http://www.michelepw.com/blog Is your copy a bit lifeless? Marketing flat? Michele PW is here with tips and tricks to get your marketing and copy back on track. Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:07:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/feed/podcast/ If you're looking for real world strategies to get more leads, clients, customer sales to grow your business, you've come to the right place. Since 1998 I've been creating and implementing marketing and copywriting strategies for 100's of companies. I've seen first hand what works, and what doesn't. Visit me on the Web at www.MichelePW.com. Michele PW no Michele PW support@michelepw.com support@michelepw.com (Michele PW) Creative Concepts and Copywriting Is your copy a bit lifeless? Marketing flat? Michele PW is here with tips and tricks to get your marketing and copy back on track. http://MichelePW.com/images/MPW_itune144.jpg http://www.michelepw.com/blog http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=527 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=527#comments Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:07:57 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=527 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=527 1 business success strategy,Business success tips,online marketing strategies,small business marketing strategy,strategic internet marketing There are few things more frustrating than being stuck at a plateau. So what do you do when you are? Read these 3 tips to help you burst through. There are few things more frustrating than being stuck at a plateau -- whether it's a losing-weight plateau, a business-growth plateau or any other plateaus. So what do when you ARE stuck at a plateau, more specifically a business-growth one? Well the below 3 keys should put you on the right track to busting through. 1. Are you ready to grow? The first thing you need to look at is your mindset. A lot of times the reason why you're stuck is because you're just not ready to grow. It could be any number of things. You're hiding out. You don't want to be more successful than your spouse and/or parents. You're afraid people won't like you if you're too successful. Only evil capitalist pigs are successful. You get the idea. If you have a block like that standing in your way, it really doesn't matter what you do or don't do you're not going to bust through your plateau. So how do you know if you have a block? Well if you haven't done any self growth work, I suspect you probably have a block or 2 lurking around. It's nothing to feel ashamed about -- it's very common. In fact, I would venture to say every entrepreneur, even the most successful ones, encountered a block or 2 in their business growth. It's just the successful ones had a way to get around it. One place to start is by doing a little journaling. Take a piece a paper and draw a line down the middle so you have 2 columns. In one column, write down all the reasons why you want to break through this plateau and reach your goal. Then in the second column, write down all the reasons why you DON'T want to reach your goal. Yes, something will bubble to the surface if you don't brush this off as being silly. And whatever bubbles to the surface will give you the next clue as to what you have to do to get rid of the obstacle. The other thing you can do (which is my fave) is to hire a coach. Coaches are great for helping you get past your blocks. Therese Skelly (who is also my next guest on Ka-Ching Community Call) has a business breakthrough package that might be perfect for you -- check it out here at http://www.happyinbusiness.com 2. Do you know what you need to do to grow? You can get past all the blocks you have, but if you have no idea what you need to be doing to be successful, then you're not going to get very far. Some of my most successful partnerships are with clients who have their mindset in order and they're looking for copywriting and marketing expertise. When that happens, look out! Their businesses end up taking off in a really big way. So how can you tell if you're in this camp or if your mindset is blocking you? Well, I agree, it can be a little tough to do on your own -- there are clues (which I can spot when I'm talking to people but it's more difficult to explain). One clue is you're ready to do what it takes to make your investment back. You might be really worried or scared about making this investment in yourself, but you feel confident you're going to follow through and do what needs to be done. If you feel like you won't do it, or it doesn't matter what you do, you're only going to get X people buying because that's all you ever get, then you have a mindset block. Another way to know is if you feel like you're ready to step out in a big way and this is the next step. 3. You're in that "uncomfortable" space right before you're going to breakthrough your plateau and you just need to go a little further. What happens to water at 212 degrees F? It's turning to steam. What happens at 211 degrees? It's still liquid. If you know you're doing what you need to do to be successful and you haven't broken through your business plateau yet, it could be you're about to and you just have to keep doing what you're doing. You're at 211 degrees and you just need a little more umph to make it to 212.  (This one is probably the most frustrating of all. I was here so I know what you're going through. Michele PW no 11:10 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=524 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=524#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:10:11 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=524 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=524 5 business success strategy,Business success tips,online marketing strategies,small business marketing strategy,strategic internet marketing Are you making these costly mistakes with your business? Read on to learn more. If you've been on an airplane, you’ve probably heard the airline stewardess give you the little safety spiel. How you buckle your seatbelt. What to do in case of a water landing. And what happens if those little oxygen masks drop down. What you're supposed to do is put your mask on first then put the masks on your children. That order. You, then your kids. Why? Because if you pass out while trying to help your kids, you'll help no one, least of all yourself and your kids. Which is the point of my article today. Are you putting your clients' needs above your own? Now good customer care does require us to go above and beyond the call of duty. And sometimes we do have to work late or on weekends to help a good client out. That's not what this is about. What this is about is if you're consistently doing everything for your clients and nothing for yourself. Let me give you some examples -- 1. You're never not available. Clients or prospects can call you anytime of the day or night and you'll answer. 