Pirates are doing some robbing with this movie.....but it ain't Capt'n Jack Sparrow taking your money!
I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean on Saturday night with my kids and a neighbourhood kid and was robbed of a bit over $50 at the door.
How they can charge for this piece of rubbish is beyond me. I loved the first 2 Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
But this one is simply appalling. It's like they thought "This one can't fail - let's serve up the biggest load of garbage possible and see if anyone notices."
Pirates Smashes Box Office Records
Don't see Pirates of the Caribbean - but most people will because they've seen the first 2. With more huge takings at the box office all we've done is give the green light to another rubbish Pirates of the Caribbean movie in a few years!
The marketing message? It's the expectation you sometimes sell - not the actual product itself.
Some guy who sells cosmetics is sendingParis Hilton some free products. She probably won't even get them.
Just Mention Paris
But he doesn't care - he got what he wanted by mentioning her name: a bit of media coverage from a media so celebrity obsessed that they'll print any stuff that mentions Ms Hilton.
Appalling - but a great example that a good quality story has a great chance of getting some publicity.....Because if this stupid story gets a run just about anything can get a run.
eMarketer reports that men are online more often, but women stay longer.
Women ages 18 to 34 account for 27% more of total time spent online in the UK than men their same age, according to Nielsen//NetRatings data released in May 2007.
The ONS data indicate that despite the frequency of their online visits, men do not spend as much time during those visits as women.
I gave a speech to a Chamber of Commerce group recently and after the speech I wrote to the brilliant organiser (Lindsey) and said "Thanks for being so helpful."
We'd been taking about the beautiful De Bortoli Noble One wine (De Bortoli wines donated 2 bottles of wine to me as the speaker), so as a "Thank you" I sent Lindsey a bottle of that.
In my speech I talked about ugg bootsand made a few jokes about them.
I sent up Lindsey a pair of nice boots as a donation for the next business meeting - they draw a few lucky door prizes and hold a fundraising raffle each meeting.
I mentioned the boots were a donation in my letter to Lindsey.
A few days later I got an email from Lindsey thanking me for the wine and saying how great the ugg boots were and how well they fitted!
She's Taken The Uggs For Herself!
"Fair enough" I thought. She's taken them for herself!
Sure enough, on Monday I received another email from a rather embarrassed Lindsey to let me know when she went to throw out the box she saw the letter in the bottom - she read it and was mortified to see she'd taken the boots for herself inadvertently!
Now Lindsey Has A Story
Lindsey emailed me a thousand apologies!
We just shot Lindsey up another pair of ugg boots to use as a lucky door prize at her next function - or so she says ;o)
All that's great for Lindsey because now she has an interesting story to tell about how she got her ugg boots. She has an interesting story to tell about how she got the donated pair of ugg boots.
And I'll get a strong mention to 150 or so businesspeople because of that story about ugg boots.
Everyone Loves A Story
Everyone loves a story.
What's the story about your business?
What is it about your business that makes it interesting enough to talk about?
If you don't have something, then you need to find something.
Right now, that blog post appears on the 1st page of results when someone types in "miss universe pageant" on Google. That could give me thousands of visitors.
That is one very powerful bit of knowledge. Don't say I don't give you good stuff!
The Miss Universe pageant is shortly to be won (Monday night US time) with a bunch of beautiful women vying for the coveted crown.
Update: Miss Japan won. She is a beautiful Miss Universe. I love seeing how the Miss Universe pageant has evolved - from being simply a beauty contest to helping to raise awareness of a range of important issues.
Although that didn't stop Miss Sweden from withdrawing from the pageant for what she saw as a pageant portraying women badly.
I must say that these pageants seem to have taken a step forward in terms of not being just about beauty - the women who enter seem to be great quality people with a bit to contribute to their communities and the larger world.
Australia's Kimberley Busteed is in the running but, as beautiful as she is, my money is on the South American women.
And in case you think I've gone completely insane (and off topic) with this post, I've written this for a good reason. Remember, test, testing, testing!
