Your Marketing: Sad Charade or Moving Parade?

Want more clients?

Here's an idea: Do more marketing that works.

And avoid the sad charade of flitting from one tactic to another.

You can do it in 5 simple steps:

1) Look through your database -- Infusionsoft, Salesforce, Excel spreadsheet, whatever -- and find the names of your last 10 clients.

2) Now, ask yourself: "What worked in my marketing? What did I say or do that caused them to buy?"

3) Write down the answer for all 10 clients. Examples: Called after I got their name by referral ... mailed them a Client Reactivation Letter ... sent them Email #3 in my series of 10 ... etc.

4) Then, ask yourself: "In my marketing today, am I doing what works?"

5) Oooops. In almost every case, you're NOT doing something today that brought new clients before. You simply forgot or got bored with it.

Example: You mailed an article to a prospect 3 months ago that caused them to call and buy ... but you haven't mailed that article since.

Let me repeat: In almost EVERY case, you've stopped doing marketing that works. Because you forgot or got bored with it.

Solution: Pick one marketing tactic that worked before but you haven't done since and do it TODAY, or at least schedule it. Then add it to your processes so you don't forget it again.

What's the moral of the story?

As advertising demi-god David Ogilvy wrote, "You aren't advertising to a standing army, you are advertising to a moving parade."

What's old to you is new to prospects who are parading past your business. If something works in your marketing, keep doing it until your prospects tell you otherwise.

When you understand this, you realize that you're probably sitting on a pile of latent revenue in your business. To tap that revenue, all you have to do today is more of the marketing that worked before.

One more thing: If you found this idea helpful, I've got a box of 11 marketing tools I'd like to ship you. You can try them free, but only if you hurry -- learn more at www.MarketingMultipliers.com

The Flexible Flyer: Advertising Staple for Any Business

Every member in my Marketing Multipliers program gets a monthly critique from me of any one piece of advertising they've created.

Because having another set of expert eyes on your marketing projects can only help you do better.

The flyer below was submitted by one member.

How would you improve it?

Here's what I suggested to him ...

The main area to improve here is this: CLARITY.

Example: the headline is a bit hard to read because it's printed on that curvy ribbon.

Dump the opening doggerel about "Halloween is past," etc. That's just clearing your throat and it gets in the way of the sales message.

If this is a sale, what are the savings? That's nowhere to be found. If the $2.70 price is less than usual, do the math and tell me how much I'm saving by ordering 200 cards.

Very important: there is no clear call to action. Do you want me to call you or visit a website? Both? That should be down below right above the deadline. Make it clear and bold it.

There's a good offer in there somewhere. With a bit of refinement and a lot more clarity, you can unlock the selling power of this flyer.

Once improved, I would use this promotion in all possible media: email, direct mail, web site, Facebook, taped in the windows of neighboring businesses ... and inserted into ALL mail and orders leaving your shop. You can even add it to the hold message on your phone ("Ask about our annual Christmas card special, going on now.")


Bottom line: A flyer, done right, is an advertising staple for any business. It's a little thing that can deliver big profits for you. That makes it a Marketing Multplier.

If you're an entrepreneur and you want to grow, there's a box of 11 Marketing Multipliers waiting for you now. You can try them Free -- click here.

My Free Delta Upgrade

I got a free upgrade today on Delta flight 2009 from Minneapolis to Denver.

Now, when you think "Delta" you don't normally think "free upgrade" in the same sentence ... or even the same day.

But I did indeed receive a free upgrade today, courtesy of the captain.

Can you guess what it was?

First, here's what the captain did after the doors closed. He walked out of the cockpit, took the microphone from the flight attendant, and said the following:

• "Hello, I'm Captain David Rausch. I don't want to bug you later so here are all the announcements now. Do I have your attention? (Us: Silence.) Do I have your attention?? (Us: "Yes, captain!") Good ...
• "First of all, thank you for joining us this evening and putting up with the TSA monkey business to get here
• "I love to fly, and I'll get you there safely because I never text and fly
• "We'll hit a few bumps over the Rockies. Nothing dangerous, just a little annoying. I'll do my best to keep it smooth
• "Finally, there are a couple military members on board so let's thank them for their service."

At that point, the whole plane broke into applause (for the military members) and smiles (for the captain).

It wasn't Tonight Show-level material, but Captain Rausch's monologue was still remarkable (at least for Delta). Simply by showing a little personality, he transformed the dull, robotic announcements that every passenger instinctively ignores into an experience. At no cost to Delta.

That's the free upgrade I received -- an experience. It made me sit down and write this out as soon as I got to my hotel room.

Here's Captain Rausch. He kindly agreed to let me snap his picture, after I first shook his hand.

Maybe pilots with personality who stand up and introduce themselves before a flight are common on Southwest, or Virgin, but this is a first for me in 30 years of flying Northwest/Delta. Bravo.

By the way, service is a little thing that can lead to big profits for your business. That makes it a Marketing Multiplier.

There's a box of 11 Marketing Multipliers waiting for you now. And you can try them Free -- click here.