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The Duct Tape Marketing Small Business Marketing System

This complete small business marketing program contains 400 workbook pages and 12 audios CDs - packaged in a Duct Tape Marketing 3 ring binder. This is the same tool my coaches use to coach clients. Find out more.

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I am available to present small business marketing workshops, seminars and keynotes to groups and associations.

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Referral Flood - How to generate a flood of new business without spending one dime on advertising

The complete referral marketing system with over 50 real world referral tactics, examples and forms. Find out more!

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

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

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DuctTapeMarketing.com
Mar 12, 2008

In this issue:
Resource #1 - Free ebook - The Edge of Success
Main Article - Your Referral Sales Force
Resource #2 - Vision to Venture Tour
Further Reading - Duct Tape Marketing - John Jantsch
Featured Listening - Detours - Sheryl Crow

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Help me name my next book!

I am working on a new book all about using referrals as a primary marketing strategy and was curious what you thought would make an interesting title for such a book. It will tie into the Duct Tape Theme but needs it's own catchy title. Pleas Vote for your favorite here

Featured Resource #1 - Free ebook and bold offer

The Edge of Success: 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales

My friends at Infusion Software have put together a business building guide based on the honest telling of the their success story.

The free downloadable ebook contains some great advice on the fundamentals

The folks at Infusion are also making a pretty bold statement and putting it in the form of a contest.

When you fill out the form to get "The Edge" you will be sent an email explaining the "Edge of Success Contest".

Basically, they're so confident that their software can actually grow small businesses, that they're willing to put it to the test in front of the whole world. The winner of the contest will receive Infusion CRM for free, and then we will help them get implemented and double their sales in 3 months. Now, that's what I call a value proposition!

Featured Article

Create Your Own Referral Sales Force
Surround yourself with a network of competent professionals and add more value to your client relationships.

Joining referral networks like BNI or local chamber groups can be a great way to help you network and generate referrals. The most powerful way to use this strategy, however, is to grow your own.

Almost any business can benefit from having a group of trusted providers effectively marketing your business like a referral sales force. When you build your own private referral network your business benefits in two very powerful ways: you experience an increase in leads and you have additional resource to bring to your client relationships. In some cases, this second benefit may produce the greatest long-term impact of this approach.

How to build it

The key to building your own referral network is to focus on developing relationships with businesses you can believe in thoroughly. I would suggest that the first consideration should always be – what can this business bring to my client and not what can they bring to me. You might start by identifying the top products and services you know your current clientele need and use.

There are many ways to build a “formal” referral network. Let me explain the idea of formal. To me that means there is an agreement between the parties that explains what each party will do. There is a process where each party educates the other on the best way to refer each other. There are marketing materials of some form that help each business cross promote. Once this basis framework is in place, creativity can come into play in many ways.

The one place I see these efforts trip up is when the focus is on compensation. In other words, if everyone in the group is concerned about keeping score, the group is bound to fail. You must focus on the benefit to your clients, if you do that; the universe will take care of the rest. There will always be members that only want to take; you’ve got to be ready to move them out of your network.

Let me give you an example

This financial planner created his very own referral and lead network by sending a letter to 10 other professionals that he had worked with and felt comfortable referring business to. This letter informed them that he was creating a unique referral network of 100 of the area’s top professional service providers. He invited them to become members and explained that he needed them to recommend 10 others who belonged in this exclusive group.

He then created a resource directory and website that featured all 100 professionals. The entire group promoted the directory and web site and referred business to each other. As a result, other professionals begged to be allowed into the group. The strategy was so powerful that many of network members did no other form of marketing.

Once you put your group together there are many ways to take advantage of power of this new sales force.

Create a blog network

If ten or fifteen related businesses were to get together and create a blog focused on a specific target market, in a specific geographic location, they could easily create a very valuable local resource. With very little effort this blog would rank very highly for local search engines terms related to the blog topics. Even with the mainstream recognition of blogs this is still a wide open opportunity.

Interview each member for a teleseminar series

Host a monthly interview with an expert and feature one of your network members. You can conduct these interviews over the phone and have all the members invite attendees to the teleseminar series. Record each session and you’ve also created some killer content for other marketing efforts. Keep these calls non sales, high impact, and information rich.

Create co-branded white papers

You should be creating and using white papers in your lead generation efforts anyway, so take those educational pieces to other members of your network and let them start offering them to their clients and prospects. Put their logo on the cover with your logo and you’ve got an instant hit.

Do endorsed mailings

One of the simplest ways to promote members of your referral network is to mail a letter to your clients endorsing another member’s work. If every member of the group were to do this same thing you could experience an instant flood of new business.

Put on a group workshop

Once you have built a strong group you should consider hosting an all day workshop covering the hottest topics of concern to your target market. Each member of the group can present a topic and all parties invite participants. For some groups this could turn into a profit center above and beyond referrals.

Distribute marketing materials and offers

It’s pretty simple to create little leave behind marketing pieces so that when the plumber makes a house call he can leave a special offer from the heating and cooling and electrical members of the group.

Bundle each others products and services

In some cases partnering with your referral network can help you make a much more competitive offer. Putting your products and services together with two or three other providers might give your firm the ability to compete with much larger organizations.

With some careful consideration and a little effort you could build a referral network that would rival any sales force.

Related article - The Ultimate Referral System in 7 Steps

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John Jantsch is a marketing and digital technology coach, award winning social media publisher and author of Duct Tape Marketing. He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing small business marketing system. You can find more information by visiting 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

Featured Reading - Duct Tape Marketing - John Jantsch

Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Yes, this is my book, but I wanted to share some unsolicited, meaning I didn't know that so I couldn't ask them, although I would have, endorsements from regular readers.

"When it comes to delivering practical advise on how to market your small business, John Jantsch never disappoints. This book, his web site, his podcasts (everything he produces) is filled with practical information you can use to grow your small business.

. . . what strikes me most is that Mr. Jantsch seems to be deeply connected to the volksgeist of the small business crowd. He gets it. He feels our pain. He's accessible and down-to-earth. And he gives us an endless stream of ideas that can help you grow your business. It's like having a close buddy who takes you under his wing and shows you the clearest path to success.

Look, I know I'm dangerously close to idolatry here, but I can't praise this tome or anything Mr. Jantsch produces enough. That's how highly I regard him. This book and the other materials he shares with his audience are simply indispensable. Go get you some!" - D Vargas

A review on Amazon - I swear I did not make this up

Featured Listening - Detours - Sheryl Crow

I've always enjoyed Sheryl Crow's music, but I can't say that I'm a huge fan. Detours, for some reason, just really caught my ear. I feel like we are experiencing a grown up Crow.

She's lived through some public stuff (breast cancer, and the Lance thing) and some of that come's through in her lyrics, but most of the time this album sounds like she's having a pretty good time.