MONEY- MAKING MONTHLY
Volume II Number 3 | March 2014 | $97
THE Monthly Magazine For Sharp Entrepreneurs
Secret of the Billion-Dollar USP By Perry Marshall
Page 8
Power Blasting Your Brain’s Computing Power By Howard Berg
Page 13
PAGE 5 Expert Interview With Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan
ABOUT STEVE | MARCH 2014
About the Publisher, Steve Sipress
If you want to grow your business slowly – or just maintain it as is, you’ll have to do that all on your own. But if you want dramatic growth in your income and lifestyle, then Steve’s out-of-the-box and time-tested strategies and tactics could be the keys to your dreams. You can benefit from Steve’s coaching experience and expertise to revolutionize your business – yes, even in this challenging economy – at one of the many in-person entrepreneur events he hosts, OR from the comfort of your own home anywhere in the world. You can also learn basic and advanced direct response marketing strategies and tactics from 150+ hours of video instruction, plus use any or all of Steve’s multi-million-dollar, proven “done-for-you” marketing materials when you take advantage of his 30-days-for-only-$1 trial offer at SSSMarketingUniversity.com. That website has been called The Single Most Powerful Client Attraction Program Available Anywhere, and you could be using it to skyrocket your income anytime you want, 24/7, along with hundreds of other sharp, successful business leaders. Steve is a successful and award-winning serial entrepreneur, who has created and built nearly a dozen successful companies of his own, and he can help you do the same – more quickly and easily than you’ve ever imagined. In fact, you can immediately use plenty of his simple and powerful strategies and tactics that work especially well in this current frustrating economy! Steve is a celebrated author, speaker and business coach who has established profitable businesses and helped thousands of ambitious and aggressive business owners, entrepreneurs, executives and sales professionals all around the world. He has written numerous newsletters and articles on sales and marketing for a wide range of publications and has appeared on radio and television, helping millions of people along the way. If you want the very best, hard-hitting, no-nonsense, caring advice and help you can get, then “Straight-Talk Steve” could be exactly what you and your business need most. If you’re in the Midwest, you can meet other like-minded business people in person and learn from the world’s leading entrepreneur experts at one of Steve’s many “Chicagoland’s Sharpest Entrepreneurs” live events that he’s hosted since September 2008. You also have the chance to work with other entrepreneurs, business owners, executives and professionals like yourself who want to learn better, more effective ways to market their businesses and grow their in es, thanks to Steve’s online group and personal coaching programs. Whether you’re a current or future business superstar, Steve can help you get exactly where you want to go as quickly, easily and powerfully as YOU want – with massive results both short-term and long-term.
Pg II | Money-Making Monthly Magazine | www.SteveSipress.com
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“An Incredible Experience!” "When we first started, I was terribly in debt and we were just a few months away from bankruptcy. We started seeing a boost right away in our business, we took what Steve's given me and we just started implementing and implementing, and it's just totally transformed my business. Steve has helped me with my laser focus, he helps me implement, he's taken my business to a whole new level. We went from a half a million dollars to a million dollars in two years. It's just an incredible experience to know that where you think you're just dead and things are horrible, to now anything is possible. I can see taking this to a whole new three or four types of businesses -- it's going to be huge. Steve is all business, he is an unbelievably smart, brilliant man. I can't say enough about him. Everything he's told me, I've made so much money it doesn't matter what it costs. They don't make enough money in this world that somebody could pay me so I would stop listening to Steve. Steve is the exact reason why I have a retirement fund now. It's probably illegal how much fun I'm having!"
Jon Bockman Owner, Bockman's Auto Care Sycamore, Illinois
MANNY’S BLOG | MARCH 2014
Manny’s Blog
Speak! SPEAK!
