Marketing

...now browsing by category

Marketing ideas and techniques.

Do Small Business Owners Need Internet Marketing Education?

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Professional service providers and small business owners often know next-to-nothing about marketing. I know this is true, because after owning several businesses which spanned everything from financial services to retail stores, all I knew how to do was place ads in local media.

Advertising in newspapers, radio, television and magazines was my idea of marketing. Sure, every so often I’d send out a press release, if there was an event to publicise, but aside from that I didn’t have a clue.

Then the Internet blossomed. I looked at it as just another kind of advertising vehicle, and that impression was bolstered by the reps from all of the media I had been advertising with. They all were flogging online ads on their respective websites. Some even offered “online marketing plans” which were almost entirely composed of different styles of paid ads, bundled together.

Results from my offline ads were slowing down. Even ads in the papers which used to bring immediate results stopped producing. So, I dove in and spent thousands on Internet advertising. I should have thrown the money into a sewer. I had no idea what I was doing, and tried to use the same approach which once worked in my offline ads. The results were nonexistent.

In desperation, I tried one website after another, tossing dollar after dollar and watching the business in my stores grind to a halt.

That is when I knew that there had to be another way. I went onto the Internet looking for a better site to advertise on, and ran across an article about Internet marketing. It was full of terms like auto responder, SEO and social media, and it also mentioned a magic word. “FREE.”

My curiosity was piqued. I made a project of getting educated on “Internet marketing,” and found a variety of sites which all gave the best marketing tips for small business professionals. Eventually I was able to get glimpses into what techniques were free, and which ones cost money.

It did take a while, and a lot of effort, to sort things out. It seemed that some of the “gurus” I found were having a blast making every tip and technique convoluted and “secret.” And it was also glaringly clear that they were all either self-taught or hiding the source of their own Internet marketing education.

After months of digging, I discovered a single source for all kinds of Internet marketing education. It is perfectly suited for professionals and small business owners, and was exactly what I was looking for. I signed up.

At last I was armed with the ability to find new business leads online without spending a fortune to get them.

However, I had to adjust my expectations when it came to the timing of results. You see, when I relied on advertising, I expected quick response from the customers. I still like direct response advertising for that. But with online marketing, things were different. It was like watching a slow motion movie of a flower growing.

The closest analogy I can think of is that Internet marketing is like planting seeds. The marketer cannot expect to harvest a crop until it has grown. And notice that I say “seeds.” Plural. Planting one seed will not yield a crop.

That was a difficult lesson. For Internet marketing to work for any business, the marketer must do a lot of it, over a period of time, consistently.

Eventually, intelligent marketing action will start to yield the desired results, and make all the effort worthwhile.

It all starts with getting a solid Internet marketing education.

Posted in Business, Marketing | 2 Responses »
Tags: internet marketing, internet marketing course, marketing education, marketing professional services, small business marketing

You Know You Need A Laundry Bag!

Monday, January 25th, 2010

One of the first places I was introduced to when I moved to Chicago 30 years ago was the Maxwell Street Market. The place was an open-air flea market, with vendors lining the streets in a few square blocks of the South Side. It was raw and exotic, compared to what I was used to in Boston. And it was colorful, too, with blues musicians performing in vacant lots, greasy food touching flames in 55 gallon steel drums, and a United-Nations cast of characters roaming the streets. You may have seen a glimpse of this in the “Blues Brothers” movie.

With all of that raw commerce and entertainment, one thing I remember quite clearly, and often, is a chant that permeated every visit. It turns out to be one of my first lessons in marketing, and it came from a very unlikely source.

Wandering among the throng, there were several “independent operators” who hauled loads of almost anything saleable, approaching buyers with lines like “need a watch?” and “Tube socks here.” Some were shy, others brazen, but one tall black man had his whole act together. Over his shoulders was a load of bright white cloth, and in both hands he hand he held aloft a full-size draw-string heavy-duty brand-new laundry bag.

With a gleaming smile he called out, over and over, the one line which still shapes my copywriting: “You KNOW you NEED a LAUNDRY BAG!”

The line is pure music. It is direct, and speaks to a hungry crowd. It asks a question, but it’s a command which makes you think. Every time I heard him, I wondered, “Do I? Could I use one of those?” and then realized that he was selling those things all day long because everyone else was wondering if they needed a bag, too!

The experience stuck with me, and yesterday I remembered it as I was writing headlines for some new ads. You KNOW you NEED a NEW BUSINESS!

