Business Development

The Truth About Your Prospects

August 2, 2010 By Mitch Meyerson 3 Comments

Are your prospects paying attention? Consider these two realities:

1) It has been said that people are exposed to over 3000 messages a day and probably more with the explosion of social media.

2) As you can see from this picture we are getting to be society of multi-taskers which makes it even harder to make an impression on your audience.

So the truth is, your prospects may not be paying attention. But this lack of attention is not really new. Read the following list and then the date it was written, it may surprise you.

1. The first time a man looks at an advertisement, he does not see it.

2. The second time, he does not notice it.

3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.

4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before.

5. The fifth time, he reads it.

6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.

7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, “Oh brother!”

8. The eighth time, he says, “Here’s that confounded thing again!”

9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.

10. The tenth time, he asks his neighbor if he has tried it.

11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.

12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.

13. The thirteenth time, he thinks perhaps it might be worth something.

14. The fourteenth time, he remembers wanting such a thing a long time.

15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.

16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it some day.

17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum to buy it.

18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.

19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.

20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys what it is offering.

The list you’ve just read was written by Thomas Smith of London in l885.

What does this mean for you as an online entrepreneur?

Yes, is it may be hard getting people’s attention, but savvy business owners have been overcoming these challenges since well before 1885.

You must be focused, strategic, consistent, interesting and patient with your marketing and business development efforts over time.

If you do you will significantly increase your chances of standing out in a cluttered and distracted marketplace.

What specific actions can you take can you improve these areas this week?

Adapted from the Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program

Filed Under: Business Development, Guerrilla Marketing Tips Tagged With: Guerrilla Marketing Tips, Mitch Meyerson

Six Steps For Outsourcing Effectively

June 28, 2010 By Mitch Meyerson 3 Comments

“Perhaps the very best question that you can memorize and repeat, over and over, is, “what is the most valuable use of my time right now?” — Brian Tracy

Building and training teams of qualified people to help you is a wonderful way to leverage your time – because it allows you to focus your energies where they can achieve the most meaningful impact.

And, in my opinion, one of the best ways to do this is by outsourcing work – i.e. hiring other people – employees, bookkeepers, contractors, etc. – to work with you.

Here’s an illustrative example.

Let’s say Sally is a consultant who charges $250 an hour to advise and develop deliverables for her clients. Then let’s assume that she regularly sets aside four full hours each week to generate and mail her client invoices, which means that she unable to bill her hourly rate ($1,000) during that time.

The way I see it, Sally’s losing a lot more than a few hours. Since she could hire a part-time booker for $25-$50 per hour, it’s actually costing her $800 or $900!

Keep this in mind as you continue to develop your online business and look for ways to delegate ongoing administrative duties and focus your energies on revenue-generating tasks or ones that play to your strengths and passions. That’s why I pay an hourly fee to someone else… they’re trustworthy, reliable and far more knowledgeable. And it frees me up to write books; advise clients and market my online businesses.

Here are some professionals you can hire to help out:

1. Bookkeeper - If you’re not good with numbers but want to keep your bank account under control get someone to do your invoicing, reconciliations and billing.

2. Virtual Assistant - These are people who can help you with administrative duties or in many specific areas of your business. With all of the technology available today, they can easily be located almost anywhere in the world. They can answer phone inquiries, manage email and schedule clients, among many other things. And as your business grows, you may even consider using your assistant as a kind of “gatekeeper…” one who can provide people with appropriate information and “shields you” from routine calls that might take up large chunks of your time.

3. Webmaster - Unless you are somebody who really believes that the core revenue-generating activity in your business is developing and modifying web pages — which for some people it is — then hire a webmaster, even if it somebody who organizes, maintains and updates content that you’ve already put in place. Even though you may be skilled in cyberspace technologies, it may not be the best use of your time.

Managers are people who never put off until tomorrow what they can get somebody else to do today. Unknown

If you are ready to take the leap, here is a simple roadmap getting started… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Development Tagged With: Business Success, Mitch Meyerson, Outsource, Outsourcing

6 Reasons Why People Will Choose To Do Business With You

May 17, 2010 By Mitch Meyerson 7 Comments

The good news is that great marketers are not born, they are made. Marketing is a very teachable skill and one that you can easily learn with some time, practice, and dedication. The following six key tenets should guide you in converting your prospects into customers.

Simply put, your prospects will choose to become your customers based on:

1. Their Experiences With You

Your prospects will judge your worthiness based on how you make them feel. This includes how well you communicate, your content “depth,” your website’s quality and much more. Your prospects will also be more likely to engage in “conversations” with you when you allow them to interact in ways they prefer (i.e some may resonate with a blog post while others are more engaged by video or audio content).

2. Your product or service benefits.

There are two basic reasons why people purchase anything – to increase pleasure (e.g. glowing health, freedom, popularity) or decrease pain (e.g. stress, financial problems, poor health). Therefore, focus on your product or service’s most compelling benefits as you communicate with your target audience – then, make sure you deliver on your promises. Be specific.

3. Your trustworthiness and reputation.

Protect your good name and do everything in your power to ensure that your customers, prospects, friends, employees, and colleagues view you as a person of value. Keep in mind that your credibility, plausibility, and truthfulness will also win you far more customers than exaggerated claims and over-the-top promises.

Great reputations are among the biggest assets businesspeople have… even though they are one of the hardest things to build and one of the quickest things to destroy.

4. The value they receive.

Although most consumers are price-conscious, the vast majority do not consider price alone when making their buying decisions. Rather, they consider value: the difference between what something costs and its worth to the buyer. What does value look like in the social media world? Answer: great content, expert advice and personal connections.

5. Make transactions easy, safe, and secure.

People are more likely to hand over their money when they perceive the risk as minimal. It’s best to reassure potential customers with robust guarantees, a solid privacy policy, and secure payment procedures.

6. How well you articulate their most pressing concerns.

To market effectively you must get into your prospects’ heads. Listen carefully (and social media forums and blogs make this very easy) to your target audiences’ expressed opinions and feelings – particularly as they relate to your products or services – and be sure to address them directly. Research the marketplace to discover new trends and golden opportunities that you can leverage to benefit your business.

Filed Under: Business Development, Guerrilla Marketing Tips

How To Start A Movement

April 5, 2010 By Mitch Meyerson 1 Comment

In under 3 minutes this video illustrates some very interesting points about the dynamics of starting a movement.

Key Points:
1) A leader needs courage to take a stand.
2) First follower is also brave. (Note the leader embraces the first follower as an equal. Leaders- nurture your first few followers)
3) Movement must be public. Once there are multiple followers it is much easier to follow.

Remember: It was really the first follower that transformed the movement
So if you find a leader doing something you like – join in!

What movement would you like to start or join?

Filed Under: Business Development Tagged With: Leadership

The Truth About Your Prospects

Six Steps For Outsourcing Effectively