•Create Teleseminar Handouts With Longlasting Value
Whenever you present a teleseminar, teleclass or teleconference, the main channel of communication is auditory. After all, you are speaking to your audience on a telephone bridge line, and in many cases the audience is also talking back to you and to one another.
However, don’t overlook the opportunity to provide value in written form as well, by providing a teleseminar handout. This has several advantages:
· Persistence. I have a framed calligraphy verse in my office: “Writing abides; the...
•Should You Edit Teleseminar Recordings? Yes! Here's How
For years, I led single-session teleseminars and sold them as products without doing any audio editing. The recording service I was using created the recordings for me so they started with my "Hello" and ended after my "Goodbye," and contained everything that happened in between.
When I shifted from offering one-off teleclasses to multi-session classes, however, I raised my standards. After all, people were paying $795 to $997 now and not just $39.95. And once I experienced how easy audio...
•Teleseminar Offers That Work For Your Audience and For You
Whether it's your own teleseminar or you're appearing as guest expert on someone else's teleseminar, you will often have an opportunity to tell listeners about a special offer. Normally you'd offer a discount not available to the public at large or something free that isn't generally advertised at all.
Listeners appreciate this gesture. Just be aware of several pitfalls.
First, consider whether a recording of the teleseminar will be made available. In many membership programs, members have...
•Hosting a Teleseminar? How to Do So Like a Talk Show Pro
It's extremely rare to host a teleseminar exclusively with people who already recognize your voice. Likewise, listeners may not recall the name of your guest. They may have downloaded or received your audio recording without an adequate written introduction. So always introduce both yourself and your guest using both first and last names.
The best way to remember this seemingly obvious inclusion is to have a standard introduction and close that you have written out in front of you during the...
•Teleseminar Security: Keeping Freeloaders Off Your Teleseminar Line
How do you prevent people who have registered for your teleseminar from passing around the teleseminar call-in information to those who haven't paid for it?
This question came in from someone preparing to launch her first teleseminar. Based on my years of experience leading teleseminars and my conversations with other teleseminar presenters, this worry has little foundation in fact. In most niches, this kind of dishonesty simply does not happen.
Even so, there's no sense in tempting fate, so...
•Stuck For Press Release Angles? Three Fruitful Ways to Brainstorm Publicity Angles
Many of my clients get excited about the power of press releases to attract media attention, generate sales and move a site higher in search engines. They engineer one or two big hits and get even more excited about the possibilities. Then, despite their enthusiasm and success, I see their publicity efforts halt in their tracks, because they have run out of ideas for additional press releases.
Here are three methods I recently used to generate fresh ideas for a publicity-savvy client who had...
•Search Marketing Strategy: How (and Why) to Dominate Google News
Search engine marketing efforts usually focus on improving the extent to which a site shows up in Google searches. However, there are distinct methods and advantages to showing up in Google News searches (http://news.google.com).
Show up there, and you're in the elite company of stories from famous-name news organizations worldwide. Google News aggregates headlines, leads and stories from thousands of legitimate news organizations around the world – and luckily for publicity seekers, it...
•High Prices Help Your Clients and Help You
In medicine, placebos – dummy pills – often help patients heal, despite the fact that they contain no helpful ingredients. A study reported in the February/March 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind found that placebos costing only 10 cents worked considerably less well to relieve pain than those that cost $2.50 a pill. This highlights the tendency of the human mind to attribute higher effectiveness to higher prices.
Placebo studies show that we don’t just believe higher priced remedies work...
•Information Products: Fifteen Factors That Boost Their Perceived Value
Although the going rate partially depends on the target market, ebooks currently tend to sell for $29.95 to $49.95. Single audio recordings fall in the same range. Length isn’t necessarily a multiplier. For instance, if you produce an ebook that is three times the typical length, you can’t necessarily charge $89.95 to $149.95. People would be suspicious that the additional content was redundant, or that you’d increased the length through large type, a lot of white space or wordy writing.
So...
•Does Your Information Product or Multimedia Course Come Across as a “Who Cares About You” Dump?
