Shotcallers #36 - July 2022

20 Lead Magnet Ideas That Will Have People Begging to Sign Up How to Promote Your Business Website - Besides the Search Engines

Dan Lok’s Journey: From Copywriting to High-Ticket Closing

7 Ways to Tell Whether Your Content Marketing is Working 5 Steps to Building Customer Loyalty Online The Power of Giving UP

MotivationandSuccess.com July 2022 FREE

OUR SPECIAL 3rd YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION!

INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ISSUE Marketing Calendar- pg. 3

Have you ever met someone you would describe as "magnetic"? Attraction plays a vital role not only in romance but in business too. This month, we've got advice on attracting customers and keeping them coming back for more!

Start by learning twenty lead magnet ideas that will entice people to sign up for your company's online newsletter.

From there, we'll tell you how to go beyond search engine optimization and promote your website in engaging ways.

What's the best kind of customer? A return customer! We have five critical steps to help you create lasting connections with customers.

Because your lifestyle directly impacts your business, you must spend time wisely to be the best "you" every day.

Clara Capano will help you do that with her tips on writing a "Give Up!" list to improve your time management skills!

Where can determination and hard work land you?

Anywhere you reach! This month, we spoke to living proof of this inspiring truth: self-made millionaire Dan Lok. Read on to discover how Dan went from copywriting to creating a high-ticket closing certification program that's helped mentees generate $34.2 billion in revenue.

Finall Finally, we'll give you tips to increase word of mouth. When people spread the word about your brand, it's free advertising, and others are more likely to purchase from companies recommended to them by friends and family!

To your business, Dennis M. Postema Founding Editor & CEO P.S. Want to get a back issue or help a friend sign up for a FREE Shotcaller subscription? Visit our website today! https://motivationandsuccess.com/shotcallers/

The content in Shotcallers Magazine is made available on the terms and conditions that the publisher, editors, contributors and relatied parties; shall have no responsibility for any action or omission by any other contributor, consultant, editor or related party; disclaim any and all liability and responsibility to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause; are not responsible in any way for the actions or results taken by any person, organization or any party on basis of reading information, or contributions in this publication, website or related product.

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20 Lead Magnet Ideas That Will Have People Begging to Sign Up - pg. 4 How to Promote Your Business Website Besides the Search Engines - pg. 9 7 Ways to Tell Whether Your Content Marketing is Working - pg. 13 Dan Lok’s Journey: From Copywriting to High-Ticket Closing - pg. 18 5 Steps to Building Customer Loyalty Online- pg. 25 The Power of Giving UP - pg. 29 Fun Facts- pg. 30 Infographic: The Power of Word of Mouth Marketing - pg. 31

Marketing Calendar Plan your marketing messages around these upcoming holidays and proclamations.

July

National Grilling Month National Ice Cream Month National Picnic Month Independent Retailer Month National Watermelon Month July 4 - Independence Day (U.S.) 1st - American Zoo Day 1st - Postal Worker Day 1st - International Joke Day 5th - Apple Turnover Day 6th - International Kissing Day 6th - Fried Chicken Day 7th - World Chocolate Day 7th - Father Daughter Take a Walk Day 9th - Collector Car Appreciation Day 10th - Pina Colada Day 11th - 7-Eleven Day 13th - French Fry Day 14th - Mac and Cheese Day 15th - Pet Fire Safety Day

15th - Give Something Away Day 15th - I Love Horses Day 17th - Lottery Day 17th - Emoji Day 17th - Ice Cream Day 18th - Amazon Prime Day 18th - World Listening Day 19th - Daiquiri Day 20th - Lollipop Day 21st - Junk Food Day 24th - Drive-Thru Day 24th - Parents Day 24th - Tequila Day 25th - Hot Fudge Sundae Day 26th - Bagelfest Day 28th - Milk Chocolate Day 29th - Chicken Wing Day 30th - International Day of Friendship 30th - Cheesecake Day 31st - Mutt Day 31st - Avocado Day

August Childrens Eye Health & Safety Month Month Black Business Month Eye Exam Month Immunization Awareness Month Traffic Awareness Month Sandwich Month

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1st - World Lung Cancer Day 1st - Girlfriend’s Day 1st - Spider-Man Day 3rd - Watermelon Day 4th - Chocolate Chip Cookie Day 4th - Founder’s Day 4th - IPA Day 5th - Oyster Day 5th - International Beer Day 7th - Sister’s Day 8th - International Cat Day 9th - National Book Lovers Day 10th - S’mores Day

10th - Spoil Your Dog Day 11th - National Son and Daughter Day 13th - International Lefthander’s Day 13th - Bowling Day 14th - Financial Awareness Day 15th - Relaxation Day 16th - Roller Coaster Day 18th - Serendipity Day 18th - World Breast Cancer Research Day 19th - World Photo Day 20th - Radio Day 20th - World Honey Bee Day 21st - Senior Citizen’s Day 24th - Kobe Bryant Day 24th - Waffle Day 26th - Dog Day 26th - Women’s Equality Day 28th - National Bow Tie Day 30th - Beach Day 30th - Frankenstein Day 31st - Eat Outside Day

20 Lead Magnet Ideas That Will Have People Begging to Sign Up It’s easy to get stumped when creating lead magnets. Do you try and stand out or do you throw something up that’s already been proven successful for others? Where do you get lead magnets if you lack the confidence to make them yourself? These are 50 ideas for creating your very own lead magnet or getting others to do it for you. Some stand out, some are tried and true, but all work.

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Lead Magnets: What Are They?

