in this issue:
The real dirt on the entrepreneurial lifestyle
Cash cows from yelling ‘keeeee YA!’
A simple postcard to get them back buying
3 steps for entrepreneurs who want to keep their sanity, freedom, health and a happy marriage
And Much More!
Fellow business builder,
Fellow Entrepreneurs share their deepest darkest secrets…
According to a recent article in Business Edge (Oct 27, 2006), only 35% of business owners feel they have their work and personal life in balance. That means 65% of us have our priorities out of whack!
If you deal with other entrepreneurs on a day-to-day basis – you MUST see this. Emailing and phoning people at all hours of the day and night. And all days of the week.
The recent 400 richest list in Forbes was interesting to note how many people were divorced or still married once they reached billionaire status.
I was expected a higher than average divorce rate – but it was more the opposite!
In other words: those who reached billionaire status had more family focus in their life than the general population (that’s my thoughts on it anyhow – billionaires typically see this problem and tackle it head on in order to catapult their success).
More from Business Edge: 61% of the same people would spend an extra hour a day with their personal matters if they could find the extra hour… rather than another hour at work.
Some other interesting stats:
38% work more than 5 days a week at their business
33% of entrepreneurs feel the most neglected task in their business is new client lead generation
25% feel that administrative work is the most time draining task on their plate
>> So what does this mean to you, and why have I shared this?
The ability (and skill) to balance work and family is much in demand. If you can find it in your own business you are in an enviable position and you need to protect what you have. It also appears that this ability to balance work and family will lead to a higher level of success than others.
If you are in a business that deals direct with entrepreneurs: remember these numbers! They are overworked. Under pressure for being overworked and away from the family. They want more time at home. And they want help looking after parts of their business that can be semi-automated (like lead generation – hint, hint).
To me, I see a number of opportunities here for you to capitalize on, do you?
I wanted to cover some different ideas this edition to help you improve your business profits – so that you CAN make the time for family and personal matters.
First comes family, freedom, and sanity…
One of the biggest challenge most entrepreneurs face in their business is the sheer passion they put into their business. Talk to any entrepreneur who is in a business they love, and they will be the first to say it consumes their thoughts, actions and life.
That passion can be your downfall.
I’m willing to bet that you too have found yourself working yourself way too hard, with little to no time for rest and relaxation.
Up early… straight to work.
Up late… some shut eye… then right back to it.
This can be a recipe for disaster UNLESS you mix in a few things I have personally found to save your hide.
I am ‘burning the candle at both ends’ right now. With the upcoming Wild West Wealth Summit in only a week, time is short and 14 things per hour need to be done.
But, a few simple things I am doing seem to be keep me sane, healthy… and married.
1) A break when the family is home. I shut things down from 5-9 for family. Take the kids to the park… or read with them… homework… play… and whatever else we can fit in. Kids could care less how much you love your business! While it may be a valuable lesson to them to follow their passions – with kids the age of mine (twin 6 year olds) – all they care about is jumping on the trampoline with me, playing, telling me about their day, and watching silly movies with dad. They are growing up way too fast as it is – so I make the time for them – and have a wonderful relationship with them as a result.
2) Downtime for Kari and I. My wife is also self-employed in a web design business – we work on some of the same accounts – and we see a lot of each other (while our offices are not both in the house, we still see lots of each other during the average week). So we get in people to help with the kids on weekends. We take nights off. We take weekends to do things we want to do. And we do our best to live as husband and wife – not just business partners.
3) Exercise. Last year I got a kick in the butt by catching pneumonia. Too little sleep… an unhealthy lifestyle… and a lack of exercise. So I got back into martial arts – which is my favorite form of exercise. These days I go 3 days a week for an hour and bit per class. I go to classes where I only work out with blackbelts (so I get pushed REAL hard, and I get twice the workout other students get). And I commit to my 3 days a week – same days, every week. Everything else is scheduled around my exercise – not the other way around.
Those 3 things have worked really well for me lately… and a few modifications for you and you may just find your energy level higher and your stress level lower.
Speaking of martial arts…
Marketing lessons from the master (Master Yu, that is)
When I decided it was time to get back into martial arts, I did it differently than in the past. This time I wanted my kids to join with me – and I wanted a school very close to where I work.
But I didn't want to go back to the place I used to.
Why?
• it was too rough for 6 year olds – I used to train hard in Kickboxing and Muay Thai which is quite hard for 6 yr olds
• their teachers were more ring fighters than teachers for kids (Team Canada trained there – and they won 90% of their battles across the world as the training was excellent)
• they only offered 1 kids-only class per week
So, off I went in search of a new school.
This time though, the girls (my daughters) got to pick. At that age, it is tough to keep them interested – so I had to make sure the school and teacher were going to be a good fit for them.
The first couple places we went to were awful – nasty teachers with no real concept of being a decent human being towards children. While I understand the need for discipline in martial arts – there is a point where you draw the line and say enough is enough.
Critical, downright nasty statements out of the teacher was enough to scare the girls, and me, away.
Then we found Master Yu.
