Most people who exhibit at trade shows overlook a powerful publicity tool that’s just waiting for their news.
It’s the trade show daily, the newspaper that offers a bird’s-eye view of what’s happening that day at the show.
When I first attended the BookExpo America convention last year, I was kicking myself for not paying closer attention to the dailies. I missed meeting Gene Hackman, Read More »
You’ve heard me grumble about media mutts who deliver public relations pitches that have nothing to do whatsoever with the media outlet they’re pitching it to.
For a perfect example of what I’m talking about, Read More »
If your product or service makes a great holiday gift, send the media a photo of it, along with a brief.
A brief can take several forms. It can be: Read More »
When you write a news release, do you write different versions of the same release – emphasizing different things in the first paragraph – depending on what media outlet you’re sending it to?
Smart publicity hounds do. They want every magazine editor to read their releases and Read More »
Have you ever seen the musical Jesus Christ Superstar? Remember that song, “What’s the Buzz?” I think that’s when the term buzz first became an important part of popular culture.
Buzz is simply conversations about your business: conversations between you and a customer, among customers, and between customers and non-customers. And every business – large or small, online or offline – wants buzz.
How do you create buzz? Read More »
The best sales presentation I’ve ever seen wasn’t a sales pitch, but when it was over I was sold for life.
Wouldn’t you like to be able to do the same with your marketing, sell clients for life without a single sales pitch?
I was in high school, attending a mandatory assembly about safe driving. We students were polite, but mostly inattentive until we saw the speaker toss an egg to a volunteer on the stage. By the time we heard “splat!” and saw the egg dripping from his hand, the speaker had our attention.
“That egg is you in a car crash, without a seat belt,” the speaker said. “Its simple physics: when a fragile object in motion stops suddenly, the energy has to go somewhere.”
“Now, let’s see what happens when we protect the egg,” he said, placing another in an empty dozen-size carton. The speaker flung the carton half way back into the auditorium, where a student caught it. On instruction from the speaker he opened the carton, removed the unbroken egg and held it aloft.
We were sold. The benefits of wearing a seat belt were etched permanently on our brains, as my recollection of the moment many years later attests.
Want to sell more of your prospects? Get started here >>
Everybody’s selling something…
The speaker may have been throwing, but he wasn’t pitching. As the egg story shows, there’s more than one-way to sell.
Think you don’t have to sell? Think again.
Everybody sells something – products, services or ideas. The speaker was selling an idea, and we bought it because of the power of his demonstration.
Good selling isn’t about high pressure and fast talk. It’s about providing information that enables buyers to make informed decisions. It’s about presenting ideas in a way that grab their attention, eliminate their objections and demonstrate value. A canned sales pitch is seldom the best way to do that. In other words, you can win without pitching.
Interested? Want to know the secrets to winning without pitching? Start by using this link >>
That being the case, you need to know how to go about communicating with your prospects and clients. First, it helps to start thinking like your clients. Here are four basic guidelines to help you market from your client’s perspective:
*No one likes to be sold, but nearly everyone loves to buy.
*People do things for their own reasons, not yours.
*People buy from you because they know you, like you and trust you.
*People make buying decisions based on emotions, not facts.
With those thoughts as a frame of reference, let’s consider what you should do to help people buy. These suggestions apply to on-line and off-line businesses equally.
*Be a problem solver. Establish your expert credentials by providing high-quality information that helps people solve their problems.
*Use stories and testimonials. People love stories. They help us understand context and let us relate better to a product or service. Testimonials are short stories told about you by your clients. Prospective clients often find it easier to relate to you through the positive experiences of others.
*Be patient. Selling is a lot like dating (yes, we’re all selling something). You wouldn’t think of planting a passionate kiss on someone at the beginning of a first date. It makes no more sense to try to close a product sale too soon. Provide information, build trust.
*Tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Keep in mind a quick search of the Internet probably will provide more than enough factual information to debunk any false claims.
*Use a variety of tools. We’ve already discussed the power of a good demonstration. It doesn’t have to be live – you can do a video demo on YouTube or your own Website. No matter what kind of business you have, a good Website should be a big part of your marketing mix.
Providing useful information helps customers gain confidence in you, which is essential to establishing trust. But at some point you have to close the sale. If you’ve provided good information that leads the customer logically from information consumer to eager buyer, closing the sale should be the natural end result.
If you’d like to attract more clients and generate more sales, discover how much more you could be making by winning without pitching. Take action today >>
To your success,
Charlie
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What is it with putting lipstick on a pig?
Obama and McCain both seem to love this phrase. According to Meghan McCain her Dad uses it frequently and at last count McCain used it plenty publicly referring to Hilary’s health care plan and to Mitt Romney.
What’s it mean?
It refers to dressing something up and trying to sell it as something it isn’t.
Obviously you can take this idea too far and the first thing I’d recommend is that to anyone who uses this phrase drop but don’t dump the concept.
What am I saying? Should you put lipstick on a pig?
No! But regularly businesses rename products and bring them back to life. For example book publishers look at poorly selling titles and if the book looks like it could have life they come up with a better title, one that catches attention and sells.
So don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, use this idea, just not to literally.
Does this work? Does renaming and repacking existing products or services work to bring life to a poor sales?
Yes! It’s one of the easiest ways to ramp up profits. Just don’t call it putting lipstick on a pig. And of course I’m assuming none of your products or services are pigs anyways.
– Charlie
MarketingForSuccess
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For most people marketing online can be a puzzle. The first step is to understand the pieces. Here’s a roadmap of the key elements.
1. Getting People to Your Site
– Search Engine Listings
– Pay-per-click ads
– PR
– Article Distribution
– Linking Strategy
Whether it’s the description that appears in the search engines, your google ad, or the blurb you include with your articles, you’ll need a killer marketing message that gets your prospects to stop what they are doing and click through to your web site. I explain exactly how to do this in the 15 Second Marketing guide.
2. Getting People to Read Your Web Copy
Once visitors arrive at your site you want them to instantly discover why they need your products or services then you want them to contact you or buy from you. I explain the web strategies and ideas that work to do this in Creating Web Sites that Sell .
3. Getting People to Buy Again and Again
Remember the first sale should be just the beginning. Once a site visitor has made a purchase quickly leverage their interest and convert them into regular buyers.
– Charlie Cook
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“I have very little control over my website. What is the best way, for my site, to get on search engines.” – Nancy Brown
If your web site was built with a third party template and is hosted on their site you may have little you can control about the actual site. This puts you at a serious disadvantage in terms of getting people to your site. You can’t make most of the changes you need to help the search engines find your site.
You can promote your site in a number of other ways including using:
– Pay-per-click ads to send traffic to your site
– Articles
– Online press releases
– Links from other sites.
My best recommendation is that you create your own web site, one you can write and set up so the search engines find it.
– Charlie Cook
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