Research shows that a 5% reduction in your
attrition rate can produce a 25% to 85% profit
increase. Therefore you can't go another day
without developing and implementing systems
to reactivate past customers. The most powerful
action you can take to win back inactive customers is
finding out why they stopped buying from you in the
first place.
Good news is it's probably not for any
reason you may think of right away.
An amazing survey conducted by a well-known
department store to find out why a cross-section
of 100 customers hadn't done business with the
store for over a year revealed the following:
68 said there was no special reason
14 had grievances that were not addressed
9 were lured away by lower price or better service
3 had moved and were shopping in other areas
Bottom line: You are probably losing more than
half of your customers for no special reason.
Start contacting your past customers by phone, mail,
or email. If possible make a personal visit. If that
isn't practical, have your staff do it.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
"Website Traffic Conversion Just Got Easier"
In 1993, on a moon lit, warm summer night, I was surfing the Internet attempting to discover what successful sites had in common. I was really hungry to find out the secret ingredient of websites that were making it big.
You see, I was tired of traveling thousands of miles by plane and car. My mind was made up to stop living out of a suitcase. It didn't matter that I had hit a peak in my marketing and sales career by working on projects for best-selling authors- Tony Robbins, Dr. John Gray, and Les Brown. I was eager to simplify my life, settle down, and work from home.
A Success Secret From Tony Robbins
I began my journey brimming with certainty about achieving my outcome. You see, years earlier I learned from Tony that every successful person has three characteristics. They take certain actions, in a specific order, and on a consistent basis. With that in mind, I knew that selling on the Internet would have it's top producers -like any other field- and all I had to do is get their materials, then read, study and implement the wisdom divulged on each page and in every word.
I was elated to find out that, regardless of all the actions, the order in which the actions were taken, and the amount of consistency employed...that at the core of it all, there existed one essential skill.
Believe or not, there is one skill that virtually anyone can learn, practice, and master (after 1,000 hours) to become successful at selling on the web.
What One Skill Must Be Master for Online Success?
Warning! You may want to sit down before finding out the one skill that contributes the most to the success of website owners who earn boat loads of cash. Contrary to what I believed, it wasn't search engine marketing, pay per click or reciprocal linking.
Don't get me wrong though. Those traffic generation methods are needed. But if you drive a million unique visitors to your site per day, and none of them buy anything, or at very minimum subscribe to your newsletter so that you can follow up with an offer, you won't be able to pay your mortgage, car note, hosting fees, etc.
Generating Traffic is Not Your Problem
So what good are your traffic generating skills? Every online company must generate traffic, aka leads/prospects. That's what search engine ranking and other traffic generation methods are meant to do. Good news is learning the one skill all successful website owners have in common will increase your traffic too.
What is the one skill that will enable you to generate more traffic and convert more of your browsers into customers? You must become a master of PERSUASION.
After you've mastered that one skill, the next step is implementing it through multiple online and offline marketing methods. Regardless of what marketing methods you use, you'll discover that learning...
Copywriting. Direct response copywriting to be specific. Learning direct response copywriting will dramatically improve your persuasiveness. No, I'm not about to persuade you to buy a copywriting course, you will persuade yourself, if you choose to do so. What I am going to do is reveal...
2 Simple Tips for Grabbing Your Website Visitors By The Lapel and Persuading Them to Hand Over the Moolah
Tip #1: Headlines
Headlines are crucially important to the success of your website. Testing has proven that headlines can increase your sales as much as 1900%. The late, legendary copywriter John Caples revealed that fact during his phenomenally successful career. By the way, I define Mr. Caples' success on how many sales were made as a result of his talent as a copywriter. And I can assure you that Mr. Caples' selling success was nothing short of phenomenal. But let me get back to headlines.
According to David Ogilvy, another legendary copywriter, the headline is the most important part of an ad. On average, five times (500%) as many people will read the headline as the actual body copy. That obviously means we must spend a considerable amount of time creating headlines.
It's customary for professional website copywriters to write as many as 100 headlines before deciding on one to use. You may think that would be a daunting task but it's not. All you need are a few headline writing formulas. There are 11 widely used headlines but I'm only going share 3 with you here.
