Questions before you start:
1. Where are your leads coming from now? Are you following the traditional route to getting leads? Magazines, newspapers ads, flyers, mailings, etc…? Are you getting the same type of quality you used to get? If you are, is that a good thing?
2. What level of Quality are these leads? Speaking of quality, what kind of quality are these leads? Are you spending more time following up on leads that go nowhere?
3. Did these Leads find you or did you find them? Are you chasing leads or are your leads chasing you? Are you attracted to them, or are they attracted to you?
4. How much Money did these Leads cost you? Did you have to pay for these leads in the way of advertising, or as a package of pre-screened (or not screened) leads? If you paid for a package, how old were they? How many were still looking?
5. How much Time did these Leads cost you? How much time did you spend finding, tracking down, and talking to these leads? Was it successful? Was it worth it?
6. Are you happy with your Leads and how you are getting your Leads…or are you ready for a better way? After answering the previous questions, can you say you are happy with the way you are finding leads, or are you ready to find a way that costs less in time and money, and will bring a much better quality of lead than you are getting now?
What you should know about that “Better way”:
Attraction marketing is the only approach to lead acquisition. The reasons why are numerous. In fact, these reasons why can be found in the “right” answers to the above questions. The Quality and quantity are much higher and you’ll find the cost of these leads, in both time and money, will be much less. One of the reasons this is true is the answer to the rest of the above questions: Your leads come to you, you don’t have to chase them. If you are happy with your leads now, and you don’t mind the time and money spent to get them, by all means continue with what you are doing. However, if you are not happy with your lead quantity or quality, and you would rather be able to spend your time and money elsewhere, keep reading. If you’re one of the happy ones, keep reading anyway…I think you’ll be glad you did.
First, we need to discuss the fundamental reason of why these leads should be better and more plentiful, and how we use the tools we’ve discussed earlier to make it happen. We need to understand the principle of Attraction Marketing, and how it applies to business on the internet today.
What is Attraction Marketing?:
Attraction Marketing has been around for a long time. It is probably the most basic and most effective form of marketing that exists. Every successful business, even the unsuccessful ones, practice some form of attraction marketing every day. Referrals are an example and one of the most widely used form we all know and love. When you get a referral, why did you get it? That lead didn’t just come walking in your door, or just happened to “find your name” in any number of arbitrary locations…did it? Someone you know, probably a past client, gave this new lead your name and number and recommended you to them, right? What was that recommendation based on? Your good looks (maybe), your great personality (well…?), or was it based on the fact your previous client was so happy with the work you did for them, they couldn’t wait to tell someone else. Enter, the new lead. Now, what was it that the previous client “took with them” from their experience with you that made them want to tell the world about you? The answer is what makes attraction marketing work. The answer is credibility...and that credibility is based on the understanding and belief that you are an expert in the field, and your product and/or service have allot of value. That, is the basis of attraction marketing, and that is why it works so well. The concept and practice is nothing new…what’s new, are the tools and methods of how to apply them…specifically on the internet. That is what we are about to discuss now.
Basics of using Social Media & Attraction Marketing?:
Think of how much easier it is to sell your company to a referral, than it is to sell company to someone you “cold called”. Why is that? Simple. You are already credible in the eyes of the lead since their friend or relative (or whoever made the referral) has already used you and was satisfied enough to recommend you to this new lead. You almost have to “un-sell” yourself at this point. The usual suspicion, the questioning of everything you say and their anticipation of you “hitting them with” some type of gotcha after they commit to you, is pretty much dissolved in their minds. Keep this in mind, most people hate, to have to find search for people to fill a need that will cost them money. They always question their ability to separate the good from the not so good. It takes time and effort, and they would just a soon have someone else do it for them. Enter the referral. When someone gets a name based on a referral, all of these fears are gone…since a trusted person has already done all of this for them…and were nice enough to let them know all about it. They feel much better about moving forward now. They’ll go through the motions, but at this point you are way out in front of anyone else…unless it’s another referral.
