The Sales Lion » Small Business Marketing

Why ‘Because it’s the Best’ is NOT a Good Sales Pitch

Marcus Sheridan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:06:58 +0000

As I was busy driving around in the traffic jams of Northern Virginia a few days ago, I took a pit stop into a mall so I could stop by ‘The Walking Company’, a business that sells special walking shoes, orthotics, etc. Because the plantar fasciitis in my left foot has been kicking my butt lately, I’m to the point where I’ll pay anything to get rid of this pain-in-my-arch

So after being in The Walking Company for a few minutes and having picked up a new set of orthotics, I noticed the perfect pair of dress-shoes for work—brown leather, sleek look, and just my style (whatever that style may be). Immediately, I asked the sales lady if she had the shoe in my size, to which she replied yes and soon returned with the perfect pair.

Upon trying them on, I could immediately tell they were comfortable, well made, and of high quality. Yep, I wanted them, which led to the following conversation between me and the sales lady.

“How much?”

“$149”

“Yikes…kinda steep…What makes them so good?”

“They’re Pikolinos….they’re the best.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’re good, but why? Why are they the best?”

“That’s what they’re known for. Pikolinos are just the best.”

At this point, I knew I was dealing with someone who knew as much about Pikolinos as I did. I was frustrated and unsure as to what to do.

As I walked around the store with ‘the best’ on my feet, I ended up playing a personal ping-pong match in my head as to whether or not they were worth it. Would they last? How beneficial were they for people with arch issues? What are customers saying about this shoe?

But alas, the answers were not meant to be on that day. Nor was the sale of those lovely brown Pikolinos, as I had no choice but to hold off on the purchase until I had been able to justify spending $150 on a pair of shoes.

Here is the thing though: I wanted to buy the shoes. Heck, I have no problem spending 150 bucks if I know it’s going to help me feel better. It’s not that I’m tight with money, I’m just like everyone else—I want to know I’m getting the right thing for me and not wasting my money.

How could any major chain like The Walking Company allow their employee product knowledge to be so abysmal in this economy? Beats the heck out of me, but it just goes to show that no matter how bad the economy may or may not be, sales training for employees stinks in most cases. Education is not at the forefront of these businesses and because of this poor focus, sales suffer—in a major way.

So if you’re in sales or have a retail store, don’t settle for average sales people. Don’t allow ‘because it’s the best’ to ever be a sales pitch for anything. Create a culture of education, teaching, and passion that not only instills confidence in consumers just looking for a reason to buy, but also sets your company as the industry expert in your field. Believe it or not, such a culture shift isn’t that hard, as very few are actually doing it. So be different. Be great. Teach everyone. And let the sales follow.

How Social Web has Lead to the Fall of the Top Business and Entrepreneurship Schools in America….and What Can be Done About It.

Marcus Sheridan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:39:32 +0000

About two years ago I was invited to speak at one of the more prestigious business and entrepreneurship schools in the country. Because teaching is my passion, I readily accepted the offer and was enthralled to be able to speak with about 100 students in 4 different classes regarding owning a business and the successes and failures I had experienced during my time as an entrepreneur.

Although the event was an extremely positive one in terms of the powerful discussions I was able to have with some of the top young business minds in the country, I was left with a major concern:

Our country’s greatest business schools, and our country’s greatest professors, have been left behind.

What I mean by this statement is the fact that this particular school offered in their curriculum to students no blogging/content marketing lessons, did not touch upon video marketing (ie YouTube), didn’t mention social media, and without question did not make it requisite for business owners to understand basic web 2.0 design principles.

Now some of you may be thinking, “Well duh Marcus, they are not an information technologies school, they’re a business school.”

But if you have such a thought let me assure you that you’re off-base and a paradigm shift is highly warranted.

A New Day

Today’s business owner and entrepreneur must be web savvy. He/she must not just know computers, but they must understand Web 2.0 and everything about social web. Without such knowledge, they will be left behind as soon as they enter the marketplace and get a taste of ‘the real world’.

This is also why colleges with businesses and entrepreneurship programs are failing around the globe. Because they’ve been so slow to integrate the new business success principles of the 21^st century a unique shift is happening-

Business school graduates are getting their butts kicked by ‘average Joes and Janes’ simply because Joe and Jane didn’t waste time and money in schools to figure out this incredible marketing shift that has taken place because of web 2.0. Instead of listening to an outdated professor, they’ve been reading blogs like Chris Brogan. Instead buying outdated textbooks, they’ve been gobbling up the words of Seth Godin. And instead of talking about business, they’ve actually been running a business.

If you don’t believe me, just look around online and you’ll see this phenomenon everywhere. The younger generation, heck, many teenagers for that matter, are becoming a major force in the economy without having ever attended one day of college at all.

Where do Colleges Go From Here?

There must be a change. Colleges and business schools need to recognize this need and change their entire curriculums. Also, professors need to spend more time staying on the cutting edge and less time teaching old business and marketing principles that have been deemed irrelevant and outdated in 2010 and beyond. Change within technology and how it relates to business is too dynamic in the 21^st century to rest on past successes and principles. As social web has such an incredible rate of development each and every day, schools literally need to revamp the way they do things on a yearly, heck monthly, basis.

