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Guide To Buying Information Products

Written by Janis Pettit on March 3, 2010 — Leave a Comment

I often receive emails or comments from people asking about whether they should buy one of my home study courses or information products for small business owners. Or a client or Coaching Club member tells me that before they started working with me they spent a lot of money on information products but didn’t really follow through with many of them and were still struggling and it just made them feel overwhelmed and frustrated.

So I want to attempt to help you understand when to buy information products as well as which ones will work for you and which won’t so you can avoid throwing money away on one after the other and ending up no better than when you started.

There are three reasons people buy information products:

  1. You are looking for the secret success ingredient or money making opportunity that so far has eluded you and you buy a product with the hope that it’s the “one”.
  2. You know you have a lot to learn and you figure that if you buy information products on an array of relevant topics you’ll gain enough guidance and knowledge to make a breakthrough in your small business.
  3. You know you need to learn about a very specific subject or master a specific set of skills to get your small business to the next level and you know the person who created the product is an expert who can help you.

Out of these three, the third is the only one that will give you a good return on your investment. Why? Because no single information product will give you all the help you need to succeed.  And purchasing one after the other means that most likely much of the information will never even be acted upon because you’ll be on “information overload”. Yes, information junkies buy lots of stuff but never follow through on the information and action steps that are included. So they end up feeling disappointed.

When you buy an information product you probably have good intentions to follow through and there are truly lots of great products available. The problem is that to succeed on your own without any hands on coaching or mentoring, you have to be extremely self-motivated, self-disciplined and have good time management skills. You have to put aside time in your schedule to follow through, which takes some focused effort, since you’re already busy building a business.

So I recommend you buy information products, online courses, home study courses, e-books and audio or video courses only if these 2 criteria are met:

  1. You have a specific area of knowledge or a specific set of skills that you need and don’t have and you are willing to devote the time necessary to follow through and to master whatever it is because it’s crucial to your success.
  2. You are self-disciplined and are very good at following through and you’re willing to take action quickly on what you purchased.

Where people often make a mistake is when they think that a home study course will be cheaper than working with a personal coach or mentor and will get them the same result. The truth is that you get what you pay for and money buys speed. Our home study courses, for example, are designed to give you rich in-depth information, guidance and action worksheets on a specific topic and I’ve seen people really learn from them. But those people followed through and completed the course. And many of them moved on afterward to personal coaching because they knew it would take them further quicker.

Information products can rarely be a substitute for live coaching and mentoring where you get customized, hands on help, where you are held accountable and where you get your questions answered. But if you need knowledge in a specific area, like say marketing, copywriting or creating videos, and you are self-disciplined and focused, then some carefully chosen information products can definitely enhance your learning.

So be strategic about what you buy. Ask yourself if you’re buying a product to try to get a quick fix on success or whether you plan to follow through and do the work required. Also ask yourself what specific knowledge you hope to gain from the course, program or e-book and what kind of time will be required to complete it. Most information products, including all of mine, offer a money-back guarantee. If you quickly see it’s not for you, you can return it.

Finally look for testimonials that say that others have been happy with what you want to buy and see what they liked about it. Then decide if it’s for you. And if you’re not good at going it alone, then invest in the personal mentoring you need.

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Posted in Online tools, entrepreneur | Tagged , ,

The 7 Deadly Small Business Mistakes You Must Avoid

Written by Janis Pettit on March 2, 2010 — 6 Comments

Why do so many small or solo businesses fail? Is it because the owners weren’t good enough at what they did? In most cases that’s just not true. Most of them were very skilled and talented in their area of expertise. So why do people continue to struggle without enough clients or income? It’s heartbreaking to me when someone gives up who has great potential and a realistic dream. I want you to succeed in a big way. In fact I’m passionate about it. 

So I want to share the 7 top deadly mistakes I’ve seen repeatedly that can pull you down and how to avoid them. 

1. Believing that being good at what you do or even being an expert is all you need.

There are two completely separate “tracks” you need to master. First you need to be good at delivering a quality product or service. That’s a given. Many people stop here. They act as if they are still an employee working for someone else. They spend their time trying to deliver services instead of building a business, which leads us to the second track—building a business. 

