If you’ve read the book or watched the movie “The Secret,” you know that the secret is the law of attraction. In a nutshell, what you focus on most, you’ll manifest in your life. Without exception, every human being has the ability to transform any weakness or suffering into strength, power, perfect peace, health, and abundance. The law of attraction works both ways, positively and negatively.
So what does this have to do with marketing and making more money? Plenty. Often clients will tell me that a certain form of marketing, say direct-mail postcards, doesn’t work for them. It’s not the marketing method that doesn’t work, it’s the application of the method combined with a benefit message to a target market. Their expectations and beliefs can influence the results. They focus on their preconceived beliefs.
People see what they want to see.
Don’t believe me? Just check out this short video clip about awareness.
In marketing it’s your job to communicate the value of your products and services. To do that effectively and profitably requires 100% belief and the ability to help your prospects focus on what you want them to see. It’s the same with web design, print design and copywriting. Over the past 25 years I’ve worked with many talented graphic designers. In each case or project, I have to help guide them not to lose the message in the creative design. The message is my focus, the design is their focus. It’s a delicate balance, and when we get it right, everybody wins — including the client and the prospects.
Recent headlines: NEW YORK SUN — “Talk of the Worst Recession Since the 1930s”
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - “The U.S. economy is now in a recession, according to a poll of economists published Thursday, March 13th by The Wall Street Journal.”
What do you think? Are you worried about a recession?
I was speaking to a group of commercial customers in Ohio last week, and I asked them what their biggest challenge was in growing their business.
They said things like the economy, the recession, the competition, the weak value of the dollar… but no one in a room of over 200 people said anything about their own businesses.
Then I said something really shocking… I said, “there is no such thing as money problems…” (and paused for about five seconds) and added, “there are only idea problems. If you want to make more money, then generate more ideas and implement them!”
Want to grow your business, and increase your sales and profits?
Then think about your business and how you can add more value. More value means more profits. While statistics and the media may show the country in a recession, it’s hardly going to stop people from spending money over the long term. Just visit your local shopping mall, department store, or highway, and look at the traffic. Where are all of these people going? Either to work or to spend money… no doubt.
Hey, I’m a marketer… not an economist. My goal is to make sure you focus on your business and take care of your customers. You attract new prospects with compelling benefit-driven marketing messages, and you keep them by delivering value through your products and services.
My peers and the many people in the media consider me as one of the top experts in direct and Internet Marketing. Just type my name “Ford Saeks” into Google and check out the results. But there is always more to learn, especially in my areas of expertise.
I like to read blogs, newsletters, and magazines to stay up to date. I realize everyone has an opinion, but I would think a publication like “BusinessWeek” would be more diligent in checking the content they publish.
How is your telephone answered? Are you using a real person or an automated attendant with voice prompts?
Either way, I’d encourage you to “mystery shop” your own company. Mystery shopping is the process of pretending to be a prospect and calling, e-mailing, or visiting your business to see how well customer service is handled.
What I’m focusing on here are your phones… I hate it when I call my bank, get forced to go through all sorts of prompts, only to sit on hold forever before being transferred to a rep who doesn’t speak English fluently and who can’t help anyway. So many reps these days seem completely untrained, unempowered, and inept — it amazes me. Then there are the voice-automated attendants that if not configured properly send you to “voice-mail hell” where you’ll freeze over before you get any help.
I get asked this all the time. Let’s see if we can clear this up…
Short Answer:
A blog is a type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most recent ‘post’ at the top of the main page to the older entries toward the bottom. Watch this short video that answers the questions in simple and easy — non-techie — terms.
I was speaking with a client today about improving their web site’s organic search engine rankings and other ways to increase their site traffic. The outcome was to increase their income. The topic of Passive Income came up… and we both agreed that there really is NO SUCH THING as passive income. At some point, you had to do something. You had to send out an email, create a web site, mail a direct response letter or do something related to adding value.