If you want to increase repeat purchases of your information products, boost word-of-mouth publicity for them and reduce refund requests, here’s a simple thing to do that takes less than two minutes and costs next to nothing: Include a cover letter welcoming the customer, reiterating the benefits they’ll receive from consuming the material and telling them where and how to dig into the content.
Called a “stick letter” (because it makes the purchase “stick”) and preached about by experienced...
•To Master Marketing, Use a Mentor - Here's Why
Are you unsure or frustrated in your attempts to build and grow your business?
Some business owners get stuck in the endless quest for the latest information. They attend seminars, purchase home-study courses, devour blogs and newsletters, but never seem to get started implementing what they are learning. After all, there’s always more to learn.
Others stop gathering information, but still don’t implement what they’ve learned because they can’t figure out where to get started, which steps to...
•Before Your Web Site Makeover Goes Live: A Checklist
The web designer shows you her final version of your long-in-the-making revamped site. You click around and can hardly believe how gorgeous and rich it is.
“Love it! Launch it!”
Oops, not so fast. Too many times I’ve seen that sentiment lead to frantic scrambling, even to disaster. Before making your revamped site live, use this checklist to make sure you’ve caught or prevented horrible new-site glitches.
1. Timing. Never, never launch your new web site on a holiday, weekend or even on a...
•The Fundamental Principles of Funnel Marketing: How to Create Lifetime Customers
Interested in building a solid cadre of lifetime customers? If so, make sure you start with a clear understanding of the dynamics of a marketing funnel. A marketing funnel is a system of attracting likely customers, tempting them to opt-in or purchase something inexpensive, then moving them toward buying more and more costly and valuable products and services.
A superficial understanding of the concept is better than none, because this will lead you to do some of the things that help create...
•Three Keys to a Recession-Proof Business
“It’s the economy.” Are you putting up with a drop in revenues because of the economic downturn? In fact, a worldwide financial crisis does not have to send your own business into a discouraging spiral. Smart business owners and managers minimize the damage from a business slowdown with three crucial strategies.
1. Diversify. Beware of depending too much on one, two or three clients. Never allow your prosperity to get tied too closely to the fortunes of a very few others – no matter how stable...
•Four Ways to Keep Business Flowing During a Recession
Yes, we’re in a recession. But people and companies have not locked up their wallets completely. If you keep your wits about you, you’ll ride out the recession just fine.
Four Recession-Fighting Marketing Tactics
1. Emphasize the value you provide. Whenever possible, position your offering as an investment rather than an expense – not necessarily by using the word “invest” but by making it extremely clear how and why the customer will be better off having bought your whosiewhatsit. For...
•Five Fruitful Strategies For Staying Profitable During A Recession
Look around you and notice that people are still spending. Your Job One in a down economy is to make sure they spend with you. Be creative, resourceful and watchful and you’ll ride out the recession fine.
1. Add a personal touch. Call people you would ordinarily just email. Reply cordially and at more length to those who respond to your newsletter or blog. Reconnect with colleagues on a personal level. When you read magazines and come across an article you know would interest a certain client,...
•Four Ways to Manage Your Mindset During a Recession
Crash! Crash! Crash! It’s instinctive to pull your head down and duck for cover when foreclosure, credit crunch and banking crisis missiles are landing all around you. But contrary to what the media are telling you, the #1 determinant of your prosperity is not “the economy” but your own attitudes and behavior.
If you hunker down, retract your marketing and let fear drive your daily actions, your business will contract. Guaranteed! If you remain standing, keep your balance and steer...
•Five Ways to Keep Customers Buying More Despite a Recession
Down, but not out.
That’s how you should think of today’s economy. True, people are spending less, but they’re still spending. People and companies are simply choosier about where and how to spend so they can get through the down times strongly and safely. By understanding and catering to customer psychology in the following five ways, you can ensure coming out of the downturn a winner.
1. Pursue a more receptive, ready-to-buy audience. This might mean targeting more upscale prospects than...
•Five Product Development Strategies For Recession Profits
Recession? What on earth are you talking about!
That’s the riposte you’ll be able to give when you understand what to do to ride out bad economic times and emerge triumphant. Commerce has not ground to a halt, after all. People and companies are just much more choosey about where and how to spend.