Not only do you need to be good at what you do, you need to master the skills and mindset it takes to run a business, like strategic planning, marketing, sales, finance, productivity, priority based action,  management skills, self-discipline and self-motivation. This is the key. Master these skills and your success will soar. 

The best way to do this is to learn from those who are where you want to be so you can learn the strategies they used to succeed. Without the Entrepreneurial skill and mindset, you cannot succeed. 

2. Wasting money on poorly crafted or unnecessary marketing materials 

Don’t spend money building a website or crafting a business card, logo or brochure until you learn what makes them work to bring you clients. I’ve seen so many people waste money on an inefficient website with no traffic because they didn’t know what questions to ask when hiring a web designer and they didn’t know anything about traffic generation, search engine optimization or writing effective web content. 

Don’t get your relative or neighborhood college student to design your website. If you want to be professional and are serious then you need a professional website that will get people to take action and will look professional. Nothing screams amateur more than a home made website. The same is true for any of your other marketing materials. 

3. Lack of marketing or sales mastery 

The best marketer always gets the most new clients. Even if you have a superior product, if you don’t know how to market it effectively and then close the sale, you will struggle. In today’s information laden world, you need to know how to stand out and broadcast your message consistently and effectively. You’ve got to learn the proven marketing strategies and systems that are working for your top competitors and you need to master them. And you need to make marketing a daily activity, not just something you do when you have extra time. 

4. Putting all your eggs in one basket 

I’ve seen businesses sink because they depended on only one or two high profile, high paying clients. This is a mistake. Always make sure you’re in a position that if you lose one client your business can still survive and thrive. 

The other way this can play out is if you offer only one or two primary products and once a client has finished using this product or service they move on. You’re then relying on constantly getting new clients instead of making the most of the ones you have. That’s why I teach people how to build a product funnel to keep clients coming back again and again. 

5. Going it alone 

Whether you’re small or solo, you’re the owner and you make the decisions. But you still need a support team. Work with a coach or mentor who can help you stay on track. Consider joining or creating a mastermind group of successful people who can be like a vision team for you and who will support you and push you outside your comfort zone. 

The other way going it alone can sabotage you is if you want to control everything yourself and don’t outsource. You need to be the person who sets strategy, creates products, and serves clients. The rest can be done by others and once you get this and follow through, your income will increase significantly. 

6. Misallocated time 

Spending time running from task to task with no idea of what’s really a priority or an income generating activity can run you ragged and cost you your business. Surfing the web, checking e-mail constantly, and other time thieves need to be avoided at all costs. Track how many hours each day are spent on client generating activities or on servicing clients and how much time is spent otherwise. It’s really eye-opening. 

7. Lack of planning 

I know you wouldn’t take an overseas trip without detailed planning. So why would you run your business without one? When you have a vision and a plan you can check in regularly throughout the day and ask yourself “is what I’m doing supporting my plan and my goals”. Plan out at least 6 months ahead—what products you’ll introduce, what marketing you’ll do, how much money you intend to pull in. 

The first step is to admit if you are making one of these mistakes. It’s okay, we’ve all made them. Then start taking action right now to eliminate the mistake so you can experience the real success you deserve.

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Posted in Failure, small business growth | Tagged , ,

Get More Clients by Developing a Referral System

Written by Janis Pettit on February 25, 2010 — Leave a Comment

Of all the marketing methods that work to increase sales, none is ever more effective than “word of mouth”. And it’s easy and costs nothing. So how do you get referrals? 

When I owned a very successful restaurant in New York, we went out of our way to get customer referrals. We rewarded people for “gossiping” about our restaurant and we had a formal rewards-for-referrals program. And referrals continue to be very important in my coaching business. Do you have a formal referral system, or are you leaving it to chance as most small and solo business owners do? You are sitting on a goldmine of new clients and you don’t even know it! 

When someone you know or trust refers you to a business, you immediately become a warm prospect for that business. You probably wouldn’t have received a referral if you hadn’t expressed a need that prompted the referral in the first place. We all know this, but many small business owners fail to ask for referrals from their clients and subscribers because they don’t have a system in place and so they just plain forget. 

