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.

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

You? 10x Profits and Growth?

Think back to a time when you made only 10% of your current income.

It might have been in college or high school.

Why did you make only 10% of what you do now? Were you a loser/slacker/dunderhead?

No.

You were simply less valuable in the marketplace. You earned 90% less because you delivered 90% less value. Today you deliver 10 times more value, so you earn 10 times more money.

What made the difference?

Perhaps your skills are 10 times more valuable. You want from fry cook ($5.00 an hour) to software developer ($50.00 an hour), for example. Or maybe the average amount you saved your clients on taxes increased from $500 to $5,000. You are more valuable.

Or maybe you reach 10 times more people. You went from cutting grass (5 lawns a day) to owning a landscaping business with 10 employees (50 lawns a day). Or perhaps your list of prospects increased from 100 to 1,000. You are reaching more people.

So, increasing your income by 10 times is not only possible, but you've done it at least once before. Maybe several times.

Now fast forward to the future. Imagine yourself earning 10 times more than today. Are you 10 times more valuable? Are you helping 10 times more people? Both?

Here's an example from my own business ...

My client Ryan, a real estate investor from California. By making phone calls and meeting with home sellers in person, he and his business partner had a nice little business going.

After the departure of his partner who did the sales, Ryan faced a potential loss in income ... hours spent banging the phones to sell his service ... loads of frustration. In a word, problems.

But I solved those problems for Ryan.

How? Two ways ...

1) We made him more valuable. We improved his phone sales pitch to push certain hot buttons that made people eager to sell their homes.

2) We helped him reach more people. We turned his phone sales pitch (one-to-one selling) into a sales letter (one-to-many selling), AND we found new lists of people to mail to, AND we're mailing those people more often.

So, more value reaching more people.

Results?

We put $250,000 of cash and equity into Ryan's pipeline in 7 days. Nearly $700,000 in 12 months. At this pace, he will enjoy 10 times more profits in less than 2-3 years.

This is life-changing stuff. And it's possible for you, me, Ryan -- anyone.

Just ask yourself two questions: 1) How can I make myself 10 times more valuable?
2) How can I reach 10 times more people?

You've done it before. You can do it again. Why not start today? 

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 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 Less Work Equals More Money

Ever read a book, watch a video, or attend a seminar ... come away with a long, exciting list of things to do ... and end up doing NONE of it?

You're not alone.

But here's how one insurance agency in Texas found a simple solution to that problem -- a solution worth millions. And it can work for you, too, no matter what your business is ...

Here's the story: I was just at the BGI Marketing Systems Super Conference, in Dallas. It's the event where the best insurance agency owners in America go to get better.

Louis, a top producing sales rep for two Allstate offices in Texas, told me that his team came to their first BGI event a few years ago, took a long list of money-making ideas back to the office, tried to do all of them ... and did none of them.

Reason? Their to-do list was too long and intimidating to start work on.

So they did something different.

After their next event, they took another long-list of great ideas back to the office. But this time, they implemented just one item. After putting one idea to work, they went on to the next one. And the next one. One by one, step by step.

The results?

Louis and his team went from worrying about how to pay their bills to being on track to do $3 million in premium this year. With a ton of profits left over, and non-stop growth on the horizon.

Your Takeaway: Ideas mean nothing without implementation. But you won't implement if your to-do list is a mile long. It's like trying to climb a mountain in one step -- impossible and demoralizing.

So take a look at your notes from that last seminar, video, or book. Pick just one idea, and do that one thing. After that, do the next thing. You'll get more done and make more money, with less stress and apparent effort.

You can't do everything, but you can always do one thing. And that can change everything.

Meanwhile, if you own a business, there's a box of 11 Marketing Multipliers waiting to be shipped to you. You can try it Free. Click here now

Screw Price Quotes and Proposals Part 3: The Delivery

In the last two posts, I've explained why you should never send another price quote or proposal.

I've showed you how to give your Un-Proposal a unique name and how to fill it with compelling content.

Now for the final, often-overlooked piece of the puzzle: The Delivery.

Fact: The most persuasive selling message in the world won’t mean anything if it’s not read with interest by the person you’re selling to. And, yet, if you send your Un-Proposal by email, it likely won’t get read or read with any interest.

Prove this for yourself. How many unread messages are clogging up your email in-box this very second? What’s that little number in red say on your smart phone -- 10 emails? 25? 50? How many emails do you actually print and read carefully? How many do you just download and ... forget?

