There may be no faster way to create a great product than by interviewing an expert in your niche. You set a time for the interview, prepare a few questions, record it, and possibly get it transcribed. Total time? Maybe 2 hours, tops.
But exactly what is it that you, as the interviewer, need to do to make the interview great?
To put it another way, how do you ensure that your listeners are going stay riveted by the interview and be thrilled that they took the time to listen to it?
Here’s 17 indispensable tips for conducting a memorable podcast interview:
1. Have fun with it. If you’re all stressed out about doing this interview, odds are it’s not going to turn out well. You’ve got to relax and have a good time. Laugh. Joke a little. Smile. Did you know people can HEAR if you’re smiling? It’s true. And the more at ease you are, the more comfortable your guest will be, too.
2. Do some research. Know the person you’re interviewing, and by all means know something about the topic.
3. Confirm the details with the person you’re interviewing. This includes time and date, length of the interview and how they will be communicating (phone, skype, etc.)
4. Forget the umms, errs and ahhs. Please. If it takes you a second to think of the word you’re looking for, so be it. Don’t fill that time with incoherent sounds.
5. Do use the highest quality equipment possible. You can have the greatest interview ever, but if the sound quality is terrible then no one is going to listen.
6. Don’t ask yes or no questions. “Do you like to play tennis?” “Yes.” Have you been playing for long? “Yes.” Do you win every tournament?” “No.” How dull can you get? Always ask open ended questions that cannot be answered with simple yes’s and no’s.
7. Listen. I mean really LISTEN to the answers your expert is giving you. Your audience can tell if you’re just playing along rather than being fully engaged. So engage. Be prepared to ask spontaneous questions based on what you’re hearing. The best interviewers aren’t afraid to pursue new avenues and unearth new discoveries.
8. Don’t just ask “what,” also ask “why” and “how.” Learn everything you can from the person you’re interviewing. Go in depth and find out the reasons behind the reasons.
9. Remember that you are the interviewer. Don’t try to steal the show and don’t talk over your guest. You are there to elicit information, they are there to share their expertise. Don’t try to fill both roles yourself. If you do, you’ll annoy your guest and irritate your audience.
10. Don’t ask more than one question at a time. “How do you propose to do project A, and while you’re doing it do you also run the xyz program, and how do the two integrate into your discombobulator?” Sheesh. Think of your poor interview subject and just ask one question at a time.
11. Don’t say anything like, “I wanted to ask you…” or “My next question is…” Or even, “How are you?” Get to the topic at hand and keep the interview moving. Please.
12. Prepare your questions ahead of time. This will ensure you don’t get stuck for something to ask. Prepare follow up questions for each question. Or if the purpose of the interview is to teach a task, you and your guest might prepare an outline of the steps you’ll cover. In either case, this is a guide to help you along, not something written in stone. Be flexible.
13. Don’t keep your guest in the dark. Let them know before hand what to expect and any pertinent details they should know. Offer to send them the questions you plan on asking. Thank them for participating. You should thank them when they agree to the interview and again in any conversations or correspondence you have both prior to the interview and after the interview.
14. Show your enthusiasm for both your topic and your expert guest. Enthusiasm is contagious, so share yours liberally. Your guest will appreciate your enthusiasm, and your audience will be more engaged.
15. Remember who your real VIP is – it’s not your guest and it’s not you, it’s your audience. You are doing this interview for them, so your first priority is to get your audience great content they want or need.
16. Relax. It’s not Mars-landing science, it’s just an interview. Don’t get stressed – think of it as an adventure.
17. Make mistakes. Look, you’re going to make them regardless, so why not put it on this list? You’re going to trip over your tongue, forget what you were about to say, or mispronounce a word you use all the time. It’s okay. Fix your mistake, smile, laugh, and move on. Your audience will love you MORE for the mistakes you make.
You’ve heard of Elevator Speeches – those short ‘blurbs’ we offer when someone says, “What do you do for a living?” The online version is the words we place inside our website’s header. It should be short enough that if you were on an elevator with someone, you could spit it out before the doors open.
It should be meaningful enough that your listener hears and understands what you’re saying. And it should be intriguing enough that they want to know more. And that, as you know, is a tall order for something that lasts under 30 seconds.