(Hey, You Really Can!) You’ve probably heard that a gang of Swedish inventors have developed a rudimentary headset that they claim converts (some of ) a dog’s thoughts to speech understandable by humans. With dedicated bloggers such as yours truly pounding the keyboard, I don’t know why anyone needs to HEAR the inner workings of the canine mind, but if you’re dead set on the vocalization route, suit yourself. Just be forewarned that we’re entering a Brave New World. (Or at least it’s brave unless that big, nasty neighbor dog comes near.) Don’t be surprised if this device changes your pet’s life. (“I’m through doing acrobatic tricks for snacks. Now I can follow my life-long dream of being a ventriloquist!”) I’m sure some of you are waiting with bated breath to hear your dog’s first words, but you may be in for some surprises. The utterances will probably range from the cryptic (“Rosebud!”) to the ambitious (“The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain”) to the defiant (“I know my Miranda rights!”) to the sarcastic (“Oooh, a big glob of the generic dog food – I was so worried you would hurt your stick-throwing arm carrying the high-priced stuff”) to the long suffering (“Polo! After three summers, I can finally answer! What gave you the idea of playing swimming pool games with a dog, anyway?”). Don’t assume that dogs will always tell the whole truth. We can sometimes be evasive. (“Howling at the moon? No, nobody’s howling at the moon around here. I think the government filmed the whole thing out in the desert somewhere.”) Humans will find that intelligible dog speech can sometimes be as annoying as whines and yelps. My friend Oscar would
inevitably tell one of his long-winded stories. (“So a priest, a rabbi, and a dogcatcher walk into a bar. Wait – was it a bar or was it a yoga class? And wasn’t it an altar boy instead of a priest? Stop me if you’ve heard this one…”) I fear that dogs will be exploited as cheap labor. We’ll have doggie DJs, doggie Shakespearean actors, and more. But I don’t think pooches would work well providing the voice for your car’s GPS. (“Proceed to the intersection of Elm and Fifth. No, better yet, just cut across the yard. Slow down – you might miss something stinky!”) The standard model translator costs $600, but look for someone to crank out cheap knockoffs, probably contaminated with lead paint. You can tell you’re affected by lead paint if you get headaches, your vision blurs, or you say things like, “I wish I could tell what my CAT is thinking.” Oh, my! I’ve gone on so long that we don’t have room to explore translators for non-canine/non-feline species. (A parrot might well want to say, “Polly wants a low-sodium diet!”) What was I THINKING? Hey! Put down those electrodes! It was just a figure of speech! Be here for next month’s edition of Manny’s Blog. THAT’S what I’m talking about!
Manny (full name “Emanuel” or “Dog With Us”) is Steve and Michele Sipress’ crazy, rambunctious cocker spaniel. He has a weak leg (despite a mostlysuccessful back surgery), grey hair, is totally deaf and partially blind. But he still enjoys barking at the mailman and landscapers, pulling dead frogs out of nearby ponds and chasing after his beloved squeaker toy. He loves everyone (even the mailman and landscapers), and everyone loves him.
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OLYMPIC ENTREPRENEURS | MARCH 2014
Olympic Entrepreneurs By Steve Sipress
All of the dancing, gliding and daredevil activities of The Olympics are still going on, so this is a good time to focus on some of the entrepreneurial aspects of the games. 1. Money-Making Opportunities Opportunity-minded entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for additional ways of generating revenue and profits, and The Olympics are like other entertainment and sports events, in that there are many ways for sharp business people to cash in on them. For one thing: All around the physical venues, there is the need for supporting businesses like bars, restaurants, souvenir stands and such. Enterprising entrepreneurs can also spot opportunities anytime newsworthy events occur. The keys are to think “How can I capitalize on that news?” and then to take immediate, massive action to strike while the iron is hot. Here’s one prime example from this year’s Olympics… China’s Zhang Zhen works “a day job” in a hospital, but has his own business on the side – an online t-shirt store. He watched “the snowflake glitch” during the Opening Ceremonies, along with about a billion other people. But instead of just watching and snickering, like almost everyone else did, Zhang immediately decided to capitalize on the unfortunate gaffe by creating t-shirts with that now-famous “4 Rings And A Snowflake” design on them. Reportedly, he sold over 100 of them quickly, at around $6.50 each. Not a huge payday, of course, and by now there are hundreds of online stores offering similar t-shirts and other items – not to mention the whole “copyright infringement” aspect of making
up one’s own Olympic rings-themed items. But Zhang hopes the sudden attention to his store becomes “a breakthrough” for him so that he can increase sales and one day quit his job. If he keeps up his eye for opportunity and habit of fast action, that just might happen… 2. Olympic Leverage The overwhelming majority of Olympians have their “15 minutes of fame” and then fade into distant memory for everyone but their family members. But some take advantage of their short time in the spotlight to create a whole new “celebrity” career for themselves. I’m not just talking about the big stars, of course. It’s not that extraordinary for Michael Phelps or Bruce Jenner or Mary Lou Retton to parlay their Olympic success into multiple millions of dollars worth of endorsement deals and speaking opportunities. But many practically-unknown competitors have also taken advantage of their Olympic experience to start their own businesses. Have you ever heard of any of these Olympian entrepreneurs? ● Steve Furniss, 1972 Broze Medal swimmer: Started his own swimsuit company, “TYR Sport,” a competitor of Speedo. ● John Morton, 1972 and 1976 biathlete: His “Morton Trials” designs trails for ski resorts. ● Dick Dreissingacker and Judy Greer, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 rowers: Built their “Concepts2” to over 50 employees, selling millions of dollars worth of oars and rowing machines.
