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Everywhere I travel in the world, businesses and individuals have felt the pinch with the downturn in the economy.
Many professional speakers have also seen a downturn in bookings with organisations cancelling and postponing their conferences.
Candice and I have just analysed our year and although our income over the past year has increased, our marketing efforts this year have doubled. Here are some of the strategies we have used, try them, they work.
Contact all your clients you have worked with over the past 5 years and send them your updated details and talks. This has resulted in bookings from clients that I had forgotten about, but not Candice (thank goodness I have someone that is great at detail and record keeping)
Produce a hard copy newsletter for bureaus you are listed with, just make sure they don’t forget you.
Buy an ‘opt in’ list of event planners and send them details of how you can enhance their events.
Have a Google alert for ‘call for speakers’ to see what may be suitable for you.
Update all your photos and marketing materials and send them to clients, potential clients and bureaus.
Have a page where potential bookers can find all your details quickly. I have been amazed at how many bookings have happened after someone has found my website and taken a good look through everything. Take a look at http://www.frankfurnessresources.com/bureaus/
Start your own video channel and upload videos of you speaking at conferences. Take a look at www.youtube.com/salestips
Establish yourself as an expert by submitting articles and contributing to social networking sites like linked-in.
Search the internet for conferences and if they suit your talk, contact the organisers.
If all else fails, pick up the phone and cold call.
Use www.elance.com to build your international databases. I did this earlier this year and followed up with a short email which resulted in me being featured on Dubai FM and working with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
Take your camera with you to every talk and get video testimonials, they are very powerful.
Article marketing is one of my favourite ways of establishing my brand, building my subscriber list and driving sales. It is the most efficient low cost, no cost way to promote yourself or your business. It is the quickest and most cost effective way to drive traffic to your website and blog. More than that, it allows you to have permanent links spread across the internet pointing back to your site.
Here are some of the rules to get the best from your articles:
Keywords – before you write, do some keyword research to optimise your article. There are some great free tools like https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com Use your keyword in your headline, first and last paragraphs. The Important thing is that you have an article that has the keywords that are related to your site.
Headlines – use a compelling headline or title that will encourage your readers to take the time to read the article. I use a great tool http://www.headlinecreator.co.uk Content - Articles must be able to entertain people as well as provide good information and help for their needs. Articles should be written well with correct spelling and good grammar. If you want people to trust you, make your work good and well thought out.
People respond well to figures, facts and statistics. Try to get great information and as many facts as you can. A good and well written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field or topic as more people believe in you. They will be able to trust you and your products.
Promotional Opportunities – maximise on the promotional opportunities. Part of the benefits of article marketing is getting picked up by publishers with a large number of audiences and gaining the ability of leveraging other brands because of the quality of your work.
I see articles as the perfect sales and promotional tool. By educating your readers, you establish yourself as an expert in your field and the business will follow.
Make it interesting - Use short paragraphs and make use of numbers or bullets as well as stories. The article must be client focussed and they must see value in reading it.
Conclusion – end with a conclusion summarising the article and remember to proofread and correct any mistakes.
Resource box – have a great resource box which includes your contact details and your website link. Take a look at my resource box at the end of this article.
Article life cycle – I follow a system with every article I write:
1 – The first place my article goes onto is my website. I want Google to find my article on my website before anywhere else on the internet
2 – Blog – the second place I put my article is on my blog. I normally make a quick video relating to the article, submit it to YouTube and insert the video in the middle of the blog. I then use http://pingomatic.com to share my blog with all the blog directories (free...)
3 – The third thing I do is to submit my articles to over 100 article directories using a piece of software http://www.articlesubmittingsoftware.com/ which makes the process of submitting quick and easy. I immediately have 100 links back to my website.
4 – The fourth thing I do is submit my articles to the local press. In the past this has resulted in me having my own column in an international publication which was part of the Financial Times and distributed to 40 countries. 5 – The fifth thing I do is to find magazines where my article could be a good fit and submit them to the editor. This has resulted in my articles being published in numerous magazines all over the world. As I have said, the best form of low cost, no cost marketing.
