Build Your Credibility, Build Your Business

A Blog Series By Rich Schefren

Looking Back on this Blog Series… If you want to build an online business, you have to build your credibility both as a business owner and as an authority in your marketplace.

That’s what I told my blog readers when I first wrote this blog series back in 2010. At the time, I really wanted to challenge myself, push myself to create even more value on the blog than I had in the past.

So each day, I went to the beach at sunrise, armed with nothing but my yellow legal pad, my pens and my iPhone. I’d spend the first two or three hours of my day scribbling every credibility strategy and tactic I could think of on my legal yellow pad.

Then I would jump in my car and head to the Strategic Profits office, where my assistant would take my yellow legal pad and type up my hand-written blog posts.

Looking back now, all our hard work paid off. To this day, this is one of the best blog series I’ve ever done. And my readers agreed – when all was said and done, this blog series got nearly 200 comments.

And even today, more than three years later, many of these credibility strategies are just as necessary if you want to build an online business. I highly encourage you to take these ideas and use them in your business.

Frankly, even if you used just a handful of these ideas to build your credibility, I have no doubt that you would gain your clients’ trust faster, be able to charge higher fees, and ultimately attract far more business than you might think is possible right now.

As you will see, I’ve left this blog series exactly as it was, so you can not only see the original credibility strategies – but you will also see how I engineered this blog series (with all the links, graphics and calls to action to give comments, post on Twitter etc.).

I hope you get as much out of this as I did in writing it.

To higher profits and beyond,

Rich Schefren

July 2013

Marketing An Online Business? Step #1 – Create Credibility Credibility… Believability… Proof…

You need more of it. That’s what everyone says… There are even entire books written on how to get it… Courses too!

But you know what I say? It’s this: Boosting your credibility is necessary but, it’s always much easier if you…

IMPROVE YOUR SUBSTANCE

So… please… keep focusing on making your products or services better. Make it as great as you can. Strive ever and ever to… create more value for both your prospects and clients.

What’s that? You say you are already doing that? And you’re not getting all the notoriety and recognition you deserve? And it’s costing you sales and profits daily? And you want me to tell you how you can fix it? RIGHT NOW?

OK, OK, don’t be so pushy!

Today we’re going to drill down into all the particulars of proof. How to best leverage it to enhance your believability and credibility.

First, I want to share an incredible gem Dan Kennedy shared with me. Pay careful attention, because this one is a…

GAME CHANGER!

You see, most marketers think there’s only 1 level of proof. But they’re wrong.

There are, in fact, three levels of proof. Here they are:

1. Proof you can do it 2. Proof you can help others to do it 3. Proof you can help someone worse off than your prospects do it

Now, obviously, all three are important.

But don’t you know, it’s the third type that is often the most difficult to get… and the most explosive in generating blockbuster sales.

Here’s why: Low self-esteem is epidemic. So even when you prove you can do it, and you’ve helped others do it too… you’re prospect may not believe you can help them do it.

Why? Because they believe they’re…

BEYOND HOPE

And that, my friend, will stifle your sales more than you might imagine.

Up till now, you could often rely on testimonials to plug this leak in your sales.

But thanks to our good friends at the FTC that’s all changing. And so for today I’m going to share a plethora of ways to establish more proof.

Consider it a smorgasbord of vehicles to pick and choose from. And while you might not use all of them in any one campaign… the more you do use the more bulletproof your positioning will be.

And, more importantly, your prospects will have…

CONFIDENCE YOU CAN SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS!!!

Capiche?

OK, then let’s get down to it…

Yesterday, we talked about looking at your life experience as stackable proof points in your own abilities. You can read all about it here…

Leveraging Your Strengths.. And Proof… TO EXPLODE YOUR SALES!

Now, let’s take this many steps further…

#1 The Powerful Demonstration

What It Is: An over-the-top demonstration that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that either you’ve honed your chops to perfection, or your product is capable of making magic happen. I wrote about this in my blog post about Billy Mays. And when done correctly it’s MUCH more powerful than a sleuth of testimonials.

In fact, just this past Wednesday during my weekly BGS (Business Growth System) coaching call – I advised my client, Howard, how to leverage this technique in his course on outsourcing.

I told him to take a task or activity that most people find difficult, time-consuming and expensive. Then create a 2-3 minute video that shows him getting it done through outsourcing for pennies on the dollar. I told him if he did that for a few of the biggest time-sucking activities and business-boosting activities he would have hoards of new clients buying his stuff.

Why It’s Powerful: Prospects discount and distrust testimonials more and more each day. But show them how you can magically solve one of their pressing problems in a way that makes them say WOW and you’ve got them.

Why? Because the prospect can see themselves solving their problem or getting the result as easily as you’ve just shown. So they see themselves creating the same result in the same way. And this is powerful stuff.

You’ve made what they (previously) thought as difficult – as something easily done. And who doesn’t want that?

Example: Dan Kennedy wrote an amazing example of this in his latest NO B.S. Info-Marketing Newsletter (always a great read by the way).

Dan mentioned a sales trainer who sold courses on how to cold-call to get appointments. The trainer would sit on stage with a phone (amplified so the whole audience could hear) and have audience members pick people at random out of the white pages. He’d then call them stone cold and get the appointments.

Man-oh-man! Do you see how powerful that is? To me, that’s 10x more powerful than a few people in the audience standing up and saying what great results they’ve gotten from his course.

In fact, If I was in the audience and I had to cold-call, I’d be rushing to the back of the room to buy his course ASAP.

#2 Results In Advance

What It Is: This distinction comes from Frank Kern. And it’s a doozy. Here’s the concept – let’s say your prospects have to achieve 10 sub-goals to reach their main goal… Then in your free content you help them take that first step, and achieve their first sub-goal.

So, let’s say your prospects want to make money online by having a massive list of prospects and sending them offers. In this case, if your prospects were wet-

behind-the-ears, step one would be helping them get a website up with a squeeze page.

Why It’s Powerful: The power of momentum is a magical thing. We’ve all experienced it.

When you taste initial success, your belief you’ll achieve your goal skyrockets… and you redouble your efforts.

It’s like when you first go on a diet, and the next time you weigh yourself you’re 5 lbs. lighter! You think “IT’S WORKING!” and you find it easier to stick to your diet that day because of the perceived progress you are making.

And of course, if you’re the person that’s responsible for giving your prospects their initial wins… then you’re the person that will lead them to the promise land. And they’ll buy your products and services because they’ve gotten a taste of what you can do for them.

Example: When we relaunched our GPS (Guided Profit System) – we shot a one-hour video where I taught the importance of isolating your constraint and then gave a quick exercise on how to locate it.

