If you are tired of doing the traditional grunt work, burning shoe leather in pursuit of reluctant prospects, dialling for dollars and battling with gatekeepers, then there is one concept which can save you: An automated system which generates high-quality sales leads for you but without you. Re-read: Without you . This is the key.
W. Edwards Deming, also called The Prophet of Quality, who basically single-handedly created the Japanese industry and put it on the map to keep the western world in constant fear, observed that some 94% of business problems, including failures and lacklustre performance are caused by lack of systems and processes.
Yet, what do most companies do? They keep replacing their people at hair-blowing speed.
Businesses focus on hiring super star salespeople, legendary marketers and award-winning web designers. Far too many businesses fail because they are people and not system-dependent. Those business owners depend on superstar individuals, and when one or more superstars leave, the business takes a tumble.
Don't be a cattle farmer with your focus on headcount. Operate like a small military commando: Specially cross-trained generalists operating based on speed, impact and surprise using smart and effective systems.
And here are some of the resources I've been using to develop and tweak my own and my clients's systems...
I'm known as a straight shooter, so in the interest of being upfront, I want to let you know that I get an affiliate commission when some of these products are sold. The good news is that, this fact has no impact on you, for this "finder's fee" comes out of the seller company's piggy bank, not yours. For you it doesn't make a dickybird of a difference.
So, what's the motive here? Some people with a communist mindset and a scarcity-mentality, who expect everything for free, may say that I recommend this stuff simply because I get paid for them. Actually, it's the other way round. I own all these products, and only after I found them valuable for my own business, I decided to recommend them. That's all to it. In my opinion it's perfectly legal, moral and ethical.
Thanks for your understanding.
Wherever you don't see an author mentioned, it's my stuff. So, if you hate my writing style you know what to avoid like the dreaded green lurgy.
One piece of good news is that most people who look you up in Yellow Pages are serious buyers. Another piece of good news is that some 97% of Yellow Pages ads are like eunuchs in a harem. They are physically there but are unable to do anything "to cheer" up the ladies.
There are some 14 reasons why every business should have a newsletter. Some of them are...
McGraw Hill calls Bob Bly "America's number 1 copywriter", but Bob is more than that. He is a true expert at the process of having prospects come to you and buy your services, using the art and science of the written word in such a way that prospects seek you out, ready to do business with you.
Of course I have a bit of a kinship with Bob since we both evolved into this business stuff from engineering. And this engineering background makes his stuff 100% hype-free and grounded. He writes in an easy-to-digest but brain-stimulating format. His words make you think, and it's this new way of thinking that makes all the difference.
In Bob's library you find something on copywriting, becoming a recognised expert, consulting, market research, book publishing, Internet marketing, selling professional services, conducting teleconferences, sales lead generation, direct response marketing, viral marketing and how to become a freelance copywriter.
I have learnt a lot from Bob, and will carry on getting more of his stuff. Follow the link to find out more about Bob Bly's Information Library.
According to Entrepreneur Magazine, "Dan Kennedy has at least 101 money-making ideas for any business owner." Dan is regarded as one of the greatest direct marketing experts and copywriters out there. Among others he's created the blazingly successful Tony Robbins TV infomercials. I've been Dan's student for a number of years now, and can wholeheartedly recommend his stuff.
What makes Dan unique is his underdog mentality, that is, he can think differently from the crowd and does all sorts of unexpected things. He takes one idea from one industry into the other, so he does something that goes against the conventional wisdom of that industry. And in doing so he leaves the competition speechless gasping for air just to survive.
You can literally create great sales letters in a one hour or less by tweaking the samples. Follow the link to find out more about how you too can conduct Magnetic Marketing.
It's a well known fact that facilitating seminars and workshops is one of the best ways of generating high quality sales leads for IT businesses. Yet, it's also a well-known fact that most IT companies lose their shirts (options: trousers, knickers, bras and socks as well) in the process. They have valuable messages to their target markets but somehow fail to raise their interest in attending their seminars and workshops. So, they try it once, flop miserably and then declare that "Our industry is different. It just doesn't work that way."
What you learn from Jenny's programme will allow you to at least double the price tag on your seminars and workshops, and still get more butts on seats. And the good thing is that those butts will be attached to highly attentive heads of committed prospects. The other benefit is that as you hone your seminar process, you keep weeding out the butts that are attached to heads that would take everything but pay for nothing.
Follow the link to find out more about How To Market Seminars.
Many IT professionals mistakenly believe that big companies buy IT services more or less the same way as small businesses do. That is far from the truth. Here are some of the greatest points from Jill's book. Buyers at big companies are far too busy, and their lives are far too hectic for rapport-building and similar "small business" approaches. They need numbers, dollar figures and percentages. Their paradigm is as drastically different from that of small business owners, as is their buying process.
The section on Value Proposition is my absolute favourite, and that alone is worth a fortune. There are many authors who talk about the Unique Selling Proposition to differentiate ourselves from the competition. That's great after the buyer decided to do something about to solve the existing problem.
Place your order with Amazon.com and grab your copy of Selling to Big Companies.
Whether you're writing keyword-specific copy from scratch or simply fiddling with your keywords in existing copy, it's not always easy to know where to place those keywords without interrupting the flow your writing and your readers' reading. In this booklet, veteran search engine expert Jill Whalen shows you how you can do it for yourself and do a better job at it than many search engine optimisation companies. Follow the link to find out more about Jill Whalen's The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines.
Michel is an expert at helping businesses to capture the essence of their marketing messages, he calls it the "Essential Message", and plant that essence into every aspect of the company's communication. He's got a broad range of knowledge products from naming services (You Name It), titling reports and information documents (How Many Bananas Do You Have?), overcoming with writer's block (The Non-Writer's Little Helper) and various other products. I own all of them and frequently refer to them in my daily work.
Follow the link to find out more about Michel Neray of Concentric Strategies, Inc..
Over the years, since I started following him in 1998, Robert has become my major mentor and his stuff my No.1. marketing resource. His materials are dedicated to independent professionals who sell their brainpower for a living. I love his low-key, hype-free approach. He has lots of great stuff, and all worth investing in.
His core products, the Inforguru Marketing System, Website Toolkit and the Action Plan Toolkit offer a probably the most comprehensive marketing system for independent professionals both- off and online.Since 1999, Wanda March has been helping organisations to maximise the power of the telephone to get and keep more clients and customers. Wanda, who as a former financial professional became a Member of the prestigious Million Dollar Roundtable in her very first year in business, a feat fewer than 3% of professionals ever achieve. One day she decided to empty her head and put her telephone expertise in a comprehensive workbook and on three CDs. What you get in this programme is two decades of telephone best practices that took a young, inspired greenhorn financial professional all the way to the Million Dollar Round Table within one short year. Follow the link to find out more about Wanda's Phone Talk 101 programme.
I believe this research report, in the hands of the right marketer, is worth its weight in gold. Based only on the facts in the report alone, good marketers can create valuable, empirical "keep in touch" programmes with prospects, and in going so they can quickly gain enough credibility with buyers to influence the buying decision.
I'm a solo consultant, but even for me this report can add a hundreds of thousands of dollars to by piggy bank over the years. So can you imagine the difference to a sizeable IT company? If the firm has the wisdom to employ a good marketer, we're talking about tens of millions of dollars.
Follow the link to find out more about What's Working In Lead Generation.