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small business marketing mentoring

The Day I Lost My Pants In NYC

By Charlie Cook | March 18, 2009

It was the day after Thanksgiving when I lost my pants. I was headed in from Connecticut to New York City with my fiance to explore what was then a still-emerging art gallery scene in Soho. We were enjoying the trip in but things started to go wrong when we got off the subway.

We’d misread the subway map and got off one stop too early. That wouldn’t normally have been a problem, but when we emerged from the subway station, rain was coming down in buckets. We had rain jackets but no umbrella, and the temperature was just above freezing.

By the time we’d walked a few blocks, our jeans were soaked through and we were both shivering and miserable. We were too cold to spend the day wandering around soaking wet. The choice was, either to give up and go home, or do something about our wet clothes and try to save our day together in the city. We opted for the latter.

What would you have done?

We stopped at a corner store, bought a newspaper and went looking for a way to dry our pants. A block away, behind a heavy metal door, we found a tiny laundromat with just three washers and dryers.

We peeled off our wet jeans behind the newspaper and popped them into a dryer. We sat down to wait, trying to be as discreet as possible about our state of undress. (Newspapers are handy in such situations, but to tell you the truth, the New Yorkers around us didn’t even blink when we took off our pants.)

Thirty minutes later, we had warmed up, our jeans were dry, the rain had let up and we were back on track. We’d salvaged what could have turned into a really bad day.

Ever have something bad happen that turned into something good?

This current recession is like a cold rain. It’s soaking lots of people’s profits, and anticipating a difficult year or two is downright unpleasant.

Want to find simple solutions to salvage your business plans and dreams? You can do it.

The email I’ve been getting over the last three months falls into two distinct camps. The first group is paralyzed by fear and worry. They’re watching and waiting, and they’re unhappy.

The second group of people are worried, too, but they don’t feel stuck. They are highly motivated to find a way out of the problems the recession is causing them.

These smart business owners, people like you, know they need to adapt to these challenging conditions, improve their business practices, and look for new opportunities to maintain profits — or even grow.

Last year, during the first year of this recession, my clients on average doubled their sales. You can do the same by taking action now.

Contact me by filling in the application for my one-on-one mentoring program. This program isn’t for everybody. It’s for qualified business owners who can show me a track record of past success, and who are motivated to find solutions to today’s problems.

Want in? I’ve only got two spots open.

Start here to schedule a time to talk >>

– Charlie

P.S. Don’t lose your pants in this recession. Do something about it.

4 Steps to Higher Profits This Year

By Charlie Cook | January 20, 2009

I just got off the phone with one of my clients, Carlos from Chile.

Here’s what he said: “Charlie I followed your suggestions for writing and sending out my newsletter to generate new business. I couldn’t believe what happened next. We got 25 responses and set up 11 prospect meetings in 2 days since the email went out. I couldn’t believe it.”

The first step to increasing your profits in the next 12 months is to find out how to:

* Attract more prospects,
* Clarify the value of your products and services,
* Gain your prospects’ confidence,
* Motivate your prospects to buy more and buy today.

As Carlos discovered, it’s not that hard to position yourself for windfall profits in your business. The key is knowing what works and taking action. Carlos had been thinking of sending out a newsletter for over a year but didn’t know what to say in it that would make his prospects open it, read it and contact him.

Like Carlos did you can easily discover the answer and within weeks be eating your competition’s lunch. Enjoy.

To make it easier for you, I’ve created the lowest cost way to access the strategies you need to maximize your profits in less time this year. I’m in the process of putting together a Mastermind VIP group to show you exactly what works and how to do it.

Already some of you emailed to find out more. When Jessica told me how many email requests we’d received – I couldn’t believe it.

This shows me you really are serious about beating the gloomy sounding economy this year.

I was thinking that maybe 30-40 people might be interested but I was wrong!

So far over 274 people have contacted me asking to get on the VIP list for an Insider’s Marketing Mastermind program. All this within mere days of just mentioning the idea. And the requests for more info just keep coming.

I’m still working out the details but given your enthusiasm and interest I’m committed to making this work for those of you.

