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veritasvisions
07-30-2015, 05:24 PM
The new reality of Internet forces small online business owners who want to be competitive, to adapt to changing times. It is essential to implement different types of social marketing strategies to maintain and attract new customers. Online businesses that do not will be at a disadvantage to those that have already done so.

The world of social media is increasingly more competitive for businesses. You have to work hard so that your content can be seen by more people on the platforms that you tend to utilize, but it can certainly be done if you consider undertaking the following tips.

Send the Right Message to the Right Platform

Each social media platform has different purposes and thus draws the attention of certain people. Understanding this can make your social media marketing campaigns easier. For example, you definitely don't want to promote a law firm on Instagram nor Pinterest, as these online sites are for sharing photos, not really content.

Test each platform to see how your audience responds. Statistics show that women tend to spend more time on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, while men enjoy Twitter and Google+ more.

Think Outside-of-the-Box When It Comes to Video Promotion

Contrary to popular belief, it is no longer all about the online site YouTube. Recently, the staff of Facebook announced that this year alone, they have had more video views than YouTube has had. It is important that you take this information to heart so that you can get more creative in your videos and upload them to as many online sites possible.

Getting in contact with a YouTube star can be very beneficial when it comes to making your online business grow, as she/he can talk about your brand in exchange of a free trial of your products or service.

Advertising Space

In a perfect world, your efforts on search engine optimization would be enough for all your marketing needs, as it is free, but the world is not perfect, sometimes we have to pay to attain an increase in traffic.

All major social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter offer opportunities to buy advertising space. When you pay for these ads, you expand your reach beyond your current community contacts quickly and effectively.

The most important thing is to start and quick. You do not need to know anything to do this. Create an account and set a goal to publish content. That is all! Millions of people use social networks around the world, which is proof that it's not complicated.

Post and Post Some More

Post and continue to post. There is no such thing as having too many posts. There are "experts" out there that discourage frequent posts. They think that if you post so often people will stop following you, but that is not the case. This is a myth. The only way that you will gain attention is through consistency. If people are not complaining about the number of posts you have, you're not publishing enough. In three years, one online business owner published over 1,200 videos on YouTube. That's almost 400 videos a year.

Know Your Audience

One of the keys to creating a successful business page on social media sites is to know what kind of people you want to target. If your target audience is made up of a particular industry of professionals, post content that covers news and hot topics about that particular industry.

Engage with Audience

Create an active forum for your audience. If users rave about the content on your Facebook's business page, respond to their posts. Include promotions and news events on your page to attract more people. Solicit feedback from your audience when they utilize your services or purchase your products.

Promote and Make Connections

You can easily promote your Facebook page in email signatures, business cards, or on your website. Make sure to make connections with groups, companies, and people who could need your services or products. For example, consider joining a group of parents if you are selling products for children. Post messages about your products with images and links to your website. Remember to do this moderately. You can also opt to advertise your products on the Marketplace on Facebook. On the Marketplace section, members can post information about the products or services that they want to sell, trade, or purchase. By default, your advertisement will appear in the pages of the people who are on your friends list.

If you take these tips into consideration, you will soon see how your business skyrockets in a short period of time, as you will be able to garner the attention of a lot of people.

Be the Celebrity

You must be the celebrity expert in your space. Post content that makes you the expert in your space. If your business revolves around dry cleaners, post everything that there is to know about dry cleaning, stain removal and fabrics, for example.

Global Reach Is In Your Hands

Make the planet your goal. Unlike traditional marketing, social networks allow you to have global reach. At first, you want the attention of whomever. You may have followers from China and India that may never buy your services or products but can share my content with someone who perhaps might become my client. It is important that you understand that anyone can view your content and be inspired to take some action.

Share Content

Be wise. Eighty percent of your content should be non-promotional information. Create content that varies: videos, photos, and articles. Sharing the content of somebody else is the easiest way to get more followers quickly. Yes, by sharing the content of your competition or other expert and giving them the credit they deserve, you will gain a lot of the followers who follow them. Smart, right?

Other Important Things to Take Note on to Grow Your Online Business:

Grow your email list

Yes, email lists are still very popular. Statistics show a meaningful percentage of people still check their email every day. According to a survey by the American marketing agency Exact Target, discovered that email is the preferred channel for the majority of customers. Since emails can be a great advantage in a marketing campaign, try to gain more subscribers. Provide a subscription form on your website or on your Facebook through the many applications. Make sure to provide incentives for customers to subscribe or create a competition for the same purpose.

Perform A / B

How can an employer tell if a social media campaign is reaching the target audience or discover which components go hand in hand with the taste of consumers? Easy, do an A / B landing page of your website and other pages as well.