As soon as prospects did the exercise – they finally saw what was really holding them back. And they were hooked. They saw first-hand how powerful identifying and eliminating constraints could be.

#3 Marquee Clients

What It Is: blah – You’ve seen consultants do this for years… listing all the big companies they’ve consulted for. And the reason they still do it… because it works.

I became “The Guru to The Gurus” because I’ve coached many of today’s top Internet marketers. And I don’t think it’s too surprising the incredible number of clients I got because of it.

Think about it: You’re on Guru X’s list – you’re impressed with his success and his knowledge. Then you find out he had a coach when he first started out – one that helped him get incredible results.

Wouldn’t you immediately seek that very same coach out? Of course you would.

Why It’s Powerful: With the right marquee clients, prospects naturally assume if it’s good enough for them… it’s good enough for me. Especially when the prospect aspires to get the same results of those marquee clients.

You probably heard that old saying “No one ever got fired for buying IBM” – just take that sentence to its natural conclusion and you’ve got the point.

Example: Nowadays I no longer stress all the gurus I previously coached. Instead I stress the fact that I’ve worked with or taught Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Agora, Motley Fool, The Street, etc…

The reason: for the past 2 years or so I really went after more corporate clients… I knew the gurus I coached weren’t the sort of marquee clients I needed for the prospects I was aiming at.

Now that I am back, many of the gurus I used to coach are now seen as THE COMMON ENEMY – some rightfully so. So I’ve distanced myself – and I’m creating a new set of tomorrow’s biggest gurus (who are ethical and honest) in my current programs. For example Alex Jeffreys, and many more.

#4 Track Record

What It Is: An impressive array of previous accomplishments. In investments it’s about picking winner after winner… In health it might be the first to expose effective alternative approaches… In my business, Strategic Profits, it’s the results we’ve achieved ourselves.

One of my mentors, Michael Masterson, built a 100+ million dollar company in his 30′s, and a totally different 350+ million dollar company in his 50′s. Is there any wonder why advice from Michael is valued more than from others who haven’t achieved his level of success? I think not.

Why It’s Powerful: A great track record shows: you’re a step ahead of everyone else… you’ve got a high success rate… and… you do it consistently!

Who doesn’t want to be around success like that? Ultimately you want to be the “go-to” person in your field for your prospects and clients – and one of the easiest ways to be that person is to advertise your successes.

Example: I gave you some of my own examples in yesterday’s post – so no need to go over them again here.

#5 Powerful Association

What It Is: If you associate with powerful people then it’s assumed you’re powerful… if you associate with great marketers then it’s assumed you’re a great marketer… if you associate with the rich and famous then it’s assumed you’re rich and famous too… and so on.

Also, when you partner with big name players, often times their credibility extends to you. In fact, even when you interview enough thought-leaders you’re seen as a thought leader. (More about this in a minute.)

How To Do It: If I was just starting out in a niche – this is one of the tactics I would immediately leverage.

I’d create a blog… begin posting… then head over to Amazon and buy the most popular books in my niche. I’d read them, and then approach the authors to interview them about their books.

Almost every author is willing to be interviewed about their books – and when you ask insightful questions (proving that you’ve actually read their books) a friendship is likely to develop.

I’d post the interviews as soon as I did them. And when I had enough of them I’d put them all in a free report – with a snazzy introduction and conclusion from me. Whamo… instant credibility by association.

Why it’s powerful: It’s simply human nature to assume that if those people (whoever those people are) seem to think you are worthy then so will I. Of course, this works the other way too – associate with sleazy people and people will think you’re sleazy. In fact, if I knew now what some of my guru clients were going to be doing after I coached them… I would have declined coaching them.

Example: This past year my credibility skyrocketed because of The League of Extraordinary Minds. I got to associate myself with Stephen Covey, Robert Cialdini, Dan Ariely, Al Ries, Jack Trout, Jay Conrad Levinson, Julie Morgenstern, Marshall Goldsmith, Ori Brafman, Michael Gerber, Herb Cohen, Sergio Zyman, Spencer Johnson, John Kotter, etc…

And before that I’ve interviewed famous authors like Dan Ariely (Predictably Irrational), Robert Cialdini (Influence), Joseph Jaffe (Join the Conversation), David Meerman Scott (The New Rules Of Marketing And PR) for the blog about their books.

In fact, I’ve got a doozy of an interview arranged for you next week! I can’t wait to share it with you.

#6 Unique Mechanism

What It Is: Gene Schwartz went through a very thorough explanation of this in his book: Breakthrough Advertising. I also wrote about how Billy May’s used it in the blog post I wrote about him (if you haven’t read that post – you need to asap).

Here’s the gist of it: A mechanism is a new way, unique method, new system, or approach to getting the benefit your prospects desire.

Why It’s Powerful: Having a new way to achieve a result makes getting the result more believable to all your prospects who already tried other approaches. So there’s an immediate increase in the believability of your promise.

Example: Like I said, I give you plenty of examples in the Billy Mays Post (so, read up). But here’s another one from my personal history. When you look at what I did with The Internet Business Manifesto and The Missing Chapter – one way to look at it is… I created a new mechanism (knowing how to build and run a business) to succeeding online. And for many who had struggled this seemed like a new, different and better approach to succeeding. Get it?

Wait…

EGADS… I’M LATE!

Where does the time go?

I’ve got lots more examples to tell you about too – but they’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry.

I also wanted to show you how to better leverage these too! Like I did with #5-Powerful Associations.

So, if you want to help your fellow readers out, feel free to give some advice on how you might leverage any of these.

Here’s what I already have on my list:

The Sinatra Test Displays Of Knowledge (real articles, blog posts, etc.) Research + Studies Media Mentions Case Histories Credible Certifications Displays Of Honesty & Integrity Awards Personal Endorsement Of YOU

OK – Before I go…

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I’ve got 2 quick questions for you…

1. Which one of these do you plan on using first? 2. What am I missing on my list?

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And thanks to all of you who’ve been commenting – sometimes it feels like I’m pulling teeth here (LOL)!

Oh yeah, don’t forget to tweet this too!

To higher profits and beyond,

Rich Schefren

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Marketing An Online Business? Step #2 – Boost Believability Yesterday, I gave you six powerful bullets to…

Create Credibility… Boost Believability… Pile On The Proof!

If you haven’t read it yet – I strongly suggest you click over to that post first.

OK, now today, if all goes right – I’ve got another ten (sorry I only got 4 done today) to add to your arsenal.

Whoa… ten plus six equal sixteen… Do you really need that many?

Yes. You Do!

Before I tell you why… Have I ever told you about my dog Max?

Here’s a picture of him:

Yep, he’s a Great Dane. He’s actually my third one… so it’s safe to say I’m a dog man.

