NOTE: This article is perhaps one of the best free Marketing Best Practices article I've ever released. I've included several actual examples from my own consulting work.
Normally, you would never receive the types of content in a free article that you'll be seeing today.
So I'd like to ask you a favor. If after reading this issue, you feel as though you've received significant value, will you please forward this article on to THREE of your business friends. Thank you so much. ______________________________________________________
Dear Reader:
Did you know that experts say that the average consumer is presented with over 3,000 sales messages a day!
That's a lot of ads fighting for your attention.
The Marketers All-Time "Second Biggest" Challenge
With so many sales pitches bombarding you every day it's tough to believe who's telling the truth and who's not.
To make matters worse, most of the sales pitches are so "over the top" that we've become jaded to any claims that are made - - even though they could be perfectly true.
So, as a marketer, your "second" biggest challenge is to get people to BELIEVE you.
Most consumers have a natural, built-in, skepticism, which is one of the marketer's worst enemies.
Liars, schemer's, cheaters, and con-artists make it hard for the legitimate marketer to be believed.
How to Penetrate the Veil of Skepticism
So the big question is, "How can you get beyond all the blaring ads and noise out there and convince people to believe you?"
It's not easy; however it certainly isn't impossible. Here are a few unique tactics I've personally used in my marketing experience over the years to penetrate the veil of skepticism with great success.
Tactic # 1 - Provide data from credible reports, studies, and surveys
If you do some research you can always find data from relevant sources that support your product or service in some way.
Live Example...
I market to spa and pool business owners and one product that I promote is high end vacation incentives ($200+). I use statistics from a study that shows that consumers highly value vacations, which makes them a great sales incentive.
See the pie chart on this webpage:
http://www.spapoolsuccess.com/vacations.htm
Tactic # 2 - Share supporting comments from highly credible sources such as experts, media, and celebrities
The other day I received a very good direct mail letter from a company selling life insurance. Selling life insurance is a brutal business, but each sale can mean a lifetime of renewable revenue for the company.
Live Example...
Here's an insert they included in the letter. It was absolutely perfect and really went a LONG WAY to support the message this company was delivering.
Click here -> http://tinyurl.com/6zujf
Tactic # 3 - Share comments from people have have first hand experience with your product or service
Providing customer testimonials is one of the best ways to get people to believe you.
Here's a true story...
I was at a seminar one time where Ron Legrand, real estate investing expert was speaking. Ron had a long-running television infomercial that sold his real estate course to generate leads for his backend products and services.
He told us that he was losing money on every course he sold through his infomercial. (By the way, his infomercial is the one with the two midgets selling his course).
Ron said that he made one simple change to his infomercial that not only took him from losing money to break even, but to actually making a good profit on each sale.
Do you want to know what his one change was....?
He simply doubled the amount of testimonials he presented. That was it.
And the same thing happened to me!
When I doubled the amount of testimonials on my website for the Small Business Marketing Bible, my conversion rate doubled.
Live Example...
Check out the sheer volume of testimonials:
Click here -> http://tinyurl.com/43pj5
And if that's not enough, I've got 10 more pages of testimonials.
Click here -> http://tinyurl.com/43pj5
It gives overwhelming evidence of the quality of the Small Business Marketing Bible.
A Unique and Exciting Way to Present Your Testimonial
Testimonials are powerful but they can become extremely potent when they're presented in a unique way. I created the following live example for a day trading firm here in Houston.
This format was inspired by Kris Mills of http://www.WordsthatSell.com.au who is a genius copywriter and direct response marketer.
Live Example...
Click here -> http://tinyurl.com/629ep
Tactic # 4 - Provide newspaper and magazine articles highlighting your product or service
This tactic is one of my all-time favorite because nothing beats the credibility of the mainstream media. One write up in the Wall St. Journal or appearance on Oprah can build an entire company.
But you don't need a write up in the Wall St. Journal or appear on Oprah to make this tactic work for you.
Even a write up in your local newspaper can create a powerful marketing piece for you to use over and over again.
Here's four ideas to make this work for you.
Idea # 1 - You can simply call up the local newspaper and pitching a unique story to them about your company, product, or service.
Idea # 2 - If they don't take the bait, find a small newspaper in your area and talk to the sales rep and ask them if you pay for a good sized ad if they would write up a positive article about your business.
(Disclaimer: This tactic has worked well for me with small, local newspapers. The large papers will balk at your idea.)
Idea # 3 - If they still don't take the bait, buy space in the newspaper and place an advertisement that looks like an article (these are called advertorials).
Idea # 4 - If they s-t-i-l-l don't let you print your article (highly unlikely) then write your own article that looks exactly like what you would see in a newspaper and use it in your marketing efforts.
The very best way to do this is to write an article wrapped around several testimonials from happy customers.
Live Example...
Here's an example of this tactic that I did last year with the same day trading company that I mentioned earlier.
Click here -> http://tinyurl.com/4qba5
Conclusion
Overcoming your prospects natural skepticism is an important challenge. But once you accept that people don't trust you or the claims you make at face value and that you have to provide proof to overcome their skepticism, you're half way there to solving the problem.
My last piece of advice is to become a fanatic about gathering testimonials. It's one of the most powerful marketing tools you can use. And don't forget to get creative in presenting your testimonials so that they stand out and capture people's attention.
May I Ask a Favor of You
In fact, if this article has helped you in some small way will you do me a favor.
Will you send me a testimonial about how the Marketing Best Practices Newsletter has helped you in your marketing efforts.
It will significantly help me in my marketing efforts and will help me get to know you a little bit.
Thank you!
How to Penetrate the Veil of Skepticism - To learn more about this author, visit David Frey's Website.
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David Frey
(Visit David's Website)
David Frey is the author of the
best-selling manual, "The Small Business
Marketing Bible" and the Senior Editor of
the "Small Business Marketing Best
Practices Newsletter
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