Now, flip the script. If your prospects get your carefully written Un-Proposals by email, they almost certainly WON'T read and respond as much you want. There's simply too much competition for time and attention in their email in-box.

Fortunately, there’s a solution: Get real. Print and send a hard copy of your Un-Proposal.

Think: Is it fair to expect anyone to write you a check for thousands of dollars based on an email? Even if you’ve met or spoken to them at length, do you want to trust your next sale to email only?

A printed Un-Proposal creates a lasting impact that's not possible with email. Research by The UK's Royal Mail and Bangor University found that physical materials, like documents you can hold, "triggered greater emotional processing."

The study, Using Neuroscience to Understand the Role of Direct Mail, found that "tangible materials actually leave a deeper footprint in the brain."

To quote the study at length:

This research strongly suggests that greater emotional processing is facilitated by the physical material than by the virtual. The “real” experience that the physical media provides means it’s better at becoming part of memory.

It generates more emotion, which should help to develop more positive brand associations. The real experience is also internalized, which means the materials have a more personal effect, and therefore should aid motivation.

Get that? A printed Un-Proposal that your prospects can hold generates more emotion, has a more personal effect, and aids motivation. Bing, bang, boom. Try that with email.

Okay, you should print your Un-Proposal, but how to deliver it? 

FedEx.

Sure, you could deliver it by U.S. Mail, but it might get lumped in with all the other bills, solicitations, and junk. It might even get tossed in the trash by an over-zealous gatekeeper.

However, nobody ignores a FedEx Letter. There’s a 100% chance it will get delivered, opened, and read. Yes, you pay more for FedEx, but when you do, you’re buying 100% of your prospect’s attention and ensuring they will read your Un-Proposal -- with interest. That's a bargain. And you simply cannot do that with email.

But, nearly all of your competitors will send their ordinary price quotes or proposals by email. And compared to you, they will look ... ordinary. Good news for you, no?

That wraps up this 3-part series on naming, writing, and delivering an Un-Proposal that helps you sell more of your product or service. Let me know what you think!

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 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.

Screw Price Quotes and Proposals Part 2: The Contents

Last time, I explained why you should never send another price quote or sales proposal. I talked about giving your Un-Proposal a name that's unique to you.

Today, let's talk about the second piece of the puzzle: The contents of your Un-Proposal.

Back in the 1990s, I used to write resumes and cover letters for friends, family, and later clients. And I set off an accidental revolution in job hunting by asking a “silly” question: What would happen if cover letters were written like sales letters?

A lot, as it turned out.

Most cover letters are like pornography: You’ll know it when you see it -- fast. But, unlike pornography, most cover letters are incredibly dull. Stilted language, few/no benefits, and a weak closing. In a word, BORING.

And, because you can’t bore people into hiring you, most cover letters are ineffective.

So I did something different. I wrote cover letters that were really sales letters: a strong opening, compelling benefits, a clear call to action, testimonials -- even a P.S. at the end.

As you can imagine, a lot of people found jobs very, very fast with my cover letters.

Now. What does this mean for you and your Un-Proposal?

This: Most price quotes and sales proposals are like most cover letters: Stilted language, few/no benefits, and a weak closing.

So, the contents of your Un-Proposal should resemble a sales letter, with all or most of these elements: strong opening, compelling benefits, a clear call to action, testimonials -- even a P.S. at the end.

Here’s an example of a strong opening, taken from one of my own Un-Proposals, that will get the attention of any prospect (and which got an order for me within days):

Frank,

Thanks again for chatting by phone today about your goals! Looking at all you’ve done already, I can help you sell more of your services from www.ABC.com.

Based on my notes from our conversation, here’s what I think you said:

• You’ve been in business for 15 years and do great work for clients, yet new business development remains a challenge for you
• You have a mailing list of about 8,000 names and physical addresses, and an email list of about 3,000 names -- both of which are valuable assets
• The busy prospects you are trying to reach are inundated with sales messages every day, so you need something powerful to cut through that clutter
• At between $150.00/month and $250.00/month, each new client brings you $1,800.00 to $3,000.00 a year, and they stay with you indefinitely

Please let me know if I missed anything!

Now, here’s an outline of my recommended project option, the timeline, the investment, and your guarantee ...

There’s a lot going on in those opening paragraphs, but here’s what’s key: By including the prospect’s own words, taken from my notes of our phone call, I prove that I was listening. This is huge. He’s nodding his head in agreement at every bullet point. He’s starting to trust me. He’s now more likely to buy from me. And he did.

This is copywriting 101, by the way.

