Income Times Ten

Mistake #1
“Most business owners do not have a focused & clear marketing plan”
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In my business consulting experience, I have noticed a similar attribute that is common in most entrepreneurs and business owners. Most are “doers” rather than “planners”. In reality, being a “doer” is perhaps the ultimate character trait of a successful person. Rather than thinking or wishing, they get out there and make something happen. In fact…I would probably put myself in the “doer category”. Although there is amazing benefits of being a “doer type”, I’ve often found myself that (in the doing mindset) I’ve gotten myself in trouble as I didn’t think things thoroughly through. Can any of you out there reading this relate to this?

That is a foundation as in Income Times Ten, I’ve also witnessed this behavioral pattern in a lot of my small business owner clientele. They get into trouble “doing” the wrong marketing activities. Specifically, marketing activities that were programmed into them since birth. Most people think…well we need to market the business so let’s put $1,000 per month into Radio, Yellow Pages, or Newspaper Advertising (like most do) and they see if it generates any results. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for testing to see if different marketing may work. However, the majority of business owners (I run into) follow the pattern of just seeing what marketing sticks in traditional popular marketing channels. But that sad thing that I see is this type of business owner does not have any concrete basis (or statistics) for it. If you want to “do” the right marketing activities the right way, you must start with a good marketing plan.

Definition of a marketing plan is as describet in the Income Times Ten Review:
A marketing plan is a written document that is an organized set of activities that is designed to promote your product, service and/or company. A marketing plan is designed to increase customers and company profits and usually “planned out” between one and five years in the future.

CAUTION ALERT: Solid marketing strategy is “the foundation” of a well-written marketing plan. While
a marketing plan contains a list of actions, a marketing plan ( without a sound strategic foundation)
is of very little use to businesses.
Elements of a good marketing plan like Income Times Ten Review
Wisdom: “focus your efforts on a few BIG things”

1) Conduct quality research as the foundation to build your marketing plan
2) Business & Marketing Mission Statements (they should be different but connected)
3) Determine specific goals and time frames to reach these goals
4) Determine what your effective “marketing channels” are
5) Determine your marketing budget (do steps 1-3 first)
6) Delegate responsibility to carry out each segment of your plan
7) Measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaign and re-valuate

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Mistake #2
” Income Times Ten – Most business owners do not have the right balance between Offline & Online Marketing”
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Over the years, I have noticed most small business owners concentrate their marketing “offline” — meaning any marketing  NOT DONE on the internet is called “offline marketing”  (e.g. radio, newspaper, magazine ect…)

However, just like a diet program, you can exercise all you want but if you don’t have the right diet to go along with the exercise— losing weight is extremely difficult. Making money with your marketing is no different…. you need a right balance between Offline & Online Marketing — otherwise you will plateau with your business profits.  In when I was in the real estate industry. Most of your good real estate guru’s have a great balance between selling their programs offline (in seminars) as well as online (in teleseminars and website shopping carts).

In case you didn’t know, online marketing purchase behavior is continuing to increase at a rapid rate around the world. Here are some startling statistics by some major research companies:

1) Nearly half (49%) of shoppers intend to do their holiday gift buying online (versus in-store), and 72% are planning to research products online prior to purchasing (vs. 65% in 2007).  (“Mindset of the Multi-Channel Shopper Holiday Survey,” Income Times Ten Review, October 2008).

2) According to eBit, for this year, it is expected that Brazilian online consumers will spend about BRL 8.5 billion (US $5.9 billion). The numbers focus only on B2C (Business-to-Consuner).

3) Online marketing research firm comScore just released new numbers that reveal U.S. online spending during the 2007 holiday season (Nov. and Dec.) exceeded $29 billion, a 19.1 percent increase over 2006′s holiday sales (1/10/08).

4) Overall, eCommerce sales in Asia will grow at about a 23.4 percent annual rate, reaching over $168 billion in less than three years from now, according to Income Times Ten Review (1/16/08).

Are you starting to get just a “glimpse” of the future of the internet? Do you think your competition maybe strategizing how to strategically get some of your local clients to come to their establishment instead of yours? And in my opinion most local small business owners haven’t even begun to tap into the wealth of marketing their business online.

