Posts Tagged ‘lead generation’

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How stories get you on the first page of google

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012


I was talking with my friend Jeff Hopeck of Killer Shark Marketing about Google and it’s ever changing algorithm that determines which websites get on the first page.

The two main variables have historically been links and content. They’re both still important, but the emphasis is now heavily tilting towards content.

And not just any content.

Nope, unfortunately taking one article, blog post or twitter feed and just reposting it over and over again won’t get you high in the rankings. In fact it may hurt you.

If you want to get highly ranked, the focus today is on Original Content. That’s great news for those of you who are creating sales stories about the success of your clients, stories that address concerns and objections, and stories that communicate the values of your brand.

However, simply creating original content is only half the battle. I’d estimate that most everyone can write words that communicate a message. That’s not difficult. But, the reality is that it’s also not enough.

If you’re in this game to win, you need stories that persuade and engage. That’s the key to not only getting your site on the first page of Google, but also how to motivate people to take action. When you accomplish that, then you’ve got a stealth marketing system that gets you both visibility and high conversion percentages.

Content is King.

Speaking of which, I’m opening the doors for an intimate seminar I’ll be conducting here in Atlanta in May. The goal of it is to work with a small number of you on crafting your “Million Dollar Stories”. If that sounds like something that might be of interest there’s some information HERE.

Maybe I’ll see you in Atlanta next month. That would be fun.

Talk soon
Mark

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Should Getting New Clients Be Free?

Sunday, March 25th, 2012


When I ask prospective clients, “How do you get new business?“, invariable the answer is “Word of mouth & referrals.”

Now there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. I think we’d all agree that a strong referral is the best type of lead, since the individual is often predisposed to wanting to work with you. A referral reduces the amount of convincing we have to do-which if you’re like me, and hate to convince people to do anything, referrals are a very good thing.

But, not surprisingly, there are a couple of problems with relying on word of mouth and referrals as your sole (or primary) method for attracting new business.

First, since you’re not in control of when referrals come your way, they tend to arrive when you don’t really need them, and are nowhere to be found when you do.
(I’m overstating it a bit, but you take my point.) This leads to the feast or famine business cycles that so many business owners are far too familiar with.

However, there’s another issue that is perhaps even more insidious. At first blush, the fact that referrals don’t cost hard dollars, would seem to be a good thing. And to a certain extent, it is.

But…

The problem occurs when one’s mindset latches onto the thought that “client acquisition should be free.”

That’s a very dangerous belief, since it will prevent you from investing in methods that can get you more consistent streams of new clients. The belief that it shouldn’t cost money to get a new client, can make you so cautious that you refuse to spend money on marketing unless it’s absolutely, positively, 100% documented in stone, the what you’re about to try…WILL WORK!

…and since nothing can be so guaranteed, there’s a huge tendency to do nothing.

And the feast or famine cycle continues.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not advocating spending money without careful due diligence, and yes, you can invest in programs that given the benefit of hindsight, you shouldn’t have.

BUT…saying that you’ll only invest in getting more new clients, “once business improves” is a bit like saying, “I’ll start exercising once I lose some weight.”

The key to success for any business is to approach it…as a business. Thus, if you haven’t developed a budget for marketing, you need to set one up.

Food for thought

New Service/Limited Availability: We’ll write your free report with a great hook, create a promotional opt-in box that we’ll put up on your website and write/send out 3-4 autoresponders per month. Complete turnkey drip marketing service. Info by emailing barb@gentlerainmarketing.com

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Famous In Your Niche

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012


I’ll admit, when I first thought about trying to become famous in my niche, I had two distinct reactions.

On the positive side, I thought it would be kind of cool (for lack of a better phrase) to be one of the well known experts in my field. I envisioned that if I reached a certain level of visibility I’d get a lot more prospects calling me, rather than having to chase after them. And, the reality is that this really does happen, once you’ve become one of the recognized experts in your field.

But, I also wondered if this was something that really could happen for me. I’m a bit of a skeptic and when I hear about people who have achieved all these great accomplishments, in the back of my mind I think, “Sure, that’s great for other people-but that’s other people-I would never get that.”

I mean, after all I’m just a very niche player in Atlanta, there’s no way.

But here’s the interesting thing. It really can happen. And I’m telling you this because it happened to me and I believe it can happen to you.

However, there is a catch (as there always is). And the catch is, You’ve really got to want it. I’m not making a judgement call here, but there are a lot of things I’d like to have happen-if they just dropped into my lap.

