Marketing Lesson #1 from Mike Marchev

Lesson #1

So you just don't have enough time?
Join the club. Unfortunately, this is not an exclusive club. You're in good company. This club may even be the largest one of its kind. Name one person you know who has time to do everything that needs doing. ............. I didn't think so.
Together, you and I are going to finally make your business start to "sing". Not with some magic act. But with solid, straightforward, marketing skills and tactics that will prove to be effective.
Bit by bit, lesson by lesson, we are going to slowly turn your organization into a well-oiled "marketing machine." But first, you must get one thing perfectly straight.
In addition to whatever business you are in, you are now in a new business - The Marketing Business. Success begins and ends with marketing. You may not want to come to grips with this right now, but if you are going to succeed in anything you choose to do, you better open up your thinking and start wearing the hat of a marketer.
If you are like the rest of us trying to find ways to feed our families on a regular basis, you are probably making a few mistakes that are standing in the way of you're becoming extraordinarily successful. We will try to identify those errors and eliminate them as best we can.
Your business is the most exciting business you will ever be involved with. It will come with plenty of action, full of "highs" and salted with a few "lows". No. More than a few "lows". Lots of "lows".

You will find that there are no guarantees and a few sleepless nights along the way. The downside can be minimized with a little emotional intelligence on your part ....with a little practice and a little homework. Let the games begin.
The first five lessons include:
1. Identifying a "dart board" you can score on. Creating Your Database.
2. Working an easy trust building strategy. Letters & Postcards .
3. Acquiring the "Halo Effect". Publicity .
4. The Rule of 7 and More. E-mail marketing.
5. Refining Your competitive edge. Your Three-Page Marketing Document .
Plus Two More Lessons
6. Marketing Mistakes You Must Avoid At All Costs
7. Putting It All Together: Becoming The Exception.
===============================================
Lesson 1: Database Marketing
===============================================
If I could sum up a sure-fire marketing program in 3 steps, here is what they would be:
Step 1: Identify new business opportunities
Step 2: Make prospects feel comfortable with you
Step 3: Find reasons for people to want to do business with you.
In this first lesson, we are going to discuss step #1. In subsequent lessons, we will move on to steps #2 and #3.
Let us agree that our primary objective is: To open up and establish relationships with some new accounts.

First, I would like to make a few assumptions:

* Assumption #1: Not enough people know you are alive.
* Assumption #2: People can't choose to do business with you until they know you exist.
* Assumption #3: As soon as they realize you are alive, they will forget that you are alive unless you make it your business to remind them that you are alive.

This "marketing stuff" is starting to sound easier than you thought, right? Stay with me. You haven't seen nothing yet.

Your goal now becomes elementary. You must tell people (and then remind them over and over and over again) that you are alive. Yes, it really is as simple as that.
My name is Mike Marchev and I am alive!

If nothing else, I want you to remember this:
"There are only two types of people. People you can help... and the other kind."
Mike Marchev
But if you are going to go through the pains of telling people that "you are alive", you might as well save your breath for those you actually care about, and I might add, have a reason to care about you. After all, you don't care if every single human being on the planet knows that you a walking, talking, marketing work of art. Focus. Another beautiful word is "focus".

So, let's decide who is qualified to receive your messages. It will help enormously if you focus on a well-defined segment. This is often referred to as "target marketing". The more clearly defined your targeted audience is, the better off you will be and the more money you will make. Key Point: Without (I am quick to mention) diminishing the numbers. There has to be a "bunch" of like-minded people in a given targeted audience to establish the group as a qualified target market. (You have permission, however, to include a single entry from time to time.) After all, it is your life, your database and your business. A database of "one" however, is really not significant when you come right down to it. I suggest a few more names over time.
Here is where "the numbers" still play a role in the overall size of your targeted zone. You know this already - everyone is not going to buy your act. Therefore, you must concentrate on developing a number of "targets" for which to point, and subsequently toss your darts.
You must begin to work diligently at capturing the contact information of each and every person who falls within your targeted zone. This is known as building your database.

What information do you really want to capture? The answer to this is "meaningful" information.
Of course you will need to capture the obvious:
• first and last names;
• addresses;
• phone;
• emails;
• areas of interest;
• affiliations;
• hobbies;
• pet ownership (no, I am not kidding here);
• fax # if you so choose;
• where they have been and where they want to go;
.... and any other information that you feel will be helpful sometime down the road. You don't need their shoe size or any other information that can't be used to further qualify your prospects unless you are selling socks.
Simply capturing and documenting this information is not enough. You must now find time to analyze what you have. You need to look for commonalities and trends. You need to group similar likes and dislikes so you can offer appropriate venues to groups who would be receptive and interested in the subject matter and destinations. (This is beginning to sound a little bit like work.)
For example: Those indicating an interest in golf might be receptive to learning about the wind-swept link courses in Scotland.
If you build your database carefully, you will benefit in direct proportion. Size really is of no consequence as long as the names on your list are accurate. Old names should be purged on a regular basis. After all, people change jobs and move on to greener pastures on a regular basis these days. Those remaining behind do not feel it is their responsibility to sweep up after those who left. Therefore, it is up to you to clean up your database as often as you possibly can.
This particular marketing tool (your database) will prove over and over again to be the most important document in your marketing arsenal. The cleaner it is and the more up-to-date it is, the more valuable it becomes. It also must be easy to retrieve to at a moment's notice. Then, it becomes your responsibility to protect your database with your life. Yep. I 'm suggesting you back it up and put the back up disc in a different location, other than in a separate file on your same computer.
I will say this again using different words and a different color. Copy it. Put it on a separate computer disc and place the disc in a separate location. I said "location." If your building goes down, you will be back in business within two hours if you still have a clean, readable copy of this information somewhere. Hardware we can buy. People we can train. But without "targets", and "prospects" and "customers" you have "bubcus" .... no future ..... no business.
Adding to your database becomes a life-long endeavor. It never ends. Day in and day out, you will be trying to add a few more names to this list. If you don't get your people thinking about adding names to this list, you are making a huuuu----mongous mistake. Everyone in your organization has the responsibility to build this document. This may not have been the case a few years ago when lines of demarcation were stringently adhered to, (accounting people counted; managers managed; and sales people saled -I mean sold.)
Today, all employees are in this mess together. You are all database mavens, enhancers and cultivators.
Remember, you must capture all the contact information you will need for future communication from only those prospects that make sense to you. Not everybody will, does, or should make sense. Be disciplined. Know who makes sense to you. And focus your efforts on only these people.
I want you to stop trying to be all things to all people from this sentence on. This mind-set, if you have it, is retarding your future growth.

Now that I have you thinking more clearly about your database, I think I will give you some time to think about it. This brings us to the end of today's lesson.
But before I go, I want you to check out a few resources that you might find useful. Stop by my Sales & Marketing Resource Center at www.marchev.net/store to check out a few sales and marketing tools I have available for only those people I can help.
There you will find information on:
• Become The Exception. This is a book about sales you simply need to read.
• The 52-Week Sales Planner: Incremental improvement works. This sales planner works.
• Gearing Up For a Better You: Attitude; Nutrition; Exercise = A Balanced Professional
• It's Monday and I'm Feeling Good: 52 life-altering stories with a message to live by. (Electronic edition)
Until next time, make every effort to make people you come in contact with happy they know you.
"Don't bother telling people your problems. 90% of them won't care, and the other 10% are glad you have them."