MLive.com and their team are great to work with and a special thanks goes out to Colin Thomas for his knowledge and help with the "Mind Capture" blog.http://blog.mlive.com/mindcapture/index.html
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( 3 / 1112 )We had the rare opportunity to interview marketing legend Jay Abraham for last month’s Captured Mind newsletter and it got me thinking back to one of my favorite quotes from him that we discussed:
“The market place is silently begging to be lead.”
After I hung the phone up with Jay I had many thoughts cross my mind. One key commonality that I noticed we both shared was the use of great content to educate, inform and serve our customers and key prospects. For this month’s marketing spotlight I went back to chapter nine from the second Mind Capture book titled, ‘Content is King’, to drill down deeper and explain how and why using great content in your marketing efforts will pay off in multiples when used properly.
In relation to great content, understanding the term repurposing and why it’s important to grasp and understand is critical to helping you improve profits and results within your organization and gain Mind Capture from existing and prospective clients.
Here’s my definition of repurposing:
“Taking an existing product, service, or offer and making it available in a new format or combination to extend the life cycle, and add value to the customer with the end goal to differentiate and increase profits.”
What industries do it?
Two industries that come to mind which have had to adapt to changes and incorporate repurposing based on a combination of competitive pressure, consumer wants and breakthroughs in technology are the music and movie businesses. Let’s take a brief look at each of them and the learning lessons we can apply to our own enterprises.
#1. The recording industry. The evolution of the music industry is the latest business under going massive repurposing. Just a few short years ago the two primary formats available for purchasing music were the audio cassette and CD.
Today, people barely remember cassettes, and the same is quickly happening with CD’s. The new format of choice is digital downloadable music. Does the word Napster ring a bell? This online file sharing service started the rapid progression and eventual acceptance of purchasing music online via downloads versus buying physical CD’s. The industry hasn’t been the same since.
We’re a mobile society these days and Internet technology is standard issue and common place within most civilized countries. The recording industry has been forced kicking and screaming to repurpose and reinvent itself quickly, or frankly see sliding profits and changes in demand make it extinct.
#2. The movie business. The first big repurpose for Hollywood was the birth of the home video in the early 1980’s. Now, your favorite movie could be watched in your home as many times as you wanted, without having to go the theatre or waiting for it to appear on television. The business model changed based on innovation via new formats, technology and in the last 10 years in particular, the huge increase in entertainment options fighting for ‘Mind Capture’ and discretionary income.
Now a movie hits the theatre and within a few months it’s quickly repurposed into special double, DVD sets complete with outtakes and extras to add fresh sizzle to the steak. The focus is to repurpose it with a few extra bells and secondary marketing push to capture those who missed it in the theatre or simply waited to rent it or buy the DVD version.
Here are the three learning lessons these two industries teach us about the power of repurposing:
First, you must be aware of the changes in technology and how it can give you a marketing advantage if possible. To ignore it is to risk putting your organization on the path to flat lined profits and possibly the edge of extinction due to apathy, laziness or denial. Repurposing content or product packages is a smart strategy to be thinking about and implementing within your organization.
Here’s the good news: You have a choice to keep growing by staying current, reading newsletters such as this, sharing best practices with peers and finding additional resources to aid you. In the age of Google you can find just about anything 5-10 minutes. You don’t have to do it all on your own.
In my next blog post I'll reveal the other two lessons these industries teach us about repurposing. If you can't wait and want the entire article send me an email at tony@mindcapturegroup.com with the Subject: Blog - Full Article on Content and I'll get it to you.
Until next time, keep Capturing Minds!
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( 3 / 1407 )Since at one time I considered becoming a history teacher when I started college, it probably comes as no surprise that I enjoy learning and researching lessons from the past to help solve challenges of today. I’m often drawn to the old sales and marketing masters and their bodies of work. After a recent conversation with a client and the comments they made about my first Mind Capture book, I decided to pull an original copy off my bookshelf near my desk and re-read through it again for a quick brush up.
When I hit chapter 16 titled, Complacency Equals Death, I drew a parallel as to why many people are often seeing lackluster results with their marketing efforts. They either expect one form of lead generation to do all the work or they often subscribe to the ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it’ school of marketing. It’s time for a stern wake up call to realize the market place has changed immensely the last 12-months. The ‘same old, same old way’ of doing business, and in particular marketing, is not going to cut it.
