| Direct marketing is driven by tangible, measurable results. And a natural extension of that is to divide prospects into those who respond to an offer (buy a product or sign up for a newsletter) and those who don't. The responders are sent even more promotions. In his essay today, Bill Glazer highlights a third group of prospects. And if you hit them with the right message... they could represent a significant new revenue stream for your business.
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"Opportunities multiply as they are seized." Sun Tzu The Three Possible Responses to ALL Your Advertising
By Bill Glazer Most of your advertising won't find quite as targeted an audience as a Yellow Pages ad or Google ad, where people are hunting for a specific product or service. In most cases, your offer will be delivered to people who were not expecting to see it. For this reason, you must understand a basic concept: People divide all the advertising they see into three categories. The easiest way to explain what I mean is to ask you to visualize three piles of mail. Call them the YES pile, the MAYBE pile, and the NO pile. The YES pile is what you have to look at immediately. If, for instance, you are waiting for the results of a medical test, those results would be in the YES pile. Same thing for your child's report card. The MAYBE pile is mail that you think you might be interested in, but you're not sure. So you set it aside for later. The NO pile is mail that you have absolutely no interest in at all. Most marketers think their advertising can fall into only two of those piles... either YES or NO. But the truth is that much of our advertising can fall into the MAYBE pile as well. Unfortunately, the MAYBE pile is often overlooked by marketers. And it costs them a bunch of money. Not me. I don't overlook it. In fact, I use it to my advantage. Yes or No -- or Maybe Later Advertising that falls into the YES pile includes information that your prospect wants and needs. He can't ignore it. He feels compelled to look at it. Advertising that falls into the NO pile is the exact opposite. As soon as your prospect sees it, he knows he is not interested. If, for instance, he recently had new gutters installed, he is not going to be at all interested in an advertisement for gutters. However, your prospect's decisions are not always unequivocal. Sometimes no doesn't mean no. It just may not mean yes. It may mean "Let me think about it." OR "I need more information before I can make a decision." In other words, it may mean "Maybe Later." And though you don't make the sale with either a "No" or a "Maybe Later" response to your offer, there is a huge difference between the two. Because a "Maybe Later" represents an opportunity to make the sale. Of course, this means first recognizing the possibility of "Maybe Later" as a response. And that's a challenge for any marketer who doesn't understand the basic psychology of a customer -- EVERY customer: They are afraid of being sold. So what smart marketers do is include, in every one of their ads, a way for "Maybe Later" prospects to become "NOW" customers. This is done by giving them a way to receive more information... without making them feel obligated to buy. For example, you can provide them with: - A website where they can go for more information about your offer and company
- An 800 number to call for a pre-recorded message with more information about your offer and company
- An 800 number to call in order to speak to a "live" human being and get more information about your offer and company
- An invitation to attend a tele-seminar or webinar where they can get more information about your offer and company
Are you getting the idea? All four of the above possibilities (and there are lots more) give prospects a way to receive more information about your offer and company so they can decide whether or not to do business with you.
When the clients I work with include options for their "Maybe Later" prospects to receive more information, it often doubles their response rate. (And it can make the difference between a winning ad and a losing one.) REMEMBER... as I said, everyone is afraid of being sold. And though there's a good chance that a prospect who's interested in your offer will act impulsively and immediately, the first impression you make on him is not your only chance to motivate him to buy. Just by understanding that the "Maybe Later" pile even exists is a start toward figuring out what to do with it. Once you realize that you can move people from the "Maybe Later" pile to the "Yes" pile, you can discover amazing ways to leverage your position. By simply not ignoring this option, you are ahead of 90 percent of all marketers who think only in terms of "Yes" and "No." [Ed. Note: Bill Glazer is one of the top marketing strategists in the world. Together with the legendary Dan Kennedy, he provides money-making advice to hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners in every imaginable category. Bill has the unique ability to combine proven and effective direct-response marketing strategies with OUTRAGEOUS advertising that cuts through the clutter, gets noticed, and gets results. OUTRAGEOUSLY successful results.]
