How to make it rain in the desert…
August 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
They say that water is hard to come by in the desert…
You wouldn’t know that by the 3 inch deep river I had flowing through my driveway the other day. It’s the second time this month. Water EVERYWHERE (including the drips from my lights in the kitchen).
Here in Arizona, we’re in the middle of the Monsoon season.
That’s when we see proof that, under the right conditions, it CAN rain in the desert. And often times, it can rain a LOT.
With the economy the way it is, you could say we’re in a little bit of a desert of our own.
After all, money’s tight (or at least that’s what the media is telling everyone), “things are tough,” the markets are in turmoil.
Sales are down… lead generation is down…
So what is a business owner supposed to do?
If you know how to create the right mix of conditions, you can make it rain ANYWAY.
And making it rain starts with generating LEADS.
Here are four possible ways to boost your own lead generation efforts:
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Reposition Yourself as a Quick Fix for Pain
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A year ago, maybe you marketed your products and services as solutions to problems, or as a way to help your clients and customers improve their lives.
That used to work just fine.
But right now, when things are “tough,” investing in solutions sinks on the priority list.
But there’s STILL one thing that almost everyone will pay to fix. And that is PAIN.
So you’ve got to position what you’re offering as a way to relieve pain.
And when you’re generating leads, the quicker you can realistically promise relief the better.
People will ALWAYS pay to relieve pain.
So ask yourself, “How can I transform my lead generation from a SELLING activity to a PAIN RELIEVING activity?”
The key here is to remember that you’ve got to identify the REAL pain in your market, the stuff that’s hiding under the surface.
So if you’re marketing to CEOs of 5 million dollar corporations, the obvious pain might be a big dip in profits. But the underlying pain might be a whole lot different.
What does a big dip in profits MEAN to a CEO? Answer that question and you’ll be inching towards the real pain.
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Take Advantage of the Secret You Know
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In marketing, the better you know the real hopes, fears and desires of your market, the better you’ll do.
It makes sense doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, that’s why so many promotions end up tanking… Whoever puts them together misjudges what is going on inside the minds of the market.
Instead of creating a system that can be tweaked and improved over time, they create a promotion that’s little more than a crapshoot.
But when there’s turmoil, that gives you an edge.
Because you have a much better idea about what everyone is thinking about.
That’s HUGE when it comes to generating leads for your business.
All you need to do is put your newfound knowledge into action. Connect to what’s already going on in the minds of your market.
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If You Sell It, Give It Away First… THEN Sell It Again
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Frankly, I have no idea why this works. But it does.
In fact, I know of one consultant who does just this… quite successfully.
He gives away much of his best advice through his books and other writings.
And when his clients pay his six-figure consulting fee, what type of counsel does he provide?
Much of the VERY SAME information.
Of course the advice is tailored to their specific needs, but the principles are the same.
To bump up YOUR lead generation, consider giving some of your best stuff away… on the house.
The trick is to get the positioning right so that you can LEVERAGE the value you are providing instead of creating the perception of being an oracle of f*ree advice.
If you’re selling hard goods, you’ll have to think about how to apply this one. This strategy will still work, you just have to be creative.
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When In Doubt, Make Someone ELSE Look Good
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One of the most effective ways to generate MORE highly qualified leads is to take advantage of the leads someone else has already created.
What businesses around you have already INVESTED the time, money and effort to create leads that might also be interested in your products or services?
What could you offer to those leads (through the company they already have a relationship with) to enhance the image of the company that generated them?
The trick here is to position your offer so that it does actually deliver a HIGH amount of value to both the business and the leads they’ve generated.
You’ll make them look good AND create your own leads at the same time.
If you want to talk about “making some rain” for your company, take me up on my offer for a complimentary 30 minute Strategy Session by visiting the link below.
We’ll talk about how to increase the flow of leads into your business FAST and figure out if I can help you make that happen in a big way.
Here’s the link:
P.S. I’m using strategies just like these to help a current client generate about 2,000 new qualified leads a month for his business.
Converting at 8%!
July 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Sometimes, “professional marketing advice” stinks…
In this case, I’m talking about my own advice.
Specifically, my past advice about using the Google Content Network.
That’s the first cousin of the Google Adwords system, where you can pay Google to display targeted ads along side its search results.
The Content Network is where Google displays your ads on its network of Partner sites… NOT in Google’s own search results.
So you might see your car parts ad displayed somewhere in an article about car repair on about.com.
In the past, the Content Network has been a little like throwing stuff up against the wall hoping something sticks.
Rarely did much stick.
But I’m in the middle of an experience right now with a client that is changing my mind… FAST… about Google’s Content Network.
