Guest post from my good mate Pete Godfrey…
…with some killer marketing tips on making the most of those old leads you might have hanging around.
One tip of my own, from painful marketing experience, is that if you haven’t contacted these old leads for while…
..warm them up with a little relationship building, ideally some good free stuff, BEFORE you pitch them!
Over to Pete…
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Have You Ever Thrown a $100 Bill in the Trash?
At a recent $4,995 Consulting day, I listed out a detailed plan for a client that could easily make him an extra hundred to two hundred grand a year. In this month’s article, I’ll show you exactly what I gave him and how, with a little work and perseverance, you can instantly plug this strategy into your business. So let’s get busy.
The headline above is an oldie but a goodie… and it effectively demonstrates the POWER of “Fear of Loss.” As marketers, we know the power of this undeniable truth. More importantly, the headline above ties in nicely with this month’s article. That’s because most business owners ARE throwing money in the trash by NOT following up systematically on each lead they get.
There has been a lot of waste. In good times, you may be able to afford to only follow up once or twice to your leads; in these trying times, it’s critical that you value each lead you get and develop a multi-step system to convert them to buyers.
But what about the old leads you have? The ones that are a year or two old? Usually what happens is nothing. The BIG lesson for this month is: There’s Money In Your Old Leads. Here, I’m going to give you 6 ways to convert old leads into cash paying customers. Basically, I’m going to show you how to turn trash into treasure. Call it what you want: Money for nothing; Money out of thin air; whatever you want to call it, converting old lost leads into customers is a PROFITABLE strategy. Make this a priority this year.
6 Ways To Convert Old Leads Into Cash Paying Customers
1: Start the process again. Re-enter old leads into your marketing funnel as if they were fresh leads.
2: Different products. Offer these old leads different products. Offering a low-cost, low-time Evening Seminar has worked well in the past for my clients.
3: Same offer, different media. Here your pitch is the same, you just change the media and or format. Use CDs, DVDs, Tear Sheets, Fax Broadcast, Tele-Seminars.
NOTE:COVERTING OLD LEADS VIA TELE-SEMINARS: Several of my Clients and Members are testing tele-seminars to convert old leads into members/customers. The strategy is a simple one… and many have proved its effectiveness. You contact your old leads, via many different media (Email, Fax, Post) offering a FREE tele-seminar. On the call, give some good, solid “what-to” information, prove what you say is true and then make them an offer they can’t refuse.
4: Same product, change offer. Here you’re selling the same product, but you change the offer. Usually, the stronger the offer, the more sales you’ll get.
5: Same product, different angle. There are many angles you can take in copy; many different benefits you can highlight. Say your lead angle was “make more money”, you then test a new angle such as “save money”, “work less for your money” and so on.
6: Swap or sell them. There are other companies targeting the same market as you. You can swap old leads with them or sell/rent your list.
This will take some work and lots of careful testing and measuring although the rewards on offer far outweigh the time and effort.
Think about this for a minute. The more ways you can find value in your old leads, the more you can afford to aggressively generate leads in the first place. Let that sink in; then smile.
I’m pushing all of my Clients and Members to generate more leads this year using ALL available media; to diligently follow-up; to create a game plan for old leads that puts money in the bank. I’m not going to come round to your place checking up on you to see if you do this or not. We’re all adults here. But if you’re smart, you’ll go back over the list I just gave you and highlight which techniques you’ll be using. There’s money in your old leads. My advice is go get it.
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With more than a decade of experience in the marketing arena, Pete Godfrey, AKA “The Wizard of Words”, has developed a keen eye as to what it takes to succeed in business. As one of Australia’s most successful and highest paid copywriters, Pete has the uncanny ability to turn the written word into money. That’s why clients stand in line and almost beg him to do their promotions. His client list contains many of the world’s savviest entrepreneurs including Mal Emery, Pat Mesiti, Tom Caraccio and Rowena Helps, Rick Otton, Daryl and Andrew Grant, Bill Zheng, Matt and Amanda Clarkson, Roberta Fadoul and many others. This “working class rebel made good” is also a copywriting trainer, having trained hundreds of budding copywriters including Bret Thomson, Bill Dimitrovski, Kevin Francis, Steve Plummer etc. Pete is a coach as well and coaches a small exclusive group of entrepreneurs in his $29,995 per year Private Wealth Group. Pete also writes an offline, 12-page monthly newsletter called The Emotional Ad Writing & Marketing Letter (http://www.emotionaladwritingletter.com ) for Business Owners, Sales Professionals and Entrepreneurs. His irreverent style and no bullshit attitude offends some, attracts others. To see more on Pete and to get a FREE Bonus copy of his valuable report – “The Ultimate Copywriting & Marketing Secret” valued at a very real $99… go to his blog at http://www.petegodfrey.com