Think of how much easier it is to sell your company to a referral, than it is to sell company to someone you “cold called”. Why is that? Simple. You are already credible in the eyes of the lead since their friend or relative (or whoever made the referral) has already used you and was satisfied enough to recommend you to this new lead. You almost have to “un-sell” yourself at this point. The usual suspicion, the questioning of everything you say and their anticipation of you “hitting them with” some type of gotcha after they commit to you, is pretty much dissolved in their minds. Keep this in mind, most people hate, to have to find search for people to fill a need that will cost them money. They always question their ability to separate the good from the not so good. It takes time and effort, and they would just a soon have someone else do it for them. Enter the referral. When someone gets a name based on a referral, all of these fears are gone…since a trusted person has already done all of this for them…and were nice enough to let them know all about it. They feel much better about moving forward now. They’ll go through the motions, but at this point you are way out in front of anyone else…unless it’s another referral.
So, with this in mind, how can we take the same scenario and apply it to today…specifically using Social Marketing on the internet? It starts with education which leads to a little bit different system/process to find and attract these leads to you. For many years, most businesses have “chased” their leads by paying for them in one form or another. Print and other media ads, along with actual “pay for” lead sources, were effective in their day. In fact, they still are effective…to some extent, but how many of these traditional lead acquiring plans do you see today that have some type of reference to an online connection…like a website, blog or email? Actually, the real question should be how many don’t? I is becoming harder and harder to find any traditional ad media that does not have the company’s website, blog and/or email listed prominently…along with their telephone number. Why?
Part of the reason is the customer wants to see the company’s website to see what the company is all about. The customer knows they can see all the products and services the company provides, along with pricing (in most cases), and being online allows the customer an opportunity to “window shop” and to compare prices. Also, most customers would rather make that “first” contact by use of email. The customer feels less pressure this way. For them, they feel more comfortable hitting the key, than to hanging up on someone. Although I have found most businesses feel that this situation takes their control out of the picture, the Business owner needs to take full advantage of this situation. This situation should give the business much better control, if they know how to grab it. For those businesses that do learn how to “grab it”, they find the quality of leads, as well as the “conversion” of these leads, goes up…big time. Before you can “grab them”, you have to attract them to your sites. You need to learn the principles of Attraction Marketing.
Attraction Marketing Principles…or,
“Hi, my name is Joe, how do you like me so far?:
“Hi, my name is Joe, how do you like me so far?:
I had a friend that used to use lines just like this to meet women. Why they worked is beyond me, but I assure you, they won’t work for our purposes in business. In order to have a lead turn into a customer or client, we need to prove to them that we are experts in our field, and that we have a lot to offer to them. What we have to offer them is a wide array of experience and knowledge,…that we give away for FREE. You read that right. FREE! Why, because it proves we are nice people, ready to help them, and that we have a lot of knowledge…we must, we’re giving away a lot of it for free…and that knowledge answers their questions and/or concerns, as well as sets them up for more info…which eventually we will sell to them. Will they buy it? Of course they will, and they will pay more for it this way than if you just sold it to them from the start. Why?, because we proved to them we were knowledgeable and a valuable resource they can’t do without.
Now, when we use this free knowledge as our marketing, it becomes a magnet that attracts them to us. That magnetic power also holds them in place for us to present more knowledge, and eventually our products and services that they buy. This is Attraction Marketing in its most basic form. So, when we incorporate some of the systems and media, like auto-responders, websites, blogs, discussion group participation, etc…, we are also being seen by a huge audience of people that are specifically looking for the information and products and services you have to offer. The auto-responder just puts it all on auto pilot, and using all of these systems/media together is so much cheaper (and effective) than our traditional marketing methods, our cost per lead drops like a rock. Our time per lead drops like a rock too, and since these leads are acquired from very focused and filtered sources (like the discussion groups), the closing percentage skyrockets. First you need to learn how to do this, and then implement all the systems and elements discussed. As you go through your educational process, you’ll find out which system works best for you. Just start with those, and add the rest as you go along. You should see results fast as long as you do as you are taught.
You may be saying, “Why am I giving away all my hard learned knowledge?”, and you’d be missing the point. Customers today are more sophisticated in the way they find you. They are also more
knowledgeable, or if you ask them they will all tell you that they are. Whether or not they are, or they just think they are, you must appeal to that belief since that is how they will decide if it’s you or your competition that gets the job. They are looking for you to convince them that you are the right company for them, and it all comes down to you convincing them they can trust you.
