Module 9
Distinct vs. Unique
As you know, “unique” and “distinct” mean two completely different
things. By definition, a unique venture would be the only one of its kind
or the only operation of its type. Many entrepreneurs get stuck in the
mindset that the only successful businesses are completely unique – not
so.
If that were the case, why are there so many “cola” flavors of soda?
Why are there so many fast food burger chains? It’s because there is an
established market and a clear cash model. If people already spend
money on that item, you can begin to make money quickly by simply
offering a competitive product. Why invent something completely new? It
takes a lot of time and money to convince someone to buy a product that
have never heard of. Entrepreneurs often under estimate how much
effort this will actually take.
The fact of the matter is, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, Carl’s Jr.
and all the other burger places are actually building off the marketing of
the other. None of them have to spend money explaining to the public
what a hamburger is, so they can spend the time explaining why their
product is better.
Using the same examples, why do some people buy one brand over
another? Is it brand loyalty? Is it pricing? Is it convenience?
Any of those things can be a distinct difference between you and similar
businesses. Many companies thrive as a direct result of their
distinctions such as luxury cars or electronics – price is no object in
these categories because the value has been created over time. Your
distinctions are what will grab the attention of your customer and
maintain their attention.
This is not to say “unique” is bad, but it is slow. Microsoft spent much of
the late 1990s and early 2000s trying to convince the buying public that
a slate-style computer was the next “big thing” in electronics. They
dumped millions into developing software, working with manufacturers,
and marketing the TabletPC. That’s one of the reasons people refer to
leading edge technologies as “bleeding edge.” It costs a lot of money.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, it was actually Apple Computer that
eventually won out and their tablet PC, the iPad, became a huge
success.
Apple’s tablet was not particularly unique, and thanks to Microsoft they
didn’t have to spend any money to explain what the product was, they
just had to show why it was distinct from everything that already existed.
And the rest is history. Within months of the iPad release, the market
was flooded with slate and tablet computing devices. Microsoft’s dream
had finally come true. They spent millions of dollars and more than a
decade to be unique. But, in the end, it was Apple that cashed in by
being distinct and they sold more than 500,000 units on the first day,
more tablets than were sold the entire previous year.
This is about making fast cash now, so put your creative energy into
deciding how your product is distinct and leverage this in your marketing.
But I caution you, don’t allow these distinctions to cost you more money
(unless it is making you much more in return). Gimmicks and fads are
not as valuable a distinction as quality, reliability, and experience. After
all, maintaining focus on excellent service, marketing, and sales will
make you more money in the long run.
ACTION STEP: Distinctions and Unique Value Propositions
Spend a few minutes writing down ten things that make your business different
than the model companies you researched in the first module. These can
include things like:
• The value of the service you provide.
• Additional benefits the customer will receive by choosing your business.
• The quality of your product
• How convenient your product is
• Etc.
You ARE The Expert
People want to deal with experts. Whether it’s in the food industry, services,
education, products, or repair, people want to know that they can trust the
companies they are dealing with – they want an expert.
The good news is that you are an expert in something. For years, you’ve been
paid at a job for a particular area of expertise. It’s your job to discover your skill
sets and convert them into a business that makes you cash quickly.
Now that you’ve discovered your Cash Machine based on your skills, you need to
create something that will show your potential clients that you can be trusted as
an expert in this area. Your job is to take that knowledge, even if it is very
specific, and convert it into digestible information for your audience. This is your
chance to create credibility for yourself through information.
Using your available resources you are now going to create a presentation that
showcases your expertise. This content can be drawn from your conversations
about your business, or it can directly lead to a particular product in your funnel.
For some of you, content creation may actually BE your business.You’ll use this
to share an insight into your industry, or information everyone should know. You
can teach a quick skill, or a handy problem solving solution. The sky is the limit,
but this will be a valuable tool for bringing new customers into your product
funnel and building relationships of trust.