Posted in Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: advertising, copywriting, Marketing

MLM/Network Marketing Dropouts: Here’s Why.

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Have you ever wondered why so many people drop out of network marketing? I think I know the answer, and it may not be what you expect.

If you have engaged in prospecting and recruiting for an MLM/network marketing business, why did you do it? Was it for immediate profit from signing up new bodies, or to build a team so you could get residual income?

What happened to your downline? How many people dropped out once they got a whiff of work?

Did you ever get the residual income and stability you expected? Do you wonder why?

When prospecting, did you present materials (websites, DVDs, CDs, brochures, etc.) provided by your company? Did you give an exciting version of what it is like to be associated with the company, highlighting all the glowing benefits of distributorship? Was your pitch worthy of an infomercial?

Most companies give their representatives slick, commercial materials, and advise that the reps maintain an upbeat energy level when introducing the company. Newbies usually go too far in that aspect, and it’s easy for them to mask their inexperience by slipping into excited obnoxiousness.

Very few companies give realistic, behind-the-scene views of what it actually means to market their businesses effectively and succeed. And who can blame them? For MLMs to survive as businesses, there must be volume in both the numbers of representatives, and in product sales.

It is little wonder that network marketing companies mask the facts, and rely on constant recruitment rather than seeking out quality recruits. Since “populating the grid” is usually the goal, they appeal to everyone in an idealistic way, expecting that dropouts and attrition will be overcome by massive signups.

So why do new representatives drop out? I believe it is because of the unrealistic expectations set up by the companies and their sponsors.

Consider this: When was the last time you recruited a business professional or small business owner? Here I am talking about someone who has achieved success in a profession or small business, and is looking for another venture. Did any of them comment on the “hype” presented in your corporate materials? Did you adjust your presentation to talk about what it takes to actually operate in your business? Did you find that these prospects were less interested fancy lifestyle claims, and more interested in the security of operating a viable business?

Compare that presentation to the average one which tries to recruit people who have never before experienced either success or their own business. These prospects are presented with glitz and glam, and glowing reports of success. They are encouraged to see themselves reaping the benefits of operating a successful business, and that vision is never balanced with the less glamorous picture of the work it takes to get there. They are not sold a business. They are sold endorphins, emotions and dreams.

Given the two types of prospect, which one would you expect to drop out?

You most likely understand this point intuitively. MLM/network marketing reps drop out because they started in a business with unrealistic expectations.

It is a sinking feeling to watch your hard-built downline disintegrate. But what are you to do, if you absolutely need hundreds of signups to make a check? Your choices are simple: Either become a master recruiter and perfect your ability to appeal to peoples hopes and dreams, develop a way of signing up fewer but targeted leads, or find a new company which you can promote in a realistic fashion and does not require heavy recruiting.

“Under-promise and over-deliver” is a great motto to keep in mind when recruiting.

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: downline dropouts, mlm atrition, mlm dropout, mlm recruiting, network marketing attrition, network marketing dropout, team building

Making Money On The Internet With Attraction Marketing

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Making money on the internet is an enigma to many newbie internet marketers. It has also proved difficult for seasoned business owners who attempt to apply their offline marketing experience to the new online media.

In both cases the confusion is rooted in the dominance of print media and television over the last half of the Twentieth Century. Offline media is dominated by advertising, and advertising has been the method of choice for disseminating marketing messages.

When the same messages are conveyed via Internet marketing, the effect is often less than desirable. Rather than attracting qualified customers, online advertising can become a source of “repulsion” marketing. As an example, one very effective albeit dubious advertising technique rampant among online network marketers is the use of the word “scam” coupled with the name of competitors. Similarly, many ads feature negative or sensational messages in an effort to draw attention.

Attraction marketing aficionados generally abhor the word “scam,” since it attracts paranoid and skeptical customers. Attraction Marketers also seldom use paid advertising at all, since its messages are often ignored by jaded online surfers. They have learned that it is difficult to make money on the Internet when customers pay no attention to the ads, and when the only prospects drawn to the ads are afraid or reluctant to spend the money they have.

As an alternative to online advertising, these Attraction Marketers have learned to harness the power of the information super-highway, using everything from videos to forums and a myriad of social media sites like Twitter and Face Book to get their marketing message across.

