Dan S. Kennedy's Blog, page 23

Your Road Map To Success…10 Big Breakthroughs To Grow Your Business!

I’m about to make you a very big PROMISE and you’ll save us both a lot of time and aggravation if you just accept what I say as truth.

The PROMISE is this:

BY listening AND taking ALL the actions I suggest in The “10 BIG” Breakthroughs in Business Life you can Multiply your Income by up to 10X!

Now I know you’re probably skeptical about this, but since I’ve helped hundreds of clients make millions of dollars but if you’re still skeptical…please refer back to my sentence at the top of the page and I can get right into the stuff that, IF ACTED UPON, will start producing more income, faster than you ever imagined possible.

AND…

You won’t be working 80 or 90 or 100 hours per week to do this.

NO!!!

In fact…if you take the steps I’ve outlined here, you’ll actually be making a lot more money with more Autonomy, Independence and Security than ever before!

So instead of me spending the next twenty minutes showing you page after page of testimonials, case studies, and real life examples of the millionaire members I’ve created over the past 30 years, I’m gonna break one of my own rules and simply start showing you how to make more money…starting now!

To Get the 10 Big Breakthroughs Action Guide and DVD sent to your door, along with four other gifts simply click here now.  All I ask is for you to help out with a very reasonable $4.95 for shipping and I’ll send you $648 of money-making marketing strategies and tools for free.

The entire presentation is below.

BIG BREAKTHROUGH NUMBER ONE: Go from Business Owner to Entrepreneur

You’ve heard me explain the difference in the two…but just in case you missed it, I’m going to explain it again because this point is SO critical to your overall success.

Business Owner = A jeweler who owns a jewelry store

Entrepreneur = A person who owns a jewelry store to build a list of customers and also has web offers, runs jewelry parties, organizes tours to diamond mines for rich clientele to pick their own diamond, has other luxury product stores and affiliate relationships with them

Two different opportunities to go from business owner to entrepreneur include Vertical and Horizontal expansion

Vertical Expansion example…someone who buys (or re-creates) their vendors or the businesses they sell to.  Go up and down the supply chain and buy those businesses.

Horizontal Expansion example…realizing the real asset is the value with the customer you can buy or start related businesses that your list is already buying from. A restaurant owner who starts a catering business, an event planning service, a D.J. service, a professional photo shop, a wine store, limo service etc…

Start with what the _____________________ wants, NOT what you want.

The number one question you need to ask yourself is… “Who will give me the money?” So I ask you…who will give you the money? Write down three types of customers/clients/patients who’ll “give you the money.” Describe exactly who they are, what the look like, kids, family, wants, desires etc… To check yourself ask, “Why will they give me the money?”

BIG BREAKTHROUGH NUMBER TWO: GKIC Style Marketing

GKIC Style Marketing is typically referred to as…

To receive the other 9 Big Breakthroughs for Free Click Here Now and these will be rushed to your door (you’ll also receive IMMEDIATE online access.)

In addition we’ll send you $648 worth of money-making marketing strategies and all we ask is for a very fair $4.95 to help with shipping and we’ll send it to you anywhere in the world.

Click here to get your small business marketing strategies toolkit now.

A Triple Threat Package from GKIC to Help Small Businesses Grow and Prosper with Referrals

Sign Up by Midnight Monday and Learn How to

Generate an Endless Flow of Qualified Customers

The Ultimate No B.S. Referral Machine is the featured product for the GKIC weekend web deal. This is a tested and proven system designed to attract and maintain a steady stream of referrals to your business. Recorded on 4 CDs and 4 DVDs, it’s an intensive process broken down with a corresponding transcript. This training program is divided into four main topics:

Part I – Analyzes the foundations of generating referrals and the mental psychology of the methods involved. Find out why many business owners don’t have a system in place for referrals, and why customers don’t normally give referrals. This section then takes a look at the components involved to set up a referral machine and the goals of this kind of system.

Part II – Gives the details of some actual samples of powerful referral strategies currently in place and offers lots of ideas to help any kind of business get started and on the way to a steady flow of qualified customers who can potentially go on to become long-term customers, clients or patients.

Part III – Breaks down some of the key components of the machine including testimonials, newsletters, dealing with privacy, attracting and retaining affluent customers and more.

Part IV – Includes lots of tools you will need, it’s your Ultimate Referral Toolbox. This section has lots of samples and examples of “swipe and deploy” tools, actual templates that can be successfully applied.

Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller Give You an Inside Look

at a Multi-Million Dollar Operation Built on Referrals

This week’s bonus extra #1 is a FREE MP4 of Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller. These former college roommates conceived and head up one of the largest automotive advertising agencies in the industry: Rich Dealers. Their presentation is from the 2013 Info-SUMMITSM.

These two entrepreneurs built their company based on referrals. Together they figured out a way to make a business ESP – enjoyable, simple and profitable. You’ll see how they created a referral system to dominate their niche by doing something most info-marketers never do.