I'll let you know how this Miss Universe pageant post goes.
"I liked his ability to link humorous stories with usable message.
Particularly enjoyed self effacing style - believe most attractive to an audience who expect consultants to present with heads slightly wider than average."
Feedback From Seminar
"Brendon's presentation was intelligent & easy to understand, just enough to tell me he is experienced & streetwise in the art of Internet marketing & may be able to help increase my business off the Internet."
"The simplicity of the information which was delivered in plain English in an easy to understand format."
"Very down to earth and real. Gave some great info that most people won't tell you - refreshingly simple and to the point."
A Simple Point
Not many people get feedback on what they do. Here's why I always get feedback from what I do............it's because I ask.
I ask for feedback after speeches, seminars and the like. And I make it as easy as possible (usually via a simple online survey) to give that feedback.
Surveys can often provide you with fantastic information and help you be the best you can be.
Developing the right content for your web site can sometimes be a tricky business. After all, you can never be sure of what your visitors want to read.
Or can you?
I always say that my biggest strength is that I don't know much at all. And it's true.
The Only Thing I Can Do
It's very rare that I know what my client's target market will want to read or learn about on the client's site. Because I accept I don't know I do the only thing I really can do - I ask the target market exactly what they want on the site.
Doing a survey of your target market is a very basic and simple way to establish what content needs to go onto your web site - try One Minute Poll for an excellent survey tool we use.
Now even though you have no idea what to put on your site, you soon will.
In a post a couple of weeks ago I mentioned LA Weight Loss - a weight loss company here in Australia whose US parent uses celebrities to help promote the brand.
I must be the kiss of death because LA Weight Loss have just closed their doors here in Queensland without notice. There is an open letter to LA Weight Loss clients here for more info.
I wonder how much assistance the US LA Weight Loss parent gives the Australian franchise owners?
Perhaps the 2 markets are just so different that some of the marketing aspects are simply not relevant here?
It's a good lesson that what works in one market doesn't always work in other markets.
Good information - but it reminds me of a time about 12 years ago when a local basketball official breathlessly told me that "Basketball was the fastest growing (by %) game in Australia."
Mmmmmm.
It was easy to be that.
About 12 kids played basketball then. Get another 12 kids playing and you have 100% growth.
Football might only have 10% growth.......but 10% of 200,000 is a whole lot more than 100% of 12.
Just because a term is one of the fastest growing doesn't mean it gets a lot of searches (or maybe these numbers are based on search numbers and not percentages??).
Here's proof that a petitie 16 yo girl (my daughter Laura) can lift an 85 kg man all by herself.
I'm running the Gold Coast Marathon in a few weeks time, our boys (Jack and Harry) are running the 10 km race and Mel (my wife) and Laura (our daughter) are volunteering at drinks stations.
This story appeared in one of the local papers today. The photo was taken about 1 second before they dropped me!
Here's the same video from yesterday - Mel drawing the prize - but this time the video is encoded as Flash and uploaded to a groovy little player we just purchased.
Clive is a old colleague of mine who is also a runner - he even turned up for a meeting this morning wearing his "Finisher" shirt from last year's Gold Coast Marathon (I think he's telling me I need to start training - after all, the race is only 5 or so weeks away).
The idea is that if you are looking for fundraising ideas - specifically someone to sponsor you - then you register with SponsorMe and create a page where your mates can go and sponsor you direct.
Sure beats taking a dog-eared sponsorship sheet with you everwhere.
After our recent seminar we sent out an online survey to attendees to get some feedback on how we did. The incentive for doing the survey was you'd go in the draw to win a .com.au domain name for 2 years.
One industry I've always felt needed a shake up has been the real estate industry. It's never made sense to me that for such a major purchase (hundreds of thousands of $$) the buyer trusts (to an extent) the seller (real estate agent).
We've had instances here on the Gold Coast where the real estate developers fly people in from interstate, show them a couple of units, sell them one at a hugely inflated price and fly them back out again.
My brother recently used a buyers agent on the Sunshine Coast here in Australia and saved himself a ton of time, money and hassle.
