TODAY INDIA

Writing Sales Copy – Make Your Product’s Benefits Sparkle!

o Are “Faux Benefits” killing your sales copy?

o Why product features are far more important than you’ve been led to believe …

o The simple secret to exploding your sales results in just five easy steps …

o And MORE!

Dear Business-Builder,

The other day, I had the dubious pleasure of reviewing sales copy submitted by a new group of my beloved cubs – each of whom has read The Masters and even completed courses on copywriting … and each of whom I believe has the innate talent to (eventually) become one of the greats.

Each cub was told to write benefit-oriented headlines for a series of natural supplement products.

The first headline jumped up and shouted …

Get Off The Hormone Roller Coaster!

“Well,” I said to myself, “THAT certainly sucks!” And so I turned to the next one …

Balance Blood Sugar Levels Naturally!

… And the next …

Flush Deadly Toxins Out Of Your Colon!

“Whoo boy,” I said out loud, “I should be getting combat pay for this!”

See, not a single one of those “benefit-based” headlines contains a single real benefit! Instead, each contains a “Faux Benefit” – a product feature masquerading as a benefit!

Apply my patented “forehead slap” test to each of those headlines and you’ll see what I mean.

o Have you ever been awakened in the middle of the night … sat bolt upright in bed … slapped yourself on the forehead and exclaimed, “Holy Moley – I gotta get off of the hormone roller coaster?”

o When was the last time you were jarred out of a deep sleep exclaiming “Jeez Louise – I need to balance my blood sugar levels naturally!”

o And have you EVER jumped out of a warm bed to holler, “I gotta flush some deadly toxins out of my colon!”

No? Me neither!

Have you ever found yourself feeling eager to PAY for a product that would do any of those things for you?

Nope? Join the club!

I mean – getting off the hormone roller coaster sounds like it might be a good thing. On the other hand, roller coasters are fun. Heck, people pay money to get ONTO them!

I suppose balancing blood sugar levels is good, too. And if you’re making a list of folks who are “all for” flushing deadly toxins out of my colon – or any other part of my body for that matter – put me at the top of it.

But are these really benefits our prospects crave – and are willing to pay for?

Of course not. Our “hormone balancing” prospects want to stop having hot flashes and mood swings and stop losing their libidos.

Why? Well, for one thing, because hot flashes and mood swings are irritating – even miserable. And for another – drilling down even deeper – because all of these things threaten the intimacy and security of their primary relationships. Nobody wants to be a hormone hermit!

Nobody really wants to balance their blood sugar levels, either. But anyone in his or her right mind DOES want to avoid the misery of blindness … cold, numb, painful limbs … amputation … and premature death that go along with diabetes.

And frankly, while “flushing toxins out of my colon” is nowhere near the top of my personal “to do” list, I WOULD prefer not to be constipated, or plagued with uncontrollable diarrhea, or have to poop in a bag for the rest of my life, or die from colon cancer.

The Faux Benefits heralded in these headlines are mechanisms … processes … product features that deliver benefits. They are not, in themselves, real benefits that anybody craves or wants to pay for.

My beloved copy cubs failed to drill down to the real, bottom-line, rubber-meets-the-road benefit each product provides – the tangible, measurable, real value they bring to prospects’ lives: The value that prospects are willing to – once again – pay for. This is a cardinal and common sin even among more seasoned copywriters – and that business owners and marketing execs too often let us get away with.

Here’s another: Failing to fully explore the benefits that each benefit provides. In short, squeezing every feature until you’ve explored every benefit … and then squeezing every benefit for the secondary benefits IT provides.

Confused? Me too – sometimes, anyway. Let’s work through this together …

Benefits 101

Let’s start with four basic facts …

1. Every product has features: Features are merely objective facts about a product (or the company behind it). In three-dimensional products, features include size, shape, weight, construction, color options and more.

In information products, features include number of pages, size, frequency of publication (for periodicals) and the types of information that are presented.

2. Fortunately, most features are there for a darned good reason: Prospects don’t want features. They want you to change their lives for the better.

Product features are merely the means to that end. That means features can have a place in ad copy – like telling prospects how many issues they’ll get per year … how many big pages are in your book … or that your widget is made from carbon steel for strength or carbon fiber for lightness.

Beyond that, features are a yawn because they’re about the product; not about the prospect. Or, as in the examples above, they can help demonstrate how your product delivers a benefit.

The good news is, just about every product fact – every feature – is there to provide a benefit that your prospect IS willing to pay for.

3. There are more benefits associated with each product feature than are dreamt of by most copywriters: Benefits are like bunny rabbits: Give them a little time and they’ll begin multiplying – each benefit or combination of benefits producing one, two, three or more new benefits you never thought about before.

The secret to kick-butt sales copy is to identify each and every benefit a product provides – and then to look at each benefit and ask, “What does THAT do for me? What additional benefits does that benefit provide?”

4. Your prospect has strong feelings about every dimensionalized benefit you present: Connecting each fully dimensionalized product benefit with a strong emotion that your prospect already has about the benefit (or the lack of it in his/her life) makes sales copy irresistible.

Benefits that sing and soar – in five simple steps

Here’s a little exercise to help you drill down to the benefits prospects are willing to pay for … fully dimensionalize those benefits … and then connect those benefits with powerful response-boosting emotions that your prospect already has about those benefits (or the lack of them) in his life.

By the time you’re through, you will have a complete list of company and product features … you will have squeezed every possible benefit out of those features … you will have fully dimensionalized those benefits … and you will have connected each one to a powerful emotion your prospect has about each one of them.

In short, you’ll have a comprehensive “features/benefits/dominant emotion” inventory you can refer to as you write your sales copy.

I do NOT suggest that you do this on every project. After a while, this kind of thinking comes naturally. But even for more advanced writers – and especially for folks who supervise writers – going through this exercise can go a long way towards finding new themes and adding power to your promotions.

To begin, create a spreadsheet with these headings: Feature … Why? … Benefits … Dimensionalize … Dominant Emotions … Rank.

Step #1: Create a Comprehensive FEATURES Inventory

If you’ve read any books or taken any courses on direct response copywriting, you’ve probably learned that features are immaterial. Only benefits matter. Only problem is, that’s just horse-pucky.

Features are the fathers of each benefit your product provides. And if every product benefit has its roots in a product feature, identifying and fully understanding each feature is essential to identifying all the benefits your product provides.

And so, if features are the fathers of benefits, it makes sense to begin at the beginning – by listing all the key facts about 1) The business and 2) The product or service you’re promoting.