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magnets that don’t take a ton of effort to create, so you won’t be reinventing A lead magnet is a the wheel with this one. giveaway that entices However, they convert people to opt into your list. well and it’s easy to deliver You can put them on your on what you promised on website, blog, or landing your opt-in form. page, making them very versatile. Regardless of The most likely reason where they are, however, that they convert so well lead magnets are always is because visitors know the entryway into your exactly what they’re funnel. getting in their inbox when they sign up. Unlike If someone opts in from your homepage, they’ll still an eBook, where a visitor be getting your emails and doesn’t know if it covers anything new for them, offers even if they don’t checklists are a little more immediately move to an predictable. Believe it or offer as they would on a not, humans tend to like landing page. Therefore, predictability. it’s important that your lead magnet be valuable.

They’re also easy to consume. They require A valuable lead magnet virtually no time will give your leads investment and condense something that they can a chunk of information use and find helpful. Not into an actionable list for only does it help them move closer to their goals, your prospects. but it also boosts your 2. Resource Lists own credibility. They’re a valuable asset in building A resource list is just what trust with your leads so the title says, a list of they’re more receptive resources. For example, toward becoming if someone wants to customers later. teach English overseas, Let’s dive into the 20 you might offer a list inspirational ideas to of companies that can help you kick off those help with that. Or maybe conversions. you can help someone promote their own site, 1. A Checklist book, or another form of expertise by offering These are basic lead

them a list of websites that are receptive to guest bloggers.

Resource lists are nice because they provide instant value and are usually comprehensive.

3. Templates A fill-in-the-blank template is nice because it helps people accomplish some sort of goal quickly. Most of the work is taken care of for your prospects and they’re guided toward what they should do in a painless way.

Templates work well as guides to advertising, emails, copy, and more.

Some niches aren’t that responsive to them, however.

4. Swipe Files Swipe files are like templates except that you can copy them without adding your own information. They’re limited in use, but because they can cut down the work your subscribers have to do, they can be very popular ways to get sign-ups. They’re the true plug-and-play lead magnet.

5. Workbooks A workbook can be similar

to a checklist but more involved. It takes a little bit of time to make a good one, but the idea is that your prospects learn by doing. A workbook will help them learn a new skill by giving them exercises to work from, allowing them to practice and brainstorm before applying any new skills.

email list. You can offer your prospects a printable grocery list or bug-out bag list. You create the categories, such as dried vegetables, meat, snacks, etc., and then your leads can fill in what food items they want to stock up on after they print it out.

6. Case Studies

Dried Goods: ______________ ______________

Case studies allow you to highlight someone else’s success, or maybe even your own success, by giving a behind-thescenes look at how you or the person you’re showcasing made their success happen. Some of them provide an overthe-shoulder look at how the pros do something, making them highly valuable to your potential customers.

For example:

Pet Supplies: ______________ ______________ Canned Goods: ______________ ______________ 8. Inspiration and Example PDFs

your website. You’d have to create a bundle of examples and give those away to your leads, but they’re very helpful to people.

9. Prompts In the same vein as the above, prompts are great ways to get people thinking and brainstorming. If you run a blog on journaling, for example, writing prompts are excellent things to give away. You only have to ensure that you’re being creative with your prompts instead of boring.

A good way to get prompt inspiration for your lead magnet is on Pinterest.

10. Email Courses

Back in the day, these Want to teach people how were all the rage, although to design a great logo, they’ve fallen a bit of favor write a good resume, or in the modern world, replaced with eBooks and They can be a PDF, or they try some new scroll saw designs? Some marketers videos. However, an email can be in video format. course can be a great way Just make sure that you let send PDFs or other files just full of examples to get leads even today. your leads know exactly to inspire people and what they can expect to get their creative juices You create a course, which get when they sign up. flowing. can be video-based, and email a new lesson every 7. A Printable Granted, you have to put day or every week to your new leads. Most people This is something that the in some effort to really won’t mind having to user can print out. Pretend make these worthwhile; otherwise, they may as check their email for a new you’re running a prepper well be a blog post or lesson (and this can help or survivalist blog and some other article on ensure that your emails are you want to build your 6

hitting real inboxes) and find great value in them.

and a sense of community, so creating a basic level just for your list is a great 11. Exclusive Software or way to help them and Apps then convert them into customers who can enjoy These can be anything the full membership site. from calculators that do just one thing, such as The nice thing about calculating eBay fees, to membership sites is that your own unique keyword they work for almost every research tool, headline niche. However, it can generators, and more. cost a bit more to add a The sky is the limit here, membership site to your but you have to be techhosting package or theme. savvy or have a full team working on your website 14. Facebook Groups to make them. Software is considered highly valuable, though.

15. Private or Gated Content Have you ever wanted to read an article, but a popup keeps telling you that you have to subscribe to read it? That’s called gated content, and it’s a great way to get signups without having to create something new.

You can just set some of your content, preferably something you’ve put more effort into, and put it behind a lightbox.

16. eBooks

eBooks are excellent 12. Spreadsheets giveaways because they’re considered valuable, Being organized is an but usually not valuable important skill to have enough to actually pay for in today’s world, and unless it’s being sold on spreadsheets help us do Amazon, Barnes & Noble, that. Spreadsheets are or some other retail site. fairly simple to make, With an eBook being so if you can help your Giving invites to a private used as a lead magnet, prospects get organized Facebook group is another you also don’t have to and hit their goals, you way for Internet marketers worry about hiring a cover could find yourself to build a list that’s similar creator (using a site like building a spectacular to a membership site.

Canva is enough), editors, email list.

Facebook groups are free formatting experts, or any to create, although they other outsourcing.