Instead of having to search for the property himself (and try and assess local areas on the unfamiliar Sunshine Coast) he had the buyers agent do all of that for a fee.
Buyers agents on the Sunshine Coast and elsewhere will review the area, find suitable houses, negotiate the sale and do a lot more.
Most importantly the buyers agent acts in the buyers interest and doesn't fall for any nonsense dished out by the Real Estate Agent.
Something like 87% of people will research major items online prior to buying them. The Internet has opened up a lot of industries - including Real Estate - and I'd love to see the buyers agent become more prevalent.
I did a speech on Friday last week to 150 guys and gals from the BeenleighYatala Chamber of Commerce about 60 kms up the road from the office.
Beenleigh was famous for its beautiful rum for over 100 years.
This very vibrant and energetic group of local businesspeople meet every month or so to eat breakfast, listen to a speaker and generally shoot the breeze.
It would have been the biggest and the best Chamber of Commerce I've ever spoken to.
Took A Risk On An Unknown
I was a bit of a fill-in as the speaker. I think the organiser (Lindsey) took a bit of a risk by getting in someone she'd never heard of before (me) to give the speech.
It's a lot of pressure for the organiser - the speaker can very easily completely destroy the morning and with only 1 meeting a month that can impact on your membership numbers if it happens too many times in a row.
Some Nice Positive Feedback
Lindsey was kind enough to provide some feedback today where she said I did okay. And whilst I believe Lindsey, I'm always a little hesitant to believe positive feedback.
You see, when I was the marketing manager of a large hospital we ran a survey in our Emergency Department.
One of the questions was "How did you hear of our Emergency Department?"
Something like 12% heard of us through our TV........... unfortunately we'd never ever run a TV ad!
People lie. Click play on the clip below for more.
Avoid The Rip Offs - A Little Research Can Save You $$$
I have a client who is launching a web site that deals with a machine called a turret punch press. My client sells these very expensive machines and has been working hard on getting content on the site (the site isn't quite ready to launch as yet).
Today he submitted the web site to a local directory and, within 1 minute, received a phone call from a salesperson trying to sell him a complete package for his ad on that directory.
For close on $1,000 he could have the top link on the page he submitted to and they mentioned he'd be on a page that gets a solid ranking for turret punch press - that's the term he wants to be found for.
My client asked me if this was good value for money.
My reply was, "Not in a million years!"
Let's take a look. SEOBook stats tell us that turret punch press is searched for so few times that it doesn't even register.
Which means that with just a little effort - such as a blog post like this :0) - his sheet metal web site will get a decent ranking for the term turret punch press.
30 seconds of researchh tells me that spending $1,000 with this directory web site would have been an enormous waste.
Business is all about getting (and giving) great value for money. Just a little research can make the difference between success and failure.
Why You MUST Give Enough Info For A Decision To Be Made
As marketers, what we try and do is find out what people want and then give it to them.
In order to get people to buy our stuff, whatever our 'stuff' may be, we have to identify what their "choice influences" are.
On many occasions one of the major choice influences will be price. As you'd expect it to be.
I've been checking out a new stats package today called Clicky.
Now Clicky sounds quite good but the web site is driving me nuts. After 10 minutes of searching I cannot find out how much they charge for the service (you sign up and get a free 21 day trial - that's what I've done) and I'm getting bloody annoyed!
Let Me Do A Cost/Benefit Analysis
Just tell me how much, you idiots, so I can see whether it's worth downloading, inserting into my site and trialling. That way I can do a Cost/Benefit analysis.
By that I mean I can tell if it's worth the hassle of trialling (and you do what people trialling your product).
Whilst it might sound impressive getting 10,000 people trialling the product, that is a waste if they're not your target market (and by target market I mean people willing to pay for a statistcis package).
Give Me The Information I Need
And then you have people like me who are prepared to pay for good stats but I don't get the information that will help me make an initial trialling decision.
I have no doubt thaClicky are trying to get people to trial the product in an effort to get them to see that it's fantastic and well worth paying for.
