The Blog For Entrepreneurs

1. Target Your Prospects When Pain Is Highest

Effective marketing is all about fulfilling a need for your market, whether that be giving your prospects pleasure, avoiding pain or presenting a solution to their problem.

We always need to be marketing of course, but there are time when different techniques need to be used. Cold calling or doing a huge email blast in winter selling air conditioning units may not be the best idea, your direct marketing does not fulfill a direct need. But hitting those prospects directly when they are sat at home sweltering will create a much better conversion rate.

Think about targeting a prospects when they are at their highest level of interest.

2. Do Something Different

‘Birds of a feather flock together’ is a saying attributed to people in a negative or positive way. It is simply saying that like minded people mix. The problem you have if you are competing with other people, either in your industry or your office, is that you can be sucked into doing what they do all day.

If you want to stand out do something different. If you are an offline sales person, how many people in your office have a personal blog relating to your business? Probably not many. Start one today and refer your customers and prospects to it. Ask good customers for personal testimonials. You will create trust with people and find conversions much easier.

If you are an online marketer, do an interview with someone outside your field. A sportsman, an entrepreneur even me!! Try and ask questions that relate to what you are doing on some level and post it on your blog. I listen to 1.5 hrs of podcasts each day on my iPod while I work out. I search for podcasts on the web evry day becuae of it, how many people do the same?

3. Make a goal to add just one valuable person a week to your network.

Some of the best contacts I have ever had were gained from me doing something for them. I almost always give the person I am networking with some contact, advice or service for free, with massive value attached, without asking for anything in return.

If you did this for a year imagine your network and what you could call on it for.

4. Send me your story

This blog is dedicated to encouraging entrepreneurs both online and offline. There is nothing more encouraging than hearing an inspiring story that not only motivates but informs. You can send me your story and, if selected, I will publish on the blog with appropriate links to your site or business.

5. Get On Twitter

Now I know you may give me a good beating for something so obvious, but I have heard this phrase from a large percentage of people I talk about Twitter to “What is the point of being on a site like that? I don’t want to know when someone I have never heard of is having coffee and I am sure they could not care less what I am doing either”.

To my shame, this was also me a few moths ago. I didn’t get it. Then some guy wanted to charge me $1000 to set up an account and a few hundred dollars a month to run it. I figured if he was being paid there must be something in it. I signed up, loved it and now have 5000 followers many of which will be reading this article now (you are cool, by the way).

Twitter, for the entrepreneur, is a God send. It is easy, quick and you can’t write more than 140 characters… ideal.

6. Call Someone In Your Network Now

I have a habit of making random calls to people I haven’t spoken to in a while. Not particularly to ask for anything just because I like to know what people are up to. It became a habit when I missed out on a huge deal. A friend (who shall remain nameless) awarded a contract to a group of investors which would have been perfect for my group. When I inquired why he never told me about it he said ‘You never asked”.

I make sure I ask lots of questions these days, you never know when you will hear the words ‘Actually, I am glad you called because…. ”

7. Pimp Your Ride

Please don’t tell my wife I suggested this, she thinks it’s tacky. Get a designer to make a cool rear windscreen sticker or sticker for your bumper. I know, I know, it sounds crappy and very web.0001.

I had a beautiful Lotus Esprit V8 GT, everybody admired it, so I had a sticker with my company’s URL put on it. I got hundreds of leads from it and it cost me $37. The car, of course , was considerably more. However I made at least $20,000 from the leads, not a bad return.

The thing is, if you live in a highly populated area how many eyes are on your back bumper everyday as you crawl through traffic or shop at the supermarket? You will be surprised and you don’t need a flash motor for it to work.

8. Watch This Video

It just might inspire you.

Regards
David
@TheMarketMaker