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OLYMPIC ENTREPRENEURS | MARCH 2014
● Josh Davis, 1996 triple Gold Medal swimmer: Founded “USA Swim Clinics,” which sells swim camps and holds swimming workshops all across America. ● Michelle Roark, 2006 skier: Started a perfume company called “Phi-nomenal,” and also owns a beauty salon, spa and retail perfume store in the same building where she produces her fragrances. ● Ted Ligety, 2006 and 2014 double gold medal skier: Co-founded “Shred” in 2006 – Designer of high-performance ski equipment. The list goes on, of course. But these are all excellent examples of “turning one’s hobby into a business.” They’ll all admit that being Olympians helps open doors and seal some deals, but such a distinction isn’t a necessity, of course. All it takes is to have the entrepreneurial thought “How can I turn what I love to do into a business?” and then the willingness and determination to take the action necessary to make it happen.
● Dale Begg-Smith, 2006 Gold Medal Skier: Started an internet advertising business as a teenager; now drives a $300,000 Lamborghini. When he was 15, his coach told him he was spending too much time on his business and too little on the slopes. Oops. You probably have similar naysayers in your life. ● Shannon Bahrke, 2002 Silver Medal and 2010 Bronze Medal Skier: While recovering from a 2007 knee injury, she started the “Silver Bean Coffee Company” with her now-fiancee Matt Happe. Silver Bean sells hand-roasted coffee beans both wholesale and retail, and now also has two brickand-mortar coffee shop locations.
3. Entrepreneurial Spirit
● Jesse Lumsden, 2010 and 2014 bobsledder: He has sold over 2,000 of his “Survive Sochi” bracelets (in just the past two months) to help cover his training costs. He made the first ones himself by hand, until 150 orders flooded in in the first 48 hours after he started marketing them beyond just his family and friends.
Olympians and entrepreneurs have a lot in common: Independent spirit, self-reliant attitude, excellent work ethic, and more. A number of Olympians built successful businesses before they ever competed in the games. For others, having their own business was a much more preferable alternative to working a job – for various reasons, such as:
● Debbie McCormick, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 curler: Started “Goldline Mobile Pro Shop” to sell curling equipment at tournaments all over Canada, after she was let go by Home Depot when they ended their Olympics sponsorship program.
● They needed flexibility for training, travel and competing that a job wouldn’t give them ● They needed more money to pay for their training, travel and equipment than they could earn from a job ● They found it difficult to get a job in this sluggish economy Here are a few examples…
And while we’re on the subject of Olympians and marketing, I simply can’t resist mentioning Tongan luger Fuahea Semi, who legally changed his name to “Bruno Banani” in order to get sponsorship money from the German underwear company of the same name, and this year became the tiny island nation’s first-ever Winter Olympics competitor. Isn’t it fitting (no pun intended) that a Winter Olympian would pull a guerilla marketing stunt like this, to participate in an event full of fake “sports” and pseudo-athletes?
