How To Pick A Responsive Seminar Mailing List
The Mailing List You Use Can Make or Break the Success of Your Seminar Promotions. Here’s How to Get Started on Picking the Right List for Your Seminar Marketing Efforts
By Jenny Hamby, the Seminar Marketing Pro™
Certified Guerrilla Marketer and Direct-Response Copywriter
If you’re concerned about being able to pick the right list for your seminar marketing efforts, congratulations. You’re right to be concerned … because your mailing list can make or break the success of your seminar promotions. Here’s where to start.
Look in-house first. Any type of relationship with you or your company is preferable to no relationship at all. Before you start hunting for a mailing list to rent or purchase, see what type of list you can put together by going through client files, your Rolodex … maybe even your old telephone message pads.
The very best prospects for your next seminar are people who have attended other seminars you’ve given … or who have otherwise put their names on your mailing list. Obviously, customers (people who have paid you for your services, products and/or information) are better qualified than prospects who have asked to be put on your mailing list or who have called to request information about your services.
If you’re ready to rent a list, look for prospects who have attended other seminars. The idea is that if they’ve paid to attend seminars in the past, they’ll pay to attend them again because they obviously enjoy and benefit from this form of learning.
The next-best prospects when renting or purchasing a mailing list are individuals whose profiles match the profile of your existing customers. For example, you may want prospects who are in the same age group, have the same job title or responsibilities, work in the same industry, are in the same income bracket, or even read the same magazines.
Many list owners, such as training companies and magazine publishers, make their mailing lists available for rent. To find a list that matches what you are looking for, turn to the Direct Marketing List Source®, published by Standard Rate and Data Service Media Solutions. It’s a huge directory of the mailing lists available for rent. Call your local library to track down a copy. Or contact the organizations directly for a referral to their mailing list manager or list broker.
Jenny Hamby is a Certified Guerrilla Marketer and direct-response copywriter who helps speakers, coaches and consultants fill seminar seats and make more money from their own seminars and workshops. Her on- and offline direct marketing campaigns have netted response rates as high as 84 percent -- on budgets as small as $125. For more free seminar marketing secrets, visit http://www.SeminarPromotionTips.com
What do you really sell?
The Pain and Pleasure of Sales
When I speak with salespeople, I sometimes ask them what it is that they really sell. Some tell me that they sell “widgets”, others tell me that they sell service, and inevitably some tell me that they sell themselves. (I think this is illegal in most states.) Although all these answers are correct, a slight change in perception will skyrocket your sales and explode your income.
One Monday morning, I woke up and decided that I would go out that day and just watch the pharmaceutical reps in action. So I went to the busiest primary care physician office in my area.
I walked into the office dressed in jeans and a polo shirt and sat down in the waiting room. Five minutes later, the first rep came through the door. He walked up to the window and asked for the doctor. The doctor invited him back into the office, the rep pulled out a visual aid and started to detail (vomit on) the doctor, and I sat there and watched the doctor mentally shutdown. After a 90-second detail, the close: “Doctor, can I count on you to write my drug for your patients with this condition?” The doctor agreed, signed for samples, and went back to seeing patients. This was the format for six out of the seven calls that I watched that morning. The seventh rep didn’t even ask to see the doctor. Nothing set one rep apart from another.
Selling is a slight-edge activity. In other words, you only have to be just a little better than the competition to make the sale. What gives you this edge? Understanding why people do what they do. Everything human beings do, they do for one of two reasons: either out of their need to avoid pain or their desire to gain pleasure. Selling is the process of getting your client to clearly associate their most desired feelings, states, or sensations to you and your product. What you really sell are emotional states. Maybe this sounds too simple, but think about it; Why do you buy the things that you do? You either buy something because it makes you feel good or you buy something to avoid feeling bad.
For example, Coke doesn’t run a commercial of a soda rep standing in front of the camera giving a 30-second detail on the features and benefits of Coke. Coke shows 28 seconds of someone famous, something that makes you feel good, or something that makes you laugh, and then shows two seconds of the Coke logo. Why? Because Coke understands the importance of the pain/pleasure principle. Coke links their product to that same emotional state by flashing their product on the screen when the viewer is at the peak of that feeling.
The same pain/pleasure principle is in action when you’re standing in front of a client. Most people have linked pain to salespeople, because they know it means more time that they’ll have to listen to a sales pitch. People mentally go on vacation when a salesperson walks through their door. You should never talk about you, your company, or your product until the doctor is in a peak positive emotional state. Help your client reach that peak state, and then show him your product. So, am I saying never to “sell” if your client is in a bad mood? That’s exactly what I’m saying. Let your competition come in and try to “sell” him that day so he links up all his bad feelings with their product. Timing is everything.
