"Seven Idiot-Proof Marketing Strategies That Will Skyrocket Your Sales And Profits..." by Brian J. Kay Idiot Proof Strategy #1 Create A Marketing Parthenon We are experiencing some of the most turbulent times in history. The Stock Market is a roller-coaster ride. The Internet has created a whole new economy. And, this is just the beginning... There are literally thousands of different marketing strategies you could be using to grow your business but only a few that you need to do consistently that will allow you to make all the money you desire. As the famous football coach, Vince Lombardi once said... You Have To Be Brilliant At The Basics For those of you who don't know what a "Marketing Parthenon" is, let me explain... A Marketing Parthenon means having multiple different sources of revenue and lead generation instead of relying on just one. For example, let's say your primary method for generating new business is through direct mail. What happens if, for whatever reason, your postcards, fliers, or FREE Reports stop working tomorrow? How will that impact your business? Now imagine you also generate leads through the internet, space advertising, referrals, word of mouth, joint ventures, etc.? You have now successfully diversified your portfolio like a good money manager. Can you imagine if you put your entire life savings in stocks and the market crashed and didn't come back for 6 years? The same thing can happen to you if you don't diversify your business. Start now by conservatively testing other methods of marketing so that if one method stops working, it won't put down your entire business. Idiot-Proof Strategy #2 Consistency This one seems so easy, yet so many people fail to be "consistent" in their marketing efforts. For example, we get calls all the time saying things like "I just mailed 200 postcards, now what do I do?" The answer's pretty simple... Mail 200 More Next Week! You can't do just one mailing, run just one ad, do just one joint venture and expect blockbuster results. Marketing doesn't work like that! Create a marketing plan and a marketing budget for the year, and stick to it. For example, maybe your plan calls for mailing 200 postcards a week, developing and maintaining an internet website, running 2 small ads a week in local newspapers, and setting up one new joint venture per month. If that's your plan, you must stick to it. Over a period of about 90 days, you will create momentum, and sales and profits will start to roll in. And if, for some reason, one of your marketing methods stops working... Change Your Approach! Don't just give up on direct mail or advertising entirely - test a new ad or sales letter. Whatever you do... Be Consistent! Idiot-Proof Strategy #3 Sequenced Mailings This is probably the most important marketing strategy you could implement, yet very few marketers put systems into place to allow them to tap into the power of consistent sequenced mailings. There was a famous marketing study done several years ago which determined that over 70% of all people who respond to an advertisement (or letter) will ultimately buy the product or service being offered. Here's the interesting part... Almost All Of Those People Will Purchase The Product Or Service From Someone Other Than The Original Advertiser! Why do you think that is? I'll tell you why...because people buy when THEY are ready to buy not when YOU are ready to sell. So what does all of this mean to you? It means that sending out one FREE Report to a lead is not enough. When a lead calls an 800# to get a FREE Report, all they are basically saying is that they are interested in buying what you have to offer (but NOT necessarily ready to buy yet). "Yet" is the important word here. This means that at some point in time they will be ready to buy, and the company that gets the sale will be the one who stayed in front of them until they did become ready to buy. Let me give you a personal example. In my company, more than half of all my members sign up for our Home Study Course which teaches "How to eliminate Cold-Call Prospecting and instead get motivated ready-to-act clients calling you" after the first notice. What would have happened had I not mailed a 2nd or Final Notice? That's right, I'd have half as many members, and I'd be half as profitable. Let me ask you a question, "Do you send 2nd Notices, Final Notices, and postcards to follow-up on leads?" If not, you're costing yourself and your business a fortune! Idiot-Proof Strategy #4 Monthly Newsletters Do you send out monthly newsletters to your clients? If no, why not? Did you know it's far easier to re-sell an existing client than to sell to someone who doesn't know and trust you? Did you also know that you lose 1/12 of the value of a client every 30 days you don't communicate with them? So knowing these two facts, what's the easiest, most profitable way to maintain relationships and re-sell existing clients? You guessed it... A Monthly Newsletter!But don't just send a monthly newsletter. Make sure you also enclose inserts about other products and services that you offer. Heed this advice: Don't try to sell directly from the insert. Instead, offer your clients FREE reports on "7 Secrets To Retiring Rich"; or "How To Make A Fortune Investing In Mutual Funds" or whatever. Remember, you must re-market to your clients the same way you got them in the first place. So if someone becomes a client after reading a FREE report, offer them more FREE reports on other things. But whatever you do, make sure you keep in touch with your clients once a month! Idiot-Proof Strategy #5 Create A Back-End For Your Business Like I said earlier, it's far easier to re-sell an existing client. It's also... Far More Profitable! Think about it...once you've spent the high upfront costs to acquire a new client, it's relatively inexpensive to send them a letter promoting another product or service. For example, once you sell someone a service like College Funding, which is one of the marketing strategies we discuss in our FREE Report "How Any Insurance Agent Or Financial Advisor Can Add An Extra $5,000 - $25,000 Per Month To Their Existing Business With No Cold-Calling," what other products or services do you think they would be interested in? SAT Preparation College Selection Educational Loans Tax Preparation Services Insurance (i.e. Health, Life, P&C) Retirement Planning Buying Or Selling A Home Etc. The list is endless. The sky is the limit. Now it's up to you to either offer these services yourself, or set up Joint Ventures with other companies who already offer these services and split the profits. Idiot-Proof Strategy #6 Testing It always surprises me how few marketers actually "test." For example, have you ever tested one price against another to see which price pulls the most sales? I'll bet most of you haven't. Well starting today, here's a brief list of the most important things to test: 1. Headlines (in ads and sales letters) 2. Price 3. Guarantees 4. Offers 5. Mailing Lists 6. Newspapers And the list goes on. There are an endless number of variables you can test in your business. Here's the exciting part: One "minor" change can have a major impact on your business. For example, let's say you test charging $700 instead of $500 for your services and your sales remain exactly the same. Let's further assume you're selling approximately 100 new clients a year. The $200 extra dollars per client multiplied by 100 clients or ... $20,000 Extra Dollars Per Year With No Extra Work On Your Part! That's the power of testing. Put it to use in your business today. Idiot-Proof Strategy #7 Creating A Deluxe Version Of Your Service Airlines have "First Class" tickets. Nightclubs have "VIP" rooms. Hotels have "Suites." Are you starting to get the point? Give your clients more than one option. Offer them the "No Frills" service for one price, and the "Premium" service for a higher price. Add extra bells and whistles to the "Premium" service, and create a much higher "perceived value" and I GUARANTEE most of your clients will choose the "Premium" service. You want to give your clients a "Yes" or "Yes" decision NOT a "Yes" or "No" decision. So if you aren't already offering a Deluxe service, start doing it immediately! For more FREE articles, tips, newsletters and expert opinions on how to get more qualified leads, sales, and referrals for your business, you can visit the Leads4Insurance website at http://www.leads4insurance.com. Or, you can sign up for Brian Kay's FREE Marketing Tips Newsletter which contains dozens of proprietary marketing secrets and strategies on how to skyrocket your sales and profits. To subscribe, simply send a blank email message to: leads4insurance@aweber.com. Brian J. Kay Executive Director, Leads 4 Insurance 921 Port Washington Blvd., Suite #3 Port Washington, NY 11050 tel:(516)944-6700 fax:(516)944-5275 email:info@leads4insurance.com http://www.leads4insurance.com