13. Membership Sites can be more limited in scope compared to what 17. Guides Making at least part of you could create with a your membership site full-blown membership Similar to eBooks, guides open to your opt-ins is a site and forum. Regardless, are in-depth how-to valuable way to build your they’re still perceived as guides. The difference is email list. Membership valuable in the eyes of that they’re usually shorter sites provide value most visitors. (though they still take a through in-depth training while to make), and there 7

aren’t usually chapters.

Guides are straightforward, which many visitors and prospects enjoy compared to a lengthy book.

write. You’ll usually need a screen capture software, a mic, maybe a webcam, and definitely some editing software.

18. Recipes

20. Webinars

This is really only good for anyone in a specific cooking niche, but it makes an excellent lead magnet. Try and offer novel recipes with complexity based on the kinds of cooks you’re targeting. Obviously, if you’re targeting professionals, you can use the lingo, more expensive ingredients, and more complex cooking instructions.

Webinars are excellent for not only bringing in new leads but also for converting them into customers on the spot.

Even better, you only need to record the webinar once and then just deploy it over and over to whoever signs up.

19. Video Courses Videos are perceived very highly, even higher than eBooks, despite the fact that you may have put more work into a book.

They can be combined with an email course or a standalone video that teaches a skill. You can also make a series of videos that subscribers have immediate access to.

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To do an effective video course, you have to have more tools than a word processor, but some people would rather talk into a microphone than

Due to their length, webinars can go far in building trust, and because people were at least originally onboard to just watch live, their enthusiasm will carry on, infecting any viewer who watches the replay later.

The Sky’s the Limit When it comes to lead magnets, the sky really is the limit. Hopefully, this list has given you some ideas you can use or at least inspired you to think creatively about what you can offer to get more sign-ups. Your list is an invaluable resource, but you’ll only build it if you offer invaluable resources to others.

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How to Promote Your Business Website Besides the Search Engines Your business website is the first impression customers get of your company. No matter where they find out about your business, most people these days check you out on the Web first. Your website needs to reflect your brand and stand out from the competition so that customers can find you easily. If you’re not yet using Google Analytics or other digital marketing tools to analyze traffic to your site, read on to help you understand where potential visitors are coming from, what they’re searching for, and why they’re not finding what they’re seeking.

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Many businesses believe that just having a website is enough to promote their brand online. After all, who would click on an uninvited or poorly designed webpage?

However, if you don’t implement a few additional strategies, your business could end up losing potential leads and customers because most people won’t even know about you unless someone tells them about you specifically. Here are some of the best ways to promote your local business website.

Create Content That People Want to Read

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To build traffic to your site, potential visitors will have to find you, and creating content they want to read is the first step to doing that. To boost your site’s search engine traffic, you must make it easy for people to find what they’re looking for by making helpful, quality content that is easy to read. While writing an article isn’t terribly difficult, producing it can be timeconsuming and tedious.

If you’re busy running an entire business, you probably won’t take the time to produce content that people would like

to read and that answers their questions or provides the information they value.

To make your job easier, hire a freelance writer to draft your articles for you.

Another way to make your content easier to read is to take advantage of social media. Let’s say your business sells highend handbags. You could post a picture of your bags on social media and write a few sentences about yourself and your company. If you’re aiming for a high level of engagement, you could ask people to comment on your photos and posts.

Not only will this give you insights into your target market, but it will also allow you to respond to customer questions and praise easily.

Use Social Media to Build Awareness Social media has become an important marketing channel, but many business owners don’t use it to its full potential.

If you have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other popular platforms, create posts that are relevant to your products and industry. Write posts that are simple, catchy, and helpful to your customers.

Let people know what you do and why they should choose your business over the others. Post pictures of your products and engage with your followers so that they’ll follow you back, leaving comments and clicking the “like” button.

You’re trying to build awareness, and one of the easiest ways to do this is by using social media to build buzz about your brand. When you’re posting about your brand, weave in some of your competitors’ names to draw some attention to them as well. You want to collect as much attention and buzz as you can, so post as often as possible, and make sure each post is as memorable as possible.

And above all else, link to your website from every post on social media.

Use Analytics Data to Improve Your Site and Create Repeat Visitors Google Analytics is the

big player, but there are other analytics resources, many provided by the website hosts. The data represents a deep dive into the traffic to your site, where the visitors go once they get there, the pages where they enter the site, and the pages where they leave. Also, any links they click on while on your site can provide valuable information.

One bit of information some analytics provide is the time spent on individual pages and on the site total. How long a visitor stays on a page is valuable information.

If they arrived at a page, there was a reason. If they “bounce” right off it, leaving quickly, they didn’t find what they wanted.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the information wasn’t there but could just mean that it wasn’t easy to see on the page.

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The key to using analytics data is to try to interpret it to improve your site.

Bounces should have you checking pages to see if the content matches the title that got them there. Also, do you have subtitles in bold to help them scan and find what they want. As you improve the site based on analytics data, you should see an improvement in repeat traffic and business.

Immerse Yourself in the Community

Take the time to find out what they do, where they go, and what they like and don’t like. You want to know as much about your customers as possible because this will allow you to tailor your products and services to better suit their needs.

You can also use customer research tools like NPS (Net Promoter Score) and Zoom to get a better understanding of your customers. Once you know your customers, you’ll have a much better understanding of what they want and need. With this information, you can create new products and services to generate more revenue and bring more customers to your business.

You’ve probably heard countless times that it’s important to “meet your customers where they are.” When it comes to marketing your local business online, this tip is absolutely true. The best way to do this is by immersing yourself in Find Every Way You Can the community. In other to be Found Online words, get to know your potential customers better. There are lots of ways to

promote your business, but the most important one is traffic. Without it, your business is just flat lining without much growth potential. To gain more traffic to your site, you must have a unique way to get found online.