Providing interesting and valuable content to your clients is often the easiest way
to introduce yourself. This is especially true in the online space, as one of the
most popular methods to engage your customer is through articles, blogs, audio,
or video. All of these cost little, if nothing, to produce.
Some of this work must be done before you are able to begin marketing your
business on a wide scale (beyond direct conversations). Early on, you should
only be focused on creating short content pieces that assist you in spreading
your marketing message or otherwise generate leads through credibility. This is
NOT the time for writing a book, filming a full-length movie, or creating CD sets.
During the time that your audience is getting to know you, their attention span is
too short for these types of products anyway.
The key to creating a marketing resource like this is making it valuable. Just
because something is FREE, doesn’t make it good. This type of resource is here
to add credibility to you as a service/product provider – it should be informative,
entertaining, and sharable. If you can get a customer from your efforts, great! But
if you can get that same customer to pass your marketing product along to
someone else, even better.
Before you get started making this resource, first, determine which type of
content is the fastest and easiest for you to create. There are free options for
you to create all types of content, whether it’s written, audio, or video. There are
blogs, videos, pamphlets, CD’s MP3s, and many other formats for delivering your
content. Based on your available resources, choose the one that you can do for
little or no money and won’t require you to take a lot of time to learn how to do it.
A common starting point is to write a report or an article on a particular area of
your expertise, or something that relates to your Cash Machine industry.
When you have it complete you can get it out to the masses. This could be by
placing it on any number of websites, your own website (in exchange for an email
address), or you could even contact a local paper or organization to gauge their
interest in publishing it locally for you. You could bring this report with you to
networking events or use it to trade for contact information while talking to
someone you meet.
If you look back, you’ll notice that every single one of our case studies began
with some sort of report or information product that they offered early in their
funnel.
Jennifer and Todd H. promoted their senior care and errand business with a 7-
minute video that they distributed both online and in a DVD format. The video
was recorded for free on their home computer. Over time, they transcribed the
audio into a written format, did a few edits, and used the report as a companion
to the video. The video focused primarily on a few easy tips for seniors who lived
at home, as well as services their business provided.
Nancy B. created an entire series of written articles and reports that she titled
“Beyond Babysitting.” These products ranged from game ideas for children to
short learning activities parents could complete with their kids in only a few
minutes a day. These articles always directed back to her classes and
programs.
Samantha W. wrote so many articles in the first few weeks that it became a full
fledged product that she could sell to her clients. She continues to do weekly
written and video tips on how to plan events.
Joe O. created a small binder full of tips and articles that he distributed on a
variety of websites and delivered in paper form to business owners.
Once you have leads and prospects coming in, you’ll be known as the person to
go to for this type of expertise. You want to be the go to person because then
you can count on others to start referring new customers to you. Before you
know it, people will be coming to you asking for help. Don’t forget to ask for the
cash.
Making a Commitment to your Success
Your success is directly related to your commitment. If you’re not 100%
committed to your ultimate financial freedom and willing to do whatever it takes to
achieve it, then you will never have it.
As you start the process of speaking to 21 people per day, you will discover just
how committed you are to your goals. It can become frustrating and discouraging
if people do not respond positively to your business – you may want to give up
and walk away. Just stick to it. The more people you talk to, the easier it will be.
You will fine tune your message and your approach and find more and more
people are interested in what you have to say.
You can reach that point sooner if you stay focused. Track your progress and
your keep your leads organized. There is no need to add to potential frustration
with poor organization and record keeping – so keep it all together.
Focusing on your objective is the key to an effective marketing strategy. Even
something as simple as handing out business cards can be a great way to build
leads and cultivate potential customers – but you have to stay focused on your
objective. One coaching client I worked with was frustrated because they spent
several hours every day networking with people and handing out business cards
but had very little to show for it. In a week, this client had distributed over 100
cards in the community, but was confused about why there were no leads or
sales rolling in.