Regardless if you’re sales prospecting, speaking, asking for money or simply networking, your audience makes up it’s mind about you in the first few minutes.
And because the time allotted to give an Elevator Speech is short, and you’ve got to grab your prospect’s attention fast, every word counts. That’s why I’ve compiled the top 9 tips to make your Elevator Speech rock. You pick and choose which of these tips is right for you:
1. Don’t overload it with information. Instead, stick to 3 main points: What, why and how.
The “What” of your Elevator Speech explains what you do in basic terms. Don’t get fancy here and don’t use technical terms. Saying, “We are a software company” works. Giving a 2 minute dissertation on base band cross platform scalable default configuration doesn’t. (BTW, I have no idea what I just said there.)
The “Why” of your Elevator Speech explains why you exist. What problem do you solve? What bad thing do you prevent or what good thing do you make possible? “We send kids to college who otherwise couldn’t go” works. “We make widgets because we love making widgets” doesn’t.
The “How” of your Elevator Speech is how you do what you do. Simple, right? How do you send kids to college who otherwise couldn’t go? By matching them with grants, loan programs and affordable colleges.
Here’s the ultimate test: If you gave your elevator speech to someone over 70 and someone else under 12, would they understand it? If not, try again.
Here is Guy Kawasaki’s elevator speech for his Alltop website – and while it’s a little longer than I would prefer, it definitely hits the mark: [Alltop] is a website where we aggregate news for all the topics. Think of it as an “online magazine rack.” We enable you to find the most relevant and recent news instead of the 30,000,000 matches that Google shows you. We do this by aggregating all the best news sources onto one page and displaying the five most recent stories from each one.
2. Open your Elevator Speech with the name of your company and follow it with your products and services you provide. Don’t speak in generalizations – this is your chance to show how different you are. Assume your listener doesn’t know your area of business, so don’t use jargon and acronyms.
Next, outline why your product is needed and what problems it solves. This makes your business real to your listener and shows how it makes life easier or more productive for your customers. Practice your speech over and over again, and deliver it with confidence and enthusiasm.
3. To make your pitch persuasive, you’ll want to be clear, credible and compelling.
We’ve already covered being clear – if the average person who isn’t in your industry can easily understand what you’re saying, then you’re on the right track.
So how can you add to your credibility? It’s not by comparing your business to someone else’s – it’s by telling what your business has accomplished. Even if it’s that you’ve signed your first 2 clients or you’ve held your first class, state your achievements rather than trying to tear down any perceived competition.
To be compelling, your solution should represent a dramatic improvement in your niche. Being a dollar cheaper or 2% faster isn’t enough, but showing a 2x improvement may make anyone sit up and take notice.
4. Don’t talk about yourself – talk about what you accomplish for the customer – how you provide the customer with value, solve the customer’s problem or give the customer opportunities.
5. Anticipate objections and head them off before they happen. Let’s say your company is doing what others have tried and failed at. “Why have all previous attempts to achieve ___ failed? Because they didn’t ____ (What you are doing.)
6. Avoid adjectives and phrases that have been done to death. “Proprietary, revolutionary, next-generation, state-of-the-art, synergistic, etc.” Words like these have been used so often that we no longer believe them.
7. When delivering your elevator speech, keep your body open. Don’t cross your arms, hold your hands in front of or behind you, or do anything that takes up less space. If anything, you want to be more expansive which shows you’re confident in what you say. For example, arms out to the side, or hands on hips, or gesturing are all fine.
8. To generate enthusiasm in your listener, all you have to do is show your own passion for your product, service or company.
9. Once you’ve made your Elevator Speech, exchange contact info and follow up with a phone call, email or some kind of communication the next day. Don’t wait – people soon forget.
I got out my trusty calculator and did a little math. Assuming you make your own information products, what would it take to earn $100,000 in a year if you work with affiliates and pay them 50% commission?
$47 Ebooks: You’d need to sell 355 of these a month, or 12 per day.
$97 Teleseminars and Webinars: You’ll be selling 172 seats a month, or 5.7 per day. Think no one would pay that kind of money for a teleseminar? If your information is timely and valuable, they’ll line up for it. For example, stock market and forex trading advice would fit this category.
