Yup, I’m talking about the disco Bee Gees. Maurice, Barry and the other guy. (I can never remember his name.) Here are some interesting facts about the Bee Gees:

• They’ve sold over 220 million records worldwide.
• Won 9 Grammys.
• They have just as many hits they’ve written for other artist as they have written for themselves. (See “Islands in the stream”  and others.. for a full list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Gees )
• The Saturday Night Fever Record is second only to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller” album.

This is just a small sample of their success track record.  It is frankly amazing in today’s day and age. To top it off, they were a band from 1967 to 2003. An eternity in the music industry.

While watching a documentary on the Bee Gees a few night ago, something really stood out.

After all their massive success with Saturday Night Fever, there was a huge back lash against the Bee Gees. They released one more album and then didn’t release an album for almost 10 years.

In the interim, want to know what they did?

They wrote a song everyday.

I’m paraphrasing a bit, but this is the gist of what they said: “Even with all the success, we never stopped doing what got us there in the first place. Everyday, every morning, we would write a song. Sometimes together, sometimes separately, but we always wrote a song everyday.”

If you add up the number of years they were a band. That’s 37 years. Let’s say they took off weekends and holidays. That’s 250 days a year of writing. Multiply that by 37 and you get…

… 9,250 songs.

Selling 220 million albums and winning 9 Grammys doesn’t seem like such a big deal after all.

I would imagine there were some days they felt awful, tired, hungover, jet lagged, sick with the flu.. you name it. Yet, they still wrote everyday.

And look at the success.

Most people would put all their efforts into the excuses why they can’t do the basics everyday. In fact, in the time it would take them to hone their craft in the morning, they use that time to create excuses.

I’ve personally mentored under some very successful marketers and copywriters. They all, first thing in the morning, practice their craft. They write copy, send out an email to the list, they do something to serve their market everyday.

Then 30 years later they’re an overnight success.

Whether you like the Bee Gees or not (I personally think the music is outstanding) the lesson is very clear.

Your success in whatever you do; business, raising kids, being a great spouse, lie the ability to do the fundamentals day in and day out that bring that success.

ATM machines wouldn’t work, bank balances would disappear, the stock market would crash, gasoline prices would sky rocket and the world would be sent into financial chaos.

The cause? Y2K. What is Y2K. It was a computer programming bug whereby at the turn of the century, the computers wouldn’t roll forward to the year 2000, but roll back to the year 1900. All because of a programming error of using two digits on a date, not four.

The end result would be widespread financial chaos.

This created a tremendous financial windfall for a number of people. Computer companies sold billions of dollars of programming fixes to banks and other businesses worldwide.

Online marketers sold information products on how to survive in a Y2K world. What kinds of non perishables you would need, where to buy gold and silver, how to protect your family and how to shoot a gun. To this day, I know people who bought and installed Y2K survival kits in the house.

Then there was the church. To some extremists this was the rapture. Jesus was gonna come back, God was going to pour out his wrath on America because of abortion, gay marriage, our moving off the gold standard and countless other sins of our country.

In the end, Y2K never really happened. The fixes were made, the ATM’s worked and life went on as normal.

For centuries man has used real possibilities (albeit slight) to make millions selling solutions. Fallout shelters, global cooling, global warming, nuclear war, terrorism, you name it, man has used it to sell and make millions.

What is today’s ‘financial chaos’? The collapse of the US Dollar.

For the record, I think there is a chance our US dollar could collapse. There is always a chance. Trillions in debt, economic instability, a rising China, all could come together to cause the dollar to collapse.

The debate here is not the actual chance the dollar will collapse, but the marketing lesson to be learned.

Man can manipulate another man, simply by using ‘fear’ and the ‘end of the world as we know it’. Marketing fear of loss is one of the most powerful ways to get a prospect to part ways with their money. I know, because I used it for years selling from the front of the room and online.

This tactic is not just used by front of the room pitch men and online marketers. It’s also used by the church… any religious institution or political parties. Christian, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Muslim, Jewish, New Age, Cults, Jim Jones.. you name it.

The pitch goes something like this; “If you don’t do “X”, you life will look like “Y” (poor, broke, family at risk, children being sold into slavery, etc.) but if you do “A” your life will look like “B” (peaceful, harmony, neighbors envious because you took preventative action)

This pitch has been used to get people to vote for political candidates, join unions, tithe, contribute to building campaigns, buy get rich quick products, plastic surgery, buy vitamins… the list goes on and on.