2. You don't take a vacation (a real vacation) again because you want your clients to be able to get in touch with whenever they want. 3. You don't spend anytime growing your business -- the only time you do any sort of marketing is when your business is down. Otherwise you put your client work first. (Note -- this can extend to other business tasks as well, such as getting your invoices out or doing your filing.) This last one probably doesn’t seem so bad. "But I'm working on my clients' projects, I can't possibly spend time on my business when they're paying me to work on stuff for them." While on one hand that sounds good, it really isn't. Think about it. If your business is a mess because you never spend anytime on it -- you're late collecting on your invoices because you don't send out billing, you're stressed about cash flow and where your next client is coming from, etc. how can you possibly be taking care of your clients at the highest level possible? Only when you have your own house in order can you fully take care of your clients' needs. (In other words, you have your oxygen mask on instead of being on the brink of passing out.) And it's the same with the first two as well. You need to take care of yourself first, and the only way to take care of yourself it to give yourself a breather every now and then. You need some time off to take care of you -- else what good will you be? Do you think your clients really want to be working with an exhausted, stressed out version of yourself or do they want to work with someone who is excited and passionate about what they're doing, even if it means they can't reach them 24/7 and have to give them some unplugged time every now and again? Look if this is you, don't feel bad. I made all these mistakes myself when I was first starting out as a freelance copywriter. But over the years I realized the better I took care of myself and my business, the better I took care of my clients. That sounds counterintuitive but it's true. Because I take time off, I'm healthier and have more energy. Because I treat my business like I would my one of my clients, I feel like I'm in integrity with the marketing principles I teach, plus I can share with my students and my clients what is working RIGHT NOW. I teach real-world tactics because I'm right there in the trenches with them. I invite all of you to take a look at your relationship with your clients. Is there something you're doing for them you're not doing for yourself? Do you think it may be time to change that? Michele PW no 8:03 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=522 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=522#comments Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:05:34 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=522 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=522 0 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=519 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=519#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:58:08 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=519 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=519 2 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=516 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=516#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:01:06 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=516 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=516 1 business success strategy,Business success tips,info-products,information marketing,information products,online marketing strategies,small business marketing strategy,strategic internet marketing There's few things more deflating then getting a request for a refund. But the good news is there are ways you can reduce your refund rate. Read on for the first 3 of 7 tips. There are few things in life as deflating as refund requests can be. You've spent weeks or months (or years in some cases) creating a product. You work so hard to market it and get into your ideal clients' hands. And they buy! It's so exciting when you make sales. And then you get a request for a refund. Argh! Luckily I have good news. There are things you can do to reduce your refund rate. And many of them won't cost you a dime. I'm going to walk you through these 6 simple steps, 3 this week about simple tweaks you can make to your product to make it more valuable and next week I'll cover 4 easy follow-up strategies. Let's get started. 1. Put a Quick Start CD or report in the product. Information products can be overwhelming. You open up the product and you have all these CDs and DVDs transcripts and worksheets and you don't know where to start. A Quick Start guide (either audio or written) can give people a place to begin and it can help them consume the material more easily. If people are feeling overwhelmed, they may just decide they don't have time to figure this out after all and pack it all up and return to you. (And yes, you can still include this even if the product is all digital.) 2. Include a Welcome letter or extra gift (or both). Let's go through the Welcome letter first. A Welcome letter should: * Reassure them they made a good decision by purchasing your product * Get them excited about digging in and using the product Welcome letters can also give them additional information and resources, or it can double as your "Quick Start guide" and give them instructions on how they should get started. Either way, it should make them feel good about their investment. (This again can and should be included with digital products.) Now let's look at gifts. A gift can be small, just a little extra bonus. Maybe it's a promotional item, such as a pen or a bookmark. Or it could be an extra bonus, maybe an additional unadvertised report. Whatever it is, it just adds to the value and helps make your ideal clients feel like you're overdelivering on value. 