In this case, my client’s ads on the Content Network are actually converting BETTER than the keyword campaigns.
In fact, the Content Network campaign is converting at about 8%.
That’s NOT clickthrough rate. That 8% is the conversion rate. 8% of the folks who click on the ad actually become LEADS.
And the cost-per-lead is WAY below what my client is paying for his keyword campaigns. About 50% less in some cases.
Just goes to show you, marketing is about the numbers, not about opinion.
Educated guessing is a place to start. And of course, Monday morning quarterbacking is a favorite past time of many marketing “experts.”
For me, I’m happy to get egg on my face. It means I’ve learned something that I can turn around and use to help grow my clients’ businesses.
If YOU haven’t tried advertising on Google’s Content Network, give it a shot. The results might really surprise you.
Here’s the bottom line:
Good marketing is marketing that works. And if you ever meet anyone who can guarantee what exactly that is on the FRONT end… just run the other way.
Unfortunately, you can’t be sure good marketing is GOOD until the results come in.
And that’s when the real work begins.
Looking for a Few SERIOUS Entrepreneurs
May 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
If you’re a small business owner, and you’re interested in growing your business… Take a look at the video below for a huge value:
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Converting at 53%!
May 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment
So the latest lead generating web page I wrote for one of my clients is converting prospects to sign-ups at 53%…
That’s one out of every TWO visitors taking the “right” action for my client.
I’m pretty happy with that and so is my client. But I’m not telling you this to brag about how “great” I am. Okay, maybe just a little bit… 
The real reason I’m highlighting it is because results like this are caused by something that every business owner needs to focus on.
Results like this come when…
You’ve got the right offer for the right market (at the right time) and you’re using effective sales copy to get the job done.
It’s a beautiful thing when it works.
But it’s about MORE than just your product…
About MORE than just your market…
And even MORE than just your sales copy…
It’s about ALL of those things working together at the right time. Because when that happens, a huge amount of money can be created very quickly, with very little effort.
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If for some reason, your “Market Meltdown” copy of Small Business Big Results didn’t make it to your REAL mailbox this month, you can download your copy right here:
Download Small Business Big Results…
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If you’re not seeing huge results in your business right now, then one (or more) of the pieces I just mentioned aren’t quite right.
Maybe your offer is wrong…
Maybe your market isn’t receptive…
Or maybe it’s just the wrong TIME for what you’re marketing.
How do you figure it out? You test quickly, you implement quickly and you never, EVER develop the fear of taking risks.
Sometimes the difference between huge results and no results is a very small thing.
The quicker you can FIND that thing, the better off you’ll be.
Market Meltdown: How to Transform Tough Times of “Doom and Gloom” Into Huge Profits for Your Business
April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dear Business Builder,
It’s almost unfair…
But when the “invisible hand” of the markets moves to create the financial “catastrophe” like we’re all experiencing right now…
The huge opportunity that is plopped in your lap as a business owner really tilts the playing field in your favor.
It’s an opportunity for higher sales and bigger profits.
And despite what every media talking head is spouting, times like these are great for business. Especially if you’re smart and know how to leverage what’s going on for your benefit.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
What’s the biggest challenge you face in creating a successful marketing promotion?
Is it getting the right list of prospects for your offer? Probably not.
Is it creating a product that someone actually wants? Perhaps, but that’s really not so hard.
More often than not, the biggest challenge is simply to get your promotion noticed. To build enough empathy with your reader that he actually sticks around to hear everything you’ve got to offer.
You Can’t Sell Squat With
Promotions That No One Reads
That’s why the most successful marketing promotions start off by meeting the reader exactly where he is… at the moment he opens your promotion.
If you start out by spouting off the virtues of investing in a particular stock or investment, and your prospect just got downsized by his Fortune 500 employer, you’re going to lose him.
But if you meet him where he’s at (he’s in a pickle) and help him realize you understand just how tough times are, then you’ll have a chance of getting him to stick around long enough to hear what you’re saying.
The trick is really to know what your market is thinking…
And that’s why turbulent times like these (where everyone’s talking about impending doom) are such a huge opportunity for you as a business owner.
The secret is that times like these give you a huge leg-up in overcoming the big marketing challenge I just mentioned. “Tough times” let you peer inside the minds of your target market. And that means…
You Have the Inside Scoop on What Your Prospects
and Customers are Already Thinking About
You know what they’re thinking about…
You know what they’re worried about…
You know what’s “keeping them up at night…”
That’s gold for a marketer or business owner.
But don’t get me wrong…
This isn’t about manipulating your customers simply by scaring them to death. That’s an extremely shortsighted view of business and, in the end, a really dumb thing to do. Push them over the edge and you’ll lose them for good.