So what is an Attraction Marketing message? The very nature of the message is as exotic as the concept. Each marketer first defines who their ideal customer is, and then crafts an internet presence to attract that customer. As you can see from this definition, crafting an internet presence would be very difficult to achieve through advertising alone. That is why Attraction Marketers rely on other, more fluid messages which can be constructed via social media.

For example, an Attraction Marketer may decide that his ideal customer is a baby-boomer professional with a high income. To attract such professionals, the marketer could make videos on subjects which appeal to the target group, and also make a Face Book profile showing how the marketer himself has an affinity for the same things which his target group likes.

The secret to making money on the internet with attraction marketing techniques is to very subtly ask for the sale. This is what separates it from blatant advertising. Ninety-nine percent of attraction marketing efforts involve building rapport with the customer, and demonstrating that the marketer is worthy of respect. The other one percent is asking for the sale.

An attraction marketing training program for network marketers who want to make money on the Internet can be found at http://www.PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: Attraction marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing techniques, making money internet, making money online, online marketing

The Best Part Of Going To Company Events

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

The view from my hotel window in Vegas.

I just returned from two back-to-back marketing and financial education events at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The first was an elite four-day, all inclusive wealth conference hosted by Wealth Masters International for their M2 members. It was four days of intense education on the economy and how we can amass wealth while most people are going down the tubes. And it had NOTHING to do with picking stocks or opening a brokerage account. Refreshing stuff, considering that I’m totally burned out on mainstream investing and following the greedy wall street deceivers.

Okay. Off the soapbox. Let’s just say that I know something you don’t know, unless you were there… or you have some very savvy connections.

The next event was a one day Internet marketing event for Carbon Copy Pro members. CCPro is an educational program which focuses on teaching small business owners how to market any product or company online. They are turning out some of the world’s best Internet marketers, including yours truly. (I am both a perpetual student of marketing and a trainer.)

Lena Bjorna is a member of my mastermind group. She has great style online and in person!

The information at these events was totally outstanding, but the best part of attending is getting to meet new associates, and being able to connect with old ones. Those of us who work online look forward to these events as a counterpoint to what can be a very solitary occupation, no matter how many tweets and phone calls we make throughout the day. Let’s face it, the energy of being face-to-face with someone is totally different than an instant message!

That said, here’s some photos of me and the people I spend the most “electronic” time with, masterminding on the phone and emailing and webinaring, etc. It’s always fabulous to be with them. If you’re an Internet marketer, I hope you have such a great group, too!

Justin Woolf, Anthony Busciglio are part of my mastermind group and Greg McMahon is a great buddy.

Todd and Cheryl Davis and Tom Johnson are new members of my WMI team.

Todd and Cheryl Davis and Tom Johnson are new members of my WMI/CCPro team.

It's great to get together with Gregg Davison, but impossible to keep up with his hair style!

Brian Fanale is my best artist-friend in the group.

Kirk Patterson is a fun member of my mastermind group. We compared marketing techniques and tequila.

James Hickey is one of the first people I met at a CCPro event in Dallas. It's great to stay in touch!

Posted in Business, Investing, Marketing | 4 Responses »
Tags: internet marketing, marketing event, online home business, wealth conference

Newspapers Are For Burning.

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Are You The Owner Of A Small Business? What happened when you last advertized in a newspaper? Did it get the results you expected, or not?

In many households, including mine (and maybe yours), newspapers are subscribed to out of habit and embedded tradition. However, most of the editions stack up unread and end up in the recycle bin, or in the fireplace.

There is no way, if you have been in business longer than a week, that you do not know about internet advertising. Have you ever tried it? Got any results?

As owner of several stores, my original thoughts on internet marketing all centered around having a great website. Eventually I had several. The shops had websites, but it seemed that only our existing customers visited them.

I had no idea how to drive traffic to the sites, and the professionals I consulted with only knew about web site design and advertising, not marketing.

You see, there is a huge difference between advertising and marketing.

What I learned is that having a great web site is a form of advertising. But it’s like advertising in the middle of a newspaper which is never opened. If no one goes there, what’s the sense?

It takes marketing to get new customers to your website.

If you advertise, and the business traffic doesn’t pick up, it’s time to learn about marketing or to hire an agency to handle the problem.

How’s traffic on your websites? Is anyone finding them? Have you considered hiring a professional internet marketing company to help out?

