How To Build Your Blog Audience by Neil Patel(1/27/2014)-Do you know how to build your blog audience? Just in case you're not signed up for SEO/Growth Hack expert Neil Patel's Quicksprout blog, here's his guide on building a blog audience: click right here. No opt-in required. Guess what?… Continue Reading →
What Is a Unique Selling Proposition(2/20/2014)-What is a Unique Selling Proposition? I'll tell you a secret: most people get this wrong. They think it's about themselves. Or even worse, they think it's about price. Throw that thinking out right now. Neither your thinking nor your… Continue Reading →
What Is a Buyer Persona(3/3/2014)-What is a buyer persona? The guy who wrote the book on buyer personas, Tony Zambito, has a definition: Buyer personas are research-based archetypal (modeled) representations of who buyers are, what they are trying to accomplish, what goals drive their… Continue Reading →
Buyer Profile VS Buyer Persona: What’s the Difference?(3/4/2014)-Buyer Profile VS Buyer Persona: What's the Difference? Today we're continuing our look at Buyer Personas. They are a valuable tool that helps us understand and predict buying behavior. Buyer Personas aren't just for the big players anymore; now, you… Continue Reading →
Buyer Persona and Sales Call Plan: Surprise!(3/6/2014)-Buyer Persona and Sales Call Plan: there's a surprising connection. We'll round out our look at Buyer Personas with a recent realization expert Tony Zambito had on the topic. He was helping the top sales boss for an Inc. 500… Continue Reading →
Pain Points: Back to the Basics(3/8/2014)-Pain Points are a straightforward yet vital tool to sale success. When a sale has been achieved but the salesperson is unsure why, you can be certain at least one pain point was accidentally hit upon and was responsible. We've… Continue Reading →
Foot In The Door Technique Is Terrible Advice(3/13/2014)-Foot In The Door Technique is one recommended by many so-called "experts". Essentially, the idea is to use a small sale to develop a relationship, trust and experience with a new customer so that you can sell them something larger… Continue Reading →
Neil Patel On Understanding Consumer Psychology(3/19/2014)-Neil Patel on understanding consumer psychology--for your online marketing and sales efforts, what could help you more? This is the kind of package you'd expect to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for...and Neil is giving it away. If… Continue Reading →
How to See Bigger Opportunities In Business(3/25/2014)-I'm ill, but it was worth it. I learned how to see bigger opportunities in business. This past weekend I went to a networking event. It was for a group of about 300, but there were only 7 or 8… Continue Reading →
You Choose Your Customers(4/24/2014)-You choose your customers. Let me tell you that this is a mystery to nearly all small business owners. They're trying to get "everyone" to buy. And that is wrong. If you believe "everyone" is your customer, you are not… Continue Reading →
Information Interviews [How To](11/1/2014)-Information interviews are the key when you're confused about... ...what job to pursue, at what companies... ...when you want to know what your target market is interested in concerning your offer... ...when you want to make sales but don't know… Continue Reading →
Become The Influential Expert: Book Review(12/1/2014)-Become The Influential Expert is one of the top three business books I consistently recommend Why is that? In two decades of post-university, real-world, executive-level experience, I've never found such a complete and thorough volume of applicable marketing and positioning… Continue Reading →
Sales On Fire Fireside Chat No. 1(1/19/2015)-One of my fellow Coastal Carolina Network tv producers has been pushing me to make a Sales On Fire “Fireside Chat”. We did this as a proof of concept for a branding piece we've been kicking around for many months,… Continue Reading →
How To Choose a Product [Business Newbie Guide Part 1](4/2/2015)-How to choose a product or service to offer is often the most daunting question for newbies to business. This straightforward-sounding issue leads to more newbies giving up than any other. After months of paralyzing indecision and 'analysis paralysis', alongside… Continue Reading →
First Marketing Piece [Business Newbie Guide Part 3](4/9/2015)-First marketing piece: how do you write it? This is a big question for most business creators. And what do they do? Rush out and make a brochure. Whether it is online or on paper, this brochure typically talks about… Continue Reading →
How To Be a Local Startup Agent(6/25/2015)-An expert platform member asked how to be a local startup agent for an out-of-country parent company they would like to represent. Whether the parent company is out of town or out of country, the essence of your goal is… Continue Reading →
How SaaS Vendors Get It Wrong(7/8/2015)-SaaS vendors habitually have a critical problem. And it leads them to do unproductive things in their sales and marketing process. We'll be looking at these timewasters and sales losers over the next few posts. Here's a surprise: the same… Continue Reading →
I’m 18, What Should I Do With My Life?(8/24/2015)-A person young in years asked "What do you wish you have known at age 18 that can contribute to more success, and invest more of your time and knowledge into?" So, basically, "I'm 18, what should I do with… Continue Reading →