Does this mean that all of those things are horrible? Not at all. Each one of these products and services has a value and done in a spirit of LOVE and RESPECT can benefit those who really need these items.

You can sell, logically and in a spirit of LOVE, without FEAR and manipulation the benefits and wisdom of owning Gold and Silver.

You can use LOVE to sell the benefits of balancing state and federal budgets, plus the sacrifices that will have to be made by all citizens to keep America, America.

You can use RESPECT to sell the benefits of plastic surgery. I know a number of people who now have better confidence because of the wonders of modern plastic surgery. (And I’m not just talking breast implants guys.)

Can you make a million dollars easier by using FEAR? Hell yes.

Is it worth it in the long run… Hell no.

Have a great day,

Matthew Gillogly

As I’ve always said, it’s not about how much traffic your get, it’s about getting the right traffic.  We can’t get people to respond if the offer doesn’t match what they want, so getting a bunch of people to the site isn’t the goal.

Traffic seems to be the one area where things change quite rapidly, and strategies and tactics that work one day, are not effective 3 months later.  Google remains the key source of targeted traffic for our clients, but we’ve noticed that Adwords (both Search and Content) seems to have lost some of its effectiveness as harnessing a consistent flow of visitors.  It has really become a game (yes, a game) of seeing how many places and sources you can get on Google’s first page.  So not just being in one of the top 3 spots on Adwords, it’s also being listed in the News items, Local listings, YouTube videos, organic listing, and social networks – specifically Facebook and Twitter.

For us, being an expert in Adwords, it’s a lot to keep up with all things traffic, so we’ve secured an alliance with a colleague and firm that spends all of their time in the “laboratory” to figure out what Google is doing and how to use new strategies to capture more virtual real estate.  We’re seeing tremendous results and DECREASING lead costs by employing more diversity and strategy to our traffic efforts, and utilizing all the technologies to be seen rather than just Google Adwords.  The fruits of this alliance will be rewarding for our clients moving forward.

We had the blessing of working in multiple markets, with diverse clients, and diverse product/service offerings.

We also have our personal network of colleagues that we keep in communication with as well (people like Perry Marshall).

You might be exception to the rules we state here.  All I am sharing is what I’ve seen and experienced.

What’s working well:
- Businesses that offer tangible solutions to problems, or tangible products with real value
- Products/Services that people are actively searching online for
- Patience in the sales cycle – willing to warm leads from cold visitor to warm lead to hot prospect
- Closing sales using the phone
- Multi-page websites versus landing pages
- Facebook fan pages
- Direct Mail
- Local business promotion using Google (Paid and Organic)
- Appointments

What’s not working well (some things are not working at all, some things are very difficult)
- Selling programs/membership online (we’ve tried inexpensive programs up to high-fee programs) and getting them to stick in brutal. My friend and co-worker Matt has done a ton of research on this and the stick rate by month is about 4 months for these kind of programs.
- Getting people to attend and stay for an entire webinar
- Launching new ideas and getting quick traction
- Traditional squeeze pages
- Point of purchase sales for anything other than inexpensive, common items
- Email deliverability
- Traditional SEO

This is a short list of what we’re personally experiencing.  Perhaps you’ve seen the same, or bucked the trend in one of these cases.  I’d love to hear your thoughts. Post your comments below.

These days, you better be on top of your game, and really focus on details to get people to respond.

We’ve found that in a majority of the markets where we’ve worked, the traditional landing page has simply stopped working.  I think the landing page as we’ve been taught has reached such a critical mass, that people now are hip to what these pages are for, and know that they aren’t really getting anything for nothing and will be asked to buy something sooner or later.

What we’ve started working on are multi-page mini-sites with offers on each page.  (To see an example, go to:http://kinkadedreamscollection.com/)

In many cases, we’re finding that people are not only responding to these sites, they are spending several minutes on the site, reading, viewing, and listening to the information that’s being presented. (Prospects on the Kinkade site spend and average of 5 minutes)

It seems that the best approach is to give them a lot of quality information up front, give them the ability to click around a bit, and keep a consistent offer in front of them that appeals to exactly what they want.