Before You Hire A Marketing Company To Handle Your Online Presence,

Ask Yourself A Few Questions:

1. How many thousands of dollars will you spend on marketing each year if you contract with an agency? (Not advertising, just marketing)

2. Do you know the difference between marketing and advertising?

3. Are you willing to trust the future growth of your business to “professionals” who are not specialists in your industry?

4. If you do not market your business, what will happen?

5. How can you grow your business on a tight budget?

6. Are you willing to learn a new skill set which can easily save you thousands of dollars and get new customers for your business?

Internet marketing can be easily learned. It is not rocket science, and several online training courses are available for small business owners who want a do-it-yourself solution to promoting their businesses.

One training program can be found here.

Posted in Business, Marketing | 3 Responses »
Tags: internet business training, internet marketing, online marketing, small business marketing

Why Network Marketers Are Afraid Of Working Online.

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Why are many network marketers afraid of the internet? Working online could make their teams grow, right? So what’s the problem?

There are many network marketing companies to choose from. Most follow a multi-tiered compensation program, and are commonly referred to as MLMs. And, the majority build their teams using traditional methods, offline.

The reason for the focus on traditional prospecting techniques is obvious. The people who started the companies modeled them after companies which were already successful. It is the business model they are familiar with. It is their strength.

Until recently, there was no alternative to the tried-and-true traditional methods. There were no companies formed by internet marketers, simply because there was not a precedent.

However, that situation has now changed. Several new MLM companies have sprung up which operate exclusively on the internet. They are mavericks, but their training programs usually range from rudimentary to excellent. They are mostly strong on product, and weak on internet savvy.

But where does that leave network marketers who do not want to jump ship and join one of the newer online opportunities? Many of them are totally intimidated by online technology, so if they are looking for a change, it will most likely be a lateral shift into another traditional MLM. Others who are trying to find a way to market their traditional companies online, really have very few options.

The proliferation of self-professed gurus also confuses their choices for learning online marketing. Usually the gurus have set up shop, it seems, as a ruse to lure unsuspecting followers into a network marketing company they covertly endorse.

On the surface, the only choice for network marketers to succeed online is to jump ship and start over. However, a handful of new companies have emerged which provide expert online marketing training and a generic platform which can be adapted to any marketing company.

The new training-oriented generic marketing systems can remove the fear of online marketing. The best programs explain every step in terms which newcomers to online marketing can easily understand. They offer video tutorials, live training, and in-depth instructions.

The new training sites are a major opportunity for traditional network marketers to expand their lead generation efforts and move their team-building efforts to a new level in their current company.

The generic marketing and training company which I use is PrimaryBusinesses.Net

Posted in Business, Marketing | 1 Response »
Tags: home business, internet business training, internet marketing, online marketing

I Hate Small Sales and Cheezy Deals

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

When I closed the stores I had operated for seventeen years, I went looking online for a legitimate home based business. Something that would not be really hard to learn, and would give me money fast.

Well, what I found online was a lot of things that I really didn’t resonate with. There were a lot of low-end business out there promising quick returns and no learning curve.

Suddenly I realized that I was recoiling from the pain of closing my stores. I forgot that when I opened my stores it took three to five years for each to get into profitability mode. I forgot that one has to work, if one expects to get results. There is no fast and easy ride. At least there isn’t one in retail, so why would the internet be any different?

I realized that all the offerings I was seeing were simply not for me. I didn’t rally believe them, when they said that everything would be really easy and the money would just start coming in. I have to admit that I lost a few dollars by joining one or two small little deals which promised fast returns. I went into them thinking “If this works it will be great.”

Here’s the deal: What it comes down to is that I thought there must be something better, and I did a bit more looking. I kept looking until I saw something which pretty-much matched what I knew must be out there.

I found a new internet business model which is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and it doesn’t promise to be easy. It doesn’t promise anything – other than the same things which franchises promise – a standardized way of doing business, and great training in how to operate this particular business on the internet.

Those two things really resonated with me, and then I saw an aspect of the business which completely got my attention: They offer the option of selling high ticket items.

I like selling high ticket items. My paintings sell for thousands of dollars. The furniture I sold in my stores was also expensive, with an average ticket of around a thousand dollars per sale. At last I found something which would yield me that kind of return on the internet.

This business model changed everything for me. It had the capability of replacing the income that I had from all of my stores when business was great.

And what I gave me was the training on how to operate on the internet. Honestly, when I first considered doing business online, I knew how to write emails and do searches, and a few other modest things, but I was no wiz.