Here’s why: The fierce and absolute unconditional love a dog gives you. I think it’s impossible to live without it once you’ve gotten a taste.

You know what I mean, right?

Your mere presence walking in the door lights up their life so intensely and instantly it automatically boosts your spirits.

Alright… I confess… Sometimes I leave my house and come back in a different door just to get another quick fix.

Now, before you think I’m having an ADD moment telling you all this…

THINK AGAIN!

You see, you want your prospects to be greeted with your believability and credibility each time they come to your business.

Just like Max always greets me with unconditional love.

That’s why having at least these sixteen bullets of proof in your arsenal is essential.

Because, as my friend Joseph Jaffe once said…

“MARKETING ISN’T A CAMPAIGN… IT’S A COMMITMENT!!!”

It’s a commitment to a relationship.

A relationship that’ll leave your prospects and clients better off than before.

And, it’s your job to continually convince them that you’ve got the chops to do it.

Which seamlessly transitions to…

#7 Displays Of Knowledge

What it is: Proving your expertise consistently in the form of valuable content.

This is incredibly powerful – especially when you dish it out frequently enough to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you know your subject cold.

Why it’s powerful: The most powerful proof is personal. And creating valuable content consistently that helps your prospects and clients… proves your expertise in a personal way.

Example: What I’m doing right here. Over the past two weeks hasn’t my content proven I know my stuff? Haven’t I been behaving just like Max? Greeting you each morning you come to my site with valuable content that oozes credibility and belief in my expertise.

And guess what? If I keep this up for a while… for many it’ll become a positive addiction… you’ll come here daily to get your daily “fix” of business growth advice.

Just like I feel about walking in the door and being greeted by Max’s unconditional love, right?

Side-note: This is one of the best ways for you to really know you are in the right niche. Can you consistently (and easily) create value?

I’ve already told you that I write each post from the beach with just pencil and paper. You know why?

Because I don’t need to research ideas, concepts, or methods to teach you.

It’s all in my head. And I’ll never run out of material I believe is valuable for you to know. Because… quite simply…

I live, breathe, eat and sleep business building, marketing, strategy, systems, and everything else that relates to the entrepreneurial experience.

Now, please, understand. I’m not saying this to win points with you… I’m saying it because when you are in the right niche for yourself – you’ll find it just as easy. Promise.

That’s why I always feel obligated to call out those who don’t walk their talk.

For example: Those who want to teach others how to make money online when they are struggling themselves.

Forget for a moment that it’s unfair to their customers and prospects. It’s ALSO unfair to themselves. Because everything becomes excruciatingly difficult. You see that right?

creating valuable content is arduous… displaying proof is grueling… attracting prospects attention is exhausting… converting prospects to clients is insurmountable… etc.

OK, sorry about that rant. But I do believe this is an imperative issue for many of you to consider.

Next…

#8 Personal Endorsements

What it is: Many marketers miss the point – there are really two types of testimonials.

The first one is obvious – testimonials for your products and the results they achieve. And this one is increasingly being regulated by the FTC.

But the second type of testimonial is far more useful (and I believe less regulated) because it can be used anywhere and everywhere. And that’s testimonials about YOU and/or YOUR COMPANY not your individual products.

Why it’s powerful: Think about this… what is a reputation? A reputation is made up of what others think about you.

And if you have a great reputation (I hope you do), don’t you think it might be valuable to share it?

And if you did share it… don’t you think it would boost your believability and credibility?

I certainly do.

Example: I’ve got two examples for you…

This first one is a slide from the upcoming webinar I am working on. Here it is…

If you respect any of these men… then you know how powerful this can be.

Is it easy to get personal endorsements like these… not from these gentleman – but who do you know that already has credibility in your niche?

And if you follow the advice I gave you yesterday (in #5: Powerful Associations) and you cultivate a relationship with any of those people… you’ll get a few of these soon enough.

You should mix up the formats too.

Here’s a 40 second video endorsement I just got last week.

I might use this one at the beginning of my webinar.

But here’s the important point – I can use both of them on sales letters, in presentations, webinars, etc.

And that’s powerful!

OK, next…

#9 Case Histories

What it is: Taking testimonials and transforming it into valuable content itself.

I must admit – I used to create more of these. And now that I’m writing about it… I am reminded that I need to make sure we start creating more of these.

Why it’s powerful: While it’s easy to disregard a testimonial – when you take a testimonial and convert it into valuable instructive content it supercharges it’s power.

Why? Because when the content is consumed it’s easier for your prospects and clients to put themselves in the shoes of the person who the case study is centered around.

It’s also a lot more believable too!

Because it’s not just a sentence or two – you’re sharing the whole story.

The details and specificity make it more credible, more believable, and it’s a much deeper form of proof.

Example: Here’s an example I released in between The Internet Business Manifesto and Missing Chapter. (I actually released three during that time – but you’ll get the point)

Case Study with Hans Johnson (right click and save it – if you want to read it)

You can also use the same technique in your presentations. After you teach a concept – show a case study of a client who got a great result by using that concept. A few of those strategically placed in a presentation shoots your credibility and believability to the stratosphere.

Here’s an example from a presentation I was giving on constraints. It’s from the founder of 1shoppingcart.com who was a client until he sold the company…

Next…

#10 The Sinatra Test

What it is: It comes from the best selling business book “Made To Stick.”

I wrote about this extensively in the Billy Mays Marketing Magic post.

Here’s a blurb from page 151 in Made To Stick…

“In Frank Sinatra’s classic “New York, New York,” he sings about starting a new life in New York City, and the chorus declares, “If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere.” This is what is called the “Sinatra Test’ – an idea when one example alone is enough to establish credibility in a given domain. For instance, if you’ve got the security contract for Fort Knox, you’re in the running for any security contract (even if you have no other clients). If you catered a White House function, you can compete for any catering contract. It’s the Sinatra Test: “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”

Why it’s Powerful: It has a similar effect as #1: The Powerful Demonstration (from yesterday’s post).

The idea here is you’re putting the product or service to the test. A test that far surpasses normal use.

So your prospects and customers are left thinking…

“Well… if it can do that… it’s certainly good enough for me”

Example: An example from the cult-classic infomercial The Ginsu Knives…

“The Ginsu is so sharp it can cut through a tin can and still cut a tomato like this. It can chop wood and still remain razor sharp…”

The implication is if the Ginsu can do all that, it’s not going to ever get dull just using it in my kitchen.

I used the same technique when releasing our GPS coaching program.

To start the pre-launch off right, I hosted a 26-hour straight marathon question and answer video stream.

