Post: #26

(07-04-2017 02:28 PM)Truth Tiger Wrote:  wwt, very good points. Sounds like you understand the dance well. Education before offer.

Gary Vaynerchuck describes 'jab jab jab, right hook' to provide several instances of value (via educating and informing prospects, free tools, etc.) before making a sales pitch or offer. It's certainly worked for me and I have more pre-qualified leads show up. I also created a two FAQs specifically to address people who are 1) ready to order and 2) who may need more convincing. If someone contacts me with a question already answered in those I simply thank them for their interest, direct them toward those links and add a couple testimonial links relevant to their needs / application. I prefer they express interest in my products / services instead of me fishing for a sale. I used to do that (and maybe as a very early-stage startup you have to) but am happier now to update my educational resources / blog / create for customers already in the queue.

Making potential customers jump through hoops is a good qualifier. I did something like that when I was in real estate quite a long time ago. I made them call a 800 number and leave their contact details, then sent them a report in the mail and later called them to see if they got the report. It can be time consuming but you didn't need a lot of deals to make a lot of money because I only sent direct mail to specific properties that matched my criteria.

Now I do everything online but may get back to some direct mail in the future.

Post: #27

(07-04-2017 02:28 PM)crdr Wrote:  Hmm...
You should be harnessing the suspect's legitimate desire to inquire to buy your products. Full stop.
If that's through VALUABLE education so be it. But if it's through a stunning offer and a sales letter. Whatever works as long as it harnesses the buyer's desire...

I don't know how many times I've been educated OUT of BUYING something. The salesman wouldn't shut the fuck up.
Education without harnessing the desire a buyer to send you money for a product is a great way to go broke.

This is a highly ignored tenet of Direct Response Marketing.

PS: Jordan Belfort's Straight Line Persuasion is a course every salesman should take. It's too bad JB continually uses his methods for evil. But his persuasion techniques is rock solid.

PPS: This is why a lot of guys talk themselves out of sex. Whenever you educate too much or too little you create more risk for your prospect to reject you

No doubt you will lose sales no matter what approach you use. You just have to look at overall conversions. If one approach converts higher then that is the way you go. Even if you lose people that would purchase if you had a different funnel.

Example: I have had a ton of people say they would never purchase from a website with a sales video that auto-started. Guess what? Those videos converted way better so the people who hate them are out of luck. haha

Post: #28

(07-04-2017 03:02 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

(07-04-2017 02:28 PM)Truth Tiger Wrote:  wwt, very good points. Sounds like you understand the dance well. Education before offer.

Gary Vaynerchuck describes 'jab jab jab, right hook' to provide several instances of value (via educating and informing prospects, free tools, etc.) before making a sales pitch or offer. It's certainly worked for me and I have more pre-qualified leads show up. I also created a two FAQs specifically to address people who are 1) ready to order and 2) who may need more convincing. If someone contacts me with a question already answered in those I simply thank them for their interest, direct them toward those links and add a couple testimonial links relevant to their needs / application. I prefer they express interest in my products / services instead of me fishing for a sale. I used to do that (and maybe as a very early-stage startup you have to) but am happier now to update my educational resources / blog / create for customers already in the queue.

Making potential customers jump through hoops is a good qualifier. I did something like that when I was in real estate quite a long time ago. I made them call a 800 number and leave their contact details, then sent them a report in the mail and later called them to see if they got the report. It can be time consuming but you didn't need a lot of deals to make a lot of money because I only sent direct mail to specific properties that matched my criteria.

Now I do everything online but may get back to some direct mail in the future.

Direct Mail is my specialty.

Post: #29

(07-04-2017 03:06 PM)crdr Wrote:  

(07-04-2017 03:02 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

(07-04-2017 02:28 PM)Truth Tiger Wrote:  wwt, very good points. Sounds like you understand the dance well. Education before offer.

Gary Vaynerchuck describes 'jab jab jab, right hook' to provide several instances of value (via educating and informing prospects, free tools, etc.) before making a sales pitch or offer. It's certainly worked for me and I have more pre-qualified leads show up. I also created a two FAQs specifically to address people who are 1) ready to order and 2) who may need more convincing. If someone contacts me with a question already answered in those I simply thank them for their interest, direct them toward those links and add a couple testimonial links relevant to their needs / application. I prefer they express interest in my products / services instead of me fishing for a sale. I used to do that (and maybe as a very early-stage startup you have to) but am happier now to update my educational resources / blog / create for customers already in the queue.

Making potential customers jump through hoops is a good qualifier. I did something like that when I was in real estate quite a long time ago. I made them call a 800 number and leave their contact details, then sent them a report in the mail and later called them to see if they got the report. It can be time consuming but you didn't need a lot of deals to make a lot of money because I only sent direct mail to specific properties that matched my criteria.

Now I do everything online but may get back to some direct mail in the future.

Direct Mail is my specialty.

Nice! A lot of people dismiss it but I do think it is still a gold mine. Especially when most think about marketing online and forget how much can be made in direct mail. I was trying everything including what they called lumpy mail at the time. haha I had a sequence of 7 - 9 different mail pieces I would send to one property owner.

I will definitely play around with it once I exhausted online resources.

Post: #30

^
You can really cranking cash game when you integrate online and offline strategy
No one does it.
Serious results.