If you develop a clear referral plan and system here’s what will happen:

  • the number of warm leads coming into your business will increase significantly
  • your marketing costs will be reduced
  • your conversion ratio–converting prospects into customers–will increase a lot
  • profits up, costs down!

Remember that it took a lot of your hard work, time and money to get each client you currently have. Why not greatly increase the value of that client through the referrals they provide. 

So, what is a referral plan and how does it work?  

  • When to ask 

First you must decide when you will ask clients for referrals. You should ask them at the point when they experience the highest level of trust and satisfaction with your product/service. If you’re selling a tangible product, you might want to ask at the time of sale. If you’re selling information or knowledge, you might want to wait until the client has experienced working with you or your material and is convinced it has real value. Then continue to ask for referrals on a regular basis. if you’re keeping in touch with your database. 

  • How to ask   

There are many ways to ask for referrals—through e-mail, direct mail, by phone or in person. One of my favorite ways is the 3-in-1 Survey. Create a simple Customer Satisfaction survey. At the end of the survey ask if that person would recommend you and if they know anyone who has a similar problem or need to the one that prompted them to hire you. Then ask if you can use their answers as a testimonial. Survey-Referral-Testimonial: 3-in-1. 

Find a way to ask that works best for your business and then make it a HABIT! Make sure you ask every happy client. 

  • What to do when you get a referral 

Track your referrals. You’ll want to know who gives you a referral and if they’ve become a client. If someone consistently gives you referrals who never convert you might gently tell them more specifically the specific kind of person you’re looking for—your ideal clients.  Follow up methodically with all referrals and inform your client of the results.

  • Referral motivation plan 

In order to motivate clients and prospects to send referrals it’s important to offer an incentive. Give them something of value for sending a referral--a coupon, a gift certificate, a free product or service. Then send them a thank you note. This is crucial. Even if the referral doesn’t become a client you need to thank them. Then if the referral does become a client, send them a small gift. The more clients they generate, the bigger the gift. People need to feel that they are valued and appreciated for their efforts to promote your business. 

Make this a system that works automatically and you’ll have a nice new stream of leads.

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Posted in Marketiing model | Tagged , , ,

What to Do When You Want to Play a Bigger Game but You Hit a Wall

Written by Janis Pettit on February 23, 2010 — Leave a Comment

It’s always amazing to me how owning a small business is the best self growth program around (except perhaps for parenting). The problems we experience growing a business are exactly the ones we experience in life. 

One of those is what I call “hitting the wall”. This occurs when you are pushing and trying and doing and yet you feel like you’re on a treadmill, going no where and just plain stuck. Or you know what you should be doing but you’re not doing it. You aren’t sure why. Maybe you’re scared or maybe you’re unsure, but either way it doesn’t feel good. After all, you’ve got goals. You want a successful business, you want to work less, you want to have money in the bank and you want to actually make a life doing what you love. But something isn’t working. 

At this point you may feel like you either need to push even harder, or you might feel like giving up. If you’re trying to decide in which direction you should take your business and time keeps passing with no clear decision, you start to wonder if there is something wrong with you. Why can’t you make a decision and move forward?  

I’ve had clients who had achieved a certain level of success, but when I suggested it was time to step things up to a whole new level where they could dramatically increase their income and work less, they hit a wall. Fear of playing a bigger game and trying the unknown kicked in. Fear of stepping out on a limb and getting outside their comfort zone was palpable. 

I can’t tell you how many times as an entrepreneur I’ve hit the wall. It sometimes took me months of wading through a lot of uncertainty and confusion until the answer to my dilemma appeared and became clear. Often this happens when you know you have to play a bigger game but you’re not sure what that should look like. You just know that you can’t stay stuck where you are.  Here are a few thoughts to contemplate that might help you get unstuck and push past the wall. 

Ask yourself: What’s the payoff I’m getting for staying stuck where I am? 

Every time we chose to keep doing what we always did, even though we knew the result wouldn’t change, it’s because we were getting some kind of payoff. It may be a negative pay-off. Have you ever met someone that keeps getting into relationships with the same dysfunctional type of person? Or someone who starts business after business but drops them before they succeed? These people are getting a negative payoff, but a payoff none the less. If you drop a business before you succeed you don’t have to take the responsibility and risk involved in making it succeed. You can always say it wasn’t right for you, or another great opportunity came along. Ask yourself why and if you are willing to settle for staying where you are. 