Find out how they turned things around regarding “the way things are done around here”. They also show you their secret formula to building equity in your company so that you’re not dependent on your “next hit” or “next promotion” and develop “locked in” income on a daily basis, just like the big companies do it.

The best part is they’ve been able to build their organization and yet avoid the grind of business travel or working long hours at the expense of their personal lives and family obligations. This MP4 live presentation, a $297 value, is yours FREE through Monday when you order The Ultimate No B.S. Referral Machine.

Private Practice Growth Strategies Features

Referral Strategies That Work

Bonus extra #2, also FREE this week only, is Private Practice Growth Strategies, an MP4 created specifically for doctors, lawyers, CPAs, financial advisors, consultants, coaches, interior designers, architects and any other kind of professional practice.

Originally presented at last year’s SuperConferenceSM, you’ll learn strategies for picking up new clients or patients, keeping them for the long haul and how to solve all-too-common professional practice problems.

Client or patient flow is the lifeblood of your business. Boosting your system of referrals will make your business more predictable. It’s a key contributor to you being more positive and optimistic. And this will rub off on your family, your staff and your clients or patients.

If you believe some of the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your practice could be fixed by getting more referrals, this program is for you. 

Order The Ultimate No B.S. Referral Machine and make a down payment of $199 with the balance of $199 due 30 days later and get the following FREE bonuses:

• MP4 of Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller talking about how they built a sophisticated multi-million dollar advertising agency primarily based on referrals 

• Private Practice Growth Strategies, an MP4 of Dan Kennedy’s presentation at last year’s SuperConferenceSM, shows professional practice owners how to attract new clients or patients with proven referral methods

To take advantage of this fantastic offer you must act by no later than midnight, Monday, March 30th.   

P.S. – the Powerhouse Message at the End of Every Letter

We live in a society that suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder.

People no longer simply watch TV and enjoy the show.  They are simultaneously on their laptops or tablets posting updates on Facebook, on their phones texting friends and tweeting, and probably doing ALL of this while driving, eating and reading the paper (on their kindle of course!)

In other words, many have poor focusing skills and can’t concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds, chances are since you’ve started reading this, you’ve also checked your email 47 times and clicked on the FREE book offer banner to the right. 

While I would gladly launch every cell phone and social media platform into the sea because of what it’s doing to our society and work ethic, but instead of fighting this, I find it best to tweak the strategies I’ve used for decades in print that are more important today than ever before.  One such strategy is the effective use of the post script or P.S. 

Here are several reasons you need to add a p.s. in virtually everything you do, print, online, email and blogs…

The post script of P.S. is meant for those who are attention-challenged, and those who prefer to scan rather than read.
Many people often read the headline and then jump right to the P.S. They concentrate on the beginning and the end, but hardly anyone ever jumps to the middle.
The P.S. can serve as a valuable component that summarizes your offer. For those who want to “cut to the chase”, the P.S. is the place to go to for a quick recap. 
The P.S. can serve as a platform for the most important benefit. It’s just another way to reaffirm and drive home what is the most attractive aspect of your product or service.
For added urgency, the P.S. can be used to state a specific deadline or expiration date and increase the likelihood of a response.
To provide supportive information of interest to the reader, the P.S. can sometimes include testimonials or favorable opinions and recommendations from recognized authorities.
If there’s an extra bonus, premium or add-on being offered as an incentive, the P.S is a good place to mention this response lifter.
Another element commonly found in the P.S. is any kind of guarantee or promise. This type of message instills a sense of trust – the product or service is so good and since the reader is definitely going to love it, all they have to do is try it. The compelling feature here is the elimination of risk on the part of the reader. They literally have nothing to lose.

If you want to make your P.S. visually stand out and jump off the page (or screen), here are some tactical graphic strategies you could try.

Bump up the type size a point or two larger than the body copy


Try a different typeface from the one used in the body copy


If your P.S. is very short and to-the-point, try using all capital letters or make the typeface bold


Make the P.S. appear in a different color that contrasts from the body copy


Have the P.S. appear in a handwritten font


If the P.S. appears in a handwritten font, include letter initials of the person signing the letter to make it appear to be a personal message


Enclose the P.S. inside a box or put a contrasting screened color in the background


Include a simple graphic to go along with the P.S. copy (an arrow, a smiley face, a design element, dotted line leading to the reply device or click-on button, etc.)

When it comes to content and manner of delivery, here are three different P.S. styles to consider. Depending on the main objective of the sales letter, each of these three styles could work well.

Straightforward – Your P.S. restates the offer and stresses the deadline. This covers the essence of what the letter is really all about.

Takeaway – This type of P.S. tells the reader this is not for you if … “If working hard, thinking on your feet and earning lots of money doesn’t interest you, then this offer is not for you …”

Here’s another example of a takeaway P.S.: “This is not for you if you are unwilling to do the dirty work and put in at least ten hours each week.”

The takeaway actually builds trust and integrity. The P.S. is telling them “this is not for you” and “here’s why this is not for you”. The reader doesn’t want to admit to being lazy or otherwise of questionable character, so they’re “compelled” to respond and give what you’re offering a try.