For twenty-six hours straight (no breaks) I sat at my desk an answered approximately 700 questions from 28,000 viewers. All of them related to growing a business online.

Here are two blog posts about it: Rich Schefren Live for 24 Hours, and Holy #$%!–We Beat John McCain!

When the launch was done – many new clients told me…

“I couldn’t believe you had an answer to every single question thrown at you… I figured if I was going to be coached by anyone it would have to be you.”

See how powerful that one is?

It can be explosive when done correctly – think about how you might be able to leverage this concept in your marketing.

Wow… Where does the time go?

I’ll have to cut this here…

We still have these to cover:

Research + Studies Media mentions Credible certifications Displays of honesty and integrity Award Powerful guarantees (thanks Sean)

OK – Before I go…

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I’ve got 2 quick questions for you…

1. Which one of these do you plan on using first? 2. What am I missing on my list?

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And thanks to all of you who’ve been commenting – sometimes it feels like I’m pulling teeth here (LOL)!

Oh yeah, don’t forget to tweet this too! (It’s to the right just below the headline for the post).

To higher profits and beyond,

Rich Schefren

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Marketing An Online Business? Step #3 – Pile On The Proof! I hope you had a great weekend, a great Valentine’s Day and (for those in the U.S.) a great President’s Day.

I sure did.

Then on Monday, Ava and Elle had off from school – so we all had fun taking a day off.

Now, it’s time to get back to work. So I am back at my beach office ready to take our conversation about credibility, believability and proof much further.

The sun has just risen.

Here’s the view from my beach office this morning…

Beautiful. Alright let’s get to it…

So far we’ve covered 10 methods you can employ.

In our first post (you can read it by clicking here), we covered:

1. The Powerful Demonstration 2. Results In Advance 3. Marquee Clients 4. Track Record 5. Powerful Associations 6. Unique Mechanism

In our second post (you can read it by clicking here), we covered:

1. Displays Of Knowledge 2. Personal Endorsement 3. Case Histories 4. The Sinatra Test

Alright, let’s add two more today to your arsenal.

We’ll start with…

#11 Innovation & Being On The Cutting Edge

What It Is: Introduce new methods, technologies, or insights to your market increases your stature. Do it consistently… the credibility and believability of your expertise shines for everyone to see.

You can do this by:

Bringing trends from the fringe to the mainstream… Being the first to leverage a new technology to benefit your prospects and

clients…. Being the first to alert your market of a future threat or opportunity… Breaking new ground in your marketing that adds more value to your

marketplace… Etc.

Why It’s Powerful: One of the most common questions we ask friends, peers and family members when we connect is “What’s new?” Because in any area we care about we want to stay up to date.

So, when you or your company can serve as the primary source of “what’s new” for your prospects and clients… you deliver value in a way that builds greater belief and credibility in your expertise.

Example: I’ve used this approach so many times – it’s impossible for me to list them all here. But here are a few examples (from this blog) to stimulate your thinking…

1 – First to stream from a live seminar – February 10, 2007 – Here’s the blog post – LIVE Streaming Video Discussion Thread

2 – First in our marketplace to cover our conference with continual video updates (of each speaker) on our blog – From February 24-29, 2008 – Here are the blog posts:

I’ve Got A Surprise for You… Conference Update: 2 Important Elements Of A Maven Conference Update: The #1 Thing To Test In Your Sales Letter Conference Update: Why Use Multi-Channel Marketing? Conference Update: How To Build Rapport With Your Market Conference Update: Jeff Walker Spills The Beans About Building Tension Conference Update: Tom McCarthy on Finding Your Vision

Conference Update: Frank Kern on Finding The Core Identity Of Your Market

Conference Update: Jay Abraham on Standing Out In Your Market Conference Update: John Carlton on Killer Testimonials Conference Update: Gary Vaynerchuk on Branding Yourself And

Becoming A Web 2.0 Market Maven The Famous “Andrea” Shares Her Top Event Highlights New Beginnings Conference Video Finale

3 – First to introduce and recommend Twitter to our marketplace – March 7, 2008 – Here’s the blog post - How To Instantly Transform Your Cell Phone Into A Eavesdropping Device That Picks Up The Most Profitable Information Online Today

4 – First to alert the market that (marketplace) attention was going to be the scarcest commodity in marketing – In The Attention Age Doctrine 1 (off the market) and The Attention Age Doctrine 2 (still available). Here are the blog posts:

My Latest Advisory Is Ready Attention Age Doctrine Part 2 Released

How To Do It: All trends develop from the fringe. The trick is to identify listening posts that key you in to what’s up.

I have a folder in my bookmarks bar to save any sites I come across that serve as predictors of what’s to come. Here’s some of the types of pages that are saved in my folder:

Aggregator sites of what’s currently hot like popurls… Trend sites documenting new and upcoming trends like Trend Hunter

Magazine… Recent social bookmarks on topics that impact my niche like

Delicious.com recent bookmarks of entrepreneurship… Top Amazon Book Reviewers who review books that impact my market

like Rolf Dobelli… Plus many more (like top stumblers, top bookmarkers on DIGG and

Delicious, etc.)

So, start today. Just place a folder on your bookmarks bar titled “Trends.” Then whenever you come across any page you believe can provide you with the future insight to lead your marketplace, bookmark it and place it in that folder.

Then once a month make sure to check in with those pages and see if you can pick up on any trends gaining momentum that your marketplace needs to know about.

Next…

#12 Leveraging Research & Studies

What It Is: There’s no doubt about it…We live in the information age. The internet places in your hands the best tool to track down juicy research you can use to increase your credibility.

For example with a little sleuthing on your part – you can easily find research that proves:

your prospects have a problem you can solve Your solution (or type of solution) is effective The difference you or your business can make in your client’s lives Etc.

Why It’s Powerful: By providing research to support the problems you solve, the solutions you offer, and the difference you can make… you make it easier for your prospects and clients to believe in you, your company, and the solutions you provide.

Example: Here are two examples from the upcoming webinar I’ve been working on.

This first one is from a study done by SCORE and U.S. Bank. As you can see it helps prove the need for services like mine – teaching entrepreneurs how to build and grow their businesses…

This second slide is from a study done by Dunn & Bradstreet. This one helps identify a problem my prospects might suffer from. And once again it helps support the need for my programs and services…

How To Do It: You’ve basically got two choices. Either do the research yourself, or hire a researcher to find the information for you.

If you decide to do the research yourself – the first places I would look are question and answer sites. In fact – if my memory serves me correctly I found both of the above studies on Google Answers. Another site to definitely check out is Yahoo Answers too. Search both of these sites to see if someone else has already paid researchers to find the answers you want.

