Self Publishers - Hot Tips To Help You Promote Market And Sell Your Self Published Books Now
If you’re a self publisher and don’t have a big budget you can market and promote your book on a shoestring, thousands have done it. Be careful about your promotion and marketing dollars and don’t plunge into unknown waters — test, test, and test some more. It’s one thing to write a book, but an entirely different thing to write one that’s saleable, viable, and marketable. This article will provide you with some easy, free, and cheap book marketing, promotion and publicity tips to get you headed in the right direction fast.
Learning to write and use powerful search engine optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords. Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases. Mail a press release to all the trade journals in your field over and over again; you can use the same release.
Don’t underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales. When picked up by wire services, a press release can easily end up generating hundreds of mentions for your book. Send out at least 10 press releases to the print and broadcast media in your area every month.
Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style that you can send out for the lifetime of your book. Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media.
When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows. Offer to trade writing a monthly column in a trade publication in your books’ genre, in trade for display ads on the same page. Every day it’s important to focus on a variety of marketing approaches.
Be your own publicist and send a press release along with a review copy of your book to publications in your book’s genre and to book review magazines. I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing. Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers.
Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website. Place free ads periodically for your book’s website on Craigs List in different categories to drive even more traffic to your website. Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book.
It’s been my experience that book signings don’t sell many books for most self publishers and is often a waste of time; better to spend it elsewhere. You might give away your book in a raffle at a local function to get more recognition for your book. Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book’s topic to drive customers to your website.
Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic. Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing.
If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed.
The success of any book marketing effort depends on having a good book and just plain hard work; its been done many times before and you can do it too. I hope this article has provided you with a few helpful tips to accelerate your book marketing and book promotion efforts. Don’t delay another day if you’ve fallen by the wayside; make sure to focus on promoting, selling and marketing your book each and every day.
For more tips about book marketing and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com since 1982, giving advice and help to authors, self publishers, ebook, and book publishers including media, and library mailing lists and more, press releases - online, wire service, offline distribution
How To Market And Sell Your Self Published Books Fast
It’s one thing to write a book, but an entirely different thing to write one that you know how to sell. With careful planning you can market, promote, and get (free) publicity (publicity is always free) on a limited budget; you can take the cheap and easy way. You may have the greatest book in the world, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it; publicity, promotion, marketing and a focus on selling more books should now be a big part of your daily life.
Send out the same press release to the editor of your local daily newspaper every week until you are called for an interview or are written up. Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press release directories. Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media.
Mail a press release to all the trade journals in your field over and over again; you can use the same release. Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style that you can send out for the lifetime of your book. Learning to write and use powerful search engine optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords.
Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly. Don’t underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales.
Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline. Women buy more books then men; see how you can fit your book into the women’s market. Local radio shows and television appearances are good but are often forgotten within hours of the broadcast; make sure to make or get a copy of any television broadcast for future promotions.
Offer to trade writing a monthly column in a trade publication in your books’ genre, in trade for display ads on the same page. Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing. Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers.
Contact any companies, corporations or organizations that might use your book for promotions; offer significant discounts for volume orders or for thousands of copies offer a specified amount above book production costs. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed. When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows.
Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer. Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book. Make five telephone calls a day that relate to marketing your book.
I’ve not found that book signings sell many books for publishers and are often a waste of time; better to spend it elsewhere. Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials.
If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way. I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning - get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing.
You can market and promote your book on a shoestring budget. In any event, be careful about your marketing dollars. Promote, promote, and promote your book some more! Make sure do some serious marketing and promotion every single day, no excuses.
For more tips about book marketing and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com since 1982, giving advice and help to authors, self publishers, ebook, and book publishers including media, and library mailing lists and more, press releases - online, wire service, offline distribution
Promoting Yourself And Your Self Published Book
You can have the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it; publicity, promotion, marketing and a focus on selling more books should now be a big part of your daily life. Authors, self publishers and book publishers can be very unhappy when they see boxes of books delivered from the printer, loaded onto pallets in their garage and not have any idea on how they’re going to sell them; don’t let this happen to you — be prepared. Your book selling, book marketing, and book promotion planning should begin before the manuscript is completed.
Using press releases for marketing or promoting yourself, book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases. Don’t underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales. Your book press release should not be written as you would a sales letter or flier, it should be written for the editor and tell about your book in a factual way, no opinion or glowing remarks.