Such a change will not be easy, no doubt. But if business and entrepreneurship schools want to continue to produce leaders that will set the tone our world’s economy going forward, the status quo must be completely thrown out the door, and a technical revolution must occur within the confines of our classrooms…….Such is my vision, I only hope it’s not too late.

Marcus Sheridan

Open vs. Closed Source Paradigms: Which Do You Choose for Your Business and Life?

Marcus Sheridan — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:04:37 +0000

Open Source—I’d never heard the phrase until I’d entered the world of internet marketing, but the first time I’d learned of this incredible idea it brought a smile to my face. For those of your unfamiliar with ‘open source’, it basically has its roots in the development of software that isn’t proprietary per se, but rather open for the masses to work on, use, improve and therefore benefit the public.

I mention this because I had quite an interesting experience this week that I thought was quite a telling example of the two paradigms business owners, marketers, and humans in general can choose to have in 2010 and beyond when it comes to ‘Open vs Closed Source’. It went a little something like this:

On one of my more popular swimming pool educational videos shown on YouTube, a guy, obviously pretty bright, left a comment explaining how I was scientifically wrong with the information I had shared in the video. Not wanting to give any misinformation, and despite the fact the gentleman was a little condescending in his comment, I decided to surprise this fellow and send him a message with the invitation to write a guest post on my popular swimming pool blog about the subject and break it all down scientifically so that others could better understand the product of discussion. I also told him he’d get a link back to his website and it would be quite a positive branding move on his part.

What happened next though is what surprised me. When the gentleman responded back to my invitation of a guest post, he basically said he was not interested in sharing his intellectual property because he was too busy with other projects and didn’t have the time. I knew such a claim was bogus and therefore decided to give him a little verbal jab by telling him, in a concise way, how I felt about his position:

“Interesting, I thought you shared an ‘open source’ paradigm.”

Knowing the person on the receiving end of the message was quite the analytic based on his previous comments, I knew such a statement would not settle well. And to no surprise, a few days later the person wrote me a lengthy response, part of which included the following, word for word:

“What made you think that I had an “Open Source” paradigm?

I share information where I can; however, I still have to make money, like anyone else. You make money based on your specialized knowledge. You don’t give it all away for free. People pay you because you know things that they don’t know.”

At this point, my communication with this gentleman ended. I’d made my point. He’d made his. But there was a major philosophical difference that came out between me and this individual, and it was with this statement:

“You don’t give it all away for free.”

Excuse me sir, but this is where you’re wrong. In fact, anyone that reads this blog or has been to one of my seminars knows exactly what I’m talking about here. Everything I know is given away for free. I hold nothing back…which is exactly why people pay me. And it’s exactly because I have given so much away for free that people will in-turn trust me and ultimately use my services. Fact is, I do give away everything. Why? Simple:

The Law of Reciprocity is real. The Law of Abundance never fails.

This gentleman, although very knowledgeable, clearly just doesn’t understand how these laws work. He’s afraid of giving too much truth and therefore suffers from a ‘lack’ mentality. And frankly, it’s sad.

Over the past 18 months I’ve written over 200 ‘self-help’ articles. About half are about swimming pools. The other half are found herein at The Sales Lion. This ‘giving’, which at times has brought me major criticism from the industry’s ‘status quo’, has lead to unbelievable changes in my life. My personal brand and finances have been blessed. I’ve made tremendous friendships and helped thousands of people. Each and every day seems as if it’s bringing with it another piece of joy, satisfaction, and opportunity. In short, I have given much, and received even more.

But may I also say I knew this would happen. It’s no surprise. Again, that’s just how the Universe and its laws work. It’s always been that way and will only continue to be.

I don’t mention these things to brag. Any of you that read this blog regularly know it’s not my style. I only say this to stress the need that we all have to live and act with an abundant mentality. Be ‘open source’ in all things. Don’t be that guy who hoards truth and lives his life with a constant sense of lacking. Give, give, give. By so doing, I can testify to you that your acts and teachings will be rewarded as temporal and spiritual blessings will abound in your life.

The Most Important Customer Review of Hubspot You’ll Ever Read

Marcus Sheridan — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:01:18 +0000

We live in interesting times. For small businesses throughout the world, it’s a time when many are realizing the need to make a change. The old stuff no longer works. Whether it’s radio, TV, print, direct mail, etc.—the times have changed. These forms of outbound marketing are, more or less, dead in most industries. Inbound marketing (attracting people to your site) is the new wave, the future of the way all small businesses will think and act. But for a HUGE majority of these businesses that are the heart of the world’s economy, there’s a major problem—

Online Marketing and Web Design are Hard, if not Impossible, if You’re Not a Tech Nerd

The direction of your company may very well lie with Hubspot....

I used to share this same problem. For 7 years I was the average pool guy running an average swimming pool construction business, attempting to fight the tide of web consumers that I was out of touch with. Even worse, I was a complete and total web dufus. Although I wanted badly to be in control of my own website and its content, my hands were completely tied. I was stuck. And I knew I’d soon go broke if I didn’t make a change and get with the 21^st century.

