Archive for the 'Entrepeneurship' Category

Sell More & Work Less Excerpt – Jumpstarting Your Pipeline

Description: C:\Users\Alan\Desktop\Sell More & Work Less\image icon 3 Globe.jpgReal-World Scenario (Excerpt from Sell More & Work Less)

About ten years ago, I helped a company develop their virtual sales and marketing strategy. Its solution, let’s describe it as a client behavioral research solution, was new to the market and required an evangelical sale. The businesses targeted for this new solution had to be convinced to take a leap of faith and try a new method to analyze their customer behavior. In addition, this method was a completely Web-based, SaaS solution. Evangelical sales are common with technology companies seeking to sell a breakthrough product (e.g., eMarketing solutions, MP3 downloads, cloud computing, electronic reading devices, and even DVRs). The first step in the process was to identify the target market and build a suspect list, just as I mentioned above. The CEO had an insurance background and landed a few insurance company clients. We decided this would be the first niche market to target. How did we build a comprehensive virtual suspect list? We utilized several top 100 industry lists and imported them into a simple Microsoft database. We searched for on-line insurance company listings and added them to our virtual suspect list. Then, we called every one of these insurance organizations (there were about 300 initially targeted). These targeted cold calls resulted in up-to-date contact information, key executives, titles, direct phone numbers, and emails. These were often gathered by offering the suspects an opportunity to attend an informational Web seminar. Within a few short months, the database was quite comprehensive, and the suspect list began to yield a compelling prospect list. Utilizing my Prospect Scorecard system and qualifying acronym, we were able to identify possible buyers, convince these buyers to review the solution in a Web seminar or one-to-one web meeting, and then move them to the qualification phase. Out of the 300 initial suspects targeted, we were able to convince over 150 to review the solution in our first year of sales efforts, and about 20 percent of them purchased within that same year. An impressive result for a self-funded, emerging operation selling 99 percent virtually, without travel or face-to-face meetings and the costs and inefficiencies associated with that model. Today, many years after we helped this client create a target suspect list, they continue to dominate their niche.  

For more information on web marketing go to StartMarketingTech, StartUpSelling or JurisMarketing.

Cloud Computing Up and Big Box Stores Down

eTail vs Retail

eTail vs Retail

Two interesting, albeit expected news reports came across my browser today. The first was about Cloud Computing, with a recent Microsoft study showing a significant increased in paid cloud computing services expected for small and midsize businesses over the next five years. As reported on PR NewsWire, “The research conducted by Edge Strategies includes survey responses from IT decision-makers or influencers at more than 3,000 SMBs in 13 countries.” We’re talking about doubling and tripling of paid cloud services here, an obvious trend even for those who are still unsure about the cloud.

In a somewhat related matter Best Buy announced it will close 50 big-box stores and cut 400 jobs in corporate and support areas. Best Buy will continue to roll out smaller, Best Buy Mobile stores. Best Buy big box stores have been hit hard by the likes of Amazon, with shoppers researching products in their stores, then buying elsewhere based on price and availability. I blogged about this on June 9, 2010 (BestBuy vs Amazon) when I tried to buy an new stereo receiver but was unable to purchase a model with the features needed at Best Buy, ultimately buying it from Amazon.

The casualty list of retailers is getting longer with the likes of Circuity City, Computer City, Linens ‘n Things’ and Borders, and recent challenges for department stores including Sears (A Company Problem or Industry Issue). Best Buy is working hard to reinvent themselves, something that malls and shopping centers may need to work on simultaneously with growing eTail trends and continued challenges for many retailers. No wonder there are so many shoe and sneaker retailers in the malls these days – one size does not fit all in that business. We’ll have to see if Amazon and other eTailers can fill those shoes when it comes to online sales.

For more information on web marketing go to StartMarketingTech, StartUpSelling or JurisMarketing.