If you compare all of this to the traditional ways, the print media for example, this is just another step up the ladder of quality and quantity of marketing power. Knowledge is power, and it doesn’t matter if that knowledge is in your hands or theirs. It only matters what the person with it does with it. In the business’s case, they will pass it on to the client. In the customer’s case, they will “eat it up”. The more they consume, the more they want. If that source of knowledge is getting them good quality, then that will continue to be their source.
Expert (n). Someone who possesses great knowledge or skill in a special area.
Isn’t it interesting that the knowledge or skill can come from anywhere? I say this because the definition never mentions that an expert knows everything. The expert just possesses it. That means this knowledge or skill can come from others that the expert has access to. In other words, “If you don’t know, know who does”. So, if you can be counted on to deliver that information or skill, no matter what the form or source, you can be considered an expert.
So far we’ve discussed how you can sell articles, eBooks, PLR and videos, as well as memberships to your sites. Each in their own right will allow you to make money from visitors who are not actually your clients…yet or maybe even never. I don’t think of these visitors as clients yet since I am defining the use of the word “client” here to mean “those people that are using you core business product or service”…not necessarily those that are using derivatives of them. At this point you should be saying, “Great, I guess I am an expert. Now all I need to do is get visitors to my site to show them this”,…and you’d be wrong. You need to use the power of your expertise to bring the visitors to you site, not the other way around. Your greatest marketing tool is in fact your expertise. Your Product and Service is what you are selling for profit, your expertise is what you are giving away for credibility. Remember the line from that well loved sports movie? “Build it and they will come, Well, what you are building is ,your credibility…and if you do it right, and if you market it right, “they will come”. Learn how…that is your first mission.
I’ll give you an example of how I did this within my Architectural Practice. Let me preface this by saying I’ve been designing energy efficient custom homes for almost 30 years (as of this writing). You can imagine that with a specialty like that, there are a number of people who really wanted to use my services…and you’d be right. The problem, like any business, is how do you get the word out of who you are, what you do, and that you are in fact and expert in your field? It took me a while to realize, and admit, that I needed to give away information on the topic to those who were looking to build an energy efficient home. This way, I could present myself as an expert and clients would flock to me…right? Actually,….YES. I didn’t realize this until after I started giving away the information. I’d like to tell you I was smart enough to know this ahead of time and plan for it, but at least I was smart enough to see it when it did happened, and then make it a big part of my marketing campaign. Here is my story:
I’ll give you an example of how I did this within my Architectural Practice. Let me preface this by saying I’ve been designing energy efficient custom homes for almost 30 years (as of this writing). You can imagine that with a specialty like that, there are a number of people who really wanted to use my services…and you’d be right. The problem, like any business, is how do you get the word out of who you are, what you do, and that you are in fact and expert in your field? It took me a while to realize, and admit, that I needed to give away information on the topic to those who were looking to build an energy efficient home. This way, I could present myself as an expert and clients would flock to me…right? Actually,….YES. I didn’t realize this until after I started giving away the information. I’d like to tell you I was smart enough to know this ahead of time and plan for it, but at least I was smart enough to see it when it did happened, and then make it a big part of my marketing campaign. Here is my story:
The Architect learns: Education only works when the student applies what they learn into actual action. Sometimes, education happens by accident, and it is up to the student to recognize this and to act on it for the good of their business. In my case, as an expert in energy efficient custom home design, I had a lot of experience and knowledge, and a lot of referrals, but I would have like to have a source for referrals that I knew were already convinced that an energy efficient home was the way to go. As luck would have it, a friend of mine was a builder of energy efficient custom homes (OK, so it was more than luck). One day he came up the idea to start a seminar/workshop that taught potential home owners how to have their home designed and built energy efficiently. He asked me if I would help him, for no pay, but I could advertise my company at the events. I said, “sure…free advertising…what do I have to do”? Little did I know it was allot more than I ever imagined, but was it ever worth it!
Most of what I started out doing was set up, and I was “pointed” to as another voice of knowledge whenever the builder was speaking and needed a “backup” voice for verification. That turned into a “guest spot” on the specific topic of Design, which led to a larger speaking role, which ultimately lead to teaching the entire class at various locations.
