Ever watched a horserace?  I don’t watch many, but I always try to catch the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and The Bellmont Stakes.  I have friends who are really into horseracing and so we all get together and make a party out of it. Hey, any excuse to party, right? Throw in some low stakes bets, and it’s a fun afternoon.

Now, if you’ve ever watched a horserace, you know this.  It is very fast and furious. And it’s all over with in a couple of minutes.  Years of tremendous cost, exhaustive labor and major preparation go into this very brief event.  All of the apples are laid on the line.  Make it or break it.  It’s the one big shot.  No time for second thoughts or changes in strategy. This is it, Brother!

 And one fact that is unavoidable is this:  If a horse stumbles coming out of the gate…..or at anytime during the race…..it is pretty much all over with but the cryin’.  There ain’t  no second chance.  The other horses pass you by and, before you know it, the race is over.  One little stumble throws you so far back in the pack, it’s almost impossible to recover. 

 And, like I said, a horse can stumble at any time during a race……coming out of the gate, in the far turn, down the backstretch, or in the final race for the wire. 

 Bottom line is this:  In a horserace, you can’t afford to mess up.  One mistake and the race is lost.  And between now and next year can be a long, hard, expensive dry spell.

 Do you get what I’m saying here?

 Well, the exact same thing is true with your marketing message.  Whether it’s your elevator speech, sales presentation, website, yellow page ad, brochure, business card, storefront sign, your vehicle, or any other means of communicating with your potential prospects and/or customers….your message had better be razor sharp.  As a matter of fact, it had better slice through the other person’s psyche and subconscious mind like a red hot scalpel through warm cocoa butter. If your message doesn’t put them into a ‘buying trance’, they most likely won’t buy…..especially from YOU.

 If anything…..and I mean ANYTHING….causes the other person’s brain to stumble…if the subconscious mind is left in a state of confusion…. your message is dead.  You can go right on talking, but the other person’s brain will never catch up.  The page will be turned to the next ad, or your website will be closed out so fast you won’t even see it happening.  You’ll be going right on with your sales presentation while the other person’s subconscious mind will take them right out of the race.

 This is the one single big problem with 99.9 percent of all small businesses, when it comes to their marketing.  They are totally unaware of the dead-ends and fatal flaws that cause major stumbling in their message.  And, believe me, it is a deadly mistake!

 But then, why should they know.  They haven’t spent years studying the subconscious mind and how it works and what makes people do the things they do. They don’t know how to put the prospect into a hypnotic buying trance that results in an immediate purchase.  They don’t have the time nor the inclination to go there.  It’s not their fault. 

 Or is it?

 You can blame the economy, the government, global warming, the Iceland volcano, the oil spill, the rain, the snow, your in-laws, your headache, stomach virus, or anything else you can come up with, for your lack of customers.  But, the truth is, if you actually had a message that was powerful, dynamic, benefit-laden, razor sharp, compelling, hypnotic and irresistible….. and you placed it in front of enough of the right people who were actually thinking of purchasing what you sell….. it would bring new customers to your door automatically.   If they aren’t there now, it’s because there is a problem with your marketing.

 A confused mind says ‘NO’.  A confused brain won’t buy anything. 

 I’m simply stating a fact here.  Sorry if it doesn’t set well with you. It is not my intention to upset you or offend you.  My sole purpose here is to cause a little light bulb to switch on in your head.  I want you to know this stuff.  I want you to ‘get it’. It is too important for you to ignore.

 At most of my seminars, I will randomly pick out members of the audience and ask them to tell me, in 30 seconds, what they do and why I should do business with them. Those people look like ‘deer caught in the headlights’. It’s like they’ve never, ever even contemplated the remote possibility that someone might ask such a question.  (And, when they do try to answer, it is almost always complicated, confusing, rambling, disjointed, mundane and predictable.) 

 And yet, our brains are asking that same question over and over again. “Why should I do business with you?  What’s in it for ME?  What major problem is your product and/or service going to solve for ME?  What PAIN is going to be RELIEVED by this? Why should I want to do this, especially NOW? Why might I REGRET this decision later on? What if I get RIPPED OFF?  Who will PROTECT me? What if I’m WRONG?”

 What if, what if, what if………???    

 And remember….a confused mind almost always says ‘NO’!