Let go of outmoded belief systems 

When you were growing up did you absorb messages and beliefs that are causing you to keep hitting a wall today? Maybe you are doing things the way others in your family always did them and you never examined why. Maybe you have negative beliefs about making money and being prosperous that it’s time you outgrew. I grew up being taught that you had to cling to every penny or there wouldn’t be enough and I had to work very, very hard to overcome that useless belief. What a feeling of freedom and an opening to abundance when I let it go! 

Many outmoded beliefs create fear and allow us to progress only so far, before the belief causes us to run into a wall—again and again. If you’re stuck ask yourself, what do I believe will happen if I play a much bigger game? 

Finally, if you’ve done the soul searching above and you’re still feeling stuck—well sometimes it’s okay to be temporarily stuck and unsure. Sometimes moving past the wall is a process that has to play itself out. Instead of pushing harder, relax and believe that you will know what to do when the time is right. Talk with mentors or people you trust who will not judge you or try to convince you that you’re just fine where you are. When I know in my gut that a decision just isn’t ready to be made, I empty my mind through meditation or I take a quiet walk. I just let go. I surrender. And amazingly, time after time, one day the decision I’ve been searching for becomes clear as a bell. 

Remember that if you try to build your business holding back and hesitating because you’re afraid, you will stay stuck, you’ll keep hitting a wall, but if you resolve to get past the fear and get outside your comfort zone, you’ll be free to create something big—the life you want.

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Posted in Failure, entrepreneur, small business growth | Tagged , , ,

If Being Indecisive in Your Business is Holding You Back, Here’s How to Change It.

Written by Janis Pettit on February 18, 2010 — Leave a Comment

For start-up and early stage small and home based business owners the pressure to nail down a lucrative niche and create multiple products and services is anxiety producing. I see this with my small and solo business clients all the time. The truth is there’s a fine line between researching and weighing your options so you can pick a niche that is lucrative (and also matches your passion and skill set), and being indecisive to the point of paralysis.

I teach people exactly how to identify the most profitable niche within the scope of what they can offer, because when you identify a great niche it will not be a struggle to find paying clients. I also stress the importance of not trying to build a business based on a single product or service but to develop a product funnel of multiple, related products and services that, over time, can create a healthy, steady income stream that is not totally dependent on selling time for dollars.

The problem occurs when someone starts to fear that if they don’t nail down the perfect niche and complete the creation of everything in their product funnel, they can’t move forward. The truth is that you may not be clear on your exact niche immediately. You may just have to start from where you are and try a few things out, like you’d do if you were shopping for clothes or shoes. After a while people will tell you what they need and are willing to pay you for. But if you never even start marketing your services; if you are stuck in perfectionism, you won’t make any progress at all.

This is true when it comes to creating a product funnel as well. You may really get the importance of developing a business model that provides you with multiple streams of income and that will provide your clients with many ways to buy from you again and again, but you don’t have to develop all of those products before you look for clients. Its okay to list them on your website and then develop them as the need arises. Or just list a few on your website and know that your intention is to add more as you move forward.

Here’s an example. I’ve coached a number of life coaches who know they need to specialize. Yet they fear choosing a niche because that may mean that they are walking away from potential clients in another niche, when the truth is that the more specialized you are, the more you’re perceived as an expert. Or they may have two or three possible niches they’re interested in pursuing and not feel certain which to choose. I show them how to measure the income potential of a niche and if they are more or less equal, to choose one and try it. At least they will be making progress and moving forward.

It’s important to make a distinction between creating a detailed vision of what you want your business and income to look like and mapping it out, and not moving forward until it’s all in place. The most successful Entrepreneurs understand the importance of constantly taking action. The key is to not take impulsive, random action, but to take constant action on a strategically, well thought out plan. Look at it this way; if you take no action because you’re waiting for the perfect niche and the perfect product, you’ll have no sales. If you take some action, you’ll start creating income and you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t.