So, where was the great information giveaway that led to clients? It wasn’t the advertising in the back of the room. That brought a couple of jobs, but usually from the people that didn’t buy the workshop…and that was few. The big giveaway was the speaking. I had an opportunity to stand in front of over 100 people at a time, for 4 consecutive weekends, all day Saturday and Sunday, twice a year,…and “give away” all kinds of very valuable information…expertise, that was absorbed by the students. I NEVER mentioned my company name in any type of marketing way, as in “I can do that for you…call me later”. I didn’t need to. By the fourth weekend, when I did the Design talk (yes, the timing of this talk was planned), during the break right after, I had mobs of people coming up to me asking me for my card (and yes, the timing of the break was also planned). It was in the knowledge I gave away that the students recognized my expertise, and led to literally more jobs than I could handle. I had to hire because of this. I had at least 20 messages on my phone that night when I got back wanting to set up appointments with me. Not to talk about their project in the “interview” sense, but to “get started” with their home designs. This is when I realized just how powerful Attraction Marketing really was.
So, you are attracting leads to your website, blog, eNewsletter, eBooks and…OK, you’re not…yet. Why not? “Where are they?”, you say. They aren’t really hiding, well, they are kind of hiding. They are all on the internet looking for information…I bet they’re looking for information you have and know allot about. Find them, give it to them, make them want more (because they trust that you are an expert now), and then…sell them. Sell them more info, or just lead them through the info you are giving them to the need, want, or both to buy your product or service. I’ll discuss How and What to Present later in this chapter. Right now how about “let’s just find them”?
Where are they? They are right out in the open…”kind of hiding”. What I mean by that is they are registered on every Social networking site you can think of…and there are way too many to mention. The reason why I say they are “kind of hiding”, is they are visible to you, but they can only be reached at their approval. If you want to talk to them, you need their approval. You can ask, but if they say NO, you’re not going to be able to talk to them one on one. You can still continue to ask, but…not going to happen very often. Unless, you can convince them to talk to you. You want them to pursue you. You want them to want to ask you about the how’s and why’s of your business and maybe, if you’re good, they will decide to talk to you direct.
How do I find them? They may be “kind of” hidden, but they don’t hide very well. Remember, I also said they were “right out in the open” too. They can be found on every Social Media site. They participate in discussions and even join specific groups dedicated to the topic of their choice. I bet you can find one that would allow you to participate in these discussions so you can project your knowledge to these potential leads. Remember, one of the big reasons they are there is they are looking for the knowledge that you have. Give it to them. Make them happy. They will thank you by allowing you to answer more of their questions…and eventually, if you give them what they are looking for, and youpresent it in such a way that they realize they need someone “just like you” to ultimately get what they need, you’re in. Notice I said you will present it in such a way for them to realize they need someone” like you,…not you. Now you ask, “I thought we wanted them to buy our product and service?”. You do, you just want them to make that decision on their own…they don’t want to be told by you to use you. If you tell them they should use you, they see all of this as a giant sales pitch…it is, but subtle. If you did your job correctly, by delivering yourself as an “expert”, they will have developed a trust in you that will “assist” them in picking you…on their own. It works. They will sell you to themselves…with your help of course, but you’re not pushing. Big difference.
So what’s next? Well for me, it was how to find another way to bring in the same type of quality leads for new clients. The builder retired. This is where the internet and its many forms of Social Marketing comes in to play. If you think about it, eBooks, articles, discussion group participation, FaceBook and MySpace postings as well as YouTube can be compared to what I did so successfully with the Seminars…just more cost effective, and definitely to a much wider audience…and that audience can be filtered so it is also a more focused audience of potential leads, and then potential clients. Now you need to find the formats where these leads are “hiding”, and learn how to use the media to present your expertise to these leads.
Where are they…Who are they…How do I find them?:
So, you are attracting leads to your website, blog, eNewsletter, eBooks and…OK, you’re not…yet. Why not? “Where are they?”, you say. They aren’t really hiding, well, they are kind of hiding. They are all on the internet looking for information…I bet they’re looking for information you have and know allot about. Find them, give it to them, make them want more (because they trust that you are an expert now), and then…sell them. Sell them more info, or just lead them through the info you are giving them to the need, want, or both to buy your product or service. I’ll discuss How and What to Present later in this chapter. Right now how about “let’s just find them”?
