How To Double Your Profits Without Spending A Dime On Advertising

If you’re like most small business owners I know, I have some good news and bad news for you.

The bad news is that even if your current marketing is doing “OK”, you can probably agree to one or more of the following:

• Not generating as many leads as possible…

• Not converting as many of those leads as you should…

• Losing chances for referrals and repeat business…

• Losing out on profits that should be yours.

How to Double Your Profits Overnight

The good news is you can improve in all 3 of these areas without spending a lot of money.  In fact, you may be able to cut your advertising costs significantly.  For instance, some of my clients spend 50% less on lead generation advertising than they did before I worked with them…simply because they generating more leads from the same amount of prospects.

And those increases don’t have to be huge to have a dramatic effect on your business.  For instance, let’s say Sally sends out 1,000 postcards a month to a list of potential customers.  Each potential customer is worth $100.

So if Sally gets a 1% response rate—which is pretty good for a “cold” list—she’ll get 10 new customers a month. That’s $1,000 in gross profits.

Not bad.  But what if Sally increased her response rate to 2%?  Then she’d get 20 new customers a month.  That’s $2,000 in new sales—from the same list.  And she doesn’t have to spend any extra money on printing or postage.  She doubled her profits without increasing her expenses.

So you how can you do that in your small business?  Well, there are actually 3 ways to increase your response rates.

Let’s start at the top.

Are You Talking to the Right People?

First, you need to examine the quality of the prospects you’re marketing to.  In other words, are the people you’re communicating with a good match for your business?

You see, most small businesses cast too wide a net.  They want to appeal to everyone.  And as a result, they end up sounding just like everyone else.  Or worse, they get ignored entirely.

To get more people to respond to your marketing messages, you need to get your message to the right people.  That means you need to find the right demographic—the people who really need what you’re selling. And you need to make they’re ready, willing and able to pay for your services.

The Power of Focus

Let’s say, for instance, a dentist wants to get more patients.  If he sends out a mass mailing to 1,000 homes in and around his office, he may get a few people coming in.  Maybe some of them can’t afford what he charges.  Maybe some of them aren’t ready to take action.  And most of them simply aren’t interested in getting their teeth fixed—either because they don’t care or they don’t need it.

But if he focuses that mailing on the right demographic, he can skyrocket his response rates.  For instance, if our dentist found people between the ages of 40-70 (when many people start to need dentures, implants, etc.) …who live within 3-5 miles of his office…and who also have household incomes of at least $75,000 -$100,000 a year…he’s much more likely to get a good response rate to his mailing.  Why? Because that group is more likely to need his services.  They’re close enough that his office is convenient.  And they can afford his services.

Even better, those same people may have children.  And kids need regular dental checkups.  They eat sugary foods and don’t like to brush their teeth. They may need braces.  And when they’re a little older, they’ll probably need to have their wisdom teeth removed.

Now our good dentist is still mailing 1,000 postcards a month advertising his services.  But now he’s sending them to a demographic that’s much more likely to need his services.  What do you think that will do to his response rates…and his profits?

Not Just for Direct Mail…

And please don’t think these lessons only apply to direct mail.  Demographic marketing works just as well online.  In fact, it’s become amazingly easy. Facebook lets you target ads demographically.  So does Google.  So with a little thought, you can create an online advertising campaign that only reaches the people you want to do business with.  And unlike direct mail, you don’t have the hassle of fulfillment.

Marketing to the right demographic is step 1 in your marketing overhaul.   That alone can give your business a huge boost.  In fact, the single biggest factor in the success or failure of any marketing campaign is the target audience.  After all, if you don’t reach the right people, no one will care how great your offer is.

See you on the other side!