How to Make More Sales by Using Humor

If you are a salesperson doing a PowerPoint presentation or you simply have to talk in front of a large group of people, then you know how hard it is to get your ideas across. Here is one trick I’ve learned the hard way that will help you and will make your job a whole lot easier!

Use humor! Use humor!! Use humor!!! (…as you see, I like repeating)

Humor will put your clients/listeners/readers at ease and will help break the ice as well as set a tone with the audience that helps to loosen everyone up a little. Everybody (from Donald Trump and Bill Gates to John Doe) loves to laugh and disconnect for a little from this, otherwise, overly serious world.

If you have a natural talent for humor, then go for it — make your own routine, but keep it relatively simple and try not to overdo it. If you feel uncertain what to do, use the services of professional humorists who can help you! Humor will make a presentation much easier to listen to and much more fun for you to create and present it.

All different types of humor work best in different situations. Some speakers always start with a joke, or tell a funny story in the beginning of their speech to break the ice.

But not everyone has a talent for telling a joke or a funny story right. There are too many examples of bad stand up comics…Relax! There is an easier way!

Use cartoons! They are perfect to communicate your thoughts and your message, and have proven to be one of the best marketing tools. A recent New Yorker survey shows that newspaper readers typically check the cartoons out first before reading the actual articles.

Cartoons are great, because they will deliver your message at a first glance. A good cartoon can attract your clients’ attention and make it easier for you to do the rest!

Where do you get cartoons? Probably one of the best online sources is eToon.com (.etoon.com), a cartoon licensing company created by Vlad Kolarov (.evlad.com), a professional cartoonist with over 27 years experience. At eToon.com you can select from tens of thousands of cartoons and get licenses for multiple purposes.

Doing it is extremely easy. You can search for a cartoon by topic, keyword or author. After choosing the best cartoon for you, you can find out how much it will cost to license it, pay for it with a credit card and then you can download it.

The licensing fees are quite reasonable for most businesses and individuals. For example, you can download and use a cartoon in a PowerPoint presentation for only $35!

There are, of course, occasions when you can not find a suitable cartoon…No problem! Just email a cartoonist for a custom made one. Vlad Kolarov can make a custom cartoon for you in usually 24 hours. The cost, of course, is a bit higher, but it is definitely worth it! (You can email Vlad here: .evlad.com/contact-info )

Cartoons work great not only for presentations, but in other ways too, such as:

– Advertising: Many Fortune 1000 companies (from Coca Cola to Volkswagen) use cartoons in their ads. There is a reason why!

– Email Campaigns: Cartoons are fun and they will grab your clients’ attention

– Company Newsletters: If you want your employees to really read your newsletters, give them something fun!

– Training Manuals: a fun way to break up the often boring training sessions. Cartoons provide grait visual aid and reinforce important information by making it easy to remember.

– Fax Cover Sheets: fax cover sheets beg for a good cartoon!

– Websites & Intranets: give your clients/employees a great reason to check in on all your company information too.

All in all, cartoons are an original, extremely effective way of marketing and delivering across important messages to your clients and prospects. They make you stand out from the crowd and your business a success.

There

All too often people look at marketing ROI in terms of response rate: in other words, “I sent out 10,000 pieces of direct mail and only got 39 responses which is terrible.” This is wrong think.

When it comes to marketing ROI, you have to realize that the term means Return On Investment and the return is measured in dollars (or your local currency). Let’s say you spend $2,000 to get out a bulk mailing of 5,000 pieces and you get 10 calls as a result. Doesn’t look like much. But of these 10 calls you close 6 and get immediate sales of $12,000. That’s marketing ROI! And that’s not even taking into account the future sales to those 6 new customers. It could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The same simple mathematics apply to any other marketing efforts: radio ads, press releases or articles in magazines, print ads, yellow pages, web site, etc.

Obviously you need to keep track of response from each marketing campaign you do so that you can weed out unsuccessful campaigns and strengthen successful ones.