Sell More & Work Less – Tip 36 Getting Past Legal Hurdles

Web Selling & Web Marketing Tips and Techniques

Web Selling & Web Marketing Tips and Techniques

Another tip from Sell More & Work Less: Web Selling Techniques Everyone Should Use

During the closing phase, you may encounter challenges with your prospect’s lawyer or legal department. In some cases, if you have your own legal department, the challenge might actually be your own legal requirements. But for now, let’s focus on a few important qualifying questions for the legal department. Do they have a lawyer or legal department that must review your contract? Do they insist on using their own contract? How long does it take to review a typical purchase? Can you work with them directly or does your sponsor act as the liaison? Do they insist on certain standard clauses, which must be included in every contract, and if so, can your sponsor provide those for you to review? Is your solution considered a work for hire, do they require ownership of IP, are there onerous damages clauses? Will they consider a mandatory arbitration clause which might be helpful to your boutique operation? We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves in the sales process, but it’s helpful to identify potential issues early and to have a game plan to solve them in the present and close phases. Though many of these questions pertain to B2B sales, some are also relevant for B2C sales. If you can simplify your own contract, it can help reduce the legal hurdles immensely. Consider creating an order form with the key legal clauses you require on the back of the form or on page two and include an arbitration clause. Simpler is usually better. If you wind up in a legal battle before or after the sale, it’s usually a losing proposition for everyone.

www.sellmoreandworkless.com for more information on our new web selling tips book

www.startmarketingtech.com for more information on B2B web marketing

www.jurismarketing.com for more information on law firm web marketing

My 2011 Reading List In Retrospect, Shall We Call It “Dark Unbroken Amazonian Hornet’s Nests with Coke”?

As an early adopter of the original Kindle, and the new and improved Kindle Fire, I find it faster, easier and more convenient to read. As noted in blogs of days gone by, I try to read a mix of books from business topics to inspirational stories to those offering rewards merely from an entertainment perspective. I like to read at least a book a month, I read 15 this year, a dozen of which are listed below, in no particular order.

  • The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, Millard, Candice
  • 50 Ways To Love Your Startup, Mancinelli, Bruce 
    Sell More & Work - January 2012
  • Mountains Beyond Mountains, Kidder, Tracy
  • Dark Tide: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919, Puleo, Stephen
  • Google Places Success, Towland, Chris
  • Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Hillenbrand, Laura
  • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin, Benjamin
  • The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Larsson, Stieg
  • The Coke Machine, The Dirty Truth Behind the World’s Favorite Soft Drink, Blanding, Michael
  • The Secret Life of Houdini, The Making of America’s First Superhero, Kalush, William and Sloman, Lary
  • A Splendid Exchange, How Trade Shaped the World, Bernstein, William
  • Sell More & Work Less, Web Selling Techniques Everyone Should Use, A. Blume, J. Scranton, M. Lauducci, A.J. Blume

These books range from truly inspirational stories of triumph over hardship (Unbroken and River of Doubt for example) to small business best practices (50 Ways to Love Your Startup). Some were fast and easy reads like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, while others like Franklin’s autobiography and Houdini’s life offered granular detail amidst historic context. Dark Tide and Unbroken fall under their own unique category as in, “are you kidding me – do these things really happen”? And my most recent read arguably falls into the same genre, with Roosevelt’s (of the Bull Moose variety) journey through the Amazon. The book I spent the most time reading this year, was the book which I was writing this year. With the assistance of three colleagues, we put the finishing touches on Sell More & Work Less, Web Selling Techniques Everyone Should Use this past week and hope to see it finally hit the virtual Amazon book shelves in January. Writing and publishing requires multiple read through cycles, and I expect the final cycle to happen this month. Sell More & Work Less is just over half the number of words when compared to my first book, Your Virtual Success, but the reading cycles were certainly comparable. The latter was over 60,000 words while the former, a more succinct “web selling tips book”, is only 35,000 words.

My recently purchased Kindle Fire helped me rip through The River of Doubt, the crisp text and improved user interface makes it really fast and easy to read (at least for this user). These days, I find both reading and writing enlightening and cathartic and wished that I read more when I was younger, compelling me to think of the famous Shaw quote, “youth is wasted on the young”. Will the day come that most of youths will be using Electronic Reading devices? And upon such a day will that help them read and assimilate more information? Only time will tell, then again technology may be an enabler, but it isn’t necessarily a motivator.