Easiest Headline Formula
The "How To" headline is one the easiest to write for "do it yourself" types. "How To" headlines grab people's attention because of the promise of learning something of value. For example, "How to Put Words Together that Make People Beg to Buy Your Product". Get the idea?
Another headline writing formula that's good for "do it yourself" types is the "If, Then" statement. Here's what I mean. "If you give me one hour of your time for 12 weeks and your promise to take action on what I recommend, I guarantee your online business sales and profits will double -- or you don't pay me a dime". How did that grab you?
Which One of These Headlines Is More Persuasive?
The last headline formula that I recommend for "do it yourself" types is the "Specific Testimonial" headline. I don't need to explain why your testimonials should be specific, do I? Okay, I'll give a brief explanation. Better yet, I'll provide you with a vague and specific testimonial headline, then you judge which one influences you the most. Deal?
Vague Testimonial: "Harry Toes is fantastic!" J.A., CA.
Specific Testimonial: "Harry Toes is brilliant... he shared one method that I invested $1,839 in that brought back $33,637 gross profit." Jim Baldy, President, Bald Men's Club, Gaithersburg, MD,
Tip #2: Make Irresistible Offers
"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse" - Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather. In 1972, Marlon Brando verbalized what every great marketer must master. Making irresistible offers. A powerful factor in making irresistible offers is taking risk out of the transaction for your prospective customer. Let's face it, nobody want's to lose money and get stuck with a bad product. Taking away that fear will boost your online sales.
Here's an example: "For only $49 you can try out “21 Secret Traffic Conversion Methods That Rich Website Owners Revealed To Help Their Fellow Online Marketers“ for up to one full year. If at anytime you're not convinced that the secret traffic conversion methods will make your sells soar, simply return it and receive a refund of every penny you paid-- no questions asked and no hard feelings. Plus, as an added bonus, you can keep the FREE bonus gift “Website Traffic Conversion Secrets Revealed” just for giving me a shot. You have nothing to lose... call now!"
Is that powerful?
Before I wrap this article up, I'll share another example of making irresistible offers in the form of a rather famous story told to me by my mentor and marketing expert Jay Abraham.
Ride My Pony for 30 Days or...
Once upon a time, a father went shopping for a pony to buy for his daughter. After looking at a few dozen ponies, this man had almost decided between two ponies. They were quite similar; in fact, the price was the same. He decided to take another look so that he could make a final decision.
The first farmer was eagerly attempting to sell his pony so he went on and on about how gentle and cute his pony was, but the father didn't decide. The second farmer was different in his approach. He didn't brag about the pony, he simply said...
“Sir, I'm certain you're daughter will love this pony so here's what I'll do: Give me a check, and I'll hold it for 30 days. I'll bring you a saddle, bridle, the pony and 30 days of hay. If your daughter decides to keep the pony, let me know at the end of the 30 days, and I'll cash the check. Otherwise, I'll give you back your check, pick up the pony and even clean up where he's been.“
Which farmer would you buy from?
In closing, you can convert more of your visitors into customers. It will take an investment of your capital and time, but I guarantee you the return on investment will be worthwhile. Begin writing headlines with the “How to”, “If/Then”, and “Specific Testimonial” format to grab your website visitors by the lapel and include irresistible offers to persuade them to hand over the moolah.
You see, I was tired of traveling thousands of miles by plane and car. My mind was made up to stop living out of a suitcase. It didn't matter that I had hit a peak in my marketing and sales career by working on projects for best-selling authors- Tony Robbins, Dr. John Gray, and Les Brown. I was eager to simplify my life, settle down, and work from home.
A Success Secret From Tony Robbins
I began my journey brimming with certainty about achieving my outcome. You see, years earlier I learned from Tony that every successful person has three characteristics. They take certain actions, in a specific order, and on a consistent basis. With that in mind, I knew that selling on the Internet would have it's top producers -like any other field- and all I had to do is get their materials, then read, study and implement the wisdom divulged on each page and in every word.
