Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

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Selling tips for your favorite sales team

Sunday, February 20th, 2011

Sales are the lifeblood of every organization.  That’s why we need to work so hard to keep these people happy, trained, and looked after.

One popular way to keep sellers engaged is to send them a continuous stream of sales-related tips and strategies.  Send only good, well-written stuff, not crap.

For example, you can send articles to your sales team once per week to get them into the habit of reading.  To make sure they read the articles, tell them you’ll be asking them to give a highlight from each article at your sales meetings.

This little routine will do several things for your sales team.  It reminds them:

1)  You are looking out for them.

2)  As long as you’re the one sending the articles, you may be smarter than them.    ;-)

3)  That reading about sales is a good habit.

3)  You expect them to read what they send you.

4)  That talking about this stuff somehow makes it more useful.


Good article sources

There are many good sources for sales articles, including:

www.BNet.com

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4153/is_4_60/ai_106863366/?tag=col1;subcol

http://www.bnet.com/blog/smb-sales-advice/when-8220yes-8221-means-something-else-in-sales/158

www.JeffreyGitomer.com

http://www.businessknowhow.com/

http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/5tipstoinc.htm

Later, you can ask one of the salespeople to provide the weekly article for a month.  Rotate the responsibility, so everyone keeps looking out for the team.

-Michael Angelo Caruso, Sales consultant, Royal Oak, Michigan

P.S.  More info on my sales-related keynotes and presentations at http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/events/seminars/how-to-give-killer-presentations-seminar/

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Posted in Career development, Communication, Creativity, Growing Your Business, Marketing, Sales and Marketing, Selling, Success | No Comments »

5 Cool Ideas for a better presentation

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Michael Angelo Caruso IACPA Iowa accountantsSpeaking is a lot like driving.  We all think we’re good drivers, but there are a lot of dented cars on the road!

Here are 5 Cool Ideas for sharpening your next presentation, followed by a link to order my Present Like a Pro DVD:

1.  It’s better to make mistakes when you’re alone.
I teach managers and salespeople how to be more effective.  The fastest improvement occurs when clients adopt my motto:  It’s better to screw up when you’re alone.

2.  Practice the beginning of your talk more than any other part.
Your nervous system is most likely to be under siege at the beginning of your presentation.  Practice the first part of your talk more than the middle or the end.

3.  Call your own voice mail to record sections of your presentation.
Use this “poor man’s” recording technique to listen to yourself and make improvements.

4.  PowerPoint often hurts more than it helps.
Stories are far more effective than bullet points because people tend to make buying decisions using the “emotional side” of the brain.  Use stories to inspire, motivate, and get the audience involved.  Develop a strong “signature story” and work it, baby.

5.  Be specific with your time-sensitive call to action.
All good presentations end with a clear call to action.  Don’t say “Please take this form back to your office and send it to me when you have time,” when you can say, “Please fill out this form before you leave the room.  I’ll be at the door to collect it from you.”

Order the Present Like a Pro DVD now!  It will be especially helpful to your leadership and sales team!

Place your order within 48 hours and I’ll immediately e-mail you a fantastic 30-page, companion e-book at no extra charge.  Watch for it and download it quickly.

As with all my products and services, you’ll get much more than you pay for.

Speaking about speaking,

Michael Angelo Caruso, Keynote Speaker                  T   248-224-9667  

P.S. You must order Present Like a Pro within 48 hours to receive the bonus 30-page e-book.

P.P.S. You’re welcome to publish these 5 Cool Ideas in your corporate newsletter, on your Web site and blog.  Just send a quick message to Reprint@EdisonHouse.com.

www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com

The Fifth, 432 S. Washington, #1105  Royal Oak, MI  48067

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Posted in Career development, Communication, Creativity, Customer Service, Entertainment, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Keynote, Leadership, Marketing, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Selling, Seminar, Speaking, Success, Training | 3 Comments »

Selling tip: Make small talk big

Monday, February 7th, 2011

This is one of my 52 weekly sales tips, available at www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com.   You’re welcome!