He has some excellent marketing techniques in use here:
1. By appointment only. No dropping in to see what they are doing – you must book an appointment and stick to your appointment (they called 2 times before to make sure we would be there)
2. Must bring kids and myself – not just me as he wanted to meet the kids to see if THEY would be a good fit – turning the tables on us, in essence
3. He let them try some lessons – and made it easy and fun
4. He showed them all the other kids in his regular classes (kids have 4 classes a week – plus 3 family classes they could go to as well). NOTE: he has (on average) 30-35 kids per class – a sign he is doing something right.
5. He explained how they can get different colored belts
6. He refused to let us sign up for less than a year (too easy to quit after a month or two – give it a year and you are hooked)
7. He charges a big premium over others
8. Has a print monthly newsletter
9. He caters to his ideal client (the kids) – make it comfortable for them and fun – and they are customers for years to come – AND, ultimately, he can get their parents in as well!
And, YES, he did get us all in – and took a sizable donation out of my bank account!
The girls LOVE the class (once they are there anyhow, they give me grief getting there, but once there they have a blast! There are also 2 other identical twin girls in the class about the same age, which definitely helps).
And I love it as well! Lost some weight already... that in itself is great for a month. My classes are great – during the lunch hours there are only a few people in the classes so I end up getting some excellent one-on-one training with black belts.
The big lessons I took from his marketing systems:
1. YOU, the business owner, should be the one setting the rules for your clients – if they want to do business with you; it is on your terms, not theirs
2. DO NOT make yourself too accessible – make them work to do business with you
3. Give a test run – something free they can try – then they can decide if it is for them
4. Make the decision hard enough on the price point, but with ample reasons why a premium price is better
5. Constant communication with students (and, in this case, their parents)
6. Explain all the different offerings (belts) and what it means to you personally
7. Definitely NOT competing on price – a no-win battle – the market for upper end products and services is THE FASTEST GROWING market segment in North America.
Overall, I am really enjoying the martial arts – and in watching a master marketer at work! And of course, I will be finding a way to offer him additional marketing help in trade (got to always be looking for opportunities!)
ONE LAST THING I WANT TO LEAVE WITH YOU…
Here is a Simple postcard to get them buying
This is a sample postcard for an Art Gallery (it doesn’t matter that this is not your business – it only matters that you take the idea and MAKE it fit your business).
This was a whopping $100 investment – and made them a healthy $3,000 profit in 5 days (mailed out to 120 people). These numbers may seem small to you – but to this business it was huge… their biggest EVER. And after they implement the followup campaigns and lead generation sequences, they will see 10 times these numbers.
The postcards were done with gold foil invitation look… and went out to their existing customers (and NO, you cannot use email postcards to replace this – invest the money and do it properly! My offline marketing returns many times better response than online only (by 400% and more).
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Front of postcard
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A FREE $50.00 Gift Certificate has been gifted to YOU
By <your name> at <your business name>
I was just reflecting, as most of us do with the _____(insert your holiday or reason why here)_____ upon us, about people, and especially my most loyal and appreciated customers. I thought about some ideas of how I could say thank-you… What’s better than giving away money?
Come see us in the next 2 weeks with this $50 gift certificate. I will have some new help around the store to take care of your projects. Finally, get that picture framed that’s been under your bed or in the attic.
It’s my way of saying Thank-You for your loyal patronage!
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Back of postcard
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Welcome to the Michelangelo Club.. You will be the first to hear of (and benefit from) all the new offers for our Michelangelo members... Look for them in the mail… Enjoy your FREE GIFT.
See you this week… <name>
PS…. Come see me in the next 3 days and I will add an extra $5.00 to your gift certificate!!
Thank-you for your loyalty over the years and welcome to the Michelangelo Club.
What to do with your $50? (make that $55 if you come in soon)
• use it for custom framing
• use it as a down payment
• please allow up to 4 weeks to complete the project
When you come in… let me know your e-mail address for future Michelangelo specials coming up this year!!!
******
That was VERY simple – they wrote it up in half an hour – had it printed and mailed in the next 48 hours. There is nothing difficult about that – and yes, there are ample ways you could improve the offer. The point is - - IT WORKED. The point is not for you to critique it or poke holes in it – rather to find a way to make it work for your business.
There is undoubtedly ways you can get your existing clients back to buy – to buy more often – and to become more devoted purchasers (through clubs like this).
So… what offer can you make to your clients?
Summer is here.
Kids are home.
Christmas is only 5 months away.
Back to school sales.
Holiday sales.
Extended sunlight hours – more reasons to stay open later.
Hot weather.
Pool parties.
The ideas are endless if you put some thought into it and find ways to get them back to buy.
Find a few ways to make these lessons work for your business...
Let me know if there is anything at all I can help with. troy@smallbusinesscopywriter.com
To your success,
Troy White
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This article
was originally written for the Small Business
Mastery Column, which I write
every Tuesday for the World's
Highest Paid Copywriter, Clayton Makepeace.
If you want to get more articles like these, please visit
http://www.smallbusinessmastery.com,
part of The Total Package.
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I found this free PDF book, that has a great section on direct mail and postcard marketing. Here is the link:
http://www.studio1productions.com/sivkit.htm
Lots of great information on producing instructional videos.
Posted by: Rob Miller | October 28, 2007 at 05:44 PM