You don’t have to spend a fortune to boost your sales! Take a look at these 10 quick and easy ways to send your profits to the moon without digging into you advertising budget.
1. Test and Evaluate
Have you ever wondered just how much of your advertising budget should go toward experimenting with the latest marketing strategies? Marketing gurus say… spend 20 percent looking for new and improved marketing methods, while the remaining 80 percent uses the “tried and true” marketing strategies to keep the profits flowing.
2. Capture Attention on your Website
Use headlines that leap out and grab the reader’s attention to moment they open your Web page. Hey, they’re just like you… if their attention isn’t caught immediately, they ‘re ready to surf on the more exciting things!
3. Use the Best-Kept Marketing Secret – Postcards
Postcards are quick and easy to read, not to mention the fact that you can shave off a great deal of wasted advertising expenses by targeting your market. Hey, they’re cheap and convenient for you, and they get read more than other types of advertising materials… a winner all the way around!
4. Let Customers Sell You
Some things sound better coming from someone else. Yes, it’s hard to brag your business up as effectively as a satisfied customer. Testimonials are evidence that you deliver what you promise. Paste them across ads, your Website, and any other sales copy you happen to distribute.
5. Just Ask
Great salesmen take the time to listen to the questions the customer has, identify their wants and needs, then ask for the sale. That’s right, they’re not afraid to just ask them to buy! Sometimes customers just need that little bit of pressure to cement the deal.
6. Raise the Value
Sometime value is only in they eyes of the beholder. You can raise the perceived value of your products by pointing out benefits that consumers may have overlooked. While you’re at it, raise the price. Yeah, we all know that more valuable items have higher price tags! Don’t be surprised if your profits skyrocket.
7. Make it Easy to Decide
Have you ever had a hard time deciding what to buy? Uh-huh, you don’t always come to a conclusion immediately. Every time a customer walks out of the store without making a decision, you take a big chance on losing the sale. Keep the options to a minimum to maximize the sales numbers.
8. Break it Down
Got a big ticket item? Break the price into bite sizes for more appeal. Yeah, 90 cents a day sounds much cheaper than $325!
9. Create Bonuses
An unexpected bonus with a purchase makes it seem like you got a lot more for your money. Keep customers smiling when they walk away from the cash register, and they’ll keep coming back for more.
10. Handle Customer Complaints With a Little TLC
Don’t waste time getting to the bottom of the problem. Customers want to feel they are being heard, or they wouldn’t take the time to complain to you. Are you afraid that you’ll be losing profit, if you have to bend too far backwards to accommodate them? Think of it this way… an unhappy customer you turn into a happy customer will become a loyal customer. Yeah, it’ll pay in the long run.
Simple phrases can carry an impacting wallop! The key…keep it simple, yet powerful. Power phrases work because they effect the emotions of the reader. They allow the reader to FEEL the benefits that your product or service offers them.
Let’s face it, we make emotional decisions about our purchases and then look for the logic to back it up. Hey, even the logic makes us FEEL like we’ve made the right choice! Yes, we’ll use logic to justify our purchases, but the real motivator is the emotional impact the purchase evokes.
The Secrets to Creating Power Phrases
1. You want to become a pro at creating phrases that spur the customer’s desire for your product or service? Write a list of all the benefits your product or service has to offer. Simply combine one or more benefits with high intensity action words and you’re ready to go!
Here are some examples to get you started:
2. High Impact words like: quick, easy, low-cost, enjoy, love, and help are key to creating statements that create dramatic word pictures in your customer’s mind.
3. Many of the most powerful power phrases are made up of 3 words or groups of words in a series. These 3 word grouping produce a dramatic effect that emblazons itself into the mind of the reader. Some examples that might work for you are:
Hey, it doesn’t take a genius to create phrases that jump off the page, and demand action from the reader!
1. Yo Yo Advertising
My friend Dottie can precisely predict her sales peaks and plummets accurately…and no, she’s not into fortune telling. Experience has proven that March, April, and May will bring a lot of money to her account, while September and January will put her in the slumps
Sound familiar? Have you too been caught in the vicious cycle of high and low sales volumes? Why? Most of us tend to advertise heavily while things are slow – in a desperate attempt to get customers through the door, but back off when things are hopping.