When it came to getting famous in my niche, I made the decision 14 months ago that this was something I really wanted for myself and my business. But what I needed was a plan…a roadmap for getting there.

In a nutshell that’s why I joined Steve & Bill Harrison’s Quantum Leap program, and why if you’re serious about getting extremely well known as an expert for what you do, I encourage you to consider it.

I don’t make recommendations lightly-I think you know that about me. I’ll only recommend something that I personally have used or experienced. The reality is that I can’t think of anyone on my subscriber list who wouldn’t benefit from what they teach us to do. (Especially those of us who have limited marketing budgets, since using the media to promote ourselves is free.)

Steve & Bill are beginning enrollment for their next class of Quantum Leap and I think this is something you should learn more about. You can sign up to get the information by going HERE.

Whether or not you decide to participate, you should at least get the information. Trust me, it’s worth learning a bit more about.

Talk soon
Mark

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Focusing on what’s important

Thursday, March 8th, 2012


It’s easy to get seduced with technology, especially with the increased focus on social media.

But here’s something to keep in mind.

It’s not that you Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

It’s what you say.

The key is to be interesting or at perhaps a bit controversial. Which means you shouldn’t be afraid to share information about who you are, how you came to do what you do. I’ve found that people are genuinely interested in the backstories of others.

Of the 8-12 stories I think we all need to develop, the one that tells the backstory of who you are is the first one I’d develop. Once you have it, you’ll be amazed at how it accelerates the relationship building process.

Food for thought.

More Here

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Get Your Clients to Brag About You

Thursday, December 15th, 2011


Imagine that there were hundreds, or even thousands or people who were all recommending you. What would the impact be on your business? Granted that’s somewhat of a rhetorical question, since the obvious answer is “Damn that would be great!.”..but it begs the question: How precisely can we get people talking about you?

Here’s one idea from (of all places) the world of antique collecting-and don’t immediately turn off because you’re not in that business. I really believe it’s going to be helpful to you, regardless of the type of business you’re in.

A quick story…

Hanging in my office is an antique sword formerly owned by Jeanne Pierre Robinette. Monsieur Robinette was the finance secretary for Napoleon I, and since his role was administrative and not military, the sword is actually rather wimpy. Nice to look at, but it would probably break in half in a real battle. However, when he was sworn into office, Monsieur Robinette was the only member of Napoleon’s court not to have a sword, so he commissioned one from the great sword craftsman Angelo Del’Amico of Seville Spain. Unfortunately, the first time he wore the sword in court he was made fun of by Napoleon’s Chief of Staff. Tempers flared, a duel ensued and Napoleon was soon is search of new accountant.

I know this story because the person, who sold me the sword at Red Baron Antiques, here in Atlanta, told it to me. Since Marian and I entertain a lot, I’ve told that story dozens of times over the years.

In all candor, being able to tell that story is one of the most pleasurable aspects of owning the sword.

But here’s the important part.

At the end of the story I also, instinctively, include the part about how I first learned the story when I purchased the sword at Red Barron Antiques. (As I just did once again.)

And here’s the even more important point.

I also instinctively) go on to talk about Red Barron and how cool it is and how all the items they sell have these great stories behind them. (As I seem to be doing once again.)

I’m sure you see my point.

I’m bragging on Red Barron because they gave me a great story I could tell. And what I notice is that if I tell the story to someone here in Atlanta, they invariably start to tell me the story about the cool thing they bought at Red Barron. Lots of people seem to have a Red Barron story.

Obviously, there’s no shortage of antique shops. Quite frankly, Red Barron isn’t the most convenient place to get to, and the parking is often a pain. BUT, it’s become the antique shop of destination.

And a large part of the their appeal is that they arm us with great stories we can tell to others about the cool stuff we buy from them.

So…what are the stories you want your clients to be telling about the services or products they receive from you? Is it something about the experience clients have the first time they visit you? Is it something about the great information you share with them? Is it about events and activities they get invited to once they’re a part of your circle? Is it the personal handwritten note you send?

Lets make our clients proud of the fact that they’ve selected you. Let’s give them stories they’ll want to tell to others.

Food for thought
Mark
I hate to keep reminding you, but if you want to learn how to tell great stories you need to read my book. Get it Here.

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Ripped From Today’s Headlines

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011


Did you hear the news?

How do we get the people…the ones we desperately yearn to do business with… to STOP for a second and pay attention to us? Here’s an idea.

