Last night I recorded an interview about business and marketing and explained how I could help you attract more visitors to your website. I also talked about business success in general and how we as business owners can sometimes be our own worst enemy. You can access it here: www.successtrackonline.com/jonathan-jay-1st-dec/ Maybe it was because we’re getting towards the end of the year, or perhaps because I was relaxing in a hotel room, but I feel I came across as far more laid back than normal – far more philosophical. So, do you like the new me or the old, frenetic, high-energy me? Have a listen and comment here! www.successtrackonline.com/blog Have a good day, Jonathan Jay SuccessTrack

Tonight, at 7pm, I’m interviewing Jonathan Jay, the man behind SuccessTrack and I want to ask him tough questions about business and marketing. Please ask question as a comment to this blog post and although we can’t guarantee to have time to answer it, we’ll do our best! Thanks, Paul Green

So many people commented on the previous blog entry that the available space maxed out – which means that the conversation can continue here, part two! Let us know what you would like to do online, that you don’t know how to. What could we show you that would give your website the edge? Does Twitter and other social media sites confuse you? Are you getting enough visitors? Enough conversions from visitors to sales? You can read all the previous comments (30-40 more than displayed under the previous blog entry) here: click here Just write your comment below!

For the last five weeks emails have been flying between Ed Rivis, Paul Green and myself – we’ve been planning a one day event for a certain type of business owner – a technically frustrated one! You see, a recent survey of business owners at a recent event (and by the way, the ‘overflow’ event we told you about on Friday is now completely sold out as well) the number one frustration is their company website. The main problems are:

• Not enough visitors
• Not enough sign-ups
• Not enough sales

So Ed, Paul and myself have developed a rather clever marketing system that solves all three problems and allows you to generate enquiries for your business 24 hours a day and deliver them to your inbox. We’re planning a one-day event to teach 60 business owners how to do this for their business and I wondered whether you could contribute to our planning by telling us what you would like your website to do (that it currently doesn’t), what frustrates you about marketing your business on the internet and what information we could provide to help you. Please post below and join in the discussion! There have been so many comments that this web page can not display them all – to see all comments please click here

Want to get in the minds of your customers and understand what they really want? Drayton Bird has been described (by a competitor) as “the greatest living direct marketing expert” and has nearly 50 years experience in marketing, PR, advertising, research, and direct marketing. Read on below as he reveals how to discover what your customers want. On behalf of the SuccessTrack team, have a brilliant day! Best wishes, Marie-Louise Cook Editor – Daily Marketing Bulletin

What Do Your Customers Want?

Drayton Bird: If you already have customers, talk to them. Ask them. Watch them. If you don’t study customers you’re mad because that’s where the money comes from. Now, if you’re just setting up your business, start by asking yourself, “Why will anyone will be interested in this?” Talk to a lot of people. Say, “I’ve got this idea. What do you think?” Write to people in your local area and say, “I’m thinking of doing this… would this interest you? Would it interest you a lot? A little? Not at all?” Your priority must be to adopt a very sceptical view… hope for the best but plan for the worst. Once you’ve asked people if they think it’s a good idea, try selling it to them. If you want to succeed in persuading people to buy what you want then you have to study these two things: the person you’re trying to sell to and how to relate your product or service to that person. Be aware that when you’re selling something, nobody wants to read what you’ve written or to listen to what you’re saying. They don’t. They’ve got better things to do. So your challenge is – how the hell can you get them interested? The other thing you have to do is answer the question “Why should anyone choose your product?” Can you do something that no one else can do? Can you do something better than anyone else?

Discuss this bulletin by leaving a comment below.

Subscribe to the SuccessTrack Blog and receive the Daily Marketing Bulletins by email or via your favourite web-based reader.

(To subscribe go to the top of the right-hand column of this page.)

