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Blitz
Ezine #260 April 4, 2006
The Blitz-Promotions News Letter
Issue no. 260, April 4, 2006
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Blitz Comments
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April
is here. We had to reinstall everything on our main
computer again. So just a reminder make sure to keep
everything backed up.
We
offer daily promotion items in our blog, which you can
find at the following link -
http://smallbizpromo.blogspot.com
Our
next issue will be on May 2nd.
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In this Issue
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-
Motivating prospects.
- A Little Extra Effort
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Food for thought
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It is easier to get into
something than to get out of it.
From Swansons Unwritten
Rules of Management.
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Summary:
Find out how to motivate prospects to buy your products
and
services.
HOW TO CREATE A BURNING DESIRE TO BUY WITH YOUR SMALL
BUSINESS MARKETING
by Charlie Cook
www.marketingforsuccess.com
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You could be generating 50% to 100%
more s.ales with your
marketing. How? By working with basic human nature to
convert
more of your prospects to customers.
Each week 100 or 1000 people visit your web site or
read your
small business marketing materials but only a handful
of those
are contacting you. You can double the number of people
who buy
your products and services and double your pr0fits.
The biggest mistake made by small business owners is
that they
treat marketing as if it didn't need to follow basic
rules of
human nature. It's like trying to force feed broccoli
to someone
who hates vegetables or trying to get a vegetarian to
eat roast
beef. Similarly, it just doesn't make sense to try and
force
your prospects to do something they don't want to do.
I'm a.mazed at how many people throw away huge sums
of money on
a marketing strategy that continually frustrates them
and
doesn't bring in the s.ales they need to grow their
business.
Here's the simple truth about small business marketing.
If you
want to sell to people you need to take into account
basic
characteristics of human nature. You can't just get
your name
out there or get the name of your product out there
and expect
clients to flock to your door. This marketing strategy
doesn't
work for small business owners and it won't work for
you.
The good news is that it's not complicated or confusing
to
market your business successfully and close twice as
many
s.ales. All you need to do is understand a couple of
obvious
things about human nature and apply them to marketing
your
business.
Effective Marketing Is Based On These 3 Rules
of Human Nature
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> First Rule Of Human Nature:
People are attracted by solutions to their problems
Your prospects want to know what your product or service
will do
for them. They want to know if it will help them solve
a
particular problem.
Your marketing should lead with the product benefit
and then go
on to explain more about how your products or services
help them
and you’ll capture their interest. Lead with pricing,
obscure
product names or too much technical detail and you'll
l0se your
prospects. Their overriding concern is how your products
or
services will help them.
> The Second Rule Of Human Nature:
People forget
Think about your own purchasing behavior. What do you
do when
you’re looking for a new computer, a new lawyer,
a new
investment, or a new graphic designer? You may have
seen an ad
that attracted you or visited a web site that looked
helpful,
but can you remember where?
Most people take some time to make their decision, often
weeks
or even months. Even if they've read your marketing
materials
and even if you've got the perfect product or service
for them,
your prospects are most likely going to forget you exist.
80% of potential new business is lost because small
business
owners don't have a marketing strategy for following
up with
prospects. Each time your prospects hear or read about
another
similar service or product your information gets pushed
further
down into the recesses of their brain.
Eventually it just gets forgotten and you've lost the
sale
unless you have a strategy that helps them remember
your
products and services.
> Third Rule of Human Nature:
People want to be confident they are making the right
decision
Whether you're buying a new car, a new computer or l.egal
or
financial services, you want to know that when you make
your
purchase you'll be satisfied with the products or services
you
buy. Your prospects are the same. So how do you help
them trust
you and your products and services?
Give them proof!
Prospects want to know if your products or services
worked for
others and if they'll work for them. When you use referrals,
testim0nials and 'test drives' you provide proof that
helps them
feel confident in making their purchase.
Common Sense Small Business Marketing
It's common sense to base your marketing on these three
rules of
human nature. If you want to increase your s.ales, you
need to
give people the information they want and need to buy
from you.
-
2006 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights
reserved.
The
author, Charlie Cook, helps, small business owners and
marketing professionals attract more clients and be
more
successful. Sign up to receive the Free Small Business
Marketing
Ideas eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your
business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
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A Little Extra Effort
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It
is not a question of “if”, but “when”
you will have to rebuild your computer. There are so
many things that can happen; the drive could have been
marginal when it was manufactured; a surge from a nearby
lightening strike; a virus; or something stupid was
done; let me count the ways.
One
area of extreme importance, are your drivers. –
those nifty little pieces of software that make the
hardware on your computer work properly.. If your system
does go “kaflooey”, and you need to redo
your system, one of the most frustrating parts of the
job is to locate and reload all those drivers.