Importance of Blogging

When you blog, you share your voice with people from different backgrounds and ages. Consistency is vital for blog writing so that readers can realize that they can depend on your posts for the type of information that they require. This can help you build credibility and thus become an expert on your topic.

Contrary to popular believe, promoting a blog can be a piece of cake when performed the adequate way. Of course, that’s if you take the following suggestions into consideration as much as you possibly can: create catchy post titles, use original or descriptive images, claim authorship with Google+, link to other bloggers while they do the same, create a list of influencers and then interview them, comment on other blogs, write articles as guest on other blogs, invite others to participate, integrate ‘click to tweet’ to posts, create attractive infographics, share content through social media online sites, increase the virility of blog content, create a Linkedln page, add link to your blog in your social media profiles, create contests, and talk about your blog anytime an opportunity presents itself.

As you can conclude, the power of social media is huge; therefore, try your best to post on a daily basis. You must be authentic. Many brands forget this. No matter who you are, how old you are, or what your business is all about, social media can be very good for your brand.



Sincerely,

Frank Aziz

Harold Mansfield
07-30-2015, 05:54 PM
Wow, first post on the forum and you basically pasted an entire article without even so much as a "Hello" in the Introductions section. Old school SEO trick, but we're used to it.

I do however have a few disagreements with the general advice that you've posted...



Each social media platform has different purposes and thus draws the attention of certain people. Understanding this can make your social media marketing campaigns easier. For example, you definitely don't want to promote a law firm on Instagram nor Pinterest, as these online sites are for sharing photos, not really content.

Test each platform to see how your audience responds. Statistics show that women tend to spend more time on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, while men enjoy Twitter and Google+ more.

Some of your basic comments about which is best for photos and which aren't are generally accurate, but not a rule. Usually when people refer to "statistics" we like to see the actual statistics. Regardless of what that one source may have said, Social Media can't accurately be defined so cut and dry. A law firm that does a lot of charity work, or company outings could absolutely benefit from Pinterest or Instagram.

It's not about who you are, it's about the message you're conveying and using the best tool for the job. Even if Pinterest makes more sense, knowing your audience may mean Facebook is a better option.



Advertising Space

All major social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter offer opportunities to buy advertising space. When you pay for these ads, you expand your reach beyond your current community contacts quickly and effectively.

The most important thing is to start and quick. You do not need to know anything to do this. Create an account and set a goal to publish content. That is all! Millions of people use social networks around the world, which is proof that it's not complicated.

Creating an ad and dropping your CC number online to run ads is not complicated. Knowing how to craft and execute an effective ad campaign is. The truth is that small businesses waste a ton of money on ads because they have no idea what they are doing. The ease of which you can buy ads gives people a false sense that advertising is easy. It is not.


Post and Post Some More

Post and continue to post. There is no such thing as having too many posts. There are "experts" out there that discourage frequent posts. They think that if you post so often people will stop following you, but that is not the case. This is a myth. The only way that you will gain attention is through consistency. If people are not complaining about the number of posts you have, you're not publishing enough. In three years, one online business owner published over 1,200 videos on YouTube. That's almost 400 videos a year.

It's about quality. Period. There is most certainly a such thing as too many posts. Especially if what you're posting is just rehashing old news, engaging, and not of any quality. Just throwing a bunch of junk online for numbers will not help you. As a matter of fact if you do have any followers or subscribers they will unsubscribe when you stop holding their interest, yet are emailing them about new posts everyday..


Promote and Make Connections

You can easily promote your Facebook page in email signatures, business cards, or on your website. Make sure to make connections with groups, companies, and people who could need your services or products. For example, consider joining a group of parents if you are selling products for children. Post messages about your products with images and links to your website. Remember to do this moderately. You can also opt to advertise your products on the Marketplace on Facebook. On the Marketplace section, members can post information about the products or services that they want to sell, trade, or purchase. By default, your advertisement will appear in the pages of the people who are on your friends list.

Joining other people's groups with the purpose of promoting your own stuff is bad advice. It's about as transparent as pasting a blog post on a forum on your first post. People who do this are not as transparent as they think they are to people who admin groups and forums and see it every day.



Share Content

Be wise. Eighty percent of your content should be non-promotional information.
There is no rule that makes this true. If your blog and social media accounts are specifically for product or service information and updates that throws this notion out of the window.
Again, it's about about doing what's right for you and executing it properly.



Importance of Blogging

When you blog, you share your voice with people from different backgrounds and ages. Consistency is vital for blog writing so that readers can realize that they can depend on your posts for the type of information that they require. This can help you build credibility and thus become an expert on your topic.

