The Internet Marketer’s Who Cried Wolf
Today we’ll take one of Aesop’s fables and try to use it to teach a lesson to some stupid marketer’s.
There was once a young shepherd boy ( internet marketer ) who tended his sheep ( his ezine list ) at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest.
It was rather lonely for him all day ( plotting ways to extract money from his list, rather than creating unique, remarkable content ), so he thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some excitement ( rather he looked for affiliate offers to send out at a rate of 20:1 over content ).
He rushed down towards the village calling out “Wolf, Wolf,” ( he sent out offer after offer ) and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerable time ( they read his crap for a week or a month ).
This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterwards he tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help ( in other words, the fool though he could just send offer after offer and not try to educate, entertain or enlighten his readers ).
But shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out from the forest, and began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course cried out “Wolf, Wolf,” still louder than before ( which means everybody got tired of being pummeled with crappy offers and unsubscribed from the list/ezine ).
But this time the villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to his help. So the Wolf made a good meal off the boy’s flock, and when the boy complained, the wise man of the village said:
“A LIAR WILL NOT BE BELIEVED, EVEN WHEN HE SPEAKS THE TRUTH.”
The moral to today’s lesson is one you need to learn, if you’re going to have an ezine in today’s world of webbiness:
You absolutely must provide unique, creative, maybe even remarkable content at a ratio of 4:1, I’d prefer 7:1, over offers, if you’re going to cultivate a relationship with your list, which will enable you to harvest the fruits of your labor, which is that list buying from you when you make an offer of a product or service that’s relevant to the topic of the ezine.
I have unsubscribed from multiple lists over the last 6 months because, it seemed, that the ezine owner had forgotten what his/her purpose in life was.
Either that or Glenn Frey, of The Eagles, was right when he said: ” Words are not a replenishable resource. “
Bloggers and ezine owner all over the world are finding this to be true, as they let their blogs die and/or pummel their list with offers, because they ran out of things to say.
For those of you out there who subscribe to multiple ezines, do yourself a favor and see if you can remember the last time an issue actually contained some viable, unique, creative content. If you can’t remember, use the unsubscribe link and use the time you used to use reading all that trash as time to create your own unique, creative, remarkable content … and then sell it !
Teleseminar Tonite with The Public Domain Expert
I’m grilling my good friend, Tony Laidig, The Public Domain Expert, Thursday night, March 13th on a teleseminar.
I’ll be squeezing and wringing every drop of info out of him that I possibly can about finding and using works in the public domain.
If you’re a blogger or product creator of any kind, you need to be on this call. Tony’s also got a special deal on some of his best selling products just for my friends.
Head over to the site and find out what The Public Domain Expert knows that you don’t know … but need to know !
When Bill Caskey Speaks …
When Bill Caskey speaks, you should listen, even if your name is E.F. Hutton.
I recently had the chance to talk to Bill about sales and marketing during an economic downturn.
He and his team are doing a teleseminar about this same topic on March 27th.
If you choose to invest in yourself and your future by attending this teleseminar, here’s some of what you’ll discover:
- The phases of a slowdown so you can determine where your clients are in it. (You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you are).
- The five economic trends that a well-known economist, who will be on the call, says will influence people into a slowdown.
- The “Fundamental Shift” you need to make in order to get your head right in your dealings with prospects and clients.
- The five elements of the “Buyer Psyche” that will help you understand his/her motive better.
- A selling strategy that will help you detach emotionally and think clearly so you always know what to do next. (And you stop getting in the way of the sale).
Over the next few days I’ll give you more advice on what to do and what to not do to prosper during an economic downturn.
I highly recommend that you take 15-20 minutes and listen to my interview with Bill.
You can listen thru the web audio player.
New Rules Viral Marketing Teleseminar
Back on Tuesday, March 4th, I was fortunate to be the host of a teleseminar about The New Rules of Viral Marketing with thought leader David Meerman Scott.
During the 60+ minutes we were on the phone, David answered a multitude of questions about viral marketing.