Start by answering the following questions about the company and the spokesperson behind the product in the first column of your table …

A. “What are your qualifications?” What degrees or certifications have you earned in your field of endeavor? From which institutions? What associations are you a member of? How many years have you provided this product or service?

How many customers (patients, clients, etc.) have you served? Are you the largest or oldest in your area of expertise? What specialties do you offer that your competitors don’t?

B. “What resources do you use to produce a superior product or service?” How large an army are you putting to work on the prospect’s behalf? Who are the stand-out players? What unique or proprietary tools do you use to produce the desired result?

Do you have custom computer programs or hardware that nobody else has? How many customer service reps are available to make ordering comfortable and easy? How many service techs are on your payroll who can respond when the product needs service?

C. “How is your location a factor?” Are you closer to your prospects than your competition? Are your headquarters impressive-looking? Is your office close to a major intersection or freeway off-ramp? Do you offer plenty of free parking?

Or, if you’re promoting a product for a national company, how does its location help you produce a superior product? Are you offering an investment product that’s produced on Wall Street or anywhere in New York, for example? Or are you selling a politically oriented product that’s produced in or near Washington DC?

D. “What’s your reaction time?” Are appointments readily available? Do you perform your service faster than your competition does? If I order this product, how fast will I get it?

E. Inventory: How many different products do you have available? How does that compare to what your competitors offer?

Now, it’s time to really start digging – with answers about the product or service you’re offering …

A. Purpose: What, exactly, does your product or service do? If it accomplishes several things, great – list everything you can think of!

B. Physical dimensions: How does your product compare to competing products? Is it smaller? Bigger? Lighter? Heavier duty?

If it’s a published product, how many pages are in the book or the regular issues of the newsletter or magazine? Is the page size larger that what the prospect may be used to?

Are there illustrations, charts, or graphs? Is it written simply – in a way that’s easy to understand? Does it give clear, concise directions that anyone could follow? How many times do customers hear from your client each year (count regular issues, bonus issues, e-mail alerts, web site updates, etc.)? What regular features are included?

If you offer nutritional supplements, are your pills smaller than the competition’s? Does the prospect have to take fewer of them, or take them just once a day? What are the ingredients? Are they fresher than those used by some other competitors? More absorbable? More potent?

C. Performance metrics: How quickly can your product be delivered, installed and/or begin producing results? How fast does your product complete the desired task? How thoroughly does it do its job? How long does it last? How do your product’s performance metrics compare to similar products offered by your competitors?

For investment products, what results has it produced for investors in the recent past? How did it perform at key turning points in the economy or markets – the tech wreck of 2000, or the gold price explosion of the 1970s, for example? How and when did it help prevent investors from making major blunders?

For health products, how fast does it work? How can I know it’s working? What studies have proven that it works? Or for information merchants, what health breakthroughs were you the first to publicize? How else does the past performance of the author, editor or the product itself demonstrate the superiority or indispensability of the product?

D. Credibility: What have customers, subscribers, peers and others said about your product or service? What guarantees and/or warranties come with it? How do they compare to what the competition offers?

E. Available options: What choices does your product offer to prospects? What colors or sizes does it come in? How do your terms make ordering the best fit possible for customers? Is it customizable in any way? How do these choices make your product superior to the competition?

F. Timeliness: How quickly can your product be delivered and/or installed? How does this compare with the competition?

G. Pricing: What are your prices? How do they compare to the competition? Do you deliver more for the money? Or does your product’s quality demand a higher price?

If applicable, divide your price by the numbers 12, 52 and 365 — and then write down the product’s cost per month, week and day.

These are just a few idea-starters — please do not stop here!

Use this opportunity to think through every step of the process that your prospects experience when shopping for, buying and using your product or service.

Step #2: Attach a “Why” to Each Feature

The next step is to figure out why these features are included in the product or service, and then to turn those reasons into tangible benefits that will bring value to the customer’s life.

So now, in the “WHY?” column next to each feature, enter the benefits each feature provides.

Example: If you’re selling a high quality drill bit, your entry might look like this:

Feature: Constructed of carbon steel.

Why: Never wears out.

On the other hand, if you’re promoting a dentist, your list might look like this:

Feature: A TV in every exam room.

Why: More comfortable for the patient and time passes more quickly.

The “why” for an investment newsletter might go like this …

Feature: Daily e-zine included with subscription to monthly newsletter.

Why: Stocks move fast; opportunities could be lost without split-second updates.

Or, if you’re writing for a book on health, you might write …

Feature: Specific prescription for each age group on each supplement recommended.

Why: To eliminate reader confusion.

Attach as many “whys” to each feature as you can. My guess is that as you review your completed list, you’ll be getting pretty excited. And for good reason: Your brain is already beginning to take the next step — visualizing how these features improve your customers’ lives!

Step #3: Turn Features into Benefits

The simple act of completing Steps #1 and #2 above could easily multiply sales and profits at tens of thousands of businesses from coast to coast — merely by shifting the spotlight off of the advertiser and his product or service and on to why their features are important to the customer.

But still, we focused entirely on a company and a product or service. Now, we’re going to bring your prospect into the picture — and answer the question, “What’s in it for me? How does each of these features — these facts about the business and product or service — directly connect with and improve my life?”

Think about how each feature and “Reason Why” benefits your customer, and list every possible way each one of them brings value to your prospect’s life. We’re going to ask the one question that’s constantly at the forefront of your customer’s mind: “What’s in it for me?”

And we’re going to answer by listing the problems your product or service solves … the desires it fulfills … and the future disasters it will help your customers avoid.

Be sure to think about immediate benefits as well as those the customer will experience later on. If you’re selling one-hour oil changes for example, you can save your customer oodles of time right now, today. But you also make it easy for him to properly maintain the family chariot, thereby helping him avoid an inconvenient or even dangerous breakdown and costly repairs later on.

Write each benefit as a “you” statement — as if you’re talking face-to-face with your prospective customer, patient or client. Then, go back over your list of benefits … look at each one … and ask yourself, “What additional benefits does this benefit bring to my life?” Keep drilling down until you hit the Mother Lode – the benefits that mean the most and bring the most value to prospects’ lives.

Step #4: Dimensionalize each benefit

I don’t know who first coined the word “dimensionalize.” I do know that it drives my spell-checker bonkers, so it’s probably not in any dictionary you’ll ever see.

