Are you tired of prospecting for new business?
Are you sick of networking, begging for referrals, or spending a small fortune on advertisements that produce little results?
Wouldn't it be nice if you could just sit down at your desk and have the phone ring knowing that new business is on the other end of the line?
Who wouldn't, right...?
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The Secret Formula for Getting People to Call You
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No matter what product or service you sell, there is a formula for getting people to call you (instead of the other way around.)
Let me take a moment and explain each step in this formula and give you a few examples of how it works...
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Step 1. Interrupt Their Train of Thought
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People are busy, busy, busy. At any one moment you and I have a thousand things going on. So the first step to effectively market to someone is to interrupt them and grab their attention.
You can do this with...
a. Bold, compelling headlines
b. Unusual graphics or photos
c. Unique opening statements
I run an ad in a trade mag in the most competitive section of the publication. But my ad sticks out like a sore thumb because I place it UPSIDE DOWN!
That ad pulls as much as a quarter page ad does and it's only a tiny little 2' x 2' ad.
(By the way, if you want to see that ad and you have in interest in coaching you can find it in my ttp://www.CoachesMarketingBootcamp.com package.
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Step 2. Engage Their Mind With Relevant Content
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Once you have your prospects attention, the next step is to pull them into your message. The best way to do that is to use relevant content.
By that I mean, say something that they would be keenly interested in. For instance, I have no interest in cats so I would skip right over the headline, "How to Stop Your Cat from Ripping Your Couch and Carpet Apart."
It's not relevant to me.
But if I saw a headline that said, "The Deal Is Sealed...Shaq Gets Traded," that would stop me in my tracks (I'm a basketball nut).
Your message must be relevant to your prospect.
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Step 3. Educate Them On How to Solve Their Problem
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Now it's time to educate your prospect. Education-Based Marketing is one of the most powerful marketing strategies available today and does a number of positive things for you:
a. It gives your prospect the REASON WHY they should care about what you're saying.
b. It appeals to the prospect's emotional need to solve their problem. (People buy with their emotions)
c. It positions you as the expert and someone to be trusted.
For instance, why do you think you find all those long, long salesletters on the net? Because they work! The more you tell the more you sell.
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Step 4. Prove That Your Solution Actually Works
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People today are so SKEPTICAL. No one believes anybody anymore. Every marketing message is taken with a grain of salt.
That's why you MUST PROVE what you're saying is true. Proof can come through customer success stories, study findings, quotes from experts, before and after photos etc.
You have to consider yourself as being on trial and your prospects are sitting in the jury box. You've got to prove to them what you're saying is true.
Are you proving your solution in your marketing efforts?
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Step 5. Offer Them Additional Help For their Problem
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The last step is to naturally offer your prospect additional help. Up to this point you've only teased them. Now you must lead them to the next step.
The next step should be some offer for help. This could be a free report, a video, an audio program (notice that I like low cost information products) or a free catalog, or even access to a free question and answer help line.
If you want to decrease your response and increase the quality of prospects that come to you, you can charge a small fee to make the next step.
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A Live Case Study
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I used to do a lot of direct response advertising to generate leads for potential hot tub buyers.
I offered a free video to the respondents. We were getting a lot of leads, but many of them were from people who already owned a hot tub (if you can believe that).
So we simply asked for a shipping fee of $2.95 for the video and it cut down our leads but dramatically increased our closing rate.
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How to Use this Process for Your Own Purposes
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You might be thinking, thanks David, but "how" do I use this information for my own business.
It's simple...take each step and ask yourself these questions...
Step 1 - "What headline, photo, or gimmick can I use that would stop my unique prospect and make them pause for a moment?"
Step 2 - "What problem does my prospect have that is painful, ugly, dirty, and smelly?" When you have the answer to that question, use it in a headline, sub headline or opening statement to engage them in your message.
Step 3 - "How can I make the problem in Step 2 sound even worse and then how can I explain to them how my solution solves it."
Step 4 - "What proof can I come up with that my solution actually works and has worked for many companies (or people)?"
Step 5 - "What offer can I come up with that would be so irresistible that my prospects would have to pick up the phone and call me immediately?"
If you ask yourself these five questions and can come up with some good answers then you're well on your way to getting people to chase you down instead of you begging to steal a moment of their time. (Yuck!)
Copyright 2005 David Frey
David Frey is the Author of the Small Business Marketing Bible and the Senior Editor of the Small Business Marketing Best Practices Newsletter. To get your free lifetime subscription, visit http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com