Because this client was not clear on the objective and purpose for distributing
business cards she was not asking for cards or contact information in return. She
had made the introduction but had no way to follow up by phone, with a letter, or
by email.
Once she regained her focus and set out again with a clear objective, she
handed out another 100 cards the following week and had almost 100 contacts to
show for it. With that she was able to make follow-up calls, send out some more
information via email and landed 5 new clients.
I have seen this same mistake time and time again from many eager clients who
are taking action but forget why they’re doing it. Many of you will give your
valuable products and services away for free – never realizing that it’s an
opportunity to cultivate a lead, create a customer, or generate a referral.
Remember, your time and energy is just as valuable as money. Do you walk
around the streets handing your cash away to strangers you have never met? So
don’t give your time and talents away without something in return. That could be
money, it could be contact information, or it could be a referral to another person
– anything that will propel your business along is reasonable in return for your
expertise.
Your job is not only to have a conversation, hand out a card, and go on your way
to the next person. You must ask questions and engage in conversation that will
that lead them into your funnel or to an exchange of information. Start with
questions like:
• “What do you want in the area of…(your business)?”
• “How would your business/life be easier if you had a service like mine?”
• “How glad would you be when these problems are gone from your life?”
These marketing conversations should always end with an exchange of
information or a call to action.
Some of my clients, especially women, make the mistake of ending their Talk
Track conversations with, “Let me know if you’re interested.” And then they walk
away without any contact information and wonder why they can’t make sales.
You can always assume they are interested or they would not be talking to you.
They may not be ready to make a decision right now, so you better get their
information to follow-up in a week or two. If someone is not ready to be one of
your clients, then ask them if they know someone who is. A simple referral can
payout big in the end and it didn’t take any more of your time.
If you’re going to give someone your business card, do it because they are going
to call you for service or will give it to someone who will. If you don’t tell them
what to do with your contact information, why are you giving it to them?
Most people that are not getting the results they want are not promoting
themselves enough and they’re not asking for the cash enough when the
opportunity arises. The next section is all about your sales Talk Track and
asking for the cash, but it’s important to establish this throughout all of your
marketing efforts. The ultimate objective of your efforts is to get money, pure and
simple.
The more conversations you have, the easier it will become to show the value of
your service. When you truly see the value of your service or product it will be
easy to ask for the money – because you know you’re worth it.
The Gold is in Building a List
As you begin calculating the value of each lead and customer generated through
your marketing efforts, you will naturally become more focused on your activities
– creating an effective process of spending your time and money to get new
business. Most important, you will begin building a list of new leads, contacts,
and customers – people you have talked to about your product or service. In
marketing terms, this is known as your list or database. Over time, your list will
become the most valuable asset of your business.
Building your list requires that you gather contact information at every opportunity
and organize it quickly. In the best scenario, you will be gathering names, phone
numbers, and email addresses everywhere you market in both the offline and
online world. If you have completed the marketing and sales Action Steps in this
workbook, you will begin building a list very quickly.
As your list grows, the system that you use to track your leads and customers
becomes much more important. You will need a method to differentiate between
leads who have never purchased and customers who have. Eventually, you may
even expand your list tracking process to include the different types of products
or services they have purchased. All information is valuable.
It’s easy to see that you will have different conversations with clients who have
purchased items early in your product funnel than those who are loyalists and
have been with you for a long time. If you don’t know this information about your
clients you can’t effectively engage them for the long-term – you will lose track of
them and they will fall through the cracks. This impacts every form of
communication.
Very quickly, you will need to make considerations regarding how you will
manage this information. There are a wide variety of online and offline systems,
called Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems that are designed
just for this purpose. For those of you who don’t have technical skills, this will
become one of the most important members of your team over time.
To start out, something like a spreadsheet on the computer will work well to track
your contacts. Using a program like Excel or the free versions from Google Docs
or Open Office are inexpensive ways to start tracking your list. Don’t put this off,
start creating this resource now. If you stay ahead of your leads and keep them
well organized you will be able to expand your business faster than you ever
dreamed possible.
