After last week's blog post on the importance of marketing (which you can check out here), we had a bunch of people ask us for some Marketing resources.
And we'll do that right here today.
But before we do, one last point on the importance of marketing...
This week a fairly new business owner told us he's excited about his business because he can now offer three or four new services (he's in the home renovation business) to his clients.
These new services, he figured, would result in more business.
And more business would mean more profits.
I can't tell you how plain silly this thinking is.
More profits come from more leads. Not more services.
Please re-read that.
More leads to your business allow you to craft systems to sell to them and that ultimately *may* lead to more profits.
But just because you can offer other services to someone does NOT mean you will make more money.
Small business owners would be wise to STOP FOCUSING on what else they can offer their clients...
And start focusing on leads.
Thinking about how to generate them, how to convert them, where to find them, how much they can pay for them.
Leads, leads, leads ... it's all about leads.
The strategy of "build it and they will come" can work ... but it's more like playing the lottery than building a business.
From our standpoint, business becomes much easier when you have herds of people knocking at your door.
Adding a new service to your business doesn't attract diddly squat.
OK, with that out of the way ...
You'll notice a common theme in what we're going to share. We started reading Dan Kennedy's newsletters and books over a decade ago and his advice has been very profitable.
He's direct and to the point, but more often than not he's right.
And most other "guru marketers" are all students of his stuff.
Most of all, his stuff is practical and real-world tested. Too many books written by Ivy League professors, Bloggers, and many Authors are all theory and no results.
Here we go...
#1 How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneurs Guide, Dan S. Kennedy
If you're looking to get started with your own business and learn about marketing at the same time this is the book for you. It has specific examples and gives you a ton to think about. Highly recommend it if you're just getting started.
#2 The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers, Boost Your Sales, Dan S. Kennedy
Most people will discount this book as applicable to "direct selling" and miss the point of the book. This book teaches you the fundamentals of how to sell with the written word. It's hugely valuable and can be applied to business-to-consumer sales or business-to-business sales. We have some "sales letters" that have produced over seven figures in revenues for us. If you already have a business or a business idea in mind pick up this book.
#3 Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform and Out-Earn the Competition, Jay Abraham
We've heard Jay speak live before, an interesting guy for sure. In our opinion, this book is even better than his live talks. It's jam-packed of thought-provoking marketing ideas. Highly recommend it. Check out the reviews on Amazon.com on this book.
#4 The Ultimate Marketing Plan: Target Your Audience! Get Your Message Out! Build Your Brand!, Dan S. Kennedy
This book outlines the basics of your marketing. Targeting a market, coming up with your own Unique Selling Proposition, how to use testimonials etc. It's not everything you'll ever need to know when it comes to a marketing plan but it's a great start. And the only book we've ever come across to even attempt laying out an actual plan.
#5 The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies, Chet Holmes
As soon as I read the first few chapters of this book I immediately ordered another copy to share with Nick. This book is BRILLIANT. It's much more of a sales book than a marketing book but the strategies shared work perfectly with the leads you'll generate from your marketing. A must-have for sure.
Some other thoughts...
It took us a long time to fully grasp marketing. Reading one of the books above won't answer all your questions or create the perfect blueprint for you.
But what it will do is get you started on a very profitable path.
Reading these books lead us to live training sessions, seminars and newsletter subscriptions that are some of our most useful business resources.
At some point we can share that stuff as well - they would be for people who are slightly more serious and willing to spend some money to learn.
Make no mistake, your marketing education is a journey and not a destination.
Until next time ... Your Life! Your Terms!
