Marketing YOUniquely eNewsletter
How-to Strategies, News, Resources...
A Mini-Workshop in Every Issue!www.CraigValine.com
August 21, 2007
Volume 2, Issue 12Published the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month.
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Disclaimer: If you find misspellings or grammatical errors in this newsletter, it's my dog's fault!
(He get's me into trouble all the time! :)==================================
¨ In this Issue:
==================================Snoopy, hope you're having a GREAT day! Here's this week's issue of Marketing YOUniquely".
- Feature [Guest] Article: "The 'Secret' To a Successful Free Ezine"
By Terry Dean- A Marketing Morsel From Craig: "You. The Resident Expert?"
- Craig Recommends: "Stuff" to make you more successful
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==================================
¨ A Marketing Morsel from Craig
==================================Dear Snoopy,
In our last issue, I shared my thoughts and philosophy about setting yourself apart from any other in your field - by becoming the expert...or, the AUTHORITY in your highly targeted niche market.
My teacher Dan Kennedy says it best: "The last thing you want to be compared to is just another ___________."
You know, "just another salesperson", or "just another consultant", or "just another [whatever it is you do].
I shared some of the ways that the most successful professionals use to establish themselves as THE 'go-to' people in their respective target markets. If you didn't see that issue, or you need a recap...
The most successful, highly paid, and sought out professionals do the following:
- They specifically serve a highly-targeted niche market
- They write articles, books, and special reports that focus on the problems of that highly-targeted market and provide solutions
- They design and create programs that specifically address and solve the problems of their highly-targeted niche market.
- They only speak to the groups that this highly-targeted market belongs to
- They use publicity and PR to their advantage to gain visibility to their highly-targeted market
- They let the media know they are available when they need an expert for news items
- They create synergistic profitable relationships with other types of businesses that cater to their target market
- They use testimonials from happy and satisfied clients in all their marketing materials, and use endorsements from well-known centers of influence
- They provide unique and innovative services to their clients
- They communicate with their target market on a regular basis and treat their clients like dear and valued friends.
If that's not enough for you to massively set yourself apart from the rest, here's another strategy that I learned from Bob Serling that will make you the ONLY person your target market seeks out.
By the way, I haven't seen this particular marketing strategy taught anywhere else. But, it's so simple, you'll probably be shocked you didn't think of it yourself.
The strategy is called "The Resident Expert".
Here's how it works:
Offer to become the "Resident Expert" for an association, business group, corporation, or any other organization that serves your highly targeted niche market. You simply tell them you'd like to make your services available for free, to their members on a regular basis.
"Resident" means or implies, "in-house", "their primary option", or "the expert the organization endorses".
For example, if you're an accountant, you would contact a large hospital in your area (with a huge staff of doctors, nurses, and other professionals who are excellent prospects for your services) and offer to be the Resident Expert. Tell the hospital administration that you will be available to answer any questions their members have regarding their taxes.
Offer specific times that their members can contact you on a private line for a brief consultation. This could be from 3pm to 5pm every Thursday - a day that might be normally slow for you.
You can also offer a series of monthly talks or teleseminars on topics of interest to your target market. Offer them helpful reports or freebees tailored for their needs.
So, how can YOU become the Resident Expert in your target market's organizations?
Well, depending on what organizations your target market belongs to, start by sending a letter to the President or person in charge of benefits to its members.
Start the letter off with something like:
"I have a proposal I believe would be very beneficial to your members."
Then you might add:
"I would like to be the "<blank> expert in residence" for your association. I would like to provide free advice both by telephone and in quarterly presentations to your members."
The important ingredients following this:
- Establish that your expertise is what is best for its members
- Give them a sample of your expertise in the form of an audio, book, special report, or article
- Give them a list of what the members will receive once they choose you as the Resident Expert
- Finally, give them a few of your credentials and a list of any clients you've served. (The more you can show you've helped others like them, the better!)
You might be asking, "why am I giving my services away for free to all these people?"
That's an intelligent question... one which I have a respectful answer to:
You must always be giving a little of yourself, your knowledge, your skills, your expertise... to get A LOT of people to seek you out to do business with you.
In ice cream-speak... my colleague Andrea Lee calls it "pink spoon marketing". Giving a little taste of the ice cream (or a sample of what's to come), gets people to want more of it. And, they will pay dearly for it.
In Craig-speak, it's called "building your herd". You are building your list of interested prospects with whom you can force-communicate to whenever you feel like it, offering beneficial and compelling offers that will make their lives better over a period of time.
So, "What organizations does your target market belong to that you can become the Resident Expert of?"
Write a list of 5 different organizations you can become the Resident Expert in this week. Write to them. Follow up, if necessary. And, let me know the results.
Have a super-duper profitable week!
