Your customer contact list is as important, if not more important, than your product. You worked hard, paid money, and spent time to build up your client list, and that list is extremely valuable to you for several reasons. Why should you build a contact list, and continue to market to the people on that list? 1. Past customers are easier to do business with again: If a customer has done business with you, they are likely to do so again. They will be easier to sell to again because they already know you, and hopefully, they like you. 2. Build a tribe of loyal followers and raving fans: Your tribe is made up of the people who love you. They are excited about what you have built and want to know about the new and exciting new things you create or the changes you might make with your business. Keeping in touch helps remind your tribe that you are an authority in your field. 3. Brand Loyalty: If you keep people engaged, you are more likely to get brand loyalty with past customers, so they don’t go do business with a competitor because they “forgot” you were in that business. There’s nothing worse than seeing your neighbor using a competitor because you didn’t continue to market to them. So, if you aren’t keeping a list of everyone you do business with, including anyone else who you have had a good interaction with, get on that today. Get a CRM now, and get going. Hubspot offers a free version that is easy to use and will get you on the path. See more here. You can also use Mailchimp for a simple email list. Whatever you do, do something to keep a list of your customers. Today, I am going to share a story of why this is so important. It’s a story of when I was able to create $1,000,000+ in sales in one day for a local small business. It had everything to do with understanding the power of branding and nurturing a customer list. I worked for a retail store in Henderson, NV that sold easy-to-play Lowery Organs. I mean the music kind of organs, not the body parts—shame on you! (pause for dramatic effect…) They had customers from all walks of life, but their primary focus was selling the hobby to senior citizens who wanted to be part of the music world, and loved the social aspect of taking lessons and learning to play on these machines. Each day we held classes where people would come to learn how to use their machines, and play songs. We would also hold concerts from time to time so they could play for each other, and we always had fun birthday parties which were just an excuse to get together, have a potluck, and play more music. It was a fun and fulfilling experience. It was also a great way for many of these seniors to be engaged in something fulfilling while seeing friends. The business model was that we would sell entry-level machines to seniors on a trial basis, and then, get them into classes. The classes were inexpensive and taught exclusively on the more complex and more expensive organs. Our job was to help people upgrade when they were ready to get a bigger machine. These machines were quite expensive, as many musical instruments often are, ranging in price from a couple thousand dollars, to upwards of $90,000 plus for the top-of-the-line machines. Each new version had extra bells and whistles that came in custom finishes of fine hardwood, and they were quite something to play. With a little bit of talent, you could really sound like a pro. When I was hired, the owner of the store told me he thought opening a store in Henderson would be a good idea because he had another successful business in St. George, UT, only a couple of hours away. However, it soon became a burden because he couldn’t get anyone to run the business properly, and he was losing money. He was sick of repeating a 4-hour drive down and back and wanted the store to run on its own. He made me an offer, and I accepted. When I got to work, I quickly realized this business had raving fans. These senior citizens were big fans of the product, the classes, and the lifestyle of learning to play an instrument. I had to brush up on my 1950s music, but I was quickly welcomed into the family. It was so much fun. After I got situated, my first item of business was to sort through the list of current and past customers. Luckily, they kept track of everyone and had them all in a spreadsheet. I made my plans to not only reactivate anyone who had quit coming to classes but to also clean up the list. One of the hardest parts of that business was that your best customers often came to the end of their lives. It was sad, and I attended too many funerals while I worked there. We cleaned up the list and had a good number of people on it, which we were going to start to nurture. I started a print, mailed newsletter. In it, we would do a history piece on a musician, or a call-out to anyone’s birthday that month for people on the list. We spotlighted one of the organs that was for sale and had other fun information as part of our newsletter. People instantly loved receiving it and would talk about it during their classes. I had 3 goals with this newsletter. One was to reactivate customers who might not be attending classes currently. The second was to tie everyone together with a piece of the culture they could participate in, and be part of. The third was to generate more referrals, interest, and overall engagement leading up to our big product reveals. Lowery, the parent company, would release new flagship top-of-the-line products every 4-6 years. I wanted to maximize opportunities for us to sell these new machines when they were launched a little more than one year later. My efforts paid off in each of my goal areas. We had