Contrary to popular believe, promoting a blog can be a piece of cake when performed the adequate way. Of course, that’s if you take the following suggestions into consideration as much as you possibly can: create catchy post titles, use original or descriptive images, claim authorship with Google+, link to other bloggers while they do the same, create a list of influencers and then interview them, comment on other blogs, write articles as guest on other blogs, invite others to participate, integrate ‘click to tweet’ to posts, create attractive infographics, share content through social media online sites, increase the virility of blog content, create a Linkedln page, add link to your blog in your social media profiles, create contests, and talk about your blog anytime an opportunity presents itself.
I have no issue with the suggestions here, but they are in direct conflict with the phrase "Contrary to popular believe, promoting a blog can be a piece of cake". It is not a piece of cake. It's hard and it takes work.


It's not that you're wrong with what is pretty much general information that's been commonly known and blogged about a million times over the past few years, it's the premise that this is all easy that bothers me. It's not. It requires that you actually learn about what you're doing. You can't just wing it, plop some stuff up, and just start promoting and spending ad money everywhere. You'll not only waste time, but money.

It's doable. It's learn-able. And anyone who wants to can get good at it. But it is not easy.

What you've done here is post a bunch of advice that is easily found all over the web, yet at the same time you didn't follow the advice you claim to be giving.



You didn't get to know this forum. You just created an account and pasted a long article with a link to your website.
You didn't take any time to read anything here, or you would have known that this isn't new info around here.
You didn't take the time to engage with anyone to make yourself more credible, you just dropped an article and your sig.
You didn't get a feel for how things are done around here, or else you would have known not to jump in on day one and start dropping articles like this was Digital Point. You would have also better understood what kind of information is new and useful around here.


So while you seem to have a decent collection of general knowledge all copied and pasted together, you ruined your own credibility by not following ANY of your own advice.

JMO of course.

veritasvisions
07-31-2015, 12:15 AM
Hey Harold,

Thanks for the reply. While I disagree with some of your comments, I should obviously respect them since you have a good presence in this forum and obviously spent time formulating your responses. I appreciate that. Not sure if i get this quote thing but i'll do my best.


Some of your basic comments about which is best for photos and which aren't are generally accurate, but not a rule. Usually when people refer to "statistics" we like to see the actual statistics. Regardless of what that one source may have said, Social Media can't accurately be defined so cut and dry. A law firm that does a lot of charity work, or company outings could absolutely benefit from Pinterest or Instagram.

It's not about who you are, it's about the message you're conveying and using the best tool for the job. Even if Pinterest makes more sense, knowing your audience may mean Facebook is a better option. I agree with you on this point, so I'd like to amend my initial opinion. I think it's important to take into account the context of the business, since every business is different.


Creating an ad and dropping your CC number online to run ads is not complicated. Knowing how to craft and execute an effective ad campaign is. The truth is that small businesses waste a ton of money on ads because they have no idea what they are doing. The ease of which you can buy ads gives people a false sense that advertising is easy. It is not. It may be difficult to begin a successful campaign but It's a whole hell of a lot easier on the social media platforms we have compared to print media, radio advertising, television, exc..


Joining other people's groups with the purpose of promoting your own stuff is bad advice. It's about as transparent as pasting a blog post on a forum on your first post. People who do this are not as transparent as they think they are to people who admin groups and forums and see it every day. I think posting good content or providing value is always a good play.


It's about quality. Period. There is most certainly a such thing as too many posts. Especially if what you're posting is just rehashing old news, engaging, and not of any quality. Just throwing a bunch of junk online for numbers will not help you. As a matter of fact if you do have any followers or subscribers they will unsubscribe when you stop holding their interest, yet are emailing them about new posts everyday.. I have to disagree 1000% on this. It's about ATTENTION. PERIOD. This is not taken from my own experience but from that of Gary Vaynerchuk and Grant Cardone. They both have 1800+ videos and the earliest videos were not good.


There is no rule that makes this true. If your blog and social media accounts are specifically for product or service information and updates that throws this notion out of the window.
Again, it's about about doing what's right for you and executing it properly. I am not sure what you mean by this. You are saying that some sites require a lot of promotions as opposed to quality content?


It's not that you're wrong with what is pretty much general information that's been commonly known and blogged about a million times over the past few years, it's the premise that this is all easy that bothers me. It's not. It requires that you actually learn about what you're doing. You can't just wing it, plop some stuff up, and just start promoting and spending ad money everywhere. You'll not only waste time, but money.

It's doable. It's learn-able. And anyone who wants to can get good at it. But it is not easy.

