When it comes to advertising, small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) go local! In fact, industry research from Borrell Associates Inc finds that SMBs control over 80% of all local advertising. What types of tactics and trends are shaping how and where they’re advertising? Take a look:
* More than 14 million of the 15 million businesses in the US are classified as SMBs. No wonder these small — largely local — businesses are such trend setters when it comes to marketing tactics. To help you zero in on your own biggest bang for the budget, here’s a look at what tactics are and aren’t earning their place in SMB’s marketing toolkits.
No, I don’t mean literally. I mean figuratively. When most marketers join a new program, they follow the instructions of their mentor. Typically, the mentor gives the new recruit a marketing plan based on what the mentor is doing for their own personal marketing.
Sounds pretty logical, doesn’t it?
On the surface, this type of plan makes perfect sense. If the mentor is being successful with their marketing plan, it would be logical to promote that same plan. The mentor would be able to state what aspects of the plan worked very well and what parts of the plan did not work as planned. If there were questions, the mentor would have the information from their personal testing to explain why something did or did not work
Concern enters into the picture when you have a large number of people enter a program in a short period of time. Each of the new people will probably be shown a marketing plan that is quite similar to what each of the other new marketers is being shown. At that point, you potentially have a large number of people placing nearly identical ads in the same marketing venues. If you look at the ads posted every day, you many examples of this situation.
So, you ask, what is the issue?
The issue, in my opinion, is that three things occur. First, the ads slowly lose their effectiveness due to massive over exposure. The same title appears on multiple ads in a single search. After someone clicks an ad, they ignore the remainder of the ads, or worse, make the determination that the ads are all SPAM and ignores them all.
Second, as happens quite often, the ads are copied and posted literally word for word from their mentor. Again the ad becomes very ineffective after the potential customer clicks several ads only to read identical copy. Or, even worse, the search engines determine that the ads are SPAM and deranks everyone’s ads. This affects everyone, even those whom may have been running the ad for a long period of time.
Third, because of the information that the new marketer has received from their mentor, they advertise in the same venues as their mentor. Again, with a large number of new marketers joining in a short period of time, the new marketers are effectively advertising to a crowd of people in the same program. Then they become discouraged because they don’t get the response to their ads that their mentor has told them that the mentor has had.
Hence, they are preaching to the choir.
So, do you recognize yourself in this scenario? If so, there is a solution and it is not complicated. You need to become a responsible marketer and be responsible for your own ads and ad copy. PERIOD.
So, how do you get away from preaching to the choir?
First, you need to advertise in MANY different venues. Don’t rely completely on the marketing sites that your system recommends. There are many reputable sites online today. If you are not sure where to find these sites, you can ask your contacts on Facebook and Twitter for their recommendations or ask whoever you are comfortable with asking. Then check out the sites and use the sites that fit your advertising strategy.
Second, I believe everyone needs to study copywriting. The more you understand about copywriting, the more effective you will be with your entire marketing structure. If you have to rely on someone else to do your writing, you “probably” will always be at the mercy of someone else. Not effective for long term success unless you have deep pockets.
If you follow these ideas, you will improve your marketing effectiveness and this should improve your bottom line. Here is an excellent program to improve your copywriting To find out more about how my team and I work to use other sites to improve our marketing, go to: http://www.MLMIntegrityMarketing.com/?t=PTC
You have researched your prospective company. You completed your due diligence and everything met your standards. All you have to do is to sign on the line and you are in business. Yet something still doesn’t seem right to you. You keep receiving vague answers when you talk to others members of your leader’s downline.
So how do you determine if your leader is the leader you want to work with?
Some sponsors do what leaders need to do. They motivate you when you need it. They try to understand what makes you tick. They want and need to understand your goals and what gets your blood racing. Ultimately, they become both a friend and mentor.
Sometimes, the sponsor doesn’t fulfill the role of a leader. After they get you signed up, they disappear. This happens way too often. Then the marketer struggles to make any money and, most likely, drop out of the business after six to nine months.
So, how do you know which type of sponsor is recruiting you?
Unfortunately, there is not a clear cut answer to this question. Probably the best course of action is to have a set of questions that you need answered. Then you need to interview your prospective sponsor to see how they answer your questions. You also need to understand that some sponsors will not take kindly to being interviewed. They will state that they are the leader and you need to follow what they say. This may or may not be good for you.
If you are new to the MLM world, there are many things that your sponsor may not tell you. They may not tell you what to do after you tap out your warm market. They may give you vague instructions, like make a list of 100 people that you know and go talk to them. Handing out flyers, holding in home meetings, explain your business to any one that will listen, etc. etc. are other things that they may have you do.
This may work for some people. However, this marketing strategy has done more damage to the network / MLM market that anything else. If a person is not a salesman, they will fail miserably if they try to market their product this way. They need a different marketing strategy.