 Understanding psychological marketing and how to use and identify the 12 response triggers in the subconscious mind that cause people to make a decision to buy from YOU instead of your competitor….and to buy from you NOW….. is the absolute key to creating new business.  This needs to be incorporated into each and every single thing you do and say to promote your business.

 If you DO understand how it works, you can attract continuous streams of new customers like bees to a honey pot.   If you don’t, you will never be able to attract the numbers of customers that were right at your fingertips…..and you let them slip away and never even knew it! And that, my friend, ends up costing YOU a fortune.

 So Stop.  Think about what you’re not thinking about right now.  As a smart business owner, imagine the profound impact this can have on your business.

 Please don’t hesitate to call on me if I can ever help you in any way.

 I’d love to help YOU grow your business this year!

 Hal Coleman, The Networking Ninja

 PS.  If you really want to understand how this type of psychological marketing works, and understand the powerful impact it can have on your business, you need to come to my seminar.   It will make a big difference in how you market your business for the rest of your life.  I GUARANTEE IT!

 Click on this link now and find out more. http://www.TheNetworkingNinja.com/unplugged

You need to pursue new customers the same way the caveman pursued food. It was the first thing on his mind when he woke up in the morning and the last thing he thought about before he went to sleep at night.  And if he woke up at 2:00 am because he couldn’t sleep, it was probably because he was thinking about where his next meal was going to come from.

If the buffalo herd migrated over into the next valley, what do you think the caveman did?  Do you think he just sat around the fire, wringing his hands and hoping they would come back again before he starved to death?  Of course not.  He packed up his bow and arrows and bedroll, grabbed his spear, and he followed the herd. He knew that if he ever lost sight of that buffalo herd, he was in serious trouble. He might starve to death before he found them again.

And he was constantly trying to come up with new, better, more clever ways to outsmart them and get another one on the ground. 

In business, the herd (new customers) is constantly moving. If you don’t keep moving with it and keep it in your sights at all times, you will eventually find yourself sitting in your little valley all alone, with no meat and no fur to keep you warm.  You will soon perish and your business will be no more.  GUARANTEED!

So, what do you need to do TODAY to bring you closer to the herd?  Think about it……and then go do it!

PS  check out http://www.TheNetworkingNinja.com/unplugged and call today and sign up for this event.  It will change the way you do business for the rest of your life!

I just returned from our monthly seminar/retreat in Helen, Ga.  As usual, we had a great time and everyone learned a lot about how to get new customers and new business.

We were discussing how one overcomes objections and I pointed out how, according to a study done a few years ago by Harold Deutch and Morton Gould, a person is ten times harder to convince to change his/her mind once they have openly and verbally stated a belief or position.  It is, therefore, very important to address an objection BEFORE it is stated rather than afterwards.

Example: If I state my price as $57.00 and you say to me, “It think $57.00 is too much. I can’t afford it“….. you are going to be hard to convince otherwise.  I now have to change your mind and your position.  In order for you to change, you will have to admit you were wrong. That is a hard thing for most people.  So….

It would be better if I said to you first, “Now some people think $57.00 is too much and they can’t afford it, but they are mistaken, because…….”  Then I go ahead and explain why it is not too much and how you can afford it.

Now I have handled the objection BEFORE you stated it, and I have a much greater chance of you not objecting in the first place. 

Make sense?  I hope so.  This type of selling is referred to by my good friend Victor Antonio as “Response Block Selling”.  He explains it is his book.  Visit his website, www.SalesInfluence.com  and get a copy.  It would be worth you time and money. 

Now, go out there and grow your business!

PS You really should think about attending our next mountain retreat.  Visit http://www.HalColeman.com/nextlevelseminar for more information.

Yesterday I spoke to a delightful group of people in Blairsville, Ga.  They were all in the parks and recreation business. They were mostly city, and county employees.

My seminar was centered around how to build a successful business in your community be becoming a highly effective networker and communicator. It’s all about building relationships one at a time. 

I could tell by the looks on some of their faces that they felt like my suggestions might not exactly apply to them because they weren’t in the private sector of business. They were bound to a certain degreee by government regulations and proceedures.

Well, to some extent that’s true. But, the basic principles of marketing and sales apply to EVERY business, not matter what the industry.  You just have to find a way to tweak them and shape them to fit YOUR particular situation.

“You don’t understand. My business is different.”  If I had a nickel for everytime I heard that statement, I’d be sitting on a beach in Mexico, sipping on one of those pink drinks with a little umbrella sticking out of it.