If you talk to someone who is successful and they tell you they’ve had no failures, they’re not being totally truthful. I’ve had failures. I could write a book on the failed ideas I’ve had. I even had one business in which I was a partner that failed. And I became more powerful and knowledgeable with each failure. I just felt briefly disappointed, learned and moved on.

You have a reservoir of courage that you need to draw on to push you past being indecisive. Being indecisive is a symptom of being scared that you’ll make a mistake or ruin your reputation or get no sales. You may make a mistake and you may get no sales, but you won’t ruin your reputation and you will only be much better off than you are if you spend your time researching and agonizing over the right road to take. So have the courage to act even though you’re scared. That’s really the key. And if something doesn’t work, have the courage to change direction.

So right now, decide what you will start offering the world tomorrow. Take action; tell people about what you do. Ask their opinion about how you could best help them. Do surveys using Twitter, Facebook or SurveyMonkey.com and start offering your services. Remember that everything doesn’t have to be perfect—just good enough to help potential clients who need what you have to offer.

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Increase your confidence, decrease your fear and learn the Millionaire Mindset.  Get a trial membership in my Maximum Business Growth Coaching Club for just $7.

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Posted in Failure, Fear, entrepreneur | Tagged , ,

14 Bootstrapping Ideas: Build Your Small Business on a Budget

Written by Janis Pettit on February 16, 2010 — 3 Comments

The sluggish economy has every small or solo business owner figuring out how they can get the biggest “bang for their buck”. Whether its money you spend on technology, systems, outsourced help or training, you want to get a great return on investment. And if you’re a start up you want to figure out how to avoid wasting money on services you don’t need. Even if you’re already profitable, conserving your cash and resources is crucial if you want to maximize your income. So, bootstrapping needs to be part of your small business planning.

Bootstrapping is all about finding ways to build your business without huge infusions of outside cash. It’s also about being conservative and strategic about how and where you spend.

Most micro businesses don’t have access to angel investors or venture funding. They use their own financial resources to get started. They borrow from savings, friends, family, credit cards or home equity. Or they get people in their personal network to invest in their business. After all, who will invest in your business if you won’t take a bit of financial risk and invest in yourself?

Bootstrapping is about getting the most value and forward momentum from your limited budget. This is where many small businesses stumble. My motto for all business owners is this: “Shop Around”. Remember that old song, “You Better Shop Around”? Well if you latch onto the first vendor or solution you run across without understanding the questions to ask and competitive rates, chances are you’re either paying more than you need to, or not getting what you need.

Everyone today is talking about going green and conserving resources. This applies to your business as well and you’ll also be doing the environment a favor!

Great Bootstrapping Ideas

  1. If you’re a service business, start out with a home office. You can always rent or borrow conference room space if you need it once in a while.
  2. Once you’re ready to rent space, don’t rent more than you need. Don’t pay for prime retail space unless you’re a retail business.
  3. Another option- rent a larger, nicer space and sub-lease some of it to offset the rent. Then when you need the extra space take it back when the sub-lease expires.
  4. Don’t overspend on web or graphic design. This is one of my “pet peeves” since I’ve seen so many business owners overpay simply because they didn’t understand exactly what they needed to ask a web designer before they hired them. Know what you need and shop around.
  5. DO invest in getting expert help from a coach or mentor. It can end up saving you thousands of dollars and help you increase your income faster. This is why even the most successful coaches and Entrepreneurs also have coaches.
  6. Use Voice Over Internet or VOIP, like Vonnage or Skype. You’ll save a lot on your phone services. I do video coaching using Skype and my clients love it.
  7. If you have a home office, listing your phone as a residential number will also save you money. Of course, if you need your business listing in the Yellow Pages (few businesses do these days), this won’t work. But if people look for you online, you don’t need a business phone listing.
  8. Don’t pay more than you need to for web hosting–under $10 a month for a basic site with no shopping cart.
  9. Search on E-bay for software and computers. Buying a slightly older version of the software you need can save a bundle. Almost anything can be found on E-bay or Amazon.
  10. Search for open source or free download software before buying something expensive. You can also do a Google search for the type of software you need and type “free” before the phrase–for example: “free scheduling software for chiropractors”.
  11. For anything you need, take my “shop around” advice and search the Internet for the best prices or options.
  12. Use independent freelancers rather than hiring employees and you’ll save a bundle on payroll taxes and workmen’s compensation insurance (US).
  13. Consider outsourcing specific projects and tasks overseas where hourly rates are lower.
  14. Remember that cheap is not always better!