Offline Marketing Strategies
For some people, the hardest Action Step in this workbook to complete is
speaking to 21 new people per day. Most people are not confident in their
speaking ability, the quality of their product, the power of their business, or their
ability to express their expertise. This is why you need to start marketing through
offline channels first. Unless you have guaranteed online profits at the flip of a
switch, online advertising strategies can get costly very quickly.
When you’re getting started in a new Cash Machine there are some distinct
benefits to offline marketing.
The benefits to offline marketing are overwhelming:
• Offline marketing is generally much cheaper.
• Offline marketing is MUCH more effective than other means.
• Offline marketing will result in conversations on how you can improve
your product or service.
In the beginning, it doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of money marketing your
business. Going into your community and following some of the methods below
can help you earn the money to expand your reach with little or no money out of
your pocket.
I guarantee you that using these strategies up front will also prevent you from
making costly mistakes in the future. If you’re still hung up on the Action Step to
talk to 21 people everyday about your business, you’ll soon find out that can also
guarantee that 21 people a day is not as many as you might think.
Remember, you are providing a valuable service to your customers and your
community – someone has to tell them about it. There are thousands of people
out there that want what you are offering but they can’t get that service if they
don’t know about it!
Finding Community Business Groups
There is strength in numbers. Surrounding yourself with family and friends who
support you is your first line of success. Working with a qualified coach and
mentor from my team is the rocket fuel you need. But there is one more resource
you can tap into to really get this Cash Machine off the ground.
The first activity you should consider is to seek out local organizations of
business owners and entrepreneurs. Find people who are already building
businesses, experiencing success, and are connected to the community. This
will benefit you in a variety of ways including the potential for new teammates,
model companies, and mentor support. These are the people who already know
the pulse of your local area and can guide you in the right direction.
In addition, as an added bonus, some of them will need your product or service.
This is not just for networking, it could be for customer leads too!
There are lots of clubs and organizations on the local and national level. Do
some research and homework to find those that will work for you. Some
examples of community resources include:
• Chamber of Commerce
• Rotary Club, Lions Club and other service organizations
• Business leads group (BNI, LeTip, etc.)
• Business mixers and speed networking events
• Seminars, workshops and other training events
Not all groups will be right for you while others may be good as you grow and
expand. Some are free and some have membership dues. Pay attention to your
budget, available resources, and overall goals. This is a tool to push you to the
next level – if it is adding an additional financial burden, then it may not be the
best group for you right now.
ACTION STEP: Finding Your Local Business Clubs and Associations
Research and seek out five local business clubs, groups, organizations or
associations in your area. Call two of these organizations to determine when
their meetings take place and what you need to do to attend. Plan these
meetings as your first two major marketing initiatives and add them to your
marketing calendar.
Beginning Offline Marketing Strategies
I talk a lot about “taking action” so it’s time to get busy. No more planning to plan,
now it’s time for the rubber to hit the road.
As we discussed, offline marketing strategies are going to be your first focus
because of the obvious cost benefits and the added value of being able to fine
tune your message.
Here is a brief list of strategies you can implement quickly for little or no money:
Flyers and posters:
The simplest and often the most effective form of marketing. Posters can be
designed and reproduced at a very low cost, distributed in your target locations,
and give clients a clear path of action to learn more about your business.
Parties, seminars or events:
One of the best ways to engage a new audience is to host a special event. This
could be something fun such as like hosting a game, or something more
complicated such as a seminar with multiple speakers. Depending on which type
of event you choose, the planning can become time consuming. Therefore, this
may not be best for those of you who need to spend more time engaging new
leads directly.
A display ad in the newspaper:
Most useful for the older adult demographic, a display ad can provide another
“wide net” to reach your potential audience. Testing this strategy is crucial, so do
not over commit in the early stages to a long-term commitment. Begin with a
small advertisement and carefully track your response and the cost of lead
generation to determine how to move forward. You can always expand your
commitment as you see the results pile in.
