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| A Note From Wendy |
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Greetings! ,
Welcome again to another addition of On the Edge!
I have been out and about networking lately and WOW are there a lot of great women turning super ideas into businesses! Some women have been in business a while and are finding new ways to leverage their services and products. While others are just stepping off into the entrepreneurial arena.
A new jolt of energy always occurs when ideas spring forth in our businesses. This is a great thing as long as we remain focused on the bigger picture of our vision. However, what about when you start to feel that slow down of energy? This can be the case at times because there are life cycles within businesses that affect our cash-flow, new clients, and momentum. Stepping back and garnishing a fresh perspective is often the very best thing to do. And right now while the more relaxed summer months are upon us this can be a good time to evaluate where we are in our businesses. Are you on track with your visions and goals, what adjustments do you need to make, and how will you gain forward momentum to kick your business up a notch.
It is important to remember that while it's necessary to work in your business, it is as much or more important to work on your business. Over the next week you will be receiving information from me regarding a special tele-course series that addresses just this subject. I am finishing the final details now and don't want to spill the beans just yet, however I can tell you this, if you are ready to address issues that have been holding you back, limiting you from your growth, maybe even stopping you from just taking the next step in your business building process then this tele-course will be just for you. So watch your inboxes as I will have information coming soon that you will want to take action on.
Until that time, I have a great article for you this week. With all the networking I have been doing lately I am often asked how to leverage services and products to make more money without having to spend tons of extra hours working. In my article, How Do You Fill Up Your Marketing Funnel?--I show you a specific strategy and new way to look at leveraging your business structure for increasing your sales, customer conversation, and profits. Also I received much feedback regarding my NEW business resource section last week. Thank you for your kind words of gratitude. I will add to it as I continue to find great resources to help you grow and maintain your businesses. If you have a web based software program or tool you use and you think people should know about please email me with it and I will add it to the list as well.
Have a great week and remember - look for my tele-course announcement in your email over the next week.
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Radiantly Yours,
Wendy Burge
P.S. I would love to hear your feedback, questions, or current business challenges. Feel free to contact me by clicking here.
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| June 17, 2009 |
Vol 1, Issue15 |
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| Featured Article |
 How Do You Fill Up Your Marketing Funnel?
by Wendy Burge
Many solo entrepreneurs that I meet often express the challenge of finding new ways to make passive revenue without having to find more clients or work more hours. Recently, I consulted a service professional who was interested in generating more money and business, but she was unsure how to develop a strategy to do this effectively. Her website was more like a brochure of her services posted online-- people would read about them this way. Then, shortly into our conversation she admitted she had written a book. However, she had made little money selling it and wasn' t sure what to do with it or if all her efforts had any relevance to our talk.
It was at that point that I shared the outline of a MARKETING FUNNEL. Imagine a funnel, like you'd find in your kitchen or garage, turned upside down with the widest opening on top and the tip narrowing at the bottom. Now imagine the larger opening at the top as the place where you will generate your most PROSPECTS possible. At the opposite end of the funnel, where it narrows to the tip you would be place your EXCLUSIVE, high-end services and products. The middle area would contain the other, varying levels of services priced accordingly from least at top to the more expensive flowing down to the bottom.
The whole idea of the MARKETING FUNNEL is to get people to move through your business by offering services/ products at different price points along the way. The further down into the funnel the higher the price points go. Think for a moment about going to your favourite ice cream store where they give you those little spoons to taste the ice cream. Once you find a flavour you like you get a scoop of it in a cup. The next week you go back because you liked the flavour so much that you are more than willing to get three scoops of it on a waffle cone. Then on your next visit into their store you decided to order that nice custom made ice cream cake with your new favourite flavour again. This is a sample of a Marketing Funnel at work. It's a simple marketing strategy that pays off every time.
Going back to my client, her marketing funnel at this time had her book and her higher end services. There was nothing in the middle of her funnel. I see this often with service professionals too. They will have a free or low cost product or service and a larger, high-end service with nothing else to offer in the middle. Most prospects are not willing to jump from free to a high end services. This often leaves few client conversations for many solo professionals because they have too few choices in how someone can work with them.
How do you create a marketing funnel?
First get people into your funnel by having a FREE offer of a give-away item like a report, ezine, CD or maybe even a tele-class. PROSPECTS easily access the item by signing up on your website and giving their email or mailing address (or both) to you. This allows you to contact this prospect in the future.
Next, turn your knowledge into INFORMATION PRODUCTS. Info-products are a super way to let people get a taste of your expertise for a fraction of the cost. They also help fill in the middle section of your marketing funnel. By offering these products on your website, you now turn your site into a silent, sales force 24/7 --generating passive revenue for you without your working any harder.
Here are a few of the suggested types of information products you can make.
Books
E-Books
Special Reports
Manuals
Workbooks
Journals
Audio (digital downloads or CDs)
Video (digital downloads or DVDs)
Home Study Courses or Tutorials (usually a mix of media; written, audio, and visual)
As well, you may want to consider offering tele-classes, tele-seminars, and webinars online as a way to reach more prospects that may not typically be able to afford your high-end services at first. This maximizes your time and leverages your income by offering a lower priced service to more people all at once.