If you’re looking for an even-keeled market, develop a steady marketing plan. Steady advertising produces steady growth…and steadily climbing profits!
2. Single Shot Advertising
One shot ads, rarely get results. Most customers are just like you, they don’t jump on the band wagon the first time it passes by. They often need to see your sales material several times before they actually make the move to walk through the doors.
Follow-ups are necessary for success. We’re not just talking about prospective customers now…even your loyal customers need to be cultivated for sales. How many times have you thought about making a purchase, but just never followed through with it? Sure, we all do it. Sometimes it takes a little pressure to get us to part with our hard-earned money. Make it a point to spend time building relationships with both new customers and your faithful following.
3. MonkeySee, Monkey Do Advertising
How many times have you seen the same advertisement ideas written with just a little different twist? If you’re surfing the Web you’ve come across plenty of the aped ads! Yeah, you can predict what the next paragraph will cover, because you’ve seen it so many other places.
Sure, copy cat ads can be effective for a little while, but the results will quickly die down as others join in the copy mania. If you’re looking for REAL and LASTING results, be original. Do what only you can do, forget about what everyone else is doing. Be you. When a competitor does have a good idea, improve on it. Don’t follow in his footsteps…step out and lead the way to more effective advertisements.
4. Wild Shot Advertising
Ready, aim…yeah aim before you advertise! Don’t be caught up in wild advertising that gets your message in front of a lot of people who have absolutely no interest in your product or service.
Target your market…and get better results for your investment. Finding the target market that has a specific need you can fulfill takes a little time and research, but you’ll feel the effects when you hit the bullseye!
Think about this…there are advertising venues that your competition is overlooking. What about postcards? These high impact marketing tools are often overlooked. Yet, they’re the perfect low-cost way to generate prospective customer interest. Keep an eye open for overlooked marketing gems, and get one up on your competition!
5. Me, Me Advertising
What is it that consumers are looking for? …Exactly, something that is going to benefit them. They really aren’t interested in the facts about your product…they want to know how it will impact their life or lifestyle.
Take a look at your ad copy, and ask yourself what are you portraying…facts or benefits. Multi Level Marketers have this all figured out. Rather than tell you they have a business to offer, they spend a lot of time promising you freedom to work your own hours, countless vacations, summer homes and a host of other things you’ve probably already dreamed about at some point. Hey, don’t knock it…the MLM industry is a steadily growing element in our economy.
Don’t bore your readers with the facts…attract them with exciting elements that will fulfill their needs or desires.
1. Paint Vivid Pictures
People buy products for the feeling they get from the purchase. How do you feel when you’re relaxing on the water in your brand new boat? Sure, you’re like a kid with a new toy… excited, proud and anxious to show it off a little bit. Keep in mind these feelings, and draw word pictures with your advertisements that will stimulate them.
Don’t be surprised at the amazing results you’ll get from encouraging and dramatizing the desires of your readers. Excited and tantalized consumers part with their money more quickly than inanimate dreamers.
2. Get To Know Your Prospective Buyers
We connect with people who understand what our needs are. No, not all of your customers have the same needs. Get to know something about the people who walk through your doors. You’ll discover different groups within your range of customers. Take the time to discover what will satisfy each group!
Everyone likes that special one-on-one attention. Think about it…does your marketing strategy address the needs of each group, or does it speak to a generic audience who isn’t interested in the boring information they see?
3. Speak To The Skeptic
Yeah, there’s one in every crowd who isn’t easily persuaded and wants cold hard facts as proof. If we’re truthfully, we realize that advertisements need a little more than their share of “back up.” Hey, we’re trying to sell something to people who work hard for their money, and aren’t excited about throwing it down the drain. There are a few ways you can ease their qualms about shelling out their dinero.
Don’t confuse your customers – limit your customer’s decisions to either yes or no. Let them decide either yes I’ll buy or no, I won’t buy.
A charmed market is ready to open up their pocketbooks and send your sales over the top! Take advantage of these 4 keys to charming it, and see what kind of effects it produces for you.
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