What you've done here is post a bunch of advice that is easily found all over the web, yet at the same time you didn't follow the advice you claim to be giving.


You didn't get to know this forum. You just created an account and pasted a long article with a link to your website.
You didn't take any time to read anything here, or you would have known that this isn't new info around here.
You didn't take the time to engage with anyone to make yourself more credible, you just dropped an article and your sig.
You didn't get a feel for how things are done around here, or else you would have known not to jump in on day one and start dropping articles like this was Digital Point. You would have also better understood what kind of information is new and useful around here. What advice of my own am I not following? My main point is to get ATTENTION and I got yours right? Lastly, again, i think providing value is a good thing whether it's my first post or not. However, I think i can take your criticism as advice and possibly learn from it. So Thanks.

veritasvisions
07-31-2015, 01:17 AM
check this out --->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML_ec6XRYQA

Harold Mansfield
07-31-2015, 11:11 AM
Hey Harold,

Thanks for the reply. While I disagree with some of your comments, I should obviously respect them since you have a good presence in this forum and obviously spent time formulating your responses. I appreciate that.
How long I've been here shouldn't be any kind of deterrent to speaking your mind, sharing your experiences, and discussing the issues. That's why this forum is here. We're all always learning and everyone's input is valuable.



It may be difficult to begin a successful campaign but It's a whole hell of a lot easier on the social media platforms we have compared to print media, radio advertising, television, exc..
Yep, that is definitely true.



I have to disagree 1000% on this. It's about ATTENTION. PERIOD. This is not taken from my own experience but from that of Gary Vaynerchuk and Grant Cardone. They both have 1800+ videos and the earliest videos were not good.
That's the difference. You're posting someone elses experience (or what they claim when they're selling their own book or system) and I'm giving advice based on what I've actually seen and done. Not what someone told me .

There's a lot of crap online, a LOT of old outdated information, a lot of consultants, and lot of people with the hot new thing that will make you successful.

I've spent a lot of years going through all of the "expert" advice that makes it all sound so simple, "You need to do this, this and this and you'll be successful", and it's all just general common sense information.

The truth is that NO ONE ever gives you their exact recipe for success. No one shares their honey holes, successful strategies, or any specifics on how they make money until after they've already exploited the crap out of it, the well is dry and a million people are already doing it.

You can spent your entire existence online copying someone else and hoping to get the same results as they have, and you will waste a lot of time. You will NEVER be able to copy someone elses success. You have to find your own path and do what works best for you.

For some people maybe it takes 1800 videos. For many others it only takes 1.


I am not sure what you mean by this. You are saying that some sites require a lot of promotions as opposed to quality content? You need both. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Execution is what separates the men from the boys.



What advice of my own am I not following? My main point is to get ATTENTION and I got yours right? Lastly, again, i think providing value is a good thing whether it's my first post or not. However, I think i can take your criticism as advice and possibly learn from it. So Thanks.

Yes, but you got negative attention. I immediately grouped you into all of the other drive by, self promoters who drop a copy and pasted article and a link to their website and are never seen again unless they are promoting themselves. If you're not that guy, you should stop acting like them.

Freelancier
07-31-2015, 11:41 AM
What advice of my own am I not following? My main point is to get ATTENTION and I got yours right?Unless Harold is your best potential client, then it was wasted effort, since it didn't attract anyone else's attention.

Marketing isn't about just getting attention. It's to convey your awesome message to your best potential clients right at the moment they are looking for someone like you. Everything else is likely wasted effort.

turboguy
07-31-2015, 12:26 PM
Unless Harold is your best potential client, then it was wasted effort, since it didn't attract anyone else's attention.

Marketing isn't about just getting attention. It's to convey your awesome message to your best potential clients right at the moment they are looking for someone like you. Everything else is likely wasted effort.

Good point and I would agree with that however I think it is also about creating awareness and possibly an image so that even if someone is not looking for you at that time they may either think of you when you are or be more conscious of your existence when they do need what you have. For example an ad for Coke is not with the idea you will be wanting a soft drink right at the moment you see the ad but rather to plant a subliminal message when you are thirsty that may make you think about a Coke.

Harold Mansfield
07-31-2015, 12:31 PM
Good point and I would agree with that however I think it is also about creating awareness and possibly an image so that even if someone is not looking for you at that time they may either think of you when you are or be more conscious of your existence when they do need what you have. For example an ad for Coke is not with the idea you will be wanting a soft drink right at the moment you see the ad but rather to plant a subliminal message when you are thirsty that may make you think about a Coke.