6 – Promotion – my last step is to publicise the article to my subscriber list and through my various social media accounts. One easy website to do all of this quickly is www.ping.fm Now it’s up to you, start spreading the message and watch the traffic and sales follow.
Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and author specialising in sales and technology. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 48 countries. For more information or to sign up for the free ‘Sales Tips & Ideas’ newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com For resources take a look at http://www.frankfurness.com http://www.frankfurnessresources.com http://www.productivitycentre.com NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com
Welcome to the latest newsletter and apologies it has taken so long since the last one. I have been travelling all over and at last had a chance to sit down and share some information.
It has been an interesting year and fascinating to see how different countries and cultures have adapted to the downturn in the economy.
After months of development work, the Productivity Centre www.productivitycenter.com is up and running and great value with over a thousand resources for growing your business and increasing your productivity. Please take a look at the website and download the flyer
Anyone signing up in the next 2 weeks will also get a copy of my Ebook ‘How to Find New Clients and Business’.
I am currently finishing another EBook ‘Internet Marketing for Newbie’s’ with great information and links to some of the best sites and free resources on the net. As soon as it is ready, it will be available for you for free.
I am also intending to do a shorter and more regular newsletter with marketing tips and videos in the New Year, so spending some time this month producing the videos.
Why not spoil yourself or your clients this festive season and buy a business card scanner.
All those cards that have been piling up for months could be potential business.
From now until Christmas there will be additional bonus software worth £80 for anyone investing in their card scanner on http://www.businesscardscanner.co.uk/
January is a good time for a sales 'kick-off', so please give me a call to come in and work with your team. I will also be doing some international work, so if you see that I will be in your area, please contact me to arrange a presentation:
Many people I speak to tell me they have a great website, but very little traffic. When I ask if they have done the most basic thing and submitted their website to the various search engines, most answer that they have not. Here is a great strategy that very few people know about. DMOZ (also known as the Open Directory Project) is the grandfather of search engines and most search engines index use it for indexing websites.
So it is essential for you or your website administrator to submit your website to be indexed into DMOZ so that search engines can find additional information about the website.
This is how you do it:
1. Visit the DMOZ directory website. 2. Review the top-level categories and click on the most appropriate category to fit the website that you will be submitting.
3. Choose a subcategory which suits your website. These are located below the alphabet links in the top centre of the page. Since so many categories are extensive in size, there may be many subcategories from to choose from.
4. Continue to choose subcategories until you are at the lowest possible category. Although not always, it will generally be a small category with no more subcategory links at the top.
5. Click suggest URL which is the third link from the left in the gray bar of links at the top of the webpage.
6. Read the guidelines and rules thoroughly that are on the website submission page and ensure that the submission form is correctly completed.
7. Complete the submission information so that it is complete while following all of the submission guidelines. The category should already be filled in with the category that was chosen. Also, make sure to include your user verification and email address.
8. Read the Submission Agreement and once complete and you agree with it, press submit.
9. Wait for the website to be indexed. All of the website submissions for each category are reviewed by volunteers who spend their time to review the website submissions, so this can take up to 6 months.
Remember that all category editors (who are the users who review website submissions) are entirely volunteers. Some categories may be more thoroughly watched and reviewed than others.
Not all website submissions are accepted, regardless of how well the submission form is filled out. There are various reasons; the site may be illegal, pornographic or simply a one page sales pitch with no information. Remember, the internet was created to share information.
DMOZ has a website index for over seventy languages and is always adding new languages. If you own a website in another language, submit that as well.
There are millions of unreviewed website submissions presently - only submit your website once to avoid being penalised!
So don’t wait, get your site indexed straight away.
Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and author specialising in sales and technology.
Let's take a look at a product I have discovered that I am very exited about. As you know, I love creating income while I sleep and this product does just that for me.
The review is on a productcalled Multi Profit Websites, this is a combination product dreamed up by John Thornhill and Dave Nicholson and their development team. I must say from the off, this site was one of the most impressive sites I have ever come across in a long time. The shear usability sold it for me right away. Now how much do you think it would cost to get your own website built and maintained by a website support company? Not for what this site costs I can tell you! The price tag is very very small to what you would pay in comparison.