Also, we’re finding that the traditional follow-up campaign to an email lead is pretty much worthless.  What we’ve done is still have that as part of our follow-up, but we’ve added in a phone call to the lead (so capture phone numbers!) and cut through all the hype and get right to their pressing question.  (Here is a good example of a site that get’s the name and phone number to get a follow up call.)

This seems to work well because not many online marketers will do this, or have the capability. The personal connection and attention are things people miss online, and will respond to when used without being pushy.

We’re also seeing some success by putting up inbound 1-800 numbers, getting them to skip the opt-in and get right to a sales associate.  This is especially true for service businesses, and businesses at a local level (which means you can geo-target and used local numbers instead of 1-800 numbers).

Getting back to the websites, we’ve noticed that design, color, and layout – which previously had little affect – now make all the difference in the world.  I used to say pretty websites don’t sell – I’m beginning to change my mind, but….

You better put good copy and offers on that pretty site.  (One more bonus, click here to see how we’ve made pretty and copy work.) All the pizazz in the world won’t sell squat unless you spend a lot of time connecting to your visitor with well-written, concise copy with a drop-everything-you-are-doing offer.  Even though we have to step up on the design, we got to REALLY step up on creating great offers and writing world-class copy.

It’s still possible to get people to respond, but you better be on your game to keep the flow going in this economy.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get down to business. Today’s post…

No System To Convert Leads Into Customers = No Revenue

This should come as no surprise to you. Having a fool proof system to convert your leads into customers is critical to your long term success.

In talking with business owners for the past couple of weeks, it seems that everyone is seeing a slip in their business. Let’s face it, all of us had it pretty easy in business for some time. Only to see the rug ripped out from under us in the past 18 months.

Most businesses have no simple and fool proof way to follow up with a lead. What they have is a mumble jumble mess of half systems that might work if someone is paying attention.

Let me give you an example.

Recently we had a client in our office that does 7 figures a year in coaching. They sell a very high end coaching program to a very selective niche. What is amazing, is they have no system to follow up with a lead once it’s in the system. The sales have just sort of happened.

Granted they are  bit more sophisticated than most businesses.You have to be in order to get up to 7  figures a year. We made a few suggestions to improve their system.

I’ll share those in just a moment, but first let me tell why this system is built the way it’s built.

In today’s economy, your customers are looking for something very easy for you to create. They want a relationship with a provider they can trust. Which leads me to some very key insights we’ve discovered when it comes to converting more leads into more sales.

1. Don’t sell right off the bat. That’s like asking someone to marry you over the first cup of coffee. Sure it happens, but it happens less than you think.

2. Communicate in a mediums other than email. It is unstable and isn’t always delivered and read by the prospect.  Some of your prospects don’t like reading email and wish you’d do something else…

3. Picking up the phone is a lost art. We have personally and for a number of our clients made huge positive financial impacts by hiring virtual customer service reps to call and follow up with a prospect and see how we may serve them and their needs. (More on this later)

4. Don’t think your prospect is just like you. Too many times we have a customer in our office and they’ll say: “I love email, it’s my favorite way to communicate. I don’t like it when someone calls me.” Yes, that may be true, but for everyone of you, there is someone like me who prefers to get on the phone and get it handled.

When you bypass using the phone, you bypass over 33% of your prospects base prefer way of communication.

The bottom line is this, if you are not happy with the number of conversions of leads to customers, take a look at your systems. Maybe you need to add a phone calling program, monthly newsletter or you’re asking for the sale too soon. Fine tune your systems and you’ll see a dramatic increase in sales.

The other requirement is you must make a declaration at an early age if you are a Cubs or White Sox fan. I am a White Sox fan. My reason why will be discussed in a later post.

One of my joys of living in Charlotte is we have the AAA baseball team of the Chicago White Sox known as the Charlotte Knights. To top it off, the stadium for the Knights is about 15 minutes from my house.

Knights stadium is nothing to write home about. It’s near an interstate, in a business office park and frankly, there’s nothing enchanting about the stadium. It looks like something built in the Soviet Union by the Stalin government. All concrete, no character.

But that is NOT why I’m writing this article. It’s about something completely different.

Let me explain….

This past Saturday, the Charlotte Knights had a pre-season festival if you will. Bring the kids, check out the park, get a free hot dog, take batting practice on the field, tour the facility and listen to people try out for the national anthem. (That was ugly.)