But I really think they need to detail the price - that'll mean less trials but it will mean more trials by people who are more likely to convert to paying customers.
I walked into the office the other day and I just knew something was different with the front glass door. And there was.
You see, someone has attached a sticker to the top of the door during the night. Here's the sticker:
"That's a bit cheeky," I thought.
Slipped under the door was a promotional letter with this bit at the bottom:
Yep, it reads:
"Thankyou for allowing us to place a sticker on your window and becoming part of Aussie Emergency Glass V.I.P club if for any reason yo do not want the sticker on the window please simply peel it off."
That's such terrible marketing:
interrupting the day of someone who isn't even your target market - I don't own the building and wouldn't be the one making the decision on who to use if glass is broken,
assume it's okay to put the sticker on my door, and
having a letter written with terrible grammar.
What You Should Do
What you should do is what Seth Godin calls permission based marketing.
That is, give the prospect the information they want when they request it. For example, a newsletter that someone subscribes to is permission marketing.
Don't annoy people with your marketing - it's the worst thing you can do.
Our very first seminar - Home Business Success Made Easy (what a cheesy title!) - was held last night and I think the participants enjoyed the night and found the information very useful.
I was talking with Dan, one of our clients who came along who has an online backup web site, he was saying one of the frustrations for an online data backup site like his is that your competition is worldwide (but so is your market I guess!) and it can be difficult to educate people on the value of what you offer - Dan does offer a free online backup trial.
For example, Dan's backup is a little more expensive than some of the cheaper options available, but the service from Dan and the quality of backup means you can sleep easy at night.
Great product, great service -the hard bit, like always, is getting your site in front of your target market.
Experience Is Invaluable
It's great to have done the seminar - there are a ton of things we can do better next time but our initial survey returns tell us people found the information very useful.
Cheers
Brendon
P.S: We did video but I haven't had a chance to check the quality as yet. If it's good enough we'll edit and provide to people wishing to view the seminar. Thanks.
Weight Loss Albury or Whoopi Golberg - What Works?
One of the more competitive industries on the web is the weight loss industry.
We've all been bombarded with emails offering the latest cure for being overweight - with about 50% of people overweight, it's a pretty big market.
But what makes the difference with weight loss marketing online? Do you do a supportive non-selling page like this weight loss in Albury page (here's the site map page).
Does the local mention of Albury make a difference for people in that medium sized Australian town who are searching for the best weight loss solution?
Use A Celebrity?
Or do you use a celebrity and a very specific target page like LA Weight Loss does?
The Answer Is.....
The answer, like always, is testing. Test, test, test.
Use an analytics package on your site to measure where your visitors are coming from and what they are doing once they're there.
If they're not doing what you want then it's time to change your strategy (so you have to measure).
Our simple 2-hour seminar that will show you the basics of making money from home is all booked in for tomorrow night at 7 pm.
If you're at all interested in learning how we've generate sales of $10,000, $20,000 and $30,000 per day from web sites then come along for an action packed 2 hours.
We'll show you exactly how we did it, and how you can too.
We'll also show you how we make up to $260 US per day from a site that doesn't even sell a thing!
When we went to register her domain name (a .com.au) we needed the clients ABN (a business number). Because she didn't have an ABN we weren't able to progress in the purchasing process.
I rang the domain name registrar and mentioned the client didn't have an ABN so how could we register her domain name. The support guy said "Just provide your own ABN - it won't matter."
So we did that to make it as easy as possible for everyone involved. The domain name was registered entirely in the client's name - it just had our ABN.
Then I Was Away For A Few Days
About a week later I went away for a few days. It was at this time Anthony started getting emails for the client demanding to know why we'd registered her domain name in our own name.
Anthony had no idea why. When he rang me I had no idea why either - I remembered that we registered the domain name in her own name.
Anyhoo, we changed the ownership details 3 times but each time they simply revert back to showing us as owning the domain.
The client was, as you would be, rather angry at our perceived sneaking attempt to steal her domain name.
