*** Over 30 days, I’m giving you several “big ideas” to solve real-life marketing challenges.  To submit your problem for consideration, follow the format today’s subscriber used, and then hit “reply” with your own specific details and challenges.  My assistant will filter through these replies and forward me the best ones to review.  MOST important – if you like what you are reading, show me some love, and forward this information around to a few of your friends and associates ***

Today’s question comes from Grant Werstiuk, who says: “Craig, I am a freelance personal trainer in Red Deer, Alberta Canada.  My primary clientele is women, often housewives, 25-45. (although I wouldn’t mind branching out to men and athletes)

Red Deer is an oil town, almost everyone in the city either works in the oilfield or works in a business closely related to it.  So there is no shortage of money.  Even during the peak of the recession people were buying $60,000 trucks and dumping $40,000 of upgrades into them.

Most everyone here has an old school red neck mentality.  Not inbred; but small town Texas.

Its tough to get them to jump at the chance of dropping $500-$1,000 on a healthy lifestyle.  I advertise on Kijiji.com (think Craig’s list if you haven’t heard of it).  I use a long style ad, and not sure if I should go shorter, as in maybe people are clicking away before reading it all.

That being said I can get 750 ‘views’ on my ad per month.  Just really crappy conversion. What kinds of things can encourage not only reading the whole ad, but getting them to call or email for an appointment.  (And to keep the appointment!)  If I can get single moms to drop $600 I know I have some potential, I just need to do it more often or with higher amounts.

Thanks in advance for any advice. Also a huge thanks for the simple and practical info you regularly provide!”

O.K., so today I’m going to spare no pain in answering Grant’s question.  It’s not going to be pretty, but it’s going to be a REAL answer to his question.  The kind of answer your dad used to give you that made you hate him, but after about an hour or so, you realized he was so right it wasn’t even funny.

Ready?

Good, here goes.  First of all, I’m not so sure Grant is going to be big in Texas after this… nor is he going to win any “How To Win Friends And Improve Cross-Border Relations” contest any time soon, but I will still answer his question.

Second, I don’t care what kind of business you’re in, but the cold hard truth is, when your opinion of your prospects is as unfavorable as this… there’s no way you’re ever going to make any money.

Here, let me give you an analogy: It’s like believing deep down inside, that your wife is an idiot.  Yet, somehow… you also believe if you work hard enough, you’re going to have a meaningful relationship with her.

This simply isn’t going to happen.  So my first advice is to either go somewhere else where you are more in tune with your environment, or… look for the good in people where you are.  When you are looking for something inside of people — whatever that something is — generally you will find it.

As to prospecting on something similar to Craig’s List, and wondering if your copy is too long, that’s like wondering whether you should put more gas in your tank, if your car doesn’t start because you’re out of oil.

One thing has nothing to do with the other.

The problem seems to be that you are looking for women who have a few dollars to spare, who are interested in getting in shape.  And last time I checked, people who have money don’t spend a lot of time on Craig’s list, nor do fitness enthusiasts.

Which to me, are your primary criteria for your prospects.  Not ‘people who hang out on Craig’s list.’  Your low conversions have nothing to do with your copy, and everything to do with who’s reading your copy.

Bottom line: you are prospecting in the wrong place.  It’s like shopping for a Mercedes… at Wal-Mart.  They don’t sell Mercedes there, and no matter how much time you spend combing the aisles… and no matter how much money you’re willing to pay… and no matter how hard you work at it… there are just NO Mercedes to be found at Wal-Mart.

I’d buy a mailing list of people who are interested in fitness (ask your list broker how to figure that out) and send them some direct-mail pieces.  If you use two-step lead generation to do this, you will, no doubt succeed.  In this process, you’ll also be able to figure out who your prospects are, so you can begin buying more specific mailing lists in the future, and lower your client acquisition cost.

But honestly, unless you get that first issue fixed – meaning, until you have a better opinion of your customers — you’re going to have a long road in front of you.  That’s just the universal law of your subconscious running your life.

Also, I disagree with your assessment of your marketplace.  If people are dumping $100,000 into their pickup trucks, there are a bunch of them who can easily afford to pay you for training.

I would imagine your message needs to change a little, and you just need to find which one of these people also want to get, or stay, in shape.  Heck, maybe buying a mailing list of people who have just purchased new trucks might work.