I knew that there was advertising online, and thought it must be like the advertising I was used to, magazines and newspapers. I quickly learned that some aspects of advertising are the same in all media, but without specific training in internet marketing, business owners are sunk.

This company that I found actually gave me great training in how to market online. It was the start of a great, liberating adventure.

To learn more about how this can work for you, sign in here.

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: high-ticket sales, internet business model, online business

Secret Marketing Technique Pays For MLM Advertising.

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

It’s a tightly guarded secret that online marketing can actually fund itself, whether anybody links up with your MLM business or not. The mystery is so underground that simply a very low percentage of online marketers even realize how to capitalize on this “free” cash in hand. And not many of those who use the secret will let you in on how to use it for yourself.

One often cited reason for this secrecy is that there’s a snobbishness among online marketers. Those who succeed at it frequently like to hold their methods underground for fear that whenever they reveal their methods, they’ll not be able to hold their advertising “superiority” over those who haven’t yet figured matters out.

Who can find fault with them for that? We all wish to be “special,” don’t we? The marketers who have figured out how to acquire substantial money online recognize that they’re breathing rarified air, and they like it up there. At their viewpoint, they can see all the drudges of the online village scurrying to any gratis form of marketing information like ants crawling on a lollypop stuck to a summer sidewalk.

Multi-level marketing distributors have two alternatives: join the ants or pay the gurus for some education. With the first option, they may acquire a sweet tip or two for free, but will never get the entire lollypop, so to speak. With the second alternative, they’ll be out some cash, but stand a decent opportunity of winning, IF the guru doesn’t suppress some of the actual steps involved. “Holding back” is a maneuver often employed to prime the students for a guru’s future books/lectures/courses, etc. It reeks.

So here is the big marketing secret: It can place you in a position to acquire cash for Advertising your multi-level marketing business. Use a funded proposal. “A what?” you ask.

A funded proposal is an offer created in the course of marketing your multi-level marketing business. The proposal could have something in common with your MLM, like a super-low-cost product or sample. Or it could be an e-book or e-zine or anything which a prospect will easily buy, prior to when you present either your primary product, or multi-level marketing business.

Do you see the picture of what a funded proposal can do? An example is that two online companies sell prospects a fifty dollar information package about the business. It does two things: Gives the distributor a commission, and qualifies the prospects by involving them in a form of commitment. Another MLM company sells try-out packs of product for ten dollars.

But what if your company does not have a funded proposal? How can you make one? What do you require to market it and get candidates for your multi-level marketing enterprise?

A few online gurus have produced marketing systems which use the funded proposal concept, and MLM network marketers can get pre-made templates by joining their programs. The focus of these varies widely, and many are not flexible when it comes to marketing a pre-existing MLM. One system which is designed generically to market any MLM is PrimaryBusinesses.net. The developers have produced a funded proposal sales funnel which can be employed to generate operating capital while finding prospects for your multi-level marketing/MLM business.

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: funded proposal, mlm marketing, multi-level-marketing online, online marketing system

Generating Free Internet Leads For Network Marketing/MLM Businesses

Monday, September 14th, 2009

One thing that every network marketer needs is leads for his or her business, and learning to generate free leads online could mean the difference between profit and failure.

If you are a marketer with any kind of business, new leads are the lifeblood of your business. You need to get people to your site, or through your door to make a sale.

It is obvious that business owners can pay for leads. They can actually buy them form a list vendor, or pay for advertising to generate the leads themselves. What many network marketers do not realize, is that getting free leads on the internet is easier than any other media.

One thing that can be done to get free leads is to write articles and place them in blogs and article directories. Another is to make videos and place them on any number of distribution sites. (YouTube is the largest.)

Network marketers can also generate leads for their MLM businesses by developing friends and followers on social media sites like Twitter, Face Book and MySpace.

For each of these options, different approaches are needed. It’s a great idea to get marketing training before diving in and wasting your time. Training can be as simple as searching online for various topics, or signing up for online courses, e-books. Some marketing systems come complete with excellent marketing training which can be used to generate leads for any MLM or business. One such system is PrimaryBusinesses.Net.

Many people have built sales and MLM/network marketing businesses completely by generating free leads online. They simply have learned how to market online, and then they implemented a marketing plan by taking massive action.

Posted in Business, Marketing | No Responses »
Tags: generating leads, internet business training, online marketing, social media marketing

Bruce Wood

Marketing Consultant and Coach