You can download the entire mp3 or you can listen in, thru your computer, on a webcast player, your choice.
By listening in, as I grill David about viral marketing is:
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Professional versus amateur productions
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Viral marketing for services versus products
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Finding time to blog, visit other blogs and leaving comments
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How corporations should approach viral marketing
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Whether or not to bother with audio and video content
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How to allocate funds for viral marketing
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How to organize content on your website
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Social networking and viral marketing - How they can coexist
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What’s next in the field of viral marketing
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How to avoid the major mistakes in viral marketing
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How technology works for and against viral marketing campaigns
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What viral marketing is and isn’t
Download the mp3and listen on your iPod or listen thru the webcast palyer, but don’t miss this opportunity to listen in and learn from the guy who wrote the book.
EDIT: Yes, I was getting over the flu and my voice was low and scratchy. Thanks for asking.
6 Reasons Sales Contests Rarely Work
A while back I was able to get Steve Marx, author of Close Like The Pros, on the phone for a few minutes.
We talked about the fact that neither of us truly believe in sales contests, as they’re used in today’s sales climate.
I had also previously reprinted an article by Dan Kennedy that basically agreed with us.
So take the time to listen thru the player below or download the mp3 and listen on your iPod or other mp3 player.
The Power of One
Humans need to connect to one other human to feel comfortable enough to spend money.
The flu is a terrible thang. Today, after 14 days in the house, I got out and visited the world.
I went to see my doctor, because I have a cough that won’t go away and a few other lingering symptoms.
The receptionist had me fill out the usual 3-4 sheets of paper, but as I handed them back to her, she mentioned that I owed $77.12. I told her that I always pay my bill as soon as the insurance company does their part and they, at the doctors office, send me the final bill.
She mentioned that they had gone thru a period where “their billing wasn’t done properly” and I may have never received a bill. Yet, they may have referred my account to a medical collection agency, even though I have years of visual proof in their files of paying as soon as the invoice is received.
Where was the one person who could call and ask if I knew I owed them for a visit ?
Where was the one person who could have called me, before they send my account out to a medical collection agency for a measly $77.12 ?
Where was the one person who could say, we had a problem, let’s not cause any for the people who pay our salaries ?
For that office, that one person didn’t exist, so now I have ill feelings in more ways than one.
After seeing the doctor, I head out to get my prescriptions filled. They informed me that they had faxed my prescriptions to one of our local Wal-Mart Pharmacies, because they’re the cheapest in town.
If they’d asked, I’d had told them I abhor cheap drugs.
I drove the 10 minutes to the Wal-Mart Pharmacy and the young lady told me she had personally just taken my prescriptions out of the fax machine and they’d get right on them.
I was the only human on my side of the counter.
65 minutes later, I finally got my prescriptions.
What took so long ?
There wasn’t that one person around who could put my prescription in front of all the ones that were called in, faxed in or electronically transmitted to them.
Sure, all of those needed to be filled, but 95% to 99%, according to the technician, wouldn’t be picked up for several days. “But we have to fill them in the order we receive them“, even though I’m standing there and the other people may not come in for several days.
If they had that one person, I would not have taken a sworn oath to never let a prescription of mine ever be filled at a Wal-Mart Pharmacy ever again.
I left, feeling bad and now starting to get angry at the world for not having that one person I needed. There’s a strip-mall across the street with a Quizno’s that I’d been wanting to try. Soup and salad or 1/2 a sandwich sounded so good, especially after a frustrating morning.
It was 10:56 on the clock in the dashboard of my Camry and I was the only car parked in front of Quizno’s. I could envision the personal service I was gonna get, since I’m the first one there.
I walked up and got slapped again, because they didn’t have that one person who could unlock the door, even though their OPEN sign was lit.
I walked back across the parking lot and as I started my car, a young woman unlocked the door and waved. I waved back, but I was waving goodbye and so were my dollars.
Not having that one person who can unlock the door cost them an untold number of lunches, because I’ll never give them another chance.