Luckily for me though, I stumbled upon a website that ‘grades’ other websites on a scale of 1-100. Eager to see where my company’s website would score, I entered our information, and out came the grand score of 17 out of 100. In that moment, Hubspot’s WebGrader tool gave me a smack in the face like nothing else had done up to that point. It was the moment of truth.

It was also in that moment that I made a commitment to get out of my comfort zone and learn what it was to have a great website for my business that would surpass the needs and expectations of today’s consumer. Within a half-hour of learning more about Hubspot, I knew I’d stumbled upon what I was missing—the bridge that would take a web dummy to web, or should I say ‘Inbound Marketing’, expert.

Rocketing to the Top

Over the past 20 months I’ve been engulfed in following the teachings of Hubspot’s system and doing everything I could to take my business to the next level. And without question, boy has it worked. To make a long story short, our site is now one of the top swimming pool websites in the country. Its blog is nationally recognized. Organic (free) search has shot through the roof and our brand is so well known that the sales process is quicker and easier than it has ever been. All this while trying to be a ‘pool guy’ in a very down economy.

So much has Hubpsot changed my business and life that I now give web and marketing classes to other businesses. I’m the type of guy that believes in the law of abundance. I believe that good things need to be shared so that we can all stand at the top and share in success. This is also why I’m writing this article on my own volition as a Hubspot customer. By no means has HS(we’ll call them that for short) asked me to do this.

But as I’ve read various reviews of their product online, I’ve taken offense by certain people and companies that have talked down their product and system without really having a leg of experience to stand on and therefore make judgments. That’s what makes this review different. I’m just like you. We’re in this together.

So the following is a list of common questions and concerns I’ve seen mentioned regarding the HS system. I’ll do my best to be succinct and frank with each answer, as I feel that’s always the most effective means of communication.

Does It Work?

Does a bear poop in the woods? Oh, sorry, just had to slip that one in there. Yes it works—for those that make it work. In other words, there is this myth out there in the world that some webmaster guy or group can magically make your company appear on the first page of Google for just about any phrase you’d like. This is a total lie and all those guys should be imprisoned, at least in my humble opinion. The fact is establishing a strong web presence does take work and effort. But the beauty behind HS is that they provide you with all the tools and resources necessary to do so. And when I say all, I really mean ALL—hence their all-in-one system. Whether it’s blogging, web design for dummies, video marketing, social media, analytics, etc, HS gives you the tools necessary to do very well with each—and measure your effectiveness with each while you’re at it. For anyone that says, “Hubspot doesn’t work or didn’t work for my business” I give you this rebuttal: Hubspot wasn’t the problem, you were simply too lazy to make it work for you. They gave you everything you possibly needed, but as a wise man once said:

You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

Why would I switch from my existing website to Hubspot?

Control: This is an absolute no-brainer. HS has one of the simplest content management systems I’ve ever seen. For those of you unfamiliar with this phrase, it’s basically a system that allows ‘Non Techies’ to design their own websites with almost no previous programming or code knowledge. Such a tool allows business owners and their employees to overcome the terrible bottleneck of having a webmaster and ultimately take back the keys to their web marketing vehicle. This sense of empowerment is amazing, but it’s only a fraction of the HS benefit.

Analytics: HS has intensive analytics tools built in that allow you to track everything you can possibly know about your web and social media traffic. With mountains of charts, stat sheets, etc; you will be able to have a firm grasp on the best and worst pages of your website. You’ll know what is generating leads and what’s not. And you’ll also have a clear idea of words that you rank for in the search engines and ones that you can improve on.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization, or your ability to show up on the first page of Google’s (and others) search results, is a key to web marketing that cannot be ignored. Because the search engines can be hard to understand and rather fickle, HS has various tools that allow you to know the SEO strengths and weaknesses of each page on your site, therefore allowing you to make adjustments and better optimize each page, which will in-turn mean more traffic, leads, and ultimately sales.

Competitors: Do you know how good your competitor’s websites are? If you don’t, then you’re missing out. HS not only tells you all the words/phrases your competitors rank for in Search Engine Results, but they will also tell you about the links your competitors have coming into their sites, the grade of their site, and if they’re moving forwards or backwards in terms of their web effectiveness. Simply put, this tool is incredible and a must for any business.

Awesome Lead Analysis/Tools: HS is all about getting you more leads and converting those leads into sales. This is why they’ve set up tremendous systems for creating lead capture forms, automated email follow-ups, and lead grading. When it comes down to it, the more you know about your leads, and the more you can nurture the leads in your sales funnel, the more sales you’ll make. It’s that simple and it works. My pool company’s closing rates are around 50%, an extremely high number for the swimming pool industry which averages around 20%.

Super Simple Blogging Platform: Every, and I mean EVERY, company in 2010 must have a blog if they expect search engines and consumers alike to take them seriously. HS makes it easy for your business to integrate a blog directly into its website, which in-turn enables you to build more subscribers and leverage blogging as an SEO tool. Along with the blogging platform, HS has many built-in analytics tools to help you know which blog articles are working and which ones need improvements. This tool alone made HS worth its weight in gold as it saved/made my company thousands of $$$ in increased leads and sales through great consumer education combined with a concise SEO strategy.

How Much Does It Cost and Is Hubspot Worth It?