Given the numbers of people who are interested, it looks like we’re looking at an application process. While I could just go ahead and set up multiple groups to cover the demand, I made a decision to only open up one this quarter, to make sure the people that make it in get what they need.

But after reviewing some of your requests it seems pretty obvious you’d be interested. So if you want me to get this thing off the drawing board – here’s what I want you to do.

If you’re really serious about being part of an elite Mastermind group with private access to me and you haven’t done so yet,

Sign up here to get early access to apply >>

But that’s not all. If you head over to this page you’ll get more valuable information to help you today >>

-Charlie

P.S. Want to make 2009 a year to remember for your successes?
When you take responsibility for getting the knowledge, support and guidance you need you’re on your way.

Sign up today >>

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 >>

3 Steps To Attracting Buyers In This Economy

By Charlie Cook | November 20, 2008

What’s happened to your sales this past year? Are sales increasing or are you struggling to find buyers?

The temperatures have turned cold here in New England, and there have already been two snowfalls in the mountains. In Vermont, where I ski, the bears have hunkered down for the winter.

Does it look like your buyers are hibernating, too?
Are you thinking of pulling back on your marketing because of it?

Your answer to the first question may be “Yes”, but your answer to the second should be “No.” While your prospects may be more reluctant to make a purchase, there are still plenty of buyers out there. Cutting back on your marketing is a surefire way to lose even more sales and money.

Want to make money this year instead?

Take these three steps to keep your business on track and make next year your most profitable:

1. Stay Confident
The biggest mistake you can make is to lose confidence in your products and your services. Start to doubt your unique competitive advantage and your ability to improve your marketing, and you’ve lost the race before the start. Like a bear smells fear, your customers will notice your hesitancy and they’ll buy from a competitor who appears confident of success. They’ll steer clear of you and you’ll lose even more business.

Unless you compete directly with huge corporations on the scale of a Microsoft, there are plenty of people buying. What you need to do is attract more of them.

Ready to find out how to attract more clients? Start here >>

2. Focus On Your Core Strengths
Obviously, we’re doing business in a very different economic climate than we were a few years or even a few months ago. The marketing strategies that may have helped you stay afloat in the past could easily sink your business this year.

To succeed in this economy, your small business needs to be more focused and specialized. Companies like Circuit City that sold a bit of everything are closing their doors, but I see this happening to small businesses as well. Small companies that try to provide too many products or services are struggling. And for good reason; prospects can’t figure out what they excel at.

On the other hand, businesses that target a specific service or product are holding their own. I’m hearing that business is holding steady and, in some cases, growing from a whole host of people including: voice and data technology providers, and even from some real estate developers. Online, many niche services and products are growing too, including online bookkeeping, online virtual assistants and niche information products.

Discover how to grow your business this year >>

One of my clients is an organization that has been in business for two years providing innovative treatment to people with alcohol problems. Using the website strategies I showed them, they had their best week ever last week. This is a surprise since I’d think the economic news would be driving people to drink instead of to a cure.

Over a decade ago management guru Tom Peters advised business leaders to “stick to your knitting.” Finding the thing you do best and sticking to it is still one of the keys to success. For example, while many banks are struggling because they took big risks with subprime mortgages, the First National Bank in Orwell, Vermont is thriving. They stuck to what they knew well, only providing loans to people who they were confident could pay them back. The result? They maintained a positive cash flow and now more customers are flocking to their doors. This year loans are up 22.6% and deposits up 7%.

Even in the abysmal real estate market there are success stories. Everest Development in Denver offered 135 luxury condos for sale at prices ranging from $500,000 to $2 million and sold 90% of the properties earlier this year. Of course location and amenities were key, but these people knew their market.

You, too, can succeed by focusing on your strengths. Discover how >>

3. Find Out How To Attract More Buyers
At the risk of being redundant, I’m going to say it once more. There are plenty of buyers out there. All you need to do is attract a few more.

The first step to increasing your profits in the next 12 months is to find out how to:

• Attract more prospects
• Clarify the value of your products and services.
• Gain prospects’ confidence.
• Motivate prospects to buy, and buy today.

To make it easier, I’ve created the lowest cost way to access the strategies you need to maximize your profits in less time this year. I’ve put together a monthly mentoring program to show you exactly what works and how to do it.

