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DuctTapeMarketing.com
May 03, 2006
In this issue:
Resource #1
- Marketing Workbooks and CDs
Resource #2
- Local Search Engine Business Profile
Main Article
- Make Them a Referral Offer They Can't Refuse
Duct Tape Coaches
-
Hire A Duct Tape Marketing Coach
Free Magazine -
4 free issues of PRWeek
Featured Reading -
Small Giants: Bo Burlingham
Featured Listening -
Living With War - Neil
Young
Business Week ran an
interview I gave last week on creating a marketing system
You can access the interview here
You can always
view past newsletter issues here!
Featured Resource -
The Duct Tape Marketing System Workbooks
The Ultimate Marketing System individual workbooks and audios. 15
workbooks and 12 audios. Buy one or buy them all. $29 Workbook
only/$39 workbook and audio.
Individual Workbooks and Audio CDs
Resource
-
Get Local
Search Engine Traffic
Don’t Let Your Small Business Get Left
Behind in the Local Search Engine Game
Get your local business found online automatically by local prospects with a
Duct Tape Marketing Local Search Engine profile. One of the best ways to get
your business found in your town by local prospects.
More
Make a Referral Offer They
Can’t Refuse
Sometimes it's the
clever way you promote your referral marketing system that can make the
difference.
 Sometimes
your referral marketing effort just needs the right hook or offer to get people
to pay attention and participate. Draw from my top 5 referral offer starters and
think of ways to creatively wrap your business around one or more of them.
1) Offer special pricing
If you are looking for referrals from your existing clients, you can develop a
special price for those clients who refer a set amount of new business. Then,
when a new client asks what the price of a product or service is, you can
respond, "Do you want the full price or the special referral price?" This
encourages repeat business and can provide a strong incentive to refer on the
spot.
2) Will work for referrals
If you can target a referral source that has influence with your target market,
you can offer a trial service or product in exchange for an endorsement of your
products or services, a testimonial or a place in the next association speaker
panel.
Seek out the leaders in trade groups and organizations you would like to target
and offer to perform a service or let them try your product free of charge. Get
them to agree that if they like your product or service as much as you know they
will, they will send a letter to the membership of the organization promoting
your offer. Then write the letter for them.
3) Help a worthy cause
Donate a percentage of business acquired by way of referral to a non-profit
agency. By offering to help a worthy cause, you can increase referrals while
improving your community.
There are many variations on this referral strategy. You can make donations to a
designated charity in your referral source’s name. You can allow your referral
sources to designate a charity of their choice. If you have a product or service
the non-profit agency uses or buys, you can donate that.
One of the hidden powers behind this strategy is that the non-profit agencies
can become strong referral partners. If they benefit from referring clients,
then they may be highly motivated to provide referrals. In many cases,
non-profit agencies have loyal donors, board members, community activists and
volunteers who would be happy to do business with a firm that was providing
funding for the non-profit agency through a referral marketing program.
4) Give away gift certificates
Although the use of gift certificates isn’t a true referral marketing strategy,
it can be great way to generate referrals. If you have a product or service that
lends itself to this, you can provide your clients or referral sources gift
certificates to use as a referral tool. The idea is that your clients would give
the certificates to people they feel would enjoy receiving them. In most cases,
these recipients would be new clients willing to try your service by using the
certificate.
A consultant might give certificates for a one-hour evaluation assessment. The
value of the assessment, if purchased, might be $150. It is important that the
certificate communicate this value. Make sure that what you are giving has a
high, perceived value.
A plumber could give free service call certificates at each stop and ask the
client to hand them out to neighbors.
5) 100% refund for referrals
This is one of my personal favorites because not only is it a terribly powerful
referral strategy, it presents such a strong offer that it can become a core
point of differentiation.
In other words, the sales message is so strong, you become known for it.