I was elated to find out that, regardless of all the actions, the order in which the actions were taken, and the amount of consistency employed...that at the core of it all, there existed one essential skill.
Believe or not, there is one skill that virtually anyone can learn, practice, and master (after 1,000 hours) to become successful at selling on the web.
What One Skill Must Be Master for Online Success?
Warning! You may want to sit down before finding out the one skill that contributes the most to the success of website owners who earn boat loads of cash. Contrary to what I believed, it wasn't search engine marketing, pay per click or reciprocal linking.
Don't get me wrong though. Those traffic generation methods are needed. But if you drive a million unique visitors to your site per day, and none of them buy anything, or at very minimum subscribe to your newsletter so that you can follow up with an offer, you won't be able to pay your mortgage, car note, hosting fees, etc.
Generating Traffic is Not Your Problem
So what good are your traffic generating skills? Every online company must generate traffic, aka leads/prospects. That's what search engine ranking and other traffic generation methods are meant to do. Good news is learning the one skill all successful website owners have in common will increase your traffic too.
What is the one skill that will enable you to generate more traffic and convert more of your browsers into customers? You must become a master of PERSUASION.
After you've mastered that one skill, the next step is implementing it through multiple online and offline marketing methods. Regardless of what marketing methods you use, you'll discover that learning...
Copywriting. Direct response copywriting to be specific. Learning direct response copywriting will dramatically improve your persuasiveness. No, I'm not about to persuade you to buy a copywriting course, you will persuade yourself, if you choose to do so. What I am going to do is reveal...
2 Simple Tips for Grabbing Your Website Visitors By The Lapel and Persuading Them to Hand Over the Moolah
Tip #1: Headlines
Headlines are crucially important to the success of your website. Testing has proven that headlines can increase your sales as much as 1900%. The late, legendary copywriter John Caples revealed that fact during his phenomenally successful career. By the way, I define Mr. Caples' success on how many sales were made as a result of his talent as a copywriter. And I can assure you that Mr. Caples' selling success was nothing short of phenomenal. But let me get back to headlines.
According to David Ogilvy, another legendary copywriter, the headline is the most important part of an ad. On average, five times (500%) as many people will read the headline as the actual body copy. That obviously means we must spend a considerable amount of time creating headlines.
It's customary for professional website copywriters to write as many as 100 headlines before deciding on one to use. You may think that would be a daunting task but it's not. All you need are a few headline writing formulas. There are 11 widely used headlines but I'm only going share 3 with you here.
Easiest Headline Formula
The "How To" headline is one the easiest to write for "do it yourself" types. "How To" headlines grab people's attention because of the promise of learning something of value. For example, "How to Put Words Together that Make People Beg to Buy Your Product". Get the idea?
Another headline writing formula that's good for "do it yourself" types is the "If, Then" statement. Here's what I mean. "If you give me one hour of your time for 12 weeks and your promise to take action on what I recommend, I guarantee your online business sales and profits will double -- or you don't pay me a dime". How did that grab you?
Which One of These Headlines Is More Persuasive?
The last headline formula that I recommend for "do it yourself" types is the "Specific Testimonial" headline. I don't need to explain why your testimonials should be specific, do I? Okay, I'll give a brief explanation. Better yet, I'll provide you with a vague and specific testimonial headline, then you judge which one influences you the most. Deal?
Vague Testimonial: "Harry Toes is fantastic!" J.A., CA.
Specific Testimonial: "Harry Toes is brilliant... he shared one method that I invested $1,839 in that brought back $33,637 gross profit." Jim Baldy, President, Bald Men's Club, Gaithersburg, MD,
Tip #2: Make Irresistible Offers
"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse" - Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather. In 1972, Marlon Brando verbalized what every great marketer must master. Making irresistible offers. A powerful factor in making irresistible offers is taking risk out of the transaction for your prospective customer. Let's face it, nobody want's to lose money and get stuck with a bad product. Taking away that fear will boost your online sales.