But the word “dimensionalize” does a great job of describing what “A” level copywriters do – the extra mile we travel to make sure each benefit in our sales copy is as compelling as possible.

When you “dimensionalize” a benefit, you give it added dimension by painting word pictures of all the ways the prospect will enjoy that benefit. You compare that benefit with those offered by others. You add specifics that demonstrate all the ways the benefit will enrich the prospect’s life.

When you’ve finished, your list may look something like this, for example:

Feature: Constructed of carbon steel.

Why: Never wears out.

Benefit: The last drill bit you’ll ever buy.

Dimensionalized Benefit: You can save up to $75 a year in broken drill bits … hours of unnecessary trips to the hardware store … and hundreds of dollars in lost income!

Or in our hypothetical promotion for a dentist, your list might look like this:

Feature: A TV in every exam room.

Why: More comfortable for the patient and time passes more quickly.

Benefit: Your appointment is over before you know it!

Dimensionalized benefit: Great for fidgety kids: The time zips by. In fact, just last week, little Jimmy asked if he could stay longer.

The benefit drawn from a feature offered by an investment newsletter might go like this …

Feature: Daily e-zine included with subscription to monthly newsletter.

Why: Stocks move fast; opportunities could be lost without constant updates.

Benefit: You’ll never get caught wondering what to do when major events break!

Dimensionalize: You’ll lock in your profits when the market sags and go for even greater profit potential by getting into each up-move on the ground floor.

Or, if you’re writing for a book on health, your list might look something like this …

Feature: Specific prescription for each age group on each supplement recommended.

Why: To eliminate reader confusion.

Dimensionalize: You’ll always know precisely what you should be taking … how much you should be taking … and even when to take it.

Step #5: Connect each dimensionalized benefit with a dominant resident emotion

Identify how your prospect is likely to feel about each of the dimensionalized benefits on your list.

Do NOT stop at listing just one emotion per benefit. Think about how the prospect feels about the lack of this benefit in his or her life now. And about how the prospect will feel as he or she is enjoying that benefit. And about how they’ll feel as others see them doing things better … being healthier … richer … happier.

When you’re done, review your inventory and rate each benefit/emotion combination on a scale of one to five. As you assign each ranking, think about three things:

1) The relative importance of the improvement each benefit brings to prospects’ lives: A benefit that can prevent cancer would be scored higher than one that merely produces sweeter breath, for example …

2) The relative number of prospects most likely to covet that particular improvement: More people are likely to have arthritis than cancer …

3) The relative intensity of the emotion(s) connected to each benefit.

Finally, sort the entire spreadsheet by these rankings in descending order.

When you’re done, you’ll have systematically created a comprehensive inventory of features, benefits and dominant emotions for your product.

Then, USE your inventory to make sure you press every possible hot button as you begin writing your sales copy – and please, for mercy’s sake – to get real, dimensionalized, emotionalized BENEFITS into your lead copy!

Hunting the Executive Head Hunter

5 tips to win over an executive head hunter or management recruiter

Many job seekers find themselves overwhelmed with dread at the prospect of hunting down a new career position on their own. That’s why many people hope to hang their hats on the connections of executive head hunters to do their hunting for them in their ongoing (never-ending?) quest for the ultimate trophy career.

In order to convince a reliable executive head hunter, a job seeker has to plan his attack. A well connected executive recruiter will not take on just any person in a suit. You have to build a solid foundation well in advance of making contact.

Just like animal-hunting needs supplies, recruiter hunting requires strategy and supplies, too. Here are five tips to successfully capture the prize – the services of an executive recruiter.

Do Your Homework

The savvy job-seeker must be well armed with knowledge – not just about his or her interests and skills, but also in the head hunter’s interests and specialties. Yes, it helps to approach a head hunter who understands your field and has built up connections, because there is very little need for chemical engineers at an accounting firm (although chemical makers have been forced to allow accountants into their sanctums, but that’s another story).

At the same time, an executive management recruiter has no interest in your skills, even if you have won dozens of awards for the French pastries you have created.

Of course, it helps to familiarize yourself with the job market. That is the executive recruiter’s job, but it is also yours.

You will also get a lot further if you have assessed your own skills, not just your desired employment. If you clearly are not qualified for what you seek, you won’t sell yourself to the head hunter. And if you can’t sell yourself to the head hunter, he or she won’t bother trying to sell you to anyone else.

Identify Reputable Executive Recruiters and Head Hunters

Unfortunately, in the 21st century there are a growing number of conmen and scam artists who have injected themselves in the business of executive head hunters and recruiters. Therefore, as you begin your search for a bona fide and qualified executive recruiter, it is vital that you ask around.

Before you approach an executive head hunter, find out all that you can about their operations, history and experience from as many independent resources that you can access. Make it a point to find other men or women who have used their services. Find out who has actually landed jobs for other people, before placing your career in the hands of a charlatan.

Prepare a Solid Resume

OK. so this might be obvious. But it is not always done. Prepare a professional resume before you make contact with the executive head hunters on your list. Your resume is your calling card, and it will determine whether the recruiter will even want to let you waste his secretary’s time.

Line Up Solid References

Before knocking on head hunter doors, make certain that you have handy a list of professional references.

Just as you will want to know the details about any executive recruiter you approach, these professionals will want to know a good deal about you as well. They will want to be able to contact your references, men and women who can support your professional aspirations with solid testimony about your prior accomplishments, your character, your skills and even your weaknesses, too.

Make sure to ask permission from each reference in advance, so they don’t get caught off guard and say something like, “well, uh, let me see, um…you were calling about whom?”

Schedule a One on One Head Hunter Meeting

Finally, when you have all your ducks lined up, you are ready to meet the executive head hunter who will land you that ultimate trophy career. Of course, it helps to pick more than just one recruiter, and it also helps to schedule a meeting at their convenience.

There you have it. You are ready to go and hunt an executive head hunter. Job-searching couldn’t be more fun unless it came with a candy cherry on top and a complementary subscription to Laugh magazine. Happy hunting.

Understanding the Basic Principles and the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing

Understanding Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is a online phrase used to describe the promotion of internet businesses by the channel of affiliate programs and the marketing of these products on websites and it dates back to the mid 90’s.By doing this the vendor compensates the affiliate (also known as the publisher) a approved percentage of commission based on the amount of trade their website brings the merchant company.

Some companies such as Clickbank, Paydotcom and Shareasale typically have set percentage rates for affiliates which can be up to 75% for some products. Some consider affiliate marketing to be a form of revenue sharing or another term regularly used is commission based advertising.