A good sponsor will have a plan to get the new person going. They will try to understand the comfort level for a given marketing plan and explain how to implement this plan. Most good sponsors have a range of marketing strategies that can be adapted to fit most any situation or person. They understand that there is not a single solution for getting everyone successful, so they change their plan to fit the person.
There are also a percentage of marketers that don’t want their sponsors help. They have been there, done that. Sometimes they know more than their sponsor but, because of their situation, join an opportunity under a less experienced sponsor. As a sponsor, you should then try to learn everything you can from this team member.
In conclusion, when you are considering joining a new opportunity, make sure you know what your sponsor will do for you and what you will be doing for them. Just remember that the goal is for everyone to be successful. To learn how my team and I can help you to be successful in my business, go to http://tr.im/emmfor to see how our marketing system changes the rules.
Are you a person that works at a business for someone else? Most people are.
Why do you go to work every day?
For the money to maintain your standard of living? To be “able” to go on vacation? To keep from starving to death?
The employee is a very specific type of individual. This type of person wants only to do what they are instructed to do. They may not be happy doing a particular job but it is better than having to make a decision on what to do to get paid. Most of these people are quite good at what they do, they just don’t want the responsibility for the task at hand. They are usually very punctual and reliable. For most people, this is all they want out of life.
However, there is a large group of people that can’t stand the thought of someone else telling what they need to do. These people are called business owners and/or entrepreneurs. Although many use these titles interchangeably, they are quite different types of people. The business owner may be an entrepreneur but an entrepreneur is much more than a business owner.
A business owner usually identifies themselves with the business only. When you ask them “What do you do?”, they are quite specific. They will reply “I run a XXXX business”. If you check back on them in five years, they are still running the same business.
An entrepreneur, on the other hand, will respond quite differently to the question “What do you do?”. Many times an entrepreneur will answer something like “I’m running an online business, I’m running a charity for XXXX, I’m starting a new business to do XXXX, … etc.” They seem to be always working on something new. This is just the way they are. If you were to check back on them in five years, they probably would have added four or five new ventures to their stable of products and will be working on new ideas also.
Why do these people work for themselves?
That answer lies within each individual person. Most of the base answers begin with “I want to ….” and then go on to expound on the goals that each person has established for themselves. Many times these goals are about the ability to give to the community or to a specific cause. Some are about very personal reasons, such as providing financial support to a cause in support of a friend or family member.
Some people are in business by themselves because they don’t want to conform to the rules that apply in most other companies. They believe that they are capable of earning a respectable income and what to have the ability to determine what they do and when. They understand that if they don’t produce something of value, they don’t get paid. They also understand that if they produce something of value, the world may beat a path to their door.
Are you an entrepreneur that is stuck in an employee mode? Do you have the desire to actually step away from the structured employee world to be able to set your own course?
If that sounds like your thoughts, you can explore the entrepreneur world without severing the ties of your current job. To start the transition process, go to: http://www.Millionaire-Marketing-Plan.com/?p=emmfor to learn what it takes to grab your niche in the world.
So, are you truly “unemployable”? Do you cringe when people say you HAVE to do something? Do you panic when you are told that you HAVE to record your work time?
Well, you are not alone.
Many people are unemployable because THEY want to control their own destiny. They want to make their own work schedules, be responsible for scheduling and completing their own tasks, and have their income grow or shrink on their own effort.
OR … do you want someone else to be responsible for all of those things?
Imagine the world without employees. Most mass produced items would disappear. Few cars, computers, phones, processed food, etc, etc. No waiters or waitresses. No bartenders, no chauffeurs, no hotel staff, no stewardesses.
What we would have would be quite expensive since the economy of scale would not exist. Those that are today living with others doing most everything for them would become truly one-man shows. Not very pretty is it? Fortunately, for many, the employee exists or we would have extreme chaos in the world.
Most people tend to have an employee personality. This is not good or bad, right or wrong. Many people want someone else to control want goes on in their work life. They may complain about this fact forever but they don’t want the responsibility. They need to have someone guide them.
This is fortunate for those of us that ARE unemployable.
Because we WANT to be our own bosses, we can do many things “employees” never consider. We dictate our work schedules. We set our own goals … and reap the rewards when the goals are met … both physically and financially. We don’t have to worry about the boss telling us we have to stay late to finish that project or any of the other demands of a boss.
On the other hand, we tend to be harder on ourselves than most bosses would ever do. We set deadlines that we aren’t sure we can meet, sometimes just to see if we can do it. We have the tendency to venture into unknown areas because we enjoy the challenge of the unknown. But we also understand the profit potential of the unknown and we always are seeking to push the financial limits … because we can. We know we will benefit financially if we do what we know we can do.
The employees of the world will never see this financial situation, unless they win the lottery, because they don’t and won’t task the necessary risk. They want the weekly paycheck. They would NEVER take a position that would allow for less income even though the potential for more income exists. They don’t trust their ability to come out on the winning side.