Mistake #3

“Income Times Ten Review – Most business owners do not automate their marketing where it becomes hands free”

There is simply nothing better than to take advantage of today’s current technology as explained in Income Times Ten. Just picture yourself on vacation in Hawaii and your business is contacting and marketing to your current and past customers all  “on auto-pilot.” Would that be something of great value to you? If you said yes … keep on reading as this technology is FAST becoming very popular at the writing of this report in 2009.

One of the best ways I have found to automate your marketing is through the use of auto-responders. An auto-responder is a system that automatically sends out “preset email messages and promotions” to your client list who has bought from you in the past, current customers, or opted in to your email list to get something for FREE.
These emails can be text based in nature or short little videos which ad more of an entertainment experience.

Just imagine pre-typing a well thought out email campaign (specifically for your Income Times Ten customers) that was designed to educate and give back to your customers by giving them “special subscriber discounts”. One of the many questions I get asked is….”Chris…do you mean to tell me I can “pre-program” my promotions and communications (to my customers) over a year in advance….and its all on autopilot?

To be honest…this is one of the true joys (I personally get in consulting) when I see my client’s eyes light up like Christmas Trees when they picture how they can implement this marketing strategy in their business. The next question is usually “Chris, can I implement this in my business”.  I always respond with an astounding “yes”… just let me know and when you want to get started.

If you’re doubting the legitimacy of email marketing’s current and future power, let me share some cutting
Income Times Ten marketing stats that some research firms have found:

1. “More than one-third said they checked throughout the day.” – AOL/Beta Research Corporation (June 2008)

2. “More than seven out of 10 employed respondents also said they checked their personal email at work – and nearly one-third said they did so more than three times a day. – AOL/Beta Research Corp.(June 2008)

3. “Nearly 70% of respondents said they had multiple email accounts. – AOL/Beta Research Corporation(June 2008)

4. “75.8% said they are using more email than three years ago.” – Direct Marketing Association (2008)

5. “66% of those surveyed said they had made a purchase because of a marketing message received through email.” – ExactTarget, 2008 Channel Preference Survey (2008)

6. “ 2/3′s of US Internet users surveyed said email was their preferred channel for written communications between friends. – ExactTarget, 2008 Channel Preference Survey (2008)

7.  “67% of respondents prefer email as a communications channel over other online vehicles and 65 percent
believe this will continue to be the case in five years. “- Habeas (2008)

Can you start to see how you can gain an advantage against your completion? Do you think they even
know this technology is even available…not unless they meet someone like me of course.

Can you see how this Income Times Ten technology can make your business a lot of money by sending them promotions
all on auto-pilot?
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Mistake #4

” Income Times Ten Review – Most business owners do not have a consistent follow-up
plan with their past, current & potential customers”

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Let me ask you a question which may seem odd to you at first. Are your customers (or customers that expressed an interest in your business in the past ) important to you? No doubt your customers are very important to your business. In fact, without customers it is impossible for any business to survive. They are literally the life blood of any organization or business.

A typical pattern I see in many business owners is that they fail to realize that once they acquire a new customer, or someone has expressed an interest in their company, how important it is to strengthen that relationship. And the common way you can strengthen this relationship is by simply following up with them. Following-up is equally important to both new and existing customers (and doing it right) can help you boost your bottom line very quickly.

Follow Up With Prospective Customers like in Income Times Ten Review
Most of my clients find that it is not easy to close a sale on the very first attempt. In fact, even the statistics in direct mail marketing show that response rates increase dramatically the more direct mail pieces you send to them.

Although your customer may not buy into your salesperson’s first attempt to close them, this does not mean that the prospective client is not interested in buying your product or service. Could it be that they just require more time in order to make the purchasing decision? Could it be that they just require more time and/or just have some more questions regarding your product or service? In fact, I feel definitely recommend that you contact them after your initial meeting because it will show that you are genuinely interested in serving their interests and satisfying their needs (and not just wanting to gain access to their pocket book).

During the follow-up process of Income Times Ten Review, you can take advantage of the opportunity and explain to your customers in depth how your product or service can prove to be beneficial to them. An effective follow-up strategy provides you with a second opportunity to make the sale.

