Prosper Newsletter: November 2007 > Entrepreneurship

You understand that the following information is educational in nature and is not intended to be legal, accounting, or tax advice. You are responsible for your own financial decisions and should consult your own legal, accounting, and tax advisors before making your financial decisions.

Conversion and selling

We're all in the business of sales. As an entrepreneur, you're made aware of this every single day. Chances are that's why you opted to become an entrepreneur. You had a passion and a strong grasp of how sales drives a company. But did you know where to take it from there—especially as you got caught up in all of the other aspects of being self-employed...taxes, accounting, operations?

Consider this: the most powerful way to convert a potential buyer is when your buyer's needs are fully aligned with your product's benefits and vice-versa. If someone doesn't buy, it's because the alignment falls short—holiday selling season or not. One of the best ways to be sure you attract those customers who are most in alignment with your product—and therefore, more likely to buy—is with powerful personal branding.

Personal branding involves all the methods used by large companies to get their name out: knowing how to garner public attention, creating effective marketing campaigns, and creating a platform to be known for their core values. As a small business owner, you can do the same—and often more efficiently than the big dogs. Here are eight easy steps:

• Unleash your passion. Before you even began to think about starting a business, you had a passion. Did you hone in on that when you went to develop your product line, or did you fall into a product that you were only semi-excited about? If the energy that fueled your entrepreneurial fire in the first place is waning, it's time to re-examine your passion. If you're not absolutely sold on your own product, how can you expect anyone else to be?
• Learn and practice the art of publicity. You may have to start small. You may have to work with Web affiliates that don't have huge databases. But, if you learn how to get your product on the airwaves, talked about by local media pundits, and discussed in web chat rooms or blogs, your efforts will pay you back tenfold. Never underestimate the power of local cable television, newspaper ads, editorials, and direct marketing campaigns.
• Sell your product yourself. If you're relying on others to generate leads or close, you'll always be at their mercy—particularly at the mercy of their selling abilities. You have to be close to your target audience, so if you're not making personal contact with them, you can't really know what approaches are or aren't working—and why. If your frontline salespeople are telling you about a recurring sales objection, get to the bottom of it.
• Keep your message simple. Just like with automatic investing, you have to make selling automatic. People remember only one or two things about you or your product, so the more succinct and catchy your message is, the more likely you are to make an impact on those who will take the product to heart.
• Keep evolving. If your first product or service focused on one segment of the population, it may be time to expand to another—or follow industry trends. If you're in the business of making software, maybe you move your software tools online to be used by customers through the web.
• Ignore cynicism. This includes rejection. If you need to make 10 sales, isn't it worth talking to 100 people—even if 90 of them say no?
• Start sponsoring events. There's no better way to attract publicity than by being a local sponsor of charitable, entertainment, sporting, or artistic events. It's often the best opportunity to promote your product or service to people who will actually find it useful.
• Know your target audience. This is last on the list not because it's an afterthought, but because it actually is the most important. In fact, most branding and sales efforts hinge on your ability to fashion your product into something that will attract the right people at the right time for the right price.

You may find additional sales success by marketing around the holidays, but the same principles apply. If you did your research going in to the business, don't jump on the bandwagon. Focus on what got you to where you are, and you will find success. If you have been struggling, there is no better time of year to get things back on track.

Joint Ventures

One avenue you may wish to explore is that of joint ventures. Many business owners who market, sell, and fulfill either a product or service would be wise to look into the potential impact of joint ventures. It may be as simple as doing a search on a major search engine to find newsletters which target subscribers who align with their target market. Here are some simple steps to get started:

1. Identify the product/service you wish to offer
2. Identify the end-user target market
3. Identify potential list holders, which have a database of subscribers who match the end-user target market
4. Propose a Cost-per-Acquisition campaign with list holders
5. Identify medium, frequency, and messages to the list
6. Identify tracking strategies

Evaluate any joint venture partner as you would any other aspect of your business. If everything looks good, jump in and make it work. May you prosper this holiday season.

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Prosper welcomes your feedback. Do you have a suggestion for a topic you would like us to address in the next edition of the monthly newsletter, or an idea for a great elective class webinar? Send us an email at newsletter@prosperlearning.com

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