I’m always baffled when a potential HS customer calls me as a reference and they think HS is expensive. Currently, HS has a few different ‘tiers’ that companies can choose, but at the time of this writing, their ‘Hubspot Small’ package goes for $3000 per year and the ‘Medium’ package is $9,000. My pool company uses the medium package and I have a web coaching start up that uses their small package. What’s really perplexing to me though is the fact that businesses will blow thousands a month on the Yellow Pages, or radio, or direct mail, etc—all of which have very short-term results and practically no residual—yet these same companies hesitate to spend a few thousand dollars a year on a system that will bring them leads, at an increasing rate, FOREVER. What am I missing here? For me, spending 9k a year on what amounts to 90% of my company’s advertising is utterly laughable. When it comes down to it, if companies really understand how much $$$ HS will save them (assuming they do their part) then they’d be offering to pay more for the system just to get up and going tomorrow. I really mean this with all sincerity—It’s worth every penny.

How Does Hubspot’s CMS Compare to Others like WordPress?

Again, prepare yourself for an answer here that’s not biased because I have a marketing blog (the one you’re currently reading) on WordPress and I run two other businesses on HS. In other words, I’ve used both these content managers extensively and have found HS to be much, much easier. Might HS be more graphically limited? Yes, one could argue that, but for the non-techie that wants to handle 90%+ of their own web design, there is nothing better than the HS CMS. For example, I had to outsource design on my WordPress blog because I found it so difficult, yet I was able to design all 275+ pages on my swimming pool company’s without the help of anyone. And one other thing to remember—HS focuses their CMS on simplistic design because they are all about content creation and SEO. That’s why, although my swimming pool website is arguably simple in design, it dominates the search engines and blows most other companies away in terms of traffic results. When it comes to internet success, simple, combined with SEO best practices and great content, is the ultimate combination for success.

Should I Switch My Existing Site Over to the Hubspot CMS?

Again—no brainer. I waited to do this a few months after having signed on with HS and boy was that a dumb mistake. All it did was hinder my progress in unleashing my creative skills on the website itself. Rule of thumb—If your company has to go through a webmaster for more than 5% of your website’s changes/additions, then you’d be a fool not to convert over to the HS CMS.

Who Doesn’t the Hubspot System Work For?

Lazy people. Sorry, but it’s the truth. If you’re lazy, go spend all your money and outsource everything to a webmaster….or better yet, go buy a $2000 monthly ad in the Yellow Pages. (Actually, HS does offer more of this hands-on consulting on a constant basis, but such is not the focus of this article)

Will Hubspot’s System Be Surpassed by other Better Systems?

A legit question, but let me just say this. Since I’ve been using the HS system, they’ve changed and added tools on a weekly basis. Some have been minor, some have been major, but the key to understand is that by no means are they a static company just resting on past success. I once visited their place at Cambridge and upon meeting their staff and CEO I realized they were a bunch of awesomely passionate marketing and computer nerds trying their guts out to improve their system for businesses like mine and yours each and every day. The constant developments in their system are a reflection of this and I can only imagine how many great tools the company will come up with in the future.

What Makes Hubspot Different?

When it comes down to it, I think the great difference of HS is the fact they are changing the culture of internet/inbound marketing as we know it. They believe in teaching the masses (see their blog and self-help articles, they’re amazing) as much as possible so that any man or woman, no matter their background, can be their own webmaster and SEO. They give, give, give with the hopes that businesses will understand this great paradigm shift and therefore embrace the HS way. In fact, when I think of HS, this phrase always comes to mind, as it’s a perfect reflection of their business model:

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day….Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.

So that’s my suggestion to you. It’s time to learn how to fish. It’s time to change your life. If you’ve been considering HS and haven’t pulled the trigger, then I’m here to tell you that you’ve wasted enough time, so let’s get with it. Why delay success?? And remember this critical key:

If you just follow the HS inbound marketing system and use all their tools, you’ll automatically be ahead of over 90% of the businesses in your industry who are still living in the stone-ages.

Think about that for a second. It ain’t an exaggeration. Again, once you truly understand this you’ll stop waffling over whether or not HS is worth it and you’ll start realizing that this decision will impact your business likely more than any other decision you’ve made since opening its doors.

Here to Help

Look, I know you may still have some questions. I could have written all day about what I love about HS but I figured 2500 words was enough for even the most patient of readers. If you need further help, please contact me directly. My email is marcus1@thesaleslion.com and if you send me your phone number I’ll call you while I’m on the road, as talking to people about marketing is always more enriching than looking at traffic jams on interstate 95 in Northern Virginia …Seriously, I LOVE talking about this stuff and it gets me fired up just thinking about it, so buck-up and shoot me an email today.

Best of luck to you in this process. I’m excited for the change that will soon be wrought within your business.

Marcus Sheridan

5 Things Way More Important than Blogging and Content Marketing

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:49:41 +0000

A few night ago, just as I had finished working out and was eagerly sitting down at my computer to begin another writing escapade, I heard the fast footsteps upstairs of one of my little ones. And even though I have four kids, ranging from 9 years to 3 months old, it’s funny how easy it is to distinguish the footsteps of a child, as the force and rapidity of their steps are always a dead-giveaway.

Larsen....