Stand Out With A Strong USP If you want to stand out from the rest of your market, you need a strong USP (Unique Sales Proposition). It shows customers why doing business with you rather than any other company is going to be of greatest benefit to them. And if your USP is weak then use any of the following proven USPs to beef it up and attract more clients. On behalf of the SuccessTrack team, have a great day! Best wishes, Marie-Louise Cook Editor – Daily Marketing Bulletin

Proven USP Categories To Emulate

As varied as positioning statements may be in tone and content, they generally fall into one of 10 main categories: 1. Low Price Guaranteeing the lowest price has been used as a USP for many merchants. However, cutting profit margins too deeply is rarely healthy for a business or product. So, unfortunately, many who have chosen low price for a USP are no longer in business. The philosophy is low margins, but high volume. If your business is small, however, you run the risk of setting off a price war. Larger players in your market who, due to economies of scale, can afford to match or beat your prices short term can easily force you out of the market long term. So think twice before focusing on price. 2. High Quality The high quality USP is based on a high margin, lower volume philosophy. This USP is often found hand in hand with other USPs such as “Superior Service” and “Strongest Guarantee”. One brand that immediately comes to mind when you think about quality is the international watch leader Rolex. Rolex also has a short USP statement that communicates volumes. Rolex – “Quality Takes Time” 3. Superior Service Providing superior customer service is a wonderful way to add value as well as develop long-term customer loyalty. So superior service is an excellent USP. What I am talking about here is the “above and beyond” type of customer service. To surpass the competition, you must go beyond simply satisfying customers, you have to AMAZE them. A good example of a company that has adopted “Superior Service” as their USP is the web-based business Rackspace Managed Hosting. Rackspace sums up their USP statement in two words. Rackspace – Fanatical Support 4. Size/Selection Providing the largest selection of items can be a powerfully effective USP. The classic example of this is Amazon.com. For years Amazon’s USP was “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore” Even though they were not the first and today they have intense competition from both online and brick-and-mortar bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, and Borders, Amazon.com still leads the pack in online bookselling because they clearly differentiated themselves early on by being the biggest. 5. Convenience By removing as many obstacles to ordering, receiving or using your product or service as possible, you are placing the customers’ convenience at the center of your business model. The “convenience” USP is based on centering your business on your customers’ needs. 6. Knowledgeable Advice, Recognised Authority This type of USP communicates the idea that, “I am the top in my field. You can trust my knowledge and experience.” It works well for professionals and other skill-or service-based organisations. 7. Customisation/Most Options ‘Personalised’ is a powerful option in a mass market world. That makes the offer of more options and custom-building to individual specifications powerfully alluring in a USP. 8. Speed The speed at which your product or service is delivered can be a powerful USP in today’s fast-paced world. Offering overnight or second day shipping as yourstandard service can give you a strong competitive advantage. Federal Express changed the shipping world when it began guaranteeing overnight delivery of packages in this powerful USP: FedEx – “When It Absolutely Has To Be There Overnight” 9. New and Unique Sometimes your product is so new and unique that the product itself is the USP. Being the original or first mover in the market is a USP that nobody can duplicate. An online example of this is OilOnline.com. OilOnline.com – “The Original Online Source for the Oil Industry” Inevitably, a competitor will emerge with a knock-off or copy of your product, but until then, you can promote the newness and uniqueness of your product as the USP. When the competition heats up, you can switch your USP so that it positions your business as the ‘first’ or ‘original’ one of its kind. 10. Strongest Guarantee A clear, strong guarantee turns what is assumed into what is assured. Your goal is to make your guarantee so strong that it makes what your competition offers seem stingy by comparison. Craftsman Tools is a prime example of this USP category. Like all carefully crafted USPs, the Craftsman statement leaves no doubt what their main advantage is. Craftsman Tools – “Hand tools so tough, they’re guaranteed forever”

Discuss this bulletin by leaving a comment below.

Subscribe to the SuccessTrack Blog and receive the Daily Marketing Bulletins by email or via your favourite web-based reader.

(To subscribe go to the top of the right-hand column of this page.)