$197 Audio Courses: You only need to sell 85 of these a month, or 2.9 per day. Now who’s going to pay $197 for an audio course? Actually, a lot of people. The trick is to make a big promise, record on a library of CD’s, and make sure you fulfill that promise. Example titles might be; 7 Days To Speaking Confidence or perhaps Improve Your SAT Scores by 33% In Two Weeks or even How To Become A Master Pick Up Artist Practically Overnight.
$497 Video Courses: I know what you’re thinking – who’s going to pay $497 for a video course? The truth is, many people have paid TWICE that amount. Sample title? How about… How to Generate a Six Figure Income in 90 Days. Oh yes, and to earn $100,000 a year using affiliates at 50% commission, you’d only need to sell 33.5 a month. That’s practically one per day.
Now then – would you rather make 12 sales a day, or 1 sale a day? Are you ready to step up and start selling big ticket products?
And by the way, other products you can sell for $497 and MORE are…
– Home Study Courses (video, audio and written material) – Online Study Courses (video, audio and written material, plus it’s more interactive and more likely to actually be used by the buyers.) – Seminars and Workshops – Group Coaching
So let me ask you a question: What if you put on a killer online study course and you charged $997 – how many sales would you need to reach that $100,000 mark (assuming all sales were made through affiliates?) Just 16.7 per month.
Or what if you charge $2,000 for your seminar – you’d only need 100 attendees to make a $100,000 payday.
Or if you charge $300 a month for group coaching – you’d need just 55 members.
And in any of the above scenarios, what if you didn’t use affiliates? What if you made all the sales yourself? Then of course you’d only need half as many sales to make just as much money. So in the $997 product example, you’d only need 8 or 9 sales a month to generate a $100,000 income.
If you’ve been paying attention here, you might have noticed I left out one major possibility. Do you know what it is?
Recurring subscriptions or membership sites. 355 members paying $47 a month yields $200,000 – half for you and half for your affiliates. Can you retain 355 for the full 12 months? You’ll have to offer killer content and incentives to come close.
One more thought – what if you do a combination of the above? Perhaps you choose two things, or three or four. Then instead of earning $100,000, you’re earning $200,000 or more.
I’ll let you in on a secret: We tend to get so bogged down in day to day thinking that we forget to step back and look at the big picture. And so is it any wonder that we think small, instead of thinking in numbers like these? You can indeed attain these marks and more, but the first step is to think the thoughts and the second is to believe you can do it.
And you already know the third step – take action on a massive scale and don’t stop until you reach your goal.
How do you get people calling you up on the phone, visiting your website, emailing you, and saying; “I know you’re expensive and that’s okay, just let me buy – please!”
Simple: Write a book. What do we say about an expert? “She’s the one that wrote the book.” So what happens when YOU write the book?
You’re no longer chasing customers, they’re chasing you. The better your book sells, the more customers will be chasing you, too.
Doors magically open. Suddenly other marketers want to do JV’s with you. Radio shows want to interview you. Other websites feature you. Groups ask you to come and speak to them. And best of all, clients seek you out.
Think your niche isn’t book worthy? Surprisingly, there is a book to be written in nearly every niche.
Do you install swimming pools? Write the book on how to get a great pool at an affordable price without the contractor nightmares. You sell handbags on the Internet? Get creative and write stories about how your handbags saved the day for their owners – perhaps as they slogged their way through the jungle while avoiding angry natives and poisonous snakes. You help people with SEO? Write the book on do-it-yourself SEO.
You’re only limited by your imagination and creativity. And for any portion of your topic that you’re not an expert on, you can get help. Just Google it and begin your research.
Get busy, write your book, and stop chasing customers around… Instead, let them beat a path to your door by writing a book that positions you as the expert in your field.
Need some serious cash in a flash? Assuming you already have a customer base, here’s what you can do:
1. Identify your best customers. If you have only two lists, one of prospects and one of people who have actually made a purchase from you, then of course choose your list of buyers. But if you have a list of repeat buyers or customers who have made large purchases from you, then you want to choose that list. Whoever your best buyers are, those are the ones upon which you want to focus your efforts.
2. Talk to these people. You might call some of them if you have phone numbers, or more likely you will send them an email or survey. Identify what they most need and most want right now. Some things they might need, and other things they might want. What you’re really looking for is the one they both need and want.