True. A lot of companies spend money just for brand reinforcement all over the place. But it's only effective if the impression is positive, otherwise it's the kiss of death.
The premise that any attention is good, even if it's negative attention is flat out wrong. I actually think I first heard that in a movie years ago, and then "marketers" started repeating it over and over again . That may work with Hollywood celebrities and athletes, but not for your business.

In business one wrongly perceived statement, tweet, action or association can have devastating consequences. ESPECIALLY today in the age of instant communication, feedback, where everything is searchable, and viral bandwagons can pop up at a moments notice.

veritasvisions
07-31-2015, 02:00 PM
That's the difference. You're posting someone elses experience (or what they claim when they're selling their own book or system) and I'm giving advice based on what I've actually seen and done. Not what someone told me .

There's a lot of crap online, a LOT of old outdated information, a lot of consultants, and lot of people with the hot new thing that will make you successful.

I've spent a lot of years going through all of the "expert" advice that makes it all sound so simple, "You need to do this, this and this and you'll be successful", and it's all just general common sense information.

The truth is that NO ONE ever gives you their exact recipe for success. No one shares their honey holes, successful strategies, or any specifics on how they make money until after they've already exploited the crap out of it, the well is dry and a million people are already doing it.

You can spent your entire existence online copying someone else and hoping to get the same results as they have, and you will waste a lot of time. You will NEVER be able to copy someone elses success. You have to find your own path and do what works best for you.

For some people maybe it takes 1800 videos. For many others it only takes 1. Copying what successful people do is the way to approach anything in my opinion. Obviously, you need to use your own experience too but, generally, someone who has been there and done that usually has the best advice. People like Grant Cardone and Gary have more cadance with me then what you are posting on here.


Unless Harold is your best potential client, then it was wasted effort, since it didn't attract anyone else's attention.

Marketing isn't about just getting attention. It's to convey your awesome message to your best potential clients right at the moment they are looking for someone like you. Everything else is likely wasted effort. If you look at any failing company, their main issue is getting attention. Actually negative attention is positive in my opinion. But, yes, getting a potential clients attention during the time they want to purchase is important. That's why i am attempting to put my information and content everywhere so they'll at least see it when the time comes. Most importantly, I think you should place the content where your potential clients are.


True. A lot of companies spend money just for brand reinforcement all over the place. But it's only effective if the impression is positive, otherwise it's the kiss of death.
The premise that any attention is good, even if it's negative attention is flat out wrong. I actually think I first heard that in a movie years ago, and then "marketers" started repeating it over and over again . That may work with Hollywood celebrities and athletes, but not for your business.

In business one wrongly perceived statement, tweet, action or association can have devastating consequences. ESPECIALLY today in the age of instant communication, feedback, where everything is searchable, and viral bandwagons can pop up at a moments notice. This is simply not true. Look anywhere where there has been negative attention, you'll see an increase in sales. Case and point, Miley Cyrus.

veritasvisions
07-31-2015, 02:09 PM
That's the difference. You're posting someone elses experience (or what they claim when they're selling their own book or system) and I'm giving advice based on what I've actually seen and done. Not what someone told me .

There's a lot of crap online, a LOT of old outdated information, a lot of consultants, and lot of people with the hot new thing that will make you successful.

I've spent a lot of years going through all of the "expert" advice that makes it all sound so simple, "You need to do this, this and this and you'll be successful", and it's all just general common sense information.

The truth is that NO ONE ever gives you their exact recipe for success. No one shares their honey holes, successful strategies, or any specifics on how they make money until after they've already exploited the crap out of it, the well is dry and a million people are already doing it.

You can spent your entire existence online copying someone else and hoping to get the same results as they have, and you will waste a lot of time. You will NEVER be able to copy someone elses success. You have to find your own path and do what works best for you.

For some people maybe it takes 1800 videos. For many others it only takes 1. Copying what successful people do is the way to approach anything in my opinion. Obviously, you need to use your own experience too but, generally, someone who has been there and done that usually has the best advice. People like Grant Cardone and Gary have more cadance with me then what you are posting on here.


Unless Harold is your best potential client, then it was wasted effort, since it didn't attract anyone else's attention.

Marketing isn't about just getting attention. It's to convey your awesome message to your best potential clients right at the moment they are looking for someone like you. Everything else is likely wasted effort. If you look at any failing company, their main issue is getting attention. Actually negative attention is positive in my opinion. But, yes, getting a potential clients attention during the time they want to purchase is important. That's why i am attempting to put my information and content everywhere so they'll at least see it when the time comes. Most importantly, I think you should place the content where your potential clients are.


