July 30, 2009

A Small Fish in a Big Pond Can Succeed, Too... The Other
People (OP) Rule... You Won't Get What You Don't Ask for...
Looking to Your Past for Information Marketing Influence...
and More.

Sometimes with a business -- particularly if you have a retail establishment -- you will find that it is difficult to compete with the bigger companies. Big-ticket department stores are popping up all over the place these days and you probably feel like a very small fish thanks to this fact.

However, the good news for small retailers is that the pond is big enough for everyone. The secret is to focus on just one part of it.

You will find that it's almost impossible to compete with certain companies' product selection and stock quantities, and perhaps even with their prices as well. It can seem bleak, but the best advice I can give you is to be happy and focus on one particular market segment. Own your piece of the pie. You don't need to have the biggest piece right away, but always remember that you do have a piece all your own.

If you find that the competition's product selection is far greater than yours is -- and you feel that there is no competing -- then you need to find another way to attack this challenge. Instead of trying to offer the same product selection, create a market niche for yourself.

Focus on one item that you sell well and create a buzz about it. Make people feel as though this is the only place that they can get this one product. People respond well to the concept of exclusivity. They want to feel as though they are in on a little secret.

If you're a small fish in a big pond, then you have to find a way to better serve your customers. Remember that people react to customer service more than anything else a business has to offer them. If customers can take advantage of a service that is convenient and efficient, then they will do business with the company that offers it over and over again.

If you can't compete on the same level as the big-box stores, then create a level of service that is all your own. If you offer people services and products that are unique and exclusive, then they will come back to your business time and time again.

You need to be able to find that small window of opportunity that allows you to take a specific segment of the market away from the competition. You might not have the largest segment, by any stretch, but you can take a piece of the pie regardless of what the competition is doing.

For instance, Wal-Mart sells everything from frying pans to TVs to towels to decorative items. So there's a very slim chance that you could afford to offer the variety that they do. So concentrate on unique and hard-to-get items instead.

If you want to sell decorative items, look for a variety that isn't sold by the big-ticket stores and concentrate on those unique items instead. Sell only a certain type of product, which is handmade or ceramic, etc.

All you need is to capture one segment of the market in order to become successful. Also, create a buzz around your products and eventually you will be able to compete. Create a specialty business that focuses on customer service and satisfaction. Once you're able to create a customer base, then you can start taking on bigger segments.

Remember, even though you might be a small fish, you can become successful by swimming around in several different ponds.

For nearly two decades, I have been involved in the testing of hundreds of national advertisements, the goals of which were to understand what moves people -- and to employ the correct tactics that would move them.

As a result of these marketing tests -- or scientific experiments, if you will -- I have learned which thoughts, words and emotions work like magic to attract attention, gain interest, build desire, and move people to take action in my favor. As a result, I can tell you with absolute certainty which ideas move people to take action.

In fact, I have seen one advertisement sell 50% more products than another and the only difference was the headline! Five seconds of a reader's attention made all the difference in the world. This statement dramatizes the huge selling power your choice of words has in getting others to do what you want. This is the foundation you will use to increase your income and improve your life overall.

The most important words are ones that appeal to people's self- interest, because that is at the core of moving people. Have you ever heard the acronym WIIFM? It stands for "What's In It For Me?" When you structure your communication around the WIIFM principle -- whether that communication is verbal, graphic, or written -- you will increase your chances of success tenfold.

If you want other people to do what you want, then you must know what they want and appeal to their self-interest. For example, if you want to buy a car at a discount, instead of first thinking how much money you can save, think about what the sale will mean to the salesman, then structure your communications toward helping him accomplish that goal.

In direct marketing, this type of "benefits to the buyer" is approach burned into our thinking. The average person thinks solely of the benefits to themselves. This is why ads that just talk about how great a company is will usually fail. But if they speak to our basic needs to save money, improve our health, or show us how to retire five years earlier, they will strike a chord with the reader and make a product or service millions of dollars in revenue.

Begin thinking in respect to benefits to others, and I'll guarantee you'll get what you want. But if you think about benefits to you, you'll never move anyone to your way of thinking. With a few key concepts in your mind and a few key, scientifically proven phrases in your vocabulary, you will be able to show anyone the benefits you bring to them -- and you'll be handsomely rewarded when you achieve everything you've ever dreamed of.

Sometimes when you speak up, it can lead to all kinds of savings.

You see, just because a price tag says a certain number, it doesn't mean that that's the price that you should necessarily have to pay for it. After all, there are a number of different factors that can detract from an item's value. Basically, a price tag suggests the price based on the item/product/service's optimal performance. So, if it doesn't perform like it's supposed to, why should you have to pick up the difference?

