Welcome to Business Consultant Weekly

Vol. 2 Issue # 25 June 21, 1999

In this issue:

1) Tip of the Week

2) FEATURE ARTICLE: How to COMMUNICATE with Your Visitors by Wanda Loskot

3) CLASSIFIEDS

4) FREE Resources

5) POWERQUOTE

6) MARKETING MINUTE: How to Name a Business, Product or Service by Dr. Michel Fortin, Ph.D.

If you'd like to read previously ran tips and features, go to http://netcheckspayroll.com/newsletter.html

Today's feature article provides us with some terrific examples for developing relationships with our visitors. Encouraging participation and asking for feedback builds a level of confidence that a buyer needs to make a purchase. Here are a few more ideas from Larry Dotson of L.D. Publishing to increase communication with your visitors:

8 Important Things To Ask Your Visitors! (c) 1999 L.D. Publishing by Larry Dotson

1. Ask visitors to bookmark your web site. There are millions of web sites on the internet. Do you think they'll remember to come back to yours?

2. Ask visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. This will remind them visit your web site again and also get your ad in front of them a repeated number of times. This will increase chances of them buying your product or service.

3. Ask visitors to link to your web site. Make sure you give them a good reason to link to your web site. They could offer your freebies to increase their traffic or you will link to their web site in return.

4. Ask visitors to make your web site their start-up page. Only ask them this if your web site is a major online resource or service. Ask yourself if you would honestly make your web site a start-up page.

5. Ask visitors to order your product or service. Your sales will increase by simply asking for the sale. All they can do is say "No".

6. Ask visitors to sign your guest book. You'll get compliments and ideas on how to improve your web site. Get free advertising by sending them a thank you e-mail with your ad included.

7. Ask visitors to give you testimonials after they try out your product or service This will remind your customers to give comments. Using testimonials on your advertisements can skyrocket your sales.

8. Ask visitors to participate on your message board, e-mail discussion group or chat room. When you answer people's questions in these communities you will build yourself as an expert. People will begin to trust you and then eventually buy your product or services.

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Written by Larry Dotson, Owner Of L.D. Publishing. Get 30 FREE Web Site Promotion E-books! Go To: http://www.ldpublishing.com

How to COMMUNICATE with Your Visitors by Wanda Loskot

If you think that your site is effective just because it looks great, it is well organized, loads up fast, and even offers a lot of free information - think again! World wide web is all about communication and remember that effective communication is not about *you* communicating (that's called "talking") but about two parties communicating with each other.

So, how are you doing in the department of communication? And how do you encourage your visitors to communicate with you? Having standard subscription to your e-zine is a good start, but don't think that it is enough.

Why? Because the more visitors communicate with you, the easier it is for you to build a relationship with them. And you know already that it is the relationships that counts - not only how many hits you get, or even how many people click through your site, right?

Here are some of the relation-building sites worth emulating:

* Visit the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and you will be amazed how many ways a website can communicate with visitors to dazzle, to charm, to ask, to entertain - and of course to build a lasting relationship! http://nbc.com/tonightshow

* Drop in to Mama's Cucina <http://www.ragu.com>, Ragu Sauce's site invites you to participate, write stories, list favorite restaurants, share recipes, learn Italian, sign up for grocery giveaway - wow! do you think this can help build them good relationships? And does it help sell more jars of Ragu? You bet!

* And how about another of my favorites http://www.gevalia.com - Guevalia Coffee? It offers visitors not only great coffee and quite awesome dessert recipes. Just for trying their coffee, Guevalia will send you a free coffeemaker. And I mean a really GOOD 10 cup coffeemaker with a melita-type filter!

* Another way to keep people coming back forever is to develop a good, interesting CGI program. One of my favorites you will find at http://speeches.com - a superbly elegant site of David Slack, a speech writer from New Zealand. This sophisticated CGI script will write for you a powerful business introduction speech (or a great letter if you prefer). Free of charge of course. Quite an awesome way to provide value for visitors by getting them involved in communication and at the same time presenting own professional talents!

* You don't need to be that creative with CGI. How about installing your own discussion board? Just like the one on Jim Daniel's site http://www.bizweb2000.com/wwwboard/ It is definitely one of the busiest networking corners on the internet! And you can get even the CGI script for free.

* Meguiar's Car Care <http://www.meguiars.com> offers a car care prescription service. Visitors key in information about their car, key environmental factors, and their level of commitment to car care - in response they are getting a personalized advice how to extend the life of their cars. Do you think they come back and even tell others to visit that site?

* Sears Portrait Studio provides visitors with a whole array of neat stuff. My favorites are personalized letters. Just key in the name of a child, name of the grandmother or other significant adult, add the wish and voila! - in a split second you get a cute personal letter from the Cole, friendly bear or from Santa (depending on season)- http://www.sears-portrait.com/

* Needless to say that if you drop to my own Success Connection at http://loska.com you will have a few opportunities to have fun as well - with weekly MasterMind chats, watching my slide shows, listening to the radio, sending invitations to your friends, or signing up for my on-going coaching give-away.

