Marc's Blog

5 Methods To Create A Compelling Free Prize

May 18, 2014 by Marc Guberti 1 Comment

Free prizes are only effective if they are compelling. The free prize needs to be something that your visitors would want that could have been a paid product. However, many people make the mistake of offering a free prize that is not compelling. A compelling free prize encourages people to subscribe to your blog. A compelling free prize encourages people to buy your paid products later down the road. If you want your free prize to be compelling, follow these 5 methods.

Have an eye-catching design. People do judge a free prize by the cover. You need to come up with an eye-catching design for your free prize so your visitors will have a reason to subscribe. Some people will get your free prize just because it looks cool.
Make it essential for your target audience. The free prize you give away must match your target audience’s interests. If your target audience is people who want to grow their social media presence, a free guide to gaining more followers on any social network would be a compelling free prize.
Get people to mention your free prize. If your free prize gets mentioned on other people’s websites, more people will subscribe to get the free prize. Positive reviews are a big factor towards how many sales your book makes. Getting positive reviews for your free prize will make people want to get their hands on your free prize.
Make it different from the other free prizes out there. The free prizes in cereal boxes used to be a big deal. Now that more companies have a free prize in their cereal boxes, the free prize in the cereal box has gotten old. There are millions of free prizes out there, but if you want your free prize to be compelling, your free prize needs to stand out from the other free prizes.
Make getting the free prize easy. If someone has to fill in their address, phone number, and date of birth to get the free prize, your free prize will not be compelling. Instead of appreciating the free prize for what it is, visitors will only think of how complicated it was to finally gain access to the free prize. Instead of making it hard for your visitors to get the free prize, only ask for their email address (asking for the person’s first name is optional). By making it easier for your visitors to get the free prize, those visitors will be more likely to enter in their information.

Those are the five methods to make your free prize compelling. What are your thoughts about the list? Do you have any suggestions for the list? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

5 Ways To Engage With Your Customers

May 18, 2014 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Business Engagement

Customers need to have a reason to buy a product. Once the customer buys your product, they need another set of reasons to become a returning customer. One of the reasons customers will buy your products is if you engage with those customers. Many people miss the importance of engaging with their customers. Engaging with customers gives them a reason to buy your products and come back. Engaging with the customers shows them that you care about them. In order to engage with your customers, follow these tactics.

Use social networks and reply to the people who mention you. Thank the people who share your blog posts and buy your products. Thanking someone shows that you appreciate that someone read, shared, and/or bought your content. If someone buys your eBook, ask that person what their favorite part of your eBook is and strike a conversation. As the conversation develops, ask that person if they would write a review for your eBook.
Allow people to contact you on your blog. Some people prefer to email their questions than to ask them. If you allow people to contact you through email, you will be able to build stronger connections with your customers. For your email signature, include links to your social networks and products so the interaction can continue.
Build your credibility. In order to get people to contact you, you need to be someone who is worth contacting. The bestselling author who is crushing it on Kindle is the person worth contacting. The professional athlete is someone worth contacting. Make yourself worth contacting so more of your customers contact you.
Respond to emails as quickly as possible. I respond to emails every day for 30 minutes in the afternoon. That is the ideal time for me to respond emails because I do not write as many words in the afternoon.
Build an email list. Promote a free product in your eBooks so you can capture your reader’s email address. By building this list, you will be able to identify all of your customers. Amazon does not make it easy to identify the people who bought your products. However, if you get people to enter their email address to gain access to a free product, you will be able to identify your customers. Then, send those customers a personalized message thanking them for buying your product. After that, be sure to stay in touch with that customer.

Those are the 5 ways to engage with your customers. Engaging with your customers is one of the most underrated ways of boosting your sales. What are your thoughts on the list? Do you have any additional tips you would like to mention? Please share your thoughts and tips below.

3 Reasons Why You Need A Business Buddy

May 17, 2014 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Business Teamwork

Many entrepreneurs believe that going solo is the best approach towards being successful. When working alone, an entrepreneur has more power over their business and gets to implement all of the ideas that he/she wants to implement. Although there are several advantages associated with going solo, every entrepreneur needs to have a business buddy. Whether your business buddy is a friend, a colleague in another niche, or someone who owns half of the company, having a business buddy is very important towards the growth of your business. These are the 3 reasons why you need a business buddy:

You will encourage each other to work harder. If you and your business buddy work side by side, you will encourage each other to work harder. You would not want to take your break if your business buddy was still working, and your business buddy would not take a break if you were still working. As a result, both of you will be more productive.
Ideas get enhanced. Maybe you are trying to think of how you can implement your idea or some ways to make your idea better. Your business buddy may know a method to make your idea better. You can do one to one brainstorming with your business buddy, and one to one brainstorming is the best version of brainstorming available.
You get more referred customers. If your business buddy knows a lot about architecture and you are a blogging expert, you can exchange connections. If someone who comments on your blog is looking for an architect, you can tell them about your business buddy. If one of your business buddy’s clients needs help with blogging, then your business buddy will refer that client to you.