Usage Stats Are Up!(9/26/2015)-Usage stats can be deceiving. I'm sitting here drinking amaretto-flavored coffee. A secondary flavor (almonds?) is supposedly flowing through its ground and dripped essence, but the amaretto is definitely coming through strong. I didn't ask for amaretto coffee. I would… Continue Reading →
Are Online Customers Difficult?(11/7/2015)-Are online customers difficult? asks a person considering creating a course to be sold and delivered on the internet. Your customer quality really depends on the level of qualification you use to choose your buyer. People think copy's purpose is… Continue Reading →
Does GPA Predict Entrepreneurial Performance?(5/3/2016)-Does GPA predict entrepreneurial performance? This was a question on an expert platform I'm a member of. And my answer? No. GPA, or Grade Point Average, is a performance measure for academic pursuits. Memorization, rote, and perhaps a little critical… Continue Reading →
Roles Can Be Dangerous(6/23/2016)-Roles can be dangerous! Especially if you're not conscious of them. A role is essentially a character you're playing in the game of life. Roles Can Be Dangerous If They Are Unconsciously Assumed A policeman is a role. So is… Continue Reading →
How To Begin Selling: Your Necessary Mindset Shift(7/28/2016)-How to begin selling is a key question, because people shut themselves down before they begin if they don't understand what's going on. The future you think you see now isn't real. Military planners had this problem: they'd be planning… Continue Reading →
How To Create A High Ticket Course(9/6/2016)-Recently I was asked on an expert platform about the way to create a high ticket course, but with a twist. "How did you create a high ticket business course, product or service without experience?" Here's my answer: There’s a… Continue Reading →
Reframing: A Lesson In Meaning(10/23/2016)-Reframing is the process of repositioning an idea, often one normally considered a negative, in the prospect's mind. Finding clear examples can be difficult, however. Other than the bog standard Ronald Reagan "I will not make age an issue of… Continue Reading →
Decision Power: Mindset and Moving Forward(11/22/2016)-Decision Power can be imagined like a light switch. Like all switches, it has "Off" and "On" positions. Decision Power In The "Off" Position Here's the problem with most people: They won't DECIDE. Instead, they sit in the center of… Continue Reading →
I’ll Do It Later, When…(1/3/2017)-I'll Do It Later, When... is a refrain I've often heard in my many years of business coaching. Usually it occurs at the beginning of the process. I'm talking with someone who has come to me for help, only to… Continue Reading →
Super Bowl Belief(2/6/2017)-Super Bowl belief patterns are a great example for any profession. You can take some business lessons away from yesterday's Super Bowl. Yes, you can. We could talk about momentum shifts, and how critical those are. We could get into… Continue Reading →
Are You a Problem Solver?(3/4/2017)-Are you a problem solver? Well? Are you? Let's have a serious chat...one that could change your life. Are You a Problem Solver Or a Victim? If your response to a simple question that you could get the answer to… Continue Reading →
My Business Is Different(9/17/2017)-Behind Dan Kennedy in videos of past group training events he has posted a sign. That puts the sign at the front of the room, where everybody can see it. Black text on a bright yellow background proclaims: "But Dan...… Continue Reading →
Two Things To Make Money(10/2/2017)-You Only Need Two Things To Make Money... In well over half a decade in online marketing I've seen newbie hopefuls be convinced into needing a never-ending stream of things to make money. "You need a website," the gurus say.… Continue Reading →
The One Right Way(12/20/2017)-The One Right Way is something everyone—even me—seeks. Let's look at a story about this idea: back in college 20 years ago, I tutored fellow students in AutoCAD. That's computer-aided design (or drafting). When I was 18 I walked into… Continue Reading →
Added Value: Potatoes vs Potato Chips(2/8/2018)-Added Value: let's talk about this concept. Have you ever noticed the price of potatoes versus the price of potato chips? Potatoes are one of the cheapest things under the sun. You can get an eight pound bag for a… Continue Reading →
Features and Price(6/18/2018)-Features and price have a weird sales connection: When you start talking about features, your prospect starts thinking about price. If all you talk about is features, you sound like every other seller in your marketplace. So if you want… Continue Reading →
Highest Best Use(7/14/2018)-Highest Best Use is a concept best explained by analogy. So let me provide one, from my civic volunteer history. I shot a video about it: Highest Best Use Means Being The Real You As a business owner, you… Continue Reading →
Three Quick Checks When Hiring Salespeople(12/27/2018)-Hiring Salespeople: this is the last Sales Tactics post of 2018. That means we're about to head into the FIFTH YEAR of this blog—how many people do you know who have stuck with a thing as long as that? I… Continue Reading →