To find out more about Steve Sipress and how he can help you have more fun and make more money with your business, see the Inside Cover Page. To get new money-making strategies and tips every weekday from Steve and other top business-building experts from around the world, go to: www.RhinoDaily.com
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The Chicagoland Entrepreneur Event Of The Spring…
EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH STRATEGIC COACH DAN SULLIVAN | MARCH 2014
Expert Interview With Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan Steve Sipress: I’m here with the one and only Dan Sullivan. Dan is extremely well known in the entrepreneurial world as the number one success coach for big-thinking entrepreneurs. I’ve only been in Strategic Coach for a short time, but obviously I’ve bought into the concept and love it, “hook, line and sinker.” Dan has a 10x (“Ten Times Multiplier”) mindset that he gets us all into and teaches us. And then he calls us, the members of his program, “multipliers.” Whether or not you ever join us in Strategic Coach, you’re going to get a lot of value from Dan, because that’s what he’s all about. First thing: Dan, thank you so much for investing your time and giving your time to me and my people here. Dan Sullivan: Well, I’m very grateful for the opportunity, Steve, and I love talking to entrepreneurs. I’ve been doing this for 40 years and I get more excited every year. Steve: I love it, and you’re just getting started, so it’s very exciting. One thing, as you know, I recently had him, and he’s a regular contributor to this magazine, Perry Marshall. He spoke at one of my live events in Chicago for the third time, because he just wrote this 80/20 book. Right after it, I got my coaching group together, my advanced coaching group, and I went into a lot more depth, based on what you teach on the 80% principle. I talked about this, and you know, a lot of entrepreneurs, have this issue with perfectionism and procrastination that saps their confidence and their productivity. Can you talk a little about that? Dan: Yeah, and I mean, the whole 80% concept starts with an economist named Pareto, right at the beginning of the 20th century, but essentially what it says is that, at any given time, you should just focus your attention on something where you’re going to get very fast results, and you can just do what you do very well and then get it in the hands of other people. Entrepreneurs usually have a set of skills. A lot of them are really great sales people. A lot of them are great problem solvers. A lot of them usually have a fairly powerful strategic
ability, but they don’t have implementation skills. They’re not great managers or great detail people. So I took it as a given that you’re never going to make people really good at anything that they’re not good at, but you should just get the entrepreneur to identify just where they can immediately take action, and that’s the only action they have to take. They just have to get the first action done and get it in the hands of the next person. Entrepreneurs are great people at starting things and they probably have people around them who are much better at finishing things. So what I do, you know that I treat entrepreneurs like entertainers. I say, “Look, your job is to go on stage and entertain the audience, and to put some energy into the situation, to get some movement going forward, but then let the team take over.” That, in a nutshell, is it, and it’s that I operate this way, my team operates this way, and gradually the most successful people in the program operate this way. Steve: I love your concept that you just touched on, of the unique ability, that we should all focus on our unique ability. I always make a sports analogy about that. I say, “If you’ve got Peyton Manning on your team,” who’s the best passer in football history, and you say, “I want you to spend today’s practice on kicking field goals, Peyton,” you’d be laughed at and you’d never coach in the NFL again. So we’ve got to do the same thing. We’ve got to identify it as soon as we can - what we’re excellent at, what we love doing, something that can bring in money - and then do only that. But there’s this “leaning towards control or perfectionism” that has business owners or entrepreneurs - they can’t let go and let somebody else do it.
“Entrepreneurs are great people at starting things and they probably have people around them who are much better at finishing things.” Volume II Number 3 | Pg 5
EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH STRATEGIC COACH DAN SULLIVAN | MARCH 2014
Dan: Yes, so much of what you’re talking about, Steve, really has to do with the early stages when someone becomes an entrepreneur. There’s just a lot of things that they have to do because they don’t have a support system in place yet. You get entrepreneurs who gradually become the highest-paid receptionists in the world, and they become the highest-paid secretaries in the world. And they become – I mean, any time they’re doing something that isn’t their Unique Ability, they’re just becoming an incredibly high-paid-but-a-mediocre performer.
Well, that’s not very much and I said, “Yeah, but it’s got to be 100%.” Then you say, “Well, who’s going to take the remaining 4%?” Somebody does the 80% there and now you’re to 99.2%, and it just become infinitesimally smaller. Well, people say, “Well, you’re doing the major part of the work.”
Entrepreneurs, the really great ones, recognize that at the beginning they probably have to do things that they aren’t very good at, but they want to make that period go as fast, and get over that period as quickly as possible, and then start bringing in people who, in every area of the teamwork that’s required, they’re actually better; they’re actually superior. They have superior, Unique Abilities in that area.
No. Actually, you’re doing the lesser part of the work. But without your initiation, it won’t get going. Then the other person doesn’t feel they have to do anything except their part of it. I just like to bring the same thinking to people who maybe only have a small team, or may even have a virtual company, where they actually just have one person and then the team is actually virtually connected.
The 80% is just our way of saying that. You say, “Well, my part of the job is the first 80%,” and you just graphically draw a line which says there’s now an 80% and there’s a 20% part. I say, “Well, this is just the first 80%.” They say, “Yeah, but it’s most of it.” I said, “Well, not really, not really. It’s just that you’re the initiating part about it, and unless you get it going, nothing’s going to happen.”
It actually allows entrepreneurs to move quickly forward and get something initiated, so that other skills can take over as quickly as possible.