Classified ads in the newspaper:
Instead of a display ad, a classified ad reaches out to a slightly different market.
However, the strategy may not be for everyone. You will tend to get more
targeted leads, but responses are lower than display ads. This is another area
where you will need to carefully monitor the cost of lead generation and adjust
your spend accordingly.
Radio Advertising:
Radio requires you to have a strong understanding of your target demographic
and know your product well. If you have this information and are sure you can
make a clear and compelling Call To Action, radio can be very valuable. You can
focus your message on your ideal customers. First, you need to identify what
they listen to (i.e. a particular type of music, talk radio. etc.) Once you know that,
you can find a radio station that matches your needs. You can also talk to
individual stations and ask for demographic information on their listeners.
Radio Interviews:
Every day, there are literally hundreds of radio shows across the country looking
for guests. By preparing a simple “press kit” that contains some information
about you, the business, and your areas of expertise, you can easily be booked
to speak. Remember, even if you are a guest being interviewed you are still
marketing your business. You can invite people to visit your website, look you up
in the phone book, or even visit your office. Make sure you get a recording of
each interview and create a recorded catalog so that you can use them in the
future for credibility and promotion.
Direct Mail:
With many businesses moving online, some businesses are discovering that the
more “traditional” means of advertising, like sending a letter in the mail, are
becoming more effective. Most people do not have as much junk in their mailbox
as they used to. Deliver coupons or specials that are specific to a certain offer
and closely track the response. Many people, especially older adults, are
compelled to save these types of coupons or discount offers. As your database
grows, this can become a costly process with postage and printing. Pay close
attention to your cost per acquisition equation and adjust your mailings
accordingly.
Understanding Online Marketing
The vast majority of people are connected on the internet in some way or
another. There are very some demographic groups that don’t use the internet. If
your Cash Machine focuses on those people, look for offline strategies to reach
them. Otherwise, online marketing will probably play a key role in your promotion
and lead generation.
Online marketing has exploded, becoming the primary marketing focus for most
businesses around the world. It’s an inexpensive way to get their message and
brand in front of a lot of people very quickly.
Here are a few of the key reasons online marketing is so effective:
• Online marketing is generally cheap or even free
• You can reach a much larger audience
• Many methods allow your marketing to take place 24/7
• You can target your audience in a much more specific manner
Everyone should be looking at some basic forms of online marketing when
starting their business, but the amount of time, focus, and money you invest
largely depends on your target market – if your customers are not surfing the net,
don’t waste your time. In addition, many entrepreneurs spend far too much time
attempting to “master” the technology, leaving them in long holding patterns while
they’re waiting for a website to go up or traffic to visit.
Most people treat online marketing as a “passive” investment, meaning that they
start up a website or create a social media presence and think an audience will
magically appear. This is simply not the case. If you want people to visit your site
or join your blog, you have to invite them in some way.
Just as with all types of marketing, online marketing requires a clear strategy,
strong calls to action, and defined timelines to be successful. So, where should
you begin?
Creating a Landing Page
A huge mistake many people make, largely because of unfamiliarity with online
marketing, is the desire to create a huge “showcase” style website with
everything your business has to offer. These sites typically are quite expensive,
take a long time to create, and can cripple your business right from the start.
Even worse, these types of sites generally perform the worst at converting leads,
instead forcing your new audience to wander around your website trying to figure
out what to do.
Online marketing is no different than offline marketing when it comes to lead
generation. Your job is to engage your target market and encourage them to
take action. The best types of sites for this purpose are known as landing
pages.
A landing page is typically a one or two page website that gives your client a
clear offer in exchange for either cash or contact information. Within only a
second or two of arriving, your audience should know exactly what you are
asking them to do. The offer must be compelling enough to make them want
provide their contact information in order to receive what you are offering.
