using your products or services?

Try using some of these tools to learn why they don’t use your products or services.
• Focus groups
• On-line surveys
• One on one conversations
• Ask your employees what they think

Once you learn what it is, you can change, add, or modify your products or services to meet the needs of your potential client base. Then use the TMET formula:

T-test
E-evaluate
M-measure the results
T-tweak the product or service until it works

So, if you want to grow your business, follow the strategy of Callaway Golf.

Look to your non-clients for the answer. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

In a perfect world, everybody will do what we want them to.

Our kids will brush their teeth the first time we ask them to, do their homework, keep their rooms tidy, and keep their curfews; our parents will listen to our advice; our friends will stop their horrendous habits; our spouses will remember their promises.

In a perfect business world… our customers will do what we want them to do. They will notice our advertisements, will read our direct mail, and will take the calls of our salespeople. In short, they will buy what we sell them.

We all know that perfect worlds don’t exist. In this imperfect one, words are often unheard, misconstrued, or forgotten. They are not tangible; they are by their very nature ephemeral. Messages, however interesting or important, get lost all the time.

So what do you do then to keep your message alive?

The problem is that conversations, sales pitches, and sales calls are all words. They disappear as soon as you’ve said them and quickly thereafter, they are forgotten as if they never existed! The solution is to get your words to stay permanently in the minds of your customers.

How do you do that? You structure your marketing communication strategy in a way that keeps your message alive in the minds of your customers, employees and everyone else with whom your business interacts.

1.    Create unobtrusive follow-up messages:  Use am email marketing service such as Constant Contact or Mail Chimp to stay in touch with your customers.  Create quick, easy to read useful tips and reminders that will keep conversations alive without a hard sale.

2.    Send personalized newsletters:  Depending on your business, budget and list, you may want to take your newsletter OFFLINE and send a real-life printed copy.  Keep newsletters informative, educational and fun.  Don’t be afraid to share bits of your personal life and tie them into the message of the newsletter.  Be sure to offer gifts, tips or coupons as well as to drive readers back to your web site.

3.    Create a list of top 10 reasons and focus on those.  Talk about getting a bang for your marketing effort; write a single article that outlines the 10 reasons customers should choose you and your product.  Make them obvious, fun and snappy.  Then use that list to create individual articles, presentations, messages and promotions.  It will keep your message focused and make it easy for customers to refer you.

4.    Set up a referral system.   Check out “Pay with a Tweet”  it’s a terrific way to get your online community talking about you and your offer.  Simply set up an account, put a button on your site and offer a product or service that your community can pay for by tweeting about it.

5.    Give webinars and teleseminars.  This is so much easier than you think.  Create a “concept” presentation that teaches your audience something valuable and then partner with other people in your market space.  You offer to give your webinar to their community and then they can give one to your community.  This is a great way to expand your list and offer great content to other experts on the web.

Keeping conversations alive is unique different from pesky and annoying advertising.  Marketing and advertising messages are often too focused on getting people to simply “Buy something”  it gives the audience the impression of being disrespected and used.  On the other hand, keeping conversations alive actually achieves the same thing as a sales message – it reminds your customers that you are there.  But instead of just selling them day after day, you are building relationships, educating and being a useful part of their life.  And this, usefulness is what keeps your brand at the center of their attention and keeps them choosing you when they are looking to buy what you’re selling.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Personally, I’ve never been hit on the head by a falling apple, but I get it.

I get that gravity made it happen – it’s a basic law of physics, one discovered by Newton. But do you know the 3rd law Newton discovered the one that explains why your marketing is or isn’t working? Read more >>

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

When was the last time you said or thought “How many times do I have to tell you?!”

If you have any relationships with kids, this conversation is alive and well in your personal life.  And when it comes to sales and marketing… we know all too well that messages have to be repeated if we want our prospects and customers to know who we are.

But did you know WHY they have to be repeated?

I didn’t until I took this great communication class this past weekend and found out that the things we say simply disappear.
I know, this sounds a little confusing at first, but I’m going to show you exactly how this concept plays itself out in your marketing and when your light-bulb goes on, you’re going to practice small business marketing in a whole new way.

There is a distinct difference between the words that we say and the objects around us.

Conversations use words – and words are not objects, words are invisible and as soon as you say them, they disappear.  Objects take up physical space.

Do this experiment — pick up an object – any object; pen, cup, phone — any object will do.  Place it down on the table, then walk away.  Then come back.  Assuming that no one has moved it, it will still be there.  It’s an object – it doesn’t just walk away or disappear on its own.

Now – hold your hand in front of your face and say “Hey all you customers, click on this link, walk through my door and buy something!”

Did you SEE anything come out of your mouth?  Did people suddenly come walking through your door?  NO – because words are invisible.  They are not objects.

So here is the problem — we THINK that when we say something or have a conversation that it’s just going to be there — like that cup.  And guess what?  It isn’t.  We forget.  We forget most conversations in the instant that they come out of our mouths.
This is why your marketing communication strategy has to be structured in a way that keeps your message – your conversation – alive in the minds of your customers, your employees and everyone with whom your company interacts.  And this is the reason companies with strong simple mission statements are so successful, they have created an easy conversation to understand and to build a sales and marketing system around.

How to Target Buyers With Your Small Business Marketing Message

1. Keep it simple.  There is a reason that FedEx, Dominos and Twitter are all successful.  Their promise is easy to understand.  Get it there overnight, pizza in 30 minutes, messages in 140 characters.  There, I’ve communicated three HUGE brand messages in 12 words.  Can you do that?  If not, get started working on it.  Brainstorm with your team, draw pictures, do collages, make sticky notes, interview customers.  Aside from knowing who your ideal customer is – this is the next most important step.

2. Attach the message to an object.  We relate to the world in terms of three-dimensional objects.  That means that telling people simply isn’t enough.  You have to convert that message into something written .  Email is a step above just speaking and telling.  Interacting with your customers in a blog conversation or via social media is better – it keeps the conversation alive.  Supplementing your message with a three-dimensional object via direct mail is even better.  Creating a customer experience around your product or service is the best.  Take every opportunity to attach your message to an object and you will see an improvement in your conversions.

3. Keep saying it.  Stay in the conversation.  This is why your message needs to be simple, because the simpler the message, the easier it’s going to be to twist it and turn it into all kinds of fun and engaging content.  Your email marketing campaign tool is an ideal support mechanism for your message.  Also consider using direct marketing with certain segments.

4. Use different tools to have the same conversation.  Don’t stop with email marketing, blogging and social media.  Transition customers from the virtual realm into the three-dimensional realm.  Use surveys as an opportunity to have conversations with your customers, consider three-dimensional direct marketing as a way to reach out to specific and profitable targets.

So the next time your customers aren’t responding to your marketing messages, don’t get mad.  Instead, remember that they’ve simply forgotten or what you’re selling isn’t important to them at the time.  Take the time to learn what’s important to your customer when they are buying what you’re selling and then follow these steps to keep them engaged and your marketing message alive.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..