It’s the kind of psychology that goes into every sales letter I write for clients. But this kind of “salesmanship in print” is missing from nearly every price quote or sales proposal I’ve ever seen. By including compelling sales copy in your Un-Proposal, however, you’ll instantly separate yourself from the competition and close more sales.

Next time, in the final installment, I’ll tell you how to boost response to your Un-Proposal into the stratosphere by delivering it differently to prospects.

Meanwhile, if you want more clients, 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.

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 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.

Screw Price Quotes. Screw Proposals. Send This

You may sign up new clients and customers face-to-face or by phone. If so, terrific.

But, more likely, your prospects will ask you for a written proposal or price quote, to compare to other vendors.’ Understand this: When anyone asks for a proposal, they’re asking you to help them comparison shop you. They’re asking you to commoditize yourself.

Screw that.

Never send another proposal or price quote again.

Instead, send an Un-Proposal. I’ve done it for years. The Un-Proposal lets you can bypass the tyranny of commoditization and sets your business apart. In a bag full of apples, you’re a pineapple.

The Un-Proposal has 3 key elements:

1. Name
2. Contents
3. Delivery

Today, let’s look at 1: the Name of your Un-Proposal.

What’s in a name? In sales and marketing, a lot ...

Like first impressions, for example.

If a prospect asks for a proposal and you send one, you’re instantly lumped in with the other vendors they're considering. You’ve made it easy for your prospect to compare and hard for you to stand out, other than by having the lowest price. Not good.

However, if a prospect asks for a proposal and you send a Project Blueprint, Game Plan, or Opportunity Outline, well, you can’t be lumped in with anyone. You’ve made it hard for your prospect to compare and easy for you to stand out in a way that has nothing to do with price. That’s good.

So, just as you should give your free consultation a unique name, give one to your (former) proposal or price quote, too.

Here are a few examples to get you started:

• Project Blueprint
• Opportunity Outline
• Profit Game Plan
• Benefit Snapshot
• Savings Summary

Now, which of these statements would you feel more powerful saying to a prospect?

• "I sent you a proposal. What do you think?"
• "I sent you a Profit Game Plan. What do you think?"

Do you think you might feel more confident and less like a commodity if you sent a Profit Game Plan?

I think you need to some brainstorming to create a name for your own Un-Proposal, that's what I think.

Next time, I'll show you how to create the contents for your Un-Proposal -- and close more sales, faster.

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 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.

Time: The Priceless Ingredient

"Your time is the one finite resource you have as an entrepreneur," says Strategic Coach founder, Dan Sullivan. "Get control of it, and you can use it as a tool to produce all the results you want in every area of your life."

The opposite is true: If you can't control your time, you can't produce the results you want in life.

You already know that email is a tremendous time suck. And that you can get a lot more done when you do all your email in only 45 minutes a day or hide the email icon on your smart phone.

But what about the web? It sucks, too. Time, that is.

You've done it, I've done it, we've all done it. You sit down at the computer, you swear you're going to work ...

... next thing you know, it's time for dinner.

You've posted "work-related" updates on Facebook, browsed "work-related" trends on Twitter, read those "work-related" blogs, ego-surfed your name on Google (work-related, natch), and looked up at all your high-school crushes on LinkedIn.

What you haven't done is actual work.

There's a limitless number of web sites that can suck the time (and life) out of your working day: YouTube, ESPN, Facebook, Twitter ... news sites, political blogs ... etc.

Do this: Block those web sites. Otherwise, they will block your progress and erode your paycheck by burning your time -- the priceless ingredient in success.

Four months ago, I blocked Facebook on my work computer. Also blocked dozens of time-wasting web sites that used to eat up 2-3 hours of time every day. Since then, my productivity has soared. I get more done in less time, and I can always check Facebook on my iPad (after dinner).

As my marketing mentor, Dan Kennedy, says: "Your time must be your own. You dictate who, when and how and how much of it others get. Anything less is either slavery or anarchy."

For a list of handy productivity and web-site blocking tools, click here.

FYI, I use and recommend (and don't get paid by) OpenDNS.

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 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.

Strategic Happiness

Why do you work and market and sell so hard?

One reason, I'm sure: To earn the money it takes to live the life you want.

And why do you want to live that life?

To be happy, I'm sure. You work hard now to be happy later.

Well, why wait?

Not only can you be happy now, before you grow your business, but being happy now can help grow your business. It's a virtuous, money-making, happiness-inducing circle.