Give it a shot.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  The REAL DEAL?  Just got this in from Pete Kici out of Orlando, Florida:  “Craig, Hope your doing well.  Your book is the F#(&!*% real deal,you make things simple enough to do,for example I used some thing you talk about in Chapter 2 or 3 in a presentation I gave today, I said “Remember you’re in the XX (intentionally omitted – read Chapter 2 & 3 to find out) business not the I want to sell you something business.”  Everyone kind of looked at me with the deer in the head lights look and nodded their heads, like WOW, you’re right!  Amazing — THANK YOU!”

Get 2 FREE issues of this newsletter PLUS… 18 Bonuses! (Yes, Eighteen!) Get CDs, DVDs, Audio Interviews, and more — including two free copywriting and marketing critiques.  Discover why Seductive Selling is now read in 14 countries world-wide!  (watch the video and see all the bonuses you get)

Maximum Money FAQs

Maximum Money QAFs

NEW: Lead generation, copywriting products and consulting services

If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates.  And if you have any comments, just leave them here on my blog:

Midnight tonight is your FINAL shot at getting the current month’s issue of Seductive Selling – and now you can try it for free, and get 18 REAL bonuses (Audio Interviews, CDs, DVD, copywriting lessons, marketing critiques, and more) free, when you test-drive it

Seductive Selling is read in 14 countries and has been published monthly for the last five years.  Here’s what you’re missing out on, in this month’s issue:

*  7 Live Marketing and copywriting examples of ads, sales letters and lead generation pieces

*  6 ways one of the members of my Mastermind Group is achieving MASSIVE success in his traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ business!  He’s having his best year ever, in fact – and that says a lot when you’ve been in business for almost 26 years

*  A complete re-write and detailed analysis of an ad that sells directly to homeowners.  You’ll discover critical headline and sub-headline analysis… a ‘reason why’ you’re running this ad… how to layout an ad… how to use photos in the ad… how to create highly-perceived guarantees… how to create an offer… how to track your results… and more!

*  How to use ‘checklists’ in your marketing to arouse curiosity and compel your buyers to take action!

*  A HUGE mistake many marketers are making, that make sselling completely unproductive and unrewarding, and… incredibly frustrating!

*  How to sell extremely high-priced (and over-priced) items!  (on page 5)

*  In this month’s Q & A column, we cover part 1 of “How to open up your sales letters, websites, or space ads,” including:  3 ‘approaches’ to have when it comes to writing your openings… the 6 BIGGEST mistakes people make when writing their opening and how to overcome them… and 13 different kinds of openings you can use!

*  This month’s Audio Success CD includes an interview with someone who just finished a product launch that did over 6-figures and increased their market share dramatically.  On this call, he covers:  the most important strategies he uses that allows him to differentiate himself in a VERY crowded marketplace… how to start, maintain, and grow a successful continuity program… mistakes made during his launch… how to run effective teleseminars including: how to drive people to the call… how to get them to show up on the call… how to KEEP them on the call… selling on the call, and… the most common mistakes people make when they’re running these teleseminars!

*  Also included in this issue: something you must consider before advertising on facebook… cool urls… critical misconceptions about making money (page 9)… the conclusion of “7 Ways To Outsmart The Recession”… and an incredible story about a successful 10-year old and the key to her confidence!

Get all this and more, with your free test-drive of Seductive Selling, NOW!

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  Listen to this:  ” I thought last months newsletter was the best business building newsletter I had ever seen.   Thank you for all of your help, and may God bless you and your family.  Sincerely, Jeff Cotterman, Brownsburg, IN”

Less than 2 days left to get the current month’s issue of Seductive Selling – and now you can try it for free, and get 18 REAL bonuses (Audio Interviews, CDs, DVD, copywriting lessons, marketing critiques, and more) just for test-driving it.

Seductive Selling is read in 14 countries and has been published monthly for the last five years.  Here’s what you’re missing out on, in this month’s issue:

*  7 Live Marketing and copywriting examples of ads, sales letters and lead generation pieces

*  6 ways one of the members of my Mastermind Group is achieving MASSIVE success in his traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ business!  He’s having his best year ever, in fact – and that says a lot when you’ve been in business for almost 26 years

*  A complete re-write and detailed analysis of an ad that sells directly to homeowners.  You’ll discover critical headline and sub-headline analysis… a ‘reason why’ you’re running this ad… how to layout an ad… how to use photos in the ad… how to create highly-perceived guarantees… how to create an offer… how to track your results… and more!

*  How to use ‘checklists’ in your marketing to arouse curiosity and compel your buyers to take action!

*  A HUGE mistake many marketers are making, that make sselling completely unproductive and unrewarding, and… incredibly frustrating!