Want to know how to build your opt-in list and massively grow your online business? Joel Christopher, known as the Master List Builder’ (because he’s got a list of over 150,000 names) reveals a five-step plan that you can begin to use today. On behalf of the SuccessTrack Team, have an outstanding day! Best wishes, Marie-Louise Cook Editor – Daily Marketing Bulletin

Five Steps To Internet Marketing Success

Joel Christopher arrived in the United States from the Philippines on August 8th, 1988, he knew nothing about the internet. He was a physical therapist who just wanted a better life for his family. Recognising the business and marketing potential of the internet, he started his own online business in late 1999 and launched his first website on January 1st, 2000, geared towards providing aspiring internet entrepreneurs with a step-by-step guide to succeeding online. He has grown his own opt-in list to more than 150,000 and earned his Master List Builder’ nickname after tripling his list to over 30,903 names in only 99 days. Joel Christopher: Here are the five steps to internet success. STEP 1: You’ve got to discover and sell what you’re passionate about. You’ve got to find out why you are here on this earth. What is your mission? What is your passion? What is it that you want to do and be and have 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, or 50 years from now? Begin with the end in mind and be passionate about it. And really the business is a vehicle to support that kind of lifestyle. Your business exists to support you; instead of you existing to support your business. When the going gets tough, when you’re losing $2,000, $10,000, even $100,000 in the business as you’re going through the learning curve, the passion will really help you go through the pain and go through the success cycle. STEP 2: Target your market to a niche market. Get rich in your niche. STEP 3: Find a lead product that your target market want, low cost – preferably under $100, even better if it’s under $50 especially if it’s online. STEP 4: Build and develop your own profit pipeline. This is your wealth funnel, where you create an effective leads and sales generation system to build your own high quality opt-in list as fast as you can and milk it for everything that it’s worth. STEP 5: Up-sell your customers with your medium cost and high profit back end products. On the internet it ranges from between $100 to $500 and high ticket item products like $500 or more. I prefer to sell a $1,000 to $5,000 product.

Discuss this bulletin by leaving a comment below.

Subscribe to the SuccessTrack Blog and receive the Daily Marketing Bulletins by email or via your favourite web-based reader.

(To subscribe go to the top of the right-hand column of this page.)

Need more clients but don’t want to spend a fortune to attract them? There’s a simple,very persuasive and low-cost way to attract prospects – and it’s one you can start using immediately. Read on to discover how you can take advantage of this easy yet powerful client attraction method now. On behalf of the SuccessTrack Team,have a brilliant day! Best wishes, Marie-Louise Cook Editor – Daily Marketing Bulletin

Attract New Clients With Testimonials

You can attract or ‘catch’ more clients by collecting testimonials from your customers and using them in your marketing materials (both online and offline). It lets your customers do the talking and convincing for you and your business. If possible, include the customer’s photograph, their real name, position within their company and location. That way, prospects can see that the testimonials are genuine. Some testimonials aren’t particularly useful: they’re the ones that say “Wow! Your company’s great!” SuccessTrack Founder Jonathan Jay recommends you ask customers to go into detail about how the product or service has improved or benefited their lives. “You need testimonials that give sufficient detail. For example, someone might go on an investment training course and they might say: ‘When I first came on your investment training course I was £5,000 in debt. However, after using the advice I am now £10,000 in credit – after paying off all my credit cards – and I now have a bright future ahead of me because I now know that I’m in control of my financial destiny.’ That’s good whereas a testimonial that just says, ‘Fantastic!’ – is not so good. “You need to build up the layers of detail. A testimonial that just says: ‘This product is absolutely brilliant’ with the person’s initials underneath, is not very powerful. The business owner should have asked for the testimonial and explained it was going to be used on their website and in their marketing material and was going to be read by other people.” Most people don’t use testimonials effectively and therefore they don’t see the impact they can have, says Jay. “They don’t even see the necessity of collecting testimonials from clients. But if you get the right testimonials from the right people, it builds respect, prestige and your professionalism. It elevates you in the eyes of the person reading the testimonial. They say, ‘Well, if this person says she’s good – she must be good!’ “The key is to get testimonials about different aspects of your service or product. If you get a whole range of testimonials saying the same thing it reinforces the point – but ideally what you want to see is them coming from different angles. So have:

• One testimonial saying what great service you provide
• One testimonial talking about the quality of the materials
• One testimonial saying how easy you are to do business with
• One testimonial talking about the value for money
• One testimonial talking about the outcome derived from using your product or service and how it exceeded their expectations
• One testimonial saying how much they have recommended the products or service to their friends and family
• One testimonial saying, “I’ve tried other companies products or other companies services and they don’t measure up to yours”.