Of course it takes a lot of work, time and effort, sometimes even some cash to develop a site that communicates like that. But when you think in terms of the life value of your potential customer it makes a lot of sense to go out of your way to make your visitors feel really special, delighted and willing to talk with you.

When you keep charming people like that and when you keep showing them your love and respect (plus of course if you are really good at what you're doing!) many more people than you expect will want to become your customers. Quite likely for a lifetime!

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Wanda Loskot is business coach for self-employed professionals who LOVE what they do but HATE to sell! - register today to win one month of FREE coaching at http://loska.com - also subscribe to her award winning newsletter "Referrals Unlimited" mailto:ru@oaknetpub.com with SUBSCRIBE in the BODY of message

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"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes but they don't quit."

- Conrad Hilton

Questions to Ponder

What direction am I moving today?

When did I last quit after a mistake?

What would happen if I tried again today?

Submitted by Kevin Eikenberry from Powerquotes kevin@discian.com to subscribe http://discian.com/pq.htm

How to Name a Business, Product or Service by Dr. Michel Fortin, Ph.D. In today's world, it is an understatement to say that we are constantly bombarded with information of nuclear proportions. The roles of both the consumer and the entrepreneur have become so immensely challenging that choosing a business to buy from -- let alone being and remaining in business -- has become a dizzying process. Therefore, how does one survive let alone thrive in today's explosive hypercompetitive marketplace?

Unfortunately, many businesses are still marketing themselves with old-style, "knock-until-you-drop" institutional marketing approaches (the kind that says "I'm open for business"). These methods no longer work, or at least not as effectively as they used to. For instance, while some companies successfully generate a good response from their marketing efforts, it is one from which little or no business is produced.

The key is not to advertise that one is "in" business but that one is "the" business of choice. Where people used to ask "Why should I buy this product or service?" today, that question has changed to "Why should I buy this product or service FROM YOU?" Simply put, today's consumer will choose one company over another because the perceived value in their choice is greater.

The world is so full of raw data that people no longer have the time to sift through all the information that is thrown at them -- let alone the time to shop around for the best product from the best company at the best price. They usually make a decision based on the kind of information that instantly communicates a specific benefit; one in which there is an implicit added value in making the purchase.

Generating response from one's marketing is one thing, but getting respondants to actually buy is another. So, how can a company communicate that it is "the" business of choice? How can it give the kind of information that will get people to buy what it has to offer and do so effortlessly, especially in a hypercompetitive world? The answer is through positioning.

TOP-OF-MIND AWARENESS In today's world of hypercompetition, top-of-mind awareness is the most effectively provocative form of marketing now available. The idea is to create, within the subconscious minds of prospects, a psychological "anchor" that causes people to choose, when a need presents itself, a company over another instantaneously. Ultimately, the goal is to market one's business in specific ways so that the name, product, or service stays at the top of their minds at all times. In other words, since people no longer have the time to shop around, when they do have a certain need they will go to (or look for) the company that happens to be at the top of their minds at that very moment.

Ries and Trout, authors of the bestsellers "Positioning" and "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing," state what I believe to be the most powerful notion in the world of business, in that marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products. In fact, marketing is all about perception. You don't need to be the best company offering the best product or service at the best price in order to be the best. As long as people perceive you to be the best, you have the upper hand.

However, here's the caveat. People want the best and that has never changed. But if you outright state that you are you then place yourself in a very fragile position, for people will think that you're either bluffing or exaggerating at best. As an old mentor of mine once said, "Implication is more powerful than specification." If your marketing implies that you are the best without utterly claiming it, people will then perceive you as being the best and you will thus gain a winning edge over your competition. In essence, top-of-mind awareness marketing is to win the battle for your clients' mind and not their money.

Now, there are many steps that one can follow in order to achieve top-of-mind awareness, but this deserves a book entirely on its own. So, let me share one of them with you, which is the first and most important step in top-of-mind awareness marketing: PACKAGING

NAMES Does the name of your business, product, or service intrinsically reflect the result or benefit of that which you provide? It should. I am astounded to see many businesses today that are still called by ordinary or blatantly unappealing names, such as with acronyms like "MGF Technologies, Inc." I agree that some businesses may have notable or even "catchy" names. But if they don't create top-of-mind awareness, they won't create more business.

Consider this example. Which investment company would come immediately to mind if you were in the market for one: "John Smith Investments" or "Wealth Wise, Inc."? What about "John Smith, Accountant" or "A Knack with Knumbers"? Would you choose "JSI Brokers" or "Money Mastery"? You see, your package is extremely important in order to position (or anchor) yourself in the minds of your prospects.