The best way to do this is by utilizing every online channel you’ve got.

campaigns, and add it to your email signature. Each of these steps can help you gain more traffic to your site, and you can add them to your emails, blog posts, tweets, and other social media posts.

For example, you can use YouTube videos for your brand and product reviews on social media to boost traffic to your site.

You can also add links to your website on your blog posts, guest posts, and product reviews in return Find Every Way You Can for a review. to be Found Offline You can add your website to your social media posts as well. You can also add your business to directories, add it to your email marketing

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newspaper classifieds to local business directories to chamber of commerce print materials, use whatever you can. The one key strategy is to always have your website domain prominently visible on all marketing media. This includes business cards as well.

While your competition is spending time and money trying to get on the first page of the search engines amid immense competition, you can be accomplishing more in other ways.

Work every media source and other avenue to your site possible. And make All the pre-internet sure that when a visitor marketing media are still of value. If you can fit other arrives, they find what they want or need. They’ll then media into your budget, do business with you. use it to drive traffic to your website. From

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7 Ways to Tell Whether Your Content Marketing is Working

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So, you’ve decided to embark on a content marketing strategy. You’re creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage an audience.

This is a fantastic first step. Content marketing increases brand awareness, improves SEO, generates leads, and more. But it can also help you build trust with your audience through the creation of value-laden content.

Understanding whether your content marketing efforts are successful is crucial for any business owner or marketer getting started with content marketing. Here are seven ways to tell whether your content marketing is working as well as two ways to speed up progress if it isn’t.

Traffic to your website is increasing.

Traffic is the most basic metric for content marketing. If you’re not getting traffic, you can’t get anything else! But traffic alone doesn’t tell you everything. Here are some other questions to ask yourself:

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Is traffic increasing over time? This should be obvious, but if your traffic

isn’t increasing and you’re investing more time and energy into your content marketing plan than before, it’s possible that something about how you’re doing things needs to change.

Are you getting more website visitors than last month? This question will show how well your strategy works in real-time.

If this metric shows no improvement over time (or a decline), it might be time for a fresh approach or even a complete revamp of what content you publish when and where, so as not to lose valuable readership and engagement.

Track your traffic regularly.

You can do this in several ways, but the easiest is through Google Analytics.

Once you’ve set up an account and created a website, you can see how much traffic your site receives daily.

You can also look at how often people visit your site over time by checking “Traffic Sources” under “Acquisition” in the left menu bar. The information will give you insight into whether visitors return after their initial visit and whether they find what they need when they get

there (i.e., whether they’re converting).

If your goal is to increase traffic--as it should be!

--then set up goals with Google Analytics. Doing so will help you track whether your efforts are paying off.

Your keyword rankings are increasing.

If your keyword rankings increase over time, this shows that your content is relevant to the search engines and resonates with users. If you notice a decline in rankings for keywords you have been targeting, this may be a sign that your content needs improvement.

Google Analytics (free) and SEMrush (paid) track keyword rankings on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and more. These tools let you know how many people are searching for terms related to your business or industry--and whether those terms are bringing in traffic from search engines and social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. You can use these insights to create better content around specific topics or trends or even tweak existing pieces based on what people are looking for online.

People are spending time on your site.

You’re getting leads and signups.

If people spend time on your site, that’s a good sign.

The challenge is to ensure they’re reading the content rather than just scrolling through it. To do this, you can use tools like Google Analytics and heatmaps to see where people are clicking, or a chatbot to get feedback on what they liked and didn’t like about certain sections of your website.

A lead is any person who has shown interest in your product or service by providing a name and contact information (email address, phone number, etc.). A signup is someone who has created a user account on your website with their email address.

The fact that people spend time on your site means they find the content valuable enough to stick around for a while. This information can then be used to ensure that future content meets or exceeds their expectations, leading to improved website engagement and conversions.

You can get leads and signups from content marketing in many ways: • By providing an optin form at the end of every blog post or web page that asks people to subscribe to your newsletter • By creating an eBook with valuable information and offering it as a free download on your website • By creating a video tutorial that demonstrates how to do something complicated or answers common questions customers ask about products or services • By providing webinars that teach something or encourage people to get excited about a product launch

You can also use exit-intent popups to entice visitors to stay with you instead of leaving your site. For example, if a visitor is about to leave after reading an article on your site, you could have a popup appear that offers them bonus content on the same topic if they subscribe. This keeps them engaged and helps Content marketing allows you expand your email list. you to build relationships 15

with your target audience by providing them with valuable, useful information. These days, people are bombarded with advertisements from companies trying to sell them something, and they can tell when a company is just trying to make a quick sale. But if you provide genuinely helpful and informative content, your target audience will appreciate it and be more likely to buy from you in the future.

Your bounce rate is low.

A low bounce rate means visitors spend a lot of time there, on average. When someone lands on your site and leaves immediately-also known as bouncing-it means they probably didn’t find what they were looking for, or the content wasn’t engaging enough to keep them there. The lower this percentage is, the better--it shows that you provide valuable content, and your users are interested in it.

How can you determine the bounce rate for your website?

There are a few ways to measure your website’s bounce rate. One way is to use Google Analytics.

To do this, log in to your Analytics account and go to the “Audience” section.

Then, click on “Overview.”

Here, you’ll see metrics related to your website’s traffic, including bounce rate. If your bounce rate is higher than 60%, take a closer look at your content and whether you need to change its content or formatting to keep people reading.

Another way to measure bounce rate is through heat mapping tools like HotJar or Crazy Egg. These tools show you where users click on your site and where they’re not interacting with it at all.

This can help identify which pages or content areas might need some improvement to keep visitors engaged.