Head Trash and Why It Is So Important(2/21/2019)-Head Trash is the limiting beliefs you have. I have them, too. They're different from yours, but the effects are similar and bad, so we should talk about them. A limiting belief is, foremost, an unconscious belief. You are not… Continue Reading →
Being On Mission When No One Is Watching(4/29/2019)-Being on mission is not easy. Let's get personal. Five years ago I wrote a post about how you can really paint yourself into a corner. The subject was the possible price of success, and whether you are willing to… Continue Reading →
Be Brave and Do Information Interviews(11/30/2019)-Information interviews are one of the true secrets of successfully entering a new market. And fortunately for you, your contemporaries are just too darn afraid to ask for them. Someone who's experienced in the field you want to get into… Continue Reading →
No Obligation To Sell(3/29/2020)-Do you have no obligation to sell...or must you try to make a sale with every prospect who comes along? This event occurred two years ago. Facebook Memories brought it back to my attention. I find it amusing. I guess… Continue Reading →
Insight In Selling: Power To Change(4/27/2020)-Insight in selling is a fascinating and powerful way of effecting change. Have you ever metaphorically held your prospect's hand, walked them along the education pathway, gotten them close to the sale of adopting your product or service, only to… Continue Reading →
Money Tolerance And The Games We Play(7/29/2020)-Money Tolerance is a topic I'm surprised to find I haven't written much about here, given that it is such a central concept not only to the sales training I deliver but also to life. Your life. If we look… Continue Reading →
Your Value Creates Your Business Size(8/25/2020)-Your value: where does it come from? I'm speaking entirely in a business-rational point of view here: as a human being, you have infinite value independent of anything or anyone. In the marketplace, however, you do have a quantifiable value.… Continue Reading →
Your LinkedIn Outreach Is Terrible (and what you can do about it)(9/30/2020)-Your LinkedIn outreach is terrible. I don’t know exactly where people are getting “advice” for how to do outreach on social media...but what they’re being told is really bad. Every day I receive dozens of LinkedIn connection requests that look… Continue Reading →
How Will You Go Into 2021 As A New Business Owner?(12/24/2020)-Blind or with Vision? The new business owner often flies blind. You see this in the questions. "What's working?" "What tool should I use?" "How do I do this?" These are the wrong questions. Oh, it's likely that someone will… Continue Reading →
Sharing New Business Ideas, Trust and NDAs(9/23/2021)-Sharing new business ideas can be a scary proposition for the idea originator. Here are the kinds of worries people typically ask me about when it comes to sharing their 'baby' with someone else for feedback and possible implementation help.… Continue Reading →
How To Find Pain Points(10/28/2021)-[Original 2014 Article:] How to find pain points is one of the basic sales questions we need to answer. We know what they are, and we know they are not features or benefits. But how do we get them? The… Continue Reading →
Your Barrier To Entry(6/17/2022)-What I've seen over the years here is people learn of an idea: the magic bullet (of the week). They put it into action ONCE and it doesn't work (for whatever reason...poor quality traffic; insufficient traffic--key issue, that one; lousy… Continue Reading →
Buyer and Seller Money Tolerance: What Kills Sales Before They Start(8/6/2022)-Buyer and seller Money Tolerance differences can kill the sale. This is a relatively advanced and powerful concept you're unlikely to hear about from other sales experts. Money Tolerance, as we’ve discussed before, is your personal answer to, “How much… Continue Reading →
The Value of Good Prospecting(9/25/2022)-Good prospecting is a rarity. If you prospect well, you can stand out in a way your competitors won't. You'll shorten your sales cycle. You'll get to the point faster with more prospective customers than you have before, and faster… Continue Reading →
Get Out of Negative Mindset: How To(12/28/2022)-Get out of Negative Mindset: How To Today's post comes from a very good question asked in a group I'm a member of that is full of personal trainers and weight loss coaches. They know the value of exercise. They… Continue Reading →
How Do I Start A Business?(1/23/2023)-How Do I Start A Business? Here is my answer to a "Can you give me a 10 minute call on How do I start a business" question, from a large group of coaches (and would-like-to-be-coaches). Maybe it'll help someone… Continue Reading →
Advice On How To Start a Business(4/26/2023)-Some further advice on how to start a business: there is no "one right way". You have to make your own choices. Are there client fields that are likely to give you a better chance for success? Sure. But nothing… Continue Reading →
The Danger of the Two Sales(5/26/2023)-The Danger of the Two Sales is a straightforward but not well-known marketing and sales problem that kills many new businesses. Here's what happens to produce it: Someone has a brainwave and makes a new product or service. You see… Continue Reading →
