The Secret To More Engagement Revealed!

client engagement

Looking for more client engagement?

Well, here’s the secret!

Did you know that making one small change in how you communicate can drastically improve your engagement rates?

Well, today we expose this not-so-secret secret..

Watch today’s Marketing In A Minute video and see how this one simple thing can change things for the better.

Please join us now, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you won’t miss any of our upcoming tips.

Watch our video now, or watch on YouTube.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

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Improve Your Email Open Rates – Part 3

improve email open rates

A lesson in effortless selling.

Today we are bringing you the final installment of our three-part series about how to improve your email open rates.

Why do we send emails? Let’s face it; we are sending emails for a reason. It might be to get people to click a link. Or, it might be to get your visitors to purchase a product. Regardless of the motivation, we write emails because we want people to take action of some kind.

Check out these final seven tips to help get conversions from your emails:

1. Be sure that you are never putting short-term gains ahead of the trust your readers have placed in you. It can be difficult enough to build credibility and trust online. Don’t risk damaging your reputation for a short-sighted goal.

2. People purchase products to solve a problem, not because it is the next shiny object. The easiest way to make sure that you are getting buyers is to focus on the solutions your product provides, not what your product is.

3. Whether we like to admit it or not, scarcity forces people to take action. Make sure your offer is time sensitive.

4. Use analytics to your advantage. Use them to learn the exact point when your audience is prepared to take action and then insert the link to your offer.

5. Don’t just insert one link in your copy. Insert multiple links at various points within your sales copy to increase the chances of converting the reader. Yes, it might be obvious, but it works!

6. Remember to ask! People are more likely to act on something if they are asked to do so, so include that as a call to action within your copy.

7. In the “old days” of ad mail, statistics proved that adding a P.S. to any sales letter increased the chances of getting a sale. Email is no different. Add a postscript to every sales email that you send out. This gives you another opportunity to insert a call to action or to remind them of the time sensitivity of the offer.

And there you have it…

Everybody is busy. Everybody receives tons of emails in their inbox on a daily basis. And when it comes to priorities, your email is at the bottom.

The tips that we have provided for you during this series may not resolve all of your problems, but we can guarantee that by implementing them you should drastically improve your click through rate.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Are You Invested In Your Business?

invested in your business

The inspiration for this article came from a conversation I had the other day with a family member.

This person is looking for employment, primarily in sales. He has responded to several ads and, although he has heard back from a good number of them, none of them have proven to be enticing.

Why, you might ask?

Well, simply put many of these businesses are looking to hire independent salespeople but are not willing to provide enough incentive to make it worthwhile.

Independent salespeople are, by definition, just that – independent. And with this independence does come some responsibility for absorbing your own expenses.

But when a company expects the independent sales rep to absorb all the risk with potentially little to no reward, there is little balance between employer and contractor and little incentive to jump into the deep end.

A truly effective relationship between a company and their independent reps is based on mutual respect, level expectations, and for both parties to be invested in the process.

Independent reps must expect that there will be some risk involved in accepting the role. Each person must be comfortable with the level of risk that they are willing to accept, based on what they expect in terms of results.

While some positions require some level of financial commitment from the independent rep it would be fair to say that all of them require a level of commitment. These reps must be prepared to invest a certain amount of time and energy into any role. The amount of money, time, and effort should be clearly delineated at the time of engagement, and mutually agreed-upon by both the company and the rep.

It is equally important in this equation that the company is invested in their rep. Keep in mind that these individuals are out there representing your business, and if they feel that they are being mishandled or mistreated, is it reasonable to expect that they will give their best and represent your company in the most favorable light?

Businesses must be fair when looking to bring on independent representatives. As a small business owner, I understand the value of hiring independent reps. It is a way of managing expenses while growing your business, when done fairly and properly. But to expect an individual to invest significant cash as well as time and energy, with no support of any kind from the business, creates an uneven playing field and a potentially toxic environment.