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Also note where your traffic is coming from. If you get a lot of traffic from many sources--not just one or two--it’s a good sign. A diverse stream of organic traffic (traffic coming directly from search engines) and social traffic (traffic coming from social media platforms like Facebook) is ideal, as this shows that your content is not only valuable but it’s also getting shared around the web.

Your conversion rate is increasing.

a good sign.

But pay attention to how much content you’re If you’re wondering producing and the number whether your content marketing strategy works, of conversions too. If you’re creating 10 pieces look at your conversion of content per month and rate. The definition of a getting 100 conversions, conversion rate varies depending on the context then creating 20 pieces of content per month should (i.e., ecommerce or lead generation), but it typically result in 200 conversions. refers to how many people This is also known as the made a purchase or opted- content marketing ROI. in after seeing an ad or clicking through to another You’re getting new customers. page.

You can tell if your content For example, if 100 people marketing is working if you visited your website and are getting new customers. two of those people If customers aren’t finding bought something from you, it’s likely your content you during that visit, that marketing isn’t working. would be a 2% conversion You can track this by rate--two out of every looking at your website 100 visitors ended up analytics and seeing where purchasing something. The people are coming from average conversion rate for on the web or asking them a business-2-business site directly how they heard is between 0.8% to 1.1%. about you. If you’re seeing This gives you a metric more people convert, that’s to compare your own a good sign. conversion rates to.

So, remember that content While measuring and marketing isn’t just about improving your conversion putting words on a pagerate is important, another -it’s also about measuring important indicator is and responding to your whether the number of results. And if you do that conversions is increasing well, you’ll see the payoffs over time. If so, chances in terms of traffic, visitors, are good that your content leads, and customers. Don’t marketing efforts are get frustrated if something effective! If you’re seeing isn’t working--instead, see it more people convert, that’s as an opportunity to learn!

IF YOU ' R E REA D ING T HIS , SO ARE YOUR PO T ENT IA L CUST O ME R S

Motivation & Success 17

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Dan Lok’s Journey: From Copywriting to High-Ticket Closing

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This month, we sat down with Dan Lok to learn about how he rose from a challenging start in copywriting to become a self-made millionaire, business mentor and bestselling author. Dan’s mentees have generated over $34.2 billion in revenue as a direct result of his High-Ticket Closing Certification Program.

Dennis Postema: How did you progress from copywriting to highticket closing?

Dan Lok: I’ve always had the entrepreneurial bug.

I started my first business when I was in high school.

I started and failed at thirteen businesses before having my first success.

My first mentor, Alan, taught me marketing, copywriting and how the world and business work. I worked for Alan for over a year in my early twenties, kind of as an apprentice.

After that, I started my own one-man advertising agency.

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I’ll never forget one call in particular. I was working from a one-bedroom apartment I shared with my mother. It was an inbound call. I picked up the phone and tried to sell my services, saying, “Hey, I can help you with writing copy,” and things like that.

About three minutes into the conversation, the business owner on the other line said, “Stop. Stop.”

I said, “Excuse me. Yeah, what?”

He said, “In the few minutes that we’ve been talking, you’ve made multiple grammatical errors. Your English is not good. I think you’re full of shit. I don’t think you’re a copywriter.” And he hung up.

First, I was shocked, and then tears started falling, because I was trying to make a living, provide for my mom, and it was very difficult. I never had someone talk to Back then, I was a nobody. me like that at a young I had no name, and I spoke age. If he’d said, “No, I’m broken English. I was just not interested,” that’s trying to get started and one thing, but because get some clients. I would of my own insecurities, call business owners I because I knew my English found in the Yellow Pages wasn’t good … I was and offer to write their ads. inexperienced. I didn’t

want my mom to see me crying after the phone call.

I needed time to gather myself.

From then on, I said, “I don’t want to ever let this happen to me again. I’m going to get so damn good on the phone and so good at closing that this doesn’t ever happen again.”

That planted a seed in my mind, and I studied all the books: Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Napoleon Hill— you name it. I was trying to find the answers. I would get these little index cards, write words on them, and memorize them. I would try to learn a new word every single day. I listened to the radio to improve my English. I joined Toastmasters to reduce my accent.

Not in a million years would I have imagined back then that I would have the following I have today, that I would have impacted the lives I have, that I would’ve written the books I’ve written.

Dennis: How long did the process take for you to go from start to finish? Did you have mentors help you learn that process?

Dan: Yes. My mentor Alan taught me about marketing and copywriting, and then, of course, all the books I’ve read and the events I’ve gone to, and the friend groups I belong to—I learn from everybody, even the bad examples.

Sometimes I hear people say, “Hey, I bought this book, I bought this program, and it didn’t work for me.”

I always ask them, “Have you ever had a bad meal?”

They say, “Yeah.”

I ask them, “Do you still eat?”

They say, “Yeah.”

So even with the bad examples, you didn’t get what you expected from it, but you got something out of it. Maybe you learned what not to do, rather than what to do. So I learn from everybody.

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sales for almost twenty years. I don’t feel like I’ve been doing it for this long, but I’m still mastering my craft. I’m always a student of leadership and business and sales. I learn a lot from my mentees.

As I learn and apply different sales techniques, some of them work well, some of them work okay, and some of them completely fail.

One day, I said to myself, “I have to find a better way,” because it’s like there’s a disconnect. A lot of traditional sales techniques don’t seem to work that well when selling high ticket.

I started experimenting, testing different approaches, and I finally developed my own highticket methodology that has worked extremely well. But it’s bits and pieces, mostly through trial and error.

Dennis: How many years did it take to go from copywriting to traditional sales, and then to high ticket?

Dan: I’ve been doing sales for twenty years or so .

About five or six years I’ve been doing high-ticket ago, my company was closing and high-ticket growing like crazy, and I

Dan talks about how his high-ticket methodology breaks all the rules of traditional sales: “In traditional sales, we have been taught to have energy, to be excited, to get the prospect excited.