Post: #31

1) Luck

Post: #32

(07-04-2017 03:06 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

(07-04-2017 02:28 PM)crdr Wrote:  Hmm...
You should be harnessing the suspect's legitimate desire to inquire to buy your products. Full stop.
If that's through VALUABLE education so be it. But if it's through a stunning offer and a sales letter. Whatever works as long as it harnesses the buyer's desire...

I don't know how many times I've been educated OUT of BUYING something. The salesman wouldn't shut the fuck up.
Education without harnessing the desire a buyer to send you money for a product is a great way to go broke.

This is a highly ignored tenet of Direct Response Marketing.

PS: Jordan Belfort's Straight Line Persuasion is a course every salesman should take. It's too bad JB continually uses his methods for evil. But his persuasion techniques is rock solid.

PPS: This is why a lot of guys talk themselves out of sex. Whenever you educate too much or too little you create more risk for your prospect to reject you

No doubt you will lose sales no matter what approach you use. You just have to look at overall conversions. If one approach converts higher then that is the way you go. Even if you lose people that would purchase if you had a different funnel.

Example: I have had a ton of people say they would never purchase from a website with a sales video that auto-started. Guess what? Those videos converted way better so the people who hate them are out of luck. haha

Customers are like women. You don't watch what they say. You listen for the indicators of interest.

Post: #33

Also, an advanced reason for leads to a lack of sales which leads to (startup) business failure...
No Competitive Advantage Business Structure aka No Moat.

Post: #34

I'm studying an MBA at the moment and from what I've read the biggest issue surrounding small business failure is not having a formal business plan when starting out. (and then reviewing it regularly to track actual performance and making adjustments)

Here they've grouped 'Lack of planning" under incompetence but I would say it could address a number of other points.

Post: #35

The point about lack of a business plan is valid however I don't think it's fair to make that a primary factor. I did not complete the formal business plan process, but I started one and did a fair bit of marketing and self assessment with coaches and business mentors.

I think blaming the lack of one for a business' failure is too reductionist. Business administration is not business creation or customer engagement. None of the successful entrepreneurs I know have MBAs. Most are specialists in some or several skills.

Post: #36

i think that Experience and precious.

Post: #37

(07-04-2017 01:50 PM)crdr Wrote:  

(07-04-2017 12:12 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

(07-04-2017 11:32 AM)crdr Wrote:  Not exactly true. There are brilliant innovations every quarter that bust. In the 80s and 90s Microsoft products were and still 2nd tier at best. But Gates just wanted it more.
They took no venture funding and just went hard. Very rare and admirable by today's standards.

Companies usually get innovations and conceptual models confused. Innovations are improvements for the better. Concepts are brand builders for the future...
Improvements are only innovations if they improve sales in the marketplace (at margin).

The Pet Rock has done more sales than many VC-Backed Technology companies in the Valley.

I have found there is usually a small (sometimes very small) percentage of your audience that will just get your product right off the bat. They just see it and understand the why and how it will help them.

The larger percentage of your customers will require education as to why they should purchase. They won't sell themselves on the product. These are the people that will require marketing and salesmanship.

More often than not, they need to see another firm or friend do it first and have it work for them... This is why Testimonials are beyond crucial. That small 5-7%(Early Adopters) likes to be the guinea pig.

Adoption diffusion generally breaks in this form



For new products (especially tech) it's the "innovators" that are crucial in winning over. That segment just wants to be ahead and can be invaluable in terms of (beta) testing, feedback etc. If they "get" what value proposition youre offering they can be forgiving in terms of initial execution. Getting the innovators on your side from the onset is critcal

Post: #38

This podcast by Yaro Starak on failure was interesting, the narrator talks about how he screwed multiple business ideas in a row:
- started an MP3 sharing site without considering the legal ramifications
- tried to take on gumtree without considering how he was actually going to get users
- started an English tutoring academy, taking out a 3 year lease, buying furniture and equipment, when he had no actual experience in English tutoring

Get it here:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/ejpodcast/ejpod...ailure.mp3

Original podcast page:
https://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/21...e-podcast/

Overall, though, he puts a positive spin on his failures as they were essential in teaching him a lot of business lessons, and he never did get into a hole deep enough to not crawl out from. He makes the point that you shouldn't strictly see business as being a binary success/failure thing, but rather as a toy-like experience that eventually rewards experiment and enthusiasm.

Post: #39

From my experience 50/50 partnerships are more trouble than they're worth. Have tried that twice.

Either retain control or do something with more than 3 people. If going with more than 3 people you set it up like a corporation from the get go. Enforce regular "board meetings" and get consensus on decisions. People are less likely to give up if they are held accountable by a group.

Post: #40

In my experience in dealing with several start-up founders, one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the lack of market research BEFORE LAUNCH. I'm sorry, but just because YOU BELIEVE in your product or service doesn't mean that the public believes in it. You can have the best app ever for organizing your thimble collection, but if there is no market for such an app, who cares?

Food for thought:

1. To be successful in business, you need to start by filling a need that nobody else is filling (but the market still wants to be filled).
2. Alternatively, you need to fill a void in the market where there are currently competitors, but that you either beat them by quality, price or efficiency.

I haven't seen a single successful start-up that hasn't done one of the two above.

Post: #41

For tech specifically it's pretty simple:

1. Either you need to be truly innovative

2. Or you need to be substantially cheaper than what is currently on the market.

If you do not meet one of those two criteria, you probably shouldn't start a tech company.