more students, more excitement, and more fun happening every day. We started moving some of our used organs, which were much more price-friendly than the new models, and great for those on a limited budget. We were excited about the upcoming launch of the new product too. I knew this would help pull off a huge sales launch. The discipline it took for us to put this newsletter together every month was honestly a pain. It took time, $, and effort, but I knew it was going to work. Then the day arrived. The new machine was called the Lowery Prestige. It would cost $90,000 retail and was a beautiful machine. We announced its arrival in every class, in our newsletter, and planned a huge celebration launch party where we brought in a professional player who was sure to wow our audience. We made up special invitations for our top customers who were most likely to want to trade in their old models for a new one. At the same time, the owner of the store was preparing for the same launch at his store in St. George. He was excited because, after a few years of tough sales in the Henderson store, he was feeling the pinch financially. This launch was important. The day came, and our people all showed up. We had great attendance and people loved this new machine. It was such a cool machine and was beautiful. Everyone loved the concert put on by a flamboyant professional musician who resembled Elton John. He even had a sparkling jacket. He could play backward and forward and just made these instruments sing. It was great. After the concert, the sales conversations began. We met with everyone as they all enjoyed a meal. People loved the new product, and we sold 13 units that day. It was a $1,000,000 sales day! About half a million in cash and half a million in trade-ins. We were so excited. The next day, the more established and more seasoned store in St. George had the same event, but they only sold 9 units. I was ecstatic that we beat the main store, and the reason we did was because of the work we had been doing over the previous year. It was a major success. The owner was pleased and I felt vindicated because I had to constantly justify the expense and time it took to make these newsletters, and now, my plans had come to fruition. I was younger and much less experienced in marketing at that time, but I knew my plan would work, and it did. If you have a business that has return business possibilities, what are you doing to nurture your clients? Do they know you even exist, or were you just a company that did something for them one time? You should be nurturing your client list continually. You should be thinking about how to build up to large product launches, or new efforts. Speak to those you have done business with so they remember you, and you become part of their life.
You might be thinking, but Ryan, we are a plumber, or a car wash, or something else that a newsletter wouldn’t work for. My response is, do something. Keep in touch. Help people remember who you are and what you do. Send them a birthday coupon or gift. Give discounts to those who come back. Even car companies have loyal customer rebates they offer from time to time. This isn’t an instant result. The music store took more than a year to pay off, and they had a big list. It might take you longer. The discipline to make this happen is your key to success. You should be thinking of a way to keep people engaged and tuned in. You never know, it may turn into a $1,000,000 opportunity.
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Not that often for me. Maybe only once or twice per month. Now, if you are a guy, this might seem about right, or you might think I’m a lightweight for thinking about it that rarely. If you’re a woman, you might think, what the heck?!? Why do you think about the Roman Empire so often, or at all, since high school history class? There is a funny trend around TikTok and Instagram right now where wives and girlfriends are asking their significant others how often they think about the Roman Empire, and the answers are almost universally,“I don’t know, not that often.” Then they ask, how often isn’t that often? “Maybe once or twice a week, or a month is all.” Then there are laughs and expressions of disbelief. “Why do you think about it so often?” Then the guy usually says something like, “It is an important part of history!” or “Men are warriors, we have to think about battle!” It is an entertaining watch, search it up on your favorite social video network. As my one-track mind often does, this trend made me think about marketing lessons. First of all, trends can be powerful tools for getting attention from a broad audience. Piggybacking on a trend relevant to your brand and story can get some great attention. My second thought was that I think about marketing every single day. For certain, way more than I think about the Roman Empire . I realize not everyone thinks about it that often, but we all have complex minds that have much to offer and we all have diverse interests and points of importance. My dad, for example, knows so much incredible detail about teams and individual athletes in most sports, with the possible exception of Soccer, but he probably knows about that too. On the other hand, I used to Google what sport was in season and read about some of the news about that sport when I would go to visit my parents, so I wouldn’t sound like a total failure of an only son to my dad. LOL. Luckily, he married my sisters off to lots of sports fanatics. When you are developing a marketing message, it is important to put yourself in the shoes of your WHO (target audience). If you can tap into their