The client then lost complete trust with us and went elsewhere with her site design.
3 Days Later We Figured It Out
It was a few days - and quite a few hours - before we figured out why the domain name was continually showing as us as the owner.
When we provided our ABN number for the domain to make the process easier, it turns out it did matter.
You see, what happens is that the ABN number is cross-referenced to the business name and by default, that over-rides any and all information we manually input into the domain registrar.
As soon as we took out the ABN the domain showed the client as the owner.
It was one of those "D'oh!" moments.
The Lesson
It was a good lesson for us to show that you always need to do things by the book with aspects like domain name registration because in this cynical world it can be easy for the client to lose faith.
And when that happens you lose a good client. We all know business is hard enough without doing that.
I've had quite a number of people ask me if we can record the seminar - that's a great idea and something I'm trying to organise now. I'd like to get it professionally shot by a camera crew - trying to get the right people.
Will let you know how we go.
Lots Of Public Speaking
I do quite a bit of public speaking to University classes, business groups and schools - below is me in action at a small business conference last year in beautiful Byron Bay.
I'm talking about the importance of getting the right information ......and how sometimes people lie.
Wardrobes Gold Coast Review - Beating The Goliaths Online
I'm currently looking for a business to provide a built in wardrobe at home here on the Gold Coast. Aside from the built in wardrobe, I'm also after a bit of a desk and cupboards fixture for the study.
Because I'm on the web so much, I tend to do my research online - so the first thing I searched for was wardrobes Gold Coast.
Then I thought - it's all about local search for this stuff. Small local businesses don't need a huge web site and thousands upon thousands spent on marketing if they're targeting local customers.
Searches For Wardrobes Gold Coast Are Far Better Because They're Targeted
For example, it's a lot easier to get a search engine ranking in Google for "wardrobes Gold Coast" than "wardrobes". Sure, there aren't as many searches for wardrobes Gold Coast, but the searches that are done are local and very targeted.
We talked below how people like to deal with sites that are close to them - for example, UK searchers tend to visit .co.uk sites because they believe the site will be more relevant.
So a couple of ways to assist the visitor perception that you are local is with:
relevant domain name (i.e. if you target customers in the UK then have a .co.uk domain name)
quote prices in the currency of the target market - if you target USA customers then charge in US $
Pretty logical stuff that helps remove barriers to making the sale.
But what if you're not actually in the same country as the market you are targeting?
No problem - you can register a domain name with any extension (.com, .com.au, .co.uk, etc) without a problem.
You can charge in any currency you like.
Most visitors would have no idea.
How To Get A 'Local' Telephone Number
One area that used to be a little more difficult is having a local contact phone number.
After all, if the site visitor looks at your contact details and sees an Australian phone number when he feels more comfortable with American sites, then that might cost you the sale.
Skype Has An Easy Solution
A very easy way to get around this is to create a Skype account (it's an excellent Voice Over IP audio system that lets you call other Skype users for free from your computer and, for very low rates, you can call normal phone numbers).
Once you have an account you can buy a phone number from a large number of countries.
Cost is just $16 AUD for 3 months, or $50 AUD for 12 months.
We have a US number - when someone in the US calls the number, it rings on my computer and I answer by pressing a button on the screen and speaking via my headset mic.
Quality Not Great - Easy Solution
With the crappy broadband we have here in Australia the call quality isn't great. I generally get around that by having the messages going to voicemail and then calling the person back on a landline.
So now you have a .co.uk domain name from 123-reg, you charge in UK £ and you have a UK phone number.
Total cost is about $60 Australian ($50 US) pa - $10 for the domain name and $50 for the Skype number.
Seminar Numbers Filling Fast For Home Business Seminar
Our seminar on May 16 at 7 pm (runs for 2 hours) is filling fast - I may have to upgrade the room shortly.
The number of people I was aiming for has already been met, so registrations are chugging along nicely.
Anthony and I have been planning out the program in detail and we've got some great ideas and actions that people can take to build there business very easily.