What I’m suggesting is Business 101: using everything available to you to maximize your profits.
The fact is, if you’re running a reputable business—marketing products and services that truly benefit your customers—it’s even more important in times like these that they hear from you. That they hear about how you can help them.
But before you jump in… there’s one very important ingredient you need to leverage what’s going on and maximize the results for your business. That ingredient is:
S-P-E-E-D
Think back to the “old days.” Before the internet.
Any direct mail promotion would take a few weeks to go from idea to hitting mailboxes. A LOT could happen in that amount of time.
Stock markets could crash… entire industries could disappear.
A promotion had to take a snapshot of what your target customer was probably thinking and feeling at one particular moment in time. When that promotion hit mailboxes, the chance was slim that your target market was still thinking those exact things.
Of course, if you know what you’re doing, a slim chance is all you need to make millions. (Plenty of folks do.)
But why stop at one million when you can make tens of millions today? With far less effort, risk or expense?
But you need to be fast. Fast enough to take an event like the collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns and turn it into sales for your business.
Or fast enough to take the latest housing numbers and use them to your advantage.
And that’s why the “contact your customers 10-20 times a year” idea is going to force you to leave a lot of money on the table. Money that should be going right to your bottom line.
Consider this…
If you have something valuable to tell your prospects and customers, exactly how often do you think you should be contacting them?
Once a month? Once a week?
If someone had a product or service that could transform your life, just how often would you want to hear about it?
How About EVERY SINGLE DAY?
Increasing the number of times you contact your customers is one of the smartest things you can do for your business. And staying that closely involved in the conversation that’s going on in your target market will mean bigger profits for you.
The internet makes it possible and profitable.
Plus… you won’t be guessing anymore about what your market’s thinking. You’ll know. And you’ll have the information you need to position your products and services the smart way.
Tough times are a huge opportunity to profit. The only question is whether or not you’ll act fast enough…
As always, if you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at info@leistermg.com.
Now go get started…
How to Profit from the Bear Stearns Deal
March 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
So Bear Stearns is about to get sold for a “paltry” 236 million dollars. That’s down from a value of about $20 billion only a year ago.
Now before we go any farther… let it be known that I’m no financial expert. So please don’t take this as investment advice to go out and buy up JP Morgan shares.
This is a marketing and business letter after all.
So my financial “analysis” here (if you can even call it that) is just to illustrate a larger idea… it’s extremely oversimplified. You’ve been warned.
BUT…
When I see something like the Bear Stearns deal go down, it’s not my financial ears that perk up, it’s my business ears that pay attention.
So in this case, JP Morgan is about to purchase a (struggling) billion dollar business for peanuts.
JP Morgan is the face on the deal, but the government is behind them every step of the way.
So they’re acquiring Bear Stearns for $2 per share with their risk backed by Uncle Sam. Their risk is virtually zippo.
Sure there are possible future pitfalls. But all in all, kind of an amazing turn of events.
Plus… provided the big wigs in charge can push the sale past angry shareholders (who are about to get the shaft and could get more return on their investment simply by putting a FOR SALE sign on the Bear Stearns building in Manhattan…), JP Morgan will enter the prime brokerage business overnight. And they’ll walk away with a prime brokerage business that’s about DOUBLE the size of Bank of America.
Not bad for a weekend’s worth of negotiations…
So what does all this mean?
It’s just one more example of how someone ALWAYS thrives in turbulent times.
Why shouldn’t it be you and your business?
Here are some ideas about how to turn all of this turbulence to your advantage:
1. Trouble in the market gives you an unending supply of TIMELY “hooks” to use in your marketing to capture the attention of your market. How can you use this “f*ree” material to get more attention for YOUR products and services?
2. Trouble in the market creates opportunities others will be too scared to see. While everyone else is pulling back, standing on the sidelines, waiting to see what the other guy’s going to do, the action takers swoop in and capture opportunities that might have been pipedreams in other circumstances (just take a look at JP Morgan… they’re about to get a multi-billion dollar business practically for f*ree.) How do you spot the opportunities? You just have to look at things differently. Don’t look at things and accept what everyone else is saying about them. Look at them and ask, “How can I use this to my advantage?”
3. Times of trouble give you and your business the opportunity to stand up and lead. People want to be led. They want advice about how to deal with the problems. And if you can help them, then why not march up to the front and start leading? Do you think that might be valuable to your customers, clients and prospects? Just think what that could do for your positioning in the marketplace?
