Friday, November 28, 2014

Accelerated Business Tip #15

Ads & Marketing Materials That Consistently Put Money in Your Pocket ~ Part 3



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Thursday, November 27, 2014

Accelerated Business Tip #14

Ads & Marketing Materials That Consistently Put Money in Your Pocket ~ Part 2


Coming Soon! Acceleration "LIVE" Event. The event is an intensive 3-day mastermind and learning event specifically designed for successful, purpose-driven, big-hearted and giving entrepreneurs who are... MAKING A FORTUNE BY MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

To Learn More Visit us at: ClubAcceleration.com

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

How To Quickly Boost Your Profits By Bringing In The Big Guns



If your son, daughter or spouse were involved in a car accident and needed specialized attention from a specific type of doctor, would you attempt to perform the surgery yourself in your garage at home? Of course not. It sounds ridiculous to even suggest such a thing, doesn't it? Well, that's how ridiculous it sounds when I hear business owners, who have never even created one single successful advertisement in their twenty years in business, tell me that they refuse to hire marketing consultants.

The sad reality is most business owners know they have major problems with closing ratios, marketing, sales scripts and getting customers into their business. However, they refuse to invest the necessary money to bring in experts to fix their problems.

After speaking with dozens of business owners, I have come to the conclusion that failure to get expert advice is mostly due to business owners having too much pride to ask for help or they have never even considered hiring experts in the first place.

If you really want fast results without wasting money trying out different strategies, then hiring a expert marketing consultant to help you generate more quality buying customers and convert more leads into sales, should be the first thing you do after preparing your mindset for success. Until you hire an expert consultant, you have no idea the numerous benefits your business will gain by having an expert work with you one-on-one. 

With an expert marketing consultant in your business, you will no longer feel alone and isolated from other successful business owners. You will no longer feel the doom and dread of having the weight of your business solely on your shoulders. Most importantly, you will have a support system to give you powerful and proven creative ideas to increase your profits.

Now, when I say expert marketing consultant, I'm not referring to some high-priced advertising agency that has no proven track record of increasing sales and profits for small to medium businesses. I am also not talking about the yellow page ad reps, radio ad reps or any other type of advertising representative trying to sell you something. I'm talking about a marketing expert who comes into your office, analyzes your business with a fine-tooth comb and then creates custom marketing and sales improvement strategies for your business that don't cost you a fortune.








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Create Your Marketing Plan Right Now!

There is an timeless saying that goes like this: “Failing to plan means you are planning to fail.” That saying is twice as true when it comes to running a business. See, most  business owners will not be able to weather this economic storm simply because they don't have the foggiest clue about what promotions or ads they are going to running in the next week, much less in the next month or year! However, this must change if you are going to survive and thrive in this new economy.

Now, coming up with a twelve month marketing plan may seem like a daunting task, but most of the work is already completed for you. How, you ask? Well, customers are already expecting you to have a special sale or promotion at least once a month, on the major holidays. Therefore, you don't have to recreate the wheel; you can just ride the wave of marketing and advertising messages that are already around that time frame.

While the dates are already set on the calendar, it is still important that you have compelling words and language in your advertisements that reward your customers for buying from you on that specific holiday. Do NOT run a general advertisement that simply says you have stuff on sale. Your ads need to match the holiday theme as closely as possible.

The other benefit you receive from creating a yearly marketing calendar is you will gain a feeling of confidence and reassurance because you are not just sitting on your hands, day-in and day-out, waiting for customers to just walk in and maybe buy something from you.

Let's look at a sample twelve month marketing calendar that you could create around monthly holidays:

  • January – New Year's
  • February – Valentine's Day
  • March – President's Day
  • April – April Fool's/Easter
  • May – Mother's Day
  • June – Father's Day
  • July – Fourth of July
  • August – (There are no major U.S. Holidays, so do a friends and family sale)
  • September – Labor Day
  • October – Halloween
  • November – Thanksgiving
  • December - Christmas


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If Everybody Is Your Customer, Then Nobody Is Your Customer


One of the biggest challenges business owners must overcome in order to be successful in this new economy, is the dreaded “I-offer-everything-for-everyone” syndrome. On the surface this seems like a sure-fire way to get more customers, but it’s been proven time and time again that it’s not always the most successful way to prosper for of 99.9%. Let’s examine it closer.

If you’re a small business owner, then chances are that you have a limited budget and limited space to work with. So, let’s say for example that you’re a furniture store. If your store offers several contemporary collections, several ultra-modern collections and some eclectic pieces as well as some early American collections scattered throughout you business, do you really think you have enough of any single style to satisfy the type of customer who’s looking for a specific style? The answer is most likely no.