Extra add-on – If there’s an unexpected bonus or extra to push, it’s one more reason to get those sitting on the fence to make a commitment.

As far as the length of the P.S., there is no right or wrong answer here. A short P.S. is usually one long sentence or possibly two average length sentences. On the other end of the spectrum, some elaborate sales letters use a P.S. that can go on for an extra page, two pages or more.

Sometimes it makes sense to use a second P.S., called a P.P.S. (or as Gary Halbert famously did it p.s. #2) This method makes sense if there’s an extra bonus not mentioned earlier anywhere in the copy, an incentive or giveaway to promote or an unusual or absolute guarantee to talk about.

Every element within a sales letter (the offer, salutation, bullet points, closing, call-to-action) has a specific purpose based on its function. And although it may come last in sequential order of a standard sales letter, the P.S. has an important role to fulfill. It should never be treated as an afterthought or put together hastily and incidentally.

P.S. I’ve personally known Russell Brunson for nearly a decade. And by the looks of him that would indicate that I’ve known him since he was six years old.  Russell though is one of the most successful marketers I know who specializes in online strategies. 

He’s releasing his first book and is offering to give it to you for “free” though from what I hear you’ll need to spend about five bucks for him to actually ship it to you.  Still probably worth that meager investment.

In any case I can not say I specialize in the strategies Russell employs online, but I can absolutely tell you he uses what’s worked offline for decades, centuries actually, and cracked the code to make them work in an online world.  Russell, coming from a mindset of abundance, is sharing his strategies with you and actually encouraging you to use them.  

He’s actually even released the exact tools he uses to people who really want to duplicate what he’s done (while he comes from a mindset of abundance, he also knows that sadly most people will never actually use the strategies he outlines or the tools he provides.)

In any case…click here to get his book Dotcom Secrets now and make sure you aren’t like most who when given the keys to the kingdom, put them into a drawer instead of a keyhole. 

 

 

The demise of direct mail – strictly a grand illusion

“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
– Mark Twain

Mark Twain was addressing his critics who were spreading rumors that he had passed away. In fact, Twain was very much alive and his popularity with readers was peaking.

Twain also could have been talking about direct mail marketing, that tried-and-true form of advertising that’s been around for over 100 years and still going strong.

The fact is direct mail is hardly dead. It is still being used aggressively and regularly by all kinds of savvy marketers. It’s a critical part of their overall marketing mix, especially when it comes to prospecting for new customers.

It’s been called many things, including junk mail. But in reality the new junk mail is actually all the messages you receive in your digital mailbox every day.

How many emails do you delete without even bothering to open? Maybe half of them, probably a whole lot more. It’s not unusual for someone to delete as much as 90% of emails received without ever opening them. The average person now receives 20, 30 or more emails each day soliciting everything from weight loss to travel deals, from miracle drugs to the latest ramblings of so-called experts.

Yes, email marketing is an extremely effective medium for communicating and selling customers. And it is certainly more convenient and much less expensive when compared to direct mail.

However, if you’re looking for new customers, direct mail wins hands down. On the back-end, direct mail is cheaper when figuring out the cost-per-sale.

When it comes to crafting a multimedia campaign, your best bet is to use a combination of different messaging platforms which could include email, direct mail, free standing inserts, print ads and more.

Let’s take a look at how the old way of doing things (direct mail) stacks up favorably when compared to the relatively new kid on the block (email):

Ten advantages of direct mail versus email marketing

Direct mail is more reliable, trustworthy – According to an Epsilon study, 50% of consumers prefer direct mail to email, 67% think direct mail is more personal, 70% preferred direct mail to email when it comes to unsolicited information from unfamiliar companies and 25% perceived direct mail offers to be more trustworthy than email. 
Direct mail can be three-dimensional, unique – You can touch and feel it, and in some cases like scratch ‘n’ sniff even smell it. It has texture, visual impact, a sense of realism and validity. Email is strictly one-dimensional, a message appearing on your computer or smart phone screen. There is little differentiation from one email to another. 
Direct mail projects a personality – The creative execution options are virtually unlimited, from different shapes and sizes to snap packs to scratch and reveal to windows, die cuts and intricate folds. Direct mail enters a home through a mailbox. Emails can be released into never, never land with a simple click of a button. 
Direct mail has longevity – A direct mail package can remain on a coffee table or desk for days, even weeks for future reference. When it comes to emails they are very disposable, they are rarely kept or referred back to. Emails tend to be a one-time, extremely brief, quick shot at gaining the attention of a prospect. 
Direct mail has a higher perceived value – When it comes to email prospecting campaigns, 95%+ of all emails are never opened. Direct mail will at least capture a glance. Prospects may not read every word, but there is a level of brand and offer awareness that doesn’t exist with emails. 
Direct mail has a much higher delivery rate – About 95% compared to less than 50% for most email lists. Plus more and more ISPs like Yahoo, AOL and gmail are taking steps to block unsolicited emails, and this trend is expected to continue. 
Direct mail provides more details vs. short email content – The life span of an email is literally seconds. A direct mail package can actually hold the attention of a prospect for a much longer period of time, especially if there is an interest factor. 
There’s less competition in the mailbox compared to an email inbox – Since more and more marketers are choosing to flood email in boxes, the competition in the mailbox has been reduced. A direct mail package has a much better chance of being, opened, read and retained compared to an email message. 
People are more receptive to direct mail – When it comes to prospecting for new customers, direct mail will consistently beat email, usually by a significant margin. According to a DMA (Direct Marketing Association) study, direct mail is 10-30 times more effective than email when it comes to generating new customers. 
Direct mail can rely on emotion to illicit a response vs. the cold, hard facts of an email – An emotional tug can help marketers sell products and services. It’s much easier to touch upon someone’s feelings with direct mail when compared to the one-dimensional, fact-based content of most email campaigns.