Yep, as soon as I heard the running, I knew there was something wrong with Larsen, my 3 year old daughter and ball of fire. I also knew the night’s plans were quickly about to change. “No blog tonight” were my thoughts as I shot upstairs to find her in a little bit of a panic, and clearly not feeling right. But to make a long story short, I managed to have Larsen lay back down in her bed, and of course, she managed to inform her father that he needed to lay down next to her as well.

What’s funny about Larsen is that she was the first child in our home that didn’t like to ‘snuggle’ with her dad a lot. Why? I have no idea, as I haven’t raised her any differently than the others, and therefore her mother and I have concluded that’s just how she is. Notwithstanding, when Larsen is sick she is the type that wants someone close—and that someone is usually her Dad.

So at 11:30 in the evening, I crawled in her bed, with my legs hanging off the end, and managed to have my daughter fall asleep with her arm across my face. As for me, I was stuck. Exit strategies were out of the picture—so I soon drifted off as well.

I mention this story not because I’m trying to somehow portray myself as a good dad. Truth is, I’m sure I have a tremendous amount of improvement to go, but my intentions to be great are without question. But as I thought back on this little experience, it made me think about how blogging can feel so important and can be so consuming that we as human beings can sometimes forget what’s more important that blogging. What’s more important than getting out our next article? That being said, here are my top 5:

1. Spouse/Significant Other Time: A happy wife is a happy life—Words I heard many years ago and the longer I’m married, the more I agree. As bloggers and business owners we can get so wrapped up in our ‘cloud living’ that it’s easy to lose track of real life. As we’ve all heard many times, any life of fulfillment involves balance. Too much of anything can be quite detrimental. And frankly, no success outside the home can make up for failure within it. So do yourself a favor and make your relationship with your spouse a priority, as everything else will trickle down from said relationship.

2. Kids: Do your kids know you, or do they know of you? Sadly, often times in our society work and blogging can spell the doom of familial relationships. This, I’m sure we can all agree, is a tragedy. As a parent of four, I do almost all of my content production/blogging after my kids go to bed. This way we can share quality time together as much as possible. Yes, it might mean that my sleeping patterns aren’t what one would consider exemplary, but without question I’m able to say that my kids know their dad.

3. Exercise: Don’t be a Fat Millionaire. – This was the title to an article I read once and its words have always stuck with me. As I mentioned earlier, attaining success and happiness is all about balance in our lives. We all know by this point the importance of taking care of our bodies, but unfortunately this is one of the first things to be sacrificed when we are pinched on time. Fact is though, exercise will allow us all to be more productive, more inspired, and more capable of dealing with the obstacles we’re confronted with each and every day.

4. Spiritual: I’m sure you already knew this one was next. Along with the physical, the spiritual cannot be overlooked. Do you know your purpose in life? Do you feel at peace or is there something amiss? I’m not talking necessarily religion per se here, but I’m talking about feeling right with God, or whatever higher power you believe in. Just as we need to take the time to care for our physical bodies each day, we also need to do what it takes to keep our spiritual batteries charged. So whether this to you means meditate, pray, or read sacred/profound text; make it a daily priority in your life and assuredly your temporal affairs will benefit from such efforts.

5. Giving Back: We live in a universe that is full of karma—this I am sure of. Zig Ziglar said many times in the course of his teachings, “If you help enough people get what they want, they’ll help you get everything you want.” And as the years have passed, the more I’ve come to appreciate the veracity of this profound statement. Does this mean we help others just for the sake of individual returns? Of course not, but it does mean that we have a knowing of our need to keep our eyes and ears open to the needs of others and touch them when we can. When we do this, the universe is bound to return the favor. Why does it work that way? I have no idea, and frankly I don’t really care, I just know that’s the way it is, and so I’m going to embrace the powerful paradigm of ‘giving back’ as long as I live.

Well those are my top 5 things that are more important than blogging. I’m sure there are roughly a thousand or so more we could come up with, which is why I’d invite you to leave your thoughts and comments below

Can Someone around Here Translate Google’s Nerd Language for Me Please?

Marcus Sheridan — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:08:34 +0000

I have a business partner that suggested we implement Google Apps into our company so as to enhance and make more effective our collaboration efforts. Upon hearing his request, I said that would be fine, but to please send me a link explaining the benefits of Google Apps. Here is the link he sent, and upon viewing, I could only shake my head and wonder if I was the idiot, or if Google was just speaking way above my non-techie head.

As I’ve mentioned time and time again, every person and business in one way or another suffers to some extent from the ‘Curse of Knowledge’. Basically, we all have a really bad tendency to assume that everyone else knows what the heck we’re talking about, which is rarely the case.

Take for example this page on the Google Apps explanation. When one takes a closer view at it, the copy’s language is practically indecipherable to about 99% of the world. Let’s break this down:

Under Business Features, Google says:

25GB email storage per user,
BlackBerry and Microsoft Outlook
interoperability and more

News Flash for Google:

Most people don’t even know what a GB is or its value. Therefore, 25 GB means nothing to them.
‘Interoperability’….Say what? OK, so maybe I get that…kinda…but don’t ya think you could have described that in a little more elementary manner?