Where are they? They are right out in the open…”kind of hiding”. What I mean by that is they are registered on every Social networking site you can think of…and there are way too many to mention. The reason why I say they are “kind of hiding”, is they are visible to you, but they can only be reached at their approval. If you want to talk to them, you need their approval. You can ask, but if they say NO, you’re not going to be able to talk to them one on one. You can still continue to ask, but…not going to happen very often. Unless, you can convince them to talk to you. You want them to pursue you. You want them to want to ask you about the how’s and why’s of your business and maybe, if you’re good, they will decide to talk to you direct.
Who are they? Now let’s think about this. If you use the concept of giving away the information, and projecting yourself as an expert, do you think that might be what they are looking for, and that they will then “come out of hiding” and contact you direct? Just as important, if they are making the effort, a conscious decision to contact specifically you, do you think that what attracted them to you is what is going to make this a higher quality lead than if one that you contacted without laying the groundwork you did. It’s this Attraction to you that will turn allot more of these leads into clients than not.
Who are they, they are people looking for you…they just don’t know it yet.
How do I find them? They may be “kind of” hidden, but they don’t hide very well. Remember, I also said they were “right out in the open” too. They can be found on every Social Media site. They participate in discussions and even join specific groups dedicated to the topic of their choice. I bet you can find one that would allow you to participate in these discussions so you can project your knowledge to these potential leads. Remember, one of the big reasons they are there is they are looking for the knowledge that you have. Give it to them. Make them happy. They will thank you by allowing you to answer more of their questions…and eventually, if you give them what they are looking for, and you
As I said, there are many sites to choose from. Too many to list anywhere near all of them, but you can find as many as you need…and want to follow. Hook up with the ones that best compliment your business and “ride the wave”. Here are some of my favorites: LinkedIn, PartnerUp, MeetUp, LoopNet (real estate), Google Groups, FaceBook Groups, MySpace Groups, (notice one missing…and I didn’t forget to list them), Yahoo Groups, almost any BUSINESS ORIENTED groups site that allows you to join these groups, submit your own topics for discussion, and start your own groups on their group directory. You will fill out a BUSINESS profile on all of these sites that will include links to your blog, websites an even other social media sites you are involved with. A few of the groups will also automatically post your answers to your FaceBook and MySpace “walls”, if you register your profiles with the groups sites. So, you are where you need to be, now what?
What are they looking for… How do I present it?:
There are specific things these “visitors” are looking for. Give it to them. How do you know what they are looking for? Just read what they have to say, and what their questions are. They will tell you. When you deliver this info to them, don’t market to them…just educate them. I can’t stress this enough. Your answers can “guild” them into what would naturally be the next question…which you are already have a prepared answer. You can continually answer questions that you know will lead to more questions…all of which you have the answers. This is one way to control the “presentation”, by delivering exactly what you want to deliver to them (your sales pitch), but in the form of education. Your credibility increases exponentially, to everyone that is monitoring this discussion. At some point, usually by many, you will get questions and comments from others also monitoring the discussion. This just adds to your aura.
You must also be prepared for cynicism. Every group has people on it that it will seem to you that their reason for existence is to contradict every “expert” in every field possible. They usually are either professionals in the same or related field, that have been doing it their way for years, and any other opinion is just wrong. I’m sure we all have met these people and have had to deal with them in a group setting before. In person, you have an easier time of “debating” with them on your differing opinions. Online, it isn’t as easy. A simple rule to follow is to not make them look bad. Don’t tell them they’re wrong. Tell them they are right, up to a point, and expand IN DETAIL why your option is better. They’re not wrong, you’re just a little more right. If you have done your job by participating in a number of these discussions, and by participating multiple times in each discussion, you’ll be amazed at how many times someone else jumps to your rescue. The first time this happened just added to the proof for me that this was a great way to attract these leads, and history has proven me correct.
Just make sure you are answering questions with valuable information, and not giving a sales pitch. You will be giving them your business card…in the form of your signature. Every posting you make, whether it’s on a discussion group or on FaceBook , should always have your signature as part of it. Your signature is your business card. Your signature should include your name and title, your email, your website and your blog. You would never leave any other type of business discussion without handing over your business card right?