Can direct mail and email team up to bolster a marketing campaign?

It’s been proven time and again that direct mail improves email response rates. Here’s a way to combine the power of these two mediums to optimize impact. About 7-10 days before a scheduled email blast, send all recipients a postcard talking about an upcoming special email offer that will soon be arriving in their in box.

This approach has been known to boost open and click-through rates. The email recipient is much more likely to keep an eye open for the soon-to-arrive email and much more likely to open and read the email, increasing the possibility for a sale.

To find out more about direct mail, email and effective marketing in general come to the GKIC SuperConference in Minneapolis April 30 through May 2. Hundreds of small business owners will be there, along with a terrific group of guest speakers featuring magician Penn Jillette as the grand host.

Click here now to make reservations to attend the 2015 GKIC SuperConference.

Turn On the Money-Making Switch for Your Business

What got you to the 5-figure, and possibly even the 6-figure level, won’t work when it comes to achieving a 7-figure income.

It’s really very simple. The rules are DIFFERENT when it comes to running a 7-figure business. Old methods and familiar ways of doing things no longer apply. You need to think in radical terms and master a whole new set of techniques and tactics to break that lofty 7-figure barrier.

10 Important Lessons You’ll Learn on Your Way to 7 Figures

Here is just a small sampling of what you will uncover when you sign up for The 7 Figure Academy:

• Qualification – How to accurately access potential clients, customers and patients and determine which ones you want to work with (Learning this is mandatory. You cannot cut corners or ignore this.)

• Aspiration – Why you must aspire to be the “guru” or recognized expert in your industry. This is another must to attaining more prestige, wealth and power. I’ll show you how to do this without investing too much time or ruffling any feathers in the process.

• Competition – The importance of healthy competition and how you can leverage this competition to create a second business from your current one. (This is known as the rule of multiplication. It helps you reach 7 figures faster.)

• Dramatic Presentation – It will help you to persuade and lead to more product or service sales than you thought possible. It’s a common, time-tested tactic used by many successful advertising masters over the years.

• 7 Secret Requirements – You need these if you want to attain a 7-figure income. You won’t discover these in any business class or run-of-the-mill wealth-building book. These were honed during my 40 years of attending the school of hard knocks, while working in the trenches.

• 3 Must Dos – The three tasks you should never delegate if you want to know what’s going on in your business. As they grow, too many owners pass down or outsource these responsibilities and frequently lose touch with their business right after that.

• Respect for Time – How to train others to respect your time so you can get work done. No 7-figure business can operate efficiently without these guidelines in place.

• Overcoming Mental Blocks – Three roadblocks to making more money and the best ways to overcome them. Most of these can be traced back to childhood. I’ll show you how to rationalize and hurdle these barricades concerning wealth building.

• Cultivate Innovation – How to bring something unique to the table and stand apart from the crowd so you become the obvious choice in your market. (Many 6-figure businesses constantly blow this one, which is one reason why they’ll never reach the 7-figure plateau.)

• Game of Speed – When you reach the 7-figure level everything gets a little faster, naturally. Learn the five ways you can leverage places and people so you can get to a 7-figure income quicker and find out how to run and even lap the big dogs with confidence.

This just covers a small slice of everything that’s included in 7 Figure Academy. This program even includes a cameo appearance by Jay Abraham, a business executive and direct response marketing practitioner who shares a lot of secrets that most business people will never know. Although Jay and I are considered friendly competitors, his revelations are just one more good reason why you should gobble up 7 Figure Academy.

Forget About Rubbing A Magic Lantern

A 7-Figure Income Is Well Within Your Reach

Place your order today and get the inside story on what it really takes to reach 7 figures. If you sign up by midnight on Monday, March 23rd you’ll also get 7-Figure Info-Marketing Blueprint, never released before this weekend. It features a “closed door” session with Dave Dee from a recent SuperConferenceSM. A $397 value, it’s yours FREE as an extra bonus special.

A Small Investment of Time and Money Can Lead to Mega Riches

Be sure to order 7 Figure Academy now and get 7-Figure Info-Marketing Blueprint as a FREE add-on. I strongly urge you to take action today without delay, because it’s very likely this energizing Dave Dee training session from SuperConferenceSM will never be issued again.

