We’re doing a little work for a nursing jobs client – they run a nursing agency here in Queensland.

One of the key things about us developing the web site is that I’m an old nurse – so I know how nurses think.

I know tons of nurses, my wife is a nurse (more than that, she’s the client’s exact target market) and I have access to lots of nursing information.

So when it came to developing the nursing jobs web site, I have a big advantage over web developers who aren’t familiar with how nurses or the health care system works.

Aspects like this make a big difference and can be the difference between a web site working great or the web site working not so well.

Cheers

Brendon

I made a decent sized sale yesterday and here’s how it went down.

This old client and I met up for coffee.

This guy has been a client of mine for years.

We’ve done a little web work, a little marketing.

Yesterday we talked mostly marketing.

I said, “Okay, I’ll do some marketing for you.”

He said, “How much?”

I said, “Hmmmm, no bloody idea really…..how about we make it [insert large number here] each month.”

He said, “Okay.”

I’m not writing up big plans or detailed reports.  There’ll be no intricate market segmentation analysis, nor any timelines.

I’ll just do what I think will work, when I think it will work.

What I Didn’t Sell

I didn’t sell my marketing ideas or web expertise or different thinking ability.

What I Did Sell

All I sold was my reputation.

We’ve worked together before and he trusts me.

So he doesn’t see any risk in buying from me.

And that is pretty much every sale every made.

Pretty much every bit of your marketing should get your prospect to trust you just that little bit more so he feels no risk in buying from you.

Are you doing that?

Cheers

Brendon

(Note: This is from my newsletter I sent out earlier today – thought I’d repost it here as these calls seem to be coming more frequently.)

Don’t Fall For The “I’m From Google” Bullshit

2 emails in a day from me is some sort of record!

But this one is a warning against dodgy people trying to screw you over.

If you’re like me, you’re probably getting calls from people saying they’re from Google.

They’re Not From Google

They’re not – they’re full of it.

Once you get into the conversation (if you ask the right questions) they’ll say they’re an “Official Partner of Google” – every man and his dog is Google’s partner because they buy ads off them!

All these guys are trying to do is screw you over via Google AdWords (Google AdWords are great, just not when someone is screwing you with massive margins).

They’ll generally try and sell you a keyword or 2 that is now “available for just $99 and $299 per month (+ GST)”.

Of course it’s bloody available – anyone can bid on it!

A Client Got Sucked In Last Week

One of our clients got sucked in by one of these calls last week.

He signed up with one of these guys for a “Major keyword that gets lots of searches for $299 per month (+ GST)”.

The keyword gets 33 searches a month and he’ll get 1.6 clicks/visitors per month.

He’s already been bidding on that same term term for over a year (with us managing the account) and paying an average of 64 cents a visitor.

For the next 3 months he’ll be paying $185 per visitor!

(And I’ve just looked at the contract he has with them and unless he gets out within 60 days, then he’s stuck for another 12 months.

That 1 decision to go with these sharks has the potential to cost him $5,000 – for that he gets 24 visitors.

The same 24 visitors he would of gotten anyway for a grand total of just $15,36.)

Don’t get conned by these parasites.  Your money is too hard earned to give you to a smooth talker guy working from a script in a call centre in Sydney.

Cheers

Brendon

Speaking of carpet cleaners on the Gold Coast, our mates at TPC Carpet Care provide a terrific service too.

Like any professional carpet cleaning service, they test things to ensure what they do works.

Bit like a web developer I know who often uses his own web site to test out various things ;o)

The guys at TPC provide carpet cleaning in Tugun, amongst other places and do a mighty fine job at keeping carpets clean and tidy.

Cheers

Brendon

Just launched a nice little site for some carpet cleaners on the Gold Coast.

I really like these nice, clean, simple sites that tell you straight up what they’re about.

As part of the process of developing the site I sat with the owner as she handled her telephone enquiries.

From that we developed part of the web site copy based on 1 simple phrase she mentions to prospects on the phone – this one phrase had her sales explode.

Can you figure out what it is on the web site?

Cheers

Brendon

Note: I originally published the below article on December 18, 2007.

One of the sites we work with is the sports nutrition site, HammerNutrition.com.au.

Hammer Nutrition sponsor a heap of athletes and events.
But we talk about only one on a very regular basis and in glowing terms. We publish her photos, race reports and more. We tell thousands of people just how good she is.