Piggyback on what’s in the news for your own attention-getting purposes. Like this…

If you’ve picked up a copy of USA Today anytime in the last couple of years, you’ve undoubtedly seen ads run by Bill Bartmann for his free books on the Debt-Collection business. Bartmann’s a, shall we say, colorful character, but you can’t fault his marketing prowess. In fact his approach is applicable for anyone who wants to attract a large congregation of followers. There are a lot of steps to what he’s doing, but today, let’s take a closer look at how he’s getting attention.

Now, keep in mind that he’s been pitching this business opportunity for a number of years. You’d think his market would be getting pretty fatigued with his message, and you’d be right, IF Bartmann didn’t do such a good job of changing it up.

The strategy he’s currently using is to take a headline from the news and aligning it with his message. For example, “Bullying” has been getting a lot of press lately. Petitions are being signed, celebrities recruited, numerous articles written to eradicate bullies from existence.

Do you know who one of the biggest bullies is? Why, it’s the debt collection business.

I can see you nodding your head.

And Bill Bartmann knows your nodding your head. So he’s written a book you can get for free about the Bullying Tactics of the Debt Collection Industry. Not surprisingly, that will put you into his automated drip-marketing system, and eventually some of you may decide to sign up for his program.

That’s the key for effective lead-generation marketing. Get them to nod their heads in agreement by linking your message to what’s appearing in the news.

So let’s look at what’s in USA Today and how you might link it.

***“Facebook is tracking you.” Is there a privacy issue you can link to around your product or service?

***“Congress filled with the wealthy 1%.” Good jumping off point about people not being in touch with real problems. Conversely could be a lead-in to a pitch about how by using such-and-such financial system, people have the financial capability to devote themselves to public service.

***”Economy tanks so fewer people moving.” Leads to any of a number of pitches for “buy local’ businesses, or…invest in sunbelt property in anticipation of pent up demand once the economy does rebound.

What news story can you piggyback on?

Food for thought.

One-Day. That’s all it takes. Have Mark facilitate a Marketing Development & Implementation Day at your location. Email barb@gentlerainmarketing.com or call 770-643-8566 to discuss specifics.

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The Changing Role of Scarcity

Thursday, November 10th, 2011


I’m fascinated with the choices that are available to us about virtually everything.

When I was growing up there was NBC, CBS, ABC, plus 2 UHF channels, and a really grainy channel that, if the wind was blowing right, we could pick it up from New Hampshire.

I looked at my AT&T U-Verse choices yesterday, and discovered that not only do I have access to over 500 channels, I can now choose among 57 channels that exclusively program in Spanish and 13 in Japanese.

As a kid I loved to visit the Concord Bookshop. They carried a choice of maybe 2000 books. If I wanted an out-of-print book, I was out of luck.

Today, virtually any book ever printed is available through some bookseller via Amazon. And never mind that it used to be that if you wanted a book published you had to get accepted by one of 12 publishers. Now anyone can get published through resources such as Lightning Source. With e-books now having reached the tipping point, and all books accepted on Amazon, the shear volume of books available is almost beyond comprehension.

If I want a time management program for home-based entrepreneurs, I can choose among several.

If I want sales training for nutritional MLM entrepreneurs, there are multiple choices.

If I want to learn how to more effectively interview pharmaceutical reps, there are multiple vendors vying for my business.

In other words…scarcity doesn’t exist anymore.

Except for one thing.

As Seth Godin recently pointed out, the only thing that’s scarce is attention.

When there are numerous choices for virtually any need, how do we get people to choose us?

Two thoughts.

The days of mass marketing are over. Even my former employers in the consumer goods industry (Pepsi & Kraft Foods) largely recognize this, and are increasingly targeting their messages to the young, the old, different ethnic groups, specific types of activities…the segmentation goes on and on.

Micro-niche marketing is everything. Unfortunately this message is often lost of new entrepreneurs and small business owners for the obvious reason. “But, I might miss someone if I niche market.”

The reality is that when your message attempts to appeal to everyone, it appeals to no-one. This is a hard learned lesson for many (myself included).

Second thought. Your message needs to stand out. It needs to fall into the sweet space between boring blather and “sky is falling” hyperbole. This is where mental heavy lifting comes to play.

