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The 3 Most Powerful Things You Can Do NOW To Get More Business in 2011

Here are 3 things (actually 5 things now, I added two more) you can do now, easily, for free, that will absolutely, positively, without a doubt, bring you more business in 2011…

Once, Twice, Thrice

Are you posting to your blog once per week? Do you want to grow twice as fast? The solution is simpler than you may realize. Post TWICE per week. Want to grow thrice as fast? Post THREE times per week. Did I really just use the word ‘thrice’? Yes, I did. It’s the new thing

Why does this stupidly simple tactic work? Because no one is perfect. Not even me, as hard as that is to believe. I know; I’m going to get a LOT of disagreement on this point, but it’s just true. I’m not perfect. So I make up for it through hard work. I created an ebook that flopped. Then I created another. It flopped. Then I created one that got me over a thousand new leads. Actually, it’s over 1500 leads now. Here’s a screenshot from bit.ly, which I use to track downloads:

Ask yourself this…where would I be if I had stopped after the first two failures?

It’s completely ridiculous, but it’s true. If you want to get more business, do more marketing. Put yourself out there more often. Be more vulnerable. Make more mistakes. Do more.

Music industry people know this. I used to play in a rock band (this gives me street cred, so I mention it every once in a while). Movie industry people know this also. 1 in 20 well-made, awesome, “sure thing” projects are going to do really, really, really well. The rest are going to crash and burn.

Yes you have to be good, but that’s not enough. Some of your stuff is going to flop, and some of it is going to connect in a big way. The trick is, PREDICTING which content is going to fail and which is going to rock people’s world is really hard to do. Business just seems to work this way. It’s feast or famine. The all-to-oft-forgotten story of success in business is that successful business owners experience BOTH. It’s not really feast or famine. It’s feast AND famine. You gotta be willing to take the good with the bad.

If I can impress just one thing upon you in this post, it would be that some of the stuff you’re going to do IS going to connect and take your business to a whole new level. It is frickin inevitable…as long as you’re good and keep at it. If you want more success in a shorter period of time, do more. If you’re not already in the middle of a “feast” period, you have time. Make it happen.

Learn more

Real estate agents and other licensed professionals call this “continuing education”. It’s crucial. If you think you know everything you need to know, boy are you mistaken. I rarely hear new, ground-breaking stuff when I attend a conference. I’ve heard it before, but the presenter has a new take on it that inspires me to take action. Or perhaps the last time I heard it, I wasn’t ready or able to execute it in my business. It’s really important to stay on top of your business, and continuing your education is an inextricable part of that.

Is it worth a thousand bucks to two thousand bucks to attend an industry conference in your field? It’s worth ten times that. Can’t afford it right now? Read books, subscribe to blogs, join a mastermind group. The options are myriad. Bottom line, one little tip or a small tweak to what you’re already doing can often significantly increase your performance. It’s worth the time. It’s worth the money. If you can’t afford to invest in your business, you can’t afford to be in business. Make it happen.

Be faster

Opportunity is a funny little bugger. It’s not static. It’s dynamic. Just because someone wanted to buy from you yesterday doesn’t mean they still want to buy from you today! A single hour (or less) is all it takes for a consumer to find another option. Are you responding to inquiries within 24 hours? Want to dramatically increase your production? Cut your follow up time in half.

It doesn’t matter what business you’re in. Hustle matters. It impresses people when you get back to them promptly. It instills trust, and it communicates to your buyers that you actually appreciate them. Hustle rocks. It works every time. Is it legitimately impossible for you to be any faster? Just too busy? Congratulations! It’s time to hire some help. Make it happen.

Bonus 1: Ask for what you want

Do you want more subscribers to your email list? Then why is your opt in box obscure? Why isn’t there an incentive for people to opt in? Why are there a bunch of ads underneath your call to action, competing for your visitors’ attention?

Do you want more sales? Then why do you never make offers? Why are there no sales pages on your site?

I met with a client a few days ago. She’s a real estate agent and had come back from showing a home and failed to get a purchase offer. There are always a number of factors involved, but my first question was “Did you ask them to buy it?” After some beating around the bush, the answer of course, was “Well, no.”