So my belief is that the original intention is the major part of it, but once you get to your 80% and do it as fast as possible, then you look at the next 20% and somebody else is going
to take the remaining part of that square, and they’re going to do 80%, and now you’re at 96%. So 80% of the remaining 20 is 16. You add it to the 80. You’ve got 96%, and then you say, “Now there’s 4% left.”
Steve: I love it. Ever since I went through learning the 80% strategy you just talked about, I’ve been using that for myself and with my clients with exponential results. So the key for anyone who is paying attention is saying that Dan is not only the world’s greatest at coming up with ideas to help entrepreneurs, but you just heard how he takes massive action on them through just basically following his own teaching.
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EXPERT INTERVIEW WITH STRATEGIC COACH DAN SULLIVAN | MARCH 2014
“
Anybody can be concentrated if they’re doing what they love. Anybody can have great follow through if every part of what they’re following through on is something that they’re really great at.
“
Dan: If the truth were told, I create this stuff for myself first, because you know the reason why I’m passionate about my tools is because I need my tools. I’m significantly on the ADD spectrum. I’m highly distractible.
we’re meant to be an entrepreneur, to be the very best darn entrepreneur we can possibly be. Dan, I’ve got to thank you. I’ll see you again soon in one of our mastermind group meetings and the Genius Network we both belong too.
So how can I be a really happy, successful, satisfied and constantly growing entrepreneur with that set of conditions? Well, the only thing is, you only work on the stuff that you’re really good at, and love it. Anybody can be concentrated if they’re doing what they love. Anybody can have great follow through if every part of what they’re following through on is something that they’re really great at.
Dan: Thank you very much, Steve, a real pleasure.
Steve: Well, I love it, Dan. I really thank you for the time. So much of everything that you say hits home with me, as someone who love entrepreneurs, and is an entrepreneur. Also, I think we’re so similar. All my people know that I wake up every morning thinking, “How can I deliver more value to people?’ I know you think the exact same way. You help us to do better. Dan: There are other worlds besides the entrepreneurial world, so I don’t really have anything to say, but I know I’m an entrepreneur. I know that the skills that I have are really, really applicable more to the entrepreneurial world than any other world. The jungle has many different kinds of animals. It has many different places in it. If you’re going to be a successful animal, you just have to know which part of the jungle to hang out in, and this is the part that I’m hanging out in. The only thing I would say is that you have to tell the truth about who you are as an individual and draw a real sharp distinction about where you’re really great, and where you’re not great begins. You have to stay on your side of the line. If something’s going to get done, action-wise and followed through, you have to have really skilled people on the other side of the line where you can do a hand-off. Steve: Well, our time has come to a close. On that note, Dan, I’ve just got to thank you on behalf of me and all entrepreneurs. I love entrepreneurs, what you do for us, not only with getting our mindset straight, but giving us the raw materials, the actual tools as you call them, to have a better life, to serve people better, to feel better, to get more done, to get better things done and to be – like you said, if
About Dan Sullivan Dan Sullivan is founder and president of The Strategic Coach Inc. A visionary, an innovator, and a gifted conceptual thinker, Dan has over 35 years’ experience as a highly regarded speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach to entrepreneurial individuals and groups. Dan’s strong belief in and commitment to the power of the entrepreneur is evident in all areas of Strategic Coach® and its successful coaching program, which works to help entrepreneurs reach their full potential in both their business and personal lives. Dan is the author of over 30 publications, including The Great Crossover, The 21st Century Agent, Creative Destruction, and How The Best Get Better®. He is coauthor of The Laws of Lifetime Growth and The Advisor Century. Dan is married to Babs Smith, his partner in business and in life. To download your free copy of The 80% Approach digital book and audio, and to watch Dan’s presentation of The 80% Progression, go to: www.StrategicCoachFreeGift.com
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SECRET OF THE BILLION-DOLLAR USP | MARCH 2014
Secret of the Billion-Dollar USP I got this note from long-time Planet Perry member and expert copywriter Nick Neilson. Nick always asks great questions: “In the software company I’ve started, I was torn between relearning to code or hiring it out. I learned to code several years ago, but I’ve never been great at it. No doubt, there are middle school kids that can code circles around me. But I do know the theory of OOP and have the capacity to pick it back up. I had a choice – do I maximize my existing strengths and stick with the marketing (my inner Dan Kennedy is screaming this at me) or do I expand my understanding of mathematics and technical understanding of my product (a perhaps malformed version of my inner Perry is gently persuading)? Nick Neilson”
By Perry Marshall
project hits pay dirt (which of course is seldom guaranteed) that is $10,000 per hour work. My experience is, the true magic of the marketer is where multiple realms overlap. Some peculiar aspect of code writing or software architecture AND intimate knowledge of some tribe or market AND intimate knowledge of some additional factor, blending all together for a truly unique recipe. Cross-pollinating multiple disciplines doesn’t require massive mental horsepower. Mostly it’s fueled by passion and a willingness to not overlook the obvious. That’s what a killer USP looks like, tastes like, smells like. There may be facets of software or coding or math that will serve you, especially in the high-level architecture. Whatever they are, choose your tasks carefully!
