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If you spend even a dime of your budget on “image” advertising, then this article will show you why you’re throwing your money away, and what you can do instead to double — even triple — your sales in the next 30 days or less.

I want you to imagine two door-to-door sales reps starting their first day on the job. They both work for the same company, sell the exact same product and are in virtually identical neighborhoods selling their widgets. The only difference between the two is the way they go about selling their product.

The first sales rep (we’ll call him Sales Rep #1) goes around the neighborhood he is working wearing a fancy suit and driving around in a flashy car with his company’s logo, slogan and website address written all over it. He just drives around the neighborhood all day. Never stopping at any houses and never talking to anyone on a personal level.

The other sales rep (we’ll call him Sales Rep #2), on the other hand, does the exact opposite. He has neither a nice looking suit or flashy car. In fact, his suit is 30 years old, his pants are too short and his car is so old and beaten up, it has a coat hanger as an antenna.

And so he has no choice but to “slug it out” door-to-door and face-to-face, knocking on every door, wedging his foot inside every time the door opens, giving his pitch, telling his story and making his case one house at a time. Eventually stopping at each house in the neighborhood.

Now, really, if your life was on the line, and you HAD to pick which of the two sales reps will make the most money — who would you stake your life on?

Sales Rep #1 in the fancy car driving around randomly and not knowing if anyone is even noticing or listening to him? Or Sales Rep #2, who may not be the best-kempt fellow in the world, but who goes door-to-door making his full pitch (and actually asking for the sale) one house at a time?

Here’s the point: Image advertising, slogans, fancy logos and relying on technology to make the sale for you is no different than what Sales Rep #1 does. It’s expensive, useless and even obnoxious in some cases.

On the other hand, using the tried and true methods of direct response advertising, finding your prospects, getting their attention, telling your story and asking for the sale — while not sexy — has much bigger “teeth.” It will also make you a lot more money, and will put you head and shoulders above your richer, fancier and more technlogically savvy competitors every single time.

Ben Settle is an expert copywriter and direct marketer. If you liked this article then check out Ben’s website at http://bensettle.com — where you’ll find over 500 pages of advertising ideas, strategies and tactics just like this one — as well as rare swipe file ads and hot marketing information not easily found anywhere else.

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One of the most cost effective marketing strategies you can utilize is an online newsletter, also referred to as an E-Zine.

You can provide valuable content to your customers and potential customers with an E-Zine. The beauty of utilizing the Internet to distribute your information is often people will forward your information to others who have similar interest.

The key to success with an E-Zine is consistency in distribution. It won’t be beneficial to have a sporadic schedule. Distribution of your online publication should be done like clockwork. With all the automation tools available you can develop a system that is relatively trouble free.

For many, the greatest challenge will be the development of content. There are a few ways you can handle this. One, take a day to write several articles and put them in a file that you can easily access. That way, the writing is over and done.

Second, have others write articles for you. Many people are anxious to write for online newsletters.

Third, a quick Internet search is bound to produce several places you can access articles that are there for the taking. Usually, the only requirement is that you give full credit to the authors.

Because I love to write so much I prefer to write my own articles. And yet, if ever in a pinch, I know there are many options.

Here are some examples of well done E-Zines. Each has produced excellent results for name recognition, promotion opportunities and back end business. Notice all have a place to leave an email address. I highly recommend this in that this helps you to build a solid database of interested readers.

http://www.justbearsandstuff.com/newsletter/newsoctober2004.htm

http://www.greatsmilesutah.com/october-04.htm

http://www.kathleengage.com/newsletters/enewsoctober2004.htm

In my experience, I have found E-Zines, when sent to people who want them, are one of the most incredible marketing tools you can use.

Copyright © 2004 by Kathleen Gatge

Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your website or in your print publication provided you include the resource box at the end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required.

About The Author

Kathleen Gage is a business advisor, keynote speaker and trainer who helps others gain dominance and visibility within their market. She is the recipient of the 2004 Giant Step Award for Business of the Year in the State of Uta. Visit www.kathleengage.com.

Kathleen@turningpointpresents.com

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Let me get right to the point. The single most powerful small business marketing tool on the planet is a marketing system.

But when I talk about a marketing system I am not referring to those academic exercises found in college marketing books.

A marketing system by my way of thinking is a simple (in many cases one page) document that specifically answers who you are, what you do, who needs it, how you plan to grab them by the throat, when you plan to do it and how you plan to pay for itin a way that everyone in your organization, network, and client base can clearly understand.

So, let’s break it down into some simple steps.

1) Narrow Your Focus - create a description of your ideal client. Describe them as though they are sitting across the desk from your at this moment. Define only the market that you know needs what you offer and values what you have to offer. It is just as important to understand who you don’t want as a client.

2) Find and Communicate Your Core Difference - Even if your make it up, you’ve got to find something that makes your business stand out from the pack. Once you do, you’ve got to build your entire marketing program around this difference. Is it red trucks, is it an unheard of guarantee, is it a very specific market niche. You can’t stand out trying to be all things to all people.

3) Package Your Business - Look for ways to build your unique difference into the experience your client or prospect has with your firm. Everything about your firm should communicate and deliver your unique promise. Package your services as products, communicate your unique process, name your service offerings.

4) Educate - Throw away the sales brochures and create marketing materials and web site content that clearly speaks to your ideal client and gives proof that your indeed uniquely qualified to solve their problems. Create case studies, testimonial sheets, client lists, process description, service descriptions, the story of why you started your business.

5) Install the Lead Generation Trio - Advertising that generates permission, public relations that provide proof and referral systems that guarantee trust. Each of these three lead generating tactics works hand in hand to create a non stop flow of highly qualified leads.

6) Automate and Dominate - Once you start to create a flow of leads let technology do the heavy qualifying and selling for you. Ezines, email, blogs, web sites, white paper delivery, subscription lists - all must be automated in order to most effectively communicate as consistently as is necessary in today’s advertising message onslaught.

7) Live by a Calendar - Create the system and then work the system. Do whatever you must to make sure that you do at least one marketing activity every single day. Create a monthly calendar and give each month a marketing system theme. Get everyone in your organization involved - put the calendar in a very public place.

Copyright 2005 John Jantsch

John Jantsch is a marketing coach and creator of Duct Tape Marketing. You can find out more about the Ultimate Marketing System at: http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/Ultimate-Marketing-System.htm

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