Tip #10: Make small talk big

You have a finite amount of time to spend with customers during personal visits.  Try not to spend the first ten minutes of a thirty minute meeting on useless topics like weather, parking, last night’s ballgame, and so on.

If the customer mentions the weather, quickly acknowledge her and move on to more productive conversation.

Here are some small-talk topics that probably don’t speed up the sale:

-  Weather
-  Sports
-  Politics
-  Parking
-  How busy you are
-  How busy the customer is

Here’s a short list of things to discuss instead:

-  How impressive your customer and her company is
-  How popular your company is
-  Get the prospect to fill out a credit application
-  Find out more about her passions
-  Ask about her family
-  Get her opinion on an industry trend (stay away from negative trends)

A few seconds of small talk may be useful, but move toward purposeful conversation and your sales will improve.  You can always talk about the ballgame after the customer places an order.

Sincerely,
Michael Angelo Caruso, creator of the Role Model Selling videos

P.S.  I’d love to speak to your sales team.  You can also send them to see me at an upcoming seminar.  My speaking calendar is available at www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com

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Posted in Career development, Communication, Creativity, Growing Your Business, Marketing, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Selling, Speaking, Success | No Comments »

I can finally recommend a credit card processor!

Saturday, February 5th, 2011

I just interviewed Bill Pirtle, my new bff, on how to save money with credit card processing.

He’s my new best friend because he showed me how to save a bunch of money on my monthly credit card processing statement.

Let’s review:  Bill Pirtle showed me how to save money on my MONTHLY statement, which I receive every 30 days, 12 MONTHS per year, EVERY YEAR that I own a business (the rest of my life).  That’s a lotta green.

Consider that I sell over 75 information products and have people all over the country register for my live training events via credit card payment.

Bill first got my attention when he pointed out that I didn’t need to pay a $175 annual PCI fee.  His company doesn’t charge anything for this!

Then I read his terrific book, Navigating Through the Risks of Credit Card Processing.

You can reach Bill Pirtle via most social media platforms and at 734-272-6177.

Here are some highlights from the interview, which will soon be available on audio CD through www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com.

Q:  What is one of the biggest mistake business owners make when signing with a credit card processor?
A:  When they focus on the rate alone.

Q:  What’s wrong with focusing on the rate?
A:  Many processing agents use a “teaser” rate to get you to sign while placing up to 40 other fee types into the contract. These fees include transaction fees, authorization fees, batch fees, AVS fees, statement fees, annual fees, PCI Fees and some are even adding something called an “IRS Reporting fee”.

Q:  How can merchants tell if they need a review of their processing?
A:  There are several signs including:  unexplained fees and surcharges on most of your transactions.

Add all of your fees from each section of your statement divide total by net sales and then multiply by 100. This gives the effective rate, the percentage of your sales that you pay in fees. If fees higher than you thought you should be paying, you need a review.

Q:  True or false, reductions in rate are always best way to save money?
A:  False!  Reviewing a contract is more than reviewing rates. It is to review the policies and procedures of processing credit cards. Finding cause of non-qualified transactions and correcting can reduce fees several times more than just changing rates.

Q:  Besides rates, what is something business owners need to know?
A:  There is no such thing as a free terminal. A “free” terminal will result in added fees somewhere in the contract.

Bill’s special offer

If you share your complicated, hard-to-read credit card processing statement with him, he will show you how to save money within 6 minutes.  This valuable assessment normally costs $99, but it’s available to you at no charge if you mention my name to Bill when you call him at 734-272-6177.

Finally, I can heartily and enthusiastically recommend a credit card processing vendor!

-Michael Angelo Caruso, Royal Oak, Michigan

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Posted in Communication, Customer Service, Growing Your Business, Information products, Internet marketing, Marketing, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Selling, Success | No Comments »

Random act of customer service backfires

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Here’s the story of how a random act of customer service completely backfired . . .

Present Like a Pro DVD by Michael Angelo CarusoA while back, I released a DVD titled, Present Like a Pro (PLP).  This video of my best presentation tips turned out much better than expected, thanks to quality vendors.