So we pick up the phone and say, ‘HOW ARE YOU, SIR? I’M EXCITED. I WANT TO SHARE SOMETHING WITH YOU!’ All these techniques that are taught in traditional sales, they don’t work when you’re selling high ticket. In fact, these methods have the opposite effect of what you want.

“The sales conversation should not be a pleasant experience for your prospect. You should not be all giddy-up and excited. It shouldn’t be like that at all. You shouldn’t talk fast and get excited and get your words in and get your pitch in before the prospect hangs up on you. Slow down. Slow down your pitch. Don’t speed up and don’t get all excited.”

needed sales guys. Over the years, I’ve hired and fired sales guys. If they are no good, they just cost me money. If they are decent, I train them and I get them so good, they go work for my competitors.

Sometimes they come with experience, but it’s in traditional sales, and that’s not what I needed for my company.

I wondered what I should do. I thought, “You know what? Why don’t I utilize my skill and actually put together a program and teach others? From there, I can cherry-pick the best people to come join my company.” That was my intention when I launched the “High-Ticket Closer Certification Program.”

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years, over 10,000 professionals have gone through the program from 151 countries.

We have a system to reward top-performing students. They submit proof of documented revenue they’ve closed in order to win awards. When we add all of that together, out of the students I have directly impacted, they have produced $34.2 billion.

Dennis: When selling high ticket, many business owners start a sale by offering the lowest-cost version of a product or service. Why is that a mistake, and how should they fix it?

the $1,000 product and a tiny percentage of them would buy the $10,000 product. Imagine you’re pushing a rock uphill.

Now, when you use the power of descension— let’s say you’re on the phone or doing a presentation—you show the most expensive thing you’ve got first, so the $10,000 product. That sets the tone of your value.

You’re showing people, “Hey, I have a $10,000 offer,” knowing that most people in the audience can’t afford it or they’re not ready for it, but then they know you have it.

If you’re not getting a little bit of resistance when you mention your price, you’re Dan: We’ve all heard of this charging too low. You before in marketing—it’s should get a little “Ugh, I took my methodology, the power of ascension. that’s a lot.” It’s supposed taught it to people, then I Let’s say you have three to be a lot. thought, “You know what? boxes to sell: one is $100, I’m going to train fifty When you present that people, and from there I’ll one is $1,000, and one is $10,000. The problem with $10,000 offer, the buyers pick five.” that approach is when you who would buy it think, What I didn’t realize when show people what you’re offering for $100, they I launched the program, Dan defines anything think that’s all you have. before even marketing from $0 to $1,000 as a Instead of using the it, before any kind of low-ticket offer. Anything power of ascension, use strong promotion, the from $1,000 to $10,000 the power of descension. first class had ten times is mid-ticket. Anything more people. It was such a When you’re using from $10,000 to $100,000 “thing” in the marketplace ascension, you’re fighting is a high-ticket offer. that people were looking gravity. Out of the one hundred people who buy Anything from $100,000 for. the $100 product, maybe to $1,000,000 or more is Now, after four or five some of them would buy an ultrahigh-ticket.

“No problem, $10,000, let’s suddenly the $1,000 Dan and Dennis go.” product seems like a nodemonstrate how to brainer, because you have mitigate common The people who can’t a $10,000 product. objections by setting afford it think, “Ah, damn! I the agenda and giving want that, but I don’t have If you show them the $100 prospects permission to say $10,000.” product first, then show no. In this exercise, Dan is You then present the them the $1,000 product, the closer and Dennis is the $1,000 offer. Now what they’re wondering, “Why prospect. happens? is this $1,000? I don’t Dan: Hey, Dennis, I’m glad we’re understand.” connecting today. Now, before You have the $10,000 we get into how I can help your offer—let’s say you’re Here’s the thing: After company, can we agree on a selling a coaching showing them the $1,000 couple simple things? program—and with offer, some of them are the $10,000 offer, the saying, “I want to buy Dennis: Yeah, absolutely. customer gets more of that, but I don’t even Dan: By the end of our your time, and other have $1,000.” Well, here is conversation, there are three bonuses. If you take away something that is small, things that you can say to me: those bonuses, you still a basic version of the One, you can say yes, and this get the essence of the product, that is $100. How makes a lot of sense. You want to program, but it’s only many people have $100? move forward and do business $1,000.

How many people could with us, so you can say yes. get started with $100? You If you’re a customer, what would close 90% of them Dennis: Okay. are you thinking? on the $100 version.

Dennis: At least I can start the program, and I’m going to end up getting the $10,000 offer after I learn so much from the $1,000 program.

Dan: Now you’re setting up for future business.

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In the ascension model, customers don’t even know you have a $10,000 offer. They never see it.

Now you also have the power of prize contrast working for you, because

You might only get 10% of those customers if you offer the $100 product up-front. The people with $100 are now thinking, “How do I get to $1,000?” and the people with $1,000 are thinking, “How do I get to $10,000?”

You’re selling the same thing, but you offer it in descending order. That’s the power of it.

Your conversion would go up, customers would be happier, and sales from

Dan: The second thing that you can say is no, and Dennis, I want you to know it’s perfectly okay to say no to me.

Dennis: Okay.

Dan: The third thing that you could say, but I don’t want you to, is, “I want to think about it,” because usually what that means is no, but you’re just trying to be nice. Can we agree on that?

Dennis: Yeah, absolutely.

From this point, you go into the conversation. You’ve taken the pressure off the prospect, making a sale more likely, and you’ve set the agenda.

the $10,000 customers pick up on day one.