A sample landing page would look something like this:
Avoid lengthy descriptions of your product or service, just as you would in offline
marketing efforts. Instead, share compelling reasons that your audience may be
interested in the product, or spell out a need that your product fills. One of the
most effective means of doing this is through the use of testimonials about how
your product has worked for previous customers.
If you choose to use a testimonial from a previous or current client be sure that
you have their permission to do so and that you are quoting them exactly. The
last thing you need is for someone to accuse you of misrepresenting yourself or
your product. So, be honest and up front at all times.
Creating Excitement and Community
Once a lead has “raised their hand” by subscribing and has said “YES” to your
offer, your work has only just begun. Moving the client to the next step or their
first purchase is the next challenge. In the online space, your strategy will
require more pre-planning than in some other efforts.
Because most adults are now accustomed to some form of email or website
marketing, you can create a sense of loyalty and community with your audience
to develop a relationship and then offer or a product a service. Build trust and
rapport first and that will make it easier when it comes time to make the sale.
Take the time to cultivate a relationship with the online lead by providing valuable
information, additional credibility resources, and a simple Call To Action. Your
online leads are just as valuable as your offline leads so you must treat them with
respect.
Follow these golden rules of internet marketing:
• Thou Shalt Not NOT Spam!
One of the most annoying things you can do is email too much in too short
of a period of time. When this happens, people will quickly tune out your
message and will likely remember your business in a negative light.
• Thou Shalt Provide Value!
Just as your product or service provides value to the world, your marketing
emails should provide value to those who open the email. Give the lead
something to “chew” on that makes them interested in what you have to
say.
• Thou Shalt Not Give Your Content Away for Free!
Giving a taste of your product or service is fine, but don’t give it all away
for free! If you give too much, you’re not giving your audience any reason
to commit to your entry level products. Always remember, “why buy the
cow when I can get the milk for free?”
• Thou Shalt Stay Engaged!
If you plan to build a community of interested leads through a blog or
social network, you must remain in the conversation as well. Understand
their needs and wants just as you would in any conversation and then
engage with them. Do not simply broadcast your message as if there is
no one on the other end. If you encourage people to engage and interact
they are more likely to stick around and work with you for a long time.
• Thou Shalt Follow Through!
If you make a promise or an offer in your email, you must honor it! Even if
only one person takes advantage of the offer, you provide the service no
matter what.
Over time, your loyal customers will also become a valuable resource for
convincing new leads to use your service. Ask for testimonials and use them in
your marketing on websites, direct mail, flyers and other collateral. By creating a
community where your customers can talk to you, either on your own website or
using social networks, your loyal followers will become your evangelists!
Joint Ventures and Affiliate Programs
Once you have started building a list and creating your community, there are a
variety of ways you can begin creating new partners and affiliates – people who
will do some of the heavy lifting for getting new leads and customers your way.
First, let’s define a few types of relationships.
A referral program is a simple way to have your loyal customers receive
compensation or a bonus for bringing new leads or customers to your business.
For example, you can offer cash or other service incentives for the customers
who refer a new client to you in a certain time frame. Companies like DIRECTV
have been doing it for years. You can bet if they’re doing it, it must be effective.
An affiliate is a partner who will advocate, endorse, or directly sell your product
for a percentage of the sale or other compensation. Affiliates are used in the
offline world, but are most commonly found online. Often times they will use a list
of leads they have built up over the years and send them a message or note
about your service.
A joint venture is a business agreement between you and a partner (or multiple
partners) for the purpose of expanding your business. You would typically look
for these types of partners for longer term agreements that would benefit your
respective businesses.
Both of these relationships result in promotion and the sharing of resources
between businesses. However, these types of partnerships are statistically the
most effective way to market online. This is why maintaining your email list and
tracking systems is so important.
When you form these relationships, tracking will become even more important.
Your tracking will require you to watch statistics such as where your leads come
from, how much they purchased, and how much you owe your affiliates, JV
partners, or customers who provide referrals.