As a loyal White Sox fan, I showed up with my wife and two boys, wearing my White Sox hat and White Sox t-shirt from the 2005 World Series win by the Sox.

What I’m about to share with you is a comedy of horrid customer service and even worse salesmanship that I beg of you to never repeat in your business.

Error #1 – Don’t Assume Your Prospect Knows Anything About You Or What You Do

We walked into the stadium. There was no one greeting us outside, no signs of where to go and when we did walk in, there was a small table with a hand written sign and some brochures on the table. We walked up and waited. No one there. After 25 seconds, a smiling young man showed up.

He pointed out that to our right was a kids play area, hot dogs to our right and feel free to walk around. He never once handed us or asked us if we’d like some ticket information. He never asked us for our names, address or anything.

To top it off, he had a golden opportunity to see I was wearing White Sox stuff. You’d think he’d figure out that the Knights are the White Sox affiliate. Start some conversation.

Oh and here’s the kicker…. The White Sox are coming to Charlotte on April 1, 2010 to play the Knights. He never asked me if I wanted to buy tickets.

Error #2: When Giving Out Free Food, Don’t Run Out Of Food.

After walking around the stadium a bit, we went down to a long line to get our free hot dogs. We waited about 20 minutes. They had two people cooking, two people serving.

When we got to the front, they had run out of chips.

Error #3: Don’t Assume That Just Cause You’re Standing There People Will Know Why You’re There

Next to the hot dog stand was an elderly gentleman standing at a table. People walked by and he said nothing. I watched him for a good 20 minutes while in line for the dog. He never once said hello to anyone of the customers who walked by him.

He was wearing Knights stuff, so he must have been on staff.

After my lunch, I walked up to him and said hello and asked him what was going on. I think I got a grunt.

I noticed there were some blue prints on the table and asked him what they were for. His response? “We are going to build a three level picnic area right over here to your right.”

I had to ask him to see the plans and he sort of thumbed through them for me.

I asked when it would be ready and his response… “Sometime this summer.”

“Well, it looks great.” I replied

“Yeah, it’s gonna be fun.”

You ever talk with someone who doesn’t want to be there? That was this guy. They would have been better off having a cardboard cut out.

Error #4: We Left Without Tickets, A Hat, A Commitment Or Giving Our Name

We spent all of about one hour at the park. Never once at any location did anyone ask us to buy a hat, a ticket or sign up for anything. We walked out empty handed.

What I Would Have Done Differently

Before I tell you what I would have done, I understand the economy and advertising is tough. Furthermore, the Knights are last in attendance and have a horrid stadium. That being said, here are my suggestions and you should learn from these in your own business.

A Name Is Worth A Million Dollars

Before we walked in, there should have been a few tables with some nice smiling faces checking us in and asking for our address, phone and email address.  That way they could follow up with us.

Celebrate My Birthday

While checking in, they could have asked if I’d like to join up for the Knights birthday club. Give them my birthday and on my birthday (or that of my family members) the birthday person gets a free ticket to the game and gets to sit in the birthday club with their friends. (The friends pay for the tickets.)

Ask Me To Buy Some Tickets

They could have asked me to buy tickets for the Sox game, a package of seats for the season, a partial pass, you name it, no one asked me to buy anything.

Trumpet Your Improvements

Hey, the stadium is a dump. Everyone knows it, but why not trumpet the little improvements. Like the new patio.  People will be a part of something even if they see little improvements.

In the end, I’ll still go to Knights games, cause I love my White Sox. Not because someone on the staff asked me to attend.

Here is my question. What are you doing in your business that is leaving sales on the ground? How are your customers perceiving you as they walk into your facility? Give your operations a good hard look and make sure if you are virtual or physical in location, that your customers are having a great time.

Knowing how to frame an offer and organize a response piece is an acquired skill.  Response rates can often be raised by simply redesigning how an offer or response piece is designed.

If you want us to critique or redesign your website or marketing pieces, please contact us for a free 30 minute consultation.

Tweaking your sales script, sales style, or sales format can have a dramatic impact on your business, and if you want to sell big ticket items online, you must learn the skill of generating a lead online and taking offline.  This separates the world-class business from the average business.

To find out how you can close more sales, please contact us for a free 30 minute consultation.

To discuss how to get more organic traffic flowing into your website, please contact us for a free 30 minute consultation.