3. Based on what you learn, create a high value offer with a matching price tag. In other words, you’re going to offer tremendous value and charge accordingly. This won’t be for all of your customers, but then again you’re only targeting your very best customers with this offer.
4. Make the offer to your valued customers. If you’ve done this correctly, you should see a nice cash infusion into your business, and this entire process can be done in less than a week.
Google’s answer to Facebook is of course Google Plus. As an individual you might not spend any time on this social network. However, as an online marketer it’s critical to have a business presence on Google Plus because it influences how well you can rank in Google’s search results. That’s why I’ve made a list of tips to help you brand and build relationships using Google Plus.
1. Open your Google Plus profile to allow for search engine indexing. Simply mark the box that says, “Help others find my profile in search results.” You’ll find it under Search Visibility.
2. Fill out your Google Plus profile completely, since this might be the first contact someone has with your business. Also, you get 5 featured spots for photos, so use them wisely to brand your business and engage others.
3. Use keywords. In your ‘About’ section, use the keywords you want to rank highly for – especially the keywords you know your potential customers are using.
4. Add your links. In the “recommended links” area of your profile, add links to your website, blog and social profiles.
5. Add more links throughout your page. Remember, Google Plus can help you in Google search, since the two are so closely tied. Therefore you want to post links to your business in both your introduction and your contact information.
6. Manage and interact with your circles. If you’ve got more than one target audience, you’ll want to manage your circles accordingly by targeting the news and information you send to each circle.
7. Do you write a blog? Then add the +1 button widget to your posts, enabling your readers to share your content on Google Plus.
8. Use a short and snappy tagline. You’ll notice that Google Plus gives you a place for a tagline underneath your page’s business name. Make it work for you by incorporating your best keyword to help with Google search.
9. Wear your badge. Promote your Google Plus page on your website(s) by adding the Google Plus badge to your profile, in your sidebar, etc.
10. Know who your audience is. This isn’t Facebook or Twitter, so don’t assume you’re interacting with the same type of folks. Instead, take time to get to know your circles. Ask questions, make polls, find the best ways to interact and share content, etc.
11. Get others to circle you. The more you can be in other people’s circles, and the more followers you have, the better your ranking is likely to be in Google searches. (Are you beginning to see why Google Plus is important? It’s not so much the social aspect, it’s getting Google to notice and rank your website.)
12. Use video and pictures. Both work well on Google Plus, and both are far better at accessing people at the emotional level than mere words alone.
13. Don’t be afraid to suggest. To keep people on your page longer, create your own list of suggested circles in your profile’s About section.
14. Search for your business. Make it a daily habit to do a search for your business and see if people are talking about you and what they’re saying. And be sure to respond and also re-share their posts when appropriate.
15. Learn the basic formatting. You can rev up your Google Plus posts and make them stand out by learning these 3 basic formatting codes:
Bold: If you want show any word(s) in bold text format, enclose the word(s) with *.
Italic: Enclose the text with _ (underscore) to show it in italic format.
Strike through: Enclose the text with – (dash) to strike through the text.
16. Update through your smart phone. Download the Google Plus app to manage Google Plus on the go and make updates when ever you want and where ever you are.
17. Hyperlink to someone’s name. Posting about someone on Google Plus? You can hyperlink to their name by typing “=” or “@” in front of their name.
18. Think about your timing. When is your audience most likely to be on Google Plus? This is when you should be posting. Also, when someone likes or comments on a post you made, the time to reply is immediately or ASAP. The longer you wait, the less of an impact you make.
Social media sites provide an unprecedented opportunity to network and grow your business online. Don’t throw away this golden ticket by making these 12 costly mistakes!
1. Posting long, messy, nasty URLs. Use a URL shortener like bit.ly.
2. Posting too often. Rein this in by posting only when you actually have something significant to say.
3. Not spacing your posts. Sending 20 posts in 10 minutes and then not posting the rest of the day is – well – dumb.
4. Not making sense. Posting, “ARGGHHH” with no other information just annoys people. Post complete thoughts that actually mean something.
5. Too much personal stuff. You’re doing social media to promote your business or service, right? Then keep it 90%+ business and less than 10% personal.