Learning to write and use powerful optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords. Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media. Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press directories.
Send out at least 10 press releases to the print and broadcast media in your area every month. Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why.’
Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use on your fliers and back of books. I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing. Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book.
If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way. When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows. Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials.
Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer. Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers. I’ve not found that book signings sell many books for publishers and are often a waste of time; better to spend it elsewhere.
Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book’s topic to drive customers to your website. Place free ads periodically for your book’s website on Craigslist in different categories to drive even more traffic to your website. Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website.
Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets. Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic.
Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing. If your book solves a problem, focus on this in your marketing.
The success of any self-promoting, book promoting or marketing effort depends on a good book and just plain hard work; it’s been done many times before and you can do it too. With well chosen book marketing and book promotion, online and offline, you’ll reap the profits you deserve for your efforts by way of the Internet and in your mailbox. Make sure to do some serious marketing and promotion every single day, no excuses.
For more tips about book marketing and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com since 1982, giving advice and help to authors, self publishers, ebook, and book publishers including media, and library mailing lists and more, press releases - online, wire service, offline distribution
Book Marketing Tips Self Publishers Must Know
If you’ve written a ‘how to’ book you’ll find people are always seeking ‘how to’ information making your book easy to sell; in fact the most sought after items on the Internet are information products. Authors, self publishers and book publishers can be very unhappy when they see boxes of books delivered from the printer, loaded onto pallets in their garage and not have any idea on how they’re going to sell them; don’t let this happen to you — be prepared. Ensuring the success of any book is something even the biggest publishers have never been able to guarantee, but with a good book, a little or a lot of money, and just plain hard work the odds are in your favor; many have done it.
Your book press release should not be written as you would a sales letter or flier, it should be written for the editor and tell about your book in a factual way, no opinion or glowing remarks. When picked up by wire services, a press release can easily end up generating hundreds of mentions for your book. Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style that you can send out for the lifetime of your book.
Send out at least 10 press releases to the print and broadcast media in your area every month. Don’t underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales. Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why.’
Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media. Mail a press release to at least 1000 print and broadcast contacts just prior to publishing your title and again and again after you publish; you can never send too many.
I’ve not found that book signings sell many books for publishers and are often a waste of time; better to spend it elsewhere. I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing. Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers.
Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing. It’s important to publish a website that focuses on your title; you’ll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse. When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows.
Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic. Be your own publicist and send a press release along with a review copy of your book to publications in your book’s genre and to book review magazines. Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline.
Local radio shows and television appearances are good but are often forgotten within hours of the broadcast; make sure to make or get a copy of any television broadcast for future promotions. If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way. Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website.
Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer. Every day it’s important to focus on a variety of marketing approaches.
Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets. Contact any companies, corporations or organizations that might use your book for promotions; offer significant discounts for volume orders or for thousands of copies offer a specified amount above book production costs.
One of the biggest problems self publishers and book publishers tell me about is the hundreds of books they have in inventory they haven’t set up a marketing plan for; don’t let this happen to you — get prepared now. Now promote, promote, and promote your book some more! Make sure do some serious marketing and promotion every single day, no excuses.
For more tips about book marketing and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com since 1982, giving advice and help to authors, self publishers, ebook, and book publishers including media, and library mailing lists and more, press releases - online, wire service, offline distribution
Fab Four Marketing
You know, once you start looking, there are lessons everywhere.
This morning, I was taking my son, Patrick, to school. We were listening to the Beatles- Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Patrick’s in the process of making demos in his bedroom recording studio, which provides me with steady “proud daddy” moments.
Anyway, we were talking about the Beatles.
They had an interesting problem- their drummer, compared to other drummers at their level, was… not to put too fine a point on it, but compared to,say Ginger Baker (Cream) or Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones), “weak.”
Ginger and Charlie had strong jazz backgrounds and playing rock was really “playing down” for them.
Not the case with Ringo.
They also had another problem, that would have destroyed a lesser group. Their best lead guitar player was singing and playing bass. Their next best guitar player was also singing lead and providing the strong rhythm guitar that drove the band.
That left George- who, in time, became a wonderful guitar player. However, when he joined the band, he was the same age as my son- 17- and compared to the lead guitar players in other bands of the time- Peter Green, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, just to name a few, he was pretty weak, too.
