The Market Outfit

One of the disadvantages of business-to-business
direct mail lead generation letters is that you are
selling on paper, not in person. That means you are
unable to read your prospect’s body language.
Unable to hear and overcome his objections.

And yet one of the advantages of sales letters is
that you are selling on paper, not in person. Face to
face, a prospect can interrupt you and change the
subject. But on paper, you remain in control.
As long as your prospective customer keeps reading,
you control the sales process.

Another advantage of sales letters is that you can
anticipate objections and answer them in the body of
the letter. You can even start your letter with a
common objection, and answer it square on.

Here are three common objections, and ways that
you can overcome them in your B2B direct mail lead
generation letters.

“WE DON’T WANT IT”
Overcome this objection by presenting benefits that
your reader may have overlooked, or may never have
considered. Assume that your prospect understands
the benefits of your product or service only in a
general way.

“We reduce your downtime because we
ship your replacement transformer in under three
hours, guaranteed. We lead the industry in in-stock,
emergency transformer
replacements.”

“YOU ARE TOO EXPENSIVE”
Overcome this objection by describing the quick
return on investment that your prospect will enjoy
(assuming there is one). Or show how buying a
competitor’s product is actually more expensive once
total cost of ownership is calculated.

“Yes, you will save money in the short
term
by buying a Blodux 5236. But our Nadag 7876 lasts
longertwo years longer. Which means you will pay
$125 less per month for the life of our machine
compared with its closest
competitor.”

“WE ALREADY HAVE A SUPPLIER”
Overcome this objection not by bad-mouthing your
competitor but by stressing benefits that your
competitor does not or cannot offer. Or show how
your competitor isn’t really a competitor because
your company concentrates only on selling the
product in question, while your competitor sells a
great deal more, making them a generalist but you a
specialist.

“Your current supplier certainly has a
well-
earned reputation in our industry for a quality
product. But my firm delivers a comparable product
backed by better after-sales service. We offer you
the personal, customized service that larger firms
cannot match.”

If you are crafting a sales letter and don’t know the
common objections that prospects raise, talk to your
sales force. They are the best source for
understanding how to turn a prospect’s no into a
yes.

About the author
Alan Sharpe is a business-to-business direct mail copywriter and lead generation specialist who helps business owners and marketing managers generate leads, close sales and retain customers using business-to-business direct mail marketing. Learn more about his creative direct mail writing services and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.sharpecopy.com

© 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the author” message).

Copyright 2006 strength-training-woman.com

Last week I talked about the importance of finding your niche. I mentioned how significant it was to feel passion and interest in your business idea. I received quite a few emails asking for more clarification. So I am writing this next new article to provide more information on finding a niche, but more importantly I am going to show you a tool that will help you determine the perfect niche business idea.

First let’s talk about what a niche is, why it is important and how you should narrow the field. A niche is a focused area of concentration. A niche could be about orchids whereas a topic, or non-niche, would be flowers. Orchids are focused. Flowers are topics.

It is important to find your niche in business because it answers extremely relevant questions. You must know who your customers are and what they want from you. Choosing a niche almost immediately fills in all blanks about your target market. Knowing your customer and their problems will allow you to offer solutions. Solutions are products or services that you offer to a group of targeted individuals.

Narrowing down your niche can be hard. Start by writing down all the things you love to do and enjoy in life. Include life experiences, jobs, skills, interests and passions. Really dig in and take the time to think of lots of ideas. Get specific. Ask others what they think your niche is. You may find some really surprising answers!

There is another way to narrow down your niche as well. It’s a new tool designed to help you navigate through questions with multiple answers. In fact this tool was just launched last week and I have already used it 3 times. I used it to determine my next business project, to determine my next info-product and to determine what my next article should be about. Voila! You are reading it.

Before I provide you with this free tool I want to warn you of two common syndromes. One is called the “Ready-Aim-Ready-Aim” syndrome. I know this syndrome very well. The “Ready-Aim-Ready-Aim” syndrome is for people who plan and plan and plan. They never really put action to their thoughts because there is always more to learn or more detail to uncover. The result is that their ideas and plans never actually take off.