*  How to sell extremely high-priced (and over-priced) items! (on page 5)

*  In this month’s Q & A column, we cover part 1 of “How to open up your sales letters, websites, or space ads,” including:  3 ‘approaches’ to have when it comes to writing your openings… the 6 BIGGEST mistakes people make when writing their opening and how to overcome them… and 13 different kinds of openings you can use!

*  This month’s Audio Success CD includes and interview with someone who just finished a product launch that did over 6-figures and increased their market share dramatically.  On this call, he covers:  the most important strategies he uses that allows him to differentiate himself in a VERY crowded marketplace… how to start, maintain, and grow a successful continuity program… mistakes made during his launch… how to run effective teleseminars including: how to drive people to the call… how to get them to show up on the call… how to KEEP them on the call… selling on the call, and… the most common mistakes people make when they’re running these teleseminars!

*  Also included in this issue: something to consider before advertising on facebook… cool urls… misconceptions about making money (page 9)… the conclusion of “7 Ways To Outsmart The Recession”… and an incredible story about a successful 10-year old and the key to her confidence.

Get all this and more, with your free test-drive of Seductive Selling, NOW!

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  Listen to this:  “Craig, I want to thank you for the Seductive Selling Newsletters and the Audio CD’s.  It’s very difficult to put down into words just what your newsletters and CD’s have done to change my life.  The best way I can explain it is that I feel as if I’ve been re-born into an entire new world I didn’t know existed — a world FULL of opportunities.
My story is not unlike many others out there struggling day by day, just trying to keep their head above water.  I so related when you discussed the embarrassment of having to charge diapers at the grocery store.  I’ve been there too!  There is NOTHING worse than being a grown man walking into a grocery store hoping your credit card is not maxed out so you can buy groceries for your kids.
What people don’t realize is that mentors and coaches can only lead you to a door.  It’s up to the person being coached to open that door.  Like you’ve said so many times before, once I opened one door, it lead me to another and another… opportunity is endless as long as you continue opening doors for yourself and that’s what I plan on doing.
Craig, I want to thank you again and I want you to know you have inspired me to improve my life for myself and my family.”   Bill Parlaman – Chester Springs, PA

Full disclosure: months later, after I received this comment, Bill went on to become a member of my Mastermind Group, and he is now on pace to earn over $200,000 this year

Check out how Seductive Selling changed his life, now.

*** Over 30 days, I’m giving you several “big ideas” to solve real-life marketing challenges.  To submit your problem for consideration, follow the format today’s subscriber used, and then hit “reply” with your own specific details and challenges.  My assistant will filter through these replies and forward me the best ones to review.  MOST important – if you like what you are reading, show me some love, and forward this information around to a few of your friends and associates ***

Today’s question comes from Mike Jasky, who says: “Hi Craig, I own a Laundromat in NYC. My problem is convincing my customers (blue collar and lower middle class) to try my other services.  Any help would be appreciated.”

You know what?  This is a really interesting question, because I don’t know anyone who hasn’t either changed professions and started selling new stuff… started a new business… or began promoting someone else’s business to make some extra cash.

And smart people know, the easiest way to make money is to contact your existing customers and solicit them.  Since they already have a (presumably good) relationship with you, it’s a lot easier and less expensive to do this, then to go out and ‘hunt’ for new customers.

There are, however, a few issues you need to be aware of when you’re doing this.  And in Mike’s case, there are three of them, actually.

First, having an existing customer base and selling them new things that are directly related to the nature of your existing relationship, is easy.  So for instance, if you own a yogurt shop, and you want your customers to go across the street and check out your new bakery or coffee shop… you’re not going to have any resistance.  You’ve already got credibility in this area so your buyers will be more than open to giving you another shot at their business.

Second… and here’s where things get tricky… is when you have an unrelated service you want people to try.  So if Mike owns a laundromat, and he also owns a coffee shop… now he’s going to have a bit of a challenge.

See, because of the lack of relevance between the services Mike is currently providing, and what he wants to provide, Mike has absolutely ZERO credibility as a coffee shop owner.  In this case, because of this lack of familiarity, it’s almost like starting from scratch, with one exception.

But this one exception creates enough of an opening for you to make something happen, if you’re clever.  The exception is that your buyers will at least listen to you, or open your piece of mail or read your e-mail, because they already know you.

Whereas, if you are a complete stranger, this isn’t true at all.

And so, in this case, since you are only getting ONE shot at this, you need to make maximum impact.  And the way you do this is by making your current buyers an exclusive, and very compelling offer, to entice them to give you a shot at new business.