Take a good look at your business and see where you need to spend more to make more and where you can cut back because you’re just not getting results. Even as your business grows, keep your expenses in check so your income can grow.

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Master my PROVEN breakthrough Marketing System using my low and no cost marketing ideas.  Get a trial membership in my Maximum Business Growth Coaching Club for just $7.

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Posted in Business strategy, Recession strategies | Tagged , , , ,

Courage to Climb the Learning Curve

Written by Janis Pettit on February 12, 2010 — Leave a Comment

I know many of you struggle with the learning curve necessary to use technology to your advantage. I always tell you to get outside your comfort zone, because your business depends on it.

Well this week that’s what I had to do. I had a tough week with multiple technical problems getting our new membership site software  working properly for my new Coaching Club.

With a team of 4 other people we spent hours  uncovering the problem and we finally did.  Believe me there were moments when I wanted to give up, but I just kept thinking of howgreat it would be once it was working.
It took us the whole week but it’s done.

This week I climbed the learning curve.

This is a process you’ll repeat many times. Climbing up the curve can be like climbing a hill and it can be tough and frustrating at times. But once you reach the top you slide down the other side and reap the rewards. If you get stuck going up and you give up you may be just short of the peak,
so push through; keep going; be determined.

Learn more about the Maximum Business GrowthCoaching Club HERE.

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Posted in Business strategy, Small business opportunity, Uncategorized, small business growth

Use Joint Ventures to Expand the Power and Scope of Your Small Business Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

Written by Janis Pettit on February 11, 2010 — 1 Comment

You’re sitting there in your home or small business office and wondering– how do you compete with the big guys? You know—the ones that are your most successful competitors. How do you dramatically increase your sales when it’s just little old you? Technology helps the small business owner play bigger. But if you want to play really big without hiring a salaried sales team, then your secret weapon is joint ventures.

When two or more small business owners work together to increase sales for both, a joint venture is born. More importantly, joint venturing with the right partners can give you access to hundreds of clients at a time instead of one at a time. There are other businesses that already have access to the type of clients you want, but they may not offer exactly what you offer. However, if you’re willing to do the work and pay them a healthy percentage of sales, many would be more than willing to endorse or promote your products to their subscribers, clients, inactive clients or followers. It’s a win-win situation.

The possibilities for creative joint ventures are endless. Any successful business that sells products or services to your target client is a possible joint venture partner. You can work with different “partners” on different projects at the same time. Here are some ways you can structure joint ventures.

Offer bundled products and services — this is where you put together a single offering that includes product components from you and your partner that work together to make a better, more complete package for the end user.

Endorse a partner’s product or service your clients need for a percentage of sales — you can endorse to your client list or someone with a great client list can agree to endorse and recommend your product. This opens up a new distribution chain for you and allows you to sell to a whole new market. And it allows you to access a market that someone else has spent time, money and energy acquiring! Do this online through affiliate programs. Offer your own or list your downloadable product with Clickbank(.com).

Offer a partner’s complimentary service — this is similar to bundled services, but the complimentary service is sold as an “add on” or “up sell” to your service and is optional for the client. This strategy can be accomplished by joining your partner’s affiliate program, or by creating a simple way to track the sales you generate so you can get paid.

Develop new products or services together-even with competitors — this is when you combine your expertise with a partner to create a product or service that’s more compelling and comprehensive than it would be if you did it alone. Several years ago I teamed up with a fellow business coach, Terri Zwierzynski who owns Solo-E.com to author an e-book and marketing program, 145 Ways to Market Your Small or Solo Business. We both sell the book and our affiliates sell it as well, meaning that our sales are much higher than if we had done it alone.

Co-marketing – you see big super stores do this all the time. A recent series of TV commercials for Target featured a number of brands that they carry in their store. That creates a win-win situation for both companies. Marketing is expensive, so sharing marketing for complimentary products or services is a great idea. Your marketing could offer a “complete solution” which involves the services of you and your “partner”.
Co-sponsoring a promotional or charity event –this is self explanatory. It can get you lots of publicity in your local community, especially if you team up with a bigger more prominent company.