Do it today – this one-time offer will expire on Monday, March 23rd at 12:00 am

Top Rules for Attracting and Monitizing Leads Using Facebook

There are a lot of misconceptions concerning my thoughts on social media.  Let me make it clear that while I think the world would be a better, far more productive, and in some cases safer place without people checking their phones, Facebook, twitter feeds, email, tablets etc…every 6 seconds; in large I view advertising on Facebook as just another type of media, just like, email, direct mail, banner ads etc… 

And right now, because of the tools that they make readily available it’s a type of media that you’ll ignore at your own peril.  Chances are if you’re not using it to find, engage, and monetize, monetize being the operative word, your customers, clients or patients then your competitors are.

Below I’ve included 5 Rules for Attracting Your ideal Leads through Facebook as told by a true Facebook Monetization expert, and the co-author of my upcoming “No B.S” book, Kim Walsh-Phillips.  

5 Rules for Attracting Your ideal Leads through Facebook - Kim Walsh-Phillips

There’s a lot of bad, incomplete and incorrect information floating around out there about how to use Facebook to attract your ideal customers, clients and patients. Many “experts” preach that you should get as many Facebook “likes” and followers as possible for the sake of building “awareness.”

To paraphrase Dan Kennedy:

“You can’t make your mortgage payment with ‘likes’, pay your employees with ‘likes’ or take ‘likes’ to the bank”

That said, I do have clients successfully extracting dollars from social media by implementing the following principles for squeezing trackable ROI from Facebook by following these 5 immutable rules:

 

Rule #1: Treat Facebook Like A Cocktail Party, Not A Shopping Mall

Many marketers make the mistake of direct selling on Facebook.   It’s a good place to announce special events, offer specials and get people to sign up for your email list.

But if you constantly post, “Come Buy My_________ (fill in the blank)” you’re making a big mistake. Your goal on Facebook is to build relationships and motivate people to come visit your company website or physical store.

Remember, Facebook isn’t a shopping mall. It’s a cocktail of people hanging out and being entertained. They want to spread the latest cat memes, find out where their friends went for vacation, and chat with their high school buddies.

 

Rule #2: Have An Attractive Lead Magnet To Get Prospects To Leave The Cocktail Party

So, how do you get people your website? You need an attractive lead magnet—just like you would if you were trying to attract leads outside of social media.

Yes, that’s right, it IS possible to apply “old school” direct response tactics to Facebook. Yet, most companies have a vague slogan on their Facebook pages with no call to action.  

You need to aggressively siphon Facebook leads onto your list so you can market to them. Some ideas for lead magnets include a coupon, a checklist, a roadmap, or any other valuable resource your prospects would pay for it if weren’t free.

 

Rule #3: Make Sure You’re Targeting Your Ideal Customer, Client Or Patient With Your Lead Generation Magnet

It’s one thing to capture leads on Facebook. But it’s another thing to attract “dud” leads that won’t buy from you.   Filtering through these tire-kickers and “looky-loos” can be akin to getting a root canal if you’re not targeting your ideal prospect.

The key is to be laser-focused with your lead magnet so you can attract your ideal customers, clients or patients. This involves having the right title for your lead magnet, and the compelling copy to motivate prospects to opt-in.

For example, if you’re a search engine optimization expert and you want to target information marketers who are making at least 6 figures in their business, the title of your lead magnet could say something like:

“A 5-Step Search Engine Optimization System For Advanced 6-Figure Info-Marketers”

See how that title attracts your ideal prospect? To hone this further, you would insert “disqualifiers” in the copy that would repel people you don’t want to work with…if you choose.

 

Rule #4: Always Test You Facebook Images With Your Ads

Facebook lets you A/B split-test your ads.  Actually you test ad A against B, C, D, E and F.  And images are the first things you should be testing with your Facebook ads because they are what catch the eyes of users.

One way you can test Facebook images is to test different colors. Facebook’s color scheme is blue and white, so you’ll want to test colors that clash with Facebook’s color layout, including bright orange and red.

The other thing you should test is your value proposition in your image. The word “FREE” will always catch the eye of a Facebook user.

Lastly, you’ll want to test your headline, subhead, and offer text.  

A quick tip: you don’t want to test small “tweaks” like a different word in the headline or a different color in the image.   You want to test major variables, including different value propositions, different images and alternative headlines. That’s where you’re going to see your conversions gradually soar.

 

Rule #5: Make Sure Your Facebook Ads Are Targeted

Often times, Facebook advertisers create ads that target an entire country. This will get you a lot of clicks but will waste a lot of money for the most part.

Facebook provides a whole host of targeting options—including interests, behaviors, education, and connections. If you are not using Facebook’s targeting options, then you’re flushing money down the drain.

Facebook even allows you to create a Custom Audience by exporting your prospect or customer email list to Facebook. It will then match the email addresses with current Facebook user so you can serve ads to only those people.