What
you need is a program to back up the files for you.
One such program is called Drivers Guide Toolkit. You
can download the trial version at: http://www.jermar.com/wdrvbck.htm
which gives you a 2 day free trial (It takes only a
few minutes to complete the back up process). If you
wish to keep it beyond the trial period it costs $19.95,
but the bottom line is that you can get everything you
need done within the trial period.
It
finds all the non-Microsoft drivers on your system (You
don’t need the Microsoft Drivers as they are installed
automatically) and then queries the web and downloads
the software for these drivers. I recommend that you
copy these drivers to a CD or floppy, and keep them
in a safe place.
Most
of us basically have three types of software on our
computer. The first came with the computer, the second
we purchased and have the “Install CDs”,
and the third we downloaded from the web. One and Two
are usually not a problem as we have the CDs and can
easily reinstall them.
Most
of us, at one point or another download programs from
the web. Losing your “Install” programs
can be a huge problem. Some of the gurus say you can
delete them after the software is installed Phooey!
A program can become corrupted and must be reinstalled.
Can
you imagine if you ever lost them? Where would you go
to get them? While you probably could, it would be a
real time consuming chore.
If
you are short on disc space, and have them backed up
to external media, you can then safely delete them from
your computer. You don’t have a CD burner that
you can copy data to you say. Have you ever heard the
term “penny wise and pound foolish.”
I
recommend that you set up a folder called “Downloads”
- hey that’s original. <G> But wait - if
you loose your hard drive, you’re going to loose
that folder as well. Back that folder up to a disc or
CD and keep it in a safe place as well.
And
don’t forget, if you get a new off the shelf computer,
in regard to these Install Files, you are starting at
square one. Nuff said about that... Also, some computers
are sold without the install disk – not a good
idea.
Finally,
there are the data files on your computer that you create.
Since we all use our systems differently there really
is no easy answer. Let me share with you what I do,
and some of it might make sense for you.
In
my email, there is not a whole lot that I would really
miss if it were lost, but there are some things. These
I maintain in a separate folder called “Action”.
If something is important such as a receipt or important
correspondence, I move it to that mailbox.
I
also created a folder on my computer called ”Data
Backup”, and use this to store things such as
forms, letterheads, and billing statements in a sub-folder
within that folder. My rule of thumb is how long it
took to create the document in the first place. If it
only takes a few minutes, I don’t back it up.
If it took more than that, I do.
The
rest of the “stuff” that I think is important
gets shoved into this backup folder as well. If you’re
creating a document on your word processor that you
don’t want to lose, in addition to saving it where
you normally do, pop a copy into your back up folder
as well.
I
copy all these to a CD once a week. There is also a
D: drive on my computer, and once a week when I go through
the entire backup process, I copy everything from the
C: drive to D: as well. That alone should suffice you
might think, but there are things that can happen that
will also wipe out all the information on all your hard
drives. The risk of losing everything simply isn’t
worth it.
If
all you really do is surf the web and correspond with
friends and family via email, the data backup isn’t
so terribly vital. But at least back up your “Drivers”
and any software you may have downloaded from the web.
And always keep a separate record of any passwords or
“unlock” keys for your software in a safe
place.
Believe
me, this little extra effort on your part can well be
well worth it if you ever do have a problem. If you
don’t have a plan, you will face a lot of heartache,
lost time and unnecessary expense.
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Did
you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine
the "Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their
Business at his Web Site? Great Business and Computer
Tips – Monday. Wednesday. And Friday. Instructions
on how to place an ad are in the Newsletter. Subscribe
at: http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
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Links you can use -
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Find
out what's working behind the scene on your computer.
http://www.processlibrary.com/
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Fun and Games
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I
ate a ton of noodles in College - mostly because we
were broke and hungry. Here's a site that has over 300
ways to fix em - that would have been very nice.
http://www.mattfischer.com/ramen/
Coins
for the kiddies.
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/flashIndex.cfm
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Ads
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Heart
Filled Baskets
Personal and corporate gift baskets , unique cat gifts,
thank you gift baskets, Christmas gift baskets, hatboxes
, holiday gift baskets, dog gifts and gifts for the
people who love them.
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Useful links to our site
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Ezine
Archives links to all our past issues (well most
of them) in one place.
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Next Issues
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Our
next issue will be May 2nd 2006
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Final Thoughts
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We
hope you take some time to go outside and smell the
roses.
Tim
and Lisa Hamblin
Tisa Enterprises
PO Box 221
Hazard KY 41702
http://www.blitzpromotions.com
http://www.crochetnmore.com
http://www.webpageplanner.com
http://www.ineedlinks.com
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