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QUESTIONS & SMART ALECK ANSWERS

We have had a huge surge of new Inner Circle Members, each with questions on their new Subscriber Questionnaires, so I thought I'd try to catch up - and maybe provide a "gem" or two in the process.

John Livesay of Acme Draperies in Manassas, Virginia is wrestling with competition from big discounters and wants to know the best media and "pitch" to attract qualified leads.

John, you have come to the right place. But, your questionnaire indicates you have not studied any other direct marketers' works and I've gotta tell you: if you are serious about competing successfully, you've got to be a very serious student and searcher. There are a couple books out by experts in helping small merchants take on Wal-Mart; have you read those? And Murray Raphel: a must for you . But, to go to work here and now: you best beat cheapest price competition by getting off the Price battlefield altogether and targeting a demographic where that is not the primary decision factor. You whip big competition by doing the thinqs they can't or won't do; make their weaknesses your strengths. To get qualified leads, define precisely who your most desireable customer is, craft a matched message, then find those people via lists - do your homework in SRDS (see my Report: How To Turn Mailing Lists Into Money, included with the Magnetic Marketing Tool Kit, which you urgently need if you do not already have it) - and/or do pure lead generation advertising. Here's a "rough" example. Needs work. Should better ID your perfect prospect. But as a start....

Attention: Owners Of $150,000.00 To $250,000.00 Homes In Porpoiseview,
HarborView, Rolling Hills or Vista Communities:

WARNING:

BEFORE you buy draperies, blinds or
shades for your home from any store,
off-the-shelf, or customs from any
store or decorator, This industry insider
has important consumer information you
need, to insure you get the quality you
deserve and the perfect look for
your home. Personalized service,
shop-at-home convenience, professional
experience and custom products do not
have to be prohibitively expensive, when
you know the Secrets of buying direct.
For a FREE SPECIAL REPORT:
"19 Secrets To Decorating With
Custom Draperies That Retailers Don't
Want You To Know," just call my Free
Recorded Message Line anytime, 24 hrs.,
7 days a week. Your Report will be
sent by mail, free, no cost, no obligation,
no salesman will ever call. Get this
Report before making any purchasing decisions. Phone: 000/000-0000.

Also, since you note that advertising in The Washington Post has been the most productive thing you've done, you might experiment with an advertorial or advertorial insert.

Next, from Harold McCollum, AirDraulics in Philly - he has "tried everything" to market his business, had some successes, but "I have always told myself that business-to-business marketing is like pulling teeth. A business buyer just will not respond as easily as the retail buyer. Possibly I am wrong and this is something I need to discover. I have already learned some things just from the preliminary reading of the materials in your first mailing....l am more optimistic than I have been in a long time."

Harold, you oughta be optmistic, because you'll soon be doing things your competitors would never dream of doing. You ARE wrong about biz-to-biz. In fact, "business-to-business marketing" is a misnomer; businesses don't buy a thing; only people buy things. Human beings. With emotions: fears, doubts, pains, desires. When you take the same strategies that work to sell a set of pots and pans to Ma and Pa and use them to sell industrial doohickeys to a purchasing agent, you get even better results -- because everything else that comes his way is deadly dull, logical and institutional. (Have you seen my letters for an industrial tarp company in the Magnetic Marketing Tool Kit?) I note that you cannot tell me about the trends, etc. affecting your customers and that you do not have a USP. You've got to be mentally, emotionally and experientialy in sync with your customers, so you have to know that stuff. And if you've been marketing without a compelling marketing message, including a USP (: why should I, your prospect, choose to do biz with you vs. any and every other option available to me in your category?), no wonder you're having a tough time.

Arthur Lewis from the Bronx exports cell phones and wants to know how to get a competitive edge and how to market via the Internet.

Competive advantage is gained via (a) product superiority, (b) price superiority, (c) service superiority, (d) added value, and/or (e) marketing superiority. In a commodity industry like yours, it'll likely be (c), (d), (e). To get (c), you have to know what your competitors are doing, understand the unfulfilled needs and wants of the customer, and then figure out what you can and are willing to do to rise above the competition in fulfilling those needs and desires. Egs: Guaranteed same day shipment or we pay you $100.00 ... Free Federal Express on orders over X$ .... Free private label imprint. Re. (d), to digress, a dentist friend of mine recently bought an inexpensive little piece of equipment and gives every patient an eye massage before they leave. Next, re. the Internet: we have a running look at Internet-related stuff in The Ultimate Information Entrepreneur UP-Date Section of this Letter. But I'm the wrong guy to ask about this stuff. My computer is an electric paperweight. I'm not plugged in, logged on, wired up, I don't surf, and a POX on Bill Gates. One thing you can count on: I'll only opine about things I really know something about and I'll admit what I don't know.

William Brown of Law Works Publishing, Marietta, Georgia wants to know if I'll review his new book 'Winning In Small Claims Court', mentions that he'd spend a windfall, if he got it, on radio advertising, and is looking for marketing ideas.

