Web Success Part 2

Back in January I interviewed John Spangler for my online show Success Secrets TV…we had so much fun, that we did another episode!   This one is jam-packed full of internet tricks, web secrets and tips that will put your website on overdrive.   I don’t want to give too much away, but I will tell you, if you implement what we share on this video…you’ll can literally be on page one of the search engines in very little time.   Web Success Part 2 – A Success Secrets TV Special Edition Episode Would love to get your feedback! As John says…”It’s wicked!”   Oh, and look for Part 3 coming soon!     Until Next Time,   “Live with Passion!”   Rob Anspach P.S. If your business isn’t moving in the direction you would like it to be, let’s talk! Just send me an email and tell me a little bit about yourself and your company. Tell me why you think your sales aren’t where they should be, tell me what you’ve tried and why you think it didn’t work. The more I know about your situation, the better equipped I can be to help you improve and make money.   P.P.S. I’ll be teaching the social media, newsletter and QR marketing aspects of Jeff Cross’ Totally Booked University ‘Mini-Clinic’ on Thursday August 28th (6pm-9pm) in Langhorne PA. Although it’s designed around the carpet cleaning industry…any service business will benefit. This is real world advice that is guaranteed to get that phone to ring and put money in your pocket. Click the link to learn more. http://cleaningprofessor.com/philadelphia-cleaning-marketing.html

Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Email: rob@robanspach.com Phone: (717)330-7947 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rob Anspach is a “brilliantly savvy” entrepreneur who helps frustrated business owners regain the passion they once had by showing them how to be more effective in the marketplace, how to dramatically improve their business so they enjoy coming to work again and how to win over customers regardless of price. Discover how easy it is to make money in your online or offline marketing, to attract and retain clientele and profit from your passions… visit http://www.robanspach.com today! Rob is also the creator & dynamic force behind Success Secrets TV, the new online show dedicated to helping entrepreneurs stay successful… check it out by going to… http://www.SuccessSecrets.TV

 

Play the game!

Did you ever play a game not really knowing the rules but you played anyway?

In most cases you lost, because you didn’t know the rules.

Some games you can pick up clues, hints and yes, even cheats as you go along to help you play better.

The more you play the better you become…at least that’s the goal.

Most games are designed to teach strategy, to get you to think about your opponents next move, to teach patience and good will.

Yet, the game most entrepreneurs play… they somehow get all confused, act dumb and never reach that goal.

I’m talking about marketing!

Say I gave you $20,000 to spend on a marketing campaign for your business. I’m not going to, but let’s say I did!

What would spend it on?

Postcards, fliers, newspaper, radio, newsletters, social media?

Well, I asked this same question in front of a group of retired executives.

Their answer didn’t surprise me one bit!

Know what they said?

Yellow pages and radio!

In their day, they would have gotten the biggest ad they could afford in the yellow pages and then run a radio ad telling people to find them in the yellow pages.

What?

I said to one of them… why would you spend money on radio to tell people to find you in a book that also contained the ads of your competitors. He said that was how it was done! Everybody did it that way!

That’s insane!

Who made up that rule?

Well, let’s alter the rules a bit.

You can’t spend the money on yellow pages, radio or newspapers!

Now what do you do?

Well, let me tell you!

I would use online and offline marketing techniques to educate, entertain and engage past and potential clients. Keeping them informed on up-to-the-minute news, tips, tricks, secrets, specials and coupons that you are offering.

Online media would include; website, social media, video & photo hosting sites, blogs, article & press release submission sites and email.

Offline media would include; monthly newsletters, thank you cards, business cards, reminder cards and targeted fliers.

That $20k I mentioned above, well it breaks down to $1,666 a month (that’s the amount the average small business spends on marketing).

The online marketing keeps people coming into you funnel! The offline marketing keeps people from leaving your funnel! Yeah, it’s a game.

Play it right and you will win every time!

Until Next Time,

“Live with Passion!”

Rob Anspach

P.S. If your business isn’t moving in the direction you would like it to be, let’s talk! I have room in my schedule for a few more clients. Just send an email (to rob@robanspach.com) and tell me a little bit about yourself and your company. Tell me why you think your sales aren’t where they should be, tell me what you’ve tried and why you think it didn’t work. The more I know about your situation, the better equipped I can be to help you improve and make money.