Present Like a Pro continues to sell at a brisk pace, especially at during my Present Like a Pro training sessions, such as the one I’m giving March 3 in Troy, Michigan.

Nonetheless, I was shocked at what happened during my product launch.

My launch concept was inspired by two marketing campaigns I had studied:

1)  Russell Brunson’s “free plus shipping” technique and

2) The Hyatt Regency hotel chain, which at the time was offering “random acts of customer service” to guests.

The DVD was priced at $49, but I decided give it away to the first 1,000 people on my list who showed interest.  This seemed like a fabulous idea, but I was truly shocked at what happened next!

Random act of customer service backfires!

My data base consists primarily of business executives, middle managers, salespeople, and entrepreneurs such as speaker and authors.  I thought a $49 DVD offered free would kill.  But, initially, it didn’t.

Here’s what happened.

A few people were paranoid about the free offer.  An East Coast woman who has been on my list for YEARS, called to make sure the offer wasn’t a phishing scam.   Noted.

A substantial number of people didn’t follow instructions, resulting in lots of back-end customer service support.  In other words, the auto-processes we set up actually created work for my team and me.  Oops!  Noted.

Finally–and here’s the shocker–after receiving my offer of a free DVD valued at $49, a stunning number of people quit my list!

I couldn’t be more surprised!  My “random act of kindness” was causing me to lose customers!  Er . . .noted

I suppose some of these folks never give presentations.  Perhaps some of them were not interested in self-improvement.  Whatever the reason, my team and I went back to the drawing board to create — a second marketing campaign that we’re using to this day.

To date, the Present Like a Pro DVD has generated thousands of dollars in sales and since I continue to market the product to my distribution list, much of that money has come from people who turned down the free offer during the product launch!  Noted.

Marketing lesson #153: When customers don’t recognize a good deal that you’ve offered, it’s your fault.

By the way, I haven’t given up on offering random acts of customer service.  People on my “dist list” are frequent recipients.  Sign up for my free 5 Cool Ideas newsletter today and collect hundreds of dollars in freebies every year!

-Michael Angelo Caruso, Royal Oak, Michigan

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Posted in Communication, Creativity, Customer Service, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Information products, Internet marketing, Marketing, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Selling, Seminar, Success | 2 Comments »

How to rework content for your blog

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

Blogging articlesWhen posting an article to your blog or creating other content for your company’s Internet presence, it’s best to do your own writing.

But, if your writing skills aren’t the best, you can also rework articles that have already been published.  When doing so, make every effort to avoid two things:

1) Plagiarism, which is unethical. It’s just plain wrong to use claim credit for someone else’s work.  This includes the despicable act of  anonymously posting articles–as if the pieces wrote themselves!

2)  Duplicate content. Google and other search engines notice when you post duplicate content and will penalize you with lower search rankings.

Here are some guidelines for reworking articles written by others.

Be sure to change the other writer’s article at least 70%.  You can do this by rearranging the paragraphs and sentences and changing the order of the bullet points.  Delete some of the material and maybe add a bit of your own.  You can also incorporate content from two or three sources.

Perhaps the best way to go about reworking an article is to put the words in your own voice.  For example, don’t keep words you would never use in conversation.

A second way to rewrite is to simply delete awkward phrasing, sentence fragments, convoluted sentences, and other nonsense.  Most people tend to overwrite, so it will be easier to make your revised article shorter, just by
taking out the weakest parts.

Speaking of length, you only need about 500 words for a substantial blog post.  I recently rewrote a cool article I found online, by using all the above techniques and busting the article into four blog posts.

When finished, include your favorite keywords in three places: the title, first paragraph and last paragraph before posting.

Be sure to add your contact information and attribution for the writer–you, if you followed these directions and when rewriting content.

-Michael Angelo Caruso

P.S.  Learn how a soccer Mom named, Paula Parisot, now gets paid for blogging.  Michael interviews her on the CD, Blogging for Profit.

