Sunday questions, sunday answers
We're going to take just a bit of time to answer a few questions today, and then I'm going to go watch some football, and take a break from my hectic "Mr. X" schedule.
Here we go:
Mr. X--
You mentioned that marketing to small business owners is extremely profitable because they are proven repeat buyers. My question is what is the best way to get a list of the best business owners to do mailings to? Yes I know there are the Yellow pages etc. but I'm wondering what would be your favored approach to acquiring a solid list to market your business improvement information.
Thanks,
John
Mr. X: John, that's a great question. The first thing I'd tell you to do is to "niche." That means going after a specific class of small business owners, not just small business owners in general. There are many information marketers who have made a huge fortune selling only to a niche. Some examples are:
chiropractors, realtors, carpet cleaners, dentists, auto repair guys, painting contractors, etc. You can find lists of these people either in the SRDS, or you can run small "lead generating ads" in the niche publications they read. Again, the SRDS has a list of all these trade publications, many of which are very cheap to advertise in.
Dear Mr. X,
How much money do I have to pay for a month's worth of advertising on Google saying that I paid .05 per click on my ad?
- Joseph K.
Mr X: Thanks for the question, Joseph. You don't actually pay for advertising in advance with Google--you give them a credit card, and you're charged whenever someone clicks on your ad at the rate you set it. You can discontinue it whenever you want to if the ad doesn't perform, or you can increase your cost per click to get more exposure. You can also set a limit on what you spend daily, so Google has a lot of neat features. It's a great way to test what you're selling for cheap--if you don't like the results you're getting you simply discontinue the ad. So, you really get to determine what you pay for it.
Mr. X--
Interesting questions, especially the one - "I have a product to sell, how can I market it?
The market should come first. Once you have determined what people want, then give it to them. If you have gone so far as to determine what people want, then you know who to sell it to. Starting out with the product then trying to find a market is putting the cart before the horse.
Phil
Mr. X: Thanks for the contribution, Phil. I couldn't have said it any better myself. One of the biggest mistakes people make in business (which is perpetuated by broke college professors who teach MBA students how to run companies into the ground), is creating a product they think "everybody needs" and then trying to sell it to people who don't want it. Much better to discover a "want" then create a product to fulfill that want. More people have gone broke following the moronic saying, "Find a need and fill it." People don't buy what they need, they buy what they want--if you listen to them, then create the product to fulfill that want, you'll succeed in business.
That's it for today, guys--I'm off to watch some football.
Let's get to it...
Mr. X.
Group M Marketing
Kimble and Kennedy Publishing
Here we go:
Mr. X--
You mentioned that marketing to small business owners is extremely profitable because they are proven repeat buyers. My question is what is the best way to get a list of the best business owners to do mailings to? Yes I know there are the Yellow pages etc. but I'm wondering what would be your favored approach to acquiring a solid list to market your business improvement information.
Thanks,
John
Mr. X: John, that's a great question. The first thing I'd tell you to do is to "niche." That means going after a specific class of small business owners, not just small business owners in general. There are many information marketers who have made a huge fortune selling only to a niche. Some examples are:
chiropractors, realtors, carpet cleaners, dentists, auto repair guys, painting contractors, etc. You can find lists of these people either in the SRDS, or you can run small "lead generating ads" in the niche publications they read. Again, the SRDS has a list of all these trade publications, many of which are very cheap to advertise in.
Dear Mr. X,
How much money do I have to pay for a month's worth of advertising on Google saying that I paid .05 per click on my ad?
- Joseph K.
Mr X: Thanks for the question, Joseph. You don't actually pay for advertising in advance with Google--you give them a credit card, and you're charged whenever someone clicks on your ad at the rate you set it. You can discontinue it whenever you want to if the ad doesn't perform, or you can increase your cost per click to get more exposure. You can also set a limit on what you spend daily, so Google has a lot of neat features. It's a great way to test what you're selling for cheap--if you don't like the results you're getting you simply discontinue the ad. So, you really get to determine what you pay for it.
Mr. X--
Interesting questions, especially the one - "I have a product to sell, how can I market it?
The market should come first. Once you have determined what people want, then give it to them. If you have gone so far as to determine what people want, then you know who to sell it to. Starting out with the product then trying to find a market is putting the cart before the horse.
Phil
Mr. X: Thanks for the contribution, Phil. I couldn't have said it any better myself. One of the biggest mistakes people make in business (which is perpetuated by broke college professors who teach MBA students how to run companies into the ground), is creating a product they think "everybody needs" and then trying to sell it to people who don't want it. Much better to discover a "want" then create a product to fulfill that want. More people have gone broke following the moronic saying, "Find a need and fill it." People don't buy what they need, they buy what they want--if you listen to them, then create the product to fulfill that want, you'll succeed in business.
That's it for today, guys--I'm off to watch some football.
Let's get to it...
Mr. X.
Group M Marketing
Kimble and Kennedy Publishing