Although going solo is the easier approach, it is better over the long-term to have a business buddy who you can exchange ideas with and help each other out. Having a business buddy will allow you to get more connections and be more productive at the work place. If you know multiple people who qualify, you can have multiple business buddies and meet with one of those people every time you work. Who is your business buddy? If you do not have a business buddy yet, do you plan on getting one? Please share your thoughts below.

The Entrepreneurial Secret Weapon

May 17, 2014 by Marc Guberti 6 Comments

secret folder

Actually, this weapon is not a secret. Everyone uses the entrepreneurial secret weapon. However, it is the uses of this weapon to create successful businesses that is the secret. The secret weapon is social media. Social media can build a business’ reputation and get more customers for that business. Social media can turn an unknown business into a thriving business with thousands of followers.

The reason why social media is a secret weapon is because most people do not know how to utilize their social networks to improve their businesses. Social media is all about building connections. There is no such thing as having too many connections. The more connections you have, the more customers and business opportunities you get.

In order to use the secret weapon, you need to be following targeted users. No one is going to know about your business unless you build your targeted following first. As people follow you back, and your business grows its social media presence, you will be able to see the full potential of social media.

Using social media properly to grow a business is the entrepreneurial secret weapon. Social media allows unknowns to become part of the well-known. Social media is the best thing you can use to grow your business.

What are your thoughts on the entrepreneurial secret weapon? Do you have additional advice about using the entrepreneurial secret weapon? Please share your thoughts and tips below.

6 Characteristics That Every Successful Entrepreneur Has

May 16, 2014 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

There are millions of entrepreneurs in the world. Some entrepreneurs own thriving businesses while others are creating startups. Successful entrepreneurs possess characteristics that separate them from the average entrepreneur. These characteristics allow successful entrepreneurs to get better results and get more accomplished in a shorter amount of time. In order to become a successful entrepreneur, these are the 6 characteristics that you need to have.

Persistence. There will be a complaint. There will be a day (and a string of days) when your product does not make any sale. You need to stay strong during these times and know that your business has a positive future. You just need to take it there.
Dedication. This characteristic decides how many hours you are willing to put into your business. By being dedicated and loving what you do, you will spend more hours working on your business than you would if your business was something that you did not like at all. Having a lot of dedication makes going through the bad times easier.
The champion attitude. In order for your business to be successful, you need to be a good champion for your business. You need to be the role model for others to follow and raise the bar higher. Every successful business has a good champion, and you need to be the champion of your business.
Effective time management. It takes a lot of time and effort to create a business. Making that business successful takes more time and effort as well. By having effective time management, you will increase your productivity, get more done, and move your business farther.
The desire for success. We all want and need to be successful. However, the successful entrepreneurs are the ones who have a strong desire for success. This desire inspires successful entrepreneurs to get more work done every day so their businesses become successful faster.
Connections. Every successful entrepreneur has strong connections. In order to be successful, people need to know about your business. Making the right connections can get you referred customers, appearances in newspapers, and more. In order to get more connections, you need to use your social networks.

Those are the 6 characteristics that every entrepreneur has. By implementing these 6 characteristics, you are more likely to become successful and own a thriving business. You will not have a successful business overnight, but by consistently living by these characteristics, you will thrive. What are your thoughts on the list? Do you have any additional characteristics you would like to mention? Please share your thoughts below.

5 Reasons To Break Up With Bad Clients

May 16, 2014 by Marc Guberti 10 Comments

Difficult Client

Many people make the mistake of focusing on gaining clients instead of focusing on the most important clients. These people believe that they can change every client so that every client becomes a quality client. The problem is that the process takes too much time, and in the end, the client never changes. Ever. Instead of trying to make all of your clients happy, only focus on the clients who are the most important ones you have. Here is why you need to do that.

Breaking up with bad clients will save you oodles of time. Imagine the amount of time it takes to write reports and talk to the client. That can take up several hours every week. Imagine how much time you would save if you could break up with 5 bad clients.
You can focus more of your time on the good ones. Now that you have more time, your conversations with the good clients can get longer, and you can provide more insight in your reports. Focusing on your good clients allows you to treat them like VIPs. Giving them the VIP treatment will encourage them to do more business with you in the future.
Bad clients will not refer you, but the good ones will refer you. In addition to saving more time, you are able to spend more time with the clients who are more likely to refer you to their friends. The good clients are the ones who tell others about what you do. Those are the kinds of clients who you want to talk to, not the ones who do not like what you offer and wouldn’t even think about referring you to their friends.
You get to keep a positive attitude. You probably have a few clients who simply ramble on about their problems and bring you down. Breaking up with those clients will allow you to keep a positive attitude and be a happier person. Not only will this have a positive effect on your business, but it will also have a positive attitude on your life.
It will be easier to get more quality clients. Quality clients are hard to come by. However, if you focus on your quality clients, those clients will refer you to some of their friends. Those friends will most likely be quality clients as well. In addition, you will discover the characteristics that your quality clients have. Then, you can find consumers with those characteristics and tell them about your business.

Those are the five reasons why you need to break up with bad clients as soon as possible. By eliminating the bad clients, you will be able to focus more of your time on your quality clients–the ones who pay on time, make you happy, and enjoy your service. What are your thoughts about breaking up with bad clients?