3. Send them an extra, unadvertised bonus at a later time. With this one, instead of bundling the bonus in the product, save it and send it to them later. This accomplishes a couple of things -- your ideal clients feel taken care of plus it gives you another opportunity to reach out and connect with them again. This is a good way to further build the relationship with your ideal clients so they don't feel like they're simply a "walking wallet." Next week I'll cover the next 4 strategies so stay tuned. Michele PW no 13:43 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=514 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=514#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:58:52 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=514 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=514 0 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=512 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=512#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:04:59 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=512 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=512 0 business success strategy,Business success tips,info-products,information marketing,information products,online marketing strategies,small business marketing strategy,strategic internet marketing As smart of a decision it is to add info-products to your business, there is a dirty little secret you have to be prepared for. Read on to learn more. You may have heard adding information products (or info-products) to your service business is a smart business decision. And indeed it is. There are many benefits to selling information products as part of your business. However, there is a dirty little secret around selling info-products. The dreaded refunds. You see, when what you're mainly selling services, you rarely run into refund situations. You may run into other challenges with getting paid but not refunds. But, unfortunately, the unpleasant reality is refunds and info-products go hand-in-hand. And when you're first confronted with this, it can throw a lot of entrepreneurs for a loop. Even if you know intellectually you'll get a refund here and there, emotionally it's a much tougher pill to swallow. And what I've found ends up happening is people create "stories" around refunds that simply aren't true. So let's take a moment and talk about refunds and bring this dirty little secret into the light. First, let's talk about what's considered normal. A normal refund rate is 10%. And, in fact if you're Dan Kennedy, you'll go as far to say if you DON'T have a 10% refund rate you aren't selling enough. (Isn't that an interesting spin on refunds?) If your refund rate is higher than that, you may have a positioning problem or you're selling to the wrong ideal client or you need to implement some stick strategies. (Note I didn't say your problem is the product is bad.) So let's assume your refund rate is at or below normal. Now let's look at the top 4 reasons why people ask for refunds. 1. The product isn't right for them. Read that again. The product isn't right for them. NOT that the product is bad. This is where a lot of the "stories" come in -- entrepreneurs spend so much time and energy creating an info-product and then when someone returns it, this sends them into a tailspin because they immediately come to conclusion that there's a problem with the product. If this is something you're concerned with, I can assure you that your product is fine. How can I know that? Because you ARE worried about it. People who create bad or low-quality products are not at all concerned about the quality. So why isn't the product right for them? Perhaps it's too basic or too advanced for where they're at right now. Perhaps they're not your ideal client. Perhaps they read the sales letter wrong and thought something was or wasn't included and so it didn't fit their current needs. Whatever it is, it has little to do with you and everything to do with them. 2. They have second thoughts. Again, this has nothing to do with you. Perhaps they run into a cash flow problem. Perhaps their spouse gets angry with them. Whatever it is, they've decided the easiest way to fix the situation is to return your product. 3. Something unexpected comes up in their life or business. Things happen. People get into car accidents, spouses get laid off or family members get sick. Whatever it is, it derails them from their current business plans and they have to put things on hold or rethink what they're doing. 4. They want to take advantage of you. This is a very, very small group but it bears talking about. The reality is there are unpleasant people out there who are looking for ways to get something for nothing. My advice is not to worry about them but know they exist. So as you can see, it really isn't about you. It's about them. Refunds really are just the cost of doing business as an info-marketer and aren't worth getting upset about. On the other hand, there are definite things you can do to reduce your refund rate. Next week I'll share those. Michele PW no 13:43 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=509 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=509#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:03:17 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=509 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=509 5 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=506 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=506#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 17:17:01 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=506 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=506 0 client attraction,online marketing strategies,small business marketing strategy,strategic internet marketing If your primary source of business revenue is selling services, there is no worse feeling than having an empty pipeline. So how do you keep a full pipeline with eager clients and customers? Let me share 3 tips to get you started. If your primary source of business revenue is selling services, there is no worse feeling than having an empty pipeline (especially when you're completing projects with your current clients). So how do you keep a full pipeline with eager clients and customers? Let me share 3 steps to get you started: Step 1 -- Know who your ideal client is. If you don't know who you're trying to put into your pipeline it's going to be pretty hard to get them in there. But this is deeper than just taking on anyone who waves a check in front of your face. If you want to fill