Case in point:

Jeff Lee, CFO of a very successful consulting company, Measurable Solutions, has adopted a successful small business marketing strategy based on direct mail marketing. Key elements are mailing out a newspaper and full color postcards. The design is done in house and the printing and mailing is done by a specialized postcard printing company. In his own words…

“We get our best response from mailing out a newspaper and back it up with postcards. Depends on the postcards. Some postcards have pulled better than others.

“The professionalism of the postcards is something that is effective: it gets attention, it keeps the image that we want to keep, it creates the reach, it creates the response and keeps our leads in a very high range.

“We probably average around 7,500 post cards per week. Out of 7,500 post cards we’ll get in an average of 15-20 leads. Of the 15-20 leads at least a third of them come to our introductory seminar. So say 5 or 7 people show up and they pay $1,700 a piece. Off of that we close a further $30-40,000 for services.

“The money we have put into the postcards is like a drop in a bucket compared to what we get back. We know that the more promotion we send out, the more return we’re going to get. It always works.”

That is excellent marketing ROI. Measurable Solutions spend about $2,275 for 7,500 full color post cards. That includes printing, postage, mailing (including the mailing list). From that they get between $8,500 and $11,900 in immediate response for an introductory seminar and an additional $30-40,000 follow-up sales. Spend $2,275, earn $40-50,000. You don’t need to have majored in advanced math and rocket science to work that one out: that is what is meant by marketing ROI!

Results of direct mail marketing vary from business to business but the principle holds and always works: if you send out enough promotion, you will make sales and maximize your marketing ROI. Don’t worry about response rate if your marketing ROI is high.

How Do I Generate More Online Leads For My Direct Sales Business?

Here’s a question I recently received from a subscriber who was looking for more leads for his direct sales business. He wrote:

*Question*: My wife and I have been an associate for a particular company for several months now and we are indeed very happy with the products and support training.

Our problem is getting other people to view our link or getting them to open it at all, I suppose. We need to expand our effort to new associate recruiting and would like your input as to how we might do this. Thank you for reply to this letter.

*Answer*: Thanks for the question. I know that the problem you face is what many direct sales reps face as well. Right now, you are using the website that the company provided to you. It’s the same site that the other reps are using and it really doesn’t say much about the two of you as unique people.

Your site also makes people enter a code before even viewing it. I understand that this is so you can get credit for any referrals, but you’re creating an extra step for your users. People have to remember the code, type it in or even copy and paste it, which unfortunately, is something a lot of people won’t bother to do. People use the Internet because it’s easy and they want to surf around quickly, without having to jump through hoops. You want your information right in front of your prospect when they get to the site.

Obviously, this is the way the company has set up the website and they probably aren’t going to change that…but honestly…I don’t think that matters. The two of you need your own unique online presence and need to generate your own leads.

Here’s why:

Who knows what will happen with your relationship with your company. They are a highly reputable company that’s been around for well over 100 years, but you have no idea what the future holds. If the company decided to no longer offer the direct sales opportunity or one day, the two of you decide you just don’t want to work with the company…what happens? Your business is gone! That’s no good.

I recommend that you keep your online presence separate from the company you are working with, so it really is your OWN business and you can maximize your income. You can generate leads that might be interested in your opportunity and you can make them other offers through affiliate programs or you might even want to create your own information products down the line.

Think of what unique perspective you give to your business. Are you great cooks who can show people how to make delicious meals with those products? From the recruiting side, you can also figure out a unique perspective, but make it a product focused one. Your best recruits will be people who have the same interests as you…not just people who want to make money online.

You can start by creating a list to promote your products and another to find recruits. I’d create two separate websites for this because some of your best customers will never be interested in the opportunity, so don’t confuse your visitors. For the product list, you can share recipes, information about using the right herbs and spices, etc. For the recruiting one, you can give information about starting a home business, show how fun it is to sell these types of products, etc….all from your own perspective.

