Rapid-Response Marketing Example

You may remember that I wrote about my Rapid-Response Marketing Kit -- the 2 stamped thank-you notes I carry with me everywhere, so I can thank prospects and clients at a moment's notice.

Mailing thank-you notes has been a secret weapon of mine for years. They work like a force multiplier, making any sales pitch by phone or email at least twice as effective, in my experience.

Turns out, I'm not alone.

A super-successful client of mine, Gaye Lindfors, carries around her own version of a Rapid-Response Marketing Kit. She sent me this photo below ...

Gaye says: "I keep it on the front seat of my car. If I’m early to a meeting, waiting for an appointment, or want to write a quick note after a meeting while the energy is fresh,  I pull out a note card and make a connection with someone, rather than checking my emails."

Why do I put so much stock in mailing thank-you notes? And how can they work like secret weapons?

As marketing author Harry Beckwith writes: "Handwritten thank-you notes feel like gifts because you took the time to find the paper and envelope, write the note, affix the stamp, and gift-wrap your note in its package."

A handwritten thank-you note is a heartfelt gift. And gifts are good. They separate you from the hordes of impersonal competitors who are chasing the same prospects as you.

Whatever you mail to prospects (to get them as clients) and clients (to keep them as clients), mailing a "thank you" is better than emailing ... nor sending nothing.

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here.

Tom Peters Wants You to Stop Lying to Yourself

Tom Peters said: "The calendar never lies. You can claim something is your priority, but if your calendar doesn't reflect it, you're lying to yourself."

Here's my corollary: QuickBooks never lies. You can claim something is making you money, but if your QuickBooks reports don't reflect it, you're lying to yourself.

Implication? Stop lying to yourself. Find out what's really making you money.

Here's how: Look at QuickBooks or your customer database. Ask yourself two questions:

1) What's working really well?

• What 1-3 marketing methods are producing the bulk of your new clients?
• What 1-3 clients (or client types) are producing the bulk of your profits?
• What 1-3 products or services are producing the bulk of your profits?

2) What's working unexpectedly well?

• What 1-3 marketing methods are delivering more sales, more easily or profitably than expected?
• What 1-3 clients (or client types) are easier and more profitable to serve than expected?
• What 1-3 products or services are easier and more profitable to sell/produce/deliver than expected?

Size doesn't matter here -- you're looking for potential breakthroughs:

And this question is potentially more valuable than question 1) -- it helped me uncover a $54/month revenue stream that exploded into $54,000 a month.

If you're like most business owners, you won't take the time to answer these two questions.

Look around. Most business owners are struggling. What does that tell you?

More importantly, why not take a hard look at your numbers to see what they tell you?

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here.

The Rapid-Response Marketing Kit

After you meet with a prospect who wants a price quote from you, how do you respond?

Do you send a project summary (never a "quote," "proposal" or other commodity language!) within 24 hours?

If so, you probably send that information by email, right?

Well, here's a way to quickly and easily close more sales: Mail a thank-you note RIGHT AWAY, even before sending any marketing literature by email.

Thank-you notes in the mail have been my secret weapon for years. They work like a force multiplier, making any sales pitch by phone or email doubly effective (in my experience).

But ... mailing a thank-you note to prospects is easier said than done. You're busy. You may forget. And who has time to look for a stamp?

That's why I always carry not one but two thank-you notes in my satchel, ready to address and mail at a moment's notice. The photo above was taken "in the field" at Caribou Coffee, where I met a prospect.

I call this my Rapid-Response Marketing Kit.

My accountant calls it money in the bank.

You can call it whatever you want -- but do give it a try.

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here.

How's That Strategy Working For You?

Question: How concise and memorable is your business strategy?

What? You don't have a strategy? Then you have a hobby, not a business. But I digress ...

Why is it important for your strategy to be concise and memorable? Because long-winded strategies are short on motivation. And you can't executive a strategy you can't remember.

When judging your strategy, here's a test: Can it fit on your business card?

Before you scoff, take a look at this strategy, on the back of Alan Mulally's business card (autographed copy below). He's CEO of Ford Motor Co. -- maybe you've heard of them?

And maybe you've heard of Mulally's results: Since taking over as CEO in 2006, he turned an annual loss of $17 billion into $2.7 billion profit by 2009 and $8.3 billion profit in 2010.

So you might want to pay attention to his strategy.

Here it is ...

ONE TEAM
People working together as a lean, global enterprise for automotive leadership, as measured by:
 
Customer, Employee, Dealer, Investor, Supplier, Union/Council, and Community Satisfaction

ONE PLAN

• Aggressively restructure to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix
• Accelerate development of new products our customers want and value
• Finance our plan and improve our balance sheet
• Work together effectively as one team

ONE GOAL
An exciting viable Ford delivering profitable growth for all.

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here. 

Are You Consumptive or Productive?

Look at your calender.

How much time do you spend consuming vs. producing? The ratio determines -- without fail -- how happy and successful you are.

Consuming activities are passive. They include:

• reading email, 
• watching TV, 
• surfing to non-productive web sites, and 
• answering unexpected phone calls.

Producing activities are proactive. They include:

• developing marketing promotions, 
• calling your top 3 clients, 
• creating new products, 
• adding new keywords to your Google AdWords account, and 
• negotiating joint-venture deals.

After consuming, you feel ... empty, guilty, small.

After producing, you feel ... full, happy, big.

Weird, isn't it?

But wait. There's more ....

Here are definitions of two related words: productive and consumptive, courtesy of reference.com:

productive
1. having the power of producing; generative; creative: a productive effort.
2. producing readily or abundantly; fertile: a productive vineyard.


consumptive
1. tending to consume; destructive; wasteful.
2. pertaining to consumption by use.
3. Pathology.
   a. pertaining to or of the nature of consumption.
   b. disposed to or affected with consumption.

Consumption, for those of you too young to remember, used to include these meanings:
a. tuberculosis of the lungs.
b. progressive wasting of the body.


So, how much of your day today was consumptive vs. productive?

You and I have probably never met, but I'll bet it was about 80/20, consumption/production.

Flip that ratio, and change your life.

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here. 

Secrets to Success: 6 Minutes with David Frey

What do I do when I'm out of time or ideas for a blog post?

Interview a very smart person, shut up, and let them talk.

Lucky you -- the smart person I found is my old friend, David Frey.

After picking him up at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport yesterday (he's in town for a speech), I whipped out the FlipVideo and asked him:

"What's the secret to your success?"

David's answers are worth 6 minutes of your time, I think you'll agree ...



Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here.

Is This Card More Valuable Than a Honus Wagner?

Is this card worth more money than a rare, old Honus Wagner baseball card?

You be the judge ...

I'd wager that the aluminum business card above, a gift I received from Harvey Mackay, is worth more than a $2.35-million Honus Wagner baseball card.

It's simple math, really ...

Harvey told me he handed out his innovative card in the late '60s and early '70s. That means:

• if Harvey's card started conversations that helped him open just 2 new accounts per year from 1968 to 1972 (10 new accounts total) ...
• and each account stayed with Mackay Envelope for 5 years ...
• and each account bought an average of $50,000 a year from Harvey ...
• the total lifetime value of those 10 accounts would be $2.5 million.

Sort of makes you look at your business card a bit differently, doesn't it?

More importantly, it makes you want to invest a little more time and money in designing a business card that stands out from the crowd.

Because, if you play your card right, it could turn out to be more valuable than ...

... a $2.35-million Honus Wagner card.

Bio: Kevin Donlin can help you grow your business and enjoy the breakthrough results your hard work deserves. If you're interested in boosting your revenues and profits, please click here.