In the early days of “affiliate marketing”, it was associated as another structure of network marketing or multi-level marketing (MLM) and as a result of this misconception allot of online businesses made the decision to use the expression “performance marketing” to steer clear of any relation to affiliate marketing. This also created a large problem for affiliates in the past, as many online users had a propensity to frown on whatever thing that even looked like multi-level marketing.

Over time and with a great deal of determination from those that are now established as super affiliates it has turned out to be the most cost effective way for merchants to market their products or services online as it is very efficient in the fact that the affiliate has to do all the work to make the sale. So as a result of this, many online companies especially those that embraced this form of marketing in the beginning owe a tremendous amount to affiliate marketing as a perfect example just take a look at amazon.com and the way it has become the done thing for online companies to include affiliate marketing in many of their online strategies to promote their products.

The Advantages Of Affiliate Marketing

The model of revenue sharing has been around for some time, allot longer than online business and the internet. But the idea of affiliate marketing has taken it to new levels, and become a primary form of advertising and bringing in business for all types of e-commerce. Internet merchants find affiliate marketing highly advantageous due to the fact that it presents little to no risk both for the merchant and the ‘affiliate”.

Here is how it all works, the affiliate will earn money if the affiliate brings to the merchants website, either through on-line links on the affiliates website – or through email, blogs, RSS feeds and many other kinds of on-line communication that are available to the affiliate. If a sale is made or the desired action is accomplished then the affiliate will earn a designated commission payment from the vendor or affiliate network.

Some merchants (only about 1% of affiliate marketing) use a cost-per-click remuneration system but this is now starting to grow as a viable form of money generation from main stream affiliates by using the CPA marketing networks, which simply means that the affiliate earns some form of commission every time a website visitor clicks on an advert on their site or when you send out an email with a affiliate link.

However in the past and mainly due to the many “blackhatters”and fraudsters online that were taking advantage of this method by way of creating such things as (ad-ware, sending spam, or keyword heavy and useless indexing sites) this form of remuneration is now allot more regulated and even to the extent of having IP addresses tracked and accounts canceled if you are generating what is considered as fraudulent clicks and for many in the past this form of advertising had become too risky for merchants to use.

What Are The Distinctive Forms Of Affiliate Marketing

There are a few different ways that an affiliate can earn commissions online. Firstly you need to decide which of these is right for you and then join the merchant affiliate program this is so any payment can be received through any referrals from your website to the merchant, Here are four methods that are currently used online today, however you need to read the terms and conditions of each affiliate program you wish to join.

Pay Per Click Marketing is simply a strategy that affiliates use where they display advertisements on their affiliate site and they are then paid when a customer clicks on that website advertisement whether it is a text link or image link.
Emailing your subscriber lists sending legit emails to your website opt-ins with your affiliate link embedded “Spam Is Not Tolerated” make sure you study the TOS of the affiliate program before doing this.
CPA Affiliate Marketing is when one of your website visitors registers with a specific site whether this is a free newsletter or subscription, free offers from other companies are represented and advertised through this form of marketing as well.
Clickbank, Shareasle, Paydotcom are all affiliate marketing networks they have many thousands of products or services for you to choose from as well as being free to join. Some programs even allow multi-tier or what is called a recurring payment structure set up.

Hopefully our article has helped you to understand more about affiliate marketing and we would like to wish you well in all of your undertakings online.

Delivery Methods for Coaching Services: A Comparison

When you are presenting your coaching services as a teleclass or as group coaching, there are several ways to “deliver the goods” to your clients.

The “traditional” way is through a series of emails with class materials attached. This way would look something like this:

Email 1: Welcome to class and include dates for all calls as well as manual or “homework” for the first class.
Email 2: The day before live class send a reminder. Attachment will include written materials for the class (manual/homework etc)
Email 3: Day after class. Attachments include recording of class and repeat of written materials sent previously.
Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each class in your series.

The advantages of the “traditional delivery method” are:

Initial costs are low. You probably already have (or should have!) an email delivery system in place.

The dis-advantages of this method are:

It’s not “evergreen.” Repurposing of your coaching materials is paramount to your services being effective and efficient. “Reinventing the wheel” for each new class or group is not. Each class will require the same energy and time commitment as the first.

Emails get lost or (gasp!) sent to the dreaded spam folder. Then each client has to email you to get the course materials and downloads. This often happens at the last minute when YOU are preparing for your live class.

Problems with email attachments/downloads. With so many different email delivery programs, there will always be issues with an attachment or download not going through to someone. In the case of your call recordings, the files are too large for most email programs. So they have to be stored on line somewhere for download. While it may seem “old hat” to you and me to download files, some of your clients may not have a clue.

The NEW Trend in coaching delivery services is Membership Portals. You may think of these portals as websites committed specifically to your coaching program. They are membership sites so only your students can access the valuable information and tools you provide.

The Membership Portal delivery method looks something like this:

Set up your Membership Site. This site has your branding. You can load all your materials – manuals, homework etc. in to your site set up much like the chapters in a book. Each “chapter” or “module” can be time released so information is dripped to students as needed.

Enroll you students and they have immediate access to read the course materials on line or download to their computer. You can also give them access to any “bonus” material.

You can also include a forum where students can interact or ask YOU questions.

You will still send reminder emails but they will refer to the site for all downloads.

The advantages of the Membership Portal method are:

It is “evergreen.” Starting a new class every 3 months? No problem. Make a few quick edits to your portal and you start enrolling the new class!

Repurpose. After your first class, you have the recordings from each of your awesome live presentations. Maybe you want residual income without having to repeat the class live? With everything in the membership portal, you can now sell access to the portal as a “self-guided” coaching program.

Convenience for your students. All class dates, materials and recordings are in one convenient place. You students don’t have to be searching for that email you sent them last week. They just log on to the portal and read or download at their convenience!

No Email issues. Since all materials and recordings are in the portal, there are no worries about attachments to emails and recordings to large to send.

Easy FAQ. Students will have questions and, of course, some may not know how to download. Instead of your inbox being flooded with these questions, you have a convenient FAQ forum where they can get specific directions.

Students feel valued and part of something special. We all love the exclusivity of “membership.”

The dis-advantages of this method are:

Initial Cost. Unless you are a “technical” person and some extra time to set up your own portal, you will have to hire someone to set your portal up for you.

Ongoing Cost. We recommend Kajabi for the coaches we work with. This program has a monthly subscription cost starting at $99.