In this strategy, you simply show your clients how they can receive a 100%
refund on a specific purchase by simply referring five other people who become
clients or make a similar purchase. (Again, you work out the numbers that apply
to your business.)
The power behind this is three-fold.
It helps you land clients because people think, “What the heck, I can get all my
money back,” and because it becomes a game for them. Structure your offer in
such a way that they get a 20% refund (up to 100%) every time they refer
someone. That way, they can keep score. It usually makes sense to put a time
limit on the offer as well.
Another very important aspect of this particular strategy is that it has a viral
component to it.
Anyone who can earn a 100% refund will talk about it. In addition, everyone who
comes to your practice by way of this method will already understand the rules
of the game and may very well be ready to play the day they become a client. So,
that’s 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 and so on. You do the math!
Reread that last paragraph because it is true of just about any referral
marketing strategy you create. That’s one of the reasons referral marketing is
so powerful.
~ ~ ~
John Jantsch is a veteran marketing coach, award winning blogger and author of
Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
published by Thomas Nelson - due out in the fall of 2006
He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing small business marketing system.
You can find more information by visiting
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com
You may reprint this article in its entirety if you attribute the article
to John Jantsch and include the information about the author above.
Duct
Tape Coaches -
Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Coaches - coming to a town
near you (already spanning the USA, UK and Canada!) -
FIND OUT MORE
The If you really want to take
your business to the next level hire a Duct Tape Marketing Coach.
Duct Tape Marketing Coaches can offer you personal and phone based marketing
coaching based on the Duct Tape Marketing Ultimate Marketing System.
The network of
Duct Tape
Marketing Authorized Coaches will become the recognized brand of
small business marketing coach.
Find A Duct Tape
Marketing Authorized Coach
Next Group forming for training in
September 2006! To be notified
Email John Jantsch
Featured Reading
Small Giants - Companies that choose to be great instead of big -
Bo Burlingham
Burlingham explores what makes 14 companies that you may never have heard of
great. He digs into the conscious chose the founders of these companies make to
keep the mojo or buzz going without the traditional chase to get big.
I interviewed Burlingham, editor at large for Inc magazine, for my podcast site.
Look for that interview to publish soon.
Featured
Listening
Living With War- Neil Young
Regardless of your politics it's hard to argue that few people can pull of a
protest album like 60s rocker Neil Young. Young recorded this album just months
after last year's award winning
Prairie Wind and clearly has an opinion of war, but instead of forced anger
you get poetry and music with a clear message.
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Featured Resource #1
The Duct Tape Marketing Small Business Marketing System
This complete small business marketing program contains 15 workbooks, 12
audios CDs - packaged in a Duct Tape
Marketing 3 ring binder. This is the same tool I use to coach my
clients.
Find out more.
Featured Resource #2 -
The Duct Tape Marketing System Workbooks
The Ultimate Marketing System individual workbooks and audios. 15
workbooks and 12 audios. Buy one or buy them all. $29 Workbook
only/$39 workbook and audio.
Individual Workbooks and Audio CDs
Featured Resource #3 -
Digital Version Now Available for Immediate Download
Referral Flood
- How to generate a flood of new business without spending one dime on
advertising
I
just released a digital version that allow you to download the 125 page
ebook as a PDF file and MP3 Audios. I also passed on the saving to you.
The digital version is $79 (as opposed to $97 for printed version) + no
shipping
Featured Resource #3 -
Blog Lightning -
How To Create and Promote Your Blog In
A Flash
Drawing from my experience creating blogs, including my award winning
Duct Tape Marketing Blog, I have launched a complete step-by-step guide
that takes you by the hand and shows you exactly what to do to instantly
create and promote a successful blog for your business.
You also get 14 video screencast tutorials that allow you to watch over
my shoulder as I actually do the steps I outline in the system - It does
not get any easier than this! -
Order Blog Lightning
Featured Free Magazine
PRWeek
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publications on a wide variety of topics and industries
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Tape Marketing Podcast
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