A Word on Compliance
Because of the popularity of these business partnerships, there have been a
variety of new rules introduced by local and federal governments regarding fulldisclosure
to the customer. You will want to be in complete compliance with
these rules at all times.
To stay in compliance, keep the following rule in mind:
• If you are marketing for someone else, or they are marketing for you, you
must disclose that relationship.
• You can’t pay someone to send an endorsement of your product or
service to their database of customers unless they tell the recipient that
they are being compensated for the referral.
This rule goes for any type of promotions, whether they are online or offline. It’s
important for you to stay up on the requirements, so do research before you
make an agreement with someone and make sure they are in compliance with all
the laws and regulations. If necessary, or if you are unsure, get specific legal
advice.
You can find additional information at www.ftc.gov. Search for “endorsement
guides.”
ACTION STEP: Build Your Marketing Plan
To complete this exercise, you will need a copy of your revenue model from the
second exercise, information on your model companies, and the other exercises
from this module.
Your plan should consist of the following:
• At least two specific marketing activities (either from this module or
otherwise) to begin within the next week.
• Timelines for the distribution of these campaigns.
o How many people do you plan to reach in each cycle?
o How many leads do you plan to generate?
• Tracking mechanisms for each of these campaigns.
o If these are offline campaigns, how many follow-up actions do you
expect?
o If these are online campaigns, which aspects will you need to
track?
Case Study Example: Jennifer and Todd H.
Jennifer and Todd were targeting the ever growing baby boomer population that
wanted to maintain some of their independence as well as their accustomed
standard of living. With the recent Wall Street declines affecting their retirement
portfolios, value and costs are concerns.
Jennifer and Todd were counting on the selling points of their personal touch and
valuable services that would entice those clients who were just not ready to move
to a retirement home. Because Todd was also a registered nurse, that allowed
them to provide a service that most other competitors did not offer.
A big part of their marketing message not only targeted the senior community but
also their kids as well. The angle they used was to appeal to adults who could
not be near their elder parents to help them, nor did they want to have Mom and
Dad move in with them. Below is an example of the marketing Talk Track they
used.
“Need help taking care of your parents but not yet ready for them to permanently
take over the recreation room? If your parents don’t require full care but you
would feel much better knowing they are being looked after, consider Jennifer
and Todd’s Home Care Services. You will have peace of mind knowing your
parents are happy in their own home while still being able to have help nearby.”
They hoped this would relay the benefits of the service they were providing, as
well as their distinct advantage of being reliable and worthy of a relationship.
They hoped too that the humor and personal touch would help capture the
attention of potential clients.
In order to deliver the message, Jennifer and Todd settled on several ideas, two
of which they planned to initiate as soon as possible. The first was flyers. They
would pay their kids to deliver the flyers to as many senior community homes as
they could. The second was e-mail using list demographics that matched a client
having elderly parents. This was the most low cost and mass splash branding
that would get them immediately out into the market.
Their town had also had a website with a classified section. They would post their
message under in home care. Moving forward, Jennifer hoped that they could
also run marketing and information booths at events geared towards seniors in
their area as well as home shows to attract the client who needed that care for
their parents.
Todd also created business cards. On the back, he included a “Refer a Neighbor”
10 percent discount. The goal was to get more clients than they could handle.
That’s where team would come into play and the services part of their business
would expand enough to start taking on employees and create profit with a nice
healthy sales funnel full of potential clients and services.
Knowing that you need at least 6 ways to constantly market your business,
Jennifer and Todd also ordered vinyl decals to place on their cars to advertise.
This also helped make the vehicles part of the business and created a nice tax
deduction for advertising.
Section Recap:
Here are the major ideas covered in Section 3:
• How to market your Cash Machine
• Techniques to create the cash you want
• Networking at community business groups
• The 4 P’s of marketing
• Online and offline marketing strategies
• How to position yourself as an expert
• Creating content to drive traffic online
It’s time to move on to Section 4: Generating Sales with your Cash Machine