I drove 10 whole minutes to the only place in town that could give me one person to fill my order and my soul.
Panera Bread had someone waiting for me. He took my order, offered me a cookie and/or a USA Today, which I took and then he personally filled my drink order, iced green tea, before he took another order.
I love the fact that they filled my order before they took another 1,2 or 5 orders, like some of the fast food places do.
That $10.21 was the best part of my day, until I made it home.
Thanks, Panera Bread, for taking my money, giving me what I paid for and doing it all with that one person I was looking for all day.
Take this with you when you leave:
Walk into your business, call yourself on the phone and answer this question - Do we have that one person who can make the day of whoever comes into our life ?
Do we have that one person who will do whatever it takes to start and finish the job ?
If not, I can tell you where you won’t find them, but I’ll struggle telling you where to find ‘em.
If you know how to convert employees into that one person, use the Contact page and let’s talk about it.
What Can A Dentist Teach You About Business, Life and Success ?
This book is a must read.
There I said it and I don’t say it often.
I liked it so much I emailed and emailed and worked like a blogging dog to get you guys a teleseminar with Dr. Joe later this month.
I’m going to hold off on my review, for the most part, except to say I want you to go to Amazon and buy this book.
His Success Triangle is worth 100 times the cost of the book.
Learning to use a mentor like he used Charlie is worth 100 times the cost of the book.
If you want to go from average to excellent, you need this book.
If you use this link, you’ll also get access to over $2500 worth of additional products to help you sustain the success that Dr. Joe Capista will get started in your life.
Stay tuned for the date and time of the teleseminar and I’ll also do my best to get you access to an ASK methodology campaign, so you’ll want to order Dr. Joe’s book to be fully prepared.
Is Customer Service Cancelling Your Sales ?
While I spend some quality time relaxing on the tile floor in my master bathroom, curled in a fetal position, being visited by this years demon spawn of a flu virus, my friend Debbi Bressler has graciously volunteered a nice customer service story. Thanks Debbi !
Not unlike the police officer who is frustrated by the judge who lets criminals run free, is the salesperson who sees their effort thwarted by incompetent customer service personnel and policies.
With the cost of acquiring a new customer in the $200-500 range, it is incumbent on all of us to be sure that the new customer has as flawless and positive an experience as possible. To do otherwise cuts income from the sales staff and company’s bottom line.
Alas…some companies have a harder time realizing this than others. And some…well… they never “get” it!
Case in point is my experience yesterday with Bright House Networks, a local cable and broadband provider in Orlando, Florida. Over the past few days, I’d received a number of calls on my Grand Central account from Bright House to Joshua. Seems that he was a new customer who didn’t know his phone number and used mine instead.
First Bright House called to thank him for his business. Then they called to confirm an installation appointment. Then they called to inform him that the technician was at his door – but he wasn’t.
For those of you unfamiliar with Grand Central, it’s a one number service. This means that when someone calls my number, it calls all the contact numbers I have listed, as well as leaving a voice mail which I can access online. If I’m in my office when Grand Central beckons, a veritable symphony erupts.
I’d finally had enough and decided to call Bright House to let them know that Joshua was unlikely to ever get their messages and to please quit calling me.
Me: Someone named Joshua keeps getting phone calls on my business number. Can you please make a note and take my number off because I don’t know this guy and he will never get the message ?
CS: What is the number ?
Me: 407-000-0000
CS: You are correct. This account does not belong to you. Well, since this is not your account there is nothing we can do. Our system will have to keep calling this number until the person whose name is on the account calls in and changes it.
Me: Excuse me ?
CS: Yea, sorry, there is nothing we can do ’cause you have no authority even though it’s your phone number.
Me: So whom should I send the bill to for my time and cell phone minutes ?
CS: Umm … can I put you on hold for UP TO FIVE MINUTES while I talk to a supervisor ?
And off he goes…..only to return five minutes later to say:
CS: Umm … I am still talking to my supervisor. Can I put you on hold again for up to five minutes ?