Anyway enough about the pricing of the site, lets get down to the business end of this site and what you can actually achieve with it. Now when you first upload the website to your webspace (with the help of the in-depth online videos I might add) you can immediately see in the personal website control panel that your options are extensive to say the least. The amount of customisable options is virtually limitless. You have the ability to add your own SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), choose your own passwords to login to the site, setup your eBay shop (if you have one) if not simply remove the option, you can affiliate any eBay product you wish from any eBay in the world, use Amazon, Clickbank, Pay Dot Com, or simply use your own content by using the easy edit HTML builder which is so simple to use.
There are a host of affiliate sites you can use if you want to too, these includes Amazon, Google, Clickbank, Pay Dot Com and eBay, so if you want to simply use your site to promote products you can. With MPW (Multi Profit Websites) versatility is key as there is very little you can’t do. For example, if your business is flowers you can use a custom banner and footer, add your payment buttons and you’re ready to go.
There are sections all over the site which you can edit as your own, add your own links and pages as you see fit. Like I said it so versatile you can do almost anything you like with the site. You could actually build as new site everyday with a different niche and have hundreds of sites online earning you an affiliate income of you don’t have an exact business, the guys provide you with a ton of fresh content articles to use as your own. They even have RSS feed to create content on your site so you don’t even have to write anything if you don’t want to.
This really is turn key at it’s best if you want it that way.
John and Dave have thought of everything for this site from the business user to the affiliate marketer, it can be used in any business environment from building a kitchen to building a subscriber base it’s that versatile.
This is hands down one of the greatest products I have in my collection and I know I will use it as a template from now and for a long time to come. If I ever need a website quick then I have it on tap and ready to go in 20 minutes.
Take a look at it now and let it start creating income while you sleep
Sunday, October 25, 2009
How to download YouTube videos and insert them into PowerPoint presentations http://ping.fm/DwbK2
Having spoken in numerous countries within the past 12 years, I have seen some massive changes. The global economic crisis driven by the greed of banks has bankrupted so many companies and many others are just fighting for survival.
Interestingly, countries like Australia, that are more conservative have not been hit as hard. Dubai, the showpiece of the world has come tumbling down in its quest to be bigger and better on borrowed money. Just an hour away, the small and conservative emirate of Abu Dhabi is enjoying growth as it has not relied on other people’s money.
In my travels I see huge growth in countries like China and India. On a recent tour of Iran and Saudi Arabia, I also noticed massive growth, but the biggest noticeable factor was the number of young entrepreneurs that are now running successful businesses.
The other noticeable change is that the successful companies have been totally customer focussed. They are solution based organisations and sell value instead of products or services.
Many ‘order takers’ have been exposed and those individuals and companies that are actively providing great customer care as well as constantly looking for new business are the survivors.
The most successful sales people are those who have made the change to think and act like business people and have learned to communicate at all levels.
There are a number of other factors affecting the global economy:
Social – behaviours, tastes and lifestyles of the countries as well as their cultures. Buying patterns are influenced by changes in structure of population and consumer changes. • Age • Religion • Culture • Language • Lifestyle patterns • Body language
Legal - Awareness of consumer protection legislation, environmental legislation, health and safety and employment law.
Economic - This is a huge factor presently. • State of economy will determine business factors • Trends in business • Demand of products or services • Interest rates • Wages • Inflation • Ability to pay • Financial stability
Political - Again a big driver. When I spoke in Iran, there is a massive drive from the young entrepreneurs to expand their businesses globally, but this is marred by the political situation and regulations. Interestingly, a South African phone provider recognised an opportunity and is now the second biggest phone company in Iran. Other factors include: • EU derivatives and regulations • Spending power • Government Policies • Stability
Technology – My other business is an internet marketing company with 60 websites and in the past 10 years I have seen massive changes. The emergence of Social Networking is having a huge impact on business and providing global opportunities. Other advantages include: • Huge volumes of information can be shared • Cost reductions and improvements in service i.e. 24 hour call centres worldwide • Competitive advantage – information is freely available • Easier communication with customers anywhere in the world • Buyer profiles changing – much younger and internet savvy • Communication in different ways – audio, video, forums
What does this mean?