All these subscribers you gather now belong to you. If you decide to move in a new direction with your business, you still have these subscribers and you can continue to deliver quality information to them…and earn an income too.

Just remember, this is your business and you want to have complete control AND maximize your income.

The JV Cassanova

Joint ventures are the key to financial happiness on the internet, and I do believe that they are related to dating - they follow the same structure.

Now most people date a few people and then settle down with one person, or into bachelorhood where they “have to do everything all by themselves”; most people find the dating process extremely difficult and nerve racking.

Which is why they’d rather sit at home, even if they really want to “meet someone special”.

Now internet joint ventures are a lot like that.

And the success rate either way, be that in the one time happy hit Casanova stakes or to find long term happiness in mutual relationships, depends on whether the 1st principle of Speed Seduction is known, and observed.

Speed seduction, and especially for beginners and before they become so good at seduction that ANYONE AT ALL becomes an easy mark, relies on making MANY approaches RAPIDLY.

So as opposed to sitting around in a bar and WAITING all night for the right moment or an opportunity to go after a single target, a beginner speed seducer will simply blanket bomb - try one, get a response, try the next.

That way the stakes are significantly shifted in the favour of the young speed seducer; with three approaches the chances of ANY FORM of success are significantly lower than with 30, or 300.

Now in seduction, you don’t go up to some person and just blurt out, “Do you wanna sleep with me …?”

But even if you did, and did it 300 times on the trot with 300 different people, you WOULD ACTUALLY get many different responses and SOME responses that would OPEN THE DOOR TO FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS.

And here’s where the process of learning how to become a REAL LIF Cassanova starts, this is the ground point zero of seduction skills.

With that many approaches, you can’t help but start to LEARN SOMETHING - what works and what doesn’t, what is culturally unacceptable and leads to you being beaten, what OPENS DOORS even a tiny little bit.

Another thing.

Imagine you’ve spent a WHOLE NIGHT courting just one individual - only to find that they are actually not what you had hoped for, or not really your cup of tea.

What happens in relationships of the romantic kind is that when a SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT of time and attention has been paid, people have the unfortunate habit of not cutting their losses QUICKLY and continuing on in the hope that it’ll sort itself out or magically get better somehow.

And so a pointless, doomed relationship that will never get anywhere just DRAGS ON.

Joint ventures between marketing sharks on the internet may SOUND all scientific and bottom line, but actually, they’re not.

They happen when there’s a CLICK between the potential partners involved; when there’s recognition, common ground, the mysterious “something” that makes people WANT to interact.

And when you’re proposing a joint venture to anyone, that’s what needs to happen just as surely as it needs to happen as you step up to a prospective date with a smile on your face.

So here’s the trick and the lesson.

Go to the meeting places where your prospective dates are likely to gather - marketing groups, for example; or just pick them up from what you can see around and who’s successful and who you want to work with.

Don’t “set your heart on THE one”, because we really don’t want to get into wrongfully translating our meaningful marriage vows to our business behaviours.

Think as a junior JV Cassanova would, and behave accordingly - get up, introduce yourself, see what response you get, and then MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE.

Don’t make one overcautious, over-thought-out, mirror-rehearsed, trembling proposal in a whole long month - make 50! 500! Easy, quick, light, friendly enquiries, that’s all that is required.

Try it on EVERYONE!

The world is FULL of people to JV with and the bigger the sample you go for, the greater the opportunities become.

Also, and every real Cassanova knows this, there are other pay offs.

So what if you don’t get to have an orgy immediately?

A nice smile, a dinner invitation, a contact made that can be expanded on later is FINE.

That translates to a link exchange or just a pleasant awareness that the other even exists and upon which you can build later on if you want to.

The more you do this, the more you learn.

The more you learn, the more you understand what you have to present, what you have to say or do to “get the foot in the door” and make a contact.