If you’ve experienced any kind of slowdown recently, use your extra time to put in place these five smart recession-fighting product development strategies. Then smile as competitors are still...
•Four Tactics For Drumming Up Business During a Recession
Recession? Hah!
That’s the attitude you’ll have when you know how to bring new customers in, despite all your competitors wailing about being dead in the water. People and companies have not completely stopped spending. They’re just much more selective and risk-averse in what they buy.
If you use these four smart recession-fighting strategies, you’ll emerge from the recession just fine.
Four Recession-Be-Darned Marketing Tactics
1. Have a risk-free introductory offer. For example,...
•Three Crucial Reminders For Outlasting the Recession
Are you walking around with gloom and doom in your head?
If so, put all the recession talk aside and take a walk down Main Street. Do you see people carrying shopping bags? Going into restaurants? Using cell phones?
You see, life goes on. Business goes on. Customers still need you. Yes, they may be more cautious about spending. Some may be in financial trouble. But if you keep your head on straight, you’ll ride out the recession just fine.
Three Fundamental Principles of Marketing to...
•Infomarketers: Consider the "Semi-Live" Course
The most successful information products offer a perfect combination of profitability and perceived value. Recently I realized that the crown belongs to a type of course only a few information marketers offer – what I’ve dubbed the “semi-live” course. Since this is a hybrid format, let me define it after I explain the two types of courses from which it is derived and their respective advantages.
A “live” course used to take place only in a lecture hall or conference room. The teacher...
•Ecommerce: Are You Making These Deadly Mistakes in Your Shopping Cart?
The other day after listening to a recorded teleseminar, I was ready to buy. I typed the URL given in the audio file I was listening to, read the copy describing the product being promoted and decided the price was more than reasonable. The verbal and written presentation motivated me strongly to buy, but the marketer lost my sale. Why?
The first problem was that the copy didn’t specify whether the “videos” I would be buying would be mailed to me or available only online. For me, this is a...
•How to Successfully Pitch a Reporter to Get Interviewed and Obtain Media Coverage
When I was up against a book deadline and needed a couple of people to interview who had achieved business results from podcasting, I put out a call through a service called Help a Reporter Out (www.helpareporter.com). This free service functions very much like paid reporter lead services such as Profnet or Travel Publicity Leads. Generally media people put out such calls either when they need interview leads extremely soon (like a deadline in two days) or when they have rather unusual...
•Preview Teleseminars: Avoid These Off-Putting Mistakes
When you have a new product or an upcoming event, a free preview teleseminar can do a great job of drumming up excitement about it. In one scenario, you announce a teleseminar session about the topic to loyal fans and followers, they sign up for the call to hear your wisdom on the subject, then they buy because they want to learn more. In another scenario, an affiliate hosts a teleseminar interview with you and introduces his or her fans and followers to your ideas, with the same result. Third,...
•Interviewing An Expert For A Teleseminar? Avoid These Six Mistakes
Recording an interviewing an expert on a topic that has value for a group of listeners is one of the quickest and easiest ways to create a saleable product. This sort of teleseminar can also help drum up interest in an upcoming event as a free preview call.
However, as someone who has been interviewed or interviewed others dozens of times and listened to scores more expert interviews, I’ve observed several pitfalls that can affect the quality of the product.
To end up with a recording people...
•The Mystique Of Numbers In Company Names
While visiting the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts two weeks ago, made famous in the 1851 book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I mentally tried out other numbers to see if they would sound as spooky and portentous.
To my ear, House of the Five Gables sounds all too ordinary, while House of the Eight Gables lacks anything that would send a chill up someone's spine. Both the sound of "seven" and its properties as both odd and prime give it a reverberating ring. I would go so far as to...
•Theme Marketing: Copywriting Technique #127
One of the best-designed sales pieces I've received in years was a come-on for an MIT conference. Every panel implemented the metaphor of a deck of cards in both design and text. Bullets in the form of hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs and subheads like "This session provides you with all the aces you need" carried through the unified theme. After spending so much time exploring this piece, I figured the conference sessions would have something to teach me too, and I signed up.