More great Internet marketing info (mostly original articles!) at  http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/michael-angelo-caruso-blog/

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Posted in Blogging, Communication, Creativity, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Internet marketing, Marketing, Success, Weblogs, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

Article marketing – selling without selling

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

5 Cool Ideas for Article Marketing – Selling Without Selling
From www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com

Here’s a great way to sell without seeming like a salesperson.  It’s called “article marketing.”

Article marketing tips with Michael Angelo CarusoThe first syllable of “article” is “art” and there is an art to creating useful content.  Article marketing is certainly more time consuming than posting a status update on your Facebook business page, but the payback can be huge.

If you can write, it’s best to create original content, but here’s how you can reconstitute info from articles written by others.

Copy/paste the content from one or two well-written articles into Notepad on your PC.  You can open the Notepad program by clicking Start/Programs/Accessories.  Notepad will strip out all the hidden code.

Copy/paste the content from Notepad into a fresh Word document.   Then, start rewriting by moving paragraphs around, reversing sentence order, and doing word substitution.  You want to change about 75% of the article to make the article your own and avoid plagiarizing.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to retain some brilliant quote or well-turned phrase from the article you have not written.  It’s okay to do this if you provide attribution by including the author’s name, title and company or location.

Finally, it’s important to identify and include your favorite key words in in the article.  Key words, of course, will help people find your article when they search the Internet.  Make sure these key words are in three places:

a)    The title of the article
b)    The first paragraph—ideally the first sentence—of the article.
c)    The last paragraph—ideally the last sentence—of the article.

Here are 5 ways to repurpose the content of your new article and get the most from your online marketing efforts:

1)    Post the article on your Web site.
2)    Post a version of the article as a Facebook Note.
3)    Use a 140 character excerpt of the article as a status update or Tweet.
4)    Post the article on a free article depot site, such as www.EzineArticle.com
5)    Create a .pdf of the article and post it on your Linkedin page.

Articles that are written in an “evergreen” format can be reposted and reshared, if they don’t contain dated information.

Article marketing is a fantastic way to sell without selling.

_______________
Get more great marketing tips by subscribing to Michael’s free 5 Cool Ideas newsletter at www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com.  You can also learn more about article marketing from Jeff Herring, who I met through the great Alex Mandossian.

This article is available for reprinting and republishing.  Simply go to http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/contact-me/ and state your intentions.  Be sure to provide a link to Michael’s Web site when you use his content.

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Posted in Communication, Creativity, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Information products, Internet marketing, Marketing, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Social Media, Success, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

One blog or two?

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Michael Angelo Caruso gives blogging advice.Readers always write . . .

Hi, Michael,

I was wondering if I could ask you a quick question regarding Social Media. My boss has two blogs and we repeat the same content on both of them. Should I just delete the “Blogger” and keep the “WordPress?” I know Google does not like duplicate content.

Thanks,
Blogging for Success

Dear B.S. –

Always do what works.  Sounds like you’re not getting much results from Blogger, hence your intuitive idea to abandon Blogger.

Sounds like you’re maintaining two blogs and neither are getting much attention, so I recommend isolating your blog activity to the superior WordPress platform.

You are correct about Google’s contempt for duplicate content, which makes me wonder why you’re doing it.  By the way, you can post the same topic to two separate blogs, just be sure you rewrite the content and be diligent about changing the first sentence, the last sentence and the blog title.

Here’s a way to get more attention from your blog.

Isolate some 140-character quotable quotes from a blog post and include a tiny URL of the original post.  Then, post the phrase as a status update on your social media pages.  This is a great way to tease your social media contacts into visiting the blog.

Also, according to @Scott Brills, my trusted Web guy.  Google does not currently crawl Facebook Note pages, so you can post the blog content there without rewriting it.

You’re welcome.

See you online or in real life,
Michael

P.S.  Learn more about blogging and other ways to get the word out at http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/michael-angelo-caruso-blog/.

You can also listen to my interview with soccer Mom, Paula Parisot, who cracked the code and is being paid to blog by multiple clients!