In fact, the most successful furniture retailers in my area focus on a couple of things to attract a specific type of customer, such as:

  • Complete living room packages for under $2,000 or furnish your entire home for under $5,000.
  • Long-term low or no interest financing
  • Fast delivery within 3 days or less
  • Lower prices for packages
 So, by narrowing down their advertising, they attract the types of customers who purchase multiple pieces, which in turn, drive the average ticket sale and profits up. They then offer generous financing terms, which attracts customers with good credit and income, while enticing them to spend more money because the customer has longer to pay for it. Most importantly, the successful retailers in my area price their sales so that the more merchandise the customer buys, the bigger the discount the customer receives.

There is also another twist to these retailers. See, although they attract customers to their business with generous financing offers, they reward their salespeople handsomely for NOT selling the long-term financing, therefore giving their salespeople an incentive to get customers to pay off their balances in less than 30 days. And these are just a few of the strategies that successful businesses use to attract customers without focusing exclusively on price.

There is a common slogan in marketing that states, “There are riches in niches.” Simply put, this slogan means you need to determine who your most profitable, enjoyable and easy to attract customer is, and then specialize in getting more of those customers to come into your business and buy. The best way to do this is to create a U.S.P. (Unique Selling Proposition) that compels your most profitable customer to come back into your business again and again. In other words, a U.S.P. is the thing that you're known for.

The first step in developing a U.S.P. is to determine the profile of your most profitable customer. You will want to know things like; how they found your business, where they live, what newspapers and magazines they read etc.

Here's an example of some of the information that you may discover about your prospects and customers:

  • Wives initially visited your business without their husbands.
  • Recently married
  • Had three kids
  • Lived within five miles of your business
  • Spent between $800 - $1500
  • Paid by Visa, MasterCard or Discover
 Once you have this information, you can redesign your business to cater to more of the same types of customers that are currently spending money in your business.     

However, you can only use this information to your advantage if you take the time to collect it in the first place.  Then you can dig deep and find out who your customer is, what’s important to them and what they truly want.


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Accelerated Business Tip #13

Ads & Marketing Materials That Consistently Put Money in Your Pocket



Coming Soon! Acceleration "LIVE" Event. The event is an intensive 3-day mastermind and learning event specifically designed for successful, purpose-driven, big-hearted and giving entrepreneurs who are... MAKING A FORTUNE BY MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

To Learn More Visit us at: ClubAcceleration.com

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

You Must Constantly Market Yourself

Sounds obvious, doesn't it? But, you wouldn’t believe how many business owners I meet who refuse to do any type of consistent marketing or advertising! That is unbelievable to me; however it is normal for many businesses. Sure, they will do a small little ad in the local newspaper once or twice  a year, but that can hardly be considered marketing consistently. 

If I were to ask you what kind of business you're in, what would you say? If you're like most business owners that hire me, you would probably just pick a product or service that you sell and simply tell me that you are in that industry. Right? Well, I'm here to tell you that your answer to the question of what business you're in, should be, “I'm in the marketing business.” If that was not your answer, then I already know that you're most likely having huge profit problems in your business. Many business owners are in confused about what business they are in. The simplest way to look at your business is to realize that the two most important activities in your business is marketing and actually providing the product or service that you're marketing. Every day that the doors of your business is open, is a day that you should be focusing on marketing.
            
Over the years, I've come to the realization that most business owners are not to blame for not being able to put together effective marketing campaigns. Think about when you first started your business; did you receive an instruction manual about how to get customers? Was there a course offered down at the local college designed to teach business owners how to attract quality buying customers? Heck, no. You just went out there and told everyone what you’re doing now and then you probably sat back and waited for customers to come into your business. Back then things were pretty simple and easy. However, that gravy train didn't last, did it?

Next, you probably turned to the industry publications, magazines and newsletters, which focus on products and customer service as the solution to your problems. So, over time you looked around at what the competition was doing and you probably began to think that if you also offered product or service at a lower price, customers would flock to your business too. But, is that what happened?

Maybe at first you saw a rush of customers the first time you ran a new ad or promotion with the product at a low price, but did it continue on like that? No. Then, as time went on you probably began doing less and less advertising because you weren't seeing the results from you advertising dollars. But deep down inside, you knew that you had to do some type of marketing and advertising, but you had no idea what to do. After all you're a business owner, not a marketing and advertising guy.

That is where you're terribly mistaken. See, if you want to be a successful and profitable business owner, you MUST become a marketing and advertising guy! Your number one job every single day is getting more customers into your business. That's it. Why, you ask? Because the only way you make money is if prospects come into your business and are willing, ready and able to pay you money in exchange for your product or service.