Under Business Controls, Google says:

SSO, forced SSL, custom password
strength requirements and more

This is where I really started laughing. Talk about a ‘Say what??’ moment:

99% of the world has no idea what SSO means.
99% of the world doesn’t know what SSL means, much less ‘forced’ SSL.
Strength Requirements? You mean to tell me there is such a thing?

Finally, under Business Support and Reliability:

99.9% uptime guarantee SLA and
24/7 support

Again, most people, despite how simple it may sound, don’t understand the phrase ‘uptime guarantee’.
As for SLA…. What the heck is that?

What’s my point here?

My point is we all need to be careful not to assume our customers know anything. This certainly applies to features and always applies to acronyms. Google has assumed that the majority of the people reading that junk understand what the heck it’s saying. Truth be told, they don’t, which is why such ad copy ain’t going to work, at least not for the ‘non-techies’ of the world. (You know, the other 99%?)

So take the time today to review the language you use with clients. What words and phrases are you using that are causing blank looks and confused faces? This especially applies to your company website. Are you writing at advanced levels in order to impress or are you writing so that everyone will understand? If you don’t know, grab your spouse, friend, or a relative and have them look at your website with you and point out every area of confusion. I can assure you that such an activity will be incredibly eye-opening.

Thoughts? Opinions? As always, your comments are appreciated.

It Ain’t the Economy’s Fault that Your Website and Brand Stinks

Marcus Sheridan — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:53:52 +0000

I had one of those ‘slap yourself on the forehead’ experiences earlier this evening. Basically, my wife and I decided to go out tonight, which was pretty nice because this was our first ‘date’ since our daughter was born a little over two months ago. We elected to do the simple ‘dinner date’ so I opened up my laptop in an effort to find a nice place to eat—one that we hadn’t frequented before. It was during this search that the forehead slapping began.

You see, I live in a pretty rural part of Virginia. There ain’t much in these parts and so in order to find a decent selection of restaurants one must be willing to travel at least 30 minutes. But as I ran through my Google searches of local towns and the restaurants found therein, I came to this quick realization regarding literally all of them:

Their websites were an utter joke and embarrassment.

Although I could use many other stronger adjectives to describe what I found, I’ll try to keep this post as clean as possible and just leave it at that.

Shocking Stats

Out of 10 different restaurants I looked at, only 4 had web pages. Yep, that’s right, 4 of them. 3 out of the 10 had Facebook pages. With the rest I was left to depend on Google Places and hope that someone had been kind enough to give me a feel for whether the place was worth the trip or not.

But that’s not all folks. Of these 10 restaurants, none had a single lead-capture form on their home page. None had a single video. None had a single photo of an owner on the homepage. And a blog…well I’m sure you already know the answer to that one.

What’s interesting about this phenomenon is that I personally know many people in the food profession that have been crying the blues for months about the economy. Now granted, the economy does stink. We all know and accept that. But by no means does it give a free pass to businesses that refuse to make simple investments in their online marketing and brand.

It’s Cheap!

You see, online marketing is cheap. Anyone that says it has to cost a lot is full of crapola. A simple WordPress Blog and domain set up with Go Daddy will cost less than $150 a year in most cases.

But despite the low cost, businesses everywhere, especially in the food industry, refuse to do what it takes. Instead of learning what Web 2.0 is all about they just sit there and complain that the economy sucks and the world is coming to an end and everyone is losing their job and blah, blah, blah.

Action, Action, Action

Now don’t get me wrong here. My swimming pool company is in a dog fight every day to scrape by. If anyone gets the economy and how it affects businesses, I certainly do. But instead of complaining about it, let’s do something about it. In fact, here are 8 things you can do right now that I can promise you will be much better than bemoaning the end of the world:

Start a Facebook Fanpage for you business and invite everyone and their mother to join your group.
Shoot a video with your phone or flip camera of an existing customer (testimonial) and POST IT on your website.
Sign Up on Google Places and add photos, coupons, etc.
Get on some forums in your niche and get involved in ‘the conversation’.
Start a blog and write your first article….and then never stop writing.
Slap a photo of yourself on your website and show a little personality for once.
Have a friend or past customer look at your website and tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Go to YouTube and type in ‘Seth Godin’…..and watch every video on the first 2 pages of results.

So there are 8 activities that immediately came to my mind. I’m sure you could think of 50 more if you tried. But that’s exactly my point. Complaining about the economy does no good. Only action helps. Only action is worth talking about. Only action will eventually solve your problems.

Make the choice. Look to the future. Start embracing everything about Web 2.0…..and never complain again.

Questions? Comments? Love to hear your thoughts.

Why ‘Lowest Price Guaranteed’ is the Dumbest Marketing Statement Ever

Marcus Sheridan — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:10:24 +0000

I happened to run into a website of a local concrete finishing business here in my state of Virginia today and the largest and most visible text on the page read:

Lowest Price Guaranteed!!!

I’m sure you’ve never seen that advertising line before, have you? But seriously, the phrase Lowest Price Guaranteed, along with the equally infamous ‘100% Customer Satisfaction’, are the most over-used and possibly dumbest advertising statements made around the world today. In fact, instead of saying Lowest Price Guaranteed, businesses should just say:

Our products and services stink but at least we’re CHEAP!