It is a 2 hour seminar that will teach you:
How to get a web site for free
How to make loads of money without actually selling anything
The 3 things every web site must have
How to market your web site
The perfect visitor for your web site - How to find and attract them
How to make money from other people's web sites
How to make easy money generating leads for dozens of online companies
I've been giving more thought to this credibility issue I discussed below.
As regular readers might know, in my deep dark past I was a nursing sister/male nurse (that's me below). I was talking with an old nursing colleague the other day and we were talking about why it's such a trusted occupation. That's easy - essentially nurses put their own health and well being on the line each and every day.
That lady in 3A with the high temperature, rash and vomiting - she could have anything and she could be passing it onto you.
That confused old guy in 5B - yep, the one recovering from a Gastrectomy (had his stomach removed). Will he punch you in the head again when you go in to check his condition?
That drug-addled 18 year old in Emergency - the one going off his head, screaming, shouting and swearing - was that his used syringe that just jabbed you?
There Is No More Selfless Job Than Nursing
There is simply no more selfless job than nursing. It's a tough, hard and draining job (both physically and mentally) where the pay isn't great and the hours are terrible.
You see and do stuff that, even now 10 years after I left nursing, I still can't believe I saw or did. I'm like everyone else now saying "There is no way I could ever do THAT!"
A Nice Change Of Pace
It was a nice change of pace when I started my own business (I'd ended up marketing hospitals).
I did kind of get back into the medical field when we started this eczema treatment site. But selling eczema products is a lot easier than the easiest day nursing.
Getting Trust Is Easy
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that getting trusted is easy - you just have to take a sincere interest in someone else's well-being.
You see, nurses aren't doing it for the money - no amount of money is enough for some of the things I did. They do it because they care.
There is simply no other explanation. So we trust them almost absolutely.
Sure we can back our business offers up with testimonials and Awards and guarantees and the like - but people will know in an instant if you're in it to help them or mostly yourself.
I buy a lot of the photos I use on this site from istockphoto - an excellent site with many thousands of photos.
You sign up for an account and search for the photo you want - most cost (depending on use) about $1.50 to use. It is truly a brilliant service with great photos.
When I purchased the photo I used in the post below I noticed something during the checkout process that almost made me stop buying. You see, the process works like this:
I login
I search for the photo
I find a suitable photo
I click on the photo and am taken to the download page
I click download
My account is debited 1 credit (if I buy the smallest photo) and everyone's happy.
But during the process - just before I hit the download button to finish the sale - the istockphoto team have put in what may well be a sale killer. They gave me an option.
As you can see I could download the image (1) or look at more images (2).
That's not wise, I don't think, to give me options when I've already strongly indicated I want to buy (I've clicked on the photo after all) and am just about to complete the sale.
Why give me more choices now - I've essentially already bought.
Only 3 Things Can Now Happen
The 3 things that might happen now are:
I'll continue on and make my purchase
I'll look at the other photos and select something else
I'll look at the other photos, decide I don't really like any and logout
So the only thing that can happen is things stay the same (make a sale) or istockphoto lose the sale.
When someone has indicated they are ready to buy and are about to buy shut the hell up and get out of the way!
I've long known the importance of targeting your marketing with the right stuff - this was driven home to me on one of the 1st web sites we worked on years ago.
The client had a web site for a year and a bit targeting US customers. The site seemed fine, was getting plenty of visitors, but just wasn't making any sales.
2 Sales in 16 Months
He'd made something like 2 sales in 16 months.
The first thing we did was change the $ to US (he had been quoting his prices in Australian $) - the sales started about an hour later.
Users Want Local Sites
I've just read some research (that I can't find anywhere - if anyone has the link to the research please shoot it through to brendon@tailored.com.au - cheers) that said that 60% of users in the UK will click on the .co.uk site (denoting it's a site in the UK) within search results because they assume that site will be more relevant to them.
London's Tower Bridge
People want the best and most relevant information - if you have a site selling to the UK then that means a .co.uk domain and you need to sell in English pounds.
If you're targeting US customers then it's a .com and US $.
