What I have found to work with marketing any type of business, be it an Internet based business, a Party Plan business, a regular type of business, a home-based business, or a Network Marketing/ Multi-Level Marketing business, is to:
BE SEEN
BE REMEMBERED
DO IT CONSISTENTLY
When promoting your particular opportunity, there are a couple of guidelines to stick to:
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1. If you are going to advertise or reach out in other ways to people, it is more important that your ads and promotions appear consistently and often, than for the size of your ad or promotion to stand out. A small 3-5 line ad that appears week-in, week-out will pull in more prospects than a big, bold, glossy ad that appears once a month. A regular email to a subscriber on your mailing list is more important than one big marketing campaign every three months. Remember that the basic principle of advertising is repetition. The more the public sees and hears your name, the more responses you will receive.
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2. Let’s say you were to use Facebook to promote your business. Well, you’d do well to create as many contacts as you can, and to keep your page very busy with free information that can help your prospects should they decide to ask you for more information about what you do. They may then become a customer or client, or they might decide to get involved in the opportunity that you are offering.
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Using Sales Strategies in your Marketing Tools
When you become a good salesperson you will have learned that the strongest way to help someone find out if you have what they need is to ask them questions that lead them to consider what it is you are offering, and then your aim is to have them commit to the purchase, without them feeling that they have been manipulated into the decision (AND without actually manipulating them against their will either). Before I explain how to use sales strategies in your marketing tools, I will define what marketing is.
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Marketing is the use of tools such as the packaging that the product comes in if you are selling a product; the various forms of media, the Internet; and directly going to the customer or client to tell them about what it is you have to offer. Examples of this are billboards, newspapers, radio and television (which are media tools); letterbox leaflet distribution, letters and emails sent via mailing lists; social networking on sites such as Facebook and Youtube; and telemarketing via the phone. All of the things I have mentioned here are forms of direct marketing. And last but certainly not least, you can always rely on word of mouth advertising.
The most successful way to approach a prospect is to ask questions that sift out those people who might not want what you are offering, and brings those who do want what you offer to desire to know or see more. Good salespeople ask many questions in an effort to evaluate what it is that their customer or client needs or wants before they offer a solution to the needs or wants of their prospective buyer. So think of why a person would want to buy your product or service and centre your questions around that. Ask three thought-provoking questions that would appeal to your particular customer/client base that would encourage them to want to know more, and use those three questions at the start of your flyer, letter, webpage or email when using these marketing tools.
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Also, make sure to use some of the following words in your questions: you, your, how, new, who, money, now, people, want, and why. These words are proven to be the top 10 most frequently used words in the best sales headlines ever used. What do they do? They speak personally to the reader or listener about things they want.
Distributing Leaflet Advertising
When distributing your own form of leaflet advertising keep your message fairly simple, uncomplicated and free from clutter. Most people are either too lazy or just don’t have the time when it comes to reading, so make your wording easy to read by having lots of space around the main content. When you are offering an income producing opportunity it is a good approach to appeal to their need for simplicity, ease of learning about the product or system; fast, unlimited returns if they put in enough effort; and the free time that will be created once the ball starts rolling. You should also reassure your reader that you will be there to support and guide them if they decide to take part in your activity.
For example, were I to market a Party Plan opportunity, I would ask my readers or listeners three questions that would appeal to those who might need to create extra cash and/or free time, and those who wanted or needed what I was offering would find themselves answering yes to all three. Also, I would make sure that all my written marketing was not ‘busy’ – that it was easy to read. There should be space either side of the name of the business and my telephone number, and the wording in your advertisement, email or leaflet should not try to prove itself to the customer or client. It should just appeal to what is in it for them and to their need for what you are offering.
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How often should I promote my Business?
When it comes to any form of written or visual marketing, once again the key to success is repetition. Obviously, you you can only work within your budget when you first get started (and that mightn’t be very high, so you will need to look at some of the free forms of marketing that are available). However, be aware also that if you are knowledgeable about what you are marketing and can answer all queries and close the deal, then the promotion will create income for you, therefore paying for its own costs. On the first promotional blast people will probably read your brochure, letter, email, or will watch your clip, and will then either respond, store and keep it, bookmark it, or discard it altogether. If you market your opportunity correctly the ratios will look like this:
· 3% will respond
· 10% will store and keep the information
· 3% will respond
· 10% will store and keep the information
· 87% will discard it altogether
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On the second promotional blast (which should be done no more than a week later), people will respond with one of the above three actions, however, the ratios will be different. The amount of interest stirred will be greater because you will be reminding the 10% that put your information away the first time to once again write, call or see you, plus there will be a response from the 3% who may have seen your promotion for the first time. So you may be right to expect about a 4 – 5% response.
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On the third promotional blast there will be even greater numbers of inquiries. Have you ever noticed how when a company promotes a product on the television during the commercials, that the more often a new commercial is shown, the more it stays in your memory? You would do well to use the same principles when marketing what you have to offer to your target audience. Remember – Repetition, Repetition, Repetition. That is the secret of Marketing!
Ok, bye for now 🙂