Another...
•In Business Naming, Sometimes Simpler Is Better
When Susan Friedmann went out on her own, she christened her new company Diadem Communications. "Diadem means crown - a fitting name for what I felt was a crowning achievement," she recalls.
Unfortunately, however, the name meant nothing to potential customers. Most were unfamiliar with the word diadem and did not ask what it meant. Many didn't know how to pronounce it. More importantly, it did not clue them in on Susan's specialty - helping companies get results from exhibiting at...
•New Business Names: Naming For The Ear
It's surely happened to you, too: You call someone back from a telephone message, not sure who they are or what they want, and what the receptionist recites upon answering comes off as a complete blur. It doesn't even separate into words.
In many cases this has nothing to do with the diction of the receptionist. Out of context, the company name simply makes no sense to the ear.
Years ago I had an extreme version of this experience when a gardening columnist I was interviewing said something...
•For Business Names And Tag Lines, Popularity Shouldn't Rule
Don't turn your search for the perfect name or tag line into a popularity contest! Two instances of this have crossed my path recently.
First, someone I know asked people to vote on the best title for a forthcoming book. That's unwise, because what people say they like in a book title:
* Doesn't necessarily distinguish the book from others * Isn't necessarily clear, spellable and free of negative connotations * Doesn't mean those who are the best audience for the book will "get it" *...
•Business Names Can Bring Good Fortune
Judging only from the name, which company comes across as more crisply efficient, Order Out of Chaos or Ockahochee Organizers, Inc.?
Which business seems more innovative, Kabloom or Finest Flowers?
Which consulting firm seems more dependable, RP&G Consulting Partners or Skyhunters Consulting?
A company name can influence perceptions - attracting or repelling not only customers but also media people and joint venture partners. It does so through these and other factors:
* the style of...
•Why Bother Building A Brand?
At a conference in Dallas not long ago, a graphic designer from Kentucky and I sat down at a table where people were exchanging business cards. I looked at his logo, and he studied the name on my card.
"I know that logo. We've been in touch in the past," I said.
"That's right. I know your name," he said.
Although we weren't able to pinpoint when or why we'd exchanged mail previously, we guessed it had been at least five years back. Neither one of us has an extraordinary memory. Rather, he...
•Company Identity Goes Far Deeper Than A Logo
Graphic designers frequently play a prominent role in launching or repositioning a company. When they create a look (or new look) for a company's stationery, brochure, ads and web site, this often goes by the name of an "identity package." Don't let this convenient term mislead you into believing that a company's identity consists of merely the logo and look. No, every company has an identity or image in the minds of its customers comprised of at least nine other factors besides the graphic...
•Exploit Your Brand To The Fullest
A brand goes beyond a company name and tagline. It is a complete personality or set of values, sometimes even a story line, along with repeated visual, auditory and behavioral elements. When you decide to invest in creating a brand, follow these guidelines to ensure that you get your money's worth:
1. Be distinctive. You'll land your company in expensive legal hot water if you attempt to steal or encroach on another company's identity. Apart from legalities, you tend to get the most bang for...
•Naming Your Local Business
Pothole Pictures: Normally this name wouldn't create a positive image for a movie theater. But in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, where glacial potholes in the Deerfield River running through the village are a cherished part of the landscape, the name works well.
When naming a business whose geographical reach and clientele are mainly local, you can use nicknames, regional or city lore, local in-jokes and historical references that might be lost on outsiders. Subliminally, these kinds of...
•The Benefits Of Branding
Branding is the process of creating distinctive and durable perceptions in the minds of consumers. A brand is a persistent, unique business identity intertwined with associations of personality, quality, origin, liking and more. Here’s why the effort to brand your company or yourself pays off.
1. Memorability. A brand serves as a convenient container for a reputation and good will. It's hard for customers to go back to "that whatsitsname store" or to refer business to "the plumber from the...
•Business Names Do Matter, Norm Brodsky
In the November 2005 issue of Inc. magazine, Norm Brodsky wrote: "Your company's name plays little, if any, role in determining your success."