And you know why?

Because out of all the athletes and events, Michelle is the only one who makes it easy for us.

She sends us:

• race reports,
• tidbits of info,
• links to media stories about her,
• photos and
• product endorsements.

All Michelle does is make it incredibly easy for us to talk about her. So we do.

Here’s an example.

• Today Michelle sent us a race report.
• With photos.
• In the Race Report (where Michelle stunned Pro triathletes by winning a Half Ironman race as an Age Grouper!), Michelle mentions Hammer Nutrition as a key part of her success.

Of course we are going to feature the Race Report on the Hammer web site!

Showcased In Front Of Thousands

Michelle gets showcased in front of thousands and thousands of people because she does that.

Site visitors see she rides a FELT bike and uses an Orca wetsuit. All great exposure for her sponsors. And great exposure for Michelle.

She’s a much more valuable person to sponsor because she does this simple thing of sending info and photos.

What she does only takes an hour per race, but it’s the thing that sets her apart and makes her an athlete who gives great value to her sponsors.

Make it as easy as possible for people to use you and you make more ‘sales’. Easy stuff.

Brendon

P.S: And Michelle gets mentioned again!

One thing I really enjoy doing, and am okay at, is giving speeches.

It’s something I really should market more because I seem to get some pretty good feedback when I go along and have a chat.

“….Inspirational & Absolutely Hilarious”

“Brendon Sinclair’s talk was inspirational and absolutely hilarious.”

“Bloody brilliant – you summed up marketing better than any speaker in my fourteen years…..”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Fantastic talk, I only wish we could have organised more time.”

“Every single student found the talk inspiring and inspirational and I can not express my gratitude enough to Brendon for giving his time so generously.”

“If you ever get the opportunity to hear Brendon speak…..”

“If you ever get the opportunity to hear Brendon speak don’t miss the chance to learn something while having a good laugh.”

“I really liked the style of speech, it was well crafted yet at the same time casual.  The content was both insightful and entertaining.“

“…it was light-hearted but info packed. Easy to keep up with, though.”

“Very down to earth and real. Gave some great info that most people won’t tell you – refreshingly simple and to the point.”

“His self depreciating humour was great, for our students the positiveness of the speech was very motivating.”

“I loved Brendon’s relaxed way of presenting the info and his humour.”

“You were a breath of fresh air……particularly enjoyed self effacing style – believe most attractive to an audience who expect consultants to present with heads slightly wider than average,”

“Your level of organisation was a very pleasant surprise…..but this kind of process provides some kind of comfort that speaker has given customer a little thought, and not taken a “one size fits all” approach to presentation.”

“Brendon is a brilliant business presenter. His presentations are clear, concise and motivating. He offers advice freely and with great knowledge, whilst at the same time ensures interest with… his wit and his energy,”

If you want a marketing or general speaker give me a yell.

Cheers

Brendon

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about how you don’t want every prospect who knocks on your businesses door.

It’s the right sort of prospects you want.

A couple of weeks back I wrote an article on online marketing for an industry newsletter.

It resulted in 2 leads.

Prospect # 1: A guy who has emailed me over 12 times demanding free advice with not a please or a thank you in sight.

He’s also phoned me and wasted another hour of my time that way.

His last email was one where he wanted me to provide more free consulting advice on whether an offer he received from a local Google AdWords company was a scam.

My response, which ended with “Why don’t you look at your marketing from an integrated point of view and implement strategies that give you real, measurable engagement with your target market?” seems to have scared him off.

I’d much prefer doing great work for existing clients than waste time on a guy who:

• is kicking tyres
• values my time at $0

Prospect # 2: A fellow who has an understanding of the value of what we offer (he knows that he’;s missing lots of sales because his web site doesn’t generate 20% of the leads it could).

After a couple of phone calls this guy is set for a 1 hour meeting from which I’ll send him a quote for $4,000+ in work.

20 Prospect # 1 Would Send You Broke

let’s assume your marketing generated you 20 prospects like my Prospect # 1 each week.

That would mean your entire week is taken up giving free advice to someone who values it at exactly that.

The sooner you cut loose the wrong sort of prospect, the better your business will be.

Make sense?

Cheers

Brendon