You don't get paid to counsel employees, do payroll, answer questions about when the delivery truck will arrive and you sure as heck don't get paid to sit around all day waiting for someone to walk in. You only get paid if and when a customer pays you. So, your number one job every day when you wake up has to be getting more paying customers through your doors. The only way to do that is to become a marketing and advertising fanatic.

When you begin to look at yourself as the marketer of your business, instead of just a business owner, it will become very easy to see if you're doing the right things to attract customers or not. I knew business owners who NEVER advertised their business and shortly after the recession hit, those guys went belly-up.

In fact, every day you that you seriously want to make money, you should be running a different promotion, ad or marketing campaign. Don't tell me that customers get tired of seeing your ads, because I'm going to tell you to advertise in a different area that hasn't seen that specific advertisement or promotion yet. Don't tell me that it's too expensive, because I know about one hundred ways to advertise your business on a shoe-string budget and most of them cost less than what you spend on lunch for the week. 

In order to succeed in this new economy, you MUST view yourself as the marketer of your business and NOT just an owner of a business.


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Accelerated Business Tip #12

Calculate Your Return On Investment For Any Marketing That You Do ~ Accelerated Business Tip #12


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Monday, November 24, 2014

Key #4 - Create Ads And Marketing Materials That Consistently Put Money In Your Pocket



If you ever want to see a huge waste of money, then watch the ads being played during the Super Bowl. Those ads that run during the Super Bowl ads are designed to be funny and cute and win advertising awards. However, those ads rarely make their companies any real profit. As a matter of fact, those commercials are the laughing stock of the marketing industry because companies blissfully line up and pay millions for those types of “funny” ads while receiving little to no results for their marketing dollars.

The fact of the matter is, you either need to know how to write and design good ads or have the resources to hire a good copywriter. Regardless of which option you choose, I encourage you to study good copywriters so that they have a feel for what usually works. As the owner, you should definitely know how to create ads, letters and emails that generate leads. A good expert to study to learn copywriting is Dan Kennedy. Simply type in his name in Google.com and you will find tons of resources about copywriting.
            
Here's a quick tip sheet on the basics which every ad you create should have:

  1. Use headlines that attract customers.
  2. Always have a compelling offer.
  3. Use a specific start date and deadline in your ad.
  4. Insert testimonials from past customers.
  5. Include a guarantee on your products and services.
  6. Your ad must look unique and stand out from your competitors.
  7. Your ad must ONLY focus on what your customer wants.
  8. Have only one goal for each ad, which is to get customers to visit your business.
  9. Tell the reason why you're offering the sale.
  10. Write ads that are straight to the point and easy to understand.
 Now, the keys to success listed above may seem like a lot of hard work, but you only have to do the hardest work in the beginning. However, the most important factor which will contribute to your success in your business is your willingness to actually implement these strategies on a consistent basis.


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Accelerated Business Tip #11

Find Out the Source of Every Lead ~ Part 4



Coming Soon! Acceleration "LIVE" Event. The event is an intensive 3-day mastermind and learning event specifically designed for successful, purpose-driven, big-hearted and giving entrepreneurs who are... MAKING A FORTUNE BY MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

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Friday, November 21, 2014

Key #3: Calculate Your Return On Investment For Any Marketing That You Do

This crucial key builds on the previous key that I mentioned.  Quite honestly, the only way to truly know your return on investment is to track the results of every marketing strategy. Once you know how much you are spending, then you will know exactly how much each marketing dollar is bringing back to your business.

For example, if you spent $500 on an ad in a local newspaper which generated two customers, who then spent a total of $3,500 in your business, your return on your investment is 700%! So for every $1 you spent, you received $7 back. That's a very good investment by my standards.


Be sure to stay tuned for Key #4


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Accelerated Business Tip #10

Find Out the Source of Every Lead ~ Part 3


Coming Soon! Acceleration "LIVE" Event. The event is an intensive 3-day mastermind and learning event specifically designed for successful, purpose-driven, big-hearted and giving entrepreneurs who are... MAKING A FORTUNE BY MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

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Key #2 - Find Out The Source Of Every Lead That Comes Into Your Business



If there was one piece of advice that I would want you to remember from this entire book, it would be tracking where every lead comes from that you get into your business. In order to track where your leads come from, you can ask prospects when they walk into your business or you can use special phone numbers with unique extensions in your ads. You can also use five page websites designed for a specific sale, coupons, tracking codes or anything else you can think of know exactly where your prospects are coming from.


At the end of the day, you absolutely need to know exactly where your leads are coming from, so that you can know exactly what's working in your business. Once you know where your leads are coming from, then you can begin to invest marketing in those specific areas that are generating the best leads and customers. Without tracking your leads, you will always be wasting thousands of dollars on ineffective marketing strategies.

Be sure to stay tuned for Key #3


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