Here are three helpful tips to help insure that your marketing doesn’t become stale, predictable, boring and deadly to your businesses bottom line.
#1. Use multiple media. It’s a foolish assumption to think that your customers are exactly the same. Many respond to different forms of media based on preference and ease. Some will look at your eletter, others won’t. Some customers respond best to email, while others rarely respond to it. Some read direct mail, while others set it off to the side after a quick glance. Some go online for news, while others still read the newspaper. With the continued fragmentation of media and shortened attention spans (Twitter anyone?) you must use a mix of online and offline marketing messages to get your customer or prospects fleeting time and attention.
I recently received an email from a gal who heads a local non-profit chastising me for advocating the use of post card mailings. The short version of her email was that I was way off base to suggest that people use direct mail as a part of their marketing mix. She then went on to state that they dropped their direct mail and are up 40% in large part because they use only email marketing. Great for her, but here’s the danger and foolishness in her thinking:
I can bet you the biggest steak in Texas that many, many people aren’t reading her emails or eletter. She’s not getting 100% open rates. While things may look good initially, I worry for her. The old adage ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ is exactly what she’s subscribing to with her rationale, and sadly many businesses and non-profits are doing the same thing.
I have many of my direct clients as well as my own company doing more direct mailings than ever. Why? They work. When done properly, we can own the mailbox when competitors are either skipping it all together or doing poorly written and untargeted, sloppy mailings.
#2. Test your headlines. Again, the headline is an ad for your ad. Most marketing messages miss this critical step. If you only have 1-3 seconds to get Mind Capture, then you must use a well written headline! It’s that simple. No complex formula, just direct marketing 101 at its best. You should be testing headlines in your email messages, online copy and direct mail pieces to see not only what’s grabbing people, but more importantly what you can do to bump up response rates. To help make this easier, I have a special FREE report that thousands of people have requested and used titled, 350 of the Best headlines Ever Written. Simply drop me an email (tony@mindcapturegorup.com) with the Subject Line: 350 Report.
#3. Focus more on referrals. A well qualified referral from a happy customer has an 80-90% chance of becoming a new client of they like you and have a need for what you offer. You can’t touch these types of response rates. So the question is: are referrals a daily part of your marketing efforts and plan? We’ve covered referrals in great detail in past blog posts so here’s a quick recap of a few ways to get more:
*Ask for them *Network with the best prospects *Have referral driven contests with existing customers *Add a referral section area to your order forms *Use client websites to identify key people your customers work with currently that you’d like an ‘introduction’ to if possible
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( 3 / 1392 )Back when I sold telecom services in the late 1990’s we knew a lot about our top prospects and the best ways to reach them. Target marketing by select industries, revenues, locations and how many services they used was critical to know so we could hone in on the best opportunities. However, the single most important aspect in getting the sales process in motion was knowing the date when their telecom service contract was set to expire. Without knowing this information and closely tracking the calendar, in many instances years ahead in the future, many a rep would miss out on potential deals. This is where we thrived. We had to get very good at detailed and timely follow up with prospects otherwise we’d risk missing the narrow window of time to win the business.
In a tight economy which we find ourselves in today, you’d think that most salespeople and businesses would be fine tuning their follow up skills with not only their existing clients but especially with interested prospects. I can tell you that unfortunately this is not the case. Regardless of the industry, product, service, industry, big ticket item to small purchases, I’m stunned at how little businesses follow up with prospects and even customers. They’re missing a fortune because the follow up is rarely done or non-existent.
Here are some amazing statistics related to sales that should inspire you to crank up your follow up efforts and systems within your business:
48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop
Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts
Now here’s the case for following up with prospects:
2% of sales are made on the first contact
3% of sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact
Ask yourself a question, how much do you follow up referrals and prospects? I’m certain that many of you can improve on the number of contacts you make. I’m a big believer in systems to help automate the follow up process so you stay in touch with prospects who didn’t convert immediately but still have a high chance of converting down the road if you stay in touch with them.
I recommend you print off this blog post and highlight the statistics in yellow and place it in your planner or near your computer as a constant visual that follow up is where the fortune is made.
I’d like to share with you three essential follow up tools to help you stand out, stay in touch and swing more sales to your business.
#1. Use an eletter. Email is free. The problem is that most businesses rarely capture data, and when they do, even fewer do consistent follow up. One of the simplest, cost effective and smartest ways to stay in touch with customers, key prospects, and referral partners is to create and use an eletter in your marketing efforts. If it’s done consistently, you’ll have an incredibly powerful database built up that you can communicate with on a regular basis. We use Constant Contact for simplicity and cost and it has been wonderful. We shoot to get an eletter our every two-weeks and it always generates interest, business and comments each time we send it out.