I can just imagine John and Paul sharing a stout at the pub, talking this over. They weren’t about to let little things like this keep them from conquering
the world. They were building an empire, and realized, rightly, that problems can be turned into opportunities.
The might have had a “what’s working, what’s not working meeting.” They knew they had great songs, great harmonies and melodies, a great producer, and an unlimited budget, which gave them access to symphony orchestras.
By recognizing the weakness of their drummer, they came up with some of the most creative rhythm tracks in history.
There are tracks where Paul played drums. There are hand-claps, tambourines, anvils, animal sounds, backward cymbals, car horns, all used as drums. Much more interesting than just a “good” drummer, but if they’d had a good drummer, they would never have looked for the alternatives.
There are places on Abbey Road, for example, where there are two complete drum kits playing at the same time, while a third snare is accenting the downbeat. By using technology and creativity, they were able to overcome what could have been a devastating problem.
They were equally creative with the guitar problem.
On the early albums, they solved the problem by ignoring it, and the lead guitar parts were so simple that pre-teens in bedrooms all over America were able to learn them. Some of them bought the albums because the guitar parts were simple- I know, I’m one of them. With just a few notes, I could be a “Beatle.” Brilliant.
Later, they would outsource- there are oboe, trumpet, violin, kazoo and “na, na, na’s” where a band with a great guitar player would have put guitar solos.
When they absolutely had to have a world-class guitar solo, they hired Eric Clapton to play it. Good choice. That beautiful solo on George’s song, “While my Guitar Gently Weeps,” is Eric, and it’s one of the high-points of western civilization, in my opinion.
On Abbey Road, again, towards the end of side 2 (yes, I’m that old), there is a 3-guitar shoot-out, where George, Paul, and John take turns playing their hottest licks. John always said that he won the shoot-out, but if that’s Paul on the Les Paul, I’d disagree.
Of course, by the time the “White” album came out, the Beatles weren’t really speaking to each other, and this led to John, Paul and George playing all the instruments on their songs- which is also how I make my CDs. Technology rocks.
I’m assuming Ringo spent some time at the pub.
Now, all these years later, what lessons can we learn from the Fab Four?
1. Every problem is an opportunity.
We all have our gifts- our talents
and abilities- but none of us has ALL of them.
Be honest with yourself about what your gifts and talents are. In the places where you’re weak, realize that you are free. It’s liberating, once you get used to it. If you want an e-book empire, but can’t write- congratulations. You’ve got the public domain, and there have been some serious fortunes made with public domain works. You can go to elance.com and hire a writer- they’re cheap. You can speak your thoughts, and record them- and sell the recordings. You can interview others and record the interview- products are everywhere.
2. Don’t let the lack of some resource stop you from making your dreams come true. Once you know what you don’t have, you can creatively find ways to use what you do have to get your project done.
Excuses are wonderful, aren’t they? Once you’ve got a good one, you can hide behind it for years.
Recognize excuses for what they are, delete them, and turn your problems into opportunities. If you don’t have money, a huge list, or a clue, team up with someone who does, and succeed anyway.
Then write a book about how you did it, and sell the book.
Keep your eyes open- opportunities are everywhere.
Pat O’Bryan is the CEO of Practical Metaphysics, Inc., Director of the Milagro Research Institute, an award winning songwriter, recording artist, visual artist, author, video producer and internet marketer.
http://www.patobryan.com
Hot Tips For Marketing Books For Self Publishers
With careful planning you can market, promote, and get (free) publicity (publicity is always free) on a limited budget; you can take the cheap and easy way. Whether you’ve just published a book or have a book that isn’t selling, now is the time to get to it; start marketing today! This article will provide you with easy, free, and cheap book marketing, promotion and publicity tips to get you headed in the right direction fast.
Send out the same press release to the editor of your local daily newspaper every week until you are called for an interview or are written up. Your book press release should not be written as you would a sales letter or flier, it should be written for the editor and tell about your book in a factual way, no opinion or glowing remarks. Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why.’
Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style that you can send out for the lifetime of your book. Mail a press release to all the trade journals in your field over and over again; you can use the same release. When picked up by wire services, a press release can easily end up generating hundreds of mentions for your book.
Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media. Don’t underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales.
Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers. Contact any companies, corporations or organizations that might use your book for promotions; offer significant discounts for volume orders or for thousands of copies offer a specified amount above book production costs. Place free ads periodically for your book’s website on Craigslist in different categories to drive even more traffic to your website.
Contact non-bookstore booksellers and offer to leave books on consignment. Be your own publicist and send a press release along with a review copy of your book to publications in your book’s genre and to book review magazines. Offer to trade writing a monthly column in a trade publication in your books’ genre, in trade for display ads on the same page.
Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed. Every day it’s important to focus on a variety of marketing approaches.
Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book. Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets. Try giving away one of your books in a raffle at a local function to get more book recognition.
Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use on your fliers and back of books. I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing.
Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline. Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website.
Use your book promotion and book marketing dollars wisely; go after the free and cheap resources daily. Make sure to test, test, and test some more before you lay out large sums of money. The success of any book marketing effort depends on a good book and just plain hard work; its been done many times before and you can do it too.
For more tips about book marketing and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com since 1982, giving advice and help to authors, self publishers, ebook, and book publishers including media, and library mailing lists and more, press releases - online, wire service, offline distribution
The Magic of UnFraming
Over at my forum we’ve been talking about “un-framing.”
I think it’s very, very powerful.
What is “un-framing?”
Well, it’s like the old saying- “if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”
What’s a frame? That’s the point of view, or the set of filters, through which you see the world.
Here’s an example- Let’s imagine an old-growth redwood tree. Now, look at it from the point of view of an ecologist. That tree provides shelter for birds and other animals. It’s a piece of history that has watched America change for hundreds of years. It’s a piece of natural art. It’s very valuable right where it is, and you wouldn’t cut it down at gunpoint.
Now, look at it from the point of view of a carpenter. There are many fine pieces of valuable furniture locked in that tree. You could build shelter with it. It’s worth a fortune to you if you can cut it down.
It’s the same tree. However, by changing the frame, it looks very different.
There’s a great book called “The Power of Impossible Thinking” that addresses this.
Highly recommended.
I used to frame the world from the point of view of a blues guitar player . So, whenever I had a problem, I’d try to solve it from that point of view.
There are lots of problems I couldn’t solve, because I was using the wrong frame.
Take money problems, for example. Lots of people have them, and I did, too. If your only solution to a money problem is to grab your guitar and go play in clubs, you’re not going to solve your money problems.
First of all, you’re trading time for money, which is pretty ineffective. Second, there just aren’t enough nights in the week, at a guitar player’s salary, to fund much of a life.
So, I (with a lot of help from Joe Vitale, and a few others) decided to “un-frame.”
Try it.
Here’s what I did. I took a detailed inventory of my skills, talents and assets.
Then I looked at my available market, and asked, “how can I combine what I’ve got and what I can do to
create something that the market will buy?”
That’s actually a magic question.
In my case, I had some musical equipment and some recording gear. I did some quick research into subliminal affirmations and binaural beats, and The Milagro Research Institute was born.
In the month of December, 2005, we sold… well, it was about twice my annual income in my best year playing guitar.
Then, I discovered that I could take my recording gear on the road and record interview.
Well, the possibilities were just endless!
I wrote a course on influence and persuasion, and put it online.
If I had kept my old frame, none of those products would have been created- and I would probably be homeless.
About now, you should be asking yourself some questions.
“What frame am I using to look at the world?”
“What would the world look like without that frame?”
“How can I combine what I’ve got and what I can do to create something that the market will buy?”
Pat O’Bryan is the CEO of Practical Metaphysics, Inc., Director of the Milagro Research Institute, an award winning songwriter, recording artist, visual artist, author, video producer and internet marketer.
http://www.patobryan.com
Business Coaches Make More Money Optimizing Their Relationships
To succeed, financially, as a business coach you really must optimize every relationship you have with your prospects and your clients.
I have worked with business owners for over three decades. To this day over 60% of my clients come from one of three industries. And each client ends up taking advantage of the widest possible range of services - because I have developed a process that keeps me in front of them long enough for them to do so.
What can you do to more effectively to invest your time and energy with each high probability prospect long enough for them to buy everything you have on offer?
It seems that most of the time we only have a few seconds to make a first impression or a few minutes to pitch our services.