Three of these books were gifts (The Coke Machine, The Secret Life of Houdini and A Splendid Exchange) of the “paper” variety, the rest were downloaded to my Kindle. I can recommend all of the books on this list, though my favorites were Unbroken, River of Doubt and Dark Tide). And it is with obvious prejudice that the last item is even included on the list. As my years progress, I’m gaining momentum with writing and hope to publish another book around the end of 2012, then a novel in 2013 or 2014. The novel would be a departure for me as most of my works have been in the business genre. It’s a challenge I look forward to, mundane in comparison to the challenges faced in Unbroken or River of Doubt (or Mountain’s Beyond Mountains), but a challenge nonetheless. Sell More & Work Less will be available in January.

 

Have You Tried The Prospect Scorecard?

The Prospect Scorecard

The Prospect Scorecard offers salespeople, sales managers, entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, insurance agents, realtors and other business people a simple and easy way to qualify, track and rank your best prospects. Salespeople often refer to prospects in vague terms such as: new, warm, hot, cold, likely, qualified, etc. These terms do little to better understand a sales pipeline or convey likelihood of purchase to other members of the team. The Prospect Scorecard resolves this issue, simply, quickly and easily for any salesperson or business.

  • Helps you create ideal attributes to form a buyer persona
  • Creates a simple numeric system to leverage your buyer persona
  • Assigns numeric values to rank your best prospects
  • Helps you create a simple qualification acronym to determine likelihood to close
  • Ranks your prospects by Prospect Score, Quality Score and Alphabetically
  • Color codes your prospects into Green, Yellow and Red, displaying prospect categories

It’s a fast and simple way to understand, quantify and qualify your pipeline. The Excel version is available at no charge at: http://www.startupselling.com/sales-tools.html. Look for more information in our upcoming book, Sell More & Work Less.

Sell More & Work Less To Be Released in November

Our new book, Sell More & Work Less, Web Selling Techniques Everyone Should Use, is expected to be released in November and is currently at our publisher. Offering 101 Internet Sales Tips stratified across our 4-Phase Sales Process, Sell More & Work Less focuses on leveraging the web to help you sell better, faster and more efficiently.

Most sales cycles, particularly B2B sales cycles can be expressed in four distinct phases: Identify, Qualify, Present and Close. Each of these phases might have 5 or 10 steps, helping salespeople compartmentalize tasks, ensuring they are following a guide that helps them arrive at their final destination, a new client. The reason I refer to this as a “Virtual” Sales Process is that much of the work can or should be done virtually. Keep the car parked in the driveway, avoid planes and trains whenever possible, leverage Skype, GoToMeeting and other virtual selling tools.

Sell More & Work Less reviews many virtual sales tips and techniques including The Prospect Scorecard, a simple but effective pipeline qualification tool which can be used on a PC or mobile device.  Sell More & Work Less will help sales people, business owners, sales managers and entrepreneurs focus on those activities which will optimize prospecting, qualifying and closing. For more information, read Your Virtual Success (www.yourvirtualsuccess.net), or in September, Sell More & Work Less.

A World Without Borders

Virtual Business vs. Brick and Mortar

Virtual Business vs. Brick and Mortar

You’ve probably heard the recent news, Borders is closing all of its remaining stores and the company could go out of business by the end of September. This creates an interesting double entendre, thus the article title, a world without Borders. When I think of Amazon, a thriving non brick and mortar firm (at least non retail) it seems like they can sell anywhere, anytime, like a business operating without borders. Whereas, Borders, as in Borders book stores, a bastion of brick and mortar, will now vanish from the world. Today this obvious metamorphosis deserves both mention and contemplation.