A couple of tips for your eletter: One, make sure it has useful and relevant information and not just sales pitches. If it’s always a pitch, people will begin to tune it out or opt-out in large numbers. Also, make it brief, add pictures, and make it fun if possible. People are buried in information and the eletter should contain a few short sections that people can browse and choose which are of interest and which areas are not.
Remember that for each month that goes by without some form of communication to existing customers and prospects, that 10% of top-of-mind awareness for your company disappears. People are buried with choices, media, and aggressive competitive offers trying to lure them away from your business. In addition, your competition is attempting to persuade their customers to resist your marketing efforts. It’s a continual game of offense and defense that all businesses play.
#2. Postcard mailings. With more and more people getting cheap with their marketing, most are cutting back on their direct mailings. This is a huge mistake. The USPS recently reported that mail volume was down by 20% at the end of the first quarter in 2009 versus the same time in 2008. I’m actually delighted. Not for the USPS, but for myself and my clients. This simply means less competition with this powerful medium. Many people are taking the path of least resistance and foolishly cutting mail way back or entirely out of their marketing budgets.
A great balance of budget and direct mail is to use postcard mailings with both key customers and prospects. If done properly, they’re a great way to inform, cross promote and connect with people on a more personal basis. Many of you know that I’m a huge fan and user of Send Out Cards. Here’s why: I can quickly send out custom cards combining the Internet and the mailbox with stunning impact and results. We’ve gotten several clients and thousands of dollars in new business as a result of the service.
Tony note: If you’d like two send a few FREE cards on my dime, send me an email at: tony@mindcapturegroup.com with the subject line, “Gift Account”. I'll let you send out a couple of free cards via a powerful service I use and highly recommend called Send Out Cards.
#3. Special Events. A special client appreciation event is a very smart marketing strategy to engage, educate, update and thank top customers, referral partners and key prospects. People love to network, have fun and learn more. It’s also a great way to meet prospects in a fun, relaxed setting where your best customers are speaking highly of what you’ve done to help or improve their life.
To get you thinking and jog your creativity into action, here are a few events I’ve seen businesses use with great effectiveness:
*A local law office hosts an annual barbeque party by invitation only with hundreds of people showing up year after year
*Two mortgage brokers partner with a local nursery, send out postcards to their database for a free flower in the spring and a free pumpkin giveaway in October and have hundreds of people show up at each event
*A local financial advisor hosts a client appreciation luncheon with a guest speaker on a timely topic and fills a room with his best clients and several prospects invited as special guests
*A local restaurant has a one-week, “roll-back the menu” promotion by using 1976 prices for select dinners to celebrate their anniversary and every one of their locations is packed to the rafters with existing and new customers taking advantage of the deal
While some of these may seem simple and easy, and I can tell you that’s also the danger in down playing their effectiveness. I’m often accused by some of my peers for teaching basic marketing principles and frankly I’m ok with that. Many businesses and non-profits I meet in my live trainings, who get my eletter, read my blog posts or who purchase my books and resources often have limited resources in the areas of marketing dollars, staff, and time. This is my target market.
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( 3 / 1363 )My friend, Randy Dean, recently wrote a great new book all about better managing your e-mail, and he is launching it on Amazon.com TODAY. It is a book so many of us need -- it is called Taming the E-mail Beast: 45 Key Strategies for Better Managing Your Email Overload -- and, as you can tell by the title, it is all about getting control of your e-mail account and activities. It really covers everything that may be ailing you in your e-mail activities and management - learn more at http://www.TamingEmailBook.com.
I had the pleasure to write the foreword to this book a few months ago when Randy sent me an advance preview copy to review and weigh in on. I'm trying to help Randy hit #1 on Amazon in a few categories today, by telling you about his book -- you can learn much more at http://www.TamingEmailBook.com. Notice he has some pretty amazing bonuses lined up for this launch -- you can literally get thousands of dollars of professional development materials for the price of one book. Randy even asked me to contribute a bonus to this effort - you'll see my bonus in the list.
If your e-mail is bugging you, get a copy today. And if you know anyone that has some e-mail issues, please drop them a quick note or have them hit this blog so they can learn about the book too. Thanks a ton!
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