Nick, If you crave the personal satisfaction of indulging a technical adventure, then your answer is also a personal one. Follow your passion and consider it a HOBBY. The business answer hinges on USP. What is *your* personal Unique Selling Proposition? In your new software company, can you deliver and uniquely guarantee better than anyone else in the world? From what I know of you, I doubt it’s writing code. I bet you can hire coders 10X better than you for less than your pay grade. Code all by itself is a commodity. Seldom does code cost more than $100 per hour. I suspect your real contribution is the architecture: orchestrating the grand picture, defining your product and putting the ribbon on top – exactly as your customers want it and need it. Then demonstrating it to the world. Henry Ford used this formula to create a billion dollar USP. Ford didn’t invent the automobile. Nor the assembly line. Nor many ideas of modular manufacturing. His true genius was stir-frying outside ingredients together so magnificently that many people assume he invented all three! The foundation of a century-long legacy. The big lever in any venture is *defining* your product’s USP, through your ingenuity and market knowledge. When your
About Perry Marshall Entrepreneur Magazine says: “Perry Marshall is the #1 author and world’s most-quoted consultant on Google Advertising. He has helped over 100,000 advertisers save literally billions of dollars in Adwords stupidity tax.” He is referenced across the Internet and by The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and Forbes Magazine. His best-selling book “80/20 Sales and Marketing” is his Magnum Opus. It’s THE meta-program for business success. Join Perry in the application of this powerful new knowledge and liberate your time, your money, and your imagination. Get your copy for only one penny at: www.Free8020Book.com
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8 STEPS TO SOCIAL MEDIA SALES, INCREASED CONNECTIONS WITH AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY | MARCH 2014
8 Steps to Social Media Sales, Increased Connections With Authenticity and Integrity Like any social experience or business interaction, engaging prospects and customers with social media is a process. Unfortunately, most fail at this with inauthentic, boring messaging. Worse, they don’t have a system to follow that consistently produces profitable results. I want to give you a simple 8-part, step-by-step a template you can use right now that will greatly support the sales process and increase and improve the level of connection and value you provide to the social media experience to both your prospects and customers. I think it also boosts long-term brand equity – the thing that makes you and your products really valuable. If you’re building social media relationships with complete strangers or ravenous customers, your goal is to connect and deepen your relationship by opening a conversation and encouraging involvement that ultimately drives sales without being pushy or “salesy.” There are eight basic steps to this system: 1. Acknowledge your visitor’s action and participation. 2. Engage with a question and broaden the scope of the comment or question to engage the entire viewing audience. 3. Reinforce the question, challenge or pain to the audience with examples that are designed to speak to the individual, but also to everyone reading. 4. Connect with feelings and heart – this is ultimately WHY YOUR PROSPECTS and CUSTOMERS BUY because they feel that you actually care about them. Other engaged readers are going to say to themselves, “man, if they give this kind of information and attention away during a free promotion or launch, imagine what it must be like to own one of their products!” 5. Pre-frame by revealing that something else is coming up in another video, post or content element. The message to an engaged prospect is essentially “NEW, COMING SOON” – but it a way that pre-seeds the sale of your product or service. Again, this must be done by providing value with training and examples. 6. Curiosity Cliffhanger by adding an “open loop” – create a reason to make your audience want to
By Mike Koenigs
