So ladies and gentlemen (fellow entrepreneurs) you tell me if this makes any kind of sense to you. Would any serious cash starved small business owner and or service provider, consciously take the time, devote the energy and money no less, to run fairly sophisticated Pay Per Click (PPC) ad campaigns, run offline outrageously expensive display ads in various local newspapers, buy expensive radio ad time, just so their business would go broke!
Of course the obvious answer is of course not! I’m mean if you really have no idea what you’re doing with PPC advertising, you do realize that in just five short seconds or less, that potential first time visitor to (either) your state of the art WordPress blog, and or sales letter etc; is going to decide to quickly hit that back button and be (oh so gone!)
And entrepreneur, whether you realize it or not; statistically speaking, once a first visitor (for whatever reason(s)) , decides to leave your site after their very first visit,(whether they bought anything or not or if they didn’t join your list) there is a 98% chance (or more!) that they’re not coming back! Hello!
Which means, if that initial page they land on is not set up to somehow capture their all important opt in information, your investment in that ad campaign is all but doomed!
So doesn’t it just make economic sense to do everything you possibly can (within reason of course) to keep from going broke? Absolutely! Thus, here’s three things you simply must do (on a daily basis) to keep your cash starved small business from ultimately going broke!
So What Exactly Are These Three Extremely Critical Must Do Things Your Cash Starved Small Business Needs To Do On A Daily Basis To Keep From Ultimately Going Broke!
Okay, before we dive in completely, let’s quickly stop and think about the enormous money, time and commitment that you’re all too typical offline Mom & Pop small business owner and or service provider makes as well.
They’ve invested in fancy business cards, stationary, they more than likely are leasing their current space, right? They’ve got employees, (and everything that encompasses!) plus various forms of insurance, right? They have in vested in company cars or vans etc. They’ve invested in T- shirts or uniforms and on and on!
They’ve invested in fliers, and outrageously expensive radio and or TV or display ads of some kind, plus periodic direct mail ad campaigns etc!
Which BTW, more than likely didn’t produce much bankable results! Simply because they probably were not properly executed! That said; why the heck would they constantly go to all this trouble, simply to consistently lose money?
The short answer is, they wouldn’t! Now there is one other vitally important factor that quickly needs to be addressed. And that being the mindset of your potential consumer/customer/client etc.
Would anybody decide to stop what they’re currently doing, get in their car and drive to a mall or some other (out of the way) retail outlet, especially during the winter and or extremely cold and or inconvenient weather, simply to walk into your store (or place of business) and stay all of two minute and then drive back to wherever they originally came from! Nope!
That consumer/ your potential customer/client most definitely has a purpose in mind, when they do that. And so do you as a profit seeking business owner. So let’s see what you (and I) need to do on a daily basis, to make sure you capitalize off their consumer minded intentions.
(For this particular example only: we’re primarily referring to an offline retail business and or service provider.)) First and foremost you’re going to have to train your staff and (initially) put at least one person in charge of inexpensively testing this first battlefield tested marketing strategy/approach.
1.) The first thing you must do on a daily basis: Here’s the very first thing you and or your trained staff does the very first time, that a brand new potential first time customer (and or) customer walks into your store!
Stop leading with the stale and virtually ineffective “may I help you find something?” opening stuff already!
Instead, have them ask, “Is this your very first visit to our blank today?” No matter how they respond, you or your trained staff suggest, “did you get a chance to register for our monthly free drawing yet?” We guarantee (at least) two free grand prize winners that get X and it’s valued at Y!
Now, you proceed to ask if you can help them find any particular thing etc.! Got it cadets! Now then!
Your Long Term Profitability Is Only As Good As Your Long Term Marketing Strategies!
2.) The second thing you must do on a daily basis: If they brought kids with them (say) twelve and under. Or if your business and or service caters more to adults and teenagers between the ages of X & Y etc.
You then proceed to let then know, that simply by registering their kid or kids in your appropriate monthly free drawing “birthday club” today, the parent and or guardian automatically gets re-entered into the free drawing (they hopefully) just signed up for, an additional time!
Which you point out, obviously increases their chances of winning! And you also point out, that’s just your way of rewarding your most active brand new first time customers!
3.) The third thing you must do on a daily basis: Now then, once they’ve done those two things or at least one of them! Now you or your trained staff, says because you’ve done X! No matter what X is!