Seriously…how can you get what you want if you don’t ask for it?

So many of us are so afraid of being perceived as a “sleazy salesman” that we avoid selling altogether. If you’re doing this for fun, that’s totally cool. But if so, you’re probably not reading this long ass blog post. You’re probably in business, and you probably want to sell stuff. If so, you need to ASK people to buy it. This means one thing: directly, unapologetically asking for the order! Tactfully of course. But it still must be done.

If you’re depending on people to visit your “services” page or your “products” page, figure out what you do and then take the initiative to contact you, you’re doing what I’ve heard Michael Martine refer to as “selling from your heels”. Sure, you’re gonna get some business on occasion, but it’s not going to be anywhere near as much as you would get if you grow a set and start asking for what you want.

Want to make more money in 2011? Ask for it! Make it happen.

Bonus 2: Give bonuses

Brian Clark describes this sales tactic perfectly in his post, But Wait, There’s More!

People love bonuses. Wouldn’t it be easier to just include the bonuses in the offer and call it a day? Surely people are intelligent enough to see value when it is present, right? Yeah, that’s not really how it works

Are you selling a product? Chop off the last part of it and include it as a bonus. Are you selling a service? Tack on a product or something else as a bonus. I’m telling you, when you include a bonus (or three), it’s perceived well, and it will increase your conversions. Bottom line, you’ll sell more without doing anything more.

Stupid? It’s not. It’s packaging. If you ordered a pound of beef from the butcher, and he chucked it at you from across the room, that’s what I call poor packaging. That’s the kind of beef that makes you leave and never come back. If he wraps it up and hands it to you with a smile, that’s how the butcher gets market price for his product. If he wraps it up all fancy and ships it to your home with a singing telegram, that’s what I call kinda weird, but some people will really dig it and happily pay thrice as much.

Same damn beef. Different packaging. Very different results.

Want to do basically the same thing but make more money? Change your packaging. Offer a bonus.

Bonus 3: Under promise; over deliver

What? I can’t count? Yes, I can count. The title says “3″, the first line of the post says “5″, but there’s actually 6 concepts in this post. This is now officially the most impressive post on the whole internet, isn’t it? I’ve totally thrown you for a loop. Your mind is blown. Drool is coming out the side of your mouth. OK, I’ve gotten carried away. But the concept is solid…

People WANT to have their minds blown. If you give people what they expect, you don’t get a thank you. You don’t get crap. Things happen on extreme ends of the spectrum. If you really suck, you’re going to hear about it. If you’re really awesome, you’re going to hear about it. If you just do what you’re “supposed” to do, forget about it. That’s the worst place to be. Being good is a recipe for eternal obscurity. Take your pick. Either be completely awesome or the most shockingly horrible at what you do, but for God’s sake…don’t give people what they expect.

If you want a sustainable, awesome business, I recommend using the “under promise; over deliver” principle. It’s classic. It works. It blows minds. This ALSO gets people to talk to their friends and send you referrals.

If you can make it happen in a day, promise it in 3 days, then blow their mind. If you can do the project for $1000, quote em $1250, then blow their mind. Stupid? Stupidly simple, maybe. But it works, it’s legal, and last time I checked over-delivering was 100% ethical. Mindblowing in fact. Make it happen.

Final Thought

I get asked my opinion on stuff a lot. Clients want to know what I think of this new website or a new marketing program. We’re easily drawn in by shiny new things. I am totally down with shiny stuff myself, but always, always, always take care of the basics first! Small tweaks and little details are what your customers are going to appreciate the most. The double benefit is that most of this stuff…if not ALL of it…costs little or nothing, and it WORKS.

I often get static from people, because my answer is usually “Put down the shiny new toy for a minute, and let’s take care of these basics FIRST. After you have them integrated into your business, then let’s look at new stuff. First things first.” What do you think about this? Do you agree? Or are the basics overrated, outdated, antiquated?

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Published by: Grant Griffiths

Related posts:

1. 12 Ways You Are As Powerful As He Man If You Use The Internet
2. How to use your business blog as a business building apparatus
3. 12 Ways to Build Relationships with other Business Bloggers

Full post as published by Blawg for Profit on December 21, 2010 (boomark / email).