6. Being boring. Posting that chocolate tastes good (No! Really??) or that you had cold cereal for breakfast is so…….. ~ yawn ~ ………………. Excuse me, I fell asleep for a second. See what I mean?
7. No picture. Yes, you need a profile picture. And yes, it should be a good one. If need be, pay to get your portrait taken – it’s worth it.
8. Wrong picture. Your profile picture needs to be of YOU, not a puppy or a cheerleader (unless the puppy or cheerleader is you.)
9. Not giving credit or attributing the wrong source. Give credit where credit is properly due. Always.
10. Being wrong. Again, check your facts if you’re unsure.
11. Being a jerk. No matter how much you disagree, the other person is never an idiot, a moron or a jack***. Remember, once you put it on the net, you can NEVER take it back.
12. Getting political. You’re entitled to your own politics, but they have no business mixing with your business. Keep them 100% separate at all times.
13. Using TrueTwit. Someone wants to follow you, so you punish them by making them click a link and enter CAPTCHA code? What a great way to frustrate new followers and lose them in the process.
14. Ignoring shares and RT’s. Someone retweets or shares something of yours, what do you do? If the answer is nothing, you lose. Instead, THANK them for sharing your content and start a conversation.
15. Spamming. Think about community, relationships and building trust as your first priorities. Yes, you can send out an affiliate link now and then, but most of the time you should be sending content or having a conversation.
Most marketers using social media make at least 3 of these mistakes regularly… But not you. You’re smart. You read this article, and are going to use social media wisely, and profitably from now on!
Social media platforms offer a great way to create new connections and strengthen existing relationships. Here’s 10 simple ways you can engage people on social media to develop more meaningful, and potentially profitable friendships and partnerships.
1. Acknowledge. It’s no accident that this is #1. Comment on your friends statuses and posts. Reply to their tweets. Interact. Acknowledge when they say something bright, funny or helpful. The fastest way to engage others is to meet them halfway.
2. Like and retweet. Maybe you can’t respond to everyone, but it only takes a second to give a like on Facebook or retweet on Twitter, and it makes the other person appreciate you all the more.
3. Don’t tell – tease. Next time you post a new article or blog post, don’t tell all. Instead, simply post a teaser that gets your readers wondering what the post is about. And don’t forget to add the link – the better the tease, the more clicks you’ll get.
4. Play caption-this-photo. Find a weird/strange/bizarre/humorous photo, and then ask your friends and followers for funny captions.
5. Offer weird trivia and facts about interesting things. For example, “To keep food from freezing, Eskimos use freezers.” or “In the 1830’s ketchup was sold as medicine.” Here’s some weird facts that will get you stated: www.triviachamp.com/Weird-Trivia-Facts.php
6. Variation on #5 above – ASK weird trivia questions. You can do this one of two ways: Either ask a question they can find online, such as; “How many dimples are in a golf ball?” or “What is the only domesticated animal not mentioned in the Bible?”
The second way is to ask a trivia question they cannot find online. Example: “How did I earn $674 in one day when I was 12 years old?” Or if you’re good at research, you can find something online that’s obscure, such as; “About 100 people choke to death each year on what common object?” (Answer: A ballpoint pen.)
7. Play “who-said-it.” Post a quote from a movie you’re watching and ask people who said it and what’s the name of the movie they said it in.
8. Update your photo. This works better on Facebook than on Twitter, because on Twitter the photos are so small to begin with. But on Facebook you can post a new photo everyday if you like, and because people notice photos before anything else, they’ll notice yours.
9. Play “fill-in-the-blank.” You make a statement but you leave one or two of the words blank. This way your followers and friends can complete it. HINT: Always make the statement about THEM, not about you. Try to use potentially humorous subjects. For example: “I like to ___ while I’m ___.” or “In bed, I often ___ while thinking of ___.”
10. Ask. Ask for thoughts, opinions, help, advice, etc. People love to be asked and will take the time for surprisingly thoughtful responses. NOTE: Be sure to THANK them!
Employ a few of these social media engagement strategies, and become a someone that consistently creates new value and interesting content that attracts people deeper into your circle of influence. 😉
Think you don’t have anything to share? Think again. Your life experiences along with what you’re learning can make great content. All you need to do is take notice of it, seize it before you lose it, and transform it into an article, blog post or video.