The more approaches you make, the higher your chances of finding “perfect fit” JV partners EVERYWHERE.

Just as the scared wannabe lover stands trembling in a world of their own, and right next to them the experienced Cassanova is standing in a world that is OVERFLOWING with possibilites, so it is for JVs on the net.

Get started.

Just ask - lots.

Don’t be afraid of rejection - the world is FULL of people.

Simply say, “NEXT!” and build your experience.

And that’s the way to really become a true JV Cassanova in due course.

Cheers!

Silvia Hartmann

Marketing Research: Know Your Customers

Having a competitive advantage over other businesses targeting the same market as yours is a basic, survival must: many choose to develop longterm relationships with their customers, in an attempt to create such competitive advantage. Knowing your customers is crucial, and it is quite a different thing from knowing their buying behavior. It is every marketer’s dream to have real, up-to-date information about consumers: their preferences, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, interests, education level, behavior are the base of understanding their needs.

Businesses often employ Marketing research to determine the consumers’ degree of acceptance of a new product, and the reason behind this is the fact that launching a new product without a real demand would involve much more costs than actual market research. Plus, a failed product launch is not only damaging for a business’ finances but also its image and reputation.

Any marketing research upon consumers’ profile should address at least the following questions:

Who makes the market of a product?

A company active on any given market must ask itself who its customers are. Are they mostly young people, or perhaps elderly? Women or men? What would their income levels be? This is the demographic information that can be a starting point in creating a customer profile.

What do people buy?

Is there a certain product consumers seem to prefer? Can we detect a trend of migrating to a given product? Will the market accept new products or changes in existing ones? These questions could offer a perspective on the mechanisms triggering buying decisions; the answers could indicate just how open to changes customers are.

Why do people buy?

Many businesses ignore the reasons why their customers choose one product or another. While we all know that impulse buying is a reality, most purchases are still made on reasons of benefits, value, satisfaction. Hence, we should ask ourselves “Why certain products are more popular among consumers and are perceived as being superior to others?”

Who takes the buying decision?

It is critical to know who is actively involved in the buying process, as the users of a product are not necessarily the ones to buy it. For example, food items destined to children are normally bought by a parent, which means the advertising messages should be aimed at parents and not at children. Identifying the real decision makers is an important part of any consumers research study.

How is the buying decision taken?

What are the reasons followed by consumers when making a buying decision? A marketer should remember that these reasons are likely to be influenced by a variety of social, cultural, economic factors.

When do people buy?

Some products are requested and are offered only in certain periods of a year, as demand can be driven by social or cultural factors (think of seasonal holidays, for example). Consumers’ lifestyle might also dictate the day or week when shopping is done.

Where do people buy?

Identifying the preferred location for people to buy is yet another important task in researching consumers’ behaviour. Where do they buy from? Supermarkets? The corner shop? New, creative venues can be employed, such as e-commerce web sites.

Marketing research relies on other sciences as well, such as psychology or sociology. Being able to develop the products consumers need, and then market them in accordance to the consumers’ behavior lay the basis for competitive advantages and shape the strategic decisions a business must make.

‘Secret Report’

Hi Vincent Furey Here At :

Pizza Operators are Making Dough Grow

Competition within the Pizza Industry is fierce! The number of dollars that the customers, in your market area, are going to spend is limited. To grow your business, you are going to have to take customers away from your competition. That’s where a sound marketing plan comes in.

“After all these years, it’s nice to reinvigorate your love for your business.” says John McNulty, Shakey’s Pizza licensee. McNulty’s family has owned and operated the El Monte, California Shakey’s Pizza restaurant since 1964. “I purchased the restaurant from my father in 1989. Until five months ago, our marketing efforts were limited. In recent years, advertising rates have dramatically increased. We haven’t been able to keep up, and our marketing dollars have been buying fewer ads. We also focused on the local schools, which has been a combination community service and marketing campaign. Mostly our efforts focused on rewarding students for things like reading, attendance and citizenship,” adds McNulty.