your pipeline with clients who are EAGER to do business with you, you want to attract your IDEAL clients. So what is your ideal client? Your ideal clients are the ones who you love to work with. They're the ones who are a perfect fit for what you offer. They are NOT "women between the ages of 20 and 50 who are married with 2 children and trying to start a home-based business." That's a target market and that's different from ideal client. Ideal clients are about an attitude, a shared vision or goal. An ideal client description would look more like this: "mothers who have been stay-at-home mothers but their children are now starting school and they're ready to start working. But they don't want a job, they want something they can do at home and have flexible hours so they can still put their kids first." See the difference in the description? Now, you might be someone whose pipeline is empty and you REALLY need the cash flow, so while an ideal client is nice, you'd be happy with anyone who waves a check in front of your face. First off, I get it. I've been there myself. However, as I know you know, taking on those less-than-ideal-clients while might be necessary for financial reasons, usually turn into a bigger headache than what you signed up for. I know you sometimes have to do this, but wouldn't it be better to NOT have to? Start now focusing on attracting your ideal clients into your pipeline. Will a non-ideal client slip in from time to time? Of course. And if you so choose, you can take the on as a client. But start it off right by building that solid foundation first. Step 2 -- go where your ideal clients are. Now that you know who they are, it's time to hang out where they're hanging out. Don't know where they are? Then go back to step 1 and do more digging. If you really know your ideal clients, you'll know where to find them. Then you can focus your lead generating activities in the places where they are. Step 3 -- nurture your leads. Once you have your leads in the door, now it's time to build a relationship with them. The best way to do this is through a consistent follow-up system, such as an ezine and/or direct mail piece. If you have a weekly ezine or something that goes out regularly to your leads, you don't have to worry about remembering to contact them. It takes AT LEAST 7-13 touches to turn a prospect into a client. In this "new economy" this number is even higher (I've found you need to be a little more aggressive to get the same level of sales as you would have a few years ago.) So if you have an easy and automatic way to stay in touch with your prospects, you'll find building that relationship with your prospects that much simpler. Michele PW no 7:38 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=504 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=504#comments Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:10:31 +0000 Michele PW http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?p=504 http://www.michelepw.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=504 2 business success strategy,Business success tips,online marketing strategies,small business marketing strategy,strategic internet marketing Taking a quantum leap means transforming your business quickly. It means going from $200,000 to a million in a year. And if you want to take a quantum leap, here are 3 simple steps to get you started. If you want to grow your business, there are 2 ways you can go about it. Slow and fast. Most people end up growing their business slowly. Now there's nothing wrong with slow. It's not easy to grow your business period, so even growing your business slowly is better than what a lot of entrepreneurs do. So let's talk about fast. Another way to view growing your business quickly is by taking a quantum leap, which basically means you leap frog ahead versus taking your growth one step at a time. Taking a quantum leap means transforming your business quickly. It means going from $200,000 to a million in a year. It means seeing opportunities fly to you effortlessly. So if you want a quantum leap, how do you get one? Here are 3 steps to get you started: 1. Think big. Taking a quantum leap isn't going to work if you're thinking small. So the first thing you need to do is make sure you're thinking big. And, maybe even more than that, make sure you're READY for your business to BECOME big. If you're not comfortable or if there's some blocks or obstacles around you growing your business to its fullest potential, you'll never have a quantum leap. 2. Invest in yourself. There are different ways to invest in yourself. Do you need to build a team? Hire a consultant? Maybe you need to take time to go through a program or information product. Or you need to hire a coach or get into a coaching or mentorship program to move yourself ahead. Money is a form of energy. And when you invest in a program or hiring a team, that could be the catalyst you need to move you forward in a big way. Because now you've put your money where your mouth is (so to speak). You're taking yourself and your business seriously by investing in yourself. So how do you know what you need to invest in? You know. You know right now what you need to invest in to grow your business. Whether or not you do it is another story. 3. Failures means you're moving in the right direction. What?? I can hear you all saying. Here's the thing. If you design your life and/or your business around never making a mistake, do you REALLY think you're stepping outside your comfort zone? If you're trying to never make mistakes, then there's no possible way you can ever have a quantum leap. Quantum leaps require you to think differently than you have before, to try something you never have. And when you do that, you may end up having a failure or two (or ten) along the way. Successful people don't like failure anymore than you do. But they know if they don't get out there in big way and try new things, they won't be as successful overall, even though that means risking failure as well. It's a choice they make because they know the payoff is worth it. One way to deal with failure is to look beyond it. Focus on the end goal, where you want to end up. Then, when the failures happen, you're not as concerned with them because you're looking past them to the where you want to be. But the biggest part of taking a quantum leap is just to do it. Take a deep breath and jump. And believe the net will appear. Michele PW no 6:39