Exclusivity makes people feel special — that their relationship with you suddenly offers them a little-known and valuable benefit not available to anyone else.

And if your offer is compelling, it’s going to be hard for buyers of this service, to resist.

Remember, what you’re trying to do here, is essentially ‘buy’ new customers at a lower cost than it would cost you to get them if you had to go out into the marketplace ‘cold.’

The last issue that Mike’s probably going to have is this: typically, the owner of the laundromat, has NO relationship with his customers.  And if this is the case, Mike should write a very personal note personalized (as in “Dear Craig”) to each of his customers, if he has a customer list.

If he doesn’t have a list, and he’s just posting information on flyers, then his invitation should be very warm and fuzzy.  He should share personal information about himself and allow these people to get to know him as much as possible.

This will promote and prompt even more curiosity to try his new services.

Let me know how this works out.  This is a challenging issue, but if you do what I am suggesting… you can really make some magic happen here.

Oh, and by the way, the fact that these customers are blue collar, is irrelevant.  Same strategies would apply if you were a financial planner dealing with high net worth individuals as well.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  Some people can tell you where the money’s hiding — but this book shows you how to actually get your hands on it, faster than you’d ever imagine

FREE: Get TWO free issues of this newsletter PLUS… 18 Bonuses! (Yes, Eighteen!) Get CDs, DVDs, Audio Interviews, and more — including two free copywriting and marketing critiques.  Discover why Seductive Selling is now read in 14 countries world-wide!  (watch the video and see all the bonuses you get)

Maximum Money FAQs

Maximum Money QAFs

NEW: Lead generation, copywriting products and consulting services

If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates.  And if you have any comments, just leave them here on my blog:

*** Over 30 days, I’m giving you several “big ideas” to solve real-life marketing challenges.  To submit your problem for consideration, follow the format today’s subscriber used, and then hit “reply” with your own specific details and challenges.  My assistant will filter through these replies and forward me the best ones to review.  MOST important – if you like what you are reading, show me some love, and forward this information around to a few of your friends and associates ***

Today’s question comes from Matt Sellhorst, who asks:

“Craig, I am a boat salesman on Lake Wylie just outside of Charlotte, NC.  My customers are active families/households earning $75K+ within 30 miles of our lake.  My biggest marketing challenge is getting prospects back into the dealership after a presentation or inquiry online.

By the way, bought your book awhile back and loved it.  I’m on my second reading and have already implemented several ideas. I’ve implemented a two step marketing program with a free report, monthly newsletter and a ‘No Sales Pressure Guarantee’.

Thanks, Matt Sellhorst”

This is a very simple question on the surface, but it brings up a lot of good issues.

What Matt’s basically asking is, how can he convert more prospects into paying clients?

First of all, let’s take a look at the basics about why people don’t buy, even after they’ve responded to your lead generation material.  There are three basic reasons, and a few ‘after the fact’ reasons:

1. What you’re actually offering them isn’t really compatible with what you promised them originally.  So if you’re promising someone a trip to Jamaica, but all you really want to do is sell them suntan oil… this is going to be a problem for you.

When what you’re offering isn’t congruent with the initial promise you made, to get people to raise their hands and tell you they’re interested… then you’re going to have a hard time converting your prospects into paying customers or clients.

2.  If you’re prospects don’t believe you or they don’t trust you, you’re also going to have close to a zero conversion rate.  You can be offering free gold bars, but if no one believes you’re going to deliver them… it won’t matter.

3.  If you’re charging too much money, people also won’t buy.  This is a very difficult issue to cover in a simple e-mail like this, and frankly… this isn’t a very common reason why people won’t buy.  But… rest assured it’s a valid reason why some prospects won’t convert to buyers.

Now let’s talk about two other reasons why people don’t buy.

One is ‘timing.’  For any one of a million reasons, they simply might not be ready to buy right now.  They’re preoccupied with other things… they’re having car trouble… the kid needs braces — who knows why?
But this is why it’s critical you’re consistently following up with your prospects, as often as you can.

And when I say “follow up,” I don’t mean calling them up every two weeks asking them if they’re ready to buy now.  I mean, following up with them by keeping them informed and educated about things that are relevant to them.

By doing this, you stay in front of them and you continue to position yourself as a valued and noted expert.  This way, they don’t forget about you when they are ready to buy.

The other reason why they may not buy is because you don’t ask them to.  If you’re not constantly making offers to your prospects, how do you expect them to become buyers?