The global market has become more competitive. Similar products and pricing will result in organisations having to: • Differentiate • Sell value • Create the ultimate customer experience • Sell to customers the way they buy • Move from sales to business people • Teamwork at all levels - knowing everyone on the team and the competition • Global teamwork and communication at all levels. • Share ideas, best practice, resource and network • Develop creative leadership • Pro-actively seize opportunities • Set goals and achieve success
Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and consultant specialising in sales & technology. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences globally. For more information or to sign up for the free ‘Sales Tips & Ideas’ newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com and for resources take a look at http://www.frankfurness.com/ and http://www.frankfurnessresources.com/ NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/
With the economy slowing, it is now time to start a marketing campaign to find new clients and generate new leads. Here is a plan of action that I would suggest: 1. Who is your target audience or ideal client? Really spend some time on this and analyse your client base. Find out who the clients are that are giving you the lowest profits and the biggest headaches....we all have them.
Now either get rid of them or assign them to a call centre team or someone else in the office, so you can spend more time on the profitable clients. Now take a look at your most profitable clients, the ones you really enjoy working with and profile them. How did they come to be clients, were they part of a marketing campaign, a referral, generated from the internet or other means?
2. Develop five marketing tools or strategies to get more ‘ideal clients’. What were the strategies that worked best in the past is everyone in the team still applying those strategies.
There are many methods to find new clients or leads, but you should spend your time on the strategies that work best and give you the most profitable results and ‘ideal clients’. Marketing or prospecting strategies include:
• Referrals
• Associations and Trade Bodies
• Exhibitions
• Speaking at targeted conferences
• Centres of Influence
• Networking
• Websites and the Internet
• White papers
• Newsletters Article marketing
• Advertising
• Sponsorships
• Corporate entertainment
• Mailshots
• Expert articles in the trade press
• Hospitality
• Workshops and free surgeries
3. Your Competitive Advantage. Brainstorm with the sales and marketing team and discover your competitive advantage. Why should someone change from their existing supplier to you? How are you different, what better results can you offer?
If you are not 100% clear on this, you will speak to a lot of potential clients and be met with that wonderful phrase ‘I want to think about it’, which really means NO – You haven’t convinced me why I should change and buy your goods or services.
4. When will the campaign start, what are the responsibilities of everyone on the team and how often
Frank Furness CSP is a specialist speaker and author in marketing, sales and technology. Frank can be contacted at mailto:frank@frankfurness.com or telephone+ 44 (0) 1923 248200. http://www.frankfurness.com/
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/
This is a great new tool I have found and using to turn articles into videos and I thought I would share it with you.
It's called The Article Video Robot and it will convert your articles to LIVE and TALKING videos in minutes.
Imagine if you could hire a full time a video and audio producer at your disposal who would turn every article you have written into a Web Video - bringing to life your article's messages.
All you have to do is Copy & Paste Your Article Into This Software And it just Converts
Your Article Into A Hot Marketable Video Instantly! You don't even have to leave your desk or touch a camera!
It's push button easy and only costs you 0.97 cents per article.What I also like is the voice-over, animation, all the graphics and submission to 17+ video sharing sites like youtube, veoh, metacafe.
Let me know what you think of it.
I'm on my video 185 on my YouTube channel at the moment and hope to break the 200 barrier in a few weeks. I'm also getting a nice cheque each month as a YouTube partner. Best regards,
Frank
I am constantly bombarded by bad news of how the world is coming to a standstill and all we can expect from the future is doom and gloom. This is especially prevalent in the United Kingdom where the newspapers, television and radio absolutely bask in reporting bad news. If I had to believe half this drivel, I might as well give up speaking because no company is ever going to book a speaker or trainer again. What a load of rubbish. This has so far been my busiest year ever for two reasons, Candice and I have doubled our marketing efforts and I have customised my talks according to what the markets require. Right now companies in my niche are looking for different ways to generate new business, keep their existing clients and stay motivated. This is exactly what I have been speaking about for years, but I have now just changed the title of the talk to ‘Tough Strategies in Tough Times’. This title alone secured eight bookings with one of my clients in the Far East.