On the other hand there is the “Fire-Aim-Ready” syndrome which is quite opposite. It is for people who just go out and create without putting much effort or planning into their course of action. It often results in mistakes and possibly failure. Poor planning is definitely to be avoided.

Noting both of those circumstances helps me set the stage for this new tool I have found. You can ask it any question you desire and through a process of 5 steps your answer will emerge. Use it to find the perfect niche for your business! The free decision making tool is called Choose It and can be found at http://chooseit.sitesell.com/mylife.html

Lynn VanDyke builds successful websites. She provides several options for business owners including a “Jump Start Your Online Business” CD-ROM. Visit www.LynnVanDyke.com to learn more about her and her services. Lynn’s content website is ranked in all 3 major search engines and is in the top 1% of all websites worldwide according to Alexa.

10 Ways To Extend The Reach Of Your Site
by Titus Hoskins

Successful websites extend their reach far and wide! They
build links, connections, partnerships, or use whatever means
they can to extend the reach of their sites. By extending
their reach, these websites create greater exposure,
bringing in more targeted traffic, leads and sales.

You should do the same with your site. It will greatly
increase the importance of your site - boosting name
recognition and increasing your site’s visibility.

Lets look at a real life comparison, ever build a large
patio or outdoor deck onto your house and suddenly realize
you have not only doubled the floor plan but you have also
changed the very nature of the house itself. Or you build
a gazebo or a guest house on your property… and suddenly
you and your visitors have a different view or opinion of
your property. In fact, you have expanded the reach of your
property by building these extensions.

Think of your website in the same light - by building simple
extensions you can change how your site is viewed and judged
by others; resulting in many positive benefits. Little things
that are so simple to do, yet it can have far reaching
implications for your site. You can, in fact, extend the
reach of your site to all corners of the globe.

Here are some of the best techniques for extending the
reach of your site, some of these are very simple, some a
little more complex:

Article Writing
Get one way targeted links placed all over the web by writing
simple ‘how to’ articles on the topic or theme of your site.
Extend the reach of your site by simply including your live
links in the author’s resource box at the end of your articles.
Simple and very easy to do - just try it!

Viral Desktop Applications
You can extend the reach of your site by placing links directly
onto the desktops of your visitors by offering them simple
desktop applications like wallpaper, software programs, or
ecalendars, like the DATEwise desktop eCalendar (see below).
These are great for building brand recognition.

Old Fashion Link Building
Finding related websites and asking for reciprocal links
is still one of the best ways to extend your site. Takes a
bit of hard work but it pays off big time. And don’t forget
about testimonials, simple little recommendations about a
site or product, these can be great link building opportunities.

Bookmarks
Make sure you have a bookmark link on all your pages.
You might also want to make a favicon - small logo that goes
with your bookmarks. And subtly ask those who bookmark your site
to place a shortcut on their desktops.

Ezine or Newsletter
You can reach and keep reaching your site’s visitors by
building your own opt-in list newsletter or ezine. Broaden
the scope of your site by offering diverse information in
these publications.

Viral eBooks and Reports
These can be simple ‘how-to’ ebooks on topics related to
your site. Include links to your website and build name
recognition as well as tageted traffic.

Forum Posting
Becoming a regular poster on all the online forums will
give your site greater exposure and build site or brand
recognition. More importantly, if you offer helpful and
well informed information your site will acquire a resident
expert - you!

Off-line Advertising
Placing your site’s logo or URL in off-line places, billboards,
t-shirts, caps, but try to resist the latest trend - putting
URLs on body parts! Off-line exposure will greatly extend
the reach of your site.

Burning CDs
Burning your best programs or information on CDs, DVDs or disks
and distributing these around to all interested parties
will create more recognition. Great for reaching non-online
computer users.