Here's an example: "For only $49 you can try out “21 Secret Traffic Conversion Methods That Rich Website Owners Revealed To Help Their Fellow Online Marketers“ for up to one full year. If at anytime you're not convinced that the secret traffic conversion methods will make your sells soar, simply return it and receive a refund of every penny you paid-- no questions asked and no hard feelings. Plus, as an added bonus, you can keep the FREE bonus gift “Website Traffic Conversion Secrets Revealed” just for giving me a shot. You have nothing to lose... call now!"
Is that powerful?
Before I wrap this article up, I'll share another example of making irresistible offers in the form of a rather famous story told to me by my mentor and marketing expert Jay Abraham.
Ride My Pony for 30 Days or...
Once upon a time, a father went shopping for a pony to buy for his daughter. After looking at a few dozen ponies, this man had almost decided between two ponies. They were quite similar; in fact, the price was the same. He decided to take another look so that he could make a final decision.
The first farmer was eagerly attempting to sell his pony so he went on and on about how gentle and cute his pony was, but the father didn't decide. The second farmer was different in his approach. He didn't brag about the pony, he simply said...
“Sir, I'm certain you're daughter will love this pony so here's what I'll do: Give me a check, and I'll hold it for 30 days. I'll bring you a saddle, bridle, the pony and 30 days of hay. If your daughter decides to keep the pony, let me know at the end of the 30 days, and I'll cash the check. Otherwise, I'll give you back your check, pick up the pony and even clean up where he's been.“
Which farmer would you buy from?
In closing, you can convert more of your visitors into customers. It will take an investment of your capital and time, but I guarantee you the return on investment will be worthwhile. Begin writing headlines with the “How to”, “If/Then”, and “Specific Testimonial” format to grab your website visitors by the lapel and include irresistible offers to persuade them to hand over the moolah.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
What Every Business Owner and Service Provider Ought To Know About Marketing
Everything you do in business not to mention life is a process that lends itself to a quantifiable end, therefore you should always be looking at the results each process is producing for your business.
Hypothetically speaking, a print ad could be bringing 100 new customers a month, a sales pitch could be converting 5 out of 10 potential clients, a direct mail piece could be producing a 1 to 3% response.
Therefore, if anyone of those activities can do that then it makes sense that the same ad could bring in 100 or 1,000 new customers, doesn't it? And, an improved sales pitch could convert 8 out of 10 potential clients, couldn't it? And, a direct mail piece could have a 5, 10, 20% or higher response, right?
So, your job is to always be seeking to improve and develop more effective marketing approaches by testing. Testing is especially helpful in reducing risk during the developmental stages of your marketing campaign or when implementing any new marketing approach.
For example, thousands of dollars can be saved if you do a small test before rolling out a full-scale advertising campaign. Testing will help you discover which marketing strategy or method will produce the most inquiries, visits, or orders.
Business owners or professionals in practice utilizing testing will ultimately produce predictable and consistent results that build profits they’ve only imagined.
Testing is without exception an essential element in your effort to optimize your marketing, maximize your profits and boost your sales while reducing your risk.
Hypothetically speaking, a print ad could be bringing 100 new customers a month, a sales pitch could be converting 5 out of 10 potential clients, a direct mail piece could be producing a 1 to 3% response.
Therefore, if anyone of those activities can do that then it makes sense that the same ad could bring in 100 or 1,000 new customers, doesn't it? And, an improved sales pitch could convert 8 out of 10 potential clients, couldn't it? And, a direct mail piece could have a 5, 10, 20% or higher response, right?
So, your job is to always be seeking to improve and develop more effective marketing approaches by testing. Testing is especially helpful in reducing risk during the developmental stages of your marketing campaign or when implementing any new marketing approach.
For example, thousands of dollars can be saved if you do a small test before rolling out a full-scale advertising campaign. Testing will help you discover which marketing strategy or method will produce the most inquiries, visits, or orders.
Business owners or professionals in practice utilizing testing will ultimately produce predictable and consistent results that build profits they’ve only imagined.
Testing is without exception an essential element in your effort to optimize your marketing, maximize your profits and boost your sales while reducing your risk.
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