Email Marketing Secrets Exposed!

What I thought I knew about email marketing, was quickly put to the test!

Sure, I follow the rules, well, the rules as I knew them.

During a closed door, members only marketing meeting I attended last night in West Chester PA – I had the privilege of listening and learning from the CEO of one of the most respected email marketing services out there… Tom Kulzer of AWeber Communications.

For those that don’t know… AWeber is a 12-1/2 year old company, with 60 employees and 97,000 customers.

Here’s what I discovered…

The days of blasting are over!

The average email list is around 300-500!

Ask for feedback!

Monday and Friday are the highest open rate days.

Sadly, the average open rate for read email is only 1-4%

Actually, my head is still spinning from all the great information Tom shared, which being the nice guy I am, I will pass on to you.

Your emails need to have 3 things to be effective…

1) Have Expectation – readers are expecting your message

2) Create Engagement - create a conversation

3) Build Reputation – be known for sending information that is read

Tom revealed that, with the way inboxes are being reconfigured, based on priority of your email message your reader may never see your message. Yeah, it’s a whole new game. And the rules are changing!

In the past, you could send an email out and in most cases the reader would have to at least read the headline before deleting it, nope…not anymore. Now your email is prioritized by: what you open, what you read, what you click and who you reply to. It’s that smart…and it was created to fight off unwanted spam.

Here’s where it got interesting…

When you raise the level of engagement with your reader, the cognitive priority settings of your email programs especially Google’s mail service will keep your message out of the spam filters.

How do you raise engagement?

Simple! Ask for it!

Yep, ask for feedback! When your reader comments on your message and you can actively engage them in conversation, you are (1) being engaging and (2) actually increasing your reputation as an honest email marketer.

Requesting content for a future article or holding contests are also great ways to engage your reader and build a positive reputation.

Here’s some tricks to get your email read…

Keep it regularly pulished. Use limited time offers. Offer discounts. Share top “X” lists. Reveal secrets, tips and tricks. Keep the format consistent. Build your brand.

So, what do you think? I would love to get your feedback!

Oh, one last thing… be vigilant with your list…when you send out messages and notice the same emails being listed as bouncing (it’s a technical term for non-existent, or changed), take them off your list. If your percentage of bounced emails is too high it can have a negative impact on your priority settings and get you filtered out of your readers ”must read now” list.

Until Next Time,

“Live With Passion!”

Rob Anspach

P.S. A great way to keep clients coming back month after month is with a print newsletter. Not just any newsletter, one designed to trigger sales, enhance referrals and keep clients focused on you. To see how my Ultimate Newsletter can help you…go to http://robanspach.com/clientnews.html

 

Back to Basics

Was I surprised? Um…nope!

Within about 2 minutes into our hour long consultation, it dawned on me that this person had no clue how to run a business, how to effectively market, or even what the basics were. UGH!

Definitely a “Blind Squirrel”! (an article I wrote about how entrepreneurs run their business on luck…like the phrase says, “even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes”.)

So, today I would like to share with you some basics. Maybe you do these now! Or I would hope some of them. If you don’t, then please pay attention.

Thank you cards…very essential…use them! After each sale, as long as you have captured their contact information, send them a personal hand-written thank you card.

A follow-up call…do it! Call the client and make sure they are happy with the product or service. Any objections can be handled right away and you have the opportunity to show the customer you truly care about them.

Reminder cards…do them too! You determine the frequency, but I would suggest at least 3 times a year. They don’t have to be a sales pitch…but they should remind the client you are available to help them.

Email marketing… yep, do this too! It’s essential that you keep open the lines of communication with your clients. An email is quick, easy and affordable. You can use a service to schedule the times and dates your emails are sent.

Social media…if you’re not on them…make it a priority! Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, LinkedIn, Plaxo, MySpace and the host of other sites make it so easy to promote your business, I find it unbelievable some companies haven’t taken advantage of them yet.

Newsletters…use one! Staying in constant contact with clients is key to growing your business. A newsletter if done right can build trust and make you the “go-to” expert in your field.

