| |
Creating
Marketing Magic |
|
| |
Each
month you will find information you can
use on marketing,
advertising and speaking to your niche
target market!
|
|
| |
Click here to read
the archives |
|
Welcome to the
April 2007 issue of
“Creating Marketing Magic.”
Four Myths of Internet Marketing
If you
were to do a search about marketing on the internet,
you'd see the vast majority of the listings are
marketing gurus trying to sell you on the prospect
of packaging your own “information product”. These
gurus want to sell you a “system” you too can use to
market your information products and services,
sold and delivered exclusively on the Internet.
If you’re an independent professional whose business
is primarily aimed at selling his or her own
personal services, you may wonder if the tools the
info gurus are promoting will help you and your
business.
Unfortunately, the answer is "probably not".
Marketing your own professional services is simply
not the same as marketing an “information product”
(which is what most internet marketing sites are
offering). The tools that work well in promoting a
Minor Sale are often ineffective at helping to make
the Major Sale.
Since an information product is an example of a
Minor Sale, the tools and techniques used to sell
those products are RADICALLY different than the
tools and techniques used to make Major Sales.
According to Neil Rackham in his book “Spin
Selling”, you are making
minor sales if
-
There
is a single decision maker
-
The
financial/emotional investment on part of buyer is
insignificant
-
The
purchase does not warrant time and research into
alternatives
-
There
is not a lot of interaction between you and the
customer
-
The
consequences of making a purchasing mistake are
inconsequential.
In
general, minor sales have a buying curve that is
short. However, if you’re an independent service
professional, chances are you are NOT making minor
sales. You are making major sales, which tend to
involve more time and research on the part of the
buyer or consumer.
Your businesses is making major sales if
-
There
is more than one decision maker
-
There
is significant financial/emotional investment on
part of buyer
-
The
purchase warrants significant time and research into
alternatives
-
There
is the potential of a long-term relationship between
you and/or
your business and the customer
-
The
consequences of making a purchasing mistake are high
Purchasing shampoo is a minor sale.
Choosing an expert is a major sale. Experts come
under many different
professional headings:
-
real
estate agent
-
chiropractor
-
attorney
-
doctor
-
dentist
-
acupuncturist
-
CPA
-
life
coach
-
therapist
-
plastic surgeon
The
list goes on an on. All are all examples of
independent professionals involved in making a
major sale.
If you try to market your business (whish is making
major sales) by following advice designed for
marketing Internet products and services (which are
by nature, minor sales), you're likely to make some
serious mistakes...which brings us to the topic of
the Four Myths of Internet Marketing.
The story continues here....
Myth #1 – All you need is a Great Web Site
A great web site
with compelling and selling content is ESSENTIAL to
the information marketer. The information marketer
has one shot at making his/her $19.95 sale of an
eBook or other low cost/low risk minor sale type
transaction.
However, for the independent professional, the one
who is making a major sale and whose aim is to
develop a long term relationship with his/her client
base, the place to stat is with a well-defined
benefit of your service. If you don't have a crystal
clear picture of who you are speaking to and exactly
what it is that you're actually selling, (hint:
chances are it’s not what you think it is) then no
web site in the world will do anything towards
getting you more clients.
Before you even think about building a web site, you
must know who your target market is and most
importantly WHY they are buying your product or
service.
In the end, the content of your site is much more
important than the graphic design. It’s of utmost
importance that your web site professional in
appearance but brilliant design and dazzling action
won't do nearly as much for your bottom line as a
clear picture of why your potential client is at
your website. What answers is he/she seeking?
Myth #2 – Big
traffic numbers means a fat wallet.
It’s entirely
possible that the only result increased traffic to
your web site will guarantee you is a bandwidth use
charge by your web host.
I once had a client who asked me to install a blog
on his web site. I installed the software and left
the administration information on the opening page.
My client assured me he would go in and follow the
tutorials I set up for him promptly. (The first
tutorial was how to remove the sensitive information
on the site and how to change the passwords.) You
guessed it, my client left that information up on
his web server for almost 6 months before the
alt.sex.teen list members found it and began
utilizing his blog. The 6000 visitors he got each
day certainly increased his traffic and illustrated
how traffic is meaningless without a well defined
marketing plan.
Many pay per click and other traffic building
campaigns offer web traffic that is about as useful
as the sex.alt.teen posters were for my coaching
client.
Before you begin engaging in any traffic building
activities, ask your current clients to critique
your site. Would they purchase your services based
on your website? Is the website an accurate
reflection of your business? Revise your site based
on their feedback.
While we’re on the subject of quality vs. quantity,
it’s worthwhile to mention that same principle
applies your email list as well as to your traffic
figures. While there's no question that a tightly
targeted opt-in mailing list is a valuable marketing
asset, but there is one quality both email lists and
direct mail list share with traffic to your web
site: quality is infinitely more valuable than
quantity. Names acquired via promotional gimmicks or
from outside sources seldom turn into paying
clients.
A well developed list, whether it’s email or snail
mail, is worth its weight in gold and then some.
Lists purchased, rented or borrowed rarely return
the initial investment. Contacts acquired by
offering some vague “secret report” are practically
worthless. Many information marketing gurus promote
the “high dollar value” giveaway to encourage as
many sign ups as possible. Clients who have built
lists via this tactic are usually alarmed to
discover the percentage of subscribers who actually
open these email messages hover around 5-10%.
Myth #3– Hard
selling copy is the secret to sales.
Hard selling copy
may be effective in selling certain minor sale
items, but it‘s use in selling a major sale purchase
will do more harm than good. The key to connecting
with people who are in the market looking to hire
you individually as a consultant, coach, trainer,
designer, or financial advisor is not by offering
"three valuable extras, valued at $329 each!”
The major sale requires that you build trust with
your potential client. Every bit of marketing you
do, whether it’s via your web site, your mailing
list or even your advertising, should portray the
same professionalism as the work you do with your
clients. The copy on your web site, in your direct
mail or your email should feature the benefits of
working with you and be loaded with testimonials
from clients who have experienced your services.
Myth #4 Your
web site’s only job is to make sales.
If you're
involved in making a Major Sale, the most important
job your web site can fulfill is to provide
INFORMATION to interested clients.
It’s a fact! A
recent study shows that only 37% of shoppers
actually make their purchases via the web. That
means 63% of shoppers will visit a web site to
gather the information they need to make a buying
decision. Then, they’ll buy the old fashioned way:
via the brick and mortar store or by picking up the
phone and calling.
Your web site can
be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal, but
its job is to deliver your message in a professional
manner to the right people. Better that you reach 17
potential prospects than 170,000 who have no
potential of becoming your client.
Focus your attention on what your potential clients
are buying and your web content will practically
write itself. Remember, in the Major Sale, you can’t
provide TOO MUCH information to interested potential
clients.
Questions, comments, rants, raves? Feel free to .
Find My Niche and Creating Marketing Magic
are written Kathy Hendershot-Hurd who
is the founder of Virtual Impax, a small business
marketing consulting firm and the author of
"Beyond
the Niche"
available at online book stores everywhere.
|