When one of my clients says to me, “Ford… I’m not sure what to write about. Aren’t press releases just for big news?” I tell them that kind of assumption just isn’t true. You can create press releases for a wide variety of topics, as long as you keep a few key elements in mind.
One of the most important ones to always follow is to adapt your “story”(or theme) to a favorite media topic in the news. That will make it more interesting to your media contact, as well as to their readers. To help you get started, here are my TOP 5 topics that I use to increase the chances of getting publicity through traditional sources like newspapers, magazines, and newsletters.
HEALTH is one of the most popular topics covered in the media. Can you find a way to tie your product, service, or media promotion to a current, health-related topic? One of my clients runs a successful pilates studio and even though it’s a local studio, her press releases and articles have been published in several national publications and on tons of sites.
This blog is devoted to design elements you can use in your e-mail mailings to grow your list quickly. Here are the remaining five tips I promised you last time. Hope they get you thinking about growing your own e-mail list.
Secret #6: ADVERTISE your site and electronic newsletter in other publications or use web banners and traditional advertising mediums, such as print, TV and radio. Encourage e-mail subscriptions on all print ads. This secret may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised by how often it is overlooked. Depending on your type of business and industry, this can be an effective method to grow your list.
Secret #7: Use PAY-PER-CLICK Advertising to send targeted traffic to your mini-site or main site through Pay-Per-Click search engines. Pay-Per-Click advertisements show up alongside the natural site listings on the search results pages (SRPs). You go to your favorite search engines and set up an account and bid on the keywords terms related to your target market. By using PPC advertising you get you in front of your target market almost instantly. More traffic means more subscribers. But before you rush off and open a PPC account, keep in mind that you need to know the “value” of each subscriber, as well as your break-even cost of acquiring a lead and customer. If you haphazardly set up PPC and start bidding on keywords without understanding what you’re doing, you could easily waste thousands of dollars. If you can’t devote the time and energy to do it right, or can’t hire an expert certified in Pay-Per-Click advertising (like me!), skip this secret for now! I guarantee you that if you implement the other secrets I’ve offered you, you’ll still have more than enough to keep you and your marketing team busy for quite a while.
Are you taking full advantage of the free publicity available to you? When was the last time YOU sent out a press release? What’s YOUR opinion of media releases? Do you have a media section (or page) on your website?
I’ve harnessed the power of publicity to promote all kinds of products and services in more industries than I can count. I still use publicity efforts to promote my Direct and Internet Marketing services, along with campaigns to promote my clients’ products (and that has lead to millions in sales each year).
Putting free publicity to work as part of your marketing campaign is much easier than most people think. Why? Because there are thousands of print and online magazines out there starving for content. There are millions of Internet sites craving for new content too.
Think about your last big purchase. Did you use the Internet, either for researching a product or to buy something? What was the last thing you purchased from a website?
What are your favorite websites—and why? Make a list of the top five that you visit and once you’re finished reading this blog, go visit them again and evaluate them through the mind of an “Internet Marketer.”
As a marketer, being able to get inside the mind of your prospects is critical. You need to understand the behaviors and habits of your prospects (what do they buy, how do they buy, what factors influence their buying decision, etc.).
“The Secret,” Law of Attraction, and Marketing Results
What do you think? Are you worried about a recession?
How is your telephone answered? Are you using a real person or an automated attendant with voice prompts? 
One of the most important ones to always follow is to adapt your “story”(or theme) to a favorite media topic in the news. That will make it more interesting to your media contact, as well as to their readers. To help you get started, here are my TOP 5 topics that I use to increase the chances of getting publicity through traditional sources like newspapers, magazines, and newsletters. 
Are you taking full advantage of the free publicity available to you? When was the last time YOU sent out a press release? What’s YOUR opinion of media releases? Do you have a media section (or page) on your website? 
Think about your last big purchase. Did you use the Internet, either for researching a product or to buy something? What was the last thing you purchased from a website?