return because something is MISSING from your story. You do this by asking questions that help them arrive at a conclusion that there is more to this story and you’re going to provide in the next post or episode. 7. Request your engaged socialites to implement. Acknowledge their participation and thank them again, asking them to come back after taking some sort of action – showing that you’re all about IMPLEMENTING and giving them the power to take matters into their own hands to get results. Let them know you’re here to provide the tools, resources and services to get the results they want and need quickly and easily. 8. Invite every one of your readers to comment and request to ask them to like and share the post, page or conversation with their friends and people who could benefit from your content, resources and tools. Going viral is a very good thing. Free traffic and leads keep your costs down and your sales high! When you respond and engage with your audience, make your best effort to think about how you can reuse this information and content for training, education, presentation or marketing purposes. Chances are, you get asked the same questions over and over again, and if you document and organize those question and objections, it’ll make your sales and marketing messaging more connected and engaging. It also paves the way to creating better training content for both your staff and clients. After all, many of your clients are attracted to you because they want to experience the same results you do! Here’s a quick example of an interaction I had with a prospect on the comment page in a recent product launch: Kartik Vyas: Hi Mike and Ed. Great video. Mike, I’m your fan and admirer from India. Saw and heard you at a live event a couple of years ago in San Diego. I have your product AEMM. I’m a speaker, corporate trainer and consultant based in India - with 27 years experience. My corporate training expertise is in soft skills and management. My passion is Yoga - for 33 years and I’m 52. However most people see yoga as only physical exercise or meditation. The real classical system of yoga is how to train the mind, control it, understand it, master it and use it to apply to any area of life to achieve outstanding
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8 STEPS TO SOCIAL MEDIA SALES, INCREASED CONNECTIONS WITH AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY | MARCH 2014
results. For everything we can do and achieve depends on a well trained mind. This system and the model that I have can be applied to practically any area of our life - career growth, health, financial growth, relationships, spiritual growth. How can I now be an international consultant with this vast body of multi-dimensional knowledge I have? I would like to center around yoga and the mind. I look forward to your reply and the next video. Mike Koenigs: Hi Kartik - thanks for writing and for the kind words too. You’ve obviously got a great deal of experience - and that’s the first step in leveraging your expertise, know-how and story in a way that positions you as the #1 results-oriented go-to person in your space. Make sure you watch this video all the way through and read the PDF report. Video #2 will further answer your question. But what can I say - and the quote from this video is simply this: sell the hole, not the drill. Not everyone wants or needs yoga. They want the RESULTS yoga produces. And also realize, you’re not in the yoga, meditation, lifestyle or training business...you’re in the STORYTELLING business. Like every great teacher or leader, you need to focus on telling stories of transformation - ordinary people whoa re achieving extraordinary results with the systems, tools, and processes you’ve created or built. Soon, they’ll be all over you, wanting your products and services. In each of these videos Ed and I have made for you, you’ll quickly see that there’s a path, a system, scripts, templates, proposals, tools and resources that will guide you every step of the way towards your outcome. Kartik: Thanks Mike. You are a gem. That’s an outstanding answer. Waiting for the rest of the videos. Note that Kartik wrote back with a thank-you message shortly after I wrote back to him. I made a point of answering his question in a way that served him, answered his question and can be useful to someone who isn’t in his same business as he is. It’s generalized to the point of being very useful while still being specific. To other viewers and readers, they see the engagement, the quality of thought that went into the response and are more likely to ask questions and participate too. All of that content is reusable – and can be distributed in multiple formats online.
“When you respond and engage with your audience, make your best effort to think about how you can reuse this information and content .”
From this single conversation, here’s what I did with this content: 1. Trained my staff 2. Engaged my social audience 3. Created content that I’m sharing with you right now in the form of this article 4. Made a video that’s being distributed on every social network, YouTube, a podcast 5. Drove traffic to the product launch website 6. Increased engagement on my blog 7. And provided an excellent article to distribute to my email database Next time you look at an engaging social media conversation, compare what’s going on with the 8 steps you see above and see which of these are being used and which aren’t.