If you decide to hire someone else to do the research for you – think about hiring a librarian. Of course, the freelance sites like elance can be helpful too just make sure you’re hiring a proficient researcher to ferret out the information that would be helpful to you.

Either way… think about the problems you solve and the solutions you provide. Then point your own research or your researcher in that direction.

O.K. that will wrap up today’s post.

It’s always a challenge to get back in the groove – so I wanted to ease back into our series today (especially with the weekend I had).

Of course, we’ve got lots more to cover – and we’ll do that tomorrow.

But before you go…

Remember to Re-tweet This!

And tell me…

What ideas, takeaways, or approaches did this post stimulate for you?

See you tomorrow at 10 am sharp.

To higher profits and beyond,

Rich Schefren

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Marketing An Online Business With Credibility… Believability… And Proof!!! (Part 4) Today, we’re continuing the series on how get and leverage credibility, believability and proof to boost your online business.

And we’re heading down the home stretch…

We’ve now covered 12 methods you can employ.

In our first post Marketing An Online Business? Step #1 – Create Credibility, we covered:

1. The Powerful Demonstration 2. Results In Advance 3. Marquee Clients 4. Track Record 5. Powerful Associations 6. Unique Mechanism

In our second post Marketing An Online Business? Step #2 – Boost Believability, we covered:

1. Displays Of Knowledge 2. Personal Endorsement 3. Case Histories 4. The Sinatra Test

In our third post Marketing An Online Business? Step #3 – Pile On The Proof! , we covered

1. Innovation & Being On The Cutting Edge 2. Leveraging Research & Studies

And today we’re going to add 4 more to your tools to create the credibility you deserve.

Before we dive in – I just want to say thank you if you’ve been commenting. I really appreciate it.

Your feedback has been incredibly useful to me in figuring out where to go next. Plus it provides me immediate feedback… making posting here. Addictive!

OK, let’s get going…

#13 Media Mentions

What It Is: Having you or your company mentioned in the media. It can be as small as being quoted… to as big as a full profile piece. No matter its size it’s valuable and can be leveraged.

Why It’s Powerful: When a media outlet of any sort (positively) mentions you or your company it adds massive credibility. Most entrepreneurs recognize this – however, what they don’t realize is how simple it is to get in the media.

Don’t believe me? Keep reading and I’ll explain how you can nudge your way in.

How To Do It: There are many strategies that will get you media attention – and there’s no way I can be exhaustive here – but let me give you three that you might not have thought of.

1 – Cultivate Relationships – Do you know WHO the journalists are that would cover stories related to your market? And more importantly, do they know YOU? My guess is your answer to both is NO.

And that’s a big mistake. You see, when a journalist needs an expert’s opinion you want to have “contact real-estate” in their Rolodex. Often times, they’re rushing to meet a deadline – so they’ll call someone they know to get a quote or perspective to include in their story… and you want to be that expert.

What this requires is:

1. Start following the media outlets you’d like to appear in… 2. Identify the journalists that are covering areas related to yours… 3. Start following their stories… 4. Reach out to them when they’ve written a particularly good piece or if

you’ve got a great follow-up piece. (Maybe even blog about their good stories)…

5. Stay in touch… 6. Eventually – you’ll get the chance… 7. Be as accommodating as possible, as useful as you can be for them… 8. Cultivate the relationship going forward.

Below you’ll see links to three articles I appeared in last year on CNN.com

All of these came about because of a relationship I cultivated with Emily Maltby of CNN.

You can do the same… All it requires is patience and persistence.

2 – Develop Interesting Hooks – Journalists are always looking for interesting and valuable stories to report on. So, make it easy for them. Come up with a great story yourself!

Once you’ve begun to develop relationships with journalists -having a great story really supercharges your publicity.

When I had my hypnosis centers we were in the media frequently. And usually it was caused by this strategy. Two that come to mind…

1. A story about a travel agent who was afraid to fly came in for phobia relief (and it worked)!

2. A story about a teacher who brought her daughter in to improve her grades with hypnosis (and it worked)!

The media eat up stories like this in a heartbeat. So, you’ve got to look at your business from the outside and ask yourself “where’s the interesting story here?” Brainstorm as many answers to this question as possible – and keep at it. Usually you’ll know when you’ve got something juicy.

When you’ve got a really good one and feel confident about it – shoot a quick (and short) email to one of the journalists you’ve already put on your hit list. If he or she isn’t interested approach the next one, and so on and so on… till you find a journalist that bites.

3 – Conduct Fascinating Studies – A backdoor approach to getting in the media is to conduct interesting surveys. I’m not an expert at this, but I have several clients who are. And they’ve reaped tremendous rewards because it.

For example, when the recession first got underway – I could’ve conducted a survey about how entrepreneurs were planning to adjust. I could’ve listed several options, like….

1. Invest more in their own education to grow their business during difficult times.

2. Cut back on bigger projects and look for smaller quick wins. 3. Fire at least one employee. 4. Outsource more to developing countries.

Can you see how if any of these were a clear winner, it could make an interesting story? I can see the headlines now…

1. Entrepreneurs Investing More In Themselves To Grow Their Businesses In The Recession

2. Entrepreneurs Are Cutting Back And Looking For Quick Hits In The Midst Of The Recession

3. Entrepreneurs Tightening Their Belts And Handing Out Pink Slips 4. Entrepreneurs Placing “Help-Wanted” Signs… Overseas!

See how easy that was?

What interesting surveys could you start conducting that would provide a good hook for a journalist? Remember if you want their attention you’ve got to do more than meet them halfway. You’ve got to make it easy for them.

You can run the survey on your blog, email your list, or if it’s juicy enough run pay-per-click to the survey. Try it… you’ll see.

Example: I could show you countless examples of how I’ve done this… and maybe in a future post that will be appropriate. Today I want to press on… so let me share just two.

I told you about Emily Maltby from CNN.com – here are three articles she wrote, that yours truly was quoted in….

Get Focused On Getting Customers

Get Users (And Google) To Trust Your Website Web Site Makeover: Before And After

And of course, once you get mentioned you want to broadcast that to the world. Here’s one of the footers from our home page…

Next…

#14 Leveraging Social Proof

What It Is: By appearing popular you often seem more credible.

Why It’s Powerful: The logic is… if others find this person or this company’s information valuable… I guess it is.

Example: There are many ways to show popularity. Here are a few examples…

1. The number of Twitter followers… 2. The number of Facebook fans… 3. The number of RSS readers… 4. Your Alexa ranking… 5. The number of comments on your blog post… 6. Etc.

Think about it – I know for me, when I go to a blog and I see lots of RSS subscribers, or lots of comments – my interest is always piqued. What about you?