True. A lot of companies spend money just for brand reinforcement all over the place. But it's only effective if the impression is positive, otherwise it's the kiss of death.
The premise that any attention is good, even if it's negative attention is flat out wrong. I actually think I first heard that in a movie years ago, and then "marketers" started repeating it over and over again . That may work with Hollywood celebrities and athletes, but not for your business.

In business one wrongly perceived statement, tweet, action or association can have devastating consequences. ESPECIALLY today in the age of instant communication, feedback, where everything is searchable, and viral bandwagons can pop up at a moments notice. This is simply not true. Look anywhere where there has been negative attention, you'll see an increase in sales. Case and point, Miley Cyrus.

Harold Mansfield
07-31-2015, 02:29 PM
Copying what successful people do is the way to approach anything in my opinion. Obviously, you need to use your own experience too but, generally, someone who has been there and done that usually has the best advice. People like Grant Cardone and Gary have more cadance with me then what you are posting on here.
We're also in the same business. I'm not discounting what you're saying as wrong. Of course we all learn from others who've gone before us. But there comes a time when you have to be able to apply those things successfully for it to have any credibility. Not merely re-posting what people say works. You need to be able to prove that it works or doesn't.

There comes a time when you have to be the authority, you have to have your own strategies and real world successes and know when to apply them based the situation. Everything doesn't work for every one in every instance.


If you look at any failing company, their main issue is getting attention. Actually negative attention is positive in my opinion. But, yes, getting a potential clients attention during the time they want to purchase is important. That's why i am attempting to put my information and content everywhere so they'll at least see it when the time comes. Most importantly, I think you should place the content where your potential clients are.

But self promotion on other people's website is not an effective strategy. It's seen as spamming. I use the phrase "get in where you fit in". There are plenty of places where you can promote your articles and knowledge. Merely dropping by a forum and pasting an article is not marketing or credible promotion of your skills.

The main thing is that this isn't a forum for self promotion. It's not here for you to market yourself to the following that the forum owner has taken the time to build for his business. It's here for people to get help, and discuss with like minded people. You don't need to link drop all over the place to get attention, at least not here. People can see when you're knowledgeable just by your comments and interaction.

This is my critique of your approach and honestly I only let it stay because it's an interesting discussion and I think it's helpful for others.

But you aren't carefully evaluating the best approach based on the medium. You're just bull dogging your content everywhere and hoping something sticks.


This is simply not true. Look anywhere where there has been negative attention, you'll see an increase in sales. Case and point, Miley Cyrus.

You're not Miley Cyrus nor are you an entertainer, in that industry, and your target market isn't 12 year old girls. You also don't have the resources and marketing team that she does so emulating her is not the best approach for your business.

I get what you're saying, but you need understand how to apply things in a way that is good for your business. Not what's good for someone elses. When you're on TV, Radio, and have 12 million Twitter followers maybe Miley Cyrus' approach will work for you, but probably not. Because you're not Miley Cyrus.

Freelancier
08-01-2015, 04:25 PM
If you look at any failing company, their main issue is getting attention.
Nope. That's not it at all. You can get a lot of bad attention and fail. You can get a lot of good attention and fail. The common denominator of failed companies is: lack of cash. You can have lots of sales, but if your expenses are too high, you run out of cash. You can have no sales because of negative attention and run out of cash. Business success and failure always comes down to the money. Good marketing -- NOT good attention, but good marketing -- is helpful to maybe getting sales, but the bottom line is that you better have your best paying customers in mind when you do your marketing.

You can spend $100K trying to blast to everyone or $5K targeting your best audience with a message tuned to their needs/wants... which is the smarter approach for a new business? For most new businesses, it's the latter approach.

veritasvisions
08-02-2015, 03:31 AM
Nope. That's not it at all. You can get a lot of bad attention and fail. You can get a lot of good attention and fail. The common denominator of failed companies is: lack of cash. You can have lots of sales, but if your expenses are too high, you run out of cash. You can have no sales because of negative attention and run out of cash. Business success and failure always comes down to the money. Good marketing -- NOT good attention, but good marketing -- is helpful to maybe getting sales, but the bottom line is that you better have your best paying customers in mind when you do your marketing.

You can spend $100K trying to blast to everyone or $5K targeting your best audience with a message tuned to their needs/wants... which is the smarter approach for a new business? For most new businesses, it's the latter approach. Lack of cash is due to lack of attention. Good marketing helps but that is only so limited. Getting attention means everything. Let me give you an example in my own business. I have a telemarketing team that calls on businesses to get appointments. That's an example of getting attention. I follow up with some of these business owners 5-12 times a piece, that is getting attention. That has nothing to do with marketing or saying the right things. It has everything to do with me getting their attention on a consistent basis. I sold over 120 websites without even a website of my own. I got a 32k project after following up 18 times. Where does the marketing come into play with those projects? Again, Grant Cardone is a man who built his entire business helping other businesses get more revenue and sales and he says the main focus of any company should be attention. Unless you have a 100 million dollar company, i will defer to his judgement and the judgement of my own experience.