Referrals…ask for them! Getting referrals is essential to growing your business. The easiest way to get referrals…is, simply ask for them. If you deliver a great service, people are more than willing to share a few names with you.

Testimonials…get them! Mail, email or hand deliver a survey to your customers where they can tell you how they felt about your service. Use the testimonials in your ads, website and other marketing to build credibility and show potential customers who’s using your service.

Brag book…create one! A brag book is way to show off your work. You can include your testimonials and pictures of your products, services and customers.

A money back guarantee…have one! A guarantee tells the client that you are willing to back up your product or service and put your own butt on the line. Having a guarantee gives the client peace of mind.

Well, there ya go!

If you aren’t doing these things…start! If you’re only do some of them…well, why aren’t you doing them all.

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. When you institute a “back to the basics” approach you’ll discover that your clients will be happier with your service, you’ll receive more referrals, and your sales will increase.

Curiosity

Did you read my post yesterday? The one where I talked about Swipe and Deploy?

Well a majority of people who did read it, responded! They had a burning desire to know the link where they could get their own Top Secret black envelope containing some of the world’s greatest marketing.

I received email after email begging me, to send them the link as fast I could. In fact, I received 3 emails from the same person within an hour’s time, wondering why I hadn’t sent the link out yet.

I wrote the post for one reason. Well, maybe two!

You see, my goal was to build up your curiosity…

…then to try to compel you to take action.

Based on the responses… I believe I acheived both.

It’s down right devious of me to use your own curiosity against you isn’t it?

Well, curiosity is one of those human traits that we entrepreneurs need to tap when we market to our customer base.

Can you remember a time you bought something based on curiosity?

Well, I can?

You see, I had just watched a commercial for Red Bull, the stuff that gives you “wings”. Well, I fell for it! My curiosity got me! I just had to try this stuff.

Let’s just say… that first bottle, was my last.

It’s that curiosity that… well, can compel people to open up their wallets, send an email requesting more information, or even call a special consumer hotline to listen to a prerecorded message.

Until next time,

Live with passion

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. I recently had the opportunity to interview Joe Sugarman for my “Passions to Profits” interview series. Joe is regarded as one of the worlds foremost experts on copywriting, he’s the author of many highly regarded marketing books and the vision behind the highly successful BluBlocker sun glasses…if you would like to listen to the interview… and believe me you will highly enjoy it… send me an email and I’ll let you listen for FREE!

P.P.S. There are no strings to the interview, nothing to buy down the road… but, you must hurry… after midnight on March 15, 2010 the audio program goes up on my site and the price will be $24.95. So, if you want to hear a brilliant interview for FREE then get that email to me ASAP.

List Building

What’s your company’s greatest asset?

It’s not your equipment! It’s not your products or your service! It’s not your marketing, your website, your logo or even YOU!

All those things can be replaced! Yes, sorry, even you are expendable!

Your company’s greatest asset…. is (drum roll please)…

… your customer data list!

Without a customer list, you don’t stand a chance rebuilding if anything catastrophic ever happened to your business.

Building a list isn’t difficult. Any person who has ever bought from you or requested literature, should be part of your customer data list.

If you have a physical location (a “Brick & Mortar” store), you can easily add customers to your data list at the point of purchase, or add them to a mailing list if they want future specials.

For those companies operating solely on the net…in the virtual online world. I am totally amazed at the lack of list building.

Some companies do a spectacular job, creating stunning web page works of art, yet they don’t have any triggering mechanism to get people to leave their name and email address. How dumb!

A simple “sign-up for our newsletter” is all you really need to get people to opt-in to your data list.

Every website should have some type of sign-up form to get people to leave their information. It doesn’t matter if you have an order form already. Some people just don’t buy the first time they visit your site, just like in the real world…they like to window shop. By adding a newsletter sign-up form, a coupon sign-up form, a recipe request form or “whatever you desire” form you have the potential to rapidly build a data list.

Like I said, list building isn’t difficult.

It is very necessary.

The fact is, when a person has bought from you or requests to be on your list, they are more prone to buy from you in the future, and refer you to others.

Until next time,

Live with passion.

Rob Anspach
www.robanspach.com
rob@robanspach.com

P.S. Make it a priority today to start building that list!