For example, what mistake did you, one of your clients or one of your colleagues recently make that others can learn from? Everyone likes to hear about other people’s boo-boos, and it’s always cheaper and less painful to learn from others’ mistakes rather than our own. So keep your eyes and ears open and you’ll find a ton of content with this idea alone.
While you’re looking for mistakes, keep your eyes open for success stories. What did they accomplish and how did they do it? By learning from the success of others we can find vital clues on how to create our own successes.
Sometimes the real story isn’t in the success but in the challenge they overcame to reach that success. If you or someone else discovered a new way to break through an obstacle, it’s guaranteed that other people will want to hear about it, too.
Has someone given you a terrific piece of advice? How did you use it and what happened? Or have you discovered a new tool with a benefit too good not to share with others? Then you’ve got great content in the making.
Maybe you’ve got a unique solution to a problem others are having. This kind of content is so good you can sell it. Or perhaps you’ve got a story about something that didn’t work at all – others will want to know to steer clear of it.
The real trick to creating great content is simple – look for it. As you read, work, interact with others and go about your day, always keep a lookout for things to share on social media. Keep a notebook in your pocket and jot the ideas down and you’ll find they rapidly multiply into more than you can even use. You’ll never be stuck for great content again because you’ll see it truly is all around you.
As you can imagine, people who sell products face to face can lose sales by making all too common mistakes. And marketing online isn’t all that different from going belly to belly with a customer. You, too, can make similar mistakes that might already be costing you dearly.
What are the consequences of just one mistake? If you sell a $47 product and you fix one mistake that creates one more sale per day, you’ve just given your business a $17,155 per year gross raise. Not bad. Don’t fix the mistake and you’ll continue to make $17,155 LESS than you could have.
Here are 12 mistakes sales people make, and the corresponding Internet marketing mistake committed by hapless online marketers everywhere. Score yourself and see how many mistakes you are currently guilty of making:
1. Multitasking. The sales person is making a presentation when s/he gets a voice message, a call, a text, or an interruption of any kind. That’s bad enough – what happens when the sales person decides to actually check that message or take that call? More often than not they’ve just lost the sale.
The lesson for online marketers: Don’t allow distractions of any kind inside your sales process. When you’re promoting a product, don’t place anything else on that sales page or in that email that distracts your prospect from buying your product.
2. Not paying attention. The advantage of selling in person is you can see how the prospect is reacting to the sales message. If the sales person misses clues, they may also miss the sale.
The lesson for online marketers: Listen to your audience. You can do this by ASKING what they want, reading what they say in the comments on your blog, or better yet – interacting with them in a forum or live chat on your website.
3. Not knowing your customers. This goes beyond listening – this is knowing the real reason why they buy. For example, a sales person selling a weight loss plan will be told by a customer that they want to be healthier, but the REAL reason that customer is looking at the plan is because she’s afraid she’ll lose her spouse if she doesn’t lose the weight.
The lesson for online marketers: Dig deeper. Find out the real motivations behind your customer’s actions. Get inside their head and walk a mile in their shoes. Create customer profiles just as though they were real people and find out what’s truly pushing their buttons and the real reasons they’ll buy your product or service.
4. Not knowing the product. Sales people can’t adequately present a product unless they know everything there is to know about the product and about the competition.
The lesson for online marketers: You’ll never be able to write truly compelling copy unless you know your product along with your features and benefits inside and out.
5. Not handling objections. The customer has a question or an objection the sales person can’t answer – what happens? Often the sale is lost right then and there. But if the sales person can handle objections, the sale is won.
The lesson for online marketers: As an online marketer, you’ve got to anticipate and handle objections before they even occur. What are the reasons your prospect is likely to hesitate? What are your customers’ fears? Worries? Objections? Bring them up and answer them right in your sales copy or sales video and your sales will increase.
6. Presenting features and forgetting benefits. No doubt you already know the importance of presenting benefits, not just features. For example, a feature of steak is nice marbling, the corresponding benefit is melt in your mouth tenderness. Relying on features only to make a sale seldom works because the customer’s senses and emotions are not involved.
The lesson for online marketers: This one’s easy – don’t assume your prospect will know the benefits of your features. Instead, clearly present the benefits of your product in such a way that the prospect can clearly imagine having those benefits for himself.