interests and worries, you can provide answers to their needs. For example, if your target audience is Women over the age of 50, you might find they think about age-related issues, or changes to their body and looks. Men aged 25-35 might be thinking about their career and advancement opportunities. Men aged 65 + might be thinking about how much the world has changed while they enjoy reminiscing about the old days when things were simpler. No matter your WHO, they have thoughts that many across that demographic likely share. A great marketer knows how to tap into the mind of their potential client. One of the most important ways to capture your clients’ attention is to know your WHY. Not the “Why” you’re in business, but WHY they do business with you. I often coach people to ask 5-10 of their clients why they’re doing business with you. This shouldn’t be your “friend clients,” but it should be your happy clients who aren’t so close to you that they will tell you what you want to hear. You need to get to the bottom of it. When you start to hear a consensus, you will be able to further define your messaging to capture the attention of your ideal client. Once you know your WHY, you can then build a sales funnel around that messaging. See Below. HERE ARE SOME IDEAS ON HOW TO GET ATTENTION Know your WHO (target audience). What are their interests? What are their pain points? What kind of content do they consume? What are their other interests? The better you understand your WHO, the better you can create content that will resonate with them. For example, if your WHO also enjoys motocross sports, you should be advertising at motocross events and in information sources for motocross. Be authentic. Be yourself and let your personality, and the personality you inject into your business, shine through in your marketing. Those who really are your WHO, will pay attention to what you have to say. Don’t try to be something or someone you aren’t. People will bond with you over sincerity and commonality with themselves. Tell stories. Often when I talk to business people they tell me that they don’t think people know their story. They feel like people don’t realize what they do and why, and especially, how good they are at it. The best way to help people know your story is to use your marketing to tell that story. People love stories, so find unique ways to tell your most impactful stories throughout your business and marketing. I have attended many volleyball tournaments with my kids. In Salt Lake City, there's a club called Club V. They are the biggest volleyball club in Utah. In their sports center, there are great big signs with the logos of all of the nearby colleges at the top. Underneath, they list each of the previous Club V players who have gone on to play at the college level. It is a very effective way to tell the story of how Club V can help you get to the next level of play. Create visual content. Visual content is more engaging than text alone, so use images, videos, and infographics, to break up your text and make it more visually appealing. This is especially effective if you can tell stories with your imagery like Club V. Use humor. Being funny can capture attention very effectively. Understand the sense of humor of your audience and target them specifically. It’s okay if you aren’t that funny, but a well-placed joke can help lighten the mood, and make your content more enjoyable to consume. Just be careful not to overdo it, as you don't want to come across as unprofessional. Ask questions. Asking questions is a great way to get your audience involved and thinking about your topic. It can also help to start conversations that generate engagement. It can also reveal the pain points your potential client may have. Make it easy to share your content. Include social sharing buttons on your website and blog posts to encourage your audience to share your content with their friends and followers. If something strikes a chord, people may share it, getting you free publicity. ONCE YOU HAVE ATTENTION, IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP ATTENTION Keep Track Your customer list is more important than your product. If I was buying a company, one of the first questions I would ask is how many people are on your customer list? Knowing who they are and having a way to communicate with them is crucial. Talk with them consistently It probably seems cliche, but you should have a newsletter. Print or digital, either way, keep in touch with your people. A local day spa here sends out a print newsletter every month that gets them lots of return business because it continually reminds people to come back, and what their specials are. Use your communication to tell stories Tell everyone about your most engaging stories, and request stories from past clients. Just like nurturing past clients for 5-star reviews, you should also nurture people to get their stories. These stories will be the motivation for your future messaging. Rewards Program.The reason all of your favorite restaurants have rewards programs is because they want to drop a reminder for you just at the right moment, so they can get you back to their restaurant. It is a great example of how to keep attention. It might not work exactly that way for your business, but think of some way to keep your current and past clients engaged. Your marketing is just as much about getting new clients as it is about keeping your client’s attention on you. I had a friend tell me one time that he purchased a company in a neighboring state. Because he had spent so much money on the acquisition, he felt it was important to cut back on his