Bill, you betcha - glad to review your book. Send it in. I think you're right on with radio, by the way. This is the kind of title perfect for promotion during Limbaugh, Liddy, Hamblin and similar programming. And we're going to be taking an in-depth look at direct-response radio in a future Issue. For other solid marketing ideas: go study and "borrow" heavily from Ted Nicholas ("How To Form Your Own Corporation Without A Lawyer" .... "What Will You Do When Your Assets Are Seized?" .... etc.) Ted sold over 200-million bucks worth of these kinds of books through direct-response advertising. Yours fits perfectly. No need to re-invent the wheel, just carefully follow in his footsteps. Or hire me to create your campaign for you.

Sherri Becker of Overland Park, Kansas has this vision for her consulting biz: "to be so busy that I have to turn down work." Wants to know how to get clients AND how to handle marketing and doing the work at the same time.

Sherri, you noted direct-mail hasn't worked, personal contact has, and I'm not surprised. It IS very difficult to directly market consulting. Instead, you have to put yourself in situations that stimulate clients to seek you out and ask for your help ie. speeches, seminars, association activity, writing books, articles, newsletters, publicity, pro bono work with non-profits. Re. your vision: you'd better add the part about making a ton of money. Being overworked is easy. Being overpaid not so easy. Speaking metaphysically AND practically, you have to live that vision before it is reality for it to become reality. Clients are attracted to the "hard to get" experts. We publish a complete Home Study Course and Business System exclusively for consultants, by the way, that'd help you enormously. About the juggling: I've been selling it and doing it since I was 18 (1), so I have quite a bit of experience with this ugly little challenge. Tips: (1) NEVER let a day go by without doing at least one proactive thing to create future business. Confuscious say: Dig the well BEFORE you thirst. (2) Resist the urge to over-promise; stretch out your project timetables. (3) Become a militant time manager (my new NO BS TIME MANAGEMENT book will be released by Self-Counsel Press early next year). (4) Avoid or "fire" extra-high maintenance clients.(5) Specialize so you can recycle not re-invent. By the way, my buddy Bill Brooks says a consultant is somebody who knows 387 ways to make love but can't get a date on Friday night. Well, at least we're not lawyers.

Gerald Stillwagon of Vienna, Va., a financial planner, wants to know how to become a nationally recognized expert.

This is such a good question that I'm going to provide a lengthy answer, of value to everybody - whether you're a plumber or podiatrist marketing locally or a psychic seeking worldwide fame and fortune, this question applies to you, too.

Hey, I'll tell you how to become an INTERNATIONALLY recognized expert: if you walk through the Toronto Airport and somebody recognizes you, that's the ticket! Seriously, becoming famous in a niche is relatively easy; becoming famous generally is very hard, unless you are into some kind of aberrant human behavior. Larry King told me it'd be easy for me to get on his show: "just kill somebody. You'll be on tomorrow." Actually, I describe myself as a famous person nobody ever heard of. I'm famous in the chiropractic profession, in the speaking business, and in the "seminar junkies, world," for example, but 90% of the time, nobody recognizes me in airports. In a niche, write, publish and market a book, write articles, lecture, seek publicity, be predictive and provocative. If you want bigger, broader fame, nothing beats "big" TV ie. Donahue, Oprah, Geraldo and/or a hit infomercial. It's also important to understand that you have to find ways to talk about what will intrigue, fascinate, even titillate people, not what interests you or that you want to talk about. For example, nobody gives a rat's behind about financial products or retirement planning. People have shown they care about "Dirty & Dangerous Secrets The IRS Doesn't Want You To Know" .... "Crisis Investing: How To Prepare For The Coming Crash"...."How Insurance Companies Steal You Blind And What To Do About It...... "College Education For Your Kids For Free" .... "Women: What You Must Know About Your Husband's Finances BEFORE Divorcing The S.O.B." These are "financial" topics that have worked in mass marketing. Finally, study people who get famous from out of nowhere and look for the commonailities; the things they all did. Look at Tony Robbins, Susan Powter, in finance Robert Allen, Charles Givens, the Dolans, Covert Bailey. (You might want to pass on the Hugh Grant Method.) If you get serious, you can be a "household name" in a niche in 2 to 3 years, systematically. Bigger and broader, anywhere from overnight to forever and a day. Last, a word about "expertise." Having expertise recognized is more a matter of self-proclamation than anything else. Read or re-read Ringer's book WINNING THROUGH INTIMIDATION. And consider getting and using my Course on the consulting business. Re. legitimacy, Earl Nightingale once observed that anybody could be a world-class expert in just about any subject with one hour a day of dedicated study for one full year.

Russ Jones of Logan, Utah wants me to include more marketing info for real estate and financial planning careers.

Russ, there's hardly a thing in this Issue that doesn't apply to those businesses, and if you're missing that, you're missing it all. I am often amazed at just how myopic and "locked in" people can get. Also, incremental increases come from making slight improvements to what is already being done inside your box; breakthroughs come from bringing ideas into your box from outside the box. With that said, both businesses HAVE received specific coverage from time to time in past Issues and undoubtedly will again, over a year's time. But, just for example, if you can't take the answers to every other question discussed here and apply them directly to either of those fields, I don't know what to tell you.

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