If you’re going to rely on them having the incentive to take the bull by the horns and do this all by themselves… then you are overestimating how much you are worth to your buyers.

Heck, most people won’t even pay attention to their own children unless there’s some kind of an emergency going on.  And yet, you expect complete strangers to just ‘drop’ money into your pockets because you’re a good person?

Um… I don’t think so.

But let’s get back to Matt.  Because it sounds like Matt’s got at least some of this covered.  He’s qualifying his people using two-step lead generation… he’s following up with them regularly using a monthly offline newsletter.  And presumably, he’s supplementing this with at least weekly e-mails about local boating conditions, customer profiles, and events.

And, he’s also got a ‘no sales pressure’ guarantee.

So what more can he do?

Well… there are a couple of things that come to mind here.

One thing he can do is, make it harder for people to see his boats in the first place.  Perhaps limit the days the boats are available… or make them pay a $50 deposit fee (which is refunded when they show up), to cover ‘prepping’ the boat and getting it ready.  The point is, the more hoops you make your prospects jump over to get at you, the better qualified prospects you’re going to have.

And, the greater the perceived demand will be.  I don’t know enough about Matt’s industry to know specifically what to do, but making people self-qualify a little more, is one option he has, for sure.

Another option is to let prospects take the boat home and test-drive it for free for 72 hours.  Not many people are going to go through this much effort, only to bring their boat back.

Yes, you’ll have some returns, but the cost of this will pale in comparison to the extra sales you will make.

And by the way, this “try before you buy” is now being done with cars and apartments and houses.  That’s because with high-end items like this, you need to do as much as you can to overcome as many objections as your buyers might have.

And NOTHING beats ‘sampling.’  Whether you’re selling chicken wings at Costco, or boats in North Carolina.

O.K. Matt, that should give you some food for thought.  Good luck implementing these strategies, and let me know how things work out for you.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  To discover how to make IRRESISTIBLE offers, check out Chapter 24 in “How To Make Maximum Money With Minimum Customers” – where literally dozens of ways of doing this are revealed!

FREE: get TWO free issues of this newsletter, PLUS… 18 Bonuses! (Yes, Eighteen!) Get CDs, DVDs, Audio Interviews, and more — including two free copywriting and marketing critiques.  Published monthly for the last 5 years, discover why Seductive Selling is now read in 14 countries world-wide!  (watch the video and see all the bonuses you get)

Maximum Money FAQs

Maximum Money QAFs

NEW: Lead generation, copywriting products and consulting services

If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates.  And if you have any comments, just leave them here on my blog:

*** Over 30 days, I’m giving you one daily “big idea” to solve your toughest marketing challenge. to submit your problem for consideration, follow the format today’s subscriber used, and then hit “reply” with your own specific details and challenges. my assistant will filter through these replies and forward me the best ones to review. MOST important – if you like what you are reading, forward this information on to a few of your friends and associates ***

Today’s question comes from Joey Bushnell out of Hampshire, England who says:

“Hi Craig, I sell custom manufactured foam solutions primarily to large medical manufacturing clients like Baxter Healthcare, 3M Medical, JNJ, and Abbott Labs. My biggest challenge is getting time in front of prospect Engineers to help develop new cutting edge foam medical products. Most of the time Purchasing wants to control that relationship if you aren’t an existing vendor. Warm regards, JB”

Great question. Sometimes its a tough call when you’ve got a gatekeeper in front of you.

But the truth is, regardless of what you’re doing, you’re going to get a lot more out of dealing with the decision makers themselves instead of their gatekeepers. I realize conventional wisdom — especially in the corporate world — may be to make the gatekeepers your friends, but I’ve never made much money banking on conventional wisdom when it comes to marketing.

If you’re doing what everyone else is doing, then you’re going to be as average as everyone else is, so you’ve got to do things different. Here are a couple of ideas Joey can use:

1. First of all, going around to every single engineer has GOT to be a huge drain on your time. If this were me, I’d instead invite them to attend some kind of an informational workshop. I’d even go so far as to try and get this workshop approved for professional Continuing Education credits, so they actually have professional incentive to attend.

Even if you have to pay to have someone there to actually teach them something, I’m sure picking up even one client, will more than offset your costs.

And in your workshop, part of your presentation of course, is you showing off all the newest toys (medical products) you want to sell them. I’d also do things like have a contest giveaway, and make the prize be some kind of trip or tour that takes the winner behind the scenes to see how these products are developed.