advertising spend in our local market. He assumed that since they had been in business for 20+ years, they would be just fine skipping some marketing for a while. Unfortunately, that didn’t work. Within a few months, their call volume had dropped like a rock. Once he put ads back in place, the most common comment he heard from his clients was, “I thought you had gone out of business.” Your fans are watching closely, your customers are watching vaguely, which is why they need constant nurturing. Interact with your audience. Respond to comments and questions, and participate in conversations on social media. Always respond to bad reviews. Never blame, always take responsibility if you messed up, but just make sure to respond and tell your side of the story. Finally, it's important to remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to getting and keeping attention. What works for one audience may not work for another. Experiment with different strategies to see what works best for your target audience. Take it from a guy who thinks about the Roman Empire once or twice a month, but thinks about Marketing once or twice an hour, the number one goal of your marketing efforts is to Get and Keep Attention. I would love to hear about your experiences in effectively doing so. Next week, I am going to write about my $1mm sales day that came about 100% from a Keeping Attention approach. It was all sold to previous clients after a year of nurture. Stay tuned. One of my first jobs was selling Cutco Kitchen Knives. I thought that cutting the rope, leather, and penny were so cool, and I liked the quality of the product. Over the years, I eventually reached $3 million in career sales. That may seem like a lot, but it is actually pretty small in comparison to many Cutco greats. When it occasionally comes up with someone I meet that I sold Cutco, the person will sometimes say, “I sold Cutco too, but I only lasted two weeks”, or, “I tried that, but It didn’t work.” I like to respond with, yeah, I tried it too, I only sold $3 million worth of the stuff. People always seem stunned, I say it that way for effect when in fact, it isn’t that much. I know people who have made a wonderful career from selling Cutco, and some of them make more money than many doctors with less hassle. Some have sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Cutco products. I think our biggest failures come when we give up too soon. We sometimes don’t give things enough time to mature and succeed. Sometimes we quit right before we might have found success. I can promise you this, most of my successes have happened only after I have been tried and tested to the seeming limit of my sanity, strength, and patience. Napoleon Hill tells one of my favorite stories called 3 Feet From Gold quoted here
I always think of this story when my brain tells me that I have tried hard enough, and I want to quit. It also comes to mind when someone I know who is capable, decides to pull the plug on a dream. As a fellow dreamer, I know that some things don’t work out, but how many of those things didn’t work because we just didn’t fight through the challenges for long enough? In the case of Uncle Darby, he did learn from his mistakes. He went on to become one of the top earning life insurance sales people of his time. He paid back all of his family and reached his dreams, so the lesson wasn’t lost on him. This also applies when you try new things in your business. Stopping a new product, a new approach to selling, or even stopping marketing or advertising too early can be detrimental to your success. I had a client who recently fired me. She didn’t trust that I was doing what I said I was doing, and she wasn’t as savvy as some are regarding digital advertising and how it works. I didn’t do a good enough job helping her see what the work we did was accomplishing, or how it was progressing. I told her it would take 30-60 days to get the Google Ad campaign to produce results. She lost patience after one month. Everyone has different approaches and attitudes and levels of understanding, but I’ll be honest, I took this one personally because I really wanted to help this person succeed. It hurt. It also made me reflect on what I could have done better and what best practices are. I have been editing my book lately, and it’s been interesting seeing how often I say that any advertising campaign or marketing plan needs to be a long-term affair. It needs to be something you repeat over and over. Clearly, I believe my own advice because I say those words over and over in the book. It is true though. I think it is essential that you find marketing professionals who you trust to do a good job with your marketing. Once you make that decision though, make sure to give the plan time to mature and find success. Here is a link to my book, in case you are interested. The same goes for your ideas in general. If you have a successful business, you know you didn’t succeed overnight, and that it took time to master growing and running a successful business. If you are a new, struggling business owner, you are likely wondering what is wrong with you, why you aren’t succeeding at a greater rate than you are. It might just be a matter of time. You need to continue learning and growing, but over time you will get where you are going. I am not saying that everything you try is the right answer because it isn’t. I think mistakes are a valuable tool that will help you reach true success. One of my favorite sayings is, “You can’t get better, until you start somewhere.” My daughter recently received a bad review at her job. She was upset because she felt she