Don’t risk your businesses reputation. Be fair to employees and independent contractors alike, and your business will thrive. Take advantage of others at your own risk.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Hate Cold Calling? Try these strategies…

cold calling

The rumors that the days of cold calling are over are grossly exaggerated.

The truth is, cold calling is still an integral part of sales.

Regardless of whether you’re approaching your prospects via email, direct mail, or picking up the phone and calling them, you have to keep reaching out to new people all the time in order to grow your business. It may be cleverly disguised, but under the mask, it’s still cold calling.

I have met very few people who actually enjoy making cold calls. In fact, it can be the bane of any business owner – and often is! Those folks who embrace cold calling, and indeed make it into an art form, are few and far between.

But then there’s the rest of us.

I freely admit that I struggle with the cold call. Yes, I know it is something that we all must do. And, once I start making the calls, I always question why I suffered from call reluctance. I have almost never encountered anyone who treated me rudely, so what are we afraid of?

I suspect that the answer to this lies in the psychology of human nature. We all desire acceptance, and we all fear rejection. And these emotions reside in our subconscious. Therefore, we build up a resistance to reaching out to strangers, especially if we are representing a product or service that can be rejected. When the recipient of our cold calling effort declines our product or service, we tend to take it personally, as though we were being rejected rather than recognizing the fact that the prospect is simply turning down our offer.

So instead of fearing the cold call, we have to learn to embrace it. 

At minimum, you are creating more exposure for your business, and in the best case scenario, you are actually gaining a client.

We have to change the way we look at the cold call, as well as the delivery mechanisms. You can’t simply send the same message over and over again, asking them to buy your product or service. Remember that your prospect is being approached by many people every day to purchase their products or services. So, how do you position yourself to stand apart from the others?

The simple answer is to provide them with something that no one else is: value!

Continuing to ask prospects to meet with you or to buy your product or service doesn’t automatically translate to providing value. Buying decisions are almost always made based on emotions. We’ve heard it before, but the reality is that people will buy from you either because you have a unique product or service, or – most often – you are resolving a problem for them.

So, why not try a new approach? Why not provide a free resource that is of value to your prospect? This will open the lines of communication as well as differentiate you from your competitors.

Why not try…

• sending your prospect an article, website or an e-book that is applicable to their needs
• call your prospect or email them to offer an idea or suggestion
• invite a prospect to an event
• offer to make an introduction or introduce them to someone they should be connected with

By giving something to your prospects, with no strings attached, they will begin to understand that you are looking to provide them with of value, not just land a sale.

Of course, we all have to earn a living and no one has the right to expect something for nothing all the time. So provide value to your prospects to build trust, but remember that the goal is to lead them to becoming your client.

The key is to make your message valuable enough that the prospect will hear you out.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Positioning and Pricing Your Product or Service

Pricing strategy

One of the biggest obstacles business owners come up against is how to properly position and price their product or service in the marketplace.

Charge too much and no one will buy. Charge too little and people perceive your product as cheap or worthless.

In our recent webcast for Small Business Tips Show, Frank Thomas and I discuss some of the finer points about positioning and pricing your products/services to your prospects. You’ll also learn how pricing impacts the ‘sense of value’ to both you and your customer.

Watch our webcast to hear some of examples about how to position your service or product and discover how you to gauge realistic profit expectations on your sales, allowing you to forecast your business growth.

Watch our video here, or watch on YouTube.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Sales vs. Consulting: Breaking Down The Myths

Business Strategy and Management

In business, especially small business, there is usually a bit of a battle being waged between sales and consulting.

Are you a sales person? Or are you a consultant? My guess is that you are doing a bit of both, depending on the hat you are wearing.

Let’s face it; both of these labels have both positive and negative implications. Sales is often associated with certain behaviors that can be seen as less than savory. And people often suggest that people who can’t do anything else consult.

So let’s break down the myths.

Read more

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