Last weekend I took a spur-of-the-moment trip down to Chicago. When I arrived, I had no idea where I would be staying, and surely didn't want to pay an absurd amount for my accommodations. After calling a number of hotels, I was able to find one for what I considered to be a reasonable price --
$180 for the night, located right in the heart of the city.

After checking in Saturday afternoon, I went out and took in the city and went to some appointments. Anyways, when I returned to the hotel at roughly 11 pm that night, I was surprised to find the small lobby completely immersed in water. After wading through the lobby and climbing up a few flights of stairs, I was back at my room. However, I really had to struggle to get the door closed, and noticed that there happened to be a big red stain on the carpet. Rather unimpressed, I climbed into bed and decided that there was no way I'd be paying the requested $180 rate for this room.

The next morning, I went down to the lobby (which was now nice and dry) to negotiate a better deal for my room based on the problems I'd encountered. At first, the concierge offered me a $50 savings. Sure, it was a nice gesture, but it didn't come close to making up for the level of dissatisfaction I'd had with my room. Explaining the stain on my floor and the fact my door barely closed, she decided to make another offer. This time, she told me she would be happy to lift $100 from the cost of the room.

Without having to do much coaxing, the concierge had dropped more than 50% of the rate for the room. So, I started thinking I might be able to push for a further reduction. I told her that her offer was quite impressive; however, I didn't feel that it was quite enough. I then suggested that the price I would feel comfortable paying was $30 for the night -- a savings of $150. I told her about how the stay was uncomfortable and tried to relate to her on a human level. When it was all said and done, she agreed to give me $150 off the room, meaning I only had to pay $30 for a room regularly priced at $180.

You see, by speaking up and offering my honest opinion of what the service was worth, I was able to convince the vendor that a lower price was in order. Now sure, had my door closed properly, the room had been stain-free, and the lobby hadn't flooded, I would've had no problem paying the $180. In fact, I would've thought it was a steal of a deal considering the location of the hotel based on competitors' rates and availability. However, the problems I encountered lowered the value of the hotel, so I spoke up and made sure I paid a fair price for the service. In most cases, businesses are willing to comply when a customer has a reasonable issue.

** Looking to Your Past for Information Marketing Influence
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

What were you doing 10 years ago? I understand this is an odd question to begin this article with, but bear with me. Think back specifically to your professional life and what you were doing to either upgrade yourself or gather income or both.

Ten years ago, I was starting my second year of university and working in a video rental shop. My colleague Adrian Newman had left his job as a night shift cleaner and was already working
on becoming a professional copywriter. My father was finishing off his 25-year career as a chemist and heading into that wonderful world of retirement. My mother was upgrading her nursing skills after being out of the profession for several years while working at a travel/tourism company.

With any of the above cases, you notice that everyone was doing something interesting and either heading to newer professional ground or ending off another professional chapter in their careers. Either way, if one goes back to re-examine these periods, there is usually a large period of work and/or life experience. This experience is valuable to the information marketer.

Recently, a colleague of mine got a job creating content for a business start-up web site. Late at night and frazzled, he e- mailed me in distress.

"How am I going to do this? I've never started my own business and don't know anything about getting cash for anything."

I asked him if he had any experience in acquiring capital for any venture in the past.

"Well, yeah. In school, we wanted to start a café near the lecture hall."

I asked him how he went about it.

"We had to go up against the university staff with a business plan outline, as well as try and get funding from a student grant resource center. But it was only a few thousand bucks."

Was it successful?

"Well, yeah. It's still there with a photo of us in the first year who established it."

There you go. My friend really did have experience. By re- examining and outlining his past, he was able to use his experience as resource and wound up having an easier time creating content for the web site.

You can do the same. If you were a student trying to break into the work force in recent years, there are agencies that need content from you in order to provide employment consultation. Ever traveled abroad for a job? Why not set up a web site offering advice to people wanting to do the same and include information on travel health, documentation, and working conditions?

The closest immediate example of using your past for information marketing is my superior, Michael Lombardi. He was not born into wealth. He spent time working on building sites and labor jobs before he went into financial consultation and creating his own business. That said, he has often used his own experiences in providing advice to his clients. He has examined a lot of the successes he has had and some missteps as well to help guide others along their own professional path. What measures to take to incorporate your business, how to survive bad market periods, some unfortunate mistakes he made along the way...these are all things Michael has experienced and consulted on.

Why can't you do this as well?

Everyone's life is different. As clichéd as it sounds, you will be hard-pressed to find two people with exactly the same life stories. What you have done, experienced, achieved and failed at are all valuable in information marketing. Always be ready to harness it. There are those who will want your experience or advice as something to help establish them professionally. Oh, and they will pay for it too!