by Mary Johnson -- Web Site Helper, LLC
  November 30, 2004  Issue 12

• From 'Hard Sell' to 'Sold' in 5 Minutes
• CASE STUDY: Viral Marketing -- Your Leg Up on the Competition
• A WOW! Moment

FROM 'HARD SELL' TO 'SOLD' IN 5 MINUTES
--- Benefits Prove Their Worth Again

MY SEARCH FOR THE UNKNOWN

I have been very fortunate in that I have never had to advertise in the traditional sense. Through participation in networking events and building relationships, coupled with my Web site's excellent visibility in the search engines, I now have a steady stream of work coming my way.

But, I've been looking for a way to build my brand locally for the last couple of years so that more people will have heard of me already when I get referred to them. This will increase my chances of closing the sale more quickly.

I'm a small technology business. I can't compete with Lexis-Nexis or NCR for sponsorship opportunities at golf events.  It isn't so much the price tag (ok, yes it is), but I can't get excited about golf. I'm more into outdoor sports like water skiing or hiking. Anyway, I want something that is meaningful to me and helps my community at the same time.

"HARD SELL" TO "SOLD" IN 5 MINUTES

I am a hard sell -- normally. This is because I am very analytical. I need lots of details before I make a decision. But some decisions are easier to make than others and the idea I'm about to share with you sold itself to me in record time.

THE BENEFITS

Enter Positive Promotions and Molly Bordonaro-Hall. I found out through her enewsletter that she put together a program for the Greene County Parks District in Xenia, Ohio to make it easy for businesses to get marketing exposure to their park visitors.

I was interested. I could see potential here.

Molly puts together programs for not-for-profits, at no charge to them, that provide so many benefits to businesses that it is a no brainer.

Let me list the benefits that sold me on the idea:

1. I determine my dollar level of involvement (great for a small business's budget)
2. I get equal billing with larger businesses who can afford more
3. I get a link to my Web site from their Web site (this adds to my link popularity in the search engines)
4. In addition to the physical asset that my contribution helps fund, I get exposure throughout the year by being able to display my banner at major events.
5. All contributions are 100% tax deductible
6. I get great public relations (PR) in the community
7. I can feel good about helping a cause that is important to me

WHAT DID I CHOOSE TO DO?

Frankly, the actual program that I am participating in isn't the point (although it happens to be the Greene County Parks District). And the way I am supporting them is not what is of most value to me (I am funding the purchase of baseball caps with the "Parks Partners" logo on front and the Web Site Helper logo on back).

It is all the other things that can't be bought or whose benefits far exceed the small amount that I am actually paying that easily convinced me to participate.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY

As a business, you need to make the benefits of your products or services so clear that they do the selling. You can just sit back and wonder why you didn't try this long ago.

HOW YOU CAN DO IT TOO

If you are a business, email Molly@PosPromos.com, to see what other sponsorships are available.

If you are a not-for-profit, email Molly@PosPromos.com, the brainchild behind this, to get a program set up for you.

CASE STUDY: VIRAL MARKETING

-- Your Leg-Up on the Competition

WHAT IS VIRAL MARKETING?

Viral marketing is simply increasing your exposure to potential clients by getting existing clients/partners to talk about you to their friends, peers, etc. The growth can be exponential and is akin to a virus spreading rapidly to create an epidemic.

WHY YOU NEED VIRAL MARKETING

None of you would argue that a good referral is worth more than a cold call. Well, viral marketing is as close as it gets to a good referral.

I'll bet your competition is not using it like they should, if at all. Probably because they don't understand technology and are afraid to make a move until they do. You are already one step ahead of them by reading this article.

THE BEGINNING OF MY STORY

I subscribe to many enewsletters but my favorite one is Michael Katz's "E-Newsletter On E-Newsletters" because it is entertaining, enjoyable to read, and has useful information relevant to my business. Note: These are benefits that are important to me.

KEEN OBSERVATION YIELDS NEW IDEA

Well, in a recent issue, Michael observed that a large number of his readers clicked on a link to another person's enewsletter that he had mentioned. He could only guess why, but this was something that provided added value to them based on their behavior.

Being the observant person that he is, he saw a new benefit to give to his readers and decided to add a new feature to upcoming issues that would highlight a particular aspect of someone else's enewsletter.

PUTTING THE IDEA INTO ACTION

In a future enewsletter, Michael asked for enewsletter publishers (that's me) to share their particulars for consideration. My eNewsletter, The Big Picture, was mentioned in his 2nd issue that contained this new feature.

THE EFFECTS OF VIRAL MARKETING

Within the first 10 minutes of his publication, I got four new subscribers to my enewsletter. After a week, the count is up over 20. That's 20 new people that never knew I existed before this event.

Yes, viral marketing works. And when these new subscribers get comfortable enough with me and find out that I provide something of value to them, they will refer me to their friends and colleagues. Why? Because they will personally benefit by providing their friends and colleagues something of value -- it makes them look good.

HOW YOU CAN IMPLEMENT VIRAL MARKETING

You can implement viral marketing using the following Internet technologies:

1. eNewsletters
2. Tell-a-Friend feature on your Web site to refer specific Web pages
3. Signature line on your emails asking them to tell someone about you or to sign up for your enewsletter

Don't wait to learn the technology on your own. Your competition isn't. Web Site Helper would be happy to help you implement any of these solutions.

Contributed by: Dave Dawson
Company: Leadership Strategies-USA
Industry: High Performance Executive Coaching
Contact Info: http://www.Leader-USA.com

"At a recent group presentation, I started with the concept that we were all there to do business and business is about the bottom line. I then asked them to take out $1.00 -- which they all did with some reservation.

I collected them all and stuck them in my pocket telling them the computer and projector were very expensive. <my note: this is Dave's wonderful subtle humor>

During my presentation, I explained to them how I guar'an'tee all clients a 200% ROI.  At the conclusion, I pulled out a wad of $2.00 bills and gave one to each.

They seemed happy and I think it left an impression that showed improved results do count."

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Call me:  937-974-5539
Email me:  Mary@WebSiteHelper.com
Web me:  www.WebSiteHelper.com