If your name does not tell people who you are and what advantage people have in choosing you (i.e., the added value you bring to the table), consider changing your name, especially to a brand name that reflects the benefits of choosing your firm. Choose a name that communicates your unique competitive edge and does so effectively and efficiently.

Today, with the very limited time people have, many of them would love to skip the inconvenience of searching for that one company that offers exactly what they want. If they've heard of your business and want to know more, many will attempt a to go directly to you even before thinking about searching for the appropriate solution. However, if they did not hear of you, their search will be much more simplified if your name conveys a specific, unique, and direct benefit.

TAG-LINES Another tip is to add tag-lines to your business, product, and service names. A tag-line is a small sentence, preferably 5 words or less, that says all that you are in one single swoop. I'm sure you've heard of "The Midas Touch," "Kills Bugs Dead", "Quality is Job #1," or "You deserve a break today." These are tag-lines and more than likely you know from which company they derive. Tag-lines are extremely effective, particularly in casting an aura of superiority or exclusivity and doing so without stating it outright. They usually complement your business or product name and help to anchor it in people's minds more effectively.

Tag-lines are particularly beneficial when one is small, self-employed, running an home-based business, or limited in making claims due to the type of industry in which one operates. Through a brand name and especially a tag-line, one can create the perception of superiority and anchor him or herself quite effectively in the minds of prospective clients.

Here are some examples. Rather than saying "John Smith, Business Etiquette Consultant," say "John Smith, Where Protocol Meets Profits." Instead of saying "Jane Smith, Graphic Designer," say "Jane Smith, Great Graphics Guaranteed." Other than saying "John Doe, Fashion Consultant," say "John Doe, Flat-Out Fabulous Fashions." You get the picture. Remember that the more top-of-mind awareness it creates, the more simple the search for your business becomes. In other words, think benefits.

For instance, if you were to put two products from two separate companies side by side, two products that are of the same kind, quality, and price, which one would you buy? Naturally, you would have a tendency to choose the one whose package is such that it makes the product appear as if there is more value added to the purchase.

This added value may be in the form of guarantees, lower prices, better quality, additional features, faster results, etc. Essentially, put a special name and possibly a tag-line on your product or service that communicates this added value. If your product seems ordinary or is similar to that of your competitor's, make it extraordinary through its name.

A typical or even nameless product or service may be easier to sell when face-to-face with a consumer. But in the impersonal world of marketing, however, the lack of human interaction takes away the emotional element in the sale as well as the ability to overcome objections. Therefore, a name must communicate that emotion. By doing so, it positions the product or service in the prospect's mind and empowers them to buy.

The object of packaging is not to claim superiority or to make one "look good" but to turn the assumed into the assured in the minds of people (i.e., to make their choice a simpler and more confident one). For instance, most mechanics or garages offer free estimates these days. Not only do people assume that most of them do, they also expect it. This seemingly ordinary service has become but an intellectual cliché.

However, let's say you've heard of a garage offering "Free Fee Finders" or "No Guesstimate Estimates," or one whose tag-line says "Where Estimates and Smiles are Free." Now, if you had to choose a mechanic and do so in a hurry, and you specifically wanted one that offers free estimates, would you go to one you think that offers free estimates or to the one you know that does?

EVERYBODY CAN DO IT This process is amazingly simple yet so remarkably effective. If people don't have to assume that your company, product, or service offers a certain benefit, or in other words if you take the guess work out your prospects' mind, you instantly place yourself head above your competition. You might think this process is a little silly or even meaningless, but people have made fortunes by simply packaging ordinary companies or products -- even those that are identical to that of their competition -- a little differently. Remember the "pet rock"?

In my consulting practice, I hear this "silliness" objection time and time again and especially with doctors. But I say that the above techniques can be applied even in these situations. For instance, a dentist offers traditional general anesthesia and nitrous oxide (laughing gas) sedation in order to make the process of dental work a pleasant and more comfortable experience. Many if not all dentists in her area offer the very same thing. However, she markets it with two simple words: "Dream Dentistry". 'Nuff said.

In essence, in today's hypercompetitive and hyperinformed world, top-of-mind-awareness is probably the best marketing tool now available. Through packaging, an ordinary company, product, or service can become irresistibly compelling. This is what I call "Crazy Glue for the Mind." So, make the ordinary extraordinary. Make yourself outstanding by making yourself stand out!

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Michel Fortin, Ph.D. is THE SUCCESS DOCTOR (tm), an award-winning business development consultant, speaker, copywriter, and marketeer. You may visit his site at http://members.home.net/mfortin. He is the author of many books and articles on sales and marketing. You may obtain a FREE copy of his complete report, "The 10 Commandments of Power Positioning: Magical Marketing Strategies for Creating Endless Streams of New, Repeat, and Referral Business," at mailto:success-doctor@home.com or 613-748-1624.

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