Follow Up With Existing Customers
I remember one time I was talking to a business owner and I asked him this simple question taken from the Income Times Ten: “what marketing are you doing to your past and loyal customers?” And I’ll never get the look he gave me. “What do you mean marketing to my existing customers”, he said. You see, most businesses do not have a system in place to market to their existing clientele.

Acquiring a new customer is definitely more difficult than retaining existing ones. Think about it…..an existing customer has already said (by their actions) that they want and like your product. So when it comes to your current customers, you should definitely treat them as pure gold and put a strong emphasis on marketing to them. In fact, I would recommend you start a VIP Status to some of your long time customers. This will definitely show that you care and value their consistent business. The hard truth is that if you don’t value your existing customers and do what’s necessary to keep them, your competitors will be only too happy to relieve you of the responsibility.

By following up with your past customers, it only proves to them that their business is important to you. Let me ask you another question taken from Income Times Ten Review: Do you like when people take the time out of their day to recognize and appreciate you for the things you have done for them? If you are like the average person….the answer to this is “of course you do”. When following up with your customers, make sure that they know that you want them to be satisfied with the service that they are receiving from your business. By doing this, you not only increase your chances of retaining them, but the probability that they will refer your business to others (in the future) also increases as well.

Reasons prospects or customers may not buy from you:
1) They may not be ready to make a decision.
2) They may have more pressing things on their minds.
3) They may have more questions about your product/service.
4) Two or three of your competitors are actively trying to sway your customer to purchase from them.

By following up repeatedly, you will have a “dramatic advantage” over your competitors, since few of them will follow up more than once. When your prospects are ready to buy, which could be one week from now, or nine months from now, you will have a better chance of getting the sale if you are uppermost in their minds. You can only do that by consistently following up.
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Mistake #5

” Income Times Ten – Most business owners do not have a referral program incorporated in their business”

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Do you know what a referral Income Times Ten program is? If don’t, don’t worry as this is why you are reading this. If you are like most business owners you may know what a referral program is but may not have the time to implement. And I can honestly tell (if this is you) , your making a HUGE mistake.

If you don’t have a systematic referral program you are missing out on THEE #1 most powerful forms of advertising there is in business. Referral programs are simply one of the lowest cost ways to generate the highest quality leads there is.Income Times Ten Referrals are the lifeblood of small business and if you haven’t yet institutionalized a referral program, you’re making a huge mistake. In fact, if you structure it right, you can even automate your referral program.

What is a referral?

The act of recommending a person, product or service to someone for a particular purpose and benefit that Income Times Ten Review you can give.

Why are referrals so powerful?

The reason Income Times Ten Review referrals are so powerful is because they come from a credible third party that has experienced first-hand the benefits of doing business with you. In fact, it’s been my experience as a marketing consultant, that most people (who refer people and talk about your business) come from a friend or a business associate in which they have a relationship with. The “friend referral” (as I call it) has no ulterior when they make this referral. Human nature tends to believe what your friend (or business associate in which you have a relationship with) is saying versus hearing a sales pitch from a sales person whose goal is to simply make money from you.

Referrals are also valuable because most of the time they are completely free. How would like to receive the benefits of the most compelling sales advertisement on earth for absolutely nothing? I can 100% assure you —- REFERRALS are the most powerful form of marketing there is PERIOD (unless you have a $5million dollar budget for a Super Bowl Ad ).

Research

In fact,Income Times Ten research shows the importance of referrals. According to Paul and Sarah Edwards (authors of Getting Business to Come to You), up to 45% of most service businesses are chosen by customers based on the recommendations of others. Another recent survey (by Dun and Bradstreet) found referrals to be one of the two most popular methods business owners use to market their business. So if you are not currently making a referral program a top priority — I have one question for you: “Why aren’t you” ?

Lastly, and I think the most tangible reason of all, customers that give Income Times Ten referrals tend to become more loyal to your business. Think about it. People feel good when they give and know they are doing the right thing when they give a testimonial or referral to someone they know and someone’s business.  Once someone stands up and makes a public statement about you, psychologically, they will become more committed to you given the “shared history” and the emotional investment they have made in your business.