Not sure if you’re familiar with that story but in case
you need a refresher it goes like this:

The big bad wolf threatens to blow the first house down. It
is made of sticks. He blows it down.

The first pig runs to the house made of sticks. And he
blows that one down too. Then both pigs run to the brick
house, but he cannot blow that one down and tries to
climb in through the chimney.

He lands in a pot of boiling water and calls out for
mercy. The pigs let him out and he never bothers
them again.

So why am I telling you this story?

Because I think it’s quite metaphorical from a
business sense.

The Big Bad Wolf is all those bad things which can
crush your business… the economy… a big competitor
moving in next door… etc.

And the reason why so many businesses are affected by
this is because their houses are made of straw or
sticks.

They don’t have customer generating strategies in place.
Their customer service is weak. They don’t know how to
convert leads. They don’t know how to get new leads
and so on.

And sometimes the wolf blows their house down.

So how do you go from a house of straw or sticks to a
house of bricks?

Marketing systems. That’s how.

In fact, that’s the most valuable thing you’ve got – your
ability to write sizzling ads and sales letters which make
the phone ring such as what you’ll learn at http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/cashflow

Or having over a dozen customer generating strategies at
your fingertips such as what you’ll uncover at
http://www.morecustomersmadeeasy.com

Nothing will turn your business from sticks to bricks faster
than knowing how to get new customers. Don’t you agree?

If you disagree, please fire back a few thoughts and tell
me why I’m wrong and we can debate it in an upcoming email.

All for now,

Scott Bywater

You wake up in the morning, gather your weapons and head out to combat. Some days you come back with a boar, other days your family goes hungry. The pressure is on you every single day to make the ‘catch’. It’s a battle.

Now imagine yourself as a farmer…

You plant your seeds and wait for them to harvest. In the meantime, you nurture them and treat them like your baby. When they’re ready you simply start harvesting your crop.

In my experience, most businesses are hunters not farmers:

-they cold call to generate new customers
-they spend forever getting a new customer and then forget about
them
-they chase after the quick fix
-they advertise for the direct sale rather than the ’shy yes’
which will germinate in the future

This became blindingly obvious to me when I created some copy for real estate agents a few years ago.

-I would write an ad offering a free report.
-Without fail, they would receive calls from those ads.

However if the sale didn’t come off right away… they would

NOT put them on a database
NOT follow them up
NOT nurture them

… even though they had responded to an ad which identified them as their specific target market.

… even though each sale was worth several thousand dollars

… even though it would cost less than $12 a year to keep in touch with them

Why not? Well, I believe it’s because we live in a world of instant gratification.

I remember reading a book, a long time ago now, by M.Scott Peck which said one of the keys to happiness was to be able to delay your gratification. In a marketing sense, that means…

Accept the fact people may not buy right away

Put them on a database

Mail them something every month to stay in touch and position yourself as an expert

And like a farmer, wait for that customer to harvest. (of course you can touch base with them by phone in the meantime and nurture the relationship personally)

Most people won’t do it. It’s too much work. Writing letters & keeping in touch. They would prefer to knock their head against a brick wall cold calling and doing things the hard way because at least they feel like they’re keeping busy.

But by doing this… you’re being ineffective. I know because that’s how I used to operate. Heck, two of my first jobs were as a door to door salesperson (selling cleaning chemicals to businesses) and a telemarketer (selling hotel cards) and I can tell you that business gets a lot more enjoyable when you are…

-an invited guest (when others call you because you have educated them of the benefits of your services)

instead of…

-an uninvited pest (where you cold call and use other archaic marketing methods)

The most important thing you can take away from this message is to become a farmer. How do you do this? Simple:

1.Build a database
2.Nurture your database

… and prepare yourself for a rich harvest in the near future.

About the Author

Scott Bywater is a professional direct mail and direct response copywriter, and the author of Cash Flow Advertising. To receive a complimentary copy of his exclusive report ‘7 Ways To Boost Your Turnover… No Matter What The Economy’ (valued at $29.95) hop along to his web site at: http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au

So what are you doing about it? Have you stopped spending… stopped moving forward… because you’re convinced that everyone else has too?

Or are you going to look the tiger in the eye and attack him with all your might?

Here’s my thoughts on the recession: The economy is like a stream. Sometimes the tide runs in the direction you’re heading. So everything is easy. In fact, you don’t even need a paddle to achieve your goals. Just sit in the boat and you’ll get to the bottom of the river.

But then the tide turns…

All of a sudden it becomes obvious that if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to go backwards.

So what’s the solution?

Paddle Harder. Paddle Faster. Do more of the things that work.

Or perhaps change your approach altogether and find a new strategy – give your friend a call and ask him to bring his speedboat down to the river.