A Sample Marketing Funnel
In the end, a sample marketing funnel could look similar to this. TOP OF THE FUNNEL:Free e-zine or report MIDDLE OF THE FUNNEL:Book ($29) Book with Workbook ($49) Tele-seminar ($79) 2-CD audio program with Transcripts($97) 4-week tele-course ($249) 4-CD Box-set with Transcripts and Handouts ($497) BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL:One-hour private consultations ($250) Specialty Service Package ($500) 2-day live workshop ($997) One-to-One Live One Day Session ($1500) Personal consulting/coaching/mentoring program ($3,000/mo.) Now how will you fill in your Marketing Funnel?
Take some time and examine your current service and product offers. Where do they fit on your marketing funnel? Do you see where you can now add a few more items to help fill up your funnel? Consider where you can offer more value by adding your own information products so that your prospects can experience your expertise easier and be able to buy from you more often. © 2009 Wendy Burge - Radiant Edge Consulting. WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Radiant Business & Marketing Coach Wendy Burge publishes the On the Edge! weekly ezine--Where business, marketing, and lifestyle meet. If you're ready to have radiant marketing, make more money, and have more freedom in your small business, get your FREE tips now at www.RadiantEdgeConsulting.com |
| Who Is Wendy Anyway? |
Wendy Burge is The Radiant Marketing and Business Coach and ezine publisher, author, speaker and entrepreneur. She helps solo-professionals and (primarily women) entrepreneurs like YOU take your businesses to the next level using creative, effective, and affordable Relationship Marketing Systems & Strategies - online and offline! 
Wendy helps you:
- build your database of clients and prospects and determine the best ways to market your business to your unique target market
- network effectively plus develop follow up systems to stay on top of mind with contacts at all times
- create marketing and advertising plans and campaigns that get results
- design and help you write your website copy in order to bring you leads
- delegate and automate your business to give you more free time to do what you love and to live your dream lifestyle
- find creative ways to get in front of your clients which all lead to more customers and increased sales
- develop information products, membership programs, and other residual forms of income to leverage your expertise and resources
- add elements to your business model such as speaking, writing a book, holding live events
- gets you where you want to go in your business
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Wendy Recommends |
"Make your website your silent sales force!
Generate more leads and more money with an
Internet Marketing Strategy Consulting program."
Websites these days are more than pretty, virtual billboards. They have the power to direct people and profits right to your business!
If you currently have a website that does not work for you, looks out of date, or really doesn't reflect the vision, mission, goals or "voice of your business" then its time to take action with an Internet Marketing Strategy Consulting program.
This program is to help you understand the full function and power your website can have on your marketing and sales. Before you spend hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, with a web designer to up-grade your website. Stop right now and invest in learning the key marketing, sales, and search engine optimization elements that must be in place to monetize your site.
I will help you map out your website to make sure it WORKS for you!
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| Biz Building Resources |
I have selected some really valuable business building tools every small business needs to know about!
There are many great web based software programs on line to help assist businesses these days. These are a few I often share with clients and use my self. 
1. Mozy.com - This is the best online data backup system! (It's a MUST to have a web-based backup system because you KNOW you won't do it manually yourself often enough! Plus best of all your information is always accessible at anytime online - just in case!)
2. 1ShoppingCart.com - The most used resource for online ecommerce, auto-responders, affiliate program, email marketing and more if you want to sell items for your business online--all of my colleagues and mentors use it--and me too soon!
3. ConstantContact.com - This is the email marketing program I use and you're reading right now. I recommend it if you don't have an email marketing system or shopping cart system that does this for you. It offers some great features like email archiving, survey options, and auto-responder options.
4. AudioGenerator.com - This is the easiest way to add audio to websites and emails! Set up your account, call in to activate the reording, and receive the audio formatted in html code for your website plus it gives you play buttons, etc. to put on your site.
5. PracticePaySolutions.com - This is a merchant services payment processing company most recommended by my colleagues; it works well with 1shoppingcart.
6. GoSolo.com - This is a great, inexpensive 800 phone system. I use this for my business and love that I can access my messages online. It sends me an email when someone leaves me a message. I then can log into my account to listen to it. Can't get any easier! It also offers fax, email, and web conference services as options to their packages.
7. Ning.com - This site allows you to create your own F*R*E*E social network! Do you have a select group of client programs, services, or a special interest you want to share about your business? You can create your own personal group for it and your members can talk to each other and share ideas.
8. InstantConference.com - This is a F*R*E*E conference line solution for teleclasses or recording calls of any sort. I use it and love that I can record my calls on my own private number with access code as well. Within three hours of the end of my call they email me links to my recording in an MP3 format!
11. Vistaprint.com - This is a digital web-based printing company. It offers tons of template options for business cards, brochures, postcards and more. They have SUPER promos - so make sure you get signed up on their email list. Make sure you click on your country's flag to get accurate pricing although.
12. Cafepress.com - This site is another digital printing site that allows you to set up your own online retail store. I use this site to create my own promotional items that I can purchase from myself at a great deal and or sell; like T-shirts, mugs, and tote bags all emblazoned with my logo.
Resource Disclaimer:
Radiant Edge Consulting and Wendy Burge do not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the third-party recommendations above or the quality of any products, information, or other materials displayed, purchased, or obtained by you as a result of an offer in connection with any company listed. Please do your own due diligence before purchasing any product. | |
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