Retail is a tough business for any line of products or services. The creeping incremental costs and overhead of retail stores insidiously and perpetually attack retail profits. The list of retail bankruptcies and closures is long, with well know names Hollywood Video and Blockbuster, Tweeter, Ritz Camera, CompUSA, Tower Records, Linens ‘n Things, Circuit City, etc. When it comes to industries or niches that can morph to virtual or digital, traditional brick and mortar businesses must transition very quickly or face a certain fate. This is an Amazon versus Borders and Netflix versus Blockbuster story. Barnes and Noble, the surviving big box book store still remains a question mark in my mind. Every time I wander into their local store I witness a retail paradox. In the huge bookstore section there is usually a modest number of people browsing, with perhaps one or two buying, and rarely a line at their register. However, in a tiny corner of their bookstore is a coffee shop we all know called Starbucks. I’d estimate Starbucks represents 5% of the total space, yet there is always a line at their register even though they are well staffed, and well run. Furthermore, everyone in Starbucks is buying, as opposed to browsing. Perhaps this model is working in reverse, the Starbucks store could be much larger, and the bookstore area much smaller, offering a plethora of digital book samples, or a computer kiosk point of sale for traditional books, allowing shoppers to sip their latte’s and order the books online.

The magazine area in this store is also a source of business fascination. There are often several people in this area, one of the busier sections of the store on many days, sitting on benches, reading through the litany of magazines offered. Arguably Barnes and Noble has a very worthy selection for their enjoyment, everything from automobile to fitness and gardening to zoology.  When I stroll by, with my Starbucks coffee in hand, it reminds me of a library. I rarely to see anyone grabbing a magazine and walking toward the checkout counter, rather I see people reading, then returning the magazines to the stand. This model seems to be rewarding for the browser and even for the Starbucks consumers, but not for the bookstore. Whenever I stroll through this very nice bookstore, I do make note of interesting books, but then I download them on my Kindle, definitely not a shopping experience which will prove profitable for their brick and mortar infrastructure.

This by no means implies all retail is doomed. There are many retail operations which require infrastructure, from groceries and coffee to furniture, home repair and haircuts. When it comes to digital, however, a virtual spin on the business model or dramatically adapted retail will be necessary. What’s an example of dramatically adapted retail? Redbox comes to mind. At one time Blockbuster Video had a large store, let’s estimate six thousand square feet, about a mile from my house. People could browse their shelves and select a video in the traditional sense, carrying it home to watch on their DVD players. Redbox is a video store in a box, sitting inside 27,000 existing retail locations, like the grocery store I frequent. They rent movies for a $1 a day in a small kiosk that takes up 12-square feet. They advertise that these red boxes have up to 200 titles and 630 movies. Redbox is a fully automated video rental store, meaning no staffing and very limited labor (someone has to stock and service the machines).  Compare that with 6,000 or 8,000 square feet consumed by a Blockbuster store, along with 15 hour a day staffing. Of course even the Redbox model faces the inevitable pure virtual and digital threat. After all, shouldn’t all video be truly digital, streaming directly to your TV or PC monitor? Those days are here for some, coming very soon for many, and it will be interesting to see if and how Redbox and Netflix adapt to this change.

The cheaper, faster and better distribution system will prevail. Whether we’re morphing from clipper ships to steam boats, from the horse drawn wagon to the locomotive, or from the retail bookstore to eReaders, the only constant in business, is change. Businesses must innovate or perish.

LinkedIn Tops 100 Million Mark

On March 22nd LinkedIn reached a major milestone, eclipsing 100 million members worldwide. That’s a pretty significant number, one which according to LinkedIn is now growing at “roughly one million new LinkedIn members every week, the equivalent of a professional joining the site at faster than one member per second.”

LinkedIn sent me an email, noting that I was member number 356,048, an early adopter according to their email. I’m sure many of you reading this blog joined even earlier. The lesson here is about change, a roller coaster of change. Sometimes it takes a while for the coaster to make it up that big first hill, and then, it comes speeding down the track, weaving and winding its way toward a final destination. Of course on a coaster it is a known destination while on the internet, the horizon remains a vague blur. In both cases we can anticipate many unexpected (and sometimes thrilling) turns along the way. LinkedIn is now speeding down the track, and like any other roller coaster, and internet related things in general, don’t expect things to be in the same place very long. The internet is changing our lives and doing so quickly.

