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To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
To set your featured posts, please go to your theme options page in wp-admin. You can also disable the featured posts slideshow from certain parts of your site if you don't wish to display them. »
The first e-mail made me extremely curious simply because of its length – it was extremely short, but offered to ‘make you one million pounds in only two months’.
Now, as you can imagine, I receive quite a few of these communications each and every week and I usually like a little more detail before I say either ‘send me some more info’ or ‘no thanks, this isn’t something that I’ll be offering to my members’.
But, because this was so short… I was prompted into a reply. I don’t know if this was deliberate or whether it was just lazy on the part of sender. Anyway, it worked… and I replied.
The next message amazed me, it simply said… again… ‘I can make you one million pounds in 2 months, we have to meet’.
Well, by now I was extremely suspicious, and I haven’t yet received a response to my e-mail which simply read ‘Have you made this money yourself?’
Which brings me onto the point of proof…
Although I find some amazing ideas, if I can’t make them work for myself… or in the time that people claim that it’s possible, then I simply can’t go out to my members and say ‘this works’.
Proof is an incredibly powerful marketing tool that simply must be included in order to succeed…
For example, I’m working with someone at the moment that has an amazing health product, and I’ve suggested to her that the headline of the website should be immediately followed by a testimonial, such as ‘I was suffering with x, until I found y’.
Incredibly powerful, yet so simple.
I’m also working with someone that’s in the process of setting up their own Private detective online business. Again, we are using proof at the entry point of the website.
Moving on…
The second e-mail that I’d like to talk about was someone questioning whether they could do this for themselves…
The e-mail was a series of questions that, to me, read like excuses… One of which was ‘I don’t believe that I have the entrepreneurial skills required to do this, what do I need?’
I thought about this long and hard, as I didn’t want to give a standard text-book response… I answered all of the initial questions with examples of people that I’ve worked with, or my own personal experience…
Then, I wrote the following:
An entrepreneur is someone that is prepared to invest £5 to make £20, knowing that worst-case he/she will get the £5 back…
Now, to explain this… I went on to say that if you hadn’t researched a particular market, or a product price, you’d be guessing – rather like the average gambler on horses on a Saturday.
However, if you knew all there was to know, and you’d run some tests of your own, you’d be pretty sure that your small investment was going to return you a profit.
And to continue with the analogy of a gambler, this time you’d be a professional gambler – that has spent all morning going through the form guide…
To stay competitive in the market, one has to create ingenious means to showcase their products or services. You have to stand out from the rest. This is where the innovativeness of a person comes in handy.
Why spend your time and effort folding letters and stuffing them in envelops when you can simply send a one page promotional material without the hassle of licking envelops and stamping them for mailing. For years, postcards have been used to simply tell a friend that you have been to this great place and that you suggest he check it out, too. Few people realize that aside from being used as personal cards, postcards can also be used as marketing or promotional materials. In fact, postcards are used by many businesses today, because aside from they are simple and handy, they are inexpensive, too. Likewise, when people see a postcard they can absorb messages and information right away. They are also easy to store, easy to handle and simply unique.
Money wise, postcard printing is mostly within the budget of many business owners. Hence, even small business owners can afford to advertise through postcards. Printing and design costs are minimal because there are no letters, envelops and other inserts to produce. If you are really serious about marketing through postcards you can also consider mailing them directly to your potential customers. Why? Well, for one reason postcard separates you from your competitors. When a potential customer receives your postcard, they immediately recognize your name making you stand out from your competitors. Postcards also foster constant communication that can spur customers to turn to you whenever they need your service or product.
Direct mail postcards also build up customer loyalty. It is one of the great ways to tell your customers that they are important. Because direct mail postcards have been around for quite a while, you can benefit from this tried and proven marketing strategy.
A well produced postcard can be more than an advertisement. It can be an informative form of communication that can establish bond with customers. If done appropriately, direct mail postcards work. With so many reasons to use direct mail postcards, the only thing left for you to worry is what to include on your postcard.
There are many reasons to include e-mail as part of your marketing and customer service plans. The best chances of success with e-mail are to ensure you are delivering relevant, timely information to your customer at every stage of his involvement with your business. From soliciting new business to maintaining established relationships, e-mail can help you accomplish many important business objectives.
Build Awareness
This type of e-mail builds upon other forms of advertising for your product, in order to make sure your prospective customer maintains an ongoing awareness of that product. This type of e-mail message can be broadcast to supplement television, radio, or newspaper advertising. It does not solicit a reply from the customer, as it is only intended to relay or reinforce your message. Awareness ads are designed to make your customer believe he or she really needs your product or service.
Consideration Messages
These messages may offer something of value to the customer, such as information, a newsletter offer, or a sample of the product. It allows the customer to opt-in to your advertising, opening the door for you to send response-based messages.
Purchase or Conversion Messages
This type of message urges your customer to buy. It is a sales message, encouraging your customer to act. Be sure to send out a clear message stating the benefits of your product, solid reasons the customer should buy, and specific direction on how to complete the purchase. Word your e-mail in such a way that it is engaging to the customer and avoid using words like “free” that will boot the message directly to the spam file.
Usage Messages
Once you have converted your prospect into a paying customer, continue to build loyalty and a solid consumer relationship by following up. Ensure your customer is using the product they recently purchased, and reinforce the value of the product to your customer.
Loyalty Messages
These are perhaps the most important in maintaining ongoing customer relations. Ask the client for feedback on the product or to provide a testimonial. Ask your customer to share their positive experiences with friends. This is the stage where you become a concerned, caring merchant instead of just another blank face lost in cyberspace.
In today’s world of e-commerce, you must provide added value to your client to ensure their ongoing loyalty and patronage. Otherwise, it is just too easy to find the same product cheaper, or easier to order, on any old website out there.
Etiquette
Finally, make sure your e-mail messages are appropriate in content and tone. Words alone cannot reflect the proper emotion, inflection, and body language that visual media or one-on-one contact provide. Be aware of words and phrases that can convey a potentially offensive message. Keep the form of your e-mail in line with a traditional business letter, using appropriate salutations and closings. Use your client’s name instead of a generic, “Dear Ma’am.” Refrain from using slang or acronyms – spell your message out in detail, and never, ever use profanity.
By keeping your target audience in mind, you can utilize e-mail throughout the entire cycle of client building and maintaining client relationships, to encourage the ongoing prosperity of your online business.