About Mike Koenigs Three-time No. 1 Bestselling Author, “2009 Marketer of the Year,” entrepreneur, filmmaker, speaker and patented inventor of “Cross-Channel” Marketing Technology, Mike is the CEO, “Chief Disruptasaurus” and Founder of Traffic Geyser and Instant Customer. His products simplify marketing for tens of thousands of small businesses, authors, experts, speakers, coaches and consultants worldwide. Traffic Geyser distributes video, articles and media to over 100 different social media and social networking platforms with the press of a button. Instant Customer is an automated “cross-channel” marketing platform that captures leads with voice recognition, mobile, online and offline systems. Get Mike’s free video series, “21 Ways To Get Instant Customers,” where you’ll discover the 7+7+7 strategy that the world’s most successful marketers use for capturing leads, connecting with them, and closing deals: www.Instant-Customer-System.com Volume II Number 3 | Pg 11
POWER BLASTING YOUR BRAIN’S COMPUTING POWER | MARCH 2014
Power Blasting Your Brain’s Computing Power By Howard Berg You want your brain to quickly and easily find unique solutions to life’s challenges. You want a brain that can handle whatever happens effectively and consistently. You want your brain to unleash its full computing power. You are going to really enjoy this article because it will reveal to you a simple strategy for maximizing your brain’s thinking ability. Life experiences are the gym in which your brain gets its daily workout. The people you meet, the activities you experience, and the places you visit all stimulate your brain, just as lifting weights stimulates your muscles. After a long day, you return to your home base. While asleep, your brain will process the information it obtained throughout the day, and make crucial decisions on what needs to get done next. Unfortunately, there is a problem that is holding you back from fully developing your thinking capacity. Let me explain. Most of us are creatures of habit. We get up at the same time each day, and go to the same place. Most of the people we meet are the same people, and most of our experiences tend to be quite routine. Your brain wants something very different to reach its full potential. Your brain wants unique experiences that provide new stimulation. This comes from things that are not part of our typical routine. Fresh experiences stimulate new neural connections, and increase your capacity to solve problems. Fortunately there is an easy exercise you can integrate into your life that will help you to achieve this quickly and easily. One of the easiest ways to create new stimulation is to change your daily route on your way home. It is better to do this on the way home because you will have more free time to explore new places. Instead of going to your place of business using the same roads, deliberately select a totally different route. Even better, make a few stops at some of the places your see during your trip. Go to a new store, and see what items are for sale. One of my favorites is to stop in a park that I never visit and take a walk to explore some of its features. Many people experience some discomfort when breaking their day to day routine. This is a good thing. It means your brain is getting fresh stimulation. Stimulation that will help insure it functions at its peak level throughout the day. Although seeking new experiences, places, and people may provide vital stimulation to your brain, often your tight schedule simply will not permit you the luxury of pursuing these desirable things. Fortunately, there is a very simple exercise you can perform at any time. An exercise that will
enable you to begin experiencing even routine things as unique and unusual. This exercises is called the Game Of Stop. The heightened creativity you experience from performing this simple drill will really make it worth the few minutes it takes to perform. During the hustle and bustle of daily life simply stop for a moment to reflect upon what you are doing. Take a moment and look at yourself as if you were observing what is happening to you from the perspective of someone in front or in back of you. Changing your perspective by looking at your actions from a different angle will provide the necessary stimulation your brain is hungry to get. Look at what you are experiencing with a total awareness. What sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings do you have at that instant? Take it all in, and process it as if it were happening to someone else. In fact, you can use this same technique to even boost your writing creativity.
About Howard Stephen Berg When FOX, ABC and over 1,100 radio and TV shows look for the authority on speed reading and brain-based learning, they turn to Howard Stephen Berg, the World’s Fastest Reader. Howard attended the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he majored in both Biology and Psychology. He became interested in Psychology during his junior year, and completed the four-year program during his senior year. He was told it would be impossible, and that is what spurred him on to develop his first accelerated-learning program. Howard has created more than 14 brain-based learning programs. His Time-Warner book, “Super Reading Secrets,” is in its 28th reprint. Barron’s books requested him to write, “Speed Reading The Easy Way,” for students. Nightingale-Conant sold over 650,000 copies of his “Mega Speed Reading” program. You can learn the secrets for super-fast reading and learning in five free videos from Howard by going to:
www.SpeedReadFree.com Volume II Number 3 | Pg 13
MONEY-MAKING MONTHLY Volume II Number 3 | MARCH 2014
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This Month’s Money-Making Info
1
Speak! SPEAK! (Hey, You Really Can!)
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Manny’s Blog
2 8
Olympic Entrepreneurs
By Mike Koenigs
By Steve Sipress
Secret of the BillionDollar USP By Perry Marshall
FEATURE ARTICLE
5
8 Steps to Social Media Sales, Increased Connections With Authenticity and Integrity
13
Power Blasting Your Brain’s Computing Power By Howard Berg
Expert Interview With Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan Publisher Steve Sipress Successful Selling Systems, Inc. 869 E Schaumburg Rd #237 Schaumburg, IL 60194 (p) 773-236-8134 (f ) 847-232-1535 Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
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Layout & Design JDO of SPX Multimedia spxmultimedia.com
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