But all that has changed, “Our first marketing campaign using the restaurant marketing software began soon after Thanksgiving, and the results were overwhelming. I was stunned! It far exceeded my expectations,” says McNulty. McNulty offered a “Photo with Santa Party.” School children were invited to participate in a coloring contest and to stop by the restaurant for a free photo with Santa. Winners of the contest were to get a super-sized Christmas stocking packed full of fun toys. Other prizes such as DVDs and a DVD player were also given.

“We wanted to create an event that would bring customers into the restaurant with the hopes to establish goodwill in our community and to obtain marketing contact information from those who participated. From that event alone, we were able to enter 500 families into our database. The goal is to discover who our top 500 to 1,000 guests are so that we can target market to them. This has opened up a whole new avenue for me.”

Customers from the “Photo with Santa Party” were encouraged to join the restaurant’s VIP program. The incentives for joining included certificates for a free pizza and other VIP benefits. From the data gathered for the VIP program, McNulty now has developed a Birthday and Anniversary Program.

“This has also opened our eyes to the tremendous potential of business to business marketing. Now I have hired a woman to handle our neighborhood business marketing. She is making contacts with local businesses and opening the doors for potential catering, morning meetings, business luncheons and delivery opportunities. By marketing to businesses, we have already hooked up with a huge car dealership and are delivering food once or twice a week for luncheon parties and meetings. We can already see that there is a lot of potential,” says McNulty.

McNulty continues, “The restaurant marketing software is easy to use: I have really enjoyed the restaurant marketing manuals that come with the software. They have hundreds of great “tried and true” marketing ideas. I’ve also appreciated the individual coaching sessions, which we do over the phone every week. We have lots on the horizon such as our Uniform Day. For that, we’ve invited recruiters from all the armed services as well as the local fire and police departments. They will each set up recruiting stations in our parking lot. We’re advertising through the local high schools. It feels good to be a part of the community, and we know that it will come back to help our business grow.”

Guess Who Ford Motor Just Quit Selling To…

One of the very hardest things for a marketer of any kind to accept is that not everyone will buy their product, no matter how great they think it is. And even if someone else believes it’s fabulous too, that doesn’t mean they’ll buy.

I play tennis not golf. So no matter how stunning the new clubs are that Tiger himself uses, I won’t buy. I don’t do golf. So you’re better off to save your energy and find someone who DOES love golf. As obvious as this sounds, it’s almost impossible for marketers to do.

Ford Motor for example, just figured this out a few months ago. I posted on 1.23.06, the day they put out through the Wall Street Journal their five point plan to “restore profitability” to the company, and to “change their mindset.” Here’s #5:

“Quit trying to sell Fords to people who won’t buy them; focus instead on likely prospective customers.”

Think of all the advertising noise this will eliminate. No more screaming at the wrong ones. What if every marketer were to adopt this strategy?

Say you’re selling an insurance type of program. Who is a likely prospective customer? Here’s one group: those who buy extra warranties for things they get, from calculators to computers, to warranty insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance. Yes, I am one of those. This group also includes people who plan vacations ahead, have retirement plans in place. The planners. Or the sudden loss set, for example, who want to be ready next time.

Start describing the group by describing yourself. Why do you have the program? Ask your existing customers why they bought. They’re your customers, aren’t they? They comprise a community, if you will, and isn’t that who you want to go after?

Instead of doing therapy?

Say you sell nutritional supplements. Who is a likely customer? How about those who know nutrition matters and who know that they cannot get the nutrients they need from the food they eat, even if it’s all organic? These folks know they need to supplement. Like me. Or those who’ve had a close call or recent diagnosis and are responding to their wake-up call - they’re now ready to eat right and supplement.

Ask yourself why you take your supplements. Ask your steady customers (not just those who are selling). They’ll give you their why’s which will help describe your prospective customers.

It’s a start.