As everyone that reads this blog on a regular basis knows, my business by day is that of pool guy. I own a large swimming pool company that does a substantial business throughout Virginia and Maryland. This being said, the idea of me telling any customer or person that we have the lowest prices Guaranteed is as about as likely as Republicans and Democrats having a picnic together on the White House lawn.

What the heck is up with businesses that actually have the goal of being cheap?? I frankly can’t fathom the idea. Lowest Price Guaranteed is a business model destined for failure 99% of the time, especially in cases where the item in not a commodity.

Let’s look at this concrete company I referred to at the beginning as an example. Instead of trying to establish a brand of quality, excellence, value, etc….they instead want to be known as ‘the cheap guys’. Such a philosophy only leads to one thing—having to sell and do more to make the same amount of money as better and more branded companies.

For example, let’s say this concrete guy averages $1000 profit per job with his low rates. Let’s also say that his competitor, who is known for higher rates, reputation, and quality averages $2000 per job. With a model as basic as this one, you can see that Mr. Cheap Concrete Guy is going to make the exact same amount of money on 100 jobs as Mr. High Quality/High Price Guy with half the work and headaches. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take the 50 jobs and take 6 months off a year!

But sadly, most businesses elect to be Mr.Cheap. They brag about their low prices. And before you know it, their business has failed because they had to do such much volume just to make ends-meat. This, my fellow readers and entrepreneurs, is a dumb, dead-end business model.

So my question to you is this: Are you known as ‘The Cheap Guy’? Do you brag about your low prices? Or do you focus on building your brand through exceptional quality, service, and killer branding/marketing? One thing is for sure, your company is swinging in one direction or another, and hopefully you know what that direction is.

Build value. Teach to anyone who will listen. Give more than anyone else is giving. Push harder than anyone else is pushing. And then ask for more than anyone else is asking.

As always, I invite you to leave your thoughts and comments below.

photo credit

How to Overcome the Infamous ‘Due Diligence’ Excuse in Sales

Marcus Sheridan — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:46:26 +0000

‘I need to do my due diligence.’

Ever heard such a phrase from one of your prospects? If you haven’t, you likely got into the profession of sales this morning. In fact, ‘I need to do my due diligence’(or some close derivative) is likely the most commonly used prospect exit strategy in the world today.

No question, the economy has had an interesting impact on sales, especially with big-ticket items. Because so many markets are struggling, consumers know they can get great deals and therefore are meeting with more companies and looking for more quotes before they make a decision.

With such being the norm in today’s economy, the skills and abilities of a sales professional are a critical necessity to any success at all. But even more so, I would argue that the true ‘skills’ sales persons need in 2010 and beyond are the upfront relationships they’ve established with potential clients before they ever even sit at the negotiation table(or make ‘real’ contact) for the first time.

But I need to…….

Just the other night, I was sitting with a client who was quite serious about buying a swimming pool. For the sake of ease, will call the gentleman ‘Bob’ and no doubt this man had done some serious research before I’d ever gotten to his home. After a few minutes of conversation, I’d found out that he had read almost all of my blog articles. He’d also seen countless videos I’d produced. Without a doubt, he(and his wife who was with him) viewed me as an expert and I knew it, as his trust in me was obvious from his general demeanor and smile throughout our conversation.

The sales appointment lasted about 1 hour. During that time, I felt very confident that I was going to get an affirmative ‘yes’ from this man at the end of our discussions, as all the typical positive sales ‘signs’ were present.

But to make a long story short, at the end of our discussion/presentation, I asked Bob for his business and he told me that he loved the price, he loved the pool, and he also loved our company. Notwithstanding all of this though, there came the infamous ‘but’ after his positive words.

‘But I just feel like I need to get at least one more quote as to do my due diligence, so I’ve set up one more appointment for next week, I’m sure you can understand.’

Alas, the infamous ‘due diligence’ statement strikes again…..and I thought things were going so well.

But instead of just rolling over and agreeing with Bob, the following conversation occurred:

Me: ‘With all due respect Bob, I do not agree, but let me explain to you why. You say you need to do your due diligence, which I completely understand and empathize with. But let’s look at your actions up to this point a little more closely. Based on what you’ve told me tonight, you’ve read just about every blog article I’ve written about fiberglass pools. You’ve seen all the educational videos I’ve put out there. You’ve called some of the references I sent to you before this appointment. And, as you stated earlier, you’ve also checked out other companies online and not been nearly as impressed with their efforts to teach and inform. You know our history in your area and you’ve only heard great things about our company. Am I accurate with all these statements Bob?

Bob: Yeah, that all sound about right.

Me: So you see Bob, you’ve actually been doing nothing but due diligence up to this point. In fact, you’ve done more due diligence than almost 99% of all consumers do before buying a pool based on your knowledge. Do you see where I’m coming from Bob?

Bob: I do.

Me: And based on all of this you’ve done Bob, just answer this one question for me: Does your gut tell you that we are the company to go with?

Bob: (a few second of pensive thought) It does…

Bob’s Wife: Then stop thinking about this so hard and just write the young man a check. You know you’re going to go with these guys so there is no reason not to make the decision now.

Needless to say, Bob went and got his checkbook.

