Become A Super Promoter - Lesson 8

Associations

There are associations for just about every interest, industry, and profession in existence.  These groups provide some of your best networking opportunities because they are tightly focused on a specific set of interests or problems, and if your business serves those interests or solves those problems, you’ve hit paydirt – in fact, the mother lode.

Networking at associations for members of your target market gives you the opportunity to become a preferred vendor among members.  For instance, a professional editor might frequent speaking-industry gatherings, and become known with8in that industry.  This strategy works well because you have few or no competitors within the group.

1. Call your industry’s trade association and interview the executive director.  Ask, what are the three biggest problems in the industry?  How many people experience them?  How frequent are they?  Do they cost money, get people into trouble, create hardship?  By interviewing the trade association (which studies the industry every day), you’ll get real information – instead of guessing as many experts do.
2. Randomly call your clients and prospects, and ask if I could make anything happen for you or your business in the next 90 days, what would the top 3 things be?
3. Attend a trade show or conference and interview people in the hallway.   Tell them, you’re considering offering a training program that would address their top concerns; then ask what they would be willing to pay for such a program and what kinds of materials and consulting they would expect for that price.  Your own peers will unwittingly tell you exactly what to offer, if you simply ask in the right way.
4. Research the cost of someone not solving their problem, or the tangible or intangible value of them reaching a goal.  In business how-to information, it becomes very easy to pout a price tag on how much someone can make with your information.  You can use testimonials that show what other people have earned.  You can feature a mathematical equation of what people can learn.  You can illustrate the cost of them not acting upon your advice – for example, employee turnover, government fines, even lawsuits.
5. Run small ads offering a product or program you’re considering providing.  If your response is low, you’ll know there isn’t much interest for that product, and you will know it before you spend time developing it. 
6. Recruit people for a beta test program where you select 12 people to receive a free test version of your product.  This strategy works well because you will actually build a prospect list of interested buyers as you are finding the 12 test cases.  When your 12 have completed their testing, you can roll out your actual marketing campaign to the remainder of the list of interested parties.
7. Create a product as you are researching the industry.  Mark Victor Hansen of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” began interviewing top chiropractors when he was researching the chiropractic field as a possible market for his speaking engagements.  He recorded the interviews and created a tape set called “One New Patient a Day.”  How did he know that chiropractors wanted to learn how to get just one new patient a day?  From his interviews, of course.

Distribute Free Information via Your Website

If you are ultimately selling a high-priced product or service, distributing a free special report can give prospective buyers the information they need to make a buying decision.  Typically, a specials report is written in newsy, professional and non-hyperbolic style.  It presents the case for what you have to offer.  It includes testimonials, diagrams…anything that helps readers see the benefits to them.  It should be designed to look high-end, and ideally should be e-mail able as an Adobe PDF file.  Special reports, used as your free information package, give the reader a number of different impressions:

· “Wow, these people really know their subject matter.”
· “I’ve never gotten anything like this from the competition.”
· “If they give this kind of quality information away free, what will I get when I pay real money?”

In short, the special report is your marketing piece.  You can send it to CEO’s of possible endorser companies or potential corporate marketing partners.  You can send it to the press.  You can hand it out at trade shows.  You can offer it free online at your website.  You can offer it free in your newsletter.  You can offer free in all your press releases, in print and on radio.

To begin writing your special report, research your prospective buyers’ pain and ambitions.  Research and test titles that pull a response.  An easy way to do this is to turn possible titles into topics for your speaking engagements and give the audience a choice of which topic they would like you to discuss as the final portion of your presentation.  If you don’t have a flair for writing reports like this, consider hiring a writer to ghostwrite the special report for you.  Check out www.elance.com for free-lance writers – or www.creativemoonlighting.com.  The key is not only to provide information, but also to create a positive response – that is, a purchase, a phone call, a booking, etc.

When your special report is complete, write a cover letter to go with it.  You can have the report printed inexpensively (or even photocopied).  Be sure to produce the report as an e-book that can be offered at your website or offered through joint venture partners.  Promote the report and its e-book version using every possible method and opportunity.  As I said before, make sure your “call to action” is incorporated in the report.  You will also want to prepare the response process within your company or amongst your commissioned salespeople.  You should also follow-up by telephone on reports mailed to prospective clients.

Become the Trusted go-to-person for Reliable Info

It’s been said, if you can’t be the expert, be the messenger.  And one of the fastest ways to posture yourself as the leading expert in your field is by becoming the clearinghouse for information in your industry – that is, your industry’s messenger.

Traditionally, trade associations have largely filled the role of clearinghouse, but today, many people are not willing to pay high fees to associations for newsletters, magazines, survey data and other information that, with a little work, could be found free from various sources, particularly on the Internet.

But do people really take the time to research information that could impact them and their business?  Not usually.  Which is why you can become a “name’ in this area – providing valuable and entertaining information on a regular basis.  With the Internet, it’s surprisingly easy to do.  Armed with the information you gleam on a regular basis, you can send industry update e-mails that also include advertising about you and your services.

What kind of information should you gather?

· News and trends
· Calendars and event schedules
· Business building tips
· Resources, suppliers, vendors, services
· Success stories

In fact, you can gather information easily with these simple tasks:

· Program your Internet access provider’s news feature to receive news articles on specific topics related to your industry.
· Subscribe to free e-mails from others in the industry, particularly organizations that broadcast a calendar of events and other information.
· Conduct once a month searches on Google for industry related information, trends and events.

Soon, as you become recognized as a clearinghouse for information, people will bring you information to broadcast out to your constituency.  Of course, the primary vehicle for getting information out to people who subscribe to your clearinghouse service is your industry update e-zine.

To use this clearinghouse technique as the ultimate marketing strategy, be ready with many different sources of information.  Research several subscriber lists that may be perfect subscribers for you.  Create a separate website as an “information portal” linking visitors to other sites.  And contact potential joint-venture partners who can promote your portal and e-zine their e-zines and literature.

To maximize your efforts as your industry’s newest watchdog, parlay your status as an industry expert into speaking engagements for corporations and trade conventions.