All businesses are the same. You have to create value and convey it to people in such a way that makes them want it.  It really is as simple as that.

So, here’s your proven formula for the day.

CV=MNC

Conveyed Value = More New Customers.  Remember that.  It will serve you well, no matter what you are trying to sell!

Now, get out there and grow your business.

Have a great day,

Hal 

PS. There are still some open spots in our March 24th Mountain Retreat in Helen, Ga. 
Click on this link, http://www.HalColeman.com/nextlevelseminar and find out all about it. We’d love to have YOU in this next group!

 Did you know there are 12 recognized Psychological Response Triggers that cause people to make a SUBCONSCIOUS decision to PURCHASE from YOU? Do you know what they are? How many of them do you consistently use in your marketing and advertising? Do you know how much business you are losing by not using them? Think about it.

Most(the overwhelming majority)small businesses spend a small fortune on brochures, newsletters and flyers that are, for the most part, total wastes of money. Sorry but it’s true. They are filled with USELESS FLUFF. They contain absolutely NOTHING OF INTEREST to the reader. They do not COMPEL the reader to move forward and make a purchase. They are BORING. They are IMPOTENT. And they find their way into the trash can at warp speed.

You need an effective sales letter that captures people’s attention and compells them to read every word and then respond by doing business with you.

Almost all advertising agents tell you that people will NOT read a long sales letter. The truth is—people won’t read THEIR sales letters. Actually, the most successful direct mail piece I ever sent out was an 11 page sales letter. It got me a higher response rate than anything I ever sent out for my pest control company. It was about rats, and it was very interesting and compelling. People read it, and then called to do business with me.

People read everyday. They read for hours on end. Why? Because they’re interested in what they’re reading. They are getting something of VALUE out of it.

Bottom line is, you’re reading this right now, aren’t you? Enough said.

There is nothing—and I do mean NOTHING— that will be of more benefit to you and your business than having a great sales letter. It should be on your website. It should be sent to anyone and everyone who you think is a potential customer for you.

It’s a FACT: Pretty doesn’t sell. Shiney doesn’t sell. Clever doesn’t sell. VALUE SELLS. So—you need a sales letter that conveys incredible and unmistakeable VALUE to the prospect.

Ad agents are fond of telling us that they will help us get NOTICED. So what? I can put on a hot pink speedo and run through the shopping mall and get noticed. Big deal.

Bottom line is—there is a heck of a lot more to selling than just being noticed. You’d better have something there that SELLS—-period.

And a Great, Compelling, Hypnotic, Powerful, Seductive Sales Letter is the best tool you can use to SELL your product or service. Period.

If you don’t have a great sales letter, let me know and I can help you.

Now, go out there and grow your business!

Hal

PS I am in the process of putting together a small group of business owners who are serious about growing their businesses and would like to have me coach them. Let me know if you are interested in being a member of this group. We will meet once a month and we will hold each other accountable.

It will be a lot of fun to help each other grow!

Here’s another formula you need to learn and practice using.

 EA = MNC

 Effective Advertising = More New Customers!

By effective advertising, I mean…..advertising that brings in an acceptable number of new customers and gives you a good return on your investment.

 You need to track every bit of advertising you do. Period. No exceptions. No if’s, and’s or but’s.

It’s not that hard.  Just make sure you ask every new customer this question. “How did you hear out about me?”  And keep a record of it!

Make sure your ads have Free Offers, Deadlines, Free Information, and bullet points telling how you are different from you competition.

There are 12 identified psychological response triggers that make people call you from an ad.  Make sure you have them all in your ad. If you don’t know what they are, I can teach them to you.  It will get you double, triple, even quadruple the response you are probably getting from your ads now.

And remember this:  A deal with no deadline is NO DEAL!

Well, that’s your Ninja Tip for the day.

Now go grow your business!

PS. To find out more about my seminars and how I can help YOU, visit http://www.HalColeman.com

If you want to know exactly how to get lots more referrals, more new customers and more new business from your community networking efforts, you get to get this book TODAY.  If you have a friend who has a small business and is struggling in this slow economy, give them this book as a gift!

Get the book at http://www.TheNetworkingNinja.com.

My name is Hal Coleman and I suffer from TJD. There now, I’ve said it. I feel better already.