Interested in making more money this year? Find out how to do it >>

On average, most small businesses will see their profits decline this year. Your business doesn’t have to be one of them.

You’re more ambitious than the average business owner and smart enough to look for ways to take advantage of the situation. Small businesses with the best marketing win every time; be a winner in this economy by finding out what works.

Stay confident, focus on what you do best and find out the fastest ways to attract prospects and convert them to buyers, and you’ll maximize your profits this year.

-Charlie
Small Business Marketing in any Economy

The 3 Ultimate Keys to Wealth and Success

By Charlie Cook | November 12, 2008

Have you been watching TV or reading the newspapers? The bad economy makes great headlines, and they’re full of it. You can’t miss hearing or reading about how terrible it is for business. But if that’s all the news you’re getting, you are missing the good news.

The good news about this economy is plentiful. It just doesn’t make great headlines on TV.

It’s true: Many businesses will struggle or even fail during this downturn… but at least ten percent will prosper. That’s right: At least one out of ten businesses will see their profits grow!

Want to be one of those ten that attract more clients and profits? Find out how >>

Every week, I talk to entrepreneurs and businesses that, despite all the bad news in the press, are holding steady or even growing in this economy. And, they all have one thing in common: Their efforts are clearly focused on 3 simple ideas I’ll share with you below.

For most business owners, it’s not a lack of ideas that is the problem. It’s knowing which ones to use. So today I’m going to give you the keys to the kingdom: the three key ideas to use whether you’re thinking of starting a business or have been in business for decades.

These are the three most important ideas I’ve ever shared, and I recommend you read them and then tape them to your forehead, or rather to your computer monitor, and use them to focus your efforts, so you maximize your sales and profits this year and for the rest of your business career.

The 3 Keys to Ultimate Business Success

1. Needs
Whether you sell sunglasses, hearing aids, sports training, legal services, or financial advice, the place to focus is on your prospects’ needs. I know one entrepreneur who thought that the sunglasses parents were buying for their young children were a joke. So she came up with a line of quality unbreakable sunglasses for young kids, and her business is growing like wild.

Every product or service you create and market should be designed to meet an apparent or perceived need of your target market. No need, no sales. High perceived need, high sales.

The same is true of your marketing. It should be focused on your prospects’ needs. Focus your marketing on yourself, and you’ll struggle forever. Focus on what they want, and you’ll get their attention and their business.

Discover how to transform needs into profits >>

2. Relationships
Your biggest competitive advantage isn’t the quality of your products or services; it’s the number and strength of the relationships you have with prospects and clients. It’s the amount of confidence you command. So, where should your marketing be focused?

Focus 80-90% of your marketing efforts on relationship-building activities.

Typically, most marketing is aimed at getting the sale, not at building relationships or confidence. Big mistake! People need to first know you and trust you before they’ll buy from you. They need to be sure you’re the best company to buy from, and your product or service does what you say it does. Where confidence flows, money follows.

How do you gain someone’s confidence so he or she will buy from you? You help them get to know you through repeated contacts and demonstration of your expertise.

Find out how to build relationships for business success >>

3. Profits
Most entrepreneurs and business owners’ attention is squarely focused on increasing sales when instead they should be focused on profits. This can be a fatal mistake, skewing your marketing efforts and distracting you from what you should be paying attention to.

In the past few years, Washington Mutual had amazing success increasing the sales of mortgages. And as you know now, they lost money on each of these and, ultimately, caused the bank to fold.

Whether you are testing a headline, an ad, a sales letter, a website, an upsell strategy, or a followup strategy, the question you should be focused on is, “What will help us maximize our profits?” Yes, you could send out ten thousand postcards and get a few more sales, but if your response is low, your marketing costs are going to decimate your profits.

The solution to making more is to continually test and improve everything you do to market your business, so that each month, you’re generating more leads, more sales and yes – more profits.

Want to maximize your revenue? Discover how >>

That’s it! Needs, Relationships, and Profits.

Tape those 3 words to your wall, and if every day you ask yourself the following five questions, then you’ll be headed in the right direction.

