No Money to Market? What you MUST do now!

By now, you probably know my story.  I launched my “entrepreneurial journey” with a whopping $50 investment and bill due dates so close it still makes me shiver to think about it.  I had to make money.  Right Away.  No excuses.  No back up plan. If I were honest, there was really no plan at all, now that I look back. =)

Still, here I am.  Teaching others who are determined to increase their bottom line exactly how to do that.  Here’s what’s rarely – if EVER – makes it into my plan for my clients:

• Pay for play television interviews.  (Save your money…. really!)
• Paid magazine and other print ads.
• Networking memberships.

And the like…. WHY?  Well, a gazillion reasons that all look like money going down the drain – but mainly because I know much more effective ways to market.  When you don’t have money to market…. as I didn’t when I started… you can ALWAYS develop the MUSCLE to market. I’m going to “live” here – on this subject – for a bit of time… so feel free to chime in over the next few days or so.  Questions, comments, criticisms… they’re all welcome.

The FOUNDATION that “marketing with muscle” hinges on is KNOWING your target market.  You must know them intimately in order to be super profitable,  super fast in any industry.  Click HERE to figure out what you MUST know about them.

But, once you have that down, you need to be able to reach out to them with an offer that compels a response.  This is direct marketing at its best…. and whether you are sending this offer to one person at a time or to a (diligently scrubbed) list of 5,000 carefully selected recipients, the golden rules of marketing still apply.  What you send them must:

1. Get OPENED.  (Email or snail mail… doesn’t matter for this one.  You must get your offer opened.  In other words it must pass the trash can or delete button test.)
2. Get READ. If they open and immediately trash, you’re dead in the water.
3. Get (and Keep) their attention!
4. Compel them to take a certain, specific action. (In other words, your offer can’t be one of three things.  ONE compelling offer that demands one specific action on the part of the reader.  This, by the way, is where MOST television-based marketing fails miserably. People buy TV space hoping to “get their name out there”… but they’re only profitable when they compel the viewer to contact them or take the next step towards doing business with them. ONE will build your ego.  The other will build your bank account. You decide what most aligns with your goals.)

So, this is a down and dirty overview of  Marketing THAT WORKS!    I know there will be many questions as we move forward. I’d love them to be placed on the blog…. but if you must =) send them to me privately and I’ll post them anonymously!