The rep finally came back – after I was on hold a total of about 12 minutes – to say “ I’ve put a notation on his account and when he calls in we will ask him for a correct phone number. ”
To which I replied: “ Five years ago when I moved to Orlando, I used your broadband service. At that time your customer service was the worst I’d ever experienced. In fact, a supervisor offered me free service for a few months and I turned it down. Thanks for reminding me that I made a really good decision back then. ”
Imagine how much money Bright House Networks spends to acquire new customers. And think how much money they have lost because incompetent personnel and policies have allowed those customers to slip through their fingers – never to return.
Remember…the sales process doesn’t end with the handshake.
Use The S.A.L.E. Method To Sell More
” On the road again ….”
Driving down the road today, doing my thang - selling - I was thinking about, uh … selling.
Naturally.
I was thinking that a large percentage of sales people don’t study sales or marketing. I know the one’s I run across sure as hell don’t study or they wouldn’t be as awful as they are at selling.
They don’t even come close, for the most part, to anything that faintly resembles a sales person.
They mostly are lazy order takers or maulers.
Lazy Order Takers just wander around and hope that enough customers call them and do all the work for them.
Maulers show up, mostly unannounced and ask you what you want to buy.
If you don’t want to be like either of these groups, all you have to do is learn The S.A.L.E. Method.
Stop. Ask. Listen. Elevate.
Stop - You absolutely must find a quiet place and think about the ways your product or service can alleviate some type of pain that your customer has.
If they have no pain, you have no shot. Literally.
Your product or service must be more tolerable than the pain they’re experiencing.
People email me every week and ask about how to fight the issue of pricing.
It’s pretty simple. When you figure out how much their pain is costing them, price your solution accordingly.
If you can’t find out how much their pain costs them …
Ask - Simply sit down with them and say something like this:
” I’m not sure our product/service is a good fit for you, so I’m just going to ask you to tell me what causes you the most pain. If my product can alleviate that pain, we can proceed, if not, I’ll move on down the line. “
If the company you work for or are thinking of going to work for won’t allow you to work like this, find one that will.
You’ll enjoy life a helluva lot more and you’ll make more money.
Don’t try to sell your product, just try to cure pain.
Think about it this way:
You go see your physician. Does he come out with a prescription before he finds out what your symptoms are or does he sit down and ask you a few questions first ?
Does he start pricing you right away or does he run a few tests and get back to you ?
Simple.
Listen - Just like a great physician does, you need to really listen to your customer.
How many times have you heard someone say their doctor is the best ever because he sits down, looks them eye to eye and listens to them.
There are doctors out there who make six-figures for listening. Just listening.
Don’t listen and try to think of an answer, just listen.
Don’t listen and look for a place to try and interject a great feature of your product or service, just listen.
Listen.
Because when you actually listen your sales will …
Elevate - You’ll complete ( I refuse to use the word close ) more opportunities than you ever have. You’ll elevate your standing with your customers. You’ll elevate your standing within your organization.
Nothing makes your confidence grow like success. Nothing.
Try the S.A.L.E. Method for 30, 60 or 90 days and if it doesn’t work for you, I refund every penny you paid for this post.
What have you got to lose ?
Ask David Meerman Scott About Viral Marketing
Do you have a questions about viral marketing ?
Have you read The New Rules of Viral Marketing ?
If either of these apply to you, run, don’t walk, run over and Ask David Meerman Scott your question.
He’ll do his best to answer our questions about viral marketing on February 26th at 5 PM EST, during his virtual book tour.
I’m the host for the virtual book tour and I’ll be compiling the questions that are submitted, but the answers are all David’s, so you don’t want to miss it.
His last ebook has been downloaded over 250,000 times over the last two years and I expect this one will beat those numbers.
It’s already been downloaded over 40,000 times in the first couple of weeks, so if you haven’t read it yet, head over to David’s blog and get your copy.
And if you’re interested in doing a virtual book tour or ASK methodology campaign for your book or topic, use the Contact page and simply ask me if about it.