I agree completely that a company with a bad or mediocre name can reach success. However, here are 10 reasons why coming up with a snappy, interesting and memorable name is worth the business owner's or organization's time and energy.
1. When you call or speak with strangers and mention the name of your company, and the name in and of itself...
•Tips For Evocative, Distinctive Company Names
As the sponsor of a Name-This-Company Contest, I’ve been watching suggestions come in by the dozens every day. Unfortunately, the great majority of names submitted so far do not pass “go.” A good company name is not only catchy and evocative, but also pronounceable, spellable and not likely to backfire because of unsavory associations.
Since the contest offers a prize of $100 for the best business name submitted, along with the chance to become a professional “namer,” getting paid to think...
•The Anatomy of Hype
The Anatomy of Hype by Marcia YudkinOn a copywriting board I frequent, someone expressed bafflement that several respected marketers criticized the tone of a sales page he wrote. "Why did they apologize to their subscribers while linking to my pitch? This approach sells," he said.Hype was the problem. If you use the following tactics, many educated shoppers cringe and go elsewhere:Overblown claims. "If You Can Write Your Name, You Can Write a Book in 30 Days - Guaranteed!" Overexcited tone....
•Publicity Stunts Still Earn Attention
Publicity Stunts Still Earn Attention by Marcia YudkinPublicity Stunts Still Earn Attentionby Marcia YudkinWho says publicity stunts are passé? Outrageous staged events designed solely to show up on the evening news still get the job done when they're clever and fun.Stan Heimowitz, owner of Celebrity Gems in Castro Valley, California, not long ago successfully dramatized in the streets of San Francisco the fact that IntraLinux, a small software company -- Heimowitz's client -- is challenging...
•Brand Equity - Worth Safeguarding
Brand Equity - Worth Safeguarding by Marcia YudkinThe state government of Vermont has taken aggressive steps to safeguard the state's brand equity. That's the monetary premium attaching to tourism or products linked (honestly or not) to this bucolic home of around 500,000 souls.Does your company have brand equity? If so, people place more trust in your quality and a higher value on your offerings than on a no-name competitor's. If so, the cachet of your brand envelops any new venture you...
•Creating a Reputation
Creating a Reputation by Marcia YudkinWant to shorten the sales cycle for your professional services? Want pre-sold prospects who need fewer or no face-to-face meetings before hiring you? Create a reputation. Recently a room full of consultants agreed that you had to meet with potential clients at least twice -- better, three times -- before winning the business. "Then how do you get business outside the area?" someone asked. The consensus: Forget it.Yet I've been hired by companies in...
•Tantalizing Headlines: Do's and Don'ts
Tantalizing Headlines: Do's and Don'ts by Marcia YudkinPut yourself in the position of a newspaper or magazine editor scanning the newswires and the day's email and faxes for relevant content. How would you rate the following headlines, actually found on the Internet:New Slaves in AmericaHP Wheels Out Year-long Tour Bringing Digital Adventure Directly to ConsumersLittle Kids Re-introduces Sqwish Ball Adding Shimmer to the Sqwish!>From the editor's perspective, all three of these headlines...
•Giveaways That Gratify You, Too
Giveaways That Gratify You, Too by Marcia Yudkin"Yours free!" It's a rare head that doesn't turn at that news. By offering freebies that zero in on the interests and desires of your target market, you can take advantage of this powerful psychological appeal to grow your business. And by choosing giveaways with news value for your audience, you can easily enlist the aid of the media in spreading the word about your offering to prospective customers. Here's how.Great giveaway strategy begins...
•Tips are Perennially Tempting
Tips are Perennially Tempting by Marcia YudkinTechies love them. Young and old technology haters love them. Most importantly, editors love them. Tips -- neatly packaged, numbered nuggets of advice -- are always appealing to those whose job it is to fill up publications with entertaining and illuminating information. They can therefore represent a lucrative route to publicity for you or your organization.The content of tips that earn you media coverage doesn't have to be original, exclusive...
