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Marketing: The Three Forgotten Keys
Ignore These and Miss Out On Most of Your Profits
by
Arlen L. Card, Esq.
You hear about "marketing secrets" all the time. The best "secret" I've found for effective marketing isn't a secret at all -- it's just ignored by most.
Wouldn't you like to spend less time marketing and have more time to work on other aspects of your business, or just to play? Everybody would, right? So why is it that so many business owners and managers that I know have forgotten their three main keys to easy marketing?
So let's take these three keys in order. The first marketing key is a no-brainer: deliver a great product or service. This key is so assumed, that sometimes it's easy to forget. You have to be in business to make a profit, it is true. But that is the direct result of one thing only: you provide something that really works for the client/customer, something that, in the end, was more important to them than the money they gave you to get it.
If your client or customer finishes trading their money for what you offer and they feel disappointed, the other two marketing keys are worthless, so be sure you are over-delivering on your promises.
Once you have happy clientele, the next key is for them to ask you to market to them. We call this a mailing list, and can be email, snail-mail or, preferably, both. With physical mail, you don't need customer permission to contact them. You can just mail away. But physical mail-outs add up to real dollars fast.
Email, on the other hand, is essentially free, but it is regulated, and it is unlawful to email a commercial message of any kind to someone who did not expressly invite it.
Enter the "autoresponder." This is a tool that allows automated capture and verification of email addresses, and ensures that the list contains only willing customers. (I give details about autoresponders on my site.)
The main thing is how key number one allows key number two to succeed: a happy client is usually pleased to offer you their email address. A disappointed client never will.
The final key is to use email and snail-mail to stay in contact, appropriately. This is the most cost-effective marketing you can do. A happy customer is much more likely to buy again, but that's only a part of the magic of this third marketing key.
The additional magic, almost universally forgotten, is that a happy client is usually happy to refer other people to you -- but you have to ASK. Only rarely will a customer spontaneously sell for you. But most happy ones will gladly send you referrals if you ask in the right way, at the right time. If you haven't tried this, you absolutely must do so. The results can be astounding.
I have made hundreds of thousands of dollars because I make clients happy, have the right to contact them, and I ask for referrals. So can you!
Ignore These and Miss Out On Most of Your Profits
by
Arlen L. Card, Esq.
You hear about "marketing secrets" all the time. The best "secret" I've found for effective marketing isn't a secret at all -- it's just ignored by most.
Wouldn't you like to spend less time marketing and have more time to work on other aspects of your business, or just to play? Everybody would, right? So why is it that so many business owners and managers that I know have forgotten their three main keys to easy marketing?
So let's take these three keys in order. The first marketing key is a no-brainer: deliver a great product or service. This key is so assumed, that sometimes it's easy to forget. You have to be in business to make a profit, it is true. But that is the direct result of one thing only: you provide something that really works for the client/customer, something that, in the end, was more important to them than the money they gave you to get it.
If your client or customer finishes trading their money for what you offer and they feel disappointed, the other two marketing keys are worthless, so be sure you are over-delivering on your promises.
Once you have happy clientele, the next key is for them to ask you to market to them. We call this a mailing list, and can be email, snail-mail or, preferably, both. With physical mail, you don't need customer permission to contact them. You can just mail away. But physical mail-outs add up to real dollars fast.
Email, on the other hand, is essentially free, but it is regulated, and it is unlawful to email a commercial message of any kind to someone who did not expressly invite it.
Enter the "autoresponder." This is a tool that allows automated capture and verification of email addresses, and ensures that the list contains only willing customers. (I give details about autoresponders on my site.)
The main thing is how key number one allows key number two to succeed: a happy client is usually pleased to offer you their email address. A disappointed client never will.
The final key is to use email and snail-mail to stay in contact, appropriately. This is the most cost-effective marketing you can do. A happy customer is much more likely to buy again, but that's only a part of the magic of this third marketing key.
The additional magic, almost universally forgotten, is that a happy client is usually happy to refer other people to you -- but you have to ASK. Only rarely will a customer spontaneously sell for you. But most happy ones will gladly send you referrals if you ask in the right way, at the right time. If you haven't tried this, you absolutely must do so. The results can be astounding.
I have made hundreds of thousands of dollars because I make clients happy, have the right to contact them, and I ask for referrals. So can you!
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So, that my article. It explains some things I've found very effective through 23 years of self-employment (self-unemployment??). How about you all? What mainstays have you used over and over?
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