How To Do It: This comes back to two basic concepts. Create Value & Engage. You’ve seen me do both on this blog as of recently – so just keep paying attention to what I am doing and see what ideas it stimulates. Also, if you haven’t already, read this post I did two weeks ago…

Online Business Tip: How 3 Blog Posts Cause Explosive Traffic, Engagement, And Profits

Next…

#15 Being A Specialist

What It Is: When you specialize, the logical leap is you know more about that area than a generalist would.

Why It’s Powerful: As any market evolves it fragments. As a market fragments there becomes more and more experts who specialize in certain sub-areas of the market. Think about it…

You use to buy sunglasses in department stores… now there are stores who just sell sunglasses.

You use to go to a general lawyer…. now there are lawyers who specialize in divorce, accidents, malpractice, etc…

You use to go to your local garage to get your oil changed… now there are places like Jiffy Lube who just do oil changes.

I could go on and on. But the point here is that you can easily boost your credibility by specializing on a specific area of your market.

Example: If you had a new puppy that was in desperate need of house training – and you cracked open the yellow pages or did a local search in Google, who would you choose?

Would you choose the puppy-training specialist or a simple dog trainer? Well, you want to be the specialist that solves important problems in your marketplace.

Here’s a slide from The Final Chapter (you have read that right?)…

Look at it – what I was showing here is how online marketing was fragmenting. And therefore there’s always an opportunity to become a guru (if you so choose) or a market leader in a certain area.

When Internet Marketing was just starting out there were simply generalists. Then it started to fragment. Notice how the third row is a subset of online advertising… And the fourth row is a subset of Pay Per Click. In other words, each row below is a subset of one box above.

Now, this is an old slide, the slide would be much bigger today – to incorporate many more sub-niches and along with it…. many areas where an Expert is needed.

How To Do It: Look at your niche – identify the current fragments – rank them in size (base that on search volume, site popularity, etc…) – determine if there is already a well entrenched expert in each of these fragments – if not, you just spotted your opportunity (if it fits with your strengths).

If all the fragments are already occupied by an entrenched expert - then look at the three biggest sub-niches and think through how they might be divided in the future. Pick the one you believe will be sizable and with a head start you’ll be able to outshine others.

#16 Client Contests

What It Is: Incentivize your clients to get results through a contest and publish their success stories for the world to see.

Why It’s Powerful: When you see mounds of success stories from average people, the implications are overwhelming that what you do gets results.

It’s sad but true – most people need more than just their possible success to light a fire under them. So, when you incentivize success you usually generate a lot more success stories for your clients. And when they are publicly displayed it can be some of the best advertising you could ever do.

So your clients are more motivated to get results, and…. to document them for you in a very compelling way. There’s also been a few studies that show that clients who participate successfully in these types of contests (even when they don’t win) are much more likely to become raving fans of you and your company.

Example: The best example that comes to mind is Bill Philips. Do you remember his book Body For Life? It was crammed packed with the submissions of the previous years contests. Which further implied his methodology and his supplements worked. You see, it wasn’t enough to be in phenomenal shape to motivate many, but…. throw in a Lamborghini and a hundred thousand in cash to go along with a super-fit body and all of sudden everybody becomes a gym-rat.

While we haven’t done this recently in our programs – it is something we plan on doing soon in both Founder’s Club and our Business Growth System. I’ll keep you posted on that.

But one contest we had that had spectacular success was a video contest for The Attention Age Doctrine II – when it was all said and done – we had hundreds of our readers create videos promoting the doctrine.

It built tremendous traffic for our site, boosted downloads of the report, got us hundreds of new clients, and got my first gig in front of Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo.

If you want to check out the winners (they’re quite good) – here they are… We Have Our Winners

How To Do It: While this is simple, it’s not necessarily easy. But here’s how to start. Think about the result that is most desired by your prospects. Once you know that – figure out a way to have a big contest for your clients on achieving that same result. Obviously the better the prizes, the better participation. And if you’re planning on doing this in a big way you’ll probably need the advice of a lawyer too (bummer).

But make no mistake – when done correctly this strategy will skyrocket your credibility and also multiply profits.

Alright, that wraps up today’s post.

OK – before I go…

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I’ve got 2 quick questions for you…

1. Which one of these do you plan on using first? 2. What questions do you have about using these or any of

the others we’ve already covered?

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Oh yeah, don’t forget to tweet this too! (It’s to the right just below the headline for the post).

To higher profits and beyond,

Rich Schefren

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Growing Credibility = Growing Profits (Part 5) Prospects… your business shrivels up without them.

But, even when you got them… odds are high they’re thinking (excuse my French) “Bullshit” when they look at you and your offers.

In other words…

THEY DON’T BELIEVE YOU!

And that’s a big problem. Because skepticism plummets conversion rates.

Often it’s the biggest barrier to climb transforming prospects into clients.

And online — if you’re not trusted you don’t get wealthy.

But, have no fear… because if you’re struggling with skepticism, here’s…

YOUR SOLUTION

And the solution is leveraging credibility devices for all they’re worth.

Now, in recent posts… I’ve already given you 16 credibility devices.

Just to jog your memory, here’s a quick rundown.

In post numero uno, we covered:

1 – The Powerful Demonstration 2 – Results In Advance 3 – Marquee Clients 4 – Track Record 5 – Powerful Associations 6 – Unique Mechanism

You can find out how to leverage these credibility devices here: Marketing An Online Business? Step #1 – Create Credibility

In our second post, we covered:

7 – Displays Of Knowledge 8 – Personal Endorsement 9 – Case Histories 10 – The Sinatra Test

You can read about leveraging these here: Marketing An Online Business? Step #2 – Boost Believability

In our third post, we covered

11 – Innovation & Being On The Cutting Edge 12 – Leveraging Research & Studies

I break down them down for you here: Marketing An Online Business? Step #3 – Pile On The Proof!

In our fourth post, we covered

13 – Media Mentions 14 – Leveraging Social Proof 15 – Being A Specialist 16 – Client Contests

They’re yours for the taking – just go here: Marketing An Online Business With Credibility… Believability… And Proof!!! (Part 4)

Alright, now that we’ve covered where we’ve been – it’s time to add more ammunition to your credibility arsenal.

Here’s my beach office view as I settle in and put these powerful proof elements at your feet…

With a view like this – it’s hard not to be inspired to give you my all.

So… here it goes…

#17 Leveraging Success Of The Method

What It Is: Proving the validity and power of what you are offering (you’re solution).

This is an easy way to establish greater credibility when you’ve got little of your own to leverage.

Why It’s Powerful: While your prospects might not believe you (yet), they desperately desire finding a solution they can believe in. So when you can prove the validity of the solution you’re offering you increase your credibility by association.