I hope this has answered your questions about the delivery methods available for your coaching program. It is a very important decision that will have lasting impact for your business. If you would like assistance, we would love to help. Please visit our web page.

Is Network Marketing the New J-O-B?

First, let me say that I LOVE network marketing and am involved in several companies myself. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that network marketing is fully endorsed by the financial powerhouses Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki in their book “Why We Want You to Be Rich.” This article is meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, a bit serious, and hopefully, a “lot” insightful for those wanting to seriously pursue a network marketing business.

My personal recommendation is that a person can have up to three network marketing involvements. One strictly for fun or because it is something you are passionate about. If that’s the case, then you are simply enjoying the discount and that’s perfectly OK. The second one can be for the residual income. Once a person signs up for your product or service, whether it’s a $1, $10 or $100, the money keeps rolling in. Nothing wrong with that, either. The third one is where you’re not just getting residual income, you’re also building a team. It’s the “sink your teeth into” company where your objective is “unlimited income.”

It is this third one that I will focus on because I think it is the one that as Christian entrepreneurs we need to be the most thoughtful about because of potential spiritual “land mines.”

In Business For Yourself but not By Yourself?

So often in network marketing we hear that “you are in business for yourself but not by yourself.” Much is made out of replacing your current J-O-B with your particular networking marketing venture. In addition, much is made out of how you are merely “trading time for dollars” in your current position versus the “unlimited income” you could obtain from such and such company.

For sure, networking marketing has evolved considerably from back in the day when people would chase you down to come to meetings to sign up for something that you really didn’t need or want but felt obligated to join because your sponsor was a relative, friend or suddenly “new friend.”

With modern technology, there are fancily titled meetings, conference calls, flash presentations, webinars and of course, the almighty DVD (how did we live without those things?). Nowadays, you don’t even need to meet or personally know someone to sign them up. Just buy some Internet leads and you’re set to expand into Antarctica, by golly!

Networking marketing today is slick and sophisticated. Even Magic Johnson and Warren Buffet have major stakes in network marketing.

Your upline is likely to call himself or herself a coach (hey, you’re likely to call your own self a coach). Information packets after sign up ask for your goals, how much you want to make, how much time you’re willing to put into your business and other roadmap type questions. Then, there is an endless slew of meetings and conference calls. There are even accountability partners, weekly and monthly check-ins. What’s next? Performance reviews? 360-Degree assessments? Myers-Briggs?

Still Trading Time for Dollars

As a result of all this, it occurred to me that the being in business for yourself but not by yourself, suddenly seems like the ole J-O-B except now, you have NO steady income, NO benefits and NO vacation. On top of that, you’re probably involved in some type of autoship or monthly subscription. Nevertheless, it is a known fact that most people in network marketing don’t even earn enough to cover their monthly expenses associated with the company. These days, if you’re not serious about working your tail off, then you’re probably better off not even signing up for a network marketing company no matter how dazzling the opportunity may seem.

From my own experience and observations, the people who are the MOST successful in network marketing are those who virtually eat, drink, sleep, dream and WEAR network marketing, just like someone who is climbing the proverbial corporate ladder. I meet people who may be making plenty of money in network marketing, but when are they really relaxing and enjoying the fruit of their labor when there is call after call, training after training, and meeting after meeting, including on Sundays, presumably a day of rest.

Simple brochures and easels have been replaced with LCD projectors and DVD players so now there is equipment to lug around and get tangled up with. Are these network marketing diamonds and bionic-diamonds REALLY enjoying a better life outside of the brick and mortar workplace when they seem to be consumed by their network marketing advancement? Still sounds like trading “time for dollars” to me.

Business Meeting or Revival?

As Christians, we are reminded to keep our focus on God and not to be distracted by other gods. Go to some network marketing meetings and you might wonder if you’re at a business meeting or at church. In my opinion, just as “The Secret” for all intents and purposes took “religion” out of the equation, just because religion is placed “into the equation” doesn’t necessarily make it “holy” either. “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.” (2 Cor. 2:17)

As you look at various network marketing opportunities, especially the one in which you will be “sinking your teeth into” remember to apply the same rules that you would to any other major investment.

1. Pray about it. There is no need to jump into anything, no matter how groundfloor it may be. It has to be the right opportunity for YOU. Of course, you can’t beat a GOOD groundfloor opportunity, either, so don’t be the perpetual “hem and hawer,” either. People DO make lots of money in network marketing, but it was to be the right company and at the proper position in the product life cycle.

2. Use your discernment about the people involved. Remember, actions speak louder words, no matter WHAT is being “preached.” Observe the leaders and others in the organization and make sure their actions are congruent with what they say. It will be hard to stay enthusiastic if you have an unresponsive or uninspiring sponsor. Network marketing is about building relationships and they have to be good all around.

3. Is the venture in line with your own spiritual gifts? If it doesn’t align with what you’re good at or what have a passion for, then it’s probably not a good fit in the first place. And remember, just because it’s someone else’s passion doesn’t mean it has to be yours. It doesn’t matter WHAT status Sally has obtained in XYZ company, if you’re not excited about “thing-a-ma-jigs,” then you’re probably not going to do very well. Donald Trump, Martha Stewart and Barbara Corcoran are just some of the many people who advise on how important it is to have a passion for your business.

4. Will the time commitment allow you adequate down time for Bible study, prayer and meditation or will you be consumed with meetings five to seven days a week? What is your threshold? Will you still be able to go to church and do meetings on Sundays? Remember, God wants us to keep him first. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these things shall be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33)

5. If you are a business owner, will the time commitment of network marketing allow you to fully maintain, develop and nourish your own business? It’s so easy to find yourself shifting over to the network marketing side and spending less time on your own business if you are not careful. If that happens, then you’re not even business FOR yourself.

6. There are only 24 hours in a day and at least eight of them should be spent on sleep. The body truly does need time to rejuvenate itself and it does this when we are sleeping. Make sure you’re getting the proper rest so that you can be a HEALTHY entrepreneur!

7. Have fun! Remember the Lord said he came so that we “may have life … more abundantly,” (John 10:10) and not be stressed out, tired and overworked.

In conclusion, using the above guidelines, I wish you the very best of luck and may your network marketing business turn out to be all you hope for and much, much more. See you down the road apiece in our new Cadillac or Benz or Mustang!

©2007 by Paula Quick. This article may be forwarded, copied or distributed to others only if it contains the title and author as shown above, along with the websites of reference: The Faithpreneur and The Lemonade Coach.