did a good job, and I believe she actually does. She is young though, and sometimes, when we are learning to work and perform, we don’t realize where we might be falling short. At that moment, as she was dealing with the pain of feeling like a failure and feeling like she had disappointed her bosses, I asked her to ask herself this question: “Is there any truth to their feedback?” I told her if there is truth to the feedback then learn what you need to learn from the feedback and do better, even if the feedback wasn’t completely true or you feel they over exaggerated your shortcomings. If there is any truth to the feedback, then you should learn from it. Even when you deal with partial truths, you can still learn from your errors and perform better going forward. She still felt she was being mistreated. I told her if she analyzes her own performance and sees nothing wrong, she has to consider if she wants to continue working there. If the leadership is unhappy with her and she doesn’t change, she will likely lose her job. If she believes they are so inept and they can’t see her performance is actually exemplary, then she should consider leaving on her own accord. She opted to stay to try and find a way to meet their demands. So far so good. I had a leader teach me this principle years ago, and it is powerful. He taught me that when a leader has a problem employee and they do nothing about it, this will cause other problems in their organization. The other employees will assume one of two things. Either the leader is too clueless to realize the employee is a problem, or they know it but are too weak to do anything about it. Either way, the leader loses their influence with everyone because they don’t act on the clear problem in front of them. If you are dealing with failure, don’t run from it. Don’t blame anyone else around you, or the economy. Find the lessons you need to learn, and learn them. When we say, “I tried that, it didn’t work!” We are dismissing the valuable opportunity we have to learn and get better. Likewise if we are stuck in trying to analyze or plan the perfect business or opportunity, we are missing out. Start. Make Mistakes. Learn. This is one of the only ways to get where you want to go. Q & A:
Q: Why is it important to not give up too soon on a marketing or advertising campaign?
Q: What are tips for avoiding giving up too soon on a marketing or advertising campaign?
Q: What are the leadership qualities that are important in your business?
Q: What are some examples of people who have achieved success despite giving up early?
Good luck out there, and if you are going to try something, give it everything you have and then keep going. Once you are down and out, stand up and go again. If you truly can’t go any further, learn the lessons you need for your next adventure. I have a friend Lance Brown, a speaker and educator, who taught me about this great quote from one of the founders of the Franklin Covey company, Hyrum W. Smith. “Character: The ability to carry out a worthy decision after the emotion of making that decision has passed.” If you're a small business owner or an entrepreneur, you have a burning question: How fast do I want to grow? Kristy Pack, owner of Pack Tax, had the same question. After seeking advice from a notable mentor previously unknown to her, she tackled the task with a multi-layered, local marketing strategy. She made the decision to spend what seemed like a fortune on marketing her business. The result? A million-dollar-plus business. How to View Your Marketing Spend Kristy had the desire to grow her tax filing business very quickly to replace her husband's income after he had been laid off. She had worked in tax preparation for many years but wanted to create something unique and powerful. One mentor she talked to told her he had grown his tax prep business over 10 years. She wanted to do it in just a few. What was the answer to doing that? 1. A Great Product. 2. Get Help From Mentors. 3. Spend Money On Marketing. 4. Rinse and Repeat. It was scary when she decided to spend $20,000 on marketing. Kristy had invested everything to start this business, and she needed quick growth. She viewed marketing as an investment, not an expense. She paid attention to what worked and continued to spend on what returned best for her. She knew she had a good idea. She knew people needed the service. She just needed people to know she existed. So, she made the decision to aggressively market to her local community, and she was able to grow her business very quickly. Kristy’s business surpassed $1 million in revenue in her 5th year. ROI: What You Get for $20,000 A $20,000+ marketing investment isn't just about throwing money into advertisements; it's about strategizing for the highest Return on Investment (ROI). By focusing on multiple marketing channels, from local premium placement print, networking, direct mail, and local sponsorship, Kristy established her brand in the local market. She has not focused on SEO, SEM, or social media, giving her a great opportunity to continue her meteoric growth. If you spend wisely and effectively execute a Strategic Marketing Plan, you can expect a positive ROI. The Power of a Mentor in Your Business and Marketing Journey Kristy credited much of her success to her mentors. She was brave enough to ask for help. She talked to a family member and a friend who also had a tax preparation firm in different areas. They helped her navigate setting up her company. She also contacted a previously unknown successful local business owner in North Ogden to ask for help with how to market her company. Sometimes, we ask for advice