The Death of Free Consultations and Ezines

Do you sell consulting, coaching, or professional services?

If so, you probably offer a free consultation and/or a free ezine on your web site.

One word: STOP. As in, "Stop doing that. Now."

Here's why. Google your competitors. Look at their websites. Look at what they're offering. See any patterns?

If you're like 90% of the consultants, coaches, or service professionals I talk to, your competitors are all offering a Free Consultation, a Free subscription to Advice/Tips/Ezine -- or both. And you're probably doing the same thing.

Guess what?

When you and your competitors all offer the same "get acquainted" options, your prospects can't tell you apart. They will shop around for the lowest price, just as they do with other commodities, like gasoline. And you'll find yourself on a fast track to oblivion.

Instead, do two things: Give your free consultation a different name. Then, offer something besides a free ezine. 

1) Rename your Free Consultation

There are 1,001 other ways to say "Free Consultation." Renaming examples:

• Free Options Review
• Complimentary "Know Your Options" Review
• Free "Know Your Options" Conversation
• Complimentary Property Savings Analysis
• Complimentary Revenue Outline
• No-Cost Project Game Plan
• No-Charge Benefit Snapshot
• No-Cost Risk Assessment

2) Rename and repackage your Free Advice/Tips/Ezine

There are 1,001 other ways to attract leads besides a "Free Ezine." Renaming examples:

• Free Client Cloning Kit
• Monthly Tipsheet
• Money-Saving Cheat Sheet
• Profit Blueprint
• Opportunity Blueprint
• Profit Recovery Kit
• Free Strategic Organizer
• Hidden Money Finder

But don't stop at the name. Repackage your information and deliver it differently. Consider any or all of these delivery mechanisms:

• Print and mail in an envelope, tube, or box
• Video series on YouTube
• Audio series on iTunes
• Printed book
• Printed booklet
• Printed white paper
• Teleseminar series
• Webinar series

Just as a small change to the rudder can change the course of a ship by thousands of miles, these two small changes to your marketing can change the course of your business by thousands -- or millions -- of dollars.

So, stop offering Free Consultations and Free Advice/Tips/Ezine. Rename and repackage what you do.

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here
Can't make it to that event? My free Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

How to Make Your Business Remarkable

Want clients for life? People who buy from your business again and refer others?

One way to get them is to make your business remarkable, so that clients literally remark about you to their friends.

And if you want a simple way to become remarkable -- and create clients for life -- try this: If you sell a service, give away a product; if you sell a product, give away a service. Examples:

Service --> Product

1. Give clients an unexpected PRODUCT with the service, like a cookie, book, or gift card. Example: The maid who puts a mint on your pillow after making up your room is remarkable
2. Mail them a printed monthly newsletter. Don't have time to write one? Mail a copy of a helpful article, with a 5-word sticky note: "Saw this, thought of you." (If you don't have time for that, you don't have a business -- you have a hobby.)
3. Mail a "Quick Start Guide" or a "What to Expect" report after the first order

Product --> Service

1. Give clients an unexpected SERVICE with the product, like coaching or answering questions. Example: The web site that gives you free express shipping with your product is remarkable
2. Call to thank clients after every order, and ask what their #1 question is going forward. Answer that question (and listen for upsell and referral signals)
3. Refer clients to other vendors who can fill their needs for products/services you don't provide (which makes you a center of influence -- and makes you remarkable)

None of this is rocket surgery, by the way. You don't need 1,000 Facebook likes or a $30,000 web site overhaul to make it work. Just a little creative thinking. Thinking -- that's a remarkable feat which, by itself, can make your business remarkable.

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

Can't make it to the training? My free Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

The Upsell: Key to Higher Profits and Satisfaction

What is an upsell?

Short answer: Free money. Because a certain percentage of your clients want to buy more and almost all of them can buy more. The only question is, are you willing to sell it to them?

Academic answer: Asking people to buy more during or after the sale. Also called a bump or a cross-sell.

Upsell example: Tim, a photographer in St. Paul, Minnesota, added $4,000 in extra revenue in 6 months -- on track for $8,000 extra each year -- without working any harder.

How?

He added an upsell to his wedding photo packages. In addition to low and a medium, he now offers a premium-priced package to clients. He starts every presentation with “Here’s the best package,” and then works down. No hard selling required (Tim is very laid-back).

Results: More than 20% of his clients sell themselves. And Tim will bank an extra $8,000 from the same amount of work this year -- enough to fully fund his IRA and take his family on an exquisite vacation or two, with no extra work.

Moral: If you don't have an upsell, you are leaving money on the table.

But this is NOT about greed and you are NOT an evil 1% wannabe for offering an upsell. No.