– What are the needs of my prospects (perceived or real)?
– How can I do a better job of fulfilling those needs?
– What am I doing to start more relationships with prospects?
– What weekly and monthly activities am I doing to strengthen relationships with prospects and clients?
– What elements of my marketing am I testing and what would work better to increase profits?

Interested in finding out how easy it is to increase your profits? Apply here >>

– Charlie
Small Business Marketing Success in Any Economy

Don’t miss out…

By Charlie Cook | October 28, 2008

Don’t miss out… It’s finally here! You can finally get access to my proven profit-building strategies and systems along with those of some of the most successful marketers in the world, it you take action in the next few minutes.

Be one of the first 250 people to join this monthly mentoring program and claim your free gift worth $1,024.85, use the following link and sign up now. Here’s how to get in.

https://www.marketingforsuccess.com/members

Note: If you wait too long to join, you’ll miss the $1024.85 free bonus forever.

Speaking of waiting too long…

In business, it’s more accurate to say “You snooze, you lose”.

And it’s certainly no more relevant than it is right now with regards to my special bonuses that I am giving away to the non-procrastinators who sign up for my Monthly Mentoring Program! The program is exclusive and available only to the first 250 people who register. So if you’ve read this far… STOP! Join now so you don’t miss out! >>

With my Monthly Mentoring Program AND the Bonuses, you get:

* Strategies to maximize your profits

* Advice from “real-world” marketing gurus

* Generate twice as many leads

* Write sales copy that really works

* Sell more in a month than all last year

* Spend money only on advertising that works

* Convert your website visitors to real customers

* And much, much more…

But again, you need to be one of the first 250 people that sign up to receive the free bonuses, period! Once they’re gone, they’re gone. No exceptions. So make sure and sign up immediately and be one of the 250 lucky, I mean aggressive and enthusiastic business owners that want to increase their business while they still have the will!

When you sign up for the Monthly Mentoring Program, you will learn how to market your business and actually make money doing it.

Quit spinning your wheels and start making boatloads of cash now!

To your success,

Charlie

PS: “So Charlie, what’s the price already?” With a value of thousands of dollars a month, what will this actually cost you? $297 a month? $197? Or will it be as low as only $97 a month? Use This Link To Find Out!

P.P.S. Have you ever really wanted something so badly you could almost taste it, and then missed out because you simply waited too long? Remember just how disappointed and frustrated you were, thinking the whole time, “I can’t believe I missed that!”

When I was nine, my dad’s company got hold of some Boston Red Sox tickets they were going to give away to their employees. Boy, did I love them, watching them on TV as often as I could. That day, my dad said “Son, you and I are going to a Red Sox game.” I had never seen a “real” professional baseball game before and was so excited I couldn’t sleep a wink that night.

Anyway, he worked for a small company in Maine with about 40 employees. And they only had 20 tickets to give away, first come – first serve. My dad figured since many of the other workers were women, and didn’t really like baseball anyway, he would wait ’till the next day and get the tickets at the bus, assuming there would be plenty left for us.

The next morning, we ate a good breakfast, packed the cooler, and got our Red Sox hat and shirts on, anticipating a great day. After all, it was my first trip to Boston to see a real ballgame. We even got to the bus two hours early… But there was a problem. The bus was already filled to capacity and the tickets were all gone!

It was very quiet as we drove back home in utter disbelief.

Come to find out, the women he didn’t think were interested in going immediately called their husbands and their friends to come down and pick up tickets right then, not the next morning. You can only imagine the disappointment of a 9 year-old, and my Dad, well… he has never forgiven himself to this day.

Contrary to the popular saying, especially in marketing your business – Good things DON’T always come to those who wait! Don’t be like my dad and wait till it’s too late. Believe me, you will never forgive yourself, he didn’t!

Take Action to Get In and Get Access to These Profit-Building Systems >>

Only 4 hours left…

By Charlie Cook | October 28, 2008

Good news!

You can grow your business if you take action today. My fulfillment house was able to repress and replace the 250 damaged disks, yesterday, and they’re ready to ship your new member gift to you today.

At 1:00 PM EST TODAY, Tuesday, October 28, I will send you the link to join. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled on your inbox so you don’t miss out.