from friends. Although they probably mean well, they likely aren’t skilled in what you are trying to accomplish. It is much wiser to find someone who is willing to speak to you about what they have built. Don’t be shy, but also respect the time of a busy fellow business owner. Don’t get greedy with their time. What a Mentor Can Teach You Kristy didn’t know anything about running a business, so she decided to ask a local, successful business owner to help her with a plan to grow her business. Her mentor told her what the best solutions have been for her business, and helped Kristy choose the right marketing channels and to understand her target audience. Kristy followed the advice even though the investment seemed huge at the time, and it has been instrumental in growing Pack Tax—a mentor's advice can be priceless. I have had some incredible mentors as I have grown my business. One was Rhett Long, who is now a good friend. Previously, as the publisher of the Standard-Examiner, he was a competitor. He also ran a company with 50 magazines and spent years in both the traditional and digital marketing worlds. I asked him for help after he retired, and he helped me for 3 years at no charge. I now consider him to be one of my best friends, but I didn’t go into the relationship expecting the level of help and friendship that would come out of it. I also offered to pay on multiple occasions, which he always graciously refused. Marketing Channels: Where to Put Your Money Choosing the right marketing channels is critical. Kristy utilized a multi-channel approach. But, surprisingly, Kristy wasn’t very tech-savvy, so she used non-tech solutions at first. But, the biggest key for any business is making a plan, and knowing where your WHO spends their time, and WHY they’re doing business with you so that they will pay attention. We are happy to help you with a plan if you want help. We have always taken the approach of giving free advice to anyone because we believe it will come back to us in future advertising revenue. We have a cool tool called a recommendation engine. It helps us with marketing research, so we know where a client should focus their marketing budget. It’s a great tool, and we’d be happy to see what it suggests for your company. Contact us here. Here are some thoughts on where to focus your marketing efforts.SEO and SEM: The Active Search King As the backbone of online visibility, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are the yellow pages of modern times. They help your business show up where people are looking for you, making both techniques crucial for online success. Properly executed, they drive both organic and paid traffic to your website. Social Media Marketing: The Passive Discovery Tool Building a strong social media presence can boost your brand's visibility and customer engagement. This type of passive discovery helps land customers who weren’t previously looking for your product or service and also helps people remember your brand when they do eventually need you. Local Advertising: Don't Ignore the Power of Community Kristy's mentor emphasized the importance of local advertising because a strong local presence can be a cornerstone for growth. Her mentor also told her to get on the cover of local magazines, like Connection Publishing, and to become part of community events like parades and markets. Kristy did all of those things to establish her brand in the local community in a very short period of time. Reinvesting in Marketing: The Plan for Growth Marketing is not a one-time investment. It should be a part of your budget for the long haul. By investing in marketing, Kristy created a cycle of growth. The ROI from initial investments fueled further marketing campaigns, which fueled even more growth. The Rule of 40% in Reinvestment. It all depends on how quickly you want to grow. If you want to grow aggressively, you should spend more on marketing. One popular strategy is to invest 40% of your profits into marketing. This strategy often provides a good balance between taking profits and fuelling future growth. Measuring Success: KPIs You Should Monitor It's vital to measure the success of your marketing strategies. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like customer engagement rates, ROI, and conversion rates provide invaluable insights. Kristy reevaluates her marketing each year as a way to determine where she wants to continue, and what needs to change. It’s all based on ROI. If she spends $1000, will it come back as $2000, or more? The Million-Dollar Question - Would You Invest $20,000+ in Marketing? So, we're back to our initial question: How fast do you want to grow? Would you invest $20,000+ in marketing a year to help you build a million-dollar business? Kristy Pack did, and her strategy paid off. But she didn't do it alone. By utilizing a local marketing strategy, seeking mentorship, and continuously adapting, Kristy Pack turned her investment into a million-dollar business. If you're serious about business growth, perhaps it's time you considered doing the same. Connection Publishing reps are here to help with the marketing side of things. We are happy to help you develop a plan for growth. One More Thing...Unlocking the Secrets of Marketing Your Business. My 10-week course on creating the business of your dreams through marketing excellence is coming up September 13th. Sign up now for the course here. I will help you make the right decisions to grow and market your business. You can also get 40% off through the Utah Custom Fit Reimbursement program. See more info here.
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