What most of us do, out of necessity, is blast away about the features and benefits of our services - hoping we catch their attention with one of them. While we a barking out everything we can in the time allowed we try to focus on their body language for clues regarding the one thing that seems to interest them.
If our elevator speech and our sales presentation are well conceived and well delivered our prospect may show a sign of interest - which we will immediately jump on and ride for all it’s worth.
So we all spend time developing our USP so that it can be powerfully presented in forty-five seconds, five minutes, and fifteen minute versions.
I absolutely recommend that you spend whatever time necessary to create that USP. It is vitally important that you know precisely what you do more uniquely and better than anyone else.
Getting clear about the benefits you provide is critical - but perhaps not for the reasons you think.
For example I use my elevator speech, in all its variations, as my number one method of disqualifying people I am not ideally suited to serve. In 45 seconds eighty percent of them know I am not the right person for them. By the end of five minutes I have eliminated everyone that is not an ideal candidate for my services.
This may be the opposite of what you were taught - that everyone is a prospect for something. Read on. My career has been created using this approach.
Once I have eliminated everyone else I can focus all my effort on the people who want what I’m selling, have the money to buy it, and will buy it from me once they know more about me.
Instinctively good prospects want proof, before they spend their time or money. They want to see us in action before making a decision. In other words that want to see if we walk our talk.
But how is this possible? How can they get to know us better in a way that builds our credibility?
How about offering a free coaching session or a no-obligation interview? Maybe we can interest them in a trial program that is deeply discounted? Or maybe we can offer some sort of guarantee?
Give me a break! Anyone who’d fall for these obvious ploys is not the sort of person I want as a client and hope you feel the same.
Successful business owners aren’t stupid! They know (whether it is true in your specific case or not) that any of these deals are really a come-on to get your foot in the door. And every effort will be made during the free/discount sessions to sell them the services they were unwilling to buy in the first place.
Let me propose an alternative, a simple process that has been working for me for over a decade. It gives prospects plenty of time to see me in action and come to know what kind of a person I am.
When I meet a new high probability prospect - someone I want to know more about and who seems to want to get to know me and my services better - I make them a proposition they rarely refuse.
I describe the power of group dynamics and its impact on decision making that are present when a small group of people (like them) meet regularly with a persistent focus on the issues and challenges shared by them all.
Invariably they have been part of such a group, formally or informally, in the past. And in my experience they found it beneficial and were sorry when it ended. Often their association has sponsored peer groups among its membership. In many cases they have been part of a dealer peer group created by the company that manufactures the products they sell or distribute.
So when I offer to help organize a peer group for them and their peers - as a volunteer, they jump on it. We make a bargain. They put together the names of people they know and trust in their industry and I agree to take care of all the details.
These are smart people, so they know that my goal is to demonstrate my value to them and the other members of their group. No sales pitch - this is real.
They also know that I actually have to demonstrate that value over a period of time in front of a half-dozen business owners like them. This is trial by fire.
And I know that if I chose the first person well and by extension helped sort out the rest of the members based on that same criteria - that I could not spend my time more productively.
Just think, an hour or so twice a month modeling your best abilities in the presence of six successful business owners. Imagine the possibilities.
What you will have done is create a situation that is guaranteed to deliver results, if you deliver the goods.
Every time I organize a peer group like this I end up with a key account or two from the group.
And more often than not, one of the people in the group I never get as a client ends up referring me to one or more of their colleagues who become key accounts.
If you are serious about spending your time effectively, in front of groups of your ideal client types with money to spend on your services, visit http://www.iBizResources.com and click on the link to www.21stCenturyPeerGroups.com a complete guide to creating and manageing profitable peer groups.
The Three Worst Marketing Mistakes You Can Make
Marketing is what we do that puts us in a position to make a sale. Good marketing makes selling easier. Bad marketing may make selling impossible.
We market to strangers so some of them will raise their hand with at least potential interest in what we have on offer.
We market to our clients and customers in order to move them up to the next level of products or services.
Most of us put a lot of time, money, and effort into marketing. For must of us it is the key activity we use to differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
But when we don’t deliver on the promises we make in our marketing we unleash the deadly 3/33 viruses on ourselves.
The 3/33 virus will destroy the marketing we have done in the past and it will make it very difficult to successfully market - at least to some prospects - in the future. And for the most part the 3/33 virus is a do-it-to-yourself process.