As speakers, we are advising individuals and organisations to think differently and market effectively; we should all be doing the same in our businesses. The speaking business may have slowed down in the United Kingdom, but equally there are places in the world where things are thriving and this year I have already spoken in nine countries and have six others booked as well as setting up exclusive partnerships in two other countries that will bring in a ton of work.
All this takes a lot of creative thinking and a lot of hard work, but proves that no matter what the economic climate, if we really want to keep the diaries filled, it is possible.
Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in technology, sales and customer service. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 48 countries. Frank is the author of bestselling books ‘Walking with Tigers – Success Secrets of the World’s Top Business Leaders’ and ‘How to Find New Clients and Business’ NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/ Download 39 Power Sales Closing Scripts at http://www.frankfurness.com/closingscripts.cfm For more articles, please take a look at my website http://www.frankfurness.com and please download complimentary eBooks and software at http://www.frankfurnessresources.com
Having started my working career as a professional drummer, I have always felt that there was a strong connection between music and sales. My career in music has stood me in good stead in my sales and business career; here are some of the things I learned: Back to Basics – When I was still at school I was already playing in a band and I decided that if I really wanted to be good I had to learn from the best. At that time the best drummer in South Africa was Tony Moore who was a legend. I approached him and asked what he would charge to give me lessons. He replied that he would do it for free on condition that for the I would practice the basic rudiments every day for one hour on a practice pad. There is nothing more boring than practicing those basic rudiments.
He also insisted that I learn to read music and practice with the metronome each day so that my timing would be perfect. I agreed to this and duly practiced every day. By the end of that year my technique and timing was fantastic and I could read any music put in front of me. Only at that time did he allow me back on the full drum kit and I couldn’t believe the improvement. I realise now how important it was to me in my musical career to get the basics right.
Lesson – In sales it is important to practice the basics until it becomes second nature. When I started out in sales I needed to cold call to set up appointments. I hated it but remembered the basics and each day I became better and more skilled until it was like brushing my teeth, if I didn’t do it daily I would feel bad. I did the same with asking for referrals, closing, networking and all the other skills needed to be a success in sales. If ever you feel sales are dropping, just get back to doing the basics and you will be amazed at the results.
Mentors – In every venture I have tried, I have always found the best experts and learned from them. Why try to reinvent the wheel. When I was getting started in my music career, I would go and watch all the top bands and meet with the drummers and drive them crazy with all my questions. Surprisingly, they were all very helpful and encouraging and interested in my success. Later I adopted the same attitude and started teaching a young 8 year old for free who went on to become a professional musician and dancer who now performs all over the world. I also taught a young guy called Adam Bloch who went on to become a multi talented musician and composer who has released two albums under the name of Adam Saul.
Lesson – Whatever business you are in, try to find the top people to learn from and then go on and help others become more successful.
Getting the feel – I was always an excellent technician on the drums and could read any music put in from of me. I remembered joining one of the top groups in South Africa and when we were rehearsing, the guitarist stopped and told me to forget the technical aspects and feel the music. That day I changed the way I played and I immersed myself in every tune, playing with passion and loving every minute.
Lesson – In every business venture I have applied the same principles and as well as becoming technically adept, learned to feel and love what I was doing and do it with passion.
Listening – In any group or orchestra you can have the top musicians in the world playing together, but unless they listen to each other and play as one unit all you will hear is a cacophony of noise. Listening, anticipating and working together created almost a telepathic connection in all the groups I played in and gave us all so much pleasure and enjoyment
Lesson – In business, we all have to listen and communicate to produce effective results. If we all go off on our own tangent, the business will never reach its full potential.
Watching the audience – I have seen so many bands go off on a tangent and do their own thing, leaving audiences bored. When I was playing, we were always audience focussed and would watch and feel the atmosphere and change the music according to what the audience wanted. This left our group in huge demand and we always got the top engagements.