4. Times of trouble make it easy for you to stand out… especially if you’re preaching something OTHER than the doom and gloom that most people are getting in the media. There’s always hope… there’s always a way out… there’s ALWAYS someone thriving in the midst of chaos. Start talking about THAT and your business is going to stick out like a sore thumb. In good times, you invest a lot of money in marketing and advertising to do just that.
Apparently, things might just get “worse” before they get better. But is that a reason you and your business shouldn’t prosper anyway?
I don’t think so. Good luck.
How to Double Your Sales
March 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Just something quick to think about today.
What’s the quickest way to double your sales?
Here’s my answer:
Stop selling what YOU have to sell, and start selling what people want to BUY.
But that doesn’t mean you have to start selling something different.
Let me explain using an example from my own business: copywriting/marketing consulting.
I’ve never had a client who woke up in the morning and said, “I feel like buying some copy today. Today, I’m going to hire a copywriter.”
Despite this fact, I used to try to sell “copywriting services.”
I don’t do that anymore.
No one cares about those services. Especially business owners.
What do business owners care about? What do they want?
They want more sales, with less effort, less hassle, less risk.
That’s what they want to buy, so that’s what I sell.
I use copywriting and marketing to help deliver that result, but that’s NOT what I sell.
No one wants to buy it
And as it turns out, it’s a whole lot easier to sell something your market actually wants to buy.
Your clients and customers are already buying something from you. Do you know if you’re selling the same thing they’re actually buying?
If you want to double YOUR sales, how can you reposition what you’re selling and transform it into something your market already WANTS to buy?
That’s a million dollar question.
“You want to fly across the country to see ME?”
March 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Attention Freelance Copywriters…
This is a message I never thought I’d write (in a MILLION years).
Ever since I released my guide about how to become a six-figure copywriter, I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback about it.
Feedback about how my journey has helped other copywriters take a step or two forward on their journey to build a copywriting business.
And as I’ve begun talking with some of my readers on the phone, I’ve gotten requests for more help.
Requests from beginning copywriters who want to jump start their business.
And requests from seasoned copywriters who can’t seem to attract a steady supply of new clients.
Even a request from a copywriter to fly across the country, and pay me for a day of my time to help him grow his business.
That was a first for me. And it caught me a little bit by surprise.
After all, I’m not really one for the spotlight.
But after talking with a few of my mentors, I’ve realized that it is pretty irresponsible of me NOT to try to reach out and help the people who want (and can benefit from) my help to build a copywriting business.
So that’s what I’m going to do. In the end, I’m a teacher. That’s just what I do.
If me standing up and doing my best to help copywriters puts me in the spotlight. Well then, so be it. I’m still gonna be the same person.
So here’s what this is about.
It’s about HOW I’m going to help copywriters build their business.
I really hate the word “coaching,” because the current examples of that are pretty weak in my view.
Many of the “coaching” programs out there are more like “let me take your money and spend time telling you how great I am.”
I’ve been in some of those programs… and they stink. That’s putting it nicely.
And the reason they stink is because you feel like you are a number. And you realize that ultimately, the person you’re paying doesn’t REALLY care about your success. People come, people go. And sometimes, you end up leaving more confused than when you started.
I guess you could call what I’m proposing “UN-coaching.” Perhaps mentoring would be better.
The point is to get YOU on track. On YOUR track. Not to have you learn my “system for getting clients.”
That might work for me. It might not work for you.
This is email only mentoring. You’ll get your own password protected place online for us to communicate. Everything will be archived so you can go back and look anytime you want.
The fee is $400 per month. You pay month-to-month. No commitment.
That means if we work together and help you get ONE client who pays you $4,000, you will have broken even on 10 months of the fee.
I’m not promising to deliver clients to you on a silver platter. I am promising that I will help you learn the very same skills and strategies I use to do that for myself.
And now a few warnings. A short list of things that no one else ever mentioned when I signed up for their mentoring/coaching program.
1. Please don’t sign-up if $400 is a lot of money for you right now. I’ve done that. And I’ve suffered because of the additional pressure that put on me to “work things out.” It’s not worth it. Just wait a bit until $400 won’t create too much of a cash flow problem.
2. Please don’t sign-up if you aren’t going to take action quickly. That will frustrate both of us. You know if that’s you.
3. Please don’t sign-up if you want someone to hold your hand for the next 2 years. I won’t accept your money that long. And if I haven’t given you enough in a few months to truly transform your business, then something is wrong. This isn’t a club, and you won’t get any added bonus for saying you’re in Jason Leister’s mentoring program. The person would probably say “Jason WHO?”
If you are interested, I’m ready to start. Despite what you might think, there is TONS of opportunity out there for you.
That’s not really the challenge. The challenge is more figuring out WHICH opportunities are the RIGHT ones for you.