When you offer more to buyers who already have their credit card out, you deliver two benefits to them:

1) better results (by delivering more of what they need, such as faster download speeds for Internet access) and

2) better feelings (because many people want to spend more to feel good about themselves -- otherwise, we would all drive a $12,780 Nissan Versaa, the cheapest new car in America).

When you offer a high-quality upsell to clients, you help them and you help yourself. Win-win.

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

Can't make it to the training? My free Client Cloning Kit can help. It's not some cheapo download -- this is a real business-building kit you can hold in your hands. Grab yours now, while you can.

Direct Mail for Solopreneurs: Postcard Example

One reason you need to include direct mail in your marketing mix as a solopreneur: Most of the trends I see for email marketing are negative.

Of course, email marketing should always have a place in your toolbox. But don't put all your eggs in that email toolbox (to mangle a metaphor). Just because it's efficient to push "send" and zap out a message at no cost to 5 ... 500 ... or 5,000 names, doesn't mean it's also effective.

Let's put it another way: How would you send your mother a birthday card, by email or real mail? How about your spouse -- would you send him/her an anniversary card by email or real mail?

I thought so.

Treat your prospects and clients the same as any other VIP in your life. When the message really matters, send it by real mail (in addition to email, phone, in person, video, etc.).

Now, if you're like most solopreneurs, you've got a big objection in mind when it comes to direct mail: Cost. And the time it takes to mail stuff. Okay, that's two objections.

Well, I get that. Time and money are the two constraints on much of your growth as a solopreneur.

So here's an easy answer to both those objections to using direct mail: Postcards. They're cheap and fast to deploy.

You print and mail them for less than 50 cents with a service like Click2Mail. Or spend a bit more and do them yourself.

Like the UGLY postcard I wrote and mailed below, from a hotel room in Dallas ...

It helped cement a sale for $7,500 to a busy prospect who had ignored two emails from me the week before. Sure, it's butt-ugly and my handwriting is awful. But the message was 100% personalized and relevant to this prospect.

He got the postcard on Monday and signed up 24 hours later.

Now. Big caveat: No small ugly postcard -- or big beautiful postcard -- is enough to make a sale for $7,500 (or even $75) in 99 cases out of 100. But a postcard can be that one tap of the hammer that splits a big rock.

As a solopreneur, you have a family and/or a livelihood to support every morning you turn on the lights and fire up your computer. You're doing a serious job and you need serious tools.

Direct mail is a serious tool. And postcards are seriously simple. That makes postcards, done right, what I call a Marketing Multiplier -- a simple tool that delivers big profits.

There's a box of 11 Marketing Multipliers waiting for you now. Try them Free here.

Direct Mail Demystified for Solopreneurs

Much of my work as a copywriter and marketing adviser is for mid-sized businesses in the $2-20 million range.

And a lot of that work is direct mail: lead-generation pieces and sales letters to acquire new clients.

But there's a BIG place in my heart for the solopreneur -- the one-man band or one-woman army who fights every day to earn a good living to support their family.

Maybe it's because I've been a solopreneur myself for 16 years. I understand solopreneurs, I empathize with solopreneur marketing problems, and I want to see them do better.

So it kills me to see so many solopreneurs buy into the myth that direct mail is too expensive or complicated to grow their business. Nonsense.

The same principles my bigger clients use to rake in 6 and 7 figures with direct mail can ABSOLUTELY work for smaller businesses. In fact, done right, direct mail can deliver clients on demand for almost any solopreneur -- whether you sell a product, a service, or your consulting.

First, some unsettling facts about email ...

One in seven commercial emails never makes it to the recipient. Worse, at least 30% of those 85% emails that get delivered ... are deleted unread. And all current trends for the effectiveness of email are negative (sources: Return Path and The Freedman Company).

By contrast, direct mail is one of the most effective ways to acquire new clients. Perhaps because it's so much easier to stand out in a mailbox compared to an email inbox (or Twitter feed, or Facebook news feed).

"You can send targeted, relevant direct mail to anyone with a mailing address. People generally trust direct mail, know how to respond to a direct mail offer, and don't need the  technological savvy required by e-mail or social media platforms. These are the major reasons direct mail works," according to Clif McDougall, VP of Business Development, Com-Pak Services.

Finally, "direct mail is 10 to 30 times more effective than e-mail," according to The Direct Marketing Association. In a study, 34 out of 1,000 customers responded to direct mail, while just one out of 1,000 responded to an e-mail.

In the next few posts, I'll share with you examples of direct-mail that's working right now for solopreneurs.

But for today, ask yourself 3 questions:

1) Do you honestly wish you got more email or less?

2) Do you think your prospects want more email or less?

3) If you're leaving direct mail out of your marketing mix, how much money do you think you're leaving on the table?

Meanwhile, dp you own a business?

Want more clients?

If so, there's a box of 11 Marketing Multipliers waiting for you now. Try them Free here.

