Sure Fire Ways To Get More Sales

Could you use more sales at the moment? Yeah, pretty much
everybody can, right? Well, one great way to go about it is
simply to promote your own name. By getting your name out there,
a certain familiarity amongst prospects will grow and when the
time comes that these prospects need your services, likely you'll
be the first one they call.

No doubt you have heard of viral marketing. Just like a common
cold, it involves having people pass an idea or product from one
person to the next.

Unlike a cold, a marketing virus is a wonderful thing to catch!

My biz-tips are a simple kind of viral marketing. I write
them for Marketing Tips Daily at memail.com, but they almost
always get picked up by other editors who send them to their
readers who send them to their list. You may be reading this tip
years after I wrote it. Amazing, isn't it?

I write the article once, then enjoy the benefits as one person
passes it to another. It's not unusual for one million people a
week to see these articles.

Look for ways you can give your product, service, or idea a
marketing virus.

* Give people a free service they can use. Your web address and
phone number are included in every product they send to others.
Free email accounts (like hotmail) and online greeting cards
are great examples.

* Start a joke that pertains to the news or common experiences in
life. If it's in an email, it can include your name. Jokes get
passed around at an unbelievable rate. Some humor experts
believe there may be as few as 7 people who come up with most of
the jokes we hear. They start them on their viral tour,
eventually reaching millions.

* Perhaps the most effective method of viral marketing is
simply being kind and helping people. Help folks for free
when you can and give paying customers more than they asked
for. You may be surprised at how fast customers tell their
friends...and in these days of email, that can be a LOT of
people.

* Create a series of books, pamphlets, or TV commercials. A
series makes people want to tell others so they can get in on the
progression.

Another great way to market your name is with business cards. It
works a lot like viral marketing in that your card gets passed
around instead of just a verbal mention. Let me give you an
example:

Recently I opened a new music venue in Salt Lake City. It's a
small place where local bands can play and fans of all ages can
get in for cheap.

Right away people were coming in telling us what a "cool" idea
the venue is. I found myself passing out business cards right
and left. Some customers wanted to remember our web site
address. Others were musicians wanting our phone number for
later reference.

In the process of taking to people and handing out cards I met
several folks who could be of help to us. One, a designer with
terrific ideas for our decor, wrote her name, number, and slogan
on the back of one of my cards and handed it back to me.

Have a wad of cards handy when you find yourself in a group.
Don't try to sell, just pass out your card with an invitation to
call or email.

Collect other people's cards, organize them, then call a week
later to pick up the conversation again and...this time..do some
selling.

If you're a bit on the shy side, like I am, hold a drink. A soda
or bottle of water is fine. It can make talking to people
easier. In restaurants, clubs, and many meetings, holding a
drink is perfectly acceptable and often puts the other person at
ease as well.

Repeatedly running your advertisements are another way to ensure
your name runs rampant in the business community. Have you ever
run a one time ad and then wondered why you didn't get much
response?

Advertising and marketing almost always takes repeated use to
work properly. Once in a while you will get a product or service
that sells with the first ad, but most take time to sink in with
customers.

There's an old newspaperman's joke that dates back more than
100 years that illustrates how ads work.

1. The first time a man looks at an ad, he doesn't see it.
2. The second time, he doesn't notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it.

The joke continues on until the sixteenth time has him thinking
he'll buy some day and the twentieth time he sees the ad he
instructs his wife to go out and buy the product.

So, you can see that throwing your name around is the best way to
get people to notice you and eventually buy your product or
service. Don't get discouraged if your efforts aren't recognized
immediately, it might just take a few more tries.