You’ll have access to marketing and selling shortcuts that will immediately help you tap more prospects and generate more leads and sales. You’ll get the detailed blueprint to:

– Pull in more clients and prospects than ever before
– Skyrocket your conversion rate so you stop leaking potential sales
– Turn every website visitor into a potential customer
– Cutting-edge marketing strategies that your competition isn’t using… and will help you get -and stay- on top
– And much more!

Membership will open at 1:00 PM Eastern Time TODAY – Tuesday, October 28 and will only remain open until the 250th person has joined. How long will that be? Based on feedback I’ve received so far, it could be completely filled within just a few days… and you could be totally locked out.

So how do you register? Watch your email. At 1:00 PM ET TODAY – 12:00 PM CT, 11:00 AM MT, 10:00 AM PT – I will send you an email with the link. Use that link to go straight to the registration page and ensure you’re one of the first 250 people to register.

To your success,

Charlie

PS: When you join my new mentoring program you will also be sent my ultimate profit-generating gift worth $1,024.85 and you’ll get it absolutely FREE when you test-drive this membership program.

PPS: Oh, and one more thing. People keep asking me about the cost. I’ll reveal the price in the next email, but in the meantime, I can assure you this: several of my colleagues have already scolded me for not charging enough. Your rewards for investing in this program will FAR outweigh the cost of enrollment. I guarantee it.

So What’s Included in the Monthly Marketing Mentoring Program?

By Charlie Cook | October 27, 2008

I’ve been getting a lot of email from people wanting to know what’s included in the new Monthly Marketing Mentoring program that will launch tomorrow, Monday, at 11am.

Like you, they all want to know, “How will it benefit me and my business?”

The benefit to you is FOCUS.
Anyone who has been in business for a year or two knows that they need a marketing strategy to attract new clients and earn more. You know that you need have a way to attract clients, a way to clarify the value of your products and services and a way to close the sale.
And you may even know that with an effective follow strategy you can increase your profits by 300%.

Between print and e-media and using simple tools like the telephone, there are an almost infinite number of ways to market your business and an equal infinite number of ways to do it wrong and waste your time and hard earned cash.

Have you ever sent out a mailing, placed an ad or put up a web site and gotten no response, or not enough to break even? Despite all your hard work, your efforts missed the target. No one told you where or how to focus your marketing to get the results you wanted.

Knowing where to focus your marketing efforts is the key to the future of your company. While this has always been important, it’s even more so in this economy.

Have you ever asked;

What’s the quickest way to grow my business?

What’s the most cost-effective way to attract buyers?

What’s the best way to overcome the trust barrier and close the sale?

How can I write marketing copy that sells?

How can I use email to generate interest and close the sale?

The biggest challenge for any business owner — and even more so for small business owners — is knowing where to focus your efforts to maximize your return.

Your future, your success and how much you make depend on it.

What do you get when you join the Monthly Marketing Mentoring Program?

You’ll get access to the best ideas from the top marketing and sales experts in the country, people like Jay Conrad Levinson, Mike Bosworth, Al Ries, and many others including myself. With their expertise you’ll be able to focus the time and money you spend on marketing. You’ll discover the latest and most practical ways to pull in more profits.

How else will you benefit from being one of the first 250 people to sign up for this monthly marketing membership program?

You’ll receive my ultimate profit-generating gift worth $1,024.85

…as a BONUS when you test-drive this membership program including CDS and reports revealing:

– How to Make This Your Best Year Ever

– How to Close the Sale and Make $20,000 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

– The Essential Marketing Checklist

– The Ultimate Copywriting Checklist

And if that’s not enough, I’ll send the first 250 new-member gifts out with no shipping charges.

How much will membership cost?

With a value of thousands of dollars a month, what will this actually cost you? $297 a month? $197? Or will it be as low as only $97 a month?

You’ll find out the answer tomorrow when we open the doors.

Don’t miss it. With only 250 new member gifts, this is sure to sell out within days.

To your success,

Charlie

MarketingForSuccess

P.S. In sum, what’s the benefit of membership? Knowing where to focus your marketing so you maximize your profits in less time and with less effort.

It’s no secret; you can easily double and triple your business when you know what how to market it. I look forward to working with you. Remember to sign up tomorrow.