11 Marketing Nuggets from The Titans of Direct Response

Titans assembled, left to right: Brian Kurtz, Ryan Lee, Parris Lampropoulos, Mike Fishman, Fred Catona, Arthur Johnson, Eric Betuel, David Deutsch, Jay Abraham, Ken McArthy, Joe Sugarman

Do you love marketing? You should, if you own or manage a business. Otherwise, you’ll run out of clients.

Do you love direct-response marketing? You should, if you want to track and improve your marketing. Otherwise, you’ll run out of money.

... Still with me?

Good!

Then you’ll understand why I was thrilled to attend “The Titans of Direct Response” event hosted by Brian Kurtz and Boardroom Publications.

Imagine a Mount Rushmore of marketing legends with 11 heads ... that suddenly started talking ... for two days straight. That reeks of hyperbole, sure. It’s also true.

Anyway, you can read their bios here, but let’s get to it -- here are 11 nuggets of marketing wisdom I learned at "The Titans of Direct Response" ...

1) Dan Kennedy: There are only really two kinds of copy: product information and emotional manipulation. Wage everything on emotional manipulation; this sells way more than facts. Example: To sell a cat toy, don’t talk about the toy. Talk about how neglected and bored the cat is while you’re away at work. The toy will pretty much sell itself.

2) Ken McArthy: The System Formula for any website is this: traffic plus conversion equals profits. You need to obsess over these simple elements. And remember that it’s not a web site -- it’s a sales system.

3) Perry Marshall: The best unique selling proposition (USP) won’t need a copywriter; it’s not about stringing words together. Ordinary people will discover and share a USP with each other -- it’s baked into the product or service.

4) David Deutsch: Here’s a test of how good your sales letter or promotion is. When people see it they should say “Wow!” and want to show someone.

5) Parris Lampropoulos: Novelty creates dopamine. By telling people something new, you are generating dopamine and your copy is literally addictive.

6) Eric Betuel: To get new ideas and see winning examples of salesmanship, look at videos on Kickstarter.

7) Gary Bencivenga: Your self-image (as described in the book Psycho Cybernetics) is the key to achieving any goal and living a life without limits. If you believe strongly in the image you have in your mind, you won’t need will power to hit a goal. As a copywriter, his self-image was “Gary Bencivenga the Control Beater.” This became his operating system. It motivated him all the time. Ideas began to pop up everywhere, even when he wasn’t working on projects. This philosophy vastly out-performed everything else for him.

8) Brian Kurtz: Contribution is better than networking. Think first about how you can help others and be willing to give 100%, expecting zero in return. This is real contribution and it’s made him millions.

9) Joe Sugarman: Every problem has an opportunity within it so great that it dwarfs the problem. Example: He had an empty page in his catalog, which he had to scramble to fill with another product. That product was a strange pair of sunglasses, given to him by a friend, that had been used by NASA --  BluBlockers, now a multi-million dollar brand.

10) Greg Renker: What does it really take to break through barriers and grow exponentially? Two things have helped: one, his Mastermind group (which includes Jay Abraham and others at a high level); two, plowing profits back into the company and taking more risks.

11) Jay Abraham: Any problem for you is an opportunity for somebody else. Example: A motorcycle maker in Japan needed money to expand. They found a lawnmower maker in Malaysia with a second shift they weren’t using, who agreed to make motorcycles in their factory. Result: Both sides made $10 million on the deal.

There you have it. Eleven marketing nuggets from more than 100 that I collected over two days one weekend in September.

Which nugget can you use first?

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here

Marketing Synergy: 1 + 1 = 6?

Synergy is what happens when the sum is greater than the parts.

Examples ...

• flour + water + yeast + heat = bread
• John + Paul + George + Ringo = The Beatles
• Email + Direct Mail = 6 ... as in it's possible to get 6 times more response using email and direct mail together, rather than separately.

That last example is Marketing Synergy.

Let me explain ...

Last year, the Canadian division of Staples did an experiment. To one group of people, they sent an email promotion. To a second group, they sent email plus a direct-mail letter.

The results?

The response rate was 6 times higher from people who got a direct mail piece and an email, compared to those who got only email, according to the study, done by Canada Post.

There are two valuable lessons here:

1) Multiple marketing methods can produce synergy. By combining email and direct mail ... or phone and email ... or phone, email, and direct mail ... you get MORE results than using one method by itself.

2) If a big bureaucratic company like Staples can produce 6x higher results with their marketing, imagine the results you can enjoy, if you're a small, agile, smart business owner?

Meanwhile, are you an entrepreneur with clients, not customers? Are you doing at least $200,000 in revenue, and want to do better? If so ...

... I can show you more "profit hacks" like the ones you just read in this article. Get them in my next Free Video Training Session. It's for $200k entrepreneurs ONLY, please.

Grab your spot here