Referral fees — you can simply agree to refer clients to each other for a referral fee. Don’t overlook your competitors. Many times an established competitor has an overload of prospects or they don’t work with smaller clients any longer. They may be very happy to send the surplus your way, particularly if you offer a fee. Don’t be shy about approaching them with this idea.

Barter — you can barter your services for someone else’s that you need. You can join a barter exchange where you offer services on barter and then can use your “barter money” to purchase services from anyone else in the exchange. I’ve done this for 10 years and it’s great. You can also barter a percentage of profits for a service you need.

Say you need advertising in an expensive publication. You may be able to barter for ad space by paying the publication a percentage of the sales it generates. Take away the risk by offering to pay them the price of the ad if not enough sales are generated. This is a great way to reach new prospects without any up front cash.

Make a list of other businesses that serve the same market you do. Find Joint Venture partners at social networking sites or through local networking groups. Then spend the time you currently spend going after ONE sale at a time to form solid relationships with partners who can generate MULTIPLE sales.

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Posted in Joint ventures | Tagged , , , ,

Is Fear of Selling Hurting Your Small Business?

Written by Janis Pettit on February 4, 2010 — Leave a Comment

So many small and solo business owners over the years have told me they feel held back by their fear of selling. If you’re in that position, let’s look at that fear as, it’s not so hard to overcome.

I’ve heard that selling often conjures up an image of a used car salesman—the type of person who uses every possible trick to get you to buy something you may not want and who is pushy. This type of selling is often referred to as a hard sell and no one is going to respond to it anymore. Perhaps you’ve even encountered this type of salesperson and it’s left you with a bad feeling about sales. Or perhaps you’re afraid that “tooting your own horn” and asking for the sale will be viewed as either egotistical or pushy and you’re afraid of someone saying no. I totally understand this because when I started my first business 21 years ago, I remember feeling the same way.

This way of thinking will lead you nowhere. First you need to change your belief and the way you think about selling. You should never, ever have to push someone to buy from you. Instead, if you approach selling as a natural conclusion to a conversation you’ve been having with your prospect over time, you’ll find closing a sale will become more effortless.

When someone goes directly to closing a sale without completing certain pre-sales steps, the process doesn’t work. Here is a simple step-by-step process that does work.

1)       Marketing gets you leads; it rarely gets you sales. Once someone expresses interest in your business by signing up as a subscriber online, expresses interest when you meet them in person, or responds to other offline marketing, in most cases they are not yet ready to buy.

2)       Once you’ve got a good lead, you need to begin building trust with that person. You can do that by educating them about how your product or process gets results and what benefits they can expect. You can also prove your level of expertise by answering important questions and sharing your knowledge. E-mail, videos and phone calls are effective ways to complete this step. If you are making phone calls, make sure you write a script before you call so you get all your basic points across quickly and you don’t skip anything important.

3)       When someone is closer to making the buying decision, make sure you really listen to them. Ask them what their goals are, what’s not working and answer every question. If you are selling online you can do this through a series of e-mails, a submit-your-question form, a series of videos or a preview tele-class. It’s always a good idea to have a way for prospects to contact you or someone on your team directly if they have questions. This will leave a great impression that you really care about your clients.

4)       Once you have proven through demonstration and testimonials that your product or service works, offer a no-risk guarantee. There is always a creative way to offer some kind of guarantee that communicates to your customer that there is no risk involved and that you believe so strongly in the results you get that you are willing to give them a guarantee.

5)       At that point simply state the price and ask them to commit. If you are speaking to them directly and they say they’re not sure, then they must still have some unanswered questions, plus you can re-state your guarantee.

Using this simple process means you will never be pressuring anyone to buy from you. Instead many people will say “yes, let’s get started”! You cannot build a successful business without having enough confidence in the value of what you offer that you are willing to ask people to buy from you. Thing about this: if you truly believe what you offer can help that person, then why would you hesitate to ask them to buy something that will solve a problem or need that they are eager to solve and make there life better?