“Have a range of testimonials to endorse what you do from every single angle. Think of it as a CAT scan – providing clarity from every single angle and providing absolute transparency so there is zero doubt in anyone’s mind.” Hank Stroll and Meryl K. Evans say referrals don’t always happen just by accident. They are the product of a great customer experience – a mix of sales, marketing and customer-support efforts. It’s too easy to forget to remind customers how great their experience was so that they will be more willing to make further referrals. Out of sight is definitely out of mind, in this case. They recommend you identify the ‘ideal’ referral candidates, articulate your company’s USP and how it relates to their network, create the ideal environment for referrals and thank the referrers. Referrals, they say, are the best low-cost marketing projects you can deliver. The best way to make referrals work for you is to stay in contact with your network.

Discuss this bulletin by leaving a comment below.

Subscribe to the SuccessTrack Blog and receive the Daily Marketing Bulletins by email or via your favourite web-based reader.

(To subscribe go to the top of the right-hand column of this page.)

Former Truck Driver Reveals Online Success Secrets Want to know the secrets of building a successful online business? Read on to discover how former truck driver Frank Garon went from earning $14.25 an hour to over $200,000 with his very successful internet business. Have an outstanding day. Best wishes, Marie-Louise Cook Editor – Daily Marketing Bulletin

3 Reasons You Should Publish A Newsletter

Frank Garon is a former truck driver who went from making $14.25 an hour to over $200,000 a year with his internet business. He explains how you can establish a good relationship with your customers using personalised marketing techniques so that they learn to trust and like you and then make a purchase. Frank Garon: Let’s talk about three reasons why you want to publish a regular newsletter. Write about whatever comes to mind because if you screw up on the internet, how much money does it cost you? Very little. When I send out a newsletter what does it cost me? – One 10th of one 100th of one millionth of a penny. So why be afraid to experiment? Why be afraid to say what’s on your mind? Okay, the three reasons why you want to publish a regular newsletter:

1. So when you get a visitor you can capture their details. A newsletter allows you to build a lot more personalisation. If you don’t do that and they come once and they leave without buying – what happens? Nothing.
2. You’ll get better as you go along. Your first one is going to stink. My first five to eight months’ worth of newsletters definitely stunk. But do you know what? Every week, every month I got a little better and I started making $20.
3. It’s your job

You build an opt-in list. People say “Here’s my email. You have permission to email me.” Do we want to intermittently email them some junk and invite them to hit the delete key? Or, do we want to practice our craft and get good and actuallyacknowledge and respect that permission? People say: “Okay,yeah I’m on 10 other email lists but I’ll take yours. Entertain me! Tell me something different. Make me laugh. Be my advocate. Keep me from losing money, keep me from looking stupid. But if I give you permission to mail me then darn it, mail me something good.” So we’ve got three reasons why you want to publish a regular newsletter:

1. Frequency breeds familiarity
2. How else are you planning on getting good?
3. It’s your job

People give you permission. By being consistent you get better. By being better, you gain credibility. You’re seen as an authority. Consistency leads to credibility; credibility leads to sales; sales leads to more good things like joint ventures. How did I get to where I am today? I published a regular newsletter. I built rapport with people on my list. Rapport led to sales; sales led to getting the attention of people like Yanik Silva. That’s how it all starts, with the small stuff; the stuff that you already know. You know 99.9% of what you need to know to make sales online. I’ll probably be the only one to tell you that. The rest is just details. You already know how to market, you know how to date. Brandability is vitally important to your business. Why do you want to brand yourself? Because everybody needs an angle to stand out in the crowd. And it establishes your authority. I say that I’m going to make a half a million dollars this year and you believe that I can do it – because I said it. That’s authority.

Discuss this bulletin by leaving a comment below.

Subscribe to the SuccessTrack Blog and receive the Daily Marketing Bulletins by email or via your favourite web-based reader.

(To subscribe go to the top of the right-hand column of this page.)