Facebook is a very powerful advertising medium when used right.   If you get it wrong or violate any of these rules, I guarantee your experience with Facebook will be an expensive, frustrating experience.

 

5 Rules For Attracting Your Ideal Customers, Clients Or Patients Through Facebook

There are a lot of misconceptions concerning my thoughts on social media.  Let me make it clear that while I think the world would be a better, far more productive, and in some cases safer place without people checking their phones, Facebook, twitter feeds, email, tablets etc…every 6 seconds; in large I view advertising on Facebook as just another type of media, just like, email, direct mail, banner ads etc… 

And right now, because of the tools that they make readily available it’s a type of media that you’ll ignore at your own peril.  Chances are if you’re not using it to find, engage, and monetize, monetize being the operative word, your customers, clients or patients then your competitors are.

Below I’ve included 5 Rules for Attracting Your ideal Leads through Facebook as told by a true Facebook Monetization expert, and the co-author of my upcoming “No B.S” book, Kim Walsh-Phillips.  Kim will also be doing a FREE live training today…more on that in a minute.  

5 Rules for Attracting Your ideal Leads through Facebook - Kim Walsh-Phillips

There’s a lot of bad, incomplete and incorrect information floating around out there about how to use Facebook to attract your ideal customers, clients and patients. Many “experts” preach that you should get as many Facebook “likes” and followers as possible for the sake of building “awareness.”

To paraphrase Dan Kennedy:

“You can’t make your mortgage payment with ‘likes’, pay your employees with ‘likes’ or take ‘likes’ to the bank”

That said, I do have clients successfully extracting dollars from social media by implementing the following principles for squeezing trackable ROI from Facebook by following these 5 immutable rules:

Rule #1: Treat Facebook Like A Cocktail Party, Not A Shopping Mall

Many marketers make the mistake of direct selling on Facebook.   It’s a good place to announce special events, offer specials and get people to sign up for your email list.

But if you constantly post, “Come Buy My_________ (fill in the blank)” you’re making a big mistake. Your goal on Facebook is to build relationships and motivate people to come visit your company website or physical store.

Remember, Facebook isn’t a shopping mall. It’s a cocktail of people hanging out and being entertained. They want to spread the latest cat memes, find out where their friends went for vacation, and chat with their high school buddies.

 

Rule #2: Have An Attractive Lead Magnet To Get Prospects To Leave The Cocktail Party

So, how do you get people your website? You need an attractive lead magnet—just like you would if you were trying to attract leads outside of social media.

Yes, that’s right, it IS possible to apply “old school” direct response tactics to Facebook. Yet, most companies have a vague slogan on their Facebook pages with no call to action.  

You need to aggressively siphon Facebook leads onto your list so you can market to them. Some ideas for lead magnets include a coupon, a checklist, a roadmap, or any other valuable resource your prospects would pay for it if weren’t free.

 

Rule #3: Make Sure You’re Targeting Your Ideal Customer, Client Or Patient With Your Lead Generation Magnet

It’s one thing to capture leads on Facebook. But it’s another thing to attract “dud” leads that won’t buy from you.   Filtering through these tire-kickers and “looky-loos” can be akin to getting a root canal if you’re not targeting your ideal prospect.

The key is to be laser-focused with your lead magnet so you can attract your ideal customers, clients or patients. This involves having the right title for your lead magnet, and the compelling copy to motivate prospects to opt-in.

For example, if you’re a search engine optimization expert and you want to target information marketers who are making at least 6 figures in their business, the title of your lead magnet could say something like:

“A 5-Step Search Engine Optimization System For Advanced 6-Figure Info-Marketers”

See how that title attracts your ideal prospect? To hone this further, you would insert “disqualifiers” in the copy that would repel people you don’t want to work with…if you choose.

 

Rule #4: Always Test You Facebook Images With Your Ads

Facebook lets you A/B split-test your ads.  Actually you test ad A against B, C, D, E and F.  And images are the first things you should be testing with your Facebook ads because they are what catch the eyes of users.

One way you can test Facebook images is to test different colors. Facebook’s color scheme is blue and white, so you’ll want to test colors that clash with Facebook’s color layout, including bright orange and red.

The other thing you should test is your value proposition in your image. The word “FREE” will always catch the eye of a Facebook user.

Lastly, you’ll want to test your headline, subhead, and offer text.  

A quick tip: you don’t want to test small “tweaks” like a different word in the headline or a different color in the image.   You want to test major variables, including different value propositions, different images and alternative headlines. That’s where you’re going to see your conversions gradually soar.

 

Rule #5: Make Sure Your Facebook Ads Are Targeted

Often times, Facebook advertisers create ads that target an entire country. This will get you a lot of clicks but will waste a lot of money for the most part.

Facebook provides a whole host of targeting options—including interests, behaviors, education, and connections. If you are not using Facebook’s targeting options, then you’re flushing money down the drain.

Facebook even allows you to create a Custom Audience by exporting your prospect or customer email list to Facebook. It will then match the email addresses with current Facebook user so you can serve ads to only those people.