Lesson – In business we have to be client focussed. We have to learn to read the verbal and non verbal signals of our customers and change the way we do business to suit the clients style. We have to sell to customers the way that they buy, not the way that we sell and we need to be prepared to change.
Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in technology, sales and customer service. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 48 countries. Frank is the author of bestselling books ‘Walking with Tigers – Success Secrets of the World’s Top Business Leaders’ and ‘How to Find New Clients and Business’ NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com Take a look at other articles, free software and e-Books at http://www.frankfurness.com/ Download 39 Power Sales Closing Scripts at http://www.frankfurness.com/closingscripts.cfm For more articles, please take a look at my website http://www.frankfurness.com and please download complimentary eBooks and software at http://www.frankfurnessresources.com
Twitter, the latest tool to take the internet by storm is growing massively each day, so what is Twitter and how does it work?
Twitter is a free online micro-blogging application which gives you the ability to send out short messages (up to 140 characters) called “tweets” to people who are following you on Twitter.
You can send tweets either through your computer or by using your cell phone via a text message.
These tweets/messages can be about anything you want and they can include links, as well.
What makes social marketing so popular and applications like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook dominate the internet? Simply put, it is the feeling of community. Thanks to the internet, our sense of community can include people from anywhere in the world bringing us into the global community.
From a business perspective, social sites provide an opportunity to get in front of potential customers and influence buying decisions because online social networkers are three times more likely to trust their online community of peers over other advertising methods when making purchasing decisions. As we all know, consumer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising and finding new business.
Here are some basics you'll need to know before you start tweeting: · When setting up your account, add a professional photo and your own background. · Either have your name, a keyword relating to your business or your business name as you Twitter name · A follower is someone who is watching your updates. · Following refers to the act of you following other people. · The @ symbol is placed before a users name within the tweet to reply to another user, and this will show up in the main twitter stream · The # (hashtag) is used to help you sort by topic. For example you can use #survivor to tweet with other Survivor fans. · Direct messages go only to the user you are messaging · Set up TweetLater.com account and welcome message: Next you'll need to look for people to follow. If you are really in this to gain business referrals, I strongly suggest you don't follow every person on twitter.
Once you are following people, you'll see that people will begin to follow you back and you'll even see people following you that you didn't follow first.
Now that you're building your list of followers, you need to start tweeting on a regular basis. I would suggest tweeting relevant information that will enhance people’s lives or help them be more productive or improve business. Nothing irks me more than seeing inane useless information. I predict that in the future, tweeters giving relevant helpful information or helpful links or tips are the ones who are going to see the biggest growth.
Here are some helpful ways in which Twitter can boost your online business. · Twitter generates traffic to your site because you can send messages that include links. Include relevant links to promote products or services. · If you need to hire anyone to do anything for you, from designing a logo to optimising your website you can do so easily on Twitter by sending a tweet out to ask if they know of anyone. · It is easy to find new, potential customers by using Twitter's search function. Search Twitter for your target keywords and you will find related tweets. Follow the Twitter users that are talking about relevant topics and you may be able to offer your product or services to them in the future. · With Twitter, you can connect with other people in your niche. This is helpful for building business relationships that will enhance your future networking efforts. · It is a great feedback tool. Ask your followers to comment on your website, products or anything new that you may be promoting.
Here are some ways that I am using Twitter: · I am sending regular tweets to promote my 160 videos on YouTube. i.e. discover how to ask great sales questions and please leave your rating and comments This then takes them to my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/salestips where I generate income as I am a YouTube partner. In my videos I also send them to a squeeze page with a ‘onetime’ offer that gets them to buy a product or sign up for my newsletter · Promote a free giveaway in a tweet. Once again this will take them to a relevant ‘onetime’ offer squeeze page and then get them to sign up for my newsletter before giving them the free products. This is one of the methods I have used to build up a subscriber list of 25,000
If you really want to maximize the potential with Twitter, you should make sure to take advantage of any plug-ins or sites that support Twitter. Here are three, and attached below is the download link to hundreds more · Squidoo allows you to input your Twitter account info into your Squidoo account and then it can automatically post updates to your Twitter account when you create or update Squidoo lenses. · Facebook has an application called Twitter; it automatically updates your Facebook status when you make a Twitter post. · The other tool is a free WordPress plug-in called TweetMyBlog that allows you to create a two-way connection from your blogs to Twitter. TweetMyBlog allows you to use a widget on your WordPress blogs that will display your current Twitter feed. That way all visitors to your blog can look at the widget and see a running feed of your latest Twitter posts. If they click on that they will be brought to your Twitter page.