Actually I have been suffering from TJD for many years. It has caused me many a sleepless night. It has caused employees to resign and leave my company because they no longer could tolerate working for a TJD suffer. And, frankly, I don’t blame them. It’s hard. It drives me crazy most of the time. As far as I know, there is no cure for TJD.

Actually, TJD stands for “Test Junkie Disorder.” Yep. I just can’t stop testing, no matter how hard I try.

Every time I return home from another marketing seminar, or every time I read another book by a renowned marketing expert, I end up with a whole laundry list of things I can’t wait to test. Every time I see a good marketing idea in some other industry, or hear someone say something that triggers what appears to be another good idea…..I go out and test it. I want to know if it will work for me in my industry. I want to know if it will bring in new customers, generate more revenues and make more money. And, if it will do it for me, will it do it for you in your particular industry?

I’ve spent a fortune over the past few years on my marketing education. Attending seminars, reading books, listening to audio CDs, attending lectures, and hanging out and drinking hundreds of gallons of coffee, while taking countless pages of notes from some of the most savvy and innovative marketing gurus in the world. I have literally spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past 20 years testing thousands of different things. Radio, television, newspapers, internet, direct mail, flyers, hand-outs, recorded messages, magnets, vehicle signs, business cards, coupons, discounts, free gifts, memberships, legal bribes, networking groups, civic groups, emails, autoresponders, blogs, and countless variations of each. It never ends…..and probably never will.

I can’t help it. I have to know. And so I test… and I tweak…. and I re-test…. and I document. I go back over the things that don’t work (which are most things) and, in some cases, it becomes obvious why they didn’t, and so I tweak them and re-test them and see if I can get a better result. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t.

You’ve heard me say this more than once: Successful marketing is not about any one big thing. It is a thousand little things. Well, sometimes I feel like I am starting on my many thousandth little thing. It is mind-boggling. It is an addiction. It is an affliction. It is all consuming.

It is also very profitable. You see, even though I have discovered an endless list of things that don’t work, I have also discovered quite a few things through the years that do work really well. They are proven. They are bankable. Most of them are universal in their application. They work well for me and they will work well for YOU.

I’ve often been asked, “If this works for us, why do you want to keep on messing with it?” My answer is, “Because I have TJD. I want to try and make it work better. I can’t help it. Somebody needs to test this. It might as well be me.” And so, I justify another test. And I document the results.

Being an old songwriter, I’m constantly searching for good ideas. I guess I was destined to be a TJD sufferer right from the start. It is my calling, my destiny maybe. Who knows? All I can tell you is this: I was born knowing nothing. Everything I know I either learned from someone else, or I learned through trial and error (testing). And, the things I tried and tested were all ideas I got from someone or something I saw, heard or felt.

And now, I have a vast catalogue of marketing tips, strategies and techniques that I know for a fact work. They may not all be pretty. They may not all fit your idea of what you’ve heard and seen from other marketers and advertising agents. They may not look or sound anything at all like what you are accustomed to. Some of my stuff will certainly unravel the faint-of-heart. I am not one to wear the same style shoes or eat the same beef as the masses. I like being different. I am at home far outside the box.

The late, great music publisher Bill Lowery once told me, “There’s no place I’d rather be than out in left field.” When I asked him why, he said, “Cause there ain’t nobody else out there.” He became the world’s no. 1 music publisher!

I learned a lot from Bill Lowery. He was a great man and a legend in his own time. He also suffered from Test Junkie Disorder.

Bottom line is this: I’d love to sit down and have coffee with you. Who knows? You might spark my next million dollar idea. But just remember one thing. I’ll always tell you what I think. I will give you my honest opinion. If I tell you something will probably work for you….. or probably won’t…..you need to listen to what I have to say. (And don’t worry. TJD is not contagious. I think it comes from a defective gene.)

My biggest thrill in life is helping people be successful. If I can give you one idea that changes the way you do business and helps you live a better life, then my day is made. I am a happy camper. It has all been worth it for me.

Zig Ziglar says, “You can have anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” I believe that. I trust in it wholeheartedly.

Seeing YOU be successful is the only way I can survive my bouts with TJD.

So, help me by going out there and growing your business!

PS. If you would like to have me bring one of my seminars into your office, or if you would like to attend one at another location, you can reach me at 770-993-0004 or email Hal@HalColeman.com.