Craig :)
P.S. I will always ask this... If you ever USE what I've shared in this newsletter, and it has created success for you, share your success story with me. I would love to share it with the world! Send your success stories to success@craigvaline.com
==================================
"In every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
==================================
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For more information about the upcoming Get Clients NOW! marketing coaching programs, go to:
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==================================
“There is only one way to make a great deal of money; and that is in a business of your own.”
– J. Paul Getty, Former oil tycoon and once the richest man in America==================================
¨ Featured [Guest] Article
==================================The 'Secret' of a Successful Free Ezine
By Terry DeanThere are currently over 300,000 Ezines on the Internet. The number is growing every single day.
Most of these ezine publishers never earn any real money (over $1,000 a month). They work their butts off week after week to produce good content and then only receive a very minor income from selling ads or linking to affiliate programs.
You may have found yourself in this very same position.
The first thing you need to understand is that a big ezine is not the goal you are reaching for. It is a means to the goal. Your business goal probably isn't really to build a 100,000 person ezine list. Your goal is to make money online. Building the list is just the vehicle which will take you there.
This isn't just semantics. Having the right focus and position for your ezine is all important online. If you don't understand why you are running an ezine, then I guarantee you won't get maximum value out of it.
I have been teaching home businesses about the importance of email follow-up, multi-responders, and ezines for almost 3 years now...and I see many people have fallen into some major misconceptions on this subject.
Say this out loud with me...
"The goal of my ezine is to build relationships with prospects and turn them into customers."
You probably didn't get it the first time, so please say the sentence out loud once again...
"The goal of my ezine is to build relationships with prospects and turn them into customers."
If you are building a large ezine list just to sell advertising, then you are missing out on the primary income stream it can provide you with. Your ezine is the gateway into selling more of your products and services.
If you are the member of an affiliate program, then your ezine is the gateway into selling more of their products and earning higher commissions. Your ezine should become the source of multiple streams of income from selling both your products and the products of those you affiliate with.
One of the biggest mistakes I see being made from ezine owners is not inserting your own personality into your ezine. Part of the advantage to having a small business is you are a real person they can contact, agree with, disagree with, etc.
Don't just publish other people's articles and call that an ezine. Sure, you can use some articles from other people. Even all of your articles could be from other people.
What you need to do is add in a few paragraphs you wrote yourself to the top of the ezine. Do an editorial section just like in magazines.
Don't just run ad copy from an affiliate program. Tell your readers how you feel about the product. What did you gain from it? How did you learn from it? What don't you like about it?
You may be so afraid of making mistakes in this area that you don't do anything. So, make some mistakes. We all do. It is part of being human.
What you say may offend some people and they may unsubscribe from your ezine. So what? They weren't planning on buying from you anyway!
I'm not telling you to purposely offend anyone...just letting you know it's going to happen. Use spell checkers and have some one edit your writing for you, but guess what? There are still going to be mistakes people will let you know about.
People always ask me how I have gotten my name published all over the web. Here's the secret...
"Be a real person."
It's not what you were expecting, is it? It's not exciting or highly technical. It's just the truth. People online are looking for people who are real, who have opinions, and who make mistakes.
One of my most popular articles being published around the web mentions a cow named "Oscar" who lives next door. Some people won't like you mentioning daily life such as this. Let them unsubscribe. The ones who stay on your list will buy more once they know you.
"Personality" is one of the most under used tools in the ezine publishers arsenal.
Right alongside personality is good content. You need to balance the one with the other. You won't be able to produce a growing ezine without good quality content.
If you don't feel you can write good content for your newsletter, then use other people's articles. Just keep in mind your primary goal - "to build relationships with prospects and turn them into customers."
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Terry Dean, a 5 year veteran of Internet marketing, will Take You By The Hand and Show You Exact Results of All the Internet Marketing Techniques he tests and Uses Every Single Month" Click here to Find Out More: http://www.netbreakthroughs.com
==================================
¨ Craig Recommends
==================================Here are a few tools that I use (or have used) to help me earn more in less time.
- How to Position Yourself As The Obvious Expert - Learn How To Master a handful of absolutely essential marketing skills and techniques that will catapult you to a higher income. Instantly put into use the fastest and surest ways to make your expertise known to future clients.
- Discover the Most Reliable, Easiest, Cost Effective Tool to Capture Visitor Sign Ups, Send Unlimited Follow Ups and Newsletters Increasing Your Profits - http://tinyurl.com/2yf299
- Introducing the world's first step-by-step, 'do this then do that', 'color-by-numbers' plan for making money online in 33 days or less! http://tinyurl.com/2ovxxd
==================================
¨ About Craig Valine
==================================Craig Valine is an entrepreneur and Marketing Performance Coach who helps independent consultants, coaches, and solo-professionals GET MORE CLIENTS, make more money, and have more fun in their professional entrepreneurial businesses.
Craig offers FREE audio classes, reports, workshops, coaching, and other resources to help professional entrepreneurs market themselves and build ultimate success. Learn more now at http://www.CraigValine.com
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