What is Your Household Overhead

The first question I ask of any business owner is, “What is your overhead cost?” Most business owners know this answer. If you ask anyone off the street about his or her household overhead, I would receive a look of a blank face.

What is your household overhead? The term “overhead” is used in business quite a bit. Overhead is the day-to-day cost and monthly/yearly cost of operating your household. You would be amazed at how many people do not know what it cost to “operate” their house. They think they know until they actually put pencil to paper and write out every cost. They are usually very surprised how much money is actually wasted and where it all goes. And it goes pretty damn fast.

Just as business owners know their overhead the same should be for those who run a household. And we all operate a household whether you are one person or a family of four. You must operate your household like a business therefore you need to know how much it cost to operate your house.

So let’s put paper to pencil. You need to know what you spend on the following:

Groceries & Restaurant Purchases- This includes weekly grocery shopping, eating out at restaurants, take-out (pizza night, Chinese food night, etc), convenience stops at local grocer, WAWA, 7-11, Circle K, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, local bagel shop, etc.

Automobile Costs

– Monthly car payment

– Gas & Oil (Shopping for the cheapest gasoline for your car is not the best move. Sometimes a cheaper gas can cause problems for our cars and in turn cost you more in the long run).

– Oil Change (It is true you should change the oil every 3000 miles. It will make your car last longer).

– Repairs (You should save $20-25 per paycheck for repairs)

– Parking

– Public Transportation

Housing/Shelter Costs

– Mortgage/Rent (If you are paying a mortgage, some folks take the advantage of bi-monthly payment. Bi-monthly payment means your mortgage company splits your monthly payment by two and they automatically withdraw the payment twice per month. This figures out to be one extra payment per year and in turn it could shorten the life of your 30-year mortgage loan to 21-22 years. Some folks do not want to give their mortgage company anymore than due and they would rather invest the money in stocks, CD’s, etc.)

– Property Taxes

– Utilities (Electric, Water, Sewer, Gas, Trash)

– Telephone (Many people are considering dropping their land-line. This might be a good idea. If you are not in business for yourself yet (and hopefully you will be soon) why have more than one telephone.

– Security/Alarm

– Repairs

Personal Costs

– Haircuts

– Toiletries

– Laundry

– Dry-cleaning

– Childcare

– Gifts given

– Allowance for children

– Clothing

– Vitamins/Supplements

Loans

– Revolving charges, i.e. department store charges

– Student loan payments

– Alimony

Insurances

– Health (Add this to your budget even if your employer automatically deducts from your paycheck)

– Mortgage Insurance (PMI-Private Mortgage Insurance)

– Renters Insurance (I always recommend purchasing renters insurance. It is very affordable.)

– Disability

– Life

– Long-term healthcare

– Automobile

Entertainment

– Concerts/Movies/DVD Rentals

– Books

– Hobbies

– Memberships/Dues

– Vacations

– Subscriptions

– Toys

– Cable TV

Miscellaneous

– Medical co-pays/co-insurance

– Dental

– Vision

– Prescriptions

– Accountant

– Attorney

– Bank charges

– Educational Costs

– Postage

– Any other expenses

Investments

– Personal savings

– 401K

– Charities

– Stocks/Bonds/Mutual Funds

Now that you have a budget outline you should complete this form over a 3-month period. The reason for a 3-month period is because a one-month snapshot is not long enough for a proper analysis.

After your 3-month analysis you will be able to see where you spend your money and the cost for operating your household and lifestyle, hence your personal lifestyle overhead. Armed with this information you will be able to make changes and hopefully begin to save more and spend wiser.

Please keep in mind just as in business life changes. Sometimes the change is slow (paying off your school loan) or sometimes fast (becoming ill and needing your appendix out immediately). One should prepare for these changes to the best of their ability and one way is saving money in your bank, envelope, jar, etc. for the life’s little “Uh-oh’s”.

It is easier than you think to keep/analyze your overhead. There are many computer programs that will do this for you. One such program is Quicken. There are many others. It will make your life much easier (and your accountant’s). You can learn more at www.frompaintopersonalgain.com

I hope you enjoyed this article.

Here’s to your Health, Wealth & Happiness!

The Little-Known Marketing Secret That Allows You To Write Advertising Homeruns

You remember Sherlock Holmes don’t you? Holmes was the fictional consulting detective invented by Scottish physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes, as you know, is famous for cracking open difficult cases and solving them with almost magical abilities.

So, grab your inspector’s hat and let’s play Sherlock Holmes for just a moment. We’re going to do a little spying today and see if the “Sherlock” in you can turn up a few profit clues lurking all around.

This is the shortest course to the profit-land in this crazy fun business. The direct marketing or “mail order” business as we affectingly call it have a “secret” way of “spying” on the competition. It’s called “seeding.”

Very simply, seeding is where you get on other businesses mailing list

… for the sole purpose of snooping and finding out what’s going on in your selected marketplace.

This does several things for you.

First, you’ll start receiving offers from the company you inquired about plus competing companies. And these offers can be golden to you by seeing exactly who’s mailing what.

You’ll see firsthand what their winners are, how the copy reads, what offers are hot and ideas will start to catch fire.

And if you go the extra yard and actually buy something, you’ll experience firsthand how you were treated, what upsells they offer, and how they run the customer service side of the business.

Simply put, this is one of the best direct marketing educations you can get. And best of all… it won’t cost you a fortune.

Basically, you get a master’s level marketing education for the mere cost of a postage stamp and the time it takes to “sign up.”

Pretty damn cool, right? As my late marketing mentor Melvin Powers once told me, “There are no secrets in the mail order business.”

You’ll be tuned in to ‘real world-real time’ marketing methods and strategies. This is one of the best ways to stay up-to-date with powerful trends and effective marketing that’s cutting edge.

Seeding gives you another huge benefit…

… A swipe file right at your fingertips.

What’s that, you say? Swipe file? YES! Swipe File!

What’s a swipe file? Hey, I’m glad you asked.

A swipe file is a collection of marketing pieces that have a proven history of positive results. These ads are bringing in bucket loads of profits, leads, store visits or whatever action the ad is asking from the customer.

But how do you know if these ads are profitable or not? It’s not really that hard to figure this out… and you don’t have to guess.

If you see a marketing promotion (advertisement, sales letter, squeeze page, etc.) that runs over and over or is mailed over and over, then you’ll know for sure it’s a winner.

Most marketers, especially direct response type businesses loath wasting money. Again, if you see an ad repeated over and over again, you can rest assured that it’s making money for the advertiser.