So, how do you transition from employee to unemployable?
My suggestion is follow the path that my team and I have followed. Go to: http://tr.im/emmfor and learn how we teach people to transition from your world to ours. You won’t be sorry.
Are you actively marketing a product for an MLM company? Are you making more than several hundred dollars per month with this MLM? Are you doing EVERYTHING your sponsor is telling you to do but still losing money?
Unfortunately, this situation may have nothing to do with you. Your sponsor doesn’t understand this or even how to explain this issue to you. Fortunately, this issue is easily explained … if you understand basic mathematics.
Mathematics?
Yes, this is a quite simple math problem. You see, in any sales business, you get paid based on the quantity of products that you sell. The more of your product that you sell, the more money that you make. Quite simple. Unfortunately, there is a huge second factor that enters into this equation that will impact your total income, especially if you are running your own business.
This factor is the amount of money you earn per transaction. You are probably saying that this won’t make THAT much difference, will it? Yes, the difference in the amount that you earn per transaction will make a tremendous difference in your income. The example below will show the graphic difference. This will be a simple example but has real world implications.
First, some base information. Typically, one percent (1%) of your prospects will purchase your product or service. In addition to this, only about one percent (1%) of the people that read you ad will respond to it. Then you get to the real kicker, only one percent (1%) of the people that see your ad will even bother to read it.
So, here are the numbers. You need one hundred (100) prospects to get a customer. To get the one hundred prospects, you will need to have ten thousand (100 X 100) people to read the ad. Now for the scary number. You need one million (1,000,000) views to get your single customer.
So, by now, you are probably asking what this has to do with anything. PLENTY.
For instance, say you earn ten dollars ($10.00) per sale. For your one million views you just made ten dollars. Do this ten times per month and you just made one hundred ($100) dollars. CONGRATULATIONS. In five months you are broke and your business is probably on life support or worse.
OK, say you bought into a better system and you are making one hundred ($100.00) per sale. You are doing better because you have now made one thousand ($1,000.00). This means that you will struggle for a YEAR and then probably still bail out because your effort is not being rewarded the way that you think it SHOULD be.
Now, what if you were to join a large dollar program? Say you could earn one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per sale. This would put ten thousand ($10,000.00) in your pocket for ten sales. NOW YOU ARE TALKING. Now you have a business with enough income to allow you to grow your business to a level that is sustainable.
Unfortunately, too many people join the small dollar programs and then complain that they can’t make any money…AND…they are correct. The odds are greatly stacked against them. Now if you are looking for pocket money, yes, a small dollar program will fulfill your needs. If, however, you are looking to put some decent money in you pocket, a small dollar program will drive you out of the business.
If you are like a significant number of network /MLM marketers, you are probably on a island by yourself. FIGURATIVELY only. Most of the time you are working on your business while your “significant other” really doesn’t understand what and why you are doing what you do. They don’t have your passion. They don’t have your desire to get out of the rat race.
Like most marketers, you got into this great business because you wanted more than your J.O.B. was giving you. You wanted to get away from the day to day B.S. that happens in most workplaces. You desired to earn an income that will never materialize at your current position. You have heard about the income of some of the top earners in the network marketing world and have thought to yourself….that is what I need to earn.
So, you stepped into the world of network/MLM marketing.
Then the reality stepped in. You discovered that network marketing was FAR from a cake walk. Your income the first several months was practically nonexistent. So, you kept learning and doing. And learning and doing. And learning and doing.
After a while, your “significant other” started to ask some pretty pointed questions, such as “where is the money”, “I thought this was going to make us a bunch of money”, “how much is this costing us”, etc, etc.
You probably followed one of two courses of action to respond to these questions. Either you didn’t answer directly or you gave the standard “this is a business and it takes time to get everything running”. Either way, you were probably quite uncomfortable in answering. The answer was the real issue to these questions.
They weren’t asking “why aren’t you making money” they were asking “why are you trying to be different from everyone else around us”.
So, now what?
Basically, you have one decision to make … are you in or are you out?
Yes, building ANY business takes time and effort. There are times when you will feel like chucking the whole thing….but you keep on because you “know” what exists at the end of the rainbow. You know that the business will take off when you reach the right mental state. You know this because the business people that you are associating with have that “made it” have told you “it” is worth the effort.
BUT, what about the questions that you keep getting about “when”?
After you understand that the question is more about why you are not “conforming to the clan” than anything else, you can structure an answer to these questions. The simple version is that you will always be the same as the people that you associate with every day. If you associate with people that make minimum wage, you most likely will stay at that income level.
The other saying — if you want to soar with the eagles, you have to fly with the eagles – is the ONLY answer. Nothing else matters.
So, how do you learn to fly with the eagles? For starters, go to: http://tr.im/emmfor and you will see some of the “eagles” that are in my group. Then you need to follow my example.