When you are ultimately asked directly for an answer, then you can refer in the posting answer with a reference to your blog for more information. Notice I said blog and not your website. Your website is thought of as an advertising site, while your blog is thought of as an information site…not to you, but to your potential clients. Remember, your signature has your website in it…and your blog will also have a link to it, so you don’t need to mention it in your answer. Just direct them to a longer and more detailed answer at your blog.
At some point, if you’re good, you will get some type of request for a direct contact. Let them contact you by e-mail. You can also provide a telephone number, but only if asked. This way seems again less like selling and more like info providing. They’ll ask for direct contact…usually through the e-mail, when they’re ready. When they’re ready for that, they’re ready to be sold to as well.
Don’t forget the “tools” that are available to help you automate the process of getting yourself in front of the groups you need to be in front of.
- Submitting your articles to article directories and letting others use your “expertise” as content on their websites and blogs works great. Just make sure there are plenty of
back to you and your sites. - SEO programs and software is a great way to elevate you in the eyes of the search engines. You might be very surprised just how fast that can happen, with the right site and software.
- E-mail blasts are another great way to make this happen. If you use this option just make sure the site you’re using is using good lists, and if you’re doing this on your own, the software protects you from getting blacklisted as a spammer.
- Sites and programs that are specifically designed to generate focused traffic is a great way to go. All of it happens for you, automated in the background. You can monitor the progress, make adjustments as you need to, and make sure the campaigns you set up are running efficiently.
- Automated Marketing Programs combined with hosting is another very effective package to look at. This type of program can take care of all your website needs, and market it for you as well.
- Follow ups are critical in this business…in any business. As your leads grow, and the lead quality grows, you need to stay on top of your replies to them. The use of auto-responders plays a huge role in this.
- Most of all, stay on top of your education on all of these tools and systems. Just joining the programs, and fudging you way through them, isn’t going to do anything but cause frustration and you’ll quit…condemn the system, and blame the messenger. In fact, the only person that failed was the person that didn’t take responsibility for their own actions…by educating themselves on how to apply the knowledge. Knowledge is King (Queen, I’m married)…but only if you to use it.
What is the cost of all of this in time and money?:
The answer is not much at all. Many of the tools and steps I’ve talked about above are actually FREE. Not often you hear that word used to describe something that brings in money, is it? Some of it does cost money, but I assure you it is money well spent. Just make sure you learn how to use these systems so you aren’t wasting your money. Actually, you’ll find that by incorporating the affiliate programs we discussed in the previous chapter, you should be able to generate enough monthly commissions from that to more than pay for any costs associated with a few of these tools.
As far as the time it takes, it’s really up to you. I’m sure you can figure out that the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. In this case though, since the costs are so low, you don’t need to spend any more time than you have available. I’m at the point where I only put in a couple of hours a day, but in the beginning, I usually averaged less than an hour a day and I was making more money than what my expenses were. It was when I realized how well this program actually worked that I “ramped up” my daily involvement, and as you can imagine, the income increased as well, but exponentially…not just proportionately. I thought that was really cool! Now, I work with it as I want to, and adjust as the market changes, and move on. The auto-responders and other tools do the work for me.
One of the best things that this system brings to me, other than the income and the quality of the leads, is it gives me the time to spend on my one-on-one follow ups with the leads as I need to. This means I have a chance for a much greater conversion rate than I ever did before. This also means that my advertising dollars go much further than they ever did before.
Applying what you’ve learned:
So you can bring leads to your sites and other media through the use of auto-responders, email blasts, traffic enhancing programs, and discussion groups and blogs. You are thinking of how you can use articles, newsletters, eBooks and more to enhance your expertise and credibility, which we will discuss in a later chapter. You’re ready to start, or maybe even already have started, to learn about these tools and systems and can’t wait to actually start to use them in order to make it happen for you. You know you have a lot of knowledge to give and you just need to learn how to show it.
What’s next?:
Blogs, video blogs, social media profiles and content now come into play. The next chapter we’ll discuss blogs, videos, and social media in greater detail, and how to tie them together in a cohesive campaign.
While they last <click here> To get a free copy of the next chapter…
Chapter 3: Blogging and Social Media