In other words, you want to do something to get them involved from an emotional standpoint. And since these guys are engineers and probably not the most socially lubricated people in the world, set up interactive kinds of networking so they won’t have to break the ice with one another on their own.

2. The other thing I’d do is create a 2-step lead generation program, and offer these engineers some kind of a free report/DVD program that they can ask for. Something like, “How Even The Laziest Engineer Can Develop Award-Winning Medical Equipment!”

This report will talk about how great medical devices are created, and it will give the opportunity for a limited number of these guys to brainstorm with you, in creating some of their own devices that can realistically change patients lives.

The people who respond first, would get that opportunity.

The DVD would show how most devices are developed. You can also interview key production people at your company and share their background, their philosophies about business and their work… and some of the success stories that have come out of these projects.

I’m not intimately familiar with your business, but I think you can pretty much get the gist of what I’m trying to do here, no? You want to create involvement devices to ‘hook’ these engineers and get them attracted to you and what you have to offer.

NOT by selling them something, but by making them part of your creative process.

As opposed to you setting up appointments with them, and chasing them down.

Does this make sense?

I sure hope so, because if you do this… you’re going to make a lot of money by doing things very differently from everyone else in your industry.

Keep in mind my favorite saying, especially when it comes to things like this: I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.

It will serve you well.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Most people can tell you where the money is, this book shows you how to actually get it!

FREE: get TWO free issues of this newsletter, PLUS… 18 Bonuses! (Yes, Eighteen!) Get CDs, DVDs, Audio Interviews, and more — including two free copywriting and marketing critiques. Published monthly for the last 5 years, discover why Seductive Selling is now read in 14 countries world-wide! (watch the video and see all the bonuses you get)

Maximum Money FAQs

Maximum Money QAFs

NEW: Lead generation, copywriting products and consulting services

If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates. And if you have any comments, just leave them here on my blog:

The current month’s issue of Seductive Selling has shipped out – and now you can try it for free, and get LOADS of real bonuses (Audio Interviews, CDs, DVD, copywriting lessons, marketing critiques, and more) just for test-driving it.

Seductive Selling is read in 14 countries and has been published monthly for the last five years.  Here’s what you’re missing in this month’s issue:

*  7 Live Marketing and copywriting examples of ads, sales letters and lead generation pieces

*  6 ways one of the members of my Mastermind Group is achieving MASSIVE success in his traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ business!  He’s having his best year ever, in fact – and that says a lot when you’ve been in business for almost 26 years

*  A complete re-write and detailed analysis of an ad that sells directly to homeowners.  You’ll discover critical headline and sub-headline analysis… a ‘reason why’ you’re running this ad… how to layout an ad… how to use photos in the ad… how to create highly-perceived guarantees… how to create an offer… how to track your results… and more!

*  How to use ‘checklists’ in your marketing to arouse curiosity and compel your buyers to take action!

*  A HUGE mistake many marketers are making, that make sselling completely unproductive and unrewarding, and… incredibly frustrating!

*  How to sell extremely high-priced (and over-priced) items!  (on page 5)

*  In this month’s Q & A column, we cover part 1 of “How to open up your sales letters, websites, or space ads,” including:  3 ‘approaches’ to have when it comes to writing your openings… the 6 BIGGEST mistakes people make when writing their opening and how to overcome them… and 13 different kinds of openings you can use!

*  This month’s Audio Success CD includes and interview with someone who just finished a product launch that did over 6-figures and increased their market share dramatically.  On this call, he covers:  the most important strategies he uses that allows him to differentiate himself in a VERY crowded marketplace… how to start, maintain, and grow a successful continuity program… mistakes made during his launch… how to run effective teleseminars including: how to drive people to the call… how to get them to show up on the call… how to KEEP them on the call… selling on the call, and… the most common mistakes people make when they’re running these teleseminars!

*  Also included in this issue: something to consider before advertising on facebook… cool urls… misconceptions about making money (page 9)… the conclusion of “7 Ways To Outsmart The Recession”… and an incredible story about a successful 10-year old and the key to her confidence.

Get all this and more, with your free test-drive of Seductive Selling, NOW!

