True or false? “Three out of 100 people will always buy what you are
selling.”False! This is one of those famous calculations people make
only to be so disappointed. They go to trade shows and tell themselves, “If
there are 1,000 people at the show and only three out of a hundred buy from me,
I’ll make millions.” This is an amateur mistake. If the offer is unattractive to
the proper audience, you many not sell even a single dongle. (Imagine if three
out of every 100 people that passed a Ferrari dealership bought a Ferrari.)
True
or false? “You should spend you advertising budget as slowly as possible, so it
lasts the full year.”False. Marketing should be based on what it costs
you to acquire a new customer. As long as your acquisition costs are exceeded by
new profits, there should be no cap on spending.
You turn on the sink and
let a trickle of water come out. If it is successful, you open the faucet wider
and wider, growing your business as quickly as you can while keeping clients
happy and not outgrowing your ability to provide good service and
product.
True or false? “Emailing your customer list once a week is way
too much.”Well, it depends on conditioning. If they are used to getting
one email a week, they will not mind at all. If however, you email once a month
and then suddenly barrage them with emails once a week, you really will be
harassing them. So think about how to condition your clients best. The right
answer is: “Whatever schedule works best for your customers based on how you
have educated them about what to expect from you.”
True or false? You
have satisfied clients, degrees and prestigious awards, and therefore the client
knows you are the best.I’ve spoken at Google, for the JNF, at
The
Jerusalem Post and many other prestigious places. But how did you know that?
Probably because you read about it somewhere in an interview with me or saw me
post about it on LinkedIn, Facebook or on Twitter.
If you don’t tell your
clients about your recognition, then quite frankly, they don’t know about it.
And when you do show them, you keep them happier (because people enjoy working
with people they know are very successful), and they are more sold going forward
on working with you and referring you other business.
In fact, here’s a
tidbit: Google didn’t pay me. They don’t pay anybody who comes to speak there –
because they have tremendous demand and they hardly let anyone in. they came to
me via a referral, which is how I ended up there. But do you think I was
disappointed not to get paid? Absolutely not. I was happy to be there, develop
personal connections there and have a money-can’t-buy recognition via that
association that has done well for me in my own business. That was worth way
more than the $1,200 I would have gotten for a paid talk. But shh! This is one
of the secrets that marketers don’t like to share unless you are paying them
really well. Sometimes it’s not about the money but the cachet.
True or
false? “Social Media works/doesn’t work.”My favorite expression about
social media is: “Social media is only free if time has no value.” Social media
is one of my favorite speaking topics because it is a miracle tool: It is free,
easy to use and has a seemingly gentle learning curve. The truth is that social
media can work magic, even miracles at times – but not the way most people are
using it.
You can tweet to the millions out there, but unless you’re
speaking their language, and I mean the language of social media, you probably
won’t see worthwhile returns. It’s about leveraging the platform to get to
specific people who will move your business to the next level, not the people
who might buy a new pair of goggles if they happen to see your post about the
sale.
True or false? “Always advertise where it is cheapest based on the
distribution.”False. Advertising is not about what’s the cheapest. It’s
about the right medium for your message to get to your market. If you were
trying to raise awareness about a local New York politician, then advertising in
the London Times, even if it were only a third of the price of a New York
publication, would be a bad idea.
Think about the positioning your
clients see from their very first contact with you. Like a phone call, it’s the
one who initiates the call that usually dominates the conversation. Be the one
who sets the pace, and you’ll be the one who sets the price!
Issamar Ginzberg is a business adviser, marketer, professional speaker and rabbi
who has been published in more than 50 business publications.