Of course, things are tougher. But if you work harder… work smarter… and get the right vehicle… I believe it’s truly possible to earn more in the recession than you did in the boom.

Ok, here’s how you can move from the row boat to the speed boat:

1.Market to the people who aren’t affected by the recession: change your business model or set up a direct marketing campaign which goes to the rich people and companies that are going to be least affected in tough times.

2.Improve your advertising: Most advertising is pathetically weak. If you’ve noticed a 30% drop in business, simply improving the copy in your advertisements could cause you to be doing better despite the slow economy.

3.Address the recession upfront in your marketing: Have a sale because you’re trying to help people cope with the recession and figure that if the cost of food, petrol and mortgages is rising so much… you’ve got to help offset it by offering some substantial savings. Your customers will love you for it!

4.Contact your existing customers: That’s right. It’s five times easier to sell to an existing customer than to create a new one. So send out letters or jump on the phone to your existing customers and pay them a “how’s things” call

5.Study marketing: If you’ve got some spare time, use it to soak in and study more information about marketing and business. After all, just learning a few new tricks could make you that much richer in the months ahead.

6.Do joint ventures: Find other business owners who have similar clients to you and recommend each other. It costs you virtually nothing and is probably the most effective and profitable method of promoting your business.

7.Apply the power of 10: Contact 10 times as many new prospects. Follow up 10 times as many existing customers. Make 10 times as many “touches” with your client base.

8.Measure everything: Make every ad… every marketing campaign… and everything you do 100% accountable. If something is working for you and profitable, run it more. If an advertisement or marketing campaign is losing you money, get rid of it quickly.

In closing, remember that your competitors are going to PANIC and SCRAMBLE and this represents an enormous opportunity for anybody who holds their ground and finds the speedboat they need to get ahead despite the turning tide.

So what is that speedboat? The metaphorical speed boat is more effective marketing campaigns and stronger copy so you get more leverage from everything you do. If you need any help in finding your speed boat and getting the leverage you need, then click here. And if you have any other ideas or strategies you’d like to share on how to thrive in tough economic times? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

About the Author

Scott Bywater is a professional direct mail and direct response copywriter, and the author of Cash Flow Advertising. To receive a complimentary copy of his exclusive report ‘7 Ways To Boost Your Turnover… No Matter What The Economy’ (valued at $29.95) hop along to his web site at: http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au

]]> http://www.scottbywater.com/copywriting/8-marketing-tips-for-thriving-in-the-recession/feed/ 3 http://www.scottbywater.com/copywriting/why-the-number-1-is-dangerous-in-marketing/ http://www.scottbywater.com/copywriting/why-the-number-1-is-dangerous-in-marketing/#comments Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:31:53 +0000 Scott Bywater http://www.scottbywater.com/?p=3 Recently, I pulled out a copy of my book from the winner of Donald Trump’s Apprentice, Bill Rancic.

Now on page 111 of Bill’s book, You’re Hired, he talks about his cigar business and how he had built the business up through radio advertising.

However, when the sudden flush of dot-com advertisers came into the marketplace , advertising rates skyrocketed. Because of course, the rates were all based on supply and demand. The more demand – the higher the prices went.

Of course, that was great for the radio station, but not good for Bill’s business.

Now to cut a long story short, it was no longer viable for him to advertise. And he had to change his entire business operation.

Through some smart thinking, they moved the way they did business from mail order to on-premise sales.

However, it’s a very tough situation to end up in. And it could happen to any business that relies on one advertising strategy.

For instance:

- If you get most of your business from the internet: what happens when advertising rates rise? Or when it’s not so easy to get high search engine rankings? Or when pay per click rates go beyond an affordable price?

- If you send out heaps of email, what happens if the government starts charging for email?

- If you use fax streaming to generate leads, what happens if the government brings in rules which makes this marketing strategy illegal?

- If you rely on the Yellow Pages, have you ever considered the fact it could become less and less effective as people move online rather than relying on the book?

- If you rely on telemarketing to generate leads, what if the government outlaws it at some time in the future?

- What if your television advertising rates double?

My point is this. If you rely on one of anything, you are leaving yourself in an exposed position. Imagine building a house which balances on one pole. If that pole gets weak, down goes your house.

And it’s the same with your business.

Think ahead. Test a variety of lead generation strategies…

-Yellow pages
-Newspaper
-Fax streaming
-Internet
-Television
-Direct mail
-Radio
-Joint Ventures
-Referral Programs
-Seminars
-Database marketing

And anything else you can think of. That way… if the laws change… if the advertising rates go up… if all of a sudden one specific strategy stops working as well as it used to…

Your business will be safe.

And you are the one that has the power because you are not reliant on any particular advertising strategy.

Right now, write down the strategies you currently use to generate business. And then write down a few other ideas you can test, so you have 5 strategies to draw people into your business.

And let me know how you go…