-----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended ----------------------------------------------------- No Silver Spoons Here - Success mentor Bob Cox knows first hand that hard work trumps talent. He helped four men go from rags to riches. Each of them became a billionaire, thanks to their work ethic. They also had an attitude, a mindset, that drove them to succeed. It's something you can learn. Why not let Bob help you...
Back in the 1930s, two Germans -- a doctor and a track coach -- came up with a breakthrough in fitness. They were the first to figure out that doing a short burst of activity followed by rest is the best way to exercise... and burn fat fast. Using the training technique they invented, athletes sprinted 200 meters and rested for a short time. Then they did it again. A 200-meter sprint followed by a short period of rest. And again. Their students broke world record after world record. Roger Bannister, for example, the first man to run the mile in under four minutes, used this workout. It's called high-intensity interval training. But here's the deal... Few people are conditioned enough to do it. Think about the workout those athletes did. Could you sprint the length of two football fields and be ready to do it again after a 90-second break? Probably not. I have a better way. It's accessible to everybody. No matter what your fitness level, you can burn fat in minutes a day. My secret is progressivity. You don't have to start with a high-intensity workout. The idea is to work your way up. You just have to tax yourself a little bit more as it becomes easier. One of my surprising discoveries is that you can get the benefits of high-intensity training, regardless of the level you start at. What this means is that you can bulletproof your heart, expand your lung capacity, and drop a ton of weight by making small, incremental changes. To get started, pick an activity that you like to do. It just needs to be something that will give your heart and lungs a bit of a challenge. (I like bicycling and swimming.) Your initial workouts will depend on your current level of fitness. Here are some guidelines: Do a light warm-up and stretch before each exercise session. Start with 20 minutes every other day. Start easy and increase gradually. As you get into better shape, increase the intensity of the exercise. Begin breaking those 20 minutes of exercise into shorter "mini-intervals" of exercise and rest. Use briefer and briefer intervals. This allows you to easily and gradually increase the intensity. Follow each 20-minute period of exertion with a light activity "cool down" for a couple of minutes. (This has been shown to reduce muscle soreness after exercise.) As it gets easier, focus on increasing the intensity. In other words, as your body adapts, step it up a notch. You shouldn't feel lightheaded. Slightly winded and panting is what you're aiming for. [Ed. Note: Dr. Sears is a practicing physician, as well as a fitness, nutritional, and board-certified anti-aging medicine expert. In the new edition of his book PACE: The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution,you'll learnpractical solutions for building heart strength, renewing your energy, and burning fat (while gaining muscle) faster than with conventional exercise techniques. Aerobics and cardio are dead, says Dr. Sears. In one study conducted by Dr. Sears's Wellness Research Foundation, identical twins, with nearly identical weight and body fat, were put on separate exercise programs. The twin following PACE lost 18 pounds of fat and added 9 pounds of pure muscle. The other twin, who followed a traditional cardio-heavy exercise program, lost only 8 pounds of fat. And she lost 2 pounds of muscle. To see this study, as well as dozens of other case studies, and to learn how PACE can help you, check out Dr. Sears's book now.]
"There is hope for the future." "I just wanted to add my thanks for Mr. Masterson's essay about his formative years and being called an underachiever. I printed the article for my 13-year-old son, who is also an underachiever. He was amazed that someone so successful had started life with C's. "I think he just assumed that all successful people are just born that way and that all of their achievements came naturally, without much effort. The article was a reminder to us that no matter what has transpired in the past, there is hope for the future as long as we are willing to pay the personal price of dedication and hard work. "Thanks again!" Lauren Williams
Pittsburgh, PA
-----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Having Trouble Getting Motivated? - It happens to the best of us. But if procrastination becomes a habit -- you're doomed! Let success mentor Bob Cox share with you his strategies for avoiding this pitfall. And that's just a small taste of the techniques he's got on offer in his Epiphany Alliance program. Check it out now. The deadline to get in at the introductory price is coming up very soon...
Today's Words That Work: Unequivocal Unequivocal (un-ih-KWIV-uh-kul) means having only one possible meaning or interpretation. Example (as used by Bill Glazer today): "Your prospect's decisions are not always unequivocal. Sometimes no doesn't mean no. It just may not mean yes. It may mean 'Let me think about it.' OR 'I need more information before I can make a decision.'"
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