One of the questions I'm asked most often by my clients is,
"How can I most quickly build my business?" The answer is
to spend more time mining your database. It is often said
that the money is in your database. Here's how to mine
yours with these four easy steps that can quickly build
your bottom line.
STEP 1: Capture Every Contact with a Note
Create a category system that incorporates your personal
shorthand for dividing contacts by niche. When you receive
business cards, write a quick note on the back or front of
the card using your category system. For example, if you
are preparing to launch a new product that targets men and
women between the ages of 25 and 45 with incomes over
$75,000, that's too much information to write on the back
of a business card. Instead, you can invent your own
shorthand to write, say, "Code-75+." Then, when you add
your new contact to your existing database, the information
will already be properly coded by you.
Why do this? First, this is what major research marketing
companies do for a hefty price. They want to keep your
prospect and client lists as narrow and niche-focused as
possible. The more focused and niche-focused your group of
contacts, the higher percentage of sales conversions you
will enjoy.
Here's the math:
Product/Service + Niche Marketing = Higher Level of Sales
Conversions.
Second, finding and categorizing niches allows you to mine
contacts and group by similar wants and needs. I highly
recommend using the shopping cart Kickstartcart, which does
everything you need to communicate and track business and
potential business over the Internet.
Third, the more niche-focused and deep you go within a
group, the more likely you are to discover trends that will
help you develop products and services to better meet the
specific needs and interests of your clients and potential
clients. In many cases, you will be able to provide these
extras before they ask.
STEP 2: Create Specific Categories
One of the smartest ways to provide products or services
that your prospects and clients want is to ASK them. An
inexpensive way to do this is to prepare a survey to send
to your database. At www.surveymonkey.com, you'll find
sample surveys and dozens of helpful links. You'll be
amazed at how much marketing information you will find from
your survey. Your findings will help generate specific
categories for you to follow.
STEP 3: Go Deep Within Your Groups
Even though I know the hot trend in business is the
paperless office, I still like keeping business cards. You
can scan them into your computer, or you can keep the cards
in plastic holders in a large binder. I have several
binders.
Here's how keeping those cards on hand allowed me to
successfully go deeper into niche categories I already had
created. As I was marketing my first Branding &
Productivity Boot Camp, I revisited some of my business
cards, even though niche information already had been
captured by my KickStartCart database. I wanted to go
deeper.
In my case, I discovered a business card on which I'd
written a note that this person was interested in the idea
of having a Branding Makeover. This was information not
stored with my database, but discovering it prompted me to
make a phone call. She immediately signed up.
STEP 4: Keep Your Contact List Active
One of the most effective ways to attract new clients to
your business online and offline is to capture a person's
name and email address. Once you have this information, you
can communicate your message to clients over and over again.
A proven way to attract new prospects and convert them into
clients is by having them sign up at your Web site. You
accomplish this by offering information that is truly of
benefit. In this era of Information Overload, this is not a
matter of quantity. It's a matter of the quality of
information that can be understood easily and that is
useful to them.
Here are four products you can offer to your Web site
visitors in exchange for their name and email address:
1. Offer access to a well-researched White Paper on a
product or service that can become a useful tool in their
everyday life.
2. Create an e-zine with good information, and include an
article that will help them solve a problem. Offer your
expertise on emerging trends that can impact their business
or lifestyle.
3. Offer a mini-course on a topic in which you have unique
expertise. By using KickStartCart, you can quickly set up a
system that will allow visitors to download each mini-class
or receive it automatically via email. I am creating my
first seven-series mini-course as I write this.
4. Create easily downloadable reports. Some of the products
popular among my clients are titled "Five Biggest Time
Wasters and How to Overcome Them" and "20 Ways to
De-Stress." Ask yourself what the clients in your niche
categories would consider valuable, and tailor your reports
accordingly.
----------------------------------------------------
Ruth Klein, the De-Stress Diva (tm) and Branding Guru, is
the proverbial Woman About Town. Holding a Master's in
Clinical Psychology, consulting with renowned businesses -
small and large. Ruth is a consultant, author, speaker,
radio show host, branding strategist and productivity
coach. http://www.ruthklein.com .
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