Harold Mansfield
08-02-2015, 11:24 AM
Lack of cash is due to lack of attention. Good marketing helps but that is only so limited. Getting attention means everything. Let me give you an example in my own business. I have a telemarketing team that calls on businesses to get appointments. That's an example of getting attention. I follow up with some of these business owners 5-12 times a piece, that is getting attention. That has nothing to do with marketing or saying the right things. It has everything to do with me getting their attention on a consistent basis.
To a business owner that's called being annoying, which is burning leads. And yeah, it is all about saying the right things. When you are knowledgeable, have good customer service skills you don't have to work so hard to close them. You make them want to do business with you. They don't have to be convinced with 12 phone calls. You also don't have business owners telling their peers about you or leaving bad reviews online because you annoyed the crap out of them.

I used to work on a phone room and I know salesmen like that. Problem with them is that they burned more leads than everyone else, and didn't bring in more money when you compared the cost of their closing ratio to everyone else. Yes, they made themselves money, but they cost the company more money than anyone else. That's great if you're an employee. That's not great if you're the boss and are paying $60 a lead and up and your other employees aren't burning through them.

No matter how many times you call people you can't make them want your services or be ready to buy. I used to sell, sell, sell, and then I realized that I was exerting a lot of wasted energy, and acquiring customers out of the target market that I wanted. Today I've based my marketing on bringing them to me when they are ready to buy and just closing them. Not constantly selling. Of course I sell when it's appropriate, and larger projects require it.

For me that works and I have no problem keeping the phone ringing.


I sold over 120 websites without even a website of my own. I got a 32k project after following up 18 times. Where does the marketing come into play with those projects? Again, Grant Cardone is a man who built his entire business helping other businesses get more revenue and sales and he says the main focus of any company should be attention. Unless you have a 100 million dollar company, i will defer to his judgement and the judgement of my own experience.
I'm certainly not discounting the benefits of following up on a lead. Of course we all do that. But there is negative attention. It's great that you got a $32k gig, but how many potential ones have you lost because you don't think negative impressions matter and have turned people off?

There is a fine line between sales and annoying people. For some calling people 18 times is worth it if you get one of them. For me burning a lead is not an option. My goal is to close everyone I talk to. Whether it be that day, or next week. I'd rather lose 2 out of 10, than only get 2 out of 10.

No one says you have to do what I or anyone else does just because we're giving you our opinion and experience of what works for us. If that works for you, by all means keep doing it. Just please don't call me 18 times for appointment setting services. I get enough of those from India every week.

veritasvisions
08-02-2015, 01:18 PM
No matter how many times you call people you can't make them want your services or be ready to buy. I used to sell, sell, sell, and then I realized that I was exerting a lot of wasted energy, and acquiring customers out of the target market that I wanted. Today I've based my marketing on bringing them to me when they are ready to buy and just closing them. Not constantly selling. Of course I sell when it's appropriate, and larger projects require it. Yes you follow up in a non aggressive and non annoying way until the Owner is ready. In most cases, a business owner won't trust you unless you ARE persistent. In some cases, it takes A LOT of persistence. You saying this Harold makes me believe you are losing out on sales because you are AFRAID of annoying people. I don't push people but the thought of annoying people doesn't even cross my mind. The thought of someone not liking me because i was persistent does not even cross my mind. Those thoughts create a lack of success in my opinion. The owner i followed up with 18 times was not annoyed and i have a great relationship with him. From what you are saying though, i am very sure you wouldnt have followed up with him more then 3 times, therefore, losing the sale because you didn't want to "annoy" him. Marketing is great, getting people to call you is great, but if you want complete control over your company and how many leads you get, you have to make calls. Webinars work gret too and close you a ton of sales. Partnerships are great too. I currently have a partnership that sends me 2-5 leads a week. However, saying not to follow up and that people should worry about being annoying is simply the wrong advice. Of course, you respect peoples wishes and back off when they say. I had a friend who owned a car dealership and recently closed it because he didnt make enough sales. I used to tell him all the time, follow up with people and have all your sales people make a ton of cold calls, you know what he said? "i don't like to annoy people"

Harold Mansfield
08-02-2015, 01:54 PM
Yes you follow up in a non aggressive and non annoying way until the Owner is ready. In most cases, a business owner won't trust you unless you ARE persistent.
Where do you get these theories from? That is not true in "most" cases.