You automatically qualify for our bring a friend and or love to our store on your very next visit program! (Okay, it’s not the most original theme I’ll grant you that!)
But (entrepreneur) these type of time tested proven marketing incentives flat out work! Anyway, you now offer them their choice of three potential-time sensitive- gift certificates, that are valued at X% off the purchasers first X number of purchases! (With no potential long term profit repelling minimum purchase requirements attached!)
You’re trying to build rapport here and therefore long term customer loyalty! So these gift certificates might target senior citizens, teenagers between the ages of X & Y and or younger kids (say) twelve and under.
Your job is to inexpensively test, monitor and tweak your results! And tentatively listen to the extremely valuable feedback of you clientele!
Entrepreneur, you start with these three incredibly simple long term, battlefield tested marketing strategies and monitor and adjust your results as you go!
And you will have taken three giant steps toward preventing your cash starved struggling small business and or service from eventually going broke! Don’t you agree? In part two, you’ll discover at least three more proven money making secrets! So please stay tuned!Until then….
Please share your extremely valuable comments (in the comments section below) that you can apply to your business, product or service in the next 30 days or less!
As always, if you got any value out of this post, please Digg or tweet this. Thanks!
And be sure you grab your explosive free 22 step small business marketing idea kit series, because it will help you increase your profits by at least 25% in the next 90 days or less.
And help you master your effective communication in marketing skills.(No matter what your particular niche market is.)
It’s a $97 dollar value and it’s free!
I’ve recently learned the importance of good landing pages. Is there a particular WordPress plugin you recommend for that?
Unfortunately I don’t Zach!
Although my current capture page was done using Optimize Press 1.0, I took a class
by WordPress Queen Christina Hills and learned (somehow!) how to use it!LOL!
You can check it out if you want, simply by going to https://www.youcanmarketonlinenow.com/sales
But I would also suggest you find yourself a capable WP expert and or Internet marketing expert
that uses WP and or one of the many excellent capture page building software like Optimize Press 2.0,
and start testing various approaches with your target audience.
I can only imagine that your firms gets tons of questions, so a free special report, podcast, webinar replay and or multi video
series that they opt in for will probably definitely start generating some semi warm prospects.
Nile Flores is an expert in WP and I know she knows the various lead capture page software quite well.
Maybe shoot her a quick email via her contact page on her blog or private message her after you ask that same question in our
FB group.
You ca also contact one of my online Coaches directly via her website and just mention I referred you. Her name is Dotty Scott,
and she specializes in helping small business owners build responsive state of the art websites and capture pages etc;
using WP.
Her site address is http://www.premiumwebsites.net, she’s a genius when it comes to WP!
And personally, I’d love to toss an assist with regards to helping you create your free lead magnet giveaway!
Also, does your firm (or)have you personally seriously considered giving free periodic 90 minute
introductory workshops, maybe once a month on any various subjects of interest to your target audince?
If might prove to be very profitable; for instance, you might a free 90 minute workshop entitled:
“Seven Questions You Definitely Need Good Answers To Before You Hire Any Lawyer For X!”
Or, “Seven (r X) Number Of Things You Don’t Really Need To Hire A Lawyer To Do For You!”
People love to e let into the loop and shown the insider stuff. Yo have to do a little inexpensive
testing, but I’ll bet you quickly develop a sweet spot niche that you or your firm could build a brand
around!
Thanks for stopping by! And please don’t hesitate to contact me any time you wanna brainstorm some
marketing techniques, strategies and or tactics! Let’s strive to make 2015 & beyond some of our finest moments!
Hi Mark, I not only enjoyed what you had to say but how you wrote it. Your writing style kept me engrossed all the way through.
Sue that is such an awesome compliment!
Thank you so much! I honestly wish I could say that it was by design, but I just write!LOL!
But I’m so glad you found some value in the post! As always thanks for your
incredibly kind words and for your continuous support!
I truly appreciate both!
Very powerful post Mark! Rapport is very important once you loose the client on that first impression then like you say they are gone. However this is a skill that has to be learned.
That is so true Siphosith!
And like you pointed out, it’s definitely worth
taking the time and effort to develop this skill.
Thanks so much for stopping by
and sharing your extremely valuable insights!
And for your continuous support! Both are greatly appreciated!