Once you start building your swipe file you’ll want to see how you’re marketing stacks up to the competition. Ideas gleamed from your swipe file could be used to improve your marketing.

There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. In direct marketing (or mail order), you have learned that there are no secrets. Everything is laid out there for you.

And by the way, did I mention swiping is legit… it’s sharply slices a huge portion of the learning curve!

Let me tell you a quick story about one of the most successful, profitable and effective direct marketing promotions to hit during the 20th Century.

It was 1974 and Martin Conroy was commissioned to write a sales letter to sell subscriptions for the Wall Street Journal.

No big deal, right? After all it was only two pages printed front to back… a mere 780-word letter.

But here’s the thing. Did you know that one of the most successful and profitable sales letter ever written…

This super-successful sales letter mailed for 28-years with almost no changes to the original copy. It raked in over an estimated TWO BILLION DOLLARS in gross revenues!

Take one of the most famous copywriting controls, The Wall Street Letter written by the late Martin Conroy. He in fact swiped it from a sales letter written many years before.

So what was the secret to this mega-success letter?

The secret, according to industry insiders, is that Conroy relied on a little-known “trick” to cheat his way to writing the pitch.

It’s helpful to know that Conroy’s letter was not beaten until 2002. It was beaten in two consecutive tests… the first test Conroy’s letter was beaten by less than 10%. The second by a huge 24%.

The second letter was written by copywriting legend Mal Decker.

So, the question is how did Mal Decker come up with a letter to beat the ‘unbeatable’ control?

The answer… again… it’s surprisingly simple… and you my friend can use this ethical “cheat” to produce blockbuster ads, web pages, sales letters, and just about any marketing piece you need to write.

Now I’m not saying its OK for you to straight out copy the ad word for word. Not at all… I’m saying it’s fine to borrow or swipe ideas, concepts and compelling parts that intrigue you and adapt them to your marketing.

Swiping is a great way to infuse new life in old copy and can often lead to more sales and leads.

So start your swipe file today and let the ideas flow.

Online Database – Key Advantages And Disadvantages

Database in a business scenario is commonly associated with a list of leads or customer information, though in a more technical environment it can also be referred to as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle or Sybase. Traditionally available offline, databases have also spread across the online horizon delivered over the internet and available on a monthly subscription basis. Though Wikipedia gives you a wide list of online databases, here I’ll mention only about the advantage and disadvantage of getting your data online and forming an online database of your own.

Since the past ten years we have been collecting data using spreadsheets and enhancing our skills to convert it into a database which comes in handy later. Microsoft Access, SQL and Oracle has come along a long way supporting spreadsheets as the complexity of the database increased and it started falling apart. But these databases were available only on a single desktop or accessed over a LAN connection to an in-house server. Easily tackling the desktop spreadsheet applications in the mid-field, web-databases are closing in to score and has become the lifeline of people moving their data online. Most of these web-databases are hosted in a Cloud environment and protected by SSL encryption and a secure log-in with proper User Access Control.

Some advantages of using an Online Database

Online – As the name suggests, an online database can be accessed from a web browser from anywhere in the world. With Cloud Computing coming to the foreground, it is much easier to host an online database in an elastic public cloud making it more scalable and secure.

Elasticity – A web-based-database can hold infinite data and is totally elastic in nature. Whenever there is a surge in data flow, more storage space can be allocated and scaled up and down based on requirement.

Multi-tenancy – A public cloud database is generally multi-tenant in nature. This means the same database can be used by multiple customers on a shared model where you pay only for the space you use.

Pay-Per-Use – Monthly subscription based pay-per-use model makes online databases look quite lucrative where you do not need to invest a huge Cap-Ex on licensed software.

Limitations or disadvantages of an Online Database

Security – One of the gravest concerns of using a web-database is security. With not many security standards available in the Cloud Computing model, most of the users are worried about putting their financial data online.

Switching – Another concern when selecting an online database is switching. Different databases support different formats and switching from one to another becomes a pain thereby increasing switching cost.

Downtime – There are times when the server can be down because of multiple reasons which can lead to huge data loss and inaccessibility thereby causing great losses to customers.

Online database can improve your productivity in many ways and can serve multiple functions. You can customize an online database according to your business workflow or simply use it for data collection and information sharing. Web-based-databases work on different environments, so that is the biggest advantage you can get.

Managing Your Working Day in Inside Sales

To CRM or not to CRM – that’s the question

Most organisations I work with have some form of customer database or CRM – customer relationship management – system in place. If you do, then you should learn every aspect of it and use it to run your working life. Simple.

A good CRM will allow you to track every contact with a customer, what you said, what they said and the progress you made along your company’s sales process. CRMs can be useful in curating data such as key performance indicators – KPIs and many of them have calendars and email management built in.

If you don’t have a CRM system either buy one, lease one that’s in the cloud such as Salesforce or use the latest version of Microsoft Outlook with the CRM add-on. Better still, obtain Office 365 for yourself and your team, add the CRM bolt on and you’re cooking on gas. If you’re familiar with Outlook and the Office suite of products then your learning curve for Office 365 will be negligible. I’m going to show you how you can do this and finally get to grips with time and email management.

Office 365 is an Inside Salesperson’s dream. Add on Dynamics CRM Online and you have the perfect intuitive solution. Your emails, tasks and appointments from Outlook can automatically be synchronised into the database. Your Word docs and Excel files can be stored there too. Your conversations will be noted and saved. And not just for you – but for your whole company.

There’s nothing worse for a customer than when he or she calls a company and they’re treated like a stranger. That doesn’t happen with a good CRM system. You and your employees are sharing all interactions with your community in the system. You have the system integrated with social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. You have emails, activities, notes, conversations and documents linked to every contact and account. Let’s get into Office 365.

Use the Cloud

Office 365 sits in the cloud, in other words, it can be accessed from any device via the internet. It doesn’t sit on an old fashioned hard-drive. This means you can pull data from any device, so set them all up first. Your phone, laptop, PC, tablet. Whenever an entry is made on any device, the database is updated in the cloud in real time so anyone can see the information from their devices.

365 Contacts

The best feature here is the merge option where you can link your social media accounts to your contacts. So when you link in with a new contact, their details automatically transfer into your contacts, with a picture too.

If you get into the habit of photographing people you meet with your phone, incorporate this into the contact details. So when they phone your mobile, their name flashes up and a photograph too. A picture brings back memories far quicker than text.