Facebook is a very powerful advertising medium when used right.   If you get it wrong or violate any of these rules, I guarantee your experience with Facebook will be an expensive, frustrating experience.

Note: Kim Walsh-Phillips will be on live today to show you the 3 Simple Steps For Attracting Your Ideal Prospects and Converting Them Into Paying Customers, Clients and Patients.  As I’ve said, I usually have a cautious and critical attitude toward “social media marketing,” but Kim knows how to apply tough-minded ROI measurements to it.  So click here to save your spot.

Mindset For Success

The other day Dan wrote about the legendary magician Harry Houdini and a livecast he’s doing on the marketing strategies Houdini used – and how his REAL secret wasn’t his skills as a magician, it was his talents as a MARKETER that created fame and fortune. During his lifetime, everyone made a big deal over the “secrets” Houdini used to escape from any and all challenges. Many of those secrets and gimmicks he carried to the grave.

But his secret set of “gimmicks” weren’t the most IMPORTANT keys to his success – it was his THINKING:

“My brain is the key that sets my mind free.”

– Harry Houdini

I recently worked with Dan Kennedy on a product promotion and one thing we discussed during the down-time was the importance of “mindset” as it relates to living a successful life. It doesn’t matter if you know all the greatest marketing secrets on the planet, it doesn’t matter if you have the best product, it doesn’t matter if the economy is good or bad… all of that doesn’t make a bit of difference if your head isn’t screwed on correctly. You need to have the proper mindset if you are going to succeed at the highest levels.

Remember this: Negative people get negative results. One naturally follows the other. I’m not saying that having the proper mindset means just being positive for the sake of being positive. There are some people who just “bliss out” and “think positive” when their life is in shambles. You don’t want to deny reality. The key is not to just “think positive” the key is to take positive actions that move you closer toward your goals. By doing that, you have something to feel positive about.

On the other hand, the pessimistic, negative person is never going to succeed long term. Even if things are good for this type of person, they will always expect things to turn bad and their expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

For the longest time, I thought that working on my “mindset” was a bunch of psycho-babble B.S. that really didn’t amount to a hill of beans. I was wrong. It is extremely important, in fact it is a critical success factor. However, there are people who take it to the extreme and only work on the “mental stuff”. Remember that no one has ever become a millionaire by just sitting in the corner and meditating. You have to actually do something and continue to do something to succeed.

You need to have both the proper mindset and take the right actions to reach the highest levels.

This week, take a good, long and deep introspective look at yourself. Are you a positive or negative person? Are you taking proactive actions to reach your goals? Have you prepared yourself on a mental level to do what it takes to create the life you dream about?

Think about it and then act.

Kick Butt, Make Mucho Dinero!

NOTE: Speaking of taking action, don’t miss this afternoon’s live broadcast where Dan Kennedy and I will reveal How To Houdini-ize” Your Business. It’s a one-time only happening TODAY, March 17th, at 3pm ET. We’ll show you how to attract money to you by becoming the celebrity and authority in your niche by using the marketing techniques of Harry Houdini.

Click here to reserve your spot now.

Four Steps To Creating A List Building Machine

“I need help building my list!”

This is a universal problem that virtually every business owner has and it’s the number one thing we’re told by you that you need help with.

This is a great thing for two reasons…first off it tells us you understand the value of a list.  Recently I was in Chicago and went to a restaurant called Carnivale with Darcy and “the jewel” (aka Mike.)

It’s one of Mikes favorite places to eat but just about every time he goes there he uses a discount offer from a daily deal site because they advertise on there all the time (I won’t go into the Jewel being a cheapskate here).  Even though he’s been to Carnivale a number of times, not once have they asked him for his information so they could follow up directly with him.  Instead they rely on using high-cost daily deal sites to get customers instead of simply going to their own list.  Most people aren’t even aware that they need a list.

So simply by asking this question it implies you understand the value of having a list and that’s good news.

Secondly…and really more importantly, it’s a great problem because it’s one that can be solved.

Easily, and in a variety of ways!

One of my friends who is an online list-building “guru” recently released a video showing the four steps to creating a list building machine.  In one example he shows how they took a virtually “dead” blog and now drive over 10,000 visitors a day to it, and more important capture contact information from over 600 new visitors EVERY day!

You can watch the entire video by clicking here and below I’ll share with my best take-a-ways.  This particular video is all about using your blog as the center of your lead attraction universe.  If you don’t have a blog, he shares resources you can use to start one immediately, for FREE.   Now for the four steps.

1. Create a Stand Alone Opt-in Page.  Too many people make the mistake of driving traffic to their blog and hoping that an ad on the right hand side will get people to opt-in, or subscribe to their blog.

In reality, using text throughout the blog article telling people how to subscribe and making a clickable link will convert 10x-15x as many people into subscribers.  This is sooooo important because if someone finds your blog through a search engine, chances are they may never find it again when left on their own, so you NEED to capture their information the first time they come.  Jeff describes various ways to do that here.