7. Not building in value. When a sales person can show that the price of the product is a mere pittance compared with the VALUE of the product, the sale is won. Sadly, many sales people do a lousy job of this.
For example, a $500 day at the spa might seem expensive, but if it means more energy, more health, a more youthful appearance, feeling terrific, feeling invigorated, being envied by your friends, having an amazing day you won’t forget, etc., the $500 can seem worth it.
The lesson for online marketers: Think of it as asking the prospect to pay pennies to get dollars – who will say no to that? Now find a way to present your product or service where the value is so much greater than the price, the prospect would be crazy to say no.
8. Focusing too much on price. Having a low price can certainly help make the sale, but if a sales person is focused exclusively on price, he’ll lose sales to both cheaper competitors and better sales people. A good sales person focuses on the benefits and is able to convey to the prospect that it’s wise to invest in the best and often a waste to buy the cheapest.
The lesson for online marketers: While you can make a lot of sales of $7 products, sometimes you can make even more sales if you increase the price. Remember, many people do believe that they get what they pay for. If you’re offering the moon for a fistful of quarters, you’ll lose sales because people will believe your product is only as good as your price is high.
9. Not asking for the sale. Countless sales are lost simply because the sales person is afraid to ask for the sale. Imagine you’re a sales person – you get a lead, you contact that lead several times before finally getting an appointment, you drive to their office, you wait in the lobby, you finally get to make your presentation, and you walk away empty handed, all because you didn’t ask for the sale. Does that sound far-fetched? The fact is it happens every minute of every day somewhere in the world.
The lesson for online marketers: ASK for the sale. Tell them to click the link and make the investment that’s going to make them happy for a long time to come. Tell them and then tell them again. It’s okay – they WANT you to guide them, so do it.
10. Not asking (again) for the sale. The sales person makes the presentation, asks for the sale, but the customer says no. Does that mean it’s over? Only if the sales person is new on the job. Seasoned pros know that you ask for the sale numerous times throughout the presentation. And if the customer still says no? Then you follow up later and see if they’re ready yet.
The lesson for online marketers: Be closing all the time. Write your copy as though it’s a done deal that the prospect will become a customer. Ask for the sale, ask for it again, and if they don’t buy, follow up by email. You never know when you’re going to either tell them the right thing or hit them at the right time to get that magical “yes.”
11. Not following up with the customer after the sale is made. The sales person is walking on air, she’s so happy she made the sale. Time to move on to the next prospect, right? Well, yes and no. While you always want to be looking for new customers, you also want to take care of and service your existing customers. Repeat business is far easier to get than the initial sale, but you’ve still got to earn it.
The lesson for online marketers: Follow up. Send a series of emails filled with tips on how to get the most out of the product. Continue to build the relationship and earn their trust and instead of a one time sale, you can get a customer for life.
12. Not following up even if a sale isn’t made. The sales person has begun to build a relationship with this prospect, but the prospect buys elsewhere. Now what? Should the sales person forget the prospect? 99% of them do. But whatever their product is, the customer may be dissatisfied with their purchase, or may want to purchase another product in the future.
Either way, it pays to stay in touch with that prospect even if they don’t buy. Sometimes staying in touch pays off in surprising ways, too. A prospect who didn’t think your product was right for her may think it’s perfect for a friend or colleague.
The lesson for online marketers: People visit your sales page and don’t buy. You follow up with them a dozen times and they still don’t buy your product. But that doesn’t mean they might not be a good prospect for a different product, or might even recommend you to a friend. Always leave the door open and continue to build the relationship.
So, what was your score? If you’re currently making 3 of these mistakes or less, pat yourself on the back because you’re doing far better than average. Now go fix those mistakes and close even more sales.
Making 4 to 6 mistakes? Don’t feel bad – you’re not alone. Choose one thing to correct and do it right now, then commit to fixing the rest within the next 14 days.
Committing more than 6 of these mistakes? It’s time to face facts – you need to make some major changes or you’re never going to become a full time online marketer. Sit down and write out a plan for rectifying your situation, then put it to work. And take heart – even the best marketers made some major mistakes in the beginning. The important thing is that you never give up, and that you not only learn, but you also implement what you learn as quickly as possible.