In addition, when you make a new post to your blog, TweetMyBlog will automatically make a post to your Twitter page with a link to your latest blog post. Imagine the extra exposure you can receive by using these tools that help people see more of what you are doing.
Here is my gift to you, a resource list withpiles of Twitter tools and resources. You will also see my strategy of the ‘onetime’ offer leading to the signup page for my newsletter before getting the resources list – plus many other free EBooks.
Get it at www.frankstoptips.com/TwitterToolbox.zip Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in technology, sales and customer service. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 48 countries.
Frank is the author of bestselling books ‘Walking with Tigers – Success Secrets of the World’s Top Business Leaders’ and ‘How to Find New Clients and Business’
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com
Working all over the world with organisations and individuals, I often hear the same questions, “times are tough, what shall we do?” My answer is always the same, go back to basics. If I look at some of the top sports people that I work with, they follow four basic steps: · Planning – what do we need to do · Preparation – how are we going to do it · Execution – actually doing it · Review – what went well and what do we need to change to be even better
These same rules apply to business.
I always tell my clients that they need to do two basic things right now: · Look after your existing clients better than ever before · Double you marketing and sales efforts and keep prospecting for new business
Look after your existing clients better than ever before: 1 - How well do you know your existing clients? Here is an exercise for you and your team:
List your top 10 clients and then list 10 things you know about them. This exercise surprises some of my clients at how little their sales team really know about their key clients. Here are some of the ‘back to basics’ things we should know: · Who is the key decision maker and how much do you know about them. · What is their personality type? · How and when do they like to be contacted? Is it face to face, email or phone and when is the best time to contact them? Is it the beginning of the week, the end of the week, first thing in the morning or later during the day? In fact have you ever asked your top clients these questions? · What are the motivators for doing business with you – are they motivated by cost/value/service/relationship · What are their buying patterns – how often do they buy and what are their budgets or average order size · Why do they do business with you rather than your competitors · What would cause them to move to your competition · What level of service do they expect and are you delivering that service
Remember, four Critical Advantages Your Competitors Can Never Have • Your knowledge • Your marketing • Your people • Your systems
Rate yourself in each of these areas and see what needs to be improved. These days customers are… Smarter Leaner More demanding Less forgiving Less loyal Harder to satisfy Price conscious Contacted by more competitors
What are the basics needed to keep your top clients?
2 - Double you marketing and sales efforts and keep prospecting for new business
Now is really the time to get back to basics and review your prospecting efforts. Get the team together and have a brain storming exercise on ways t o find new business. Here are some of my suggestions: • Warm/cold Calling • Referrals • Clubs & Social contacts • Centres of influence • Professional connections • Observation • Old Clients • Networking • Internet • Websites • CEO marketing • Associations and trade bodies • Give speeches where potential clients can see you as the expert in your field or type of business. (Take a look at my resource) • Article marketing • PR and advertising
Once you have identified potential ways of finding new business, prepare an action plan. Each quarter, review and see which methods are the most effective and bring the most results. Most importantly, which are giving you the best return on investment in terms of time, effort and cost? Now concentrate on doing more of what works.
Frank Furness CSP is a bestselling author and international conference speaker on sales and technology. To book Frank for your next conference email frank@frankfurness.com Get more resources and free eBooks at http://www.frankstoptips.com/resources
This year has been busy extremely so far, mainly as a result of intensive marketing efforts by Candice and me. I have just returned from a month away speaking in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, followed by 2 weeks in South Africa and a week in Estonia..