Example: If you’re selling a business-coaching program you can cite famous entrepreneurs and CEO’s who’ve used coaching. You can cite studies (if you find them) about the difference coaching makes on the probability of success.

You can cite research showing the biggest causes for business failure and show how coaching inoculates entrepreneurs from them. Etc…

If you’re selling an eBook on dog training – you can cite the number of dog owners who successfully train their dogs without a dog trainer. Y our can share stories of dog owners who successfully trained their dogs. You can cite the research showing that dogs who are trained become loving members of the family and those who aren’t are often taken to a dog shelter. Etc…

How To Do It: This requires research – but it isn’t difficult. Think about the method your products or services are based on. Then set out to find everything you can about the method itself. Next, think through the problems your prospects are experiencing and look for anything you can find that shows the methods you use to solve those problems. See if you can find any stories about famous people using the method. Then crystallize everything you found in a compelling way that proves your case.

#18 Awards & Spotlights

What It Is: Sharing any related awards you or your company has received.

Why It’s Powerful: If industry insiders respect you – then it’s a small step to believing you’ve really got the goods. It gives your prospects a shortcut to believing you because others have already done the hard work of sifting through your story and your accomplishments.

Example: Jeez, there are so many I could show you – but here’s the easiest one. It’s from Early To Rise, when they honored me by awarding me Marketer Of The Year back in 2007.

Now, while I received this award just by doing my thing… you don’t have to wait for someone to notice you… instead you can actively search out awards.

How To Do It: Awards are being giving out all the time online. Just head over to Google and do some searching. There are blog awards, website awards, industry awards, etc…

And if you’ve got a good blog and nobody is ranking the top blogs in your niche – why don’t you think about starting an award for best blogs in your niche. Just contact some of the other bloggers in your space and figure out a way to get everyone in on the party. Possibly make it a rule that no one can vote for themselves and see where that takes you.

#19 Certifications & Degrees

What It Is: Sharing accomplishments that help establish you’re an expert in your area… or that you’re just a smart person.

Why It’s Powerful: We tend to grant others expert-status or increased intelligence when they’ve got the background to support it.

Example: I don’t talk about it much… but here at Strategic Profits we’ve got a couple of Harvard alums. I only spent a semester there, but Brian got his degree there. Hey, maybe that’s why I don’t mention it… cause Brian has me beat in this area (smile). But for those who don’t know my track record, or any of my other accomplishments, this can be a powerful credibility enhancer.

Another example comes from my time in the hypnosis business. While there was no licensing requirements in NY state, all of our hypnotists were certified by the American Institute of Hypnotherapy, and we actually became an approved training facility too. This increased our perceived expertise and put many of our prospects at ease because they were dealing with professionals.

How To Do It: Have you taken any courses, gone to any prestigious schools, or been certified in anything that helps prove to prospects you know your stuff? If so, don’t keep them to yourself – let the world know about it. And if you’re coming up short – think about what type of training or certification would add to your chops.

For example, I know quite a few marketers who took Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Manager course so they could get more marketing clients. And from what I’m hearing many are getting clients based on their certification.

#20 Arming Affiliates & JV-Partners

With Credibility Boosting Content & Messaging

What It Is: Giving your affiliates and jv-partners swipe copy that not only sells your products and services but also extols your expertise in the process.

Why It’s Powerful: When you say positive things about yourself – it’s suspect and comes off as bragging. But when others give you accolades it comes off believable.

Example: I used this method extensively in my first few launches. The way I saw it – it was a shrewd decision. It not only helped make sales for my affiliates, it also quickly educated the entire marketplace of my accomplishments – because affiliates and JV-partners were mailing a large number of prospects. This way even those who didn’t buy were exposed to my story.

Here’s a screen shot of the pop-up that was awaiting every 1shoppingcart user back from my very first launch…

And almost every email sent out promoting my reports or my programs had within it a credibility piece about me or Strategic Profits.

How To Do It: Before your next affiliate or JV deal – take some time to think through what you’d like the world to know about you that will also reinforce the sales message your partners will be broadcasting. I’m amazed more marketers don’t realize the power of having your partners position you and extol your accomplishments. It can be incredibly powerful – so spend the time it takes to really make it tight, packing a wallop of proof in a small space.

Then every time you do a deal – you’ve expanded your credibility.

#21 Displays of Honesty & Integrity

What It Is: Admit a mistake, flaw or lapse in judgment that shows you’re human but then immediately make up for it.

Why It’s Powerful: It’s disarming when a marketer tells the truth about something most would rather sweep under the carpet. It makes everything else you claim have a greater ring of truth to it.

Example: Back in February of 2007 when we did our first free live web-stream from a seminar, I dropped the ball. I planned on presenting new groundbreaking information – but instead ended up giving a presentation I had given many times. If you’re curious why – you can read all about it in the original blog post where I apologized. Here’s the post – An Unintended Lesson In Business.

After admitting my mistake, I immediately made good by recording the presentation I was planning on giving and let everyone access it for free. And, in the process, showed while I do make mistakes… I’m quick to take responsibility for them and to make things right.

How To Do It: Next time you make a mistake… think about how you might be able to turn it into a win for you and your prospects. Instead of hiding and retreating… stand tall, admit it, and make things right.

#22 Your Results In Aggregate

What It Is: While sharing personal stories, case-studies, and testimonials are powerful… grouping the grand total of them all often packs a powerful proof punch.

Why It’s Powerful: When you sum up all the successes of your clients, often it’s surprising what you come up with. You end up with an incredible proof for your products and services. If you teach marketing or business growth (like I do) then you might aggregate the total sales increases, or the total sales of your clients. If you sell dog training – how many happy dog owners have you helped? If you’re an interior designer how many rooms have you transformed? Etc…

Example: Here’s an example from the sales letter for our Business Acceleration Program…

See the bio? Doesn’t it sound impressive that my clients were “raking in more than $500 million every year — and piling up more than $1 billion in sales every two years?”

I haven’t totaled the amount recently – but I’m sure it’d be a lot more. But the point is this: everything sounds more impressive in aggregate.

How To Do It: Look at all the clients you have – is there an interesting aggregate number you can come up with? Or how about your entire email list? Couldn’t you make the claim that everyone on your list relies on you and your company for advice in your area? If you’re list has 50,000 prospects on it and you sell dog training… couldn’t you say 50,000 dog owners rely on your advice for having a well-behaved dog?

Bottom line – think creatively about your business, your clients, your prospects and see if you can come up with a magic number in aggregate.

Gosh Darn It… Where Does The Time Go?

I just checked my watch… I’ve got to boogie to the office if I am going to get this post up before our daily meeting.