Obviously, not all situations like this one end with a prospect deciding to cancel their other sales appointments and going ahead with the purchase. But the core moral of this story remains the same, and will continue to as long as sales and marketing is a part of the world in which we all live:

The more value a company can give to its prospects and customers on the front end, the less they’ll feel the need to get quote after quote on the back end.

Had I not had such a prolific, content driven website, Bob clearly would still be in the ‘shopping mode’. He’d still be gathering facts and attempting to reach a comfortable decision about where to spend his $50,000. But in this case, Bob saw so much value from our company up front that it filled in all those voids by the time I’d shown up at his doorstep.

The Challenge

So here is the challenge that we all have as sales and marketing professionals. We must truly see the big picture when it comes to Web 2.0. We must start thinking like consumers and answer their questions. We must constantly feed them answers and show them we are the true experts and consumer advocates in our field. Yes, such a challenge is not necessarily an easy one, but it dang sure is possible if we are but willing to take the time and pay the price.

So stop delaying. Put more time into your content marketing. Make videos, and lots of them. Get active on the forums. Blog at least twice a week. Do customer surveys and have your ear to the ground. By so doing you will in time not only be the voice of your industry, but you’ll also drastically speed up the sales process even in these rather difficult economic times we are all living in.

As always, I’d invite you to leave your thoughts below, whether you agree or disagree. Thanks for being a part of the conversation.

5 Advertising Mediums that Will Be Extinct in 2020.

Marcus Sheridan — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:57:04 +0000

We all know the world is changing. We can all sense it. Things just ain’t the way they used to be. The activities that fill our days aren’t nearly what they were just a decade ago. Technology is developing faster than any of us can blink an eye. And with all these changes, the world of sales, marketing, and advertising will never be the same. Nope, not even close.

I’ve owned a small business for almost 10 years now. The way I get leads today is nothing like when I started.

You see, today’s marketing takes brains, effort, and a pursuit of excellence. It is social, all about giving, and has everything to do with teaching.

Today’s marketing is the internet. Today’s marketing is your website and social media.

A New, and Better, Era of Advertising

Yesterday’s marketing was laughable. It was essentially the antithesis of social web. It was the opposite of giving. The king was the one who had enough dollars to throw at more leads.

Luckily, for the ones that are willing to do what it takes, those days are gone.

And with them, old marketing mediums will join the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the City of Pompey, and the Roman Empire.

It could be argued that the following mediums will still exist in 10 years, but let’s skip the semantics for a moment and accept reality—emotion aside. Let’s look to the future and embrace what has been, what is, and what will be.

So without further ado, here are 5 advertising mediums that will not exist in 2020

1. The Yellow Pages

The book that has killed more rain forests than any other will no longer be in the households of millions. For most consumers, this change has already been wrought, and assuredly many more will soon follow. Because of the lack of viewers, full-page ads that cost more than most people’s mortgages will have no takers. Business owners will continue to balk at their laughable prices and direct their funds elsewhere. And with no takers, the Yellow Pages (and any other phone directory like it), will be a blip on the radar that is business marketing in the 20^th century.

2. Local Radio

Yes, some radio will survive, but most of the little guys won’t have a pulse within the decade. In today’s market, the idea of selling 30 and 60 second ads to businesses and telling them that they have to do it for at least 6 months to ‘brand’ their image is utterly laughable. Radio is short-term advertising. Let’s not kid ourselves any longer and pretend it’s a viable long-term solution for most small businesses, because it simply isn’t. Too many people have learned to block out its commercials. IPods, Sirius, and the like are the new wave. The once king of the first half of the 19^th century will now bow down to the new mediums technology has brought us.

3. Home Shows

If I had a dollar for every home show I’ve done over the years…….but alas, there days are numbered as well and I, along with thousands and thousands of other businesses, have finally learned to focus my energy and efforts elsewhere. Not only is the time, money, and effort of businesses squandered during such shows, but consumers can find out the latest and greatest info, gadgets, and home improvements tools online, which is much more appealing than paying $10 to walk the halls of a convention center and hear some guy yacking away about his amazing ‘shammy’ mop/broom/ vacuum/you-fill-in-the-blank.

4. Direct Mail

Sorry RSVP. Lo Siento Val Pak. The idea of direct mailers being relevant in 2010, much less 2020, is laughable. Yeah, they had their day, and were at times nice while they lasted. But with email and targeted online inbound marketing being a fraction of the cost of direct mail, the medium is soon to be dead in the water.

5. Newspaper

Honestly, this one makes me sad. There is just something special about a fresh, off-the press newspaper. But all good advertising mediums must come to an end, and newspaper is certainly no exception to the rule. Frankly, I don’t know of any intelligent marketing department or business that is consistently using newspaper advertising in 2010. The concept of spending up to thousands of dollars on one single ad, only to have it relevant for one single day, is utterly inconceivable to comprehend. Let’s see, I can write an awesome blog article, at zero cost, that will possibly bring me thousands upon thousands of visitors and leads for months upon months, or I can spend $1000 on a full page ad that may bring me a few leads tomorrow……..Golly, now that’s a tough debate.

So those are 5 mediums that will not exist in 2020. What are your thoughts? Anyone out there want to defend these mediums? What others can you see going bye-bye? As always, your thoughts are much appreciated.