Everybody would know the positioning: you have a $10,000 offer. You have something low ticket, but you’re a $10,000 guy. You’re a $25,000 guy. You’re a $100,000 guy. They all know that, so when you’re selling something for $100, you’re not lowering your value, you’re saying, “Here’s a piece of me, here’s something that I have.

Here’s a book that I have.

It’s a digital program to get you started.”

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parents divorced when I was young.

one wants to do. Most people want success, they want freedom, they want I thought to myself, “I want all the things that come to be seen as the smartest with success, they aren’t guy,” so I was very cocky willing to work toward it. until I matured a bit and Another piece of advice got a little wiser.

I’d give myself is to find mentors early and learn to There’s a much bigger be a good mentee. Most world out there, and I’m people don’t know how fortunate enough to have to be a good mentee. some great mentors in It’s almost like they have my life that showed me this entitled mentality. no matter how successful “Oh, you’re successful, I am, I could do so much you’re supposed to help more. poor little me,” versus, “How do I add value? How I just turned forty. What do I contribute to the will happen by the time relationship?”

From the marketplace I’m fifty or sixty years old?

I know what it’s like to be a perspective, you’re There are people out doing them a favor by there playing a way bigger good mentee, and I’m very proud to say that I’m still offering something more game, with way bigger very close to all four of my affordable and more businesses, and I’m like a accessible. little fish. There’s so much key mentors. I always edify them. I refer back to them more I could do. That again and again. I’ll say, Dennis: How do you stay makes me humble, but I so humble and confident wasn’t always like this. It’s “I learned this from Alan,” or, “It’s not because I’m so at the same time? because now I’m wiser, a brilliant, I learned this from little older, more mature, Dan. I learned this from Dan: I wasn’t always this and have more gray hair.

Dwayne.” humble. At the age of twenty-seven, I made my Dennis: What advice So find mentors early, first million. I was kind would you give a learn to be a good of cocky and arrogant. younger version of mentee, be humble, and I looked at my peers at yourself? do the hard stuff no one the time and thought, wants to do.

“I’m a smart guy, I have a Dan: One of the sayings good lifestyle, I’m making I have is, “Rich people do To learn more about Dan all this money,” but truly, what is hard, that’s why Lok, visit his website at the arrogance came from their life is easy. Poor danlok.com, watch his insecurity. I was insecure people do what is easy, videos on YouTube, or about my failures. I was that’s why their life is hard.” listen to his podcast on bullied in high school. My Do the hard stuff that no iTunes.

Dan shares another piece of high-ticket methodology: Talk about money with prospects up-front, not at the end of the conversation.

“Why do you waste an hour of your time if you know the prospect can’t afford what you sell?” Dan asks.

He recommends salespeople be very direct and transparent when selling through high ticket. No slimy sales or tricks.

Dan and Dennis give an example conversation between a salesperson and a prospective client.

Dan: Hey, Dennis, I could solve your problem. Can we talk about money for a second?

Dennis: Absolutely.

Dan: We can solve your problem within this time frame. Do you have a budget set aside that you could share with me?

Dennis: Yes, I do.

Dan: Roughly, how much would that be?

Dennis: Well, it depends on how big of a problem it is. Let’s say it’s a $5,000 problem.

Dan: Okay. Do you have $5,000 set aside to solve this problem?

Dennis: Yeah, if you can solve it, sure.

Dan: And by the way, how do you usually make a decision of this nature?

Dennis: I only need to talk to myself.

Now you know the prospect has a ballpark of $5,000 they’re comfortable with, and you also know you don’t need to talk to anybody else.

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5 Steps to Building Customer Loyalty Online

Customers who are repeat buyers spend more money and are more loyal than first-time buyers. But many small businesses don’t realize that building customer loyalty is not just about the customer but also the business.

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to friends and family.

They’re also more likely to spend more money on each purchase because they feel they can trust your brand. Ultimately, building customer loyalty online can help your company grow faster and save money on expensive marketing campaigns.

Let’s look at some ways to build loyalty with online customers.

product solves a problem for them. When you know these things, you can use that information to personalize the shopping experience more effectively.

Once you’ve learned about your customers, figure out If you’re a business owner, how to stay connected to you probably have a few them. In the offline world, loyal customers. They this is as simple as handing love your products and them a business card and services; they tell their asking them to call if they friends about them; and Step 1: Know Your have questions. However, they’re likely to return for Customers online businesses face a years. If you’ve ever had unique problem: there is a customer like this, you The first step is to know no reminder of who you know what it feels like. who your customers are. are or how to contact you This means understanding when the customer leaves But if you haven’t ever what they want, what your website. As you’ll had a customer like this, they like, and how they soon learn, touchpoints it’s time to learn how to interact with you online. It are a way to do that. attract them by building also means understanding customer loyalty. It’s a way their needs, wants, and Step 2: Find Your Brand for your business to create problems so that you Voice long-term relationships can offer them solutions with their customers -to help them solve Have you ever walked into relationships that will last those problems or meet a store and been greeted for years or even decades. their needs. Knowing by the store manager? If this information about so, did he or she speak to At its core, loyalty is just a your audience will help you in a formal manner? form of trust. Customers you create content that That’s an example of brand want to trust you with resonates with them voice. Brand voice is how their business, and if they throughout every step of your business talks to its know that you’ll take their customer journey. customers, employees, care of them every time vendors, and partners. It’s they buy something from Dig deeper to the point about being consistent you, they will be loyal that you understand your across all platforms -customers. customers so well that you online and off -- while know how they feel when communicating in a tone Loyal customers are more they use your product. that reflects who you are likely to recommend Understand why they’re as an organization. This your brand or products buying it and how your is how you connect with

your audience.