RSS Feeds and Blogs
This may prove to be the granddaddy of ways to extend your site.
The original name for RSS stood for ‘Rich Site Summary’ - you
make a summary of your website and syndicate it to all interested
parties. Other webmasters will take your syndicated RSS feeds
and place them on their sites. You create mini satellite sites
of your content all over the web!

In addition, as your site expands and grows, other opportunities
will present themselves… in traditional media such as TV, Radio
and Print advertising. Starting an affiliate program for your site
is another option you may want to consider. An affiliate program
can greatly expand the reach of your site. So too, will starting
mirror sites in different languages or countries.

As you can plainly see, there are countless ways to extend the
reach of your site. However, just trying a few of these will boost
your site’s creditability and visibility, bringing in more targeted
leads and traffic. So it’s your move, don’t just let your site
sit there, start implementing some of what you’re just read.

The whole world is waiting…

About the Author

Get a Free DATEwise eCalendar & Personal Planner for your Desktop.

Click here for Free Desktop Calendar

Copyright © 2005 Titus Hoskins of Free Marketing Tools

This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

An autoresponder gives you the ability to send messages effortlessly for months on end. So if you captured an email address six months ago, your autoresponder can repeatedly contact that person to offer your product or service.

=> WASH-RINSE-REPEAT

Repeat contact is a concept that top marketers first used effectively in the offline world. When you conduct a direct mail campaign, you send out message after message until it`s no longer cost-effective. This strategy yields a much higher
response rate than with a one-shot mailing (typically just 1% or less).

-From the Research Labs: Research shows that, on average, A PROSPECT MUST BE CONTACTED SEVEN TIMES before you have any real chance at closing a sale.

=> BE IN THE TOP 10

If you apply this strategy to your Internet marketing campaigns, you`ll have a real edge over the competition. Remember: 90% of businesses do not follow-up with
prospects!

AUTORESPONDER SUCCESS TECHNIQUES

=> TECHIQUE #1 - THE “KILL OVERKILL” TECHNIQUE

You don`t want an email-inbox crammed with ads and sales letters, and neither does anyone else. Don`t send out sales letter after sales letter. Your messages will become an annoyance and the recipient will either unsubscribe or just
delete the messages whenever they arrive.

By sending a series of sales letters SPACED APART BY 2-4 DAYS, you`ll keep your prospect aware of your business and develop credibility over time without being a pest.

=> TECHNIQUE #2 - THE “MY GIFT TO YOU” TECHNIQUE

Send freebies such as ebooks, info reports, newsletters, software, or even product samples. Many marketers use this approach by offering a newsletter.

-Sneaky Salesmanship: Within the newsletter you have an excellent opportunity to plug your product with a few lines of irresistible copy.

With the soft sell approach, you can contact your prospect once or even twice a week with “valuable information” — which coincidentally mentions your product or service — without seeming like you`re over-selling. If you`re a vacuum cleaner distributor, for example, send a newsletter on allergies and dust mites, for example.

=> TECHNIQUE #3 - THEY`LL LEARN/YOU`LL EARN TECHNIQUE

Give away a valuable training course via email that has special appeal to your recipients! You can create a simple 3-day, 5-day, 7 day, or even longer course. And at the end of some of the course lessons you can add a few lines of copy plugging your product or service.

This, too, is a soft sell approach.

=> TECHNIQUE #4 - COMBO PLATTER TECHNIQUE

Use a variation of the hard sell, soft sell approach. Simply alternate your messages. A balance of 40% hard-sell and 60% soft-sell is generally about right.

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Something very big and Viral is happening in over at

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And it’s only going to involve a few selected marketers.

I was just speaking with David Thompson (an Internet Marketer
buddy), and we both realized something very important…

…and it has to do with you

You see, most Marketers could be making a lot more money if
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and easy access to marketing tools that have made other
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so…

David Thompson has put together a brand new Viral Marketing
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You mention it, it’s there.

Remember, this is available now, but I don’t know how long this
resource will be open for free.

Warmly,

richard

P.S. - You may be wondering, “what’s the catch?”…well, there
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This is my way of saying thank you for being my subscriber, and
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