I love Australia and did eleven talks in five cities. It is definitely one of my favourite countries, great people, weather, food and attitude. I also met some wonderful people; take a look at my interview with cricketing legend Max Walker. I was also fortunate enough to be featured on radio and ABC TV.
When I arrived in Brisbane I was told that there were only two keynote speakers, myself and Brian Tracy who would be presenting before me. I jokingly asked if it was ‘THE’ Brian Tracy and was told, that it was. (I can always say he was my warm-up act). He was incredible and a great person, take a look at my photo with him.
A few words of thanks to my best friend from school, Michael Dredge who lives in Melbourne and who I met up with after 30 years and great friends from Cape Town, Miles and Erayne Stuart who have now settled in Brisbane and showed me some of the sights and fed me at some of their top restaurants. Thanks also to the National Speakers Association of Australia who organised the speaking tour and looked after me incredibly well.
After that it was off to South Africa where I spoke at the Global Speakers Conference in Cape Town and was lucky enough to experience the street parade for the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Then it was off to a private Game Lodge called Mabula Lodge. There is nothing quite like an African sunrise and sunset and seeing the incredible animals in their natural habitat. We hired a four bedroom house with a pool in the wild and invited family to spend time with us. This was far better than our normal time rushing around from one family member to the next and arriving home exhausted. Take a look at the photos and videos.
Right now I am sitting in my hotel room in Tallinn in Estonia where I presented last night. I have set up a number of meetings and see massive potential for business here in the future. Take a look at the photos of this wonderful city.
My next big venture is my productivity centre website which will have thousands of resources on sales, technology, customer service, marketing, internet marketing, leadership, consulting, speaking skills, coaching, working with the media and plenty more.
There will be hundreds of audio cuts that can be listened to or downloaded to your IPods as well as videos, eBooks, software, articles and plenty more. There will be interviews with industry leaders and updated materials each month and will serve as an incredible resource for any business or individual. There is a huge amount of work and I anticipate that it will be ready by July. I already have the website -
My partner in setting this all up is Herb Kelly and his wife Sue who are involved in some of the success of the top internet marketers. Herb and I go back many years to when we first played together in a band at school and then when we started working. The third member of the band was Dassie da Silva, my best friend in South Africa.
At school we were all told by our teachers that anyone who played in a band would end up as failures. I wish those people could see us now, I’m doing ok, Herb is incredibly successful on the internet and Dassie is a successful entrepreneur with more food outlets and restaurants than anyone I know. I wish those teachers could see us now....
We do look a little different though – take a look at our old band photo with Herb and I.
Speakers Bootcamp - The good news is I now have the date in the UK for the bootcamp - 5/6 September in Amersham outside London. Download the brochure and book early for a discount and remember, places are limited.
Twitter seems to be the new social networking phenomenon. At first it frustrated me with lots of insignificant drivel posted, until I worked out how this could work as a great branding tool as well as build my subscriber list and very subtly sell my products (actually not, nothing about me has ever been subtle). Please read my article on Twitter and download the resource guide with over 100 Twitter tools.
Frank Furness CSP CFP TOT is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in technology, sales and customer service. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 48 countries.
Frank is the author of bestselling books ‘Walking with Tigers – Success Secrets of the World’s Top Business Leaders’ and ‘
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to frank@frankfurness.com
The video revolution is happening. I started my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/salestips a few years ago and now I have 154 videos, most of them making me money with Adsense. YouTube has revolutionary tools that you can use, here are just a few:
1 - Multiple videos with keywords - take a look at the opening video on my resources site Scroll along the bottom of the video and see how you can change to any of 24 other videos in the frame. 2 - You will also notice adverts appearing, I make money with Adsense every time someone clicks on an ad and this is adding up rather nicely right now.
3 - You can create your own custom video player.
4 - You can create your own channel and blog - remember to use keywords in the channel name.
5 - You can now brand your videos, take a look at any of my videos and you will see my logo.
6 - Insight is a brilliant tool that will analyse every video - demographics, age profile and best of all hotspots. This shows you when your video is making most and least impact.
Take a look at the video showing just some of these features:
