Pierre Eau Business Strategy

Manufacturers of great products are struggling right now due to the potential threat of a recession, a slow down in sales this year and uncertain political and economic times.

The holiday season is the most important time of year for the retail industry. Some 50%+ of revenue is earned during the last 3 months of the year. Many retailers and manufactures had a tough 3rd quarter and need to recover from the strain. It is critical to have a strong 4th quarter to close out the year. To do so, manufactures must engage with their current customers, seek out new ones in effective and efficient ways and incorporate new strategies to do so.

There are several successful, inexpensive marketing and sales tactics worth investigating. These strategies are ideal for manufactures in the retail and e-tail business. Here are 5 doable strategies to increase sales:

1) Grass roots marketing. Pay attention to the bloggers out there who write to your target audience. Mommy Communities, beauty blogs or other product specific Blogs are great resources to get free exposure for your products.

2) Increase online advertising dollars. Margins are higher for manufacturers who e-tail. GoogleAdwords is an easy, do-it-yourself tool to help you with online advertising. Well written pay per click advertising campaigns can rapidly increase your ROI.

3) E-Newsletters. Your happy customers are your best source of advertising. Strive to build a community with your customers. Write to them, send an e-blast, and keep them connected to your business, products and future.

4) Re-purpose or market your product as a gift or a utility item. Both are always in need. Mom’s and women are still buying products, especially for the holidays, but they are evaluating the value of the product prior to spending money. Consumers buy gifts and utility items year round.

5) Give back to your loyal customers. Everyone is struggling now. Do what you can to give back. Create POS materials for your retailers, try to get press in markets which will help your retailers, or give small discounts to your customers. We all appreciate the notion that we “are in this together.”

These are year round strategies to help increase sales not just marketing approaches for the 4th quarter. Implementing basic, predictable and inexpensive marketing tactics will help you have a successful holiday season and will prepare you for the upcoming challenges in the year ahead.

Time and time again, when people are introduced to network marketing sales, they are told that this business is not about sales, but its about something else.  The harsh reality is that in MLM you have to make sales in order