Here are some examples of how to make the pain/pleasure principle work for you. In all of these examples, not only are the peak emotions linked to your product, but they are also linked to you. Soon, your client will be inviting you out to lunch, because it makes him feel good just to have you around.
• Comedy Clubs. Take your client to a comedy club. When he’s laughing so hard that he can hardly breathe, slide in a key point of your product. Again, that peak emotional feeling is linked to you and your product.
• Magic. Don’t just do another learn. Do a magic hour. Take a magician to lunch with you. I’ve had several people cancel out on other sales reps just to have the magician and me for lunch. Every illusion that’s performed ends with a plug for my product.
• Music Concerts. Find out what kind of music your clients like. Take them to a concert. When they’re singing and dancing around, tell them something about your product.
• On the golf course. The moment the client has a great drive, his best putt ever, or a phenomenal round of golf, that’s when you detail your drug. The doctor is in a peak emotional state, and you show your product. So what happens when he misses a two-foot putt and throws his putter in the water? Immediately say something about your competition. The client will begin to link that negative experience up with your competitor.
• Fun and Games. In the summer, take in Frisbees, balls and bats, and kites. During lunch, take your client and staff outside and have a picnic. Play softball, throw Frisbees around, and fly the kites. During the hour, subtly drop key phrases about your product.
These are just a few of the many ways to get your clients to link pleasure to you and your product. What makes sales fun is trying out new things in the field. Take a chance, and your career will skyrocket. A client isn’t influenced to buy what you’re selling during a 30-second, 90-second, or even a 20-minute meeting. People are influenced in the instant that they link more pleasure than pain to your product.
Bill Gladwell, Hypnotist
www.bill-nikki.com
Finding trustworthy buyers and sellers in online trade
There are a large number of people and websites out there that claim to make you the next big internet millionaire. Get rich quick schemes have been popular in our country since the time of the gold rush. Everybody who watches a Hollywood blockbuster knows it’s going to be alright in the end and that after a while, money will start pouring in. Our culture is driven by a capitalist craving and thank God for that, right? But it isn’t always easy to do something that brings in the big bucks, and there are plenty of untrustworthy people doing business as well.
So how do you manage to separate out those who can be relied on from the ones who are untrustworthy? By being very cautious and aware of the possible scams, dangers and frauds that are rampant on the internet, the conmen are very creative and the scams keep changing. But it is important to be on the lookout and to deal only with the right people and businesses. Here are some tips on finding the trustworthy buyers and sellers for your product or service online.
Finding trustworthy sellers is often harder than it seems. Many web sites and portals claim to offer fantastic schemes and maybe even great fake testimonials. But you are left with a dud product or sometimes no product at all. It is best to do business with an entity that has accreditation from a body like Better Business Bureau Online (BBB Online) or the FTC. Another idea is to ask friends, relatives, colleagues or others you know who are making money online for their seller sources. Not everyone is willing to divulge this information, especially if it sets you up as competition for them. But if you are looking for a product that is not identical to theirs, some people may be more forthcoming.
Do a background-check and ask for unbiased references. Do not rely on lists or databases of sellers available online. A good indicator of reliability is properly published and active communication channels, such as a business telephone number or office address that checks out. Make sure that you have some assurance of delivery when you make a payment. Ask for an inspection of the product before delivery and withhold some amount of the payment until final delivery. Be sure you read the fine print, including all disclaimers, etc.
Finding trustworthy buyers for your online business can be quite difficult as well. Make sure that there is some verification of the payment system provided by the buyer. It is important to get paid, that’s what you’re in business for – so don’t ignore it in your haste to confirm a buyer. A genuine buyer will understand any reservations that you have, and may even wish to do a check on you so be open to that. Timely responses are also important in establishing that your buyer is interested and authentic. However, do not give in to any pressure to rush a project, complete work as per agreed timelines. Be careful when you sign any documents or agreements created by the buyer by reading through them carefully, including any notes and inclusions. There are plenty of “standard” contracts floating around online. Be sure you ask for clarifications if you need any and ask other people as well.
William King is the director of Wholesale Products & Dropshippers Suppliers Directory, Wholesale Suppliers & Dropshipping Wholesalers Products Directory, Pakistan Real Estate & Pakistani Property Portal, and Australia Wholesale Products & Dropshipping Australian Suppliers Directory . He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.