If you are interested, visit my mentoring page to get all of the information you need.
I’m really offering a combination of 4 things in this program: advice about WHAT to do, accountability to help get those things DONE, inspiration so you never forget what you are REALLY capable of and action steps which is the KEY to everything.
Risk Reversal for Service Businesses?
February 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The traditional idea of “risk reversal” as a marketing strategy for a service business has always rubbed me the wrong way.
You hear a lot of marketing gurus talk up a storm about it. And it always sounds so logical and easy when they say it from the stage (usually as part of their pitch).
But when you get back to your office and start trying to put it into practice, it doesn’t seem quite as simple.
At least not for me.
Part of the problem is me of course. And the big “personal accountability” streak I seem to have been afflicted with. Getting up in the morning is a risk. If you can’t handle it, just go back to sleep.
The problem is that “personal accountability” is a bit of a hard sell in the marketplace.
But the bigger challenge is really about how to apply the idea of “risk reversal” when you’re NOT selling a product.
Risk reversal is fairly straightforward if you’re selling widgets. After all, if someone returns a widget, chances are, you can resell that widget.
So while you say that “all the risk is on MY shoulders” when you’re selling a widget… the truth is, the amount of risk you’re accepting is pretty darn small.
But what about when you’re selling services… and doing it in a business where there really ARE no guarantees?
Take my business–marketing consulting and copywriting.
I help my clients leverage the value in their businesses and create higher bottom line profits using some very powerful tools: proven marketing/business strategy and copywriting that actually gets people to take action.
But here’s where I’ve always run into a problem trying to add in the idea of risk reversal.
As a business owner, should I REALLY accept the risk for the success of a project when I do not control all of the factors that are required for that success?
After all, I can’t control whether my client’s product is a good one.
And I certainly don’t control whether my client is marketing a product that someone actually wants.
I used to accept that risk anyway… I put the burden of proof that I could deliver real results squarely on my shoulders.
Risk Reversal 101.
But I eventually realized that was a bit like lying down in the road and giving my client the choice to drive over me or not… based on how the market reacted to his products.
It was painful… and very expensive. Mainly because there was little accountability required on my client’s part to accept a proposal like that.
Think about it:
Do you really want clients and customers to do business with you simply because there is NO risk to them?
Where there is no risk, there is no accountability. There is no “skin in the game.” That’s a problem.
Eventually, I discovered a better way.
Perhaps you can apply this to your business. Here’s what I discovered:
Sometimes, the solution to a problem is to realize that the “Problem” is just a symptom of the REAL problem.
I finally realized that the REAL problem wasn’t the idea of risk reversal at all. It was simply how I was viewing my client/customer.
Let me explain what I mean.
Many businesses view their customers/clients as adversaries. The business owner has to convince the customer/client to buy the product or service in question.
Instead of reversing the risk, which makes the boundary between your business and your prospect even more pronounced, consider this:
Why not get up out of your chair, walk around to your PROSPECT’S side of the table and have a seat right beside him?
I’m speaking figuratively here…
Align your goals with your prospect’s goals and accept shared risk as “partners” for what you’re trying to achieve together.
That’s not a hard sell when your goals are aligned with the goals of your client or customer. When you succeed, they succeed.
For me, that’s why I’ve stopped looking for “clients.” I’ve stopped providing “deliverables…” And I’ve stopped accepting responsibility for things that are beyond my control.
Now what I’m really after are STRATEGIC “PARTNERS.”
Businesses who are looking to create big results and share the risk of getting to those goals.
Sure I still charge a fee for my work, regardless of the outcomes. But that’s because value is being exchanged.
But the majority of my compensation comes when I help my client succeed.
Now there is one problem with this strategy. To get prospects that are savvy enough to see the value in a situation like this, there’s a good chance you’ll need to tweak your marketing systems to generate a higher quality prospect.
I know I did.
If you’re in the service business or offer a service related product somewhere in your business, then give this some thought.
Instead of “reversing the risk,” try “minimizing” the risk and arranging things so you are perceived as a partner of your client, not just a service provider.
And have the courage to stand up and say that you can’t accept responsibility for things that are outside of your control. But you CAN accept shared responsibility for helping your client achieve their goals… as long as you are both rewarded for doing that.
Test Copywriter Catalog Promo Starting to Hit
February 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Just got the first responses from some of the folks on my list that a test promo for Copywriter Catalog is starting to hit mailboxes.
Once I get the results from this, I’ll figure out whether to roll it out or keep testing. I always enjoy that “calm before the storm” when you’re waiting for a mailing to hit. Even if it is just a test mailing.
You can download the whole thing at the link below…