The 3/33 virus is word of mouth marketing on steroids - in reverse. Here’s how it works.
When you fulfill a promise, deliver excellent service, come in under budget, and save your customer more money than you said you would - they might tell 3 people. And that usually is because you asked them for referrals.
But if you screw up, don’t do what you said you would do, or fail to deliver in any way - in your customer’s mind - they will tell at least 33 people. This can be disaster.
You know I am speaking the truth. Remember the last time you got poor service in a restaurant and how many people you went out of your way to tell about it?
Here are three ways to guarantee that all the marketing you’ve done will backfire on you.
Don’t Do What You Said You’d Do
In 2006 I met the author of a marketing book at the Search Engine Strategies event in New York City. I had been receiving his email newsletter and had heard a few things about the book. A table where he could autograph books had been set up for him at the Search Engine Strategies meeting. When there was no one around I approached him and found him to be a very insightful person, someone whose book would probably be of value to our readers.
He offered to send me a review copy and I thanked him. After the event I emailed him a note with my mailing address. I never received the book. I received several emails to the address I had given him, but they were solicitations sent to everyone he’d come across at the search engine event.
I don’t know if he never intended to follow up with his promise, or if he turner it over to someone else, or what. The bottom line is that I will never have anything positive to say about him, his organization, or his book. That can’t be what this marketer had in mind when he went to the time, trouble, and energy to come to New York.
Disappear With Your Customer’s Money
The Internet makes it possible to hire people you will never see to do something you can not do and really have no way of knowing it will work until it’s too late, and pay them via your PayPal account before they’ve even begun to do the work.
I have done this several times without incident. Recently however I hired someone, on the strength of another person’s recommendation, who kept my money and disappeared. He had promised to do the work within 48 hours of receiving my payment. But instead I heard nothing from him for six weeks, at which point he contacted me to see if there was some way to make up for his failure to follow through.
I was astounded, but since I’d already paid him I asked him to do something that was worth less than half of what he’d already been paid. Hey, we all deserve a second chance. What happened? Nothing, I never heard from him again.
It’s hard to say if I would have ever needed his services in the future anyway - so it was just a tedious time consuming event for me, getting someone else to do the job and so forth. But what did it do to the relationship I had had with the person who recommended him?
This was someone I trusted. Now I have to think twice about anything he has to sell me. And I am not going to tell my friends to do business with him in the future. Why would I take the chance he will recommend something or someone whose lack of performance comes back to bite me?
Embarrass Your Boss
Everybody’s got to serve somebody was a line in one of Bob Dylan’s songs. So no matter who you are or the position you have in your outfit - you do have a boss, maybe many of them.
Prior to events where I am registered as part of the media horde, I receive a stream of emails from companies that are making presentations or have exhibits there. A week before the 2007 Search Engine Strategies meeting in New York I received an interview request from the PR firm representing an organization I wanted to learn more about.
Actually I received three emails from them, each with open time slots, so I could chose one of the remaining times for the interview.
This is the way it’s always done. By the time I get to the site I have several one on one interviews set up with people whose message, I think, will be of value to our readers. So I emailed my choice of day and time, from one of the remaining time slots.
In this case however, the PR person never go back to me. How was that possible, that was his job?
I was curious about the lack of follow up, from a PR person no less, so I printed out the email I’d sent and took it along with me to the meeting.
On the second day of the search engine conference I scoured the exhibit halls and eventually found the person I had wanted to interview. I still wanted to talk with him if we could work out the time.
You can imagine his response to my story and the copy of my email when I presented it to him.
You can also guess the fate of the PR firm who had mishandled their account. It seems I was not the only person affected by this - one of whom was an industry leader the boss really wanted to meet.
So, who’s your boss? Whose opinions are important to you? Who do you serve? Are you doing everything you can and more to make sure you aren’t disappointing or embarrassing them?
How can you be sure to avoid the three worst marketing mistakes? Only make promises you can keep, and keep the ones you make. It’s as simple as that.
If you want to leverage what you are already doing right visit http://www.21stCenturyPeerGroups.com for Wayne Messick’s report based on his experience as a business consultant who offers a wealth of free information at http://www.iBizResources.com
Trade Shows and Trade Show Exhibits - How To Get The Most Out Of Your Next Tradeshow
Trade shows as a key component of every industry, association, and professional meeting. Their importance cannot be over stated for the attendees, the sponsoring organization, and the exhibitors themselves.