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  Here’s a note a Seductive Selling reader sent in: “Craig, Two months ago I subscribed to your SSNL.  I am amazed at how simple you make marketing…anything! I am really looking forward to reading your book and getting my own Nutrition Newsletter started. God Bless!”  Dana Tucker – Vance, Alabama

*** Over 30 days, I’m giving you one daily “big idea” to solve your toughest marketing challenge.  to submit your problem for consideration, follow the format today’s subscriber used, and then hit “reply” with your own specific details and challenges.  my assistant will filter through these replies and forward me the best ones to review.  MOST important – if you like what you are reading, forward this information on to a few of your friends and associates ***

Today’s question comes from Graham from Western Australia.  He’s an optometrist who asks:

“My most profitable clients are contact lens wearers.  My biggest challenge isn’t the number of clients I get.  Have enough, realistically.  My biggest challenge is justifying how much I charge.

Some clients price shop for contact lenses especially on the internet.  I am looking for ways of value adding whereby I create the apples to oranges comparison.  I have started by giving away travel vouchers with bulk purchases.  I also want to introduce new procedures that are valuable screening tools but need a strategy that justifies the price and conveys value without price being an issue.”

Graham’s in a tough situation.  Frankly, I’d advise against being in any kind of a commodity business.  Meaning, a business where what you’re selling is perceived as a commodity, and so therefore, virtually 100% of your customer’s buying decision is going to be based on low price alone.

To be successful — I don’t care what business you’re in — you’ve got to be able to create a differential in your product.  Unfortunately, when you’re selling contact lenses, the product itself is uniform.  Since you’re a distributor, as opposed to being a manufacturer, assembler, or even a private labeler, you can’t ‘make’ your Brand X lenses any different from the vendor down the street, since he too, is selling the exact same Brand X lenses.

So what usually happens in this situation is… it becomes a race to the bottom.  Whoever’s cheapest gets the sale.  And that’s a bad place to be, business or otherwise.

To overcome this, you have no choice but to create your differential in your process or in the interaction you have with your customer.  If this were me, here’s what I’d do.  I’d focus on three things:

1.  The actual eye exam you’re performing.  Write down every single aspect of your exam.  What you do, how it’s done, the kinds of machines you use and why.  The quality of the craftsmanship used to build the machine — precision, and so on.  Lastly… and this is perhaps more important than anything else you do.. you want to write down every single potential malady your machines and your exam can pick up.  And the big problems you have if these things are ignored.

2. Guarantees – guarantees about the quality and results of the eye exam… the care and patience your patients will get… and product (lens) guarantees as well.

3. Next, in your marketing, you want to scare the crap out of your buyers by letting them know all the health and vision problems your exam detects, which will otherwise have a seriously debilitating impact on their vision and on their health.

And you do this by revealing all the things you’ve uncovered in Step #1, and you give them all the benefits of working with you, related to your process, which you also wrote down in Step #1.

If you’re ambitious, you should even include case studies of people whose very eyesight you might have saved.

Then, you come up with some kind of a proprietary name for your exam, other than “eye exam,” and now you own something VERY unique.  Perhaps you call it an “11 Step Vision Diagnosis” or something like that.  And you say it’s ‘like’ an eye-exam, but only in the same way that a Mercedes is like a car.  It’s far better than an eye exam, because… ordinary eye exams are designed to tell you what kind of glasses or contact lenses you need.  But your special process does… this and that, and then you tell them all the good stuff.

Now you’ve bulletproofed your process and your marketing, and when you do this, you’ve truly created something unusual.  And you don’t need to be Rupert Murdoch to know that when you create something unique and unusual… you can charge a lot more money for it.

Let me know how this works out.  Oh, and Graham… I pulled the magic rabbit out of my special hat for you – now it’s time for you to pull your magic credit card out of your wallet… and order something from me.  I’m sure you’ll agree, I’ve earned it about 100 times over at this point.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  In Chapter 24 of “How To Make Maximum Money With Minimum Customers,” you’ll discover how to put all the information you uncovered, in Steps 1-3 above, into a turn-key highly-effective sales piece, step-by-step.  Check it out here – comes with a LIFETIME guarantee.

FREE: get TWO free issues of this newsletter, PLUS… 18 Bonuses!  (Yes, Eighteen!) Get CDs, DVDs, Audio Interviews, and more — including two free copywriting and marketing critiques.  Published monthly for the last 5 years, discover why Seductive Selling is now read in 14 countries world-wide!  (watch the video and see all the bonuses you get)

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If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates.  And if you have any comments, just leave them here on my blog

I recently received a video from one of the members of my Mastermind Group, and it blew me away.

It’s from Cris Chico, an extremely well-respected and successful real estate trainer.

