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November
2009
More
on Split Testing
A
while ago I gave you the results of my little split
test.
When
I send the issues of the Survival Tips Bulletins to
my partner, Charles Norman, he looks them over to see
how they read and make needed corrections.
He
told me my explanation of my split test was somewhat
confusing to him. So, there may be others who may also
have been confused by what I was saying about the results
of my split test.
Once
again, split testing goes way back to the early days
of direct mail and mail order. A split test in it's
simplest form is testing one headline, ad or sales letter
against another to see which one pulls the best results.
What
I was trying to accomplish with my split test was to
do the same thing with a voice mail message.
I
wanted to see what method worked best for what I was
trying to do. The purpose was to see if I could save
money on postage.
Originally
I asked callers to leave their name and address and
I would send them a survey and information on a booklet
they could order. If I got one hundred requests
for my information it would at least cost me $44.00
to send out the hundred pieces of mail..
But
as a test I decided to try having people send for the
my sales information directly from the message on my
voice mailbox. They had to send $2 or 3 stamps
to receive my sales information.
By
doing it the second way, I would only be sending my
information to the people who were interested enough
to send for the information directly from my voice mail
message.
My
main point here is to give you an idea of techniques
that you might want to think about using in marketing
your own products or services. The important thing to
understand is, you have to test to find out what works
best for you.
Based
on my little test decided to continue having
people to leave their name and address after they hear
my message. I would pay the postage out of my
own pocket and send the information to them. Next
time I'll explain why I decided to do it this way.
Paying
for Leads
Last
week I told you about my split test using voice mail
to collect leads.
The
first group simply left their name and address. I
paid the postage and sent a one page flyer and the survey
I showed you in two earlier issues. The flyer offered
my 32 page booklet if the prospect was willing to send
three first class stamps or two dollars. Notice, I didn't
ask for both I gave the person the choice to send stamps
or money.
This
may seem like a small thing but some people might not
keep extra stamps laying around but they are more likely
to have two dollars and if they want your information
they will send the two dollars. On the other hand, three
stamps is a little less than two dollars and so, some
people would rather send the three stamps.
I
know this to be true because some people will send the
stamps and others will send money. Whatever they
decide to do is fine with me because if they send the
stamps, I simply use them to send them the information
they requested along with a special offer. If they send
money I just keep it and put it toward purchasing more
postage stamps. When I make a back end sale, I
use some of the money to purchase more postage stamps,
this way I don't have to go into my pocket to purchase
stamps.
Getting
back to the split test, I asked the second group of
callers to send for the my sales information directly
from the message on my voice mailbox. They had to send
$2 or 3 stamps to receive the survey and booklet.
Can
you see that the leads generated by the two methods
above are not of equal quality?
A
person gives you their name and address or e-mail to
receive your sales literature or free report, but that
doesn't necessarily make them a qualified lead. However,
if you get that person to take action by filling out
a survey and returning it to you, then you have a qualified
lead. Because they were willing to take the time to
fill out the survey and return it to you by snail mail
or e-mail.
This
also applies if you're using a squeeze page online.
When you can get people to take an action, no matter
how small, at least it shows that they have an interest
in your information and you have a better chance of
making them a customer.
The
key to the success of any marketing strategy is to get
people to take some kind of action that shows they have
at least some interest in your offer. But remember it
can take three or four steps before you actually make
a sale.
So
the callers that had to send for the information along
with a small payment were definitely of higher quality.
They had to expend more time and money to obtain
my information.
As
you might have guessed I received many more leads from
the group that only had to leave their name and address.
So I felt it was better for me to spend the money
for postage in order to get more people on my list.
It's
true the leads were less qualified, but once they were
on my list I had a chance to warm them up in subsequent
mailings.
Using
surveys is a great way to open the door to future sales.
If you set up your survey with the right questions,
it allows you to find out what your potential customers
are really looking for. You can then offer them exactly
what they want.
Next
time I'll reveal my four step marketing strategy.
Marketing
Strategy Review
It
is crucial that you understand the importance of formulating
a marketing strategy. It took me years to realize that
in today's crowded market place, if you don't have a
clearly defined marketing strategy, you don't stand
a chance of building a successful home business.
Your
plan should always start with the market, not the product.
You need to decide what market you want to serve.