Looking for an (almost) effortless way to your sales? Ready for something that will do all the hard follow-up work for you… then use an autoresponder series. Think of autoresponders as your nifty follow-up sales agents… beguiling, persuasive, and highly productive, out there working 24 hours a day, seven days a week on your behalf. To create a blockbuster, sales-boosting autoresponder series, follow the tips below and then… put your feet up and watch those responses roll in! Here’s to your outstanding success! Best wishes, Marie-Louise Cook Editor – Daily Marketing Bulletin

How To Create Compelling Sales-Boosting Autoresponders

1. Make your subject lines provocative, original or intriguing. Imagine your prospect or customer with an email inbox crammed full of samey-looking headlines. Yours must stand out in that list or it will perish (okay, get deleted). Hook your reader in with something that piques their interest or curiosity. 2. Keep your eye on the goal. The ultimate aim of your autoresponder sequence is to build trust with your prospects and continue to build a relationship with your customers and so help you to increase your sales. 3. Prospect vs Customers Email Content. You want your prospect to get to know, like and trust you so that they will feel comfortable doing business with you so give them useful information. To encourage your customers to continue doing business with you (think of all those lovely up-sell, downsell and cross-sell opportunities) after they’ve bought from you, provide them with reassurance that they’ve made a great decision, and then give them step-by-step information about how to use (consume) the product they’ve just bought. 4. Target your market. Know the fears, needs, desires or wants that your customers/prospects have and how your product meets/solves/resolves them. Write down 10 of their biggest problems, fears, needs or wants. They will become the themes of your automated email messages. Use one theme per message. At least one of those top 10 will hit the ‘trigger buttons’ of your prospect. 5. Don’t use a sledgehammer to drive a nail in. Think of offering information rather than a blatant sale pitch. Provide useful information and be subtle with your ‘sales’ message. Think of getting clicks to your landing page rather than trying to sell in the email. 6. Hook them in and don’t let them go. Jay White, autoresponder expert, says your opening statements should be ‘an eyeball pulling opener’. Nice image to keep in mind as you write! If you’re stuck for ideas, use the 5 ‘W’s so beloved of journalists – who, what, why, when and where– let your reader know who you are, why you’re writing to them, what you’re writing about, where you’re from and why they should carry on reading. 7. Focus on your reader not yourself. Your email message must be about your customer not you. 8. That’s my name, don’t wear it out! Use your customer or prospect’s name once or twice at the most in the email. More than that is going to seem unnatural and even creepy. 9. One in three. Send your first welcome and congratulations type message immediately after your prospect has opted-in. It should be a strong message. Send your next message two or three days later then every three days afterwards. The two or three day gap means you’re still top of their minds but not annoyingly so. 10. No wide loads. To make your emails easy to read, keep the lines to about 55 characters in length. Keep your subject lines under 20 characters. 11. Use an audio link in your emails. Place the audio link at the top of your message so people who prefer to listen rather than read can still access your information. The link will take them to a page where they can play/stream your email. 12. Make it personal. Think of your autoresponder message as a one-to-one communication. Use conversational language. Put your grammar book away and get liberal with contractions (like “you’re” and “don’t” and “we’ll”). Don’t be afraid to start a sentence with “and” or “but.” 13. Think Goldilocks. Your message shouldn’t be too long or too short – like Goldilocks’ porridge, it should be ‘just right’ (that is, about 600-800 words long). Tell a story, press your prospect’s trigger buttons (their overwhelming need/want/desire), highlight the benefits of your product and close. 14. Take Action! Do have a call to action in all of your emails. What do you want your readers to do after reading your message? Do you want them to follow the link to your website? To call your office? Make it clear – tell your readers exactly what steps you want them to take. Let them know in a compelling, benefits-oriented way why it’s in their best interest to take action immediately. 15. And rest… A strong and persuasive sequence of email messages can help you to increase sales and save you time, energy and money. Let those auto responders get to work for you!

Discuss this bulletin by leaving a comment below.

Subscribe to the SuccessTrack Blog and receive the Daily Marketing Bulletins by email or via your favourite web-based reader.

(To subscribe go to the top of the right-hand column of this page.)