People want to do business with people they like and trust, so creating a brand voice that will resonate with them is important. You don’t have to be the most technical or knowledgeable in your industry. Instead, you can focus on being approachable, friendly, and helpful. How can you establish a relatable brand voice online?

One way to establish a relatable brand voice online is through social media. You can use social media platforms to interact with your target audience, answer their questions and build relationships with them. Another way is to create blog content that speaks to your target audience in a tone that reflects your brand personality. Be consistent with your voice and keep it relatable and jargon-free.

Step 3: Create Touchpoints

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Remember touch points?

They’re important. In

the world of digital marketing, touchpoints are the places where your customers interact with your brand. They include email, social media, and your website. Touchpoints are a great way to build loyalty and trust in your brand. You can use them to increase awareness about your products or services. Keep in mind that every touchpoint is

an opportunity to build your brand and create a relationship with your customers.

Some examples of touchpoints are: • Your website: This is often the first-place customers interact with your brand. Make sure your website is clear, concise, and easy to navigate. Include strong calls to action

and ensure your contact information is prominently displayed.

• Email marketing: This is a great way to stay in touch with customers and keep them up to date on new products or services. Keep your emails interesting and relevant and include a call to action.

• Social media: Social media platforms are a wonderful way to connect with customers and create a relationship with them. Use social media to share valuable content, run contests or give away coupons/ discounts.

Step 4: Make Loyalty Part of the Product You can create loyalty in your customers by improving your product.

You can make it more enjoyable, personalized, convenient, affordable, accessible, and sustainable.

The easiest way to build customer loyalty is to make the product better in some way that also

appeals to their values and beliefs. For example, Apple knows this well: they’ve made products that are beautiful, easy to use, and reliable -- all things people value highly as consumers.

Other companies have built loyal customers through a variety of methods, such as giving away products for free or providing excellent customer service.

As a bonus, Amazon then uses the primary data it has on Prime subscribers to better target their ad campaigns for nonPrime shoppers. In this way, Amazon can benefit from its customer’s loyalty, which they earned through excellent service and features that customers value highly.

Step 5: Care About Your Customers

All of this works only if you care about your customers. If you’re in business just to make a buck, or even to make a living, customer loyalty will look different and more difficult than if you care about your customers as human beings. So, start with caring first. It How can you use this doesn’t matter whether strategy? Think about you have one customer Whatever you do, make what your customers or 10,000; treat them like sure it’s something that value most, and make sure people first, and then appeals to your target you offer it to them. If you audience. Make sure they can create loyalty among apply the methods above accordingly. The rest will know about it and want to your customer base, you come naturally. use it. As an example, think can reap the benefits in of how many people are You’re undoubtedly aware multiple ways. loyal customers of Amazon that customer loyalty is Prime: for $139 per year vital to business success.

Use data that you have (plus sales tax), they can It’s the glue that holds get free two-day shipping on your loyal customers your customer base to better target other on any order over $25 together and provides a potential customers, -- plus a few other perks firm foundation for future such as access and use of showing them that they could also enjoy the same growth. Start building Amazon Prime’s TV and loyalty now, and watch it benefits if they become film streaming platform pay off for your business part of your community. and music streaming. later.

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The Power of Giving UP In our busy days, it is challenging to get everything done. That is why I have created my own personal “Give Up” List!

Time is precious and we only have a set amount of time – we want to make sure we are investing our time wisely. By knowing what we can let go of, we can make room for the right things in our world, the things that will make both our business and lives better.

So, what do we Give Up? The answer is not the same for everyone, as we all show up differently. I encourage you to think about areas where you can free up time to re-invest it in more productive areas.

Here are some of the items on MY Give UP List:

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Television – I love to watch TV. It is an escape and a wonderful way for me to let me brain rest. But I found I was getting sucked into it

and losing productive time.

So now I “give up” watching tv before 7 pm. This way I can use time prior to read, listen to podcasts or engage in conversation with those close to me.

make a mistake, I apologize.

But living in guilt and with drama steals too much time in my day…. So gave that up.

The News – for me, the news is just noise. It is The Snooze Button – I am not that I do not want to an early bird, so this one be informed, more than I is easier for me. I love my do not need the fear and mornings. I find that extra drama it brings. I find I can 30 minutes in the morning think more clearly, have a help me get centered and more positive outlook and create a foundation for focus show up happier. I can still for the rest of the day. get information, but I can control the process.

Alcohol (on work nights) I enjoy a good glass of wine Giving up them does not and a cocktail. But I also mean you have to let it go know that when I drink, it forever; it simply means you is harder for me to get up are letting go so you can in the morning. So, I have have more time to live the given up drinking Sunday – life and achieve the goals Thursday so I can have the you set out to accomplish. energy and focus I need Shift your focus away from to compete my important what you are losing and tasks. connect with what you will be getting.

Guilt and Drama – I am not perfect, but I am a good Give up the wrong things person. Guilt no longer and make room for the right serves me. I work hard to ones? What are you willing do the right things and if I to give up?

Contrary to popular belief, only two Founding Fathers signed the US Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The majority of signers penned their signatures on August 2, 1776.

July Milestones: • July 1st, 1770 - Lexell’s comet passed closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history.

• July 3rd, 1826 - John Adams, second president of the U.S., died the same day as Thomas Jefferson, third president of the U.S., on the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The two founding fathers did not get along during their careers.

• July 11th, 1991 - The ‘eclipse of the century’ solar eclipse cast a shadow stretching 9,000 miles from Hawaii to South America, lasting nearly seven minutes.

• July 10th, 1962 - Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, was launched into orbit.

• July 15th, 2006 - Twitter was launched. 140 characters could say a lot.

• July 29th, 1981 - A worldwide TV audience of over 700 million people watched the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

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