Think about it - if you were searching for information about the Tower Bridge in London, would you be more likely to click on:
www.bridgeinfo.co.uk
www.bridgeinfo.com
You would most likely, like the majority of people, click on the .co.uk under the assumption that because it's local the information will be more relevant (just like other people click on what they see as local sites when looking to buy online, in the belief that shipping charges and delivery time will both be less).
Where To Get Cheap UK Domain Names
If you're needing a UK domain and/or hosting check out 123-reg - they're the UK's largest domain name registrar, web hosting and email provider.
Localising your site works - people prefer to buy from businesses close to them. Make sure your web site or business presses the right buttons for your target market.
There was a feature article in the local newspaper with a corporate speaker here in Australia called Homer Papantonio.
Homer is a 'corporate imposter' - that is, he gives keynote speeches at conferences pretending to be someone he's not.
It apparently makes for much hilarity when the penny finally drops that the 'expert' delivering the keynote has been poking fun at them during the speech.
Something Homer said during the interview had me nodding my head in agreement:
"If I do a franchise conference I normally come on as a European Franchisor of the Year......they think "This guy's walked the talk, he's done amazing things....and they think you've got the credibility, they think you're the best....
...Even when I have revealed who I am people have come up to me in tears saying 'That talk was life changing.'"
If They Think You Have Credibility, Then You Do
I've seen this with people I've managed over the years - if they think you have credibility what you say is so much more powerful. Even if what gives you the credibility is complete rubbish.
I remember a few years back one of my speaking clients won the "International Entrepreneur of the Year Award."
Turns out the award was created by some wannabe events person with zero credibility - it was basically about as relevant as your mum announcing you as "The Greatest Person Who Ever Lived".
But it sounded good. People believed it. And the 'winner' gets the benefit. (He continues to use it as a marketing tool to this day.)
Like This Trophy To The Left
It's like this trophy to the left - that trophy is from our Reception Desk and most people would look at that and think "Wow, Brendon must be a good golfer!"
But if you look at the inscription it says "Integrated/Tailored Golf Championship - Winner".
The trophy goes to the annual winner of a golf game between my business and my brother's business.
All that trophy means is I'm not such a bad golfer as my brother. It certainly doesn't mean I'm a good golfer!
Here's a very simple and effective form of marketing.
In my city we have a large private University. Scattered around the campus are various apartments blocks, one of which is the one pictured below.
Varsity Towers
With a target market of young, Internet savvy students it makes perfect sense to put up a web site address on the side of the building - that way students looking for accommodation can very quickly and easily assess what Varsity Towers has to offer.
I think a lot of other apartment complexes and office blocks could benefit from the very same strategy. I know the first thing I have always done when looking for a house is drive around the suburb I'd like to be in and see any "To Let" signs.
A web site for each place would be a simple and very effective way to market empty apartments or offices.
Because Peter knows me and has dealt with the business for years he knows us. He knows we know our stuff.
People Probably Won't Believe Us
We got talking about people who don't know us probably won't believe the stuff in the email or letter or ads.
$20,000 per day in sales is beyond the realms of what most people think you can do on the web with a little site - but it's true (actually done that with 4 different sites now).
The $260 per day income I quote without selling a product would also have some sceptical people.
They think there's some sort of trick to that "without selling a product" - but it's one of the most common ways to make money with a web site.
There are no rabbits to pull out of a hat.
How To Get People To Believe Us
The answer to get people to believe us is, of course, by using testimonials. Testimonials reduce the level of perceived risk in dealing with us and is one of the many thing we'll cover at the seminar.
Now, because we've never done a seminar before we don't have any that specifically say "The seminar is great."
Which is a bummer.
What would be the next best is use general testimonials from clients. So here are a few of those:
"Our new website was launched last Thursday and since that time we have been totally inundated with enquiries!
I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean on Saturday night with my kids and a neighbourhood kid and was robbed of a bit over $50 at the door.
Because I'm on the web so much, I tend to do my research online - so the first thing I searched for was wardrobes Gold Coast.