Many industries are in the process of climbing up that first roller coaster hill. And once they hit the peak, the subsequent velocity can be truly amazing. What’s changed so far? Social networking of course, trade shows, seminars, book publishing, etailing, newspapers, news reporting, public relations, marketing, banking, auctions and telecommuting to name just a few. Next up is movies and television. We’ve already seen some significant changes here – and we’re still climbing up that first roller coaster hill. Will traditional network TV be supplemented by a vast array of online, homegrown shows, or will it be replaced. Will individual reality shows be home produced and become the norm, or will the audience still prefer to see a professionally (if I can use that term) produced reality show? Will movies change, all but the mega special effect blockbuster replaced by indie movies, once pervasive and cheap internet distribution is available? Will we soon be watching news broadcasts and TV shows predominately on our Androids and iPhones? My eyes say no, though my brain says it will someday be likely.

Marketing has already hit the top of the hill and is changing rapidly. Telemarketing is on the decline, search marketing optimization, blogging, ePublishing and social media marketing are becoming mainstream. What’s the next big change we can expect to see? There are many expected, and they will likely change our lives, and optimistically I’d like to say for the better. Congratulations to LinkedIn on achieving this significant milestone, I use it (and so do many of my colleagues) every day – and it sounds like many, many others are finding value with this new network too.

 

 

The Virtual Storm Changing Marketing And PR

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Web-based Strategies

There is a new approach, a new way, a virtual storm of change swirling around marketing and PR. Take for example, the new reach of internet based PR methods including free PR websites, social media marketing opportunities, RSS feeds, blogging best practices, and pod casting. These are just a few of the innovations changing the landscape of publishing, journalism and public relations, a virtual storm within which we all now live, as the winds of change continue to alter the business climate.

These winds can be highly favorable to many businesses, including smaller and midsized companies, offering an opportunity to level the playing field regardless of employee count or cash reserves. The business world continues to experience a virtual evolution; some might argue it’s more akin to a virtual revolution. One of the dynamically changing elements encompasses the evolution of public relations. With inexpensive and even free PR sites available to any business; it’s fairly easy to create and implement an effective PR strategy, and carry the message to millions. This opportunity is compounded when leveraging social networking sites such as LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter. And businesses can take advantage of these new virtual opportunities while simultaneously helping their SEO and Search Engine Marketing.

There are many good sites to choose from. Some of these are free, some have a modest annual fee, others charge on a per press release basis and some offer all three of these options. The big difference between the free and fee based press releases revolves around the appearance of the actual release. Free sites typically incorporate ads around the press release in a similar way to article directories or search engine results pages (SERPs). This is essentially a PPC strategy whereby these free press release sites derive revenue from traffic and clicks. Fee based sites eliminate the ads, create a more attractive and professional release, and derive revenue for the fees. And some sites offer a combination of both offerings.

There are many press release sites available for use. Two of the sites I have recently used include:

Both sites work well, distribute the press releases promptly and do so to a wide audience, send a confirmation email once the release is accepted and distributed and offer a link to the posted release. Of course there are a plethora of other sites available including: PR.com, 1888PressPrelease.com, TheOpenPress.com, FreePressReleaseCenter.info, Information-Online.com, OpenPR.com, PR-Inside.com, PRdb.net, PressAbout.com, PressMethod.com, PressReleasePoint.com, YourFreePressRelease.net, BusinessWire.com, MarketWire.com, PRWeb.com, eWorldWire.com, PRLeap.com, eReleases.com, PRBuzz.com andPRNewsWire.com to mention just a few of the choices your business might consider. PR sites are often measured by page rank and Alexa rank. These are relevant in so much as a higher ranked PR site theoretically packs more internet punch than a lower ranked site. However, your results may vary based upon your industry, niche and specific PR strategy.