Try structuring your business using these five simple steps and I’ll bet you’ll be more confident about selling and you will be closing more sales.

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Join me on Wednesday, February 10th for a free tele-class where I’ll reveal:

10 ADVANCED Breakthrough Money and Marketing Strategies

You can register for this content rich one-time-only coaching opportunity HERE

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How to Turn Your Small Business Website into a Sales Generator

Written by Janis Pettit on February 2, 2010 — 1 Comment

It’s unfortunate that so many small business owners end up with a website that isn’t much more than a glorified online brochure that attracts little traffic. If you’re in that situation I’m positive that wasn’t your intention when you shelled out the money and spent the time creating your website. At first you may have simply created a website because you knew you needed one, but other than to have information about your company on the Internet, you may not have had a specific goal for how it would create sales for your business.

Some of the fault for this problem lies with web designers who can design great looking websites, but who don’t explain to their clients that looking great and attracting traffic and sales are two different things. However, I don’t want to get started on that! Let me focus on some changes you can make that will begin to make your website work for you.

There are two kinds of websites, what I call a “rubber” site, where visitors bounce in and bounce out, and “sticky” sites where visitors stay a while and explore and/ or they take action by adding their name to your mailing list or making a purchase. Of course you want a sticky site. Here are some elements of your website that you need to fix to create a sticky site.

1) Navigation bar – make sure that the most important types of information that a visitor might be interested in are easily accessible from your navigation buttons. Limit your navigation buttons to the most general areas. Too many choices can create confusion.

2) Opt-in form on all key web pages. – it’s amazing how many small business owners don’t take advantage of the opportunity to get visitors to sign up for their mailing list. Your mailing list is your lead list. People that come to your website are targeted, pre-qualified leads who are looking for your specific type of information. Companies pay a lot to buy lists of qualified leads and here they are arriving at your website for free! Take advantage of this by offering them a downloadable gift that has value and they will willingly fill out that form. Make sure your opt-in box is at the TOP of your key web pages.

3) Ask yourself these key questions:

  • What information do my visitors really want?
  • How much can I give away to create value without giving away too much?
  • How can I give away enough that people want more, and then show how they can get more by buying your product or service
  • What resource will be compelling enough to keep them coming back again and again?

4) Make sure your website is regularly updated to include sticky elements that will keep people engaged and coming back. Here are a few ideas:

  • Discussion forum
  • Twitter update feed form to show all your latest tweets on your website.
  • Regularly updated blog with easy RSS feed subscription sign up so they are notified by e-mail each time there’s a new blog post.
  • Free tools or downloads
  • Fresh audios, videos, or articles. Ask people to opt-in to get access to these.
  • Any resource that they need to check or access regularly – like links or industry news updates.
  • Free give-away on pre-determined dates
  • E-mails that link them back to different pages on your site
  • Serial business “soap opera”. They must come back the next week for the next part in the series and you e-mail them when the answer is available, with the link.

5) Try putting a video on all your key pages. Video gives you an unprecedented opportunity to talk to your website visitors when they’ve never met you. Begin the relationship with the video. Tell them you understand their problems and you’d like to start them on finding a solution by giving them a gift if they opt-in. This is very powerful.

6) Your sales page content: Write customer and benefit focuses sales copy on your web sales pages and include video and strong testimonials. If you are getting traffic to your sales pages but still not generating sales then the problem is one of these:

  • the headline needs some changes
  • the content doesn’t create perceived value
  • the pricing is wrong
  • there is a trust issue—which can be improved with great testimonials and a strong, iron-clad guarantee.

Simple changes can increase response.

With a bit of planning and a few weeks of work you can start to get a much better response to your website. I’ve seen small tweaks to the home page of our website increase our opt-in rate by as much as 25% to 30%. Those new subscribers can then be converted into buyers. Your website can dramatically increase your sales if you give it regular attention.

Finally, although your website can generate tons of leads you need to do more to close the sale.

________________________________________________________

Join me on Wednesday, February 10th for a free tele-class where I’ll reveal:

10 ADVANCED Breakthrough Money and Marketing Strategies

You can register for this content rich one-time-only coaching opportunity HERE

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