In some cases, it takes A LOT of persistence. You saying this Harold makes me believe you are losing out on sales because you are AFRAID of annoying people.
Believe what you want based on your 5 minutes of knowledge about me, but "afraid" has nothing to do with it. You're talking to a military veteran, who grew up in Detroit and spent 20 very successful years in the most demanding, and competitive customer service positions in 2 of the busiest cities in the world. I think it's safe to say that it's possible that I may have learned a few things about it.



I don't push people but the thought of annoying people doesn't even cross my mind. The thought of someone not liking me because i was persistent does not even cross my mind. Those thoughts create a lack of success in my opinion.
If you aren't aware of the perception people have of you and when to customize your approach based on what they respond to then you're just bulldozing everyone until you get a bite. Maybe that works with your web design clients. It doesn't work with my target audience.

And that's the main point. Your clients aren't my clients and your business isn't my business. We don't do the same thing. Neither of us needs approval from the other.

I just find your theories that there is no such thing as negative attention, it doesn't matter if people find you annoying, and who cares how many leads you burn or how much money you lose because of it...pretty fascinating.

I'm just wondering how sustainable that is today.


The owner i followed up with 18 times was not annoyed and i have a great relationship with him. From what you are saying though, i am very sure you wouldnt have followed up with him more then 3 times, therefore, losing the sale because you didn't want to "annoy" him. Marketing is great, getting people to call you is great, but if you want complete control over your company and how many leads you get, you have to make calls. Webinars work gret too and close you a ton of sales. Partnerships are great too. I currently have a partnership that sends me 2-5 leads a week. However, saying not to follow up and that people should worry about being annoying is simply the wrong advice. Of course, you respect peoples wishes and back off when they say. I had a friend who owned a car dealership and recently closed it because he didnt make enough sales. I used to tell him all the time, follow up with people and have all your sales people make a ton of cold calls, you know what he said? "i don't like to annoy people"


You're not getting it. But that's OK, keep doing what works for you.

veritasvisions
08-02-2015, 04:00 PM
I agree with you on a lot of points. Maybe we are misunderstanding each other. And I dont mean to disrespect you.

jamesray50
08-02-2015, 04:50 PM
I didn't even read your post. I thought you were going to ask a question.

turboguy
08-02-2015, 05:17 PM
If I find someone to be annoying I would not buy from them even if I really wanted what they were selling. I am fine with someone who follows up well and I can deal with a little persistence but I do get some that are annoying and that totally turns me off. I just had an episode Friday with a representative that I was at least giving some thought to doing business with. In fact I posted here about what they offered. After the rude arrogant person I talked to from their firm Friday I will never do business with them.

I don't think annoying is a good sales tactic.

Harold Mansfield
08-02-2015, 05:41 PM
I agree with you on a lot of points. Maybe we are misunderstanding each other. And I don't mean to disrespect you.

I too agree with you when it comes to hard core sales. I'm just not sure our business can sustain that kind of approach these days like it could back when we were the only game in town.
No disrespect taken. We're just both stating our case.

veritasvisions
08-02-2015, 06:03 PM
No one says you have to do what I or anyone else does just because we're giving you our opinion and experience of what works for us. If that works for you, by all means keep doing it. Just please don't call me 18 times for appointment setting services. I get enough of those from India every week. lol, i am not saying to be annoying. I am saying be pleasantly persistnet. This is common in the b2b market to not get a sale on the first or even the fourth attempt.

veritasvisions
08-02-2015, 06:17 PM
Inbound marketing is ideal. Getting leads calling you is ideal. But, in my humble opinion, nothing works better then making phone calls and being persistent "in the right way". I have some high profile clients, one in particular took 2 years of persistence to gain. Unless you have the marketing profile of a rockstar and have a 100 million dollar business, that's what it takes to get those clients.

Harold Mansfield
08-02-2015, 06:43 PM
...and have a 100 million dollar business, that's what it takes to get those clients.

You keep saying this as if no other methods are viable or credible if they don't come from someone with a $100 million business.
There is more than one way to do things. Great that you love your guy and want to emulate him and apply his business strategy (whatever business he's in) to yours, but other people know stuff too.

Don't mistake money for credibility, and know how to apply tips and strategies that are appropriate to your business and target audience. Not just cram square pegs into round holes because some says it works for them.

Also, NO ONE ever reveals all the fine details of their marketing success and many people tend to make things sound easy AFTER they've made it and are selling something. But very few get down to the nitty gritty of the small details that are important to know for someone just starting out without the same resources.