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Posted in Career development, Communication, Growing Your Business, Internet marketing, Marketing, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Selling, Social Media, Success | No Comments »

It pays to write goals down

Saturday, January 8th, 2011

1 calendar dateBehavioral psychologists say it takes about 21 days to make–or break–a habit.

So, if you’ve made a New Year’s Resolution and are already slipping, there’s still time to turn things around.

One of the easiest things you can do to achieve a goal is to write it down.  The very act of putting pen to paper helps clarify whatever you’re thinking about.  When you write down your goal, you create a living document that can be posted or revisited.  Reviewing the document provides serious emotional reinforcement.

Many smart people in history have become known for writing things down.

Once, there was a guy named Tim Matlock.  He was an architect who served on a committee to improve government.

Known to be a good writer with excellent penmanship, Tim was asked to create an official handwritten version of a very important document.  As clerk to the Secretary of the Continental Congress, Tim Matlock–Timothy Matlock–was chosen to inscribe the Declaration of Independence, perhaps one of the greatest goals ever put to paper.

Matlock’s work is now on display in the National Archives.

Writing down your goals is a very good idea!

-Michael Angelo Caruso, Communication That Means Business, www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com

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Posted in Career development, Communication, Creativity, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Leadership, Marketing, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Selling, Success | No Comments »

Social media tip from Jan 14 class, tickets still available

Friday, January 7th, 2011

Facebook fWe’re just into the New Year and everyone is thinking about ways to make 2011 even better than 2o1o.

Here’s a free Facebook tip to help you improve online marketing efforts, followed by a special invitation to a low-dough training event I’m doing with Russ Cuthrell on January 14, 2011.  (As of today, there are only 20 seats left!)

The Facebook tip involves your Info page.  The average FB user posts long, frequent messages on her wall, but skimps when posting content on her Info page.

She thinks that sending “salesy” messages and posts to FB friends will carry the day and often worries about putting too much “personal” information on her Info page.  This type of thinking is counter-intuitive and will harm Facebook marketing efforts.  Here’s why . . .

Facebook, like all pages on the Internet, functions on the existence of keywords.  The Info page is a terrific place to place keywords, but this only occurs, if you type long answers into the template!

Remember that FB uses the content on your Info page to connect you with like-minded people–the very same people who are likely to be interested in what you’re selling.  FB can do this best when you list your favorite quotations, music, books, location, etc.

You’re not giving up anything valuable like your social security or driver’s license number.  Facebook has over 40 privacy buttons to filter out any troublemakers.


If you are doing business, you need to be found online

You or your marketing person need meet with me January 14!

My friend Russ Cuthrell and I are hosting a very inexpensive event where you can learn about social media and how to get more traffic for your Web site.  This is NOT a technical program.

Mark your calendar to attend a Social Media/SEO Seminar the morning of Friday, January 14 in Clinton Township, Michigan.  It’s sponsored by the Macomb County Chamber.

Get info and register here> http://bit.ly/SocialMediaSearchJan14

Social media is simply the biggest communication breakthrough since the invention of e-mail.  Learn the inside secrets so both you and your business rock in 2011.   I will teach you valuable tricks for doing biz on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and You Tube.   My good friend, Russ, will teach you more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

These two strategies will bring you more tons more prospects and clients as you make more money in 2011!

This event is super inexpensive! Tickets are only $25 online or $30 at the door.  Bring/send your entire marketing team!

For info/registration, go to >   http://bit.ly/SocialMediaSearchJan14

See you on Friday, the 14th!

Happy New You,
Michael Angelo Caruso
Communication Consultant, Speaker, Author       248-224-9667

P.S.  Share this e-mail with your favorite, local, marketing person.  They will thank you!

www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com    432S. Washington, #1105   Royal Oak, MI  48067

Let’s connect on  Facebook.

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Posted in Communication, Creativity, Customer Service, Entertainment, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Internet marketing, Marketing, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Seminar, Social Media, Training | No Comments »

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