"Whatever goal you want to reach, you can reach it 10 times faster if you are happy," writes success coach Steve Chandler in, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself. "In my sales training and consulting, I notice that happy sales people sell at least twice as much as unhappy sales people. Most people think that the successful sales people are happy because they are selling more and making more money. Not true. They are selling more and making more money because they are happy."

In his book, The Happiness Advantage, Harvard researcher Shawn Achor analyzes research conducted over 10 years and finds that happy people increase their sales by 37 percent and productivity by 31 percent.

Get that?

Sales-making, productive people are happy FIRST; more profitable and productive SECOND.

Again, why wait for the money to make you happy? Happiness can make you money.

There are many ways to get happy. But the more I study the subject, the more one word keeps popping up: gratitude. Gratitude can prime the pump of happiness and get it flowing in your life. Research backs this up. Grateful people tend to be happier, according to Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California-Davis.

And gratitude can be created on demand, according to Emmons. "In a series of studies, my colleagues and I have helped people systematically cultivate gratitude, usually by keeping a gratitude journal in which they regularly record the things for which they’re grateful," writes Emmons.

Let's modify that idea for our purposes and create a marketing gratitude journal. Write down 5 recent "wins" in your marketing for which you're grateful.

Examples of marketing gratitude:

• "I'm grateful that A.B. bought a product after getting my sales letter last week."
• "I'm grateful that G.R. called after getting my new business card. I'll meet him Thursday to pitch a project."
• "I'm grateful that J.L. retained me after responding to my advertorial."
• "I'm grateful that H.H. hired me after a referral from my wife!"
• "I'm grateful that D.S. hired me after getting my sales letter."

Writing out 5 marketing "wins" gives you two big benefits:

1) It makes you grateful, which can make you happier, more productive, and more profitable. We've seen that.

2) By reliving past success, you're visualizing success. You're mentally "practicing" behavior that made you money before, which makes it easier to make money again.

Win-win.

Why not try it? Jot down 5 things about your marketing that you're grateful for, in your Google Calendar, on a Post-It Note, wherever. If it feels good today, do it again tomorrow.

Proactively creating happiness NOW can make you more productive and profitable LATER. Call it Strategic Happiness. Call it anything you want. Just try it and see for yourself.

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 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.

More Media Means More Money

Whatever you're doing to grow your business, you can do it better by doing it via more media.

By distributing your best sales message in more ways, you appeal to the communications styles of more people -- and sell more stuff.

• If you sell in person or by phone, you can distribute your sales message via direct mail, email, video, email, etc.
• If you sell by email or web pages, add direct mail, seminars, video, etc. to your mix
• If you sell by direct mail, add email, seminars, video, etc.

Want examples? Here you go ...

• Phone + Mail: For a real estate investor, I turned his best phone sales message into a series of letters and postcards... and netted him $770,000 in profits (and counting)

• In Person + Print Ad: For an insurance agent, I turned his in-person sales message into a newspaper insert (FSI) ... and increased his net profits 670% 

• In Person + Mail: For a chain of pet stores, I turned their best employee's sales message into a sales letter... and delivered a 23.02% response and an ROI of 683%

• In Person + Email: For a business coach, I turned his in-person sales message into a series of emails to promote a webinar ... and helped deliver $115,000 in 24 hours

• Text + Video: For a consultant's landing page, I turned the written copy into an added video ... and conversion rates nearly doubled, from 25% to more than 40%

Note: Research shows that your tone of voice and body language -- NOT your words -- can account for up to 93% of communications, depending on the topic. So, if you add a new medium to your marketing mix, consider doing a video. This is supported by research from Mashable, showing that adding video content to your web site can increase conversions by 86% and sales by 44%.

Task: Find your best sales message -- that thing you're doing or saying that brings in the most sales and profits. Then, distribute it via one new medium. Then add another. And another.

Rinse. Repeat. Profit.
 

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 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 Easily Create Marketing Synergy

Here's how to recycle back issues of your newsletter in a way that builds your business -- mail them along with a handwritten thank-you note to new prospects.

(See my example at left.)

Your message will stand out from ordinary thank-you notes (which stand head and shoulders above thank-you emails).

Plus, by including a back issue of your newsletter, you share your expertise with prospects in a way that's low-key, non-threatening, and entirely welcome.

What if you don't have a monthly newsletter?

Include a copy of your best article, or a "top 10" list of tips, or even an article by someone else that you found helpful.

If synergy means a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts (1 + 1 = 3), then this is true marketing synergy.

Here's the formula: 1 (thank-you note) +1 (printed resource) = 3 (surprised, delighted, receptive prospect).

Meanwhile, if you want more clients, 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.