2. Sell Visitors On Why They Should Join Your List.  Let’s face it.  We all get plenty of e-mail so we’re really not looking to subscribe to more lists…UNLESS it’s something you’re very interested in, something entertaining, or something that will be helpful to you.

For instance if I went to a blog and they said “Sign up to get the latest reviews for the best restaurants in the country, shared with you in a fun and interesting way, and get exclusive notifications of new openings and special promotions in your area!”  I might subscribe to that because they really “sold” me on why I should subscribe.  Chances are  most won’t try and “sell” me on subscribing and simply say “Sign up for our e-newsletter.”  No, thanks.  Not interesting.

3. Split Test Everything!!!  We all know we should test different things in our ads and our marketing but most of us really don’t do this because we’re not sure how or what to test.  Jeff goes through a list of 7 things to test and shows you the tools he uses to do this easily and quickly on his video here.  While I can’t go into all seven the top two you should test even if you test nothing else are your “Headlines” and your “Call’s-To-Action.”

If you do nothing else first test your headline because this is what determines if people will even read or listen to the next thing you have to say.  If you send out e-mails your subject line should be viewed as your headline.  In a radio, or TV ad it’s the first sentence people hear.  You need them to listen, read, or watch if you’re going to convert them into a customer, client or patient so start with testing your headlines.

Then Jeff says to test your call-to-action because this is where the rubber meets the road and people decide to continue their journey with you, or leave you penniless on the side of the road.  You might be surprised at some of the simple tests he ran and their results.



4. Make Your Opt-in Page Easy To Find!  You don’t want people to need to search to subscribe to your blog, e-mail list, mailing list etc…you need to present it up front and often.

You may think it’s easy to find because you created a button or have a link in your header, but why not have it in multiple places.  Here Jeff shows you five different places you can advertise your opt-in page and the benefits of the different strategies.

Obviously in this blog, I’ve used this simple strategy and made it virtually impossible for you to read this without being presented multiple times with the opportunity to check out Jeff’s full training.

Anyhow, those were my take-a-ways from his free training video.  If you have a few minutes (about twenty actually) check it out.  Even if you don’t have a blog, or aren’t marketing online you’ll get useful tips you can apply to virtually any media.  Leave a comment below after you watch Jeff’s video and let me know what your biggest take-a-ways are.

How To Avoid Getting Hired Cheap…and Other Lessons From Houdini

“The easiest way to attract a crowd is to let it be known that at a given time and a given place someone is going to attempt something that in the event of failure will mean sudden death.”- Harry  Houdini

I’ve often said that you’ll earn far more money once you realize being the best at what you do, is far LESS lucrative than being the best at marketing what you do.

When the jewelry store owner becomes a marketer of fine jewelry, the carpet cleaner becomes a marketer of carpet cleaning services, the chiropractor a marketer of chiropractic care etc., they take a quantum leap up in income potential.

Most service business owners, small business owners, self-employed professionals and consultants all view themselves as “does” of what they do, with the task of getting people to do it to, as a necessary evil.  The marketer sees the acquisition, retention and value maximization of the customers as their primary role, with the doing of the service the necessary evil.

Simply, the marketers are much more valuable and highly paid than doers.

Next Tuesday I’ll give you the chance to eve’s drop on a conversation I have with Dave Dee where I’ll show you how to conjure up massive celebrity, authority and prosperity in your business using the lessons of the legend Harry Houdini.  Click here for the full details.

See Harry Houdini was NOT the best magician or illusionist ever, he wasn’t even the best in his day.  But Houdini WAS THE BEST marketer of his craft.  Simply said he realized the importance of the marketing vs. the doing.

This is very difficult for doers to accept.  When you go to our National Speakers Convention, at least 80% of everybody’s conversation is about the doing, not the marketing; in the cocktail lounge people tell each other what they do…

“I speak about X, I’m an expert in Y.”

In the meetings, they endlessly rehash platform techniques.  If one asks another what do you do, the answerer will define himself by his or her topic.  This is not unusual.

If you go to a chiropractic or carpet cleaning or computer coder’s convention, the focus will be on chiropractic technique, new chemicals and equipment and new coding practices and tricks.  If you ask most business people what they do, they’ll define themselves as a doer of a thing rather than as a marketer of a thing.

From the very beginning, when asked the question, I would explain that I was in the speaking and consulting businesses.  To me, what I did on the stage or in the boardroom was not the main issue.  Being in those businesses was.

Obviously technical skills related to the delivery of a quality product or service are important.  But they are not nearly as important as the ability to market those same products and services.  And it is infinitely easier to delegate the doing than the marketing in just about every business, because there are plenty of good doers who are terrible marketers,who because of that, can be hired cheap. 

UPCOMING EVENTS: Don’t miss the live broadcast of Dan Kennedy revealing How To Houdini-ize” Your Business.  This will be a one-time only live event on Tuesday March 17th at 3pm ET.  Dan will show you how to attract money to you by becoming the celebrity and authority in your niche, by using the marketing techniques of Harry Houdini. 

Click here now to get all the details on this one-time only live event.