Which one is right for you? That depends upon your goals. Is your business trying to drive traffic to your website? Is your goal primarily SEO based as you try to move your business up in the rankings? Are you seeking to capture the attention of a highly specific audience? Is your goal to merely augment your search engine marketing strategy? Are you seeking highly tailored, branded results and wish to ensure there are no PPC ads on your releases? Do you need more advance functionality for tracking and monitoring your prior releases or scheduling upcoming releases? Predicated upon your goals, your business can determine which site(s) are most appropriate and if you need free PR, fee based PR or some combination of both. The level of marketing proficiency to submit consistent press releases for your organization is relatively low. That said the level of marketing discipline to do so often remains beyond the reach of many small businesses, usually the result of a lack of personnel, thus offering a relatively painless outsource opportunity for those companies which just can’t get the PR job done. For more information read Your Virtual Success (Career Press)or contact StartUpSelling:  http://www.startupselling.com/contact.html

An Inexpensive Sales & Marketing Approach for Startups and Emerging Companies

How can an entrepreneur find competent, cheap and effective sales and marketing resources? This is a question that many startup companies and emerging companies must ask themselves every day. It is especially true for the bootstrapped, or simply cash strapped entrepreneur. In many cases the founders of these companies might have great development or operational skills, but lack the sales or closing genes necessary to bring in the business. Thus the dilemma, an entrepreneur has a great product, service or solution, but they don’t have the knowhow or sales and marketing team to build a pipeline and convert suspects to prospects, and then to new clients.

Of course, simply stated, the dilemma above actually represents two distinct issues, driving leads into the sales funnel (a marketing function) then qualifying and closing these leads (sales function). There does appear to be an answer to this question, with a new spin on an old methodology, the independent sales agent model. There are now opportunities for entrepreneurs to outsource the lead development and sales process using a virtual sales and marketing approach, thus conserving cash and mitigating startup risk. This model results in a true “reap what you sow” relationship, which emerging companies seem to like. In these cases, even a modest budget might be sufficient to pilot this model.

Why would this new virtual marketing and sales agent model work for a startup, entrepreneurship or cash strapped company? Hiring a great sales person, let’s say his name was Tom, even on a highly leveraged commission plan, with benefits, training and management time would cost at least $5,000 per month for most industries, and this is before any commissions or marketing costs are added. Because of our virtual approach, we were able to provide both the sales capacity AND the marketing for half the cost of a “Tom”. We think it is only possible to do this using a virtual, no overhead, internet based tools approach.

Virtual Sales & Marketing Solutions

Virtual Sales & Marketing Solutions

Though the sales agent is not typically full-time, the results are can be far superior because the management time, reporting, sales skills, marketing and lead generation are all incorporated into one streamlined, cost effective, outsourced solution. This concept may take a while to catch on with some emerging companies, but it is, in many ways, a better approach to the traditional path of securing large loans or a second mortgage, angel funding, or venture capital funding. And there is a hidden bonus, if the salesperson leaves, there is no need for a new hiring process, they are replaced under this model with another sales agent, trained and brought up to speed without cost to the entrepreneur.

This model eliminates the need to find the sales closer that can “do it all”, find and cultivate leads, follow-up on pipeline worthy accounts, provide marketing materials and presentation materials and finally close new business. It also reduces cash flow needs, venture capital or other funding requirements. All of these services can be provided together, at a lower cost than the traditional brick and mortar model. Perhaps it sounds too good to be true, but I think that is because this is a new approach to an old problem. This new approach, leveraging the virtual model, internet tools and an outsourced contractor methodology can deliver better results than the old-fashioned, hire a brand new internal sales and marketing team and hope it works, brick and mortar approach.

For more information, read Your Virtual Success (Career Press) or go to: http://www.startupselling.com. StartUpSelling provides outsourced marketing, sales and lead generation services focusing in the areas of eMarketing, telemarketing, SEO, insurance agency social media marketing and website development. StartUpSelling specializes in innovative entrepreneurial marketing and sales concepts.