•You Too Can Create Newsworthy Research
You Too Can Create Newsworthy Research by Marcia YudkinTake a close look at the front section of specialized magazines, and you'll often find little articles highlighting results of some study or poll conducted by some private company or other. Research data is also often cited by general-interest publications like USA Today and network newscasts. You don't need a Fortune 500 sized budget to undertake a newsworthy study, or to receive coverage for it, either to your industry or the general...
•Merchandising on the Web and Off
Merchandising on the Web and Off by Marcia YudkinNow that I have several new products coming out in succession, I've beenthinking a lot about how best to feature them at my Web site. My thoughtshave turned to how supermarkets and department stores highlight certainproducts, and I've found useful analogies between catching the attention ofa customer wheeling a cart up and down the aisles and a shopper on the Web.Here are some merchandising techniques you'll find in bricks-and- mortarsstores...
•Clone Your Best Customers
Clone Your Best Customers by Marcia YudkinTwo businesses -- a women's clothing boutique and a mail-order operation --recently consulted me about the same dilemma. Each had achieved satisfyingsales through channels that didn't allow for further growth. They needed afresh marketing program that would yield a steady stream of new customers,and they were confused about where and how to advertise.Like Dorothy with the ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz, they already hadmost of what they needed for...
•Catering to Beginners, Enthusiasts and Geeks
Catering to Beginners, Enthusiasts and Geeks by Marcia YudkinRecently I had occasion to review several dozen Web sites in oneindustry -- camera stores. I found this eye-opening, as an unfortunatepattern emerged that I believe holds true not only on the Internet but also inpaper-based marketing materials, and applies to many professions. First,some background.Most of us, particularly those who regularly deal with a wide swath of thepublic, know how to adjust our conversation according to the...
•Those Telltale Typos
Those Telltale Typos by Marcia Yudkin"To be or to be." That's how one of the most famous sentences in the English language began several years ago in a new edition of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Six professional proofreaders failed to catch the mistake, which received national publicity and gave the publishing company a red face.Similarly, the Wall Street Journal once devoted eight column inches to ridiculing a conference on critical thinking that sent out a press release referring to the...
•New Product? Give It Nine Lives
New Product? Give It Nine Lives by Marcia YudkinThe closeness between the words "new" and "news" provides a telling clue to how easy it can be to get media coverage for something that's new. By definition, the media are in the business of covering what's fresh, what's unprecedented and what has just happened. Follow a few simple steps and publicity can make your product launch a significant success.First, carefully and honestly define specific markets for your product. Media that target...
•Optimizing a Press Release for Search Engines
Optimizing a Press Release for Search Engines by Marcia YudkinSearch engines increasingly charge for inclusion, and press release distribution networks charge hundreds of dollars to distribute your news. But I’ve come up with a way to legitimately let other people shoulder the time or effort for your news to show up in search engines. The lightbulb went off for me when I was searching for very specialized software and came upon a press release for such a product posted at another site, not...
•Jargon: Handle with Care
Jargon: Handle with Care by Marcia YudkinWhen I reviewed business Web sites for the Webby Awards earlier this year,one of the most common and annoying obstacles I ran across was jargon -insider language that got in the way of understanding what the businessbehind the site actually did for its clients. The same barrier detractsfrom the effectiveness of many press releases.Troublesome jargon comes in at least three varieties: buzzwords, or trendyphrases used by people who consider themselves...
•Wrapping Up Profits with a Package Deal
Wrapping Up Profits with a Package Deal by Marcia YudkinA landscaping company complained to a reporter that instead of carefully defining their needs, interested prospects say, "Send us a proposal.""That's like saying, 'Go buy a car,'" objected the owner. "We need to get people to think about what they want."Not necessarily. They can set up new customers well in less time by offering a line-up of package deals. Packages of services or products provide a combination of options at a set price,...
•The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerce Errors
The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerce Errors
by: Marcia Yudkin
While getting less public handwringing than during holiday season, the "abandoned shopping cart problem" continues to wreak havoc on online sales. Recently I judged a raftload of sites for the Webby Awards (my second time) and for the Inc. magazine Web Awards, as well as for my own clients. Here are the five irritants and obstacles that most frequently disrupt the visitor's shopping experience at...
|
|