And I thought I’d wrap up credibility today – but I didn’t.

Here’s what’s on deck for tomorrow at 10:00 am…

Referrals Powerful Guarantees Graphs, Charts, And Visuals A Company Credo Specificity The Halo Effect Being Congruent

Plus (if there’s time) I’ll also tell you what I’ve been up to – and why I took a break from blogging.

But before you go…

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I’ve got 2 quick question for you…

1. What’s your favorite way to establish credibility? 2. What questions do you have about using these or any of

the others we’ve already covered?

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Oh yeah, don’t forget to tweet and stumble this too!

To higher profits and beyond,

Rich Schefren

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Building Credibility… Boost Business Profits, And… Light The Fuse For Massive Amounts Of FREE TRAFFIC!

Multiplies prospects and clients faster than fruit-flies… Leverages the law of reciprocity to get prospects to do your

bidding… Gets more targeted FREE traffic than any other tactic… Floods your sites and lists with prospects who trust you (in

advance)… And MORE!

Pay careful attention… because in this post I’m going to share a single method that’ll build your credibility, grow your business profits, and bring your hordes of free traffic.

But before I jump into the details – let me tell you something about my grandfather (it’s crucial to leveraging this tactic).

You see, the best advice my grandfather gave me was…

“Rich, you’ll go through your entire life with your name, so… never do anything that’ll…

Damage It… Disgrace It… Or Dishonor it!

He died a decade before the Internet was born, but his words are even truer today than ever before.

To this day, I’ve done my best to live up to his standard — I hope you do too!

Because all the credibility tools in the world won’t counter a tarnished reputation.

On the other hand, living a squeaky clean life isn’t enough to get your prospect’s believing in you.

Which is why we’ve been focusing on credibility devices. And this here is the sixth post on growing you profits by growing your credibility.

Just in case you’ve missed the 22 powerful strategies we’ve already covered – here are links to the previous posts in the series…

Marketing An Online Business? Step #1 – Create Credibility Marketing An Online Business? Step #2 – Boost Believability Marketing An Online Business? Step #3 – Pile On The Proof! Marketing An Online Business With Credibility… Believability… And

Proof!!! (Part 4) Growing Credibility = Growing Profits (Part 5)

Alight, with that out of the way – let’s take the conversation even further.

But before I do… Here’s the stunning sight from my beach office this morning…

You know, one of these days I need to talk to you having your own inspiring place to create – but that’s a topic for another day.

Now, where was I? Oh, yeah… growing your credibility to grow profits.

Picking up where we left off…

#23 Referrals

What It Is: Getting your clients, prospects and partners to send you like-minded individuals.

Why It’s Powerful: It’s a proven fact that a referred prospect is more likely to engage… more like to buy… and spends more than prospects from any other channel. It should be obvious why.

There’s a level of associated trust. So, if you trust me, and I tell you to trust Joe… your relationship with Joe starts out with more trust than it otherwise would.

Example: One of the easiest ways to foster a flurry of referrals is to ask for them.

But as simple as that seems – many entrepreneurs and marketer simply don’t ask. And that’s insane!

Now, one of the best times to ask for a referral is when you’ve just done something or given something to the person you’re going to ask.

This leverages the law of reciprocity. Because we have a psychological desire to do things for people who do things for us.

Even better yet – is when you ask if you can do the very same thing (what you just did or gave them) for their like-minded friends.

Case in point: We’ve added over a 100,000 prospects to our lists over the years by leveraging simple tell-a-friend pages on our sites.

Here are three examples (each one more potent than the next)…

The first one is from The Attention Age Doctrine 2 opt-in process:

Now, that page did amazing – but this one did even better…

It shouldn’t be hard to understand why this one did better.

Heck, we incentivized it! And when you can… you should too!

But do you want to know the approach that got us more referrals than any other technique we’ve ever created in our entire history?

Of course you do, right?

Well, I must admit this one is a little sneaky.

I call it…

THE REFERRAL-VICE

Here’s the deal…

We’ve only used it a few times… And I’m really questioning if I should let the cat out of the bag on this one.

But, heck, you’re worth it – so here it goes…

You get prospects to opt-in for an amazing piece of media. Doesn’t matter if it’s an audio or video, but… IT’S GOT TO BE DAMN GOOD!

And the longer it is… THE BETTER!

So your prospects are now on the page — listening or watching — to this fantastic (though quite lengthy) piece of content.

And you know what…

THEY’RE TRAPPED!

Since you’re streaming this incredible piece of content… your prospects are stuck in front of their computer, and they can’t go anywhere.

That’s the VICE…

But you being the wonderful human being you are… you place a button on a page (that opens in a new window) clearly labeled “Click Here For The Transcript And Recording”

And guess what happens when they click on it?

It takes them to a page that makes a proposition… tell x friends and I’ll give you the transcripts and the recording to download.

Here’s an example…

See the bottom of the page? When prospects click on that box – it takes them here…

Now, do you see why that works?

You’re prospects are on the page getting this great content – but they’re trapped…

You offer a way out… And by clicking on that button they’ve just made a small commitment that they want the downloads…

And now in order for them to fulfill that micro-commitment (and get out of the vice) they’ve got to refer others.

And it’s as simple as that.

I wasn’t planning on revealing this technique… so know this: What I’ve just Explained Is A GEM!

What make me so certain?

It’s Consistently Generated….

A 55+% REFERRAL RATE!

In other words more than half the prospects that hit that page referred two friends…

Think about that for a second… do the math…

Imagine giving away a free audio/video and having more than 55 out of every 100 people refer another two prospects to your site.

Is that INSANE or what?

Now, for those of you who are math whizzes and realize that if this continued indefinitely you’d have everyone on the planet on your list, realize over time the process degrades. How soon it degrades is a function of the quality of your content and the size of your market.

But don’t be fooled – it’s the most powerful generator or targeted (trusting) traffic you’ll ever come across.

Use it with my best wishes.

Tomorrow we’ll continue the conversation on credibility.

But before you go…

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I’ve got 2 quick questions for you…

1. Are you currently using a Tell-A-Friend tactic… and if so, how’s it working for you?

2. What do you think of the Referral-Vice Technique?

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Oh yeah, if you got value from this post – don’t forget to tweet and stumble this too!

To higher profits and beyond,

Rich Schefren

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To Wrap Up This Blog Series… Again, I hope you got a lot out of this series, and I hope you’ll put some of these ideas into action in your business.

I’ll be creating more blog series and documents like this for you in the days and weeks to come.

For now, if you got value of this document, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know through the link below.

Just tell me in the question area: What did you think of this series? Would you like to see more series like this in the future? You can give your feedback right here. To higher profits, Rich