My
market is the money making opportunity market - people
who want to start a low investment home based business.
Right now, considering economic conditions, this is
a very warm market because millions of people want to
make extra money.
The
truth is, there are thousands of marketers trying to
sell to this market. This market breeds a lot of scammers
and con artists who make things difficult for the legitimate
marketer to make decent money. If I had it to do all
over again, with the knowledge and experience that I
have now, I would probably choose another market to
sell to.
But
since I've invested eighteen years of blood, sweat,
tears and money into this market, I decided to help
others navigate through the money making opportunity
minefield.
Now,
let's get into this four step marketing strategy. What
you should remember as we go along here is, no matter
what your market is, you need to create a marketing
strategy that works for you. This is what works for
me, in so far as generating qualified leads.
Now,
the ultimate goal here is to build a customer base that
I can sell back end products to.
Alright,
my first step is to know my market. When I say "know
my market", I mean know what my market wants. The
best and fastest way to find out what a market wants
is to ask them.
To
begin this process I need to find a way to attract the
people in this market to my offer.
Step
two: I do this with a lead generating classified ad.
My ad asks a simple question:
CAN
ANY OF THOSE MONEY MAKING OPPORTUNITIES REALLY
WORK FOR YOU?
This
question attracts the attention of a certain percentage
of the people in this market.
Step
Three: These people respond to my ad by calling my voice
mailbox and leaving their name and address.
Step
Four: I send my flyer and survey. Those who respond
to my offer become qualified leads because they took
an action and answered my survey. The survey provides
me with valuable information on what these people are
looking for.
Through
my own experience as being a part of this market, I
already have a good idea what these people want. So
the questions in my survey are based on my experience
in this market.
Once
I get a list of qualified leads, the first four steps
of my marketing strategy is complete.
The
Final Steps
This
issue will complete my second year for these Survival
Tips Bulletins. I will be adding these 52 issues to
my CD-ROM with the first 52 marketing lessons. I can
also turn these marketing lessons into a book and it
will be a totally unique info product based on my own
experience.
If
you are patient and willing to take the time, this is
an excellent way to create your own unique info product.
Once
again, it doesn't matter what your market is, you need
a way to introduce yourself to your potential customers.
You should use your book as a marketing tool to help
to promote the products or services that you offer to
your market.
This
is what I have done with these marketing lessons. This
didn't cost me money but it did cost me time and as
the saying goes: "Time is Money."
However,
over the past two years I have also gained a wealth
of experience that I can use to help others and make
money at the same time.
This
is the bottom line. But it's all about how you want
to play the game. I firmly believe that if I can help
others get what they want, I will get what I want.
I
feel good about being able to help others gain a better
understanding of how to lay a solid foundation
on which they can build a successful home base information
selling business.
I
suggest that you review these marketing lessons from
time to time, there are many ideas that will help you
to effectively market your products or services, especially
when it comes to generating qualified leads to sell
to. I also hope you have learned the value of using
and leveraging the skills that you already have. It's
not always about having more but you should think about
doing more with what you already have...
My
plans for the upcoming twelve months is to send out
these Survival Tips Bulletins one issue each month.
Why am I doing this? I think that I can serve you better
and provide you with relevant information by taking
the time to gather information that will benefit you
in your marketing efforts. I think there is a lot of
advertising over kill out in the market place that doesn't
benefit anyone, just a lot of noise, hype and
false promises from marketers chasing a quick buck.
I choose to opt out of that game. You have been receiving
these marketing lessons long enough to know who I am
and what I stand for and you should know by now that
if you need help or have any questions, you can contact
me by phone or e-mailed at any time.
You
can get the reproduction rights to all 104 of these
marketing lessons on CD-ROM . This means you can reproduce
this CD-ROM and sell it or give it away as a free gift
and all it will cost you is $7.00! However, you can
only take advantage of this special offer by sending
the payment to the address below. This is a physical
product and will be sent to you by US mail. Just send
your request to:
Gregory
H Bey 7023 Hermitage St Pittsburgh PA 15208-1110 1-412
363-7187
In
my upcoming monthly issues, along with some informative
marketing lessons, I will be creating some special dealership
offers that will give you an opportunity to make money
using the same lead generating system that I am using
right now. so, look forward to receiving some special
offers in the months ahead.
Warmly
Greg Bey
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