Trade show attendees have access to “what’s new” in one place. They can check it out anonymously and with no obligation. If they aren’t interested they can just walk away.
The sponsoring organization sells space to the exhibitors, money it uses to reduce the attendee’s fees and other costs. The individual attendees save money, the registration is lowered to help get more people to attend, and the exhibitors have a larger pool of prospects.
When it is done right, the trade show component of an event is a huge benefit to everyone.
This article will help you be a better exhibit hall visitor.
As a trade show exhibit hall attendee you should focus on spending as little time as possible disqualifying each exhibitor - making decisions quickly regarding the exhibitor’s relevance to you. If not move on, don’t give them your card or let them scan your badge!
Typically the exhibit hall opens on a day packed with main platform presentations and concurrent workshops. It is likely to be the busiest day of the event - so there is little time to cover every exhibitor there.
But visiting every booth is a must. You never know when someone with a tiny last minute table in the back of the hall by the restrooms has the very answer you’ve been looking for.
First impressions are critical. Beyond the freebies and the clever booth setups, it’s those first 45 seconds that make all the difference - for attendees and exhibitors alike.
Start by asking the company’s rep “so, what do you do?” or its equivalent. Whether the vendor hired part time booth bimbos or brought their seasoned sales or technical reps will be immediately clear.
If the vendor is there just taking up space in order to scan the badges of folks who stop by to bag one of the free trinkets - what does that tell you?
If the trade shows exhibitor is serious about building relationships with new prospective customers and connecting with current customers you can be sure the rep will have their 30-second pitch ready.
In thirty seconds a knowledgeable company rep can tell you what they have on offer and what’s in it for their target customers. If you like what you hear, bingo, if not move on.
And don’t think you are offending the company’s rep when you turn and walk away. They don’t really want to spend their time with you either - if there is nothing mutually beneficial to talk about.
Of course if you already know what they do, you might start with “so, what’s new for 2008?” or something to that effect.
Remember, your objective is simple - spend just 45 seconds with 90% of the exhibitors, so you can invest as much time as you need with those few exhibitors whose products and services can help you.
Ok, now that you’ve identified the trade show exhibitors you want to invest your time with, what should you do - what questions should you ask them?
First, ask the company rep to tell you the number one question people ask that leads them to their company’s solution?
They will know this if they are doing keyword related advertising. What keywords (problems) are they buying with their search engines because the people who have that problem are ideal prospects for the exhibitor’s solutions?
This is a first level inquiry, you are trying now to determine whether or not the words they are advertising for are the words you use when you are searching for information about the problem their product or service solves.
Second, do they speak YOUR language? This is an easy way to determine for yourself whether or not they see you as their ideal type prospect or not. If they use examples that are clearly not relevant to you, there’s a message in that. If they talk about installations of their products with outfits like yours, there’s a message there too. This is a second level disqualification process, to cut through the pitch.
Finally, who are their competitors? They have them, they know it, you know it and they know you know it. How are they superior to them? This will provide a knowledgeable company rep an opportunity to expound on their unique selling proposition. How they react to the question will tell you how confident they are in their application in your situation.
I have attended several trade shows during the last few months. Most recently I covered the Search Engine Strategies event and trade show. I spent several hours in the exhibit hall asking the questions above and was pleasantly surprised by the results.
Maybe it was because the vendors were acutely aware of the value of the opportunity to make the best possible impression on potential new customers.
Perhaps it was because they could feel their competitors breathing down their necks and wanted to make their best pitch to the right people - so they asked the right questions and gave the right answers, no game playing to get sign ups to a marketing list.
Or it could be that the cost of being there and bringing their best people to answer the tough questions this knowledgeable audience had for them was great enough to make them focus their efforts on the right actions to get the right prospects on their list for follow up.
And by the way, in case you didn’t ask the above questions of the vendors at the last trade show exhibit hall you were in, you can ask them when the follow up sales calls begin.
If you want to read what several trade show experts have to say about exhibiting your products, go to http://www.iBizresources.com and click the search our site link. Wayne Messick has a new report for business owners wanting to realize their company’s potential at http://www.b2bpeergroups.com