What’s deceiving is that the end result-the ultimate marketing message-often seems so simple. Perhaps it’s just a few words such as “How to get consistent streams of brand new clients with no cold calling or hard selling.” Yet when you examine this in more detail, you notice that the word “consistent” is crucial, since avoiding feast-or-famine business cycles is a main concern for this particular audience. “Cold calling” also is carefully selected, since that’s the default method by which this niche trolls for new business. Although they may profess otherwise, in reality most everyone hates “smiling & dialing”.

The words “Hard selling” are also carefully selected. This niche views themselves as professionals and experts, and recoils from anything that is overtly salesy.

Thus the simple phrase, “How to get consistent streams of brand new clients with no cold calling or hard selling.”, is actually the result of many hours of thinking about a particular niche; their needs, hopes, wants and desires.

Why is this important?

Because the only thing that’s scarce in this day and age, is getting (and keeping) attention.

Food for thought
Mark
Want some assistance in developing your message? Information is HERE

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Marketing With Information

Friday, October 14th, 2011


Suppose with just a one hour-long effort you could…

*Create a kick-ass free offer that would get prospective clients interested in what you do. And…

*Provide the content for the squeeze page that promotes it. And…

*Create a great video that you could sell for $595? And…

*Create a MP3 audio you could add to the video package and raise the price to $695? And…

*Create a content-rich booklet, you could add to the video and audio package and now price your information product at $795.

Or…you could just give everything away for free and have a monstrously effective lead generation machine.

All with about an hour’s worth of work.

Here’s how.

Rent a room somewhere. Might be at a hotel, or even better, at one of those office suites that are in virtually every city.

Invite some clients or prospective clients to come to hear you speak about your topic. (Maybe you charge/Maybe you don’t.) Try to get at least a dozen people.

Video tape the presentation. (Personally, I’d spend a few bucks to get it done professionally. It doesn’t cost a lot of money.)

Edit down the raw footage. If you use a Mac you can do it yourself using iMovie. I’m sure there’s a comparable program for those still using PCs. This becomes the video component of your information product.

When you do your presentation start off with an overview of what you’re going to be covering. This is the segment that you use on your squeeze page to promote the program.

Pay some kid a few bucks to strip out the audio portion of the video which you can then offer as a separate bonus. A lot of people like to listen to content rather than watch video, so it’s nice option to offer.

Pay a few more bucks to get the audio transcribed and now you’ve got a nice content-rich booklet to offer along with the video and audio.

If you don’t want to create an information product to sell, then just use the video of you doing the introduction as a hook to a free mini-course that offers segments from the rest of the video you shot.

If you line your ducks up in a row, this can basically be done over a weekend. I did a version of this when I created my Gentle Rain Blueprint program. You can see the final result here.

Food for thought
Mark
This free mini-course teaches you how to write a great sales letter.

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Why Isn’t He Remembered?

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011


October 5th marks the birth anniversary of the 21st President of the United States.

If you’re struggling to remember who that was (Chester Alan Arthur, of course) and even after having acquired the knowledge, it still means little, you’re not alone.

But why is former President Arthur relegated those who held the office, but are largely forgotten?

My theory is that it’s because there are no great stories associated with him. And without stories, we just don’t remember Presidents, people or businesses.

Which brings up an interesting question. How memorable are you? What are the stories you tell (and that others repeat) that enables you to break out of the pack?

Stories are powerful, but ironically they’re one of those things we don’t do a good job of creating and communicating.

Which is why…(Blatant plug coming)…if you haven’t already, you should read my book on using stories to persuade others. You can grab a copy here.

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Facebook For The Affluent?

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011


Social media has found a new resource for those targeting the ultra-affluent, and ten nationally ranked firms, catering to the wealthy, have jumped on board.

Equilar Atlas contains profiles of about 250,000 chief executive officers, board members and executive directors at almost 5,000 public companies and 5,000 nonprofits.

Similar to LinkedIn, once your contact information is loaded into the system, you’re provided with an extended graph that illustrates how you’re connected to this very exclusive network of individuals.

But, it’s not an inexpensive network to join. The cost is $10,000 annually for unlimited access to the database for the first three users and $2,400 for each additional person.

Is it worth the investment?

Since people marketing services to the affluent already know who the wealthiest CEOs are, the database may be most helpful in revealing names and compensation for CEOs of smaller public companies that may be below the radar.

What has been your experience with using social networks for developing relationships with the affluent? Tangible results or is it just more hype than substance?

Private Consultations For Those Seeking To Implement A Client Attraction System

What’s really working for marketing to the affluent? Invite author and marketing strategist Mark Satterfield to speak at your next conference. Email Barb@GentleRainMarketing.com for details.

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