Emails from new contacts can be dragged into the contacts box and a contact entry is automatically made with all the details harvested from the email.

365 Calendar

Firstly set the options so your calendar looks like you want it to. Decide you working week, which may include Saturday, mine does. Sort out the default view for your calendar.

Now decide colours for differing items. Here’s my suggestion:

Red – making money
Blue – marketing activities
Yellow – administration
Green – self development
Orange – personal activities

You can then see at a glance whether you’re being productive or not.

Microsoft provides an enterprise quality web meeting software platform called Skype for Business. It uses the Skype engine but it’s not connected to your personal Skype. It allows you to run a web meeting with anyone or any group at the click of a button. Make sure you obtain this and link it into Office 365. It’s far better than GoToWebinar and more cost effective too.

365 Tasks

Office 365 comes with a stable task management engine which is underused. Many people just list all their tasks into one giant “to do” list and this can be very bewildering.

There’s a couple of ways you can convert your tasks into something more digestible. The first manner is to put dates on each task – start and end dates – so they appear at the bottom of your calendar for the relevant day. Handy if they must be done on that day.

I do it differently. I categorise each task so I can group them on my calendar. I believe I’m more productive when I’m doing similar tasks in clusters rather than free-wheeling.

Firstly, I’m crystal clear as to my objectives, supporting projects and goals I need to achieve. I’m sure you are too. With that in mind you should be choosy whether you add an item into tasks. You should only do this if it moves you forward in your objectives. If it does, it’s known as a Tactical Next Action – an TNA.

I have TNAs for:

TNA: Calls
TNA: Online
TNA: Do
TNA: Write
TNA: Someday maybe

The last one is true; I have 35 items in that category at the moment but none are deal breakers, but the first four are what my calendar carries most.

When a new task comes into your task list, put it in as unassigned – it will automatically find its way to the top, so when you do your task management, you can allocate an TNA to it. Use your phone to add tasks whenever you think of something or someone gives you a job to do. Don’t rely on the brain to remember, it won’t, but the phone will. The task will whiz into the cloud and synchronise across all devices.

365 Email

The foundation of all communications and one of your collection points. I’ll talk about collection points shortly. But let’s tame your email once and for all; I’ve known salespeople to drown in it. Here’s how.

Before we go any further, turn off your email alert feature. This has to be one of the worst distractions known to the Inside Salesperson.

You are allowed to check email regularly for important items but it’s best to do this every couple of hours – say 9am, 12 noon, 3pm and 5pm. But only to deal with urgent ones, leave the rest till later when you clear your inbox. For a quick reminder of urgent versus important you won’t do worse than Stephen Covey’s Time Management Grid. You can see below that he creates four boxes which determine whether a task should be done or delayed or even ignored.

If you really do need to keep tabs of urgent email as they come in, buy yourself a smartwatch and Bluetooth your inbox. I have a Microsoft Band which does this for me, it vibrates and you glance at the tiny screen without accessing email.

And you must clear your inbox every day. Here’s how.

Choose a 60 minute window every day at some time, best before the close of play. Start with the first email. Can you handle it in less than 2 minutes? If so, handle it. If it’s going to take longer than 2 minutes, then put it into a task to be dealt with at another time. You can simply drag the email into the task area on Office 365 and it will automatically populate a task, which remains unassigned to be assigned an SNA later.

If it’s something you don’t want such as a subscription, see if you can unsubscribe. Be ruthless with these.

If it just needs filing somewhere, just drag it into the folder on your PC where it belongs.

Work your way through your emails in this manner and you will clear your inbox. And you must do this every day. Believe me, you’ll feel good when you do.

Collection Points

This is my term for where information and communications come into your business. Have a quick think about what collection points you have. Here’s mine when I first did this exercise:

Texts
Email
Post
In tray on my desk
Desk
Car dashboard
Post-it notes on my computer screen
Unassigned tasks on my phone
Mobile voicemail
Land-line voicemail
Social Media direct messaging
WhatsApp communications
Ideas stored in my brain

The aim is to reduce them, I was ruthless because the more collection points you have, the more difficult it all becomes to keep in control and you’ll soon be overwhelmed. Here’s my culled list:

Texts
Office 365 Email
Unassigned tasks for ideas etc.
In tray on my desk for all paperwork including post
Plastic folder in brief case for receipts etc.

Email is king for me, so I channel everything through to my email inbox and because I can access this on my phone, I don’t miss a thing. All social media messages come through to email, eBay notifications everything. It does mean I have a full inbox every day but I do clear this each day.

Do all these things and you too will manage your time really effectively so you can concentrate on selling. I do.

WhatsApp – The NewGen Marketing Tool

WhatsApp Messenger is a proprietary, cross-platform instant messaging subscription service for smartphones. In addition to text messaging, users can send each other images, video, and audio media messages. The client software is available for Android, BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, iOS, Series 40, Symbian (S60), and Windows Phone

Competing with a number of Asian-based messaging services (like LINE, KakaoTalk, and WeChat), WhatsApp handles ten billion messages per day. According to the Financial Times, WhatsApp “has done to SMS on mobile phones what Skype did to international calling on landlines. The service is free for the first year then costs $0.99/Yr.

Everyone knows that WhatsApp is a great tool for messaging friends however what you did not know is that WhatsApp can be used as campaign tool to generate marketing leads. The App is free and it can serve as a strong marketing channel with the potential of getting clients for your business more than anything else.

Why Choose WhatsApp for your marketing Campaign?

The App is almost free!

You can send large amount of messages with no limits. It’s available for all smartphone platforms including iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Nokia, Blackberry, Symbian. Everyone is using it because you don’t have to go to a website to fill in details or confirm your identity to use it. It just needs your mobile number and you are done!

Better features than traditional SMS/MMS

WhatsApp supports many different message types, from simple text to pictures to audio files. Usually a MMS message would cost a fair bit of money to send, so the fact that these can be sent to as many customers and prospects as you like for free is great.

You can also send GPS location of your stores! Product videos, Product images and audio messages (a short personal message from your CEO could be sent to multiple clients and prospects at one go!) this wonderful App supports just everything. You can start your own WhatsApp group and can invite your clients and prospects to join, or you could create an internal marketing group which will help you stay connected with your campaign peers 24/7.

So WhatsApp as a campaign tool can perform everything a traditional e-mail or SMS campaign could do. To top it all Whatsapp is close to our heart, people can’t take their hands off their phone because of this App. Hence any message communicated through this medium has the immediate and maximum outreach.