Listen closely to what Cris is saying:

For more information or to apply to my Mastermind Group, go here.  Our next meeting takes place here in sunny Tampa on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 28th and 29th. Applications are due by Wednesday, September 1st.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  Let me just tell you something about this group, up front.  This is a great group of hard-working guys who are really doing loads of things in their business.  Not all of the, started this way, but… all of them are doing things far beyond what destiny would otherwise have planned for them

check out the inside scoop at http://www.kingofcopy.com/mastermind

*** Over 30 days, I’m giving you one daily “big idea” to solve your toughest marketing challenge.  to submit your problem for consideration, follow the format today’s subscriber used, and then hit “reply” with your own specific details and challenges.  my assistant will filter through these replies and forward me the best ones to review.  MOST important – if you like what you are reading, forward this information on to a few of your friends and associates ***

Today’s question comes from Jeff Cotterman, out of Indianappolis, Indiana.  I’ve spoken to Jeff a few times – he’s been on a number of different calls I’ve ran, and he also booked some consulting time with me a while ago.

Here’s a guy who’s going to make stuff happen, by hook or by crook.  He’s always got something he’s working on, and eventually I know one of these things is going to hit for him, big-time.

Here’s what Jeff has to say:  “Craig, I am a Realtor in the Indy Metro area.  I just listed a home for a lady coming out of Bankruptcy.  When a person goes into BK it protects them from foreclosure.  However once released from BK the bank can start the foreclosure process again.

With the high rate of BK’s I thought this may be a niche to go after.  I am looking ideas for a marketing piece that would hit their hot buttons but also be sensitive to their situation.

Thanks”

What Jeff’s asking is this: how can you go after people who are in BK, and get them to list their homes with him.

I’m going to answer this question, and then I’m going to throw something out there that you really need to think about, before going after any niche.

First off, it’s easy enough to find loads of mailing lists of people who’ve declared BK.  I’d create an advertorial style article sent to them in the mail.  The article should be written in a third party voice — like a reporter reporting on some news — and it should talk about a Free Report that’s just been released.  This free report should be called something like, “How To Recover From Bankruptcy Almost Immediately: Inside Secrets The Government And Your Banks Won’t Tell You.”

In this report, you give away some great information that’ll help people in this situation, including information about selling their home.  You also mention how you specialize in working with BK homeowners, and the reasons why.

Then, you offer a Free “Rapid Recovery Home Evaluation,” where you come out and evaluate the home’s sellability.

And there you go.  Of course, along the way, you’re going to be getting feedback from your prospects and clients about what’s most important to them, and why they responded to the article and to your free report / sales letter.  You want to listen very closely to these comments, because you should tweak your sales copy and perhaps, even your strategy, based on them.

Sound good?

Great, because now let’s talk turkey.  There’s a huge difference between identifying a niche, and identifying a good niche to go after.  And I think this is one of those situations.

Yes, there are a HUGE number of people declaring bankruptcy nowadays.  And with the housing crisis we’re in the middle of, many of them, I’m sure, are doing this solely to avoid foreclosure.

And yes, you can definitely attract them.

But the better question to ask yourself is, “Do you really want to?”

What’s the opportunity cost you’re going to pay, to work in this marketplace, versus working in another marketplace?

You see, the amount of work you have to do, to penetrate any niche, really doesn’t differ much from one niche to the next.  So why not work in a niche that’s likely to pay you a lot more money… with a lot less emotional and logistical headaches?

Like upscale homes, for instance.  Or relocations?  Or any one of a number of residential real estate categories.

See, part of the process you want to go through in selecting a niche, is actually eliminating niches you don’t want to be a part of.  It’s only once you’ve done this, that you start stacking the odds in your favor, to have more of a successful outcome.

After all, part of knowing what you do want… is knowing what you don’t want, as well.

So if this were me, I’d look elsewhere.  A place outside the financially troubled marketplace, that’s got more optimism… less hassles… and a lot more money to be made as well.

Good luck, Jeff.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S.  This is all about thinking smart.  And don’t kid yourself — LOTS of people are making big money out there, even today.  The thing is, in times like this, you want to think smarter… not work harder.  And here are 21 different ways you can do exactly this.

FREE: get TWO free issues of this newsletter, PLUS… 18 Bonuses!  (Yes, Eighteen!) Get CDs, DVDs, Audio Interviews, and more — including two free copywriting and marketing critiques.  Published monthly for the last 5 years, discover why Seductive Selling is now read in 14 countries world-wide!  (watch the video and see all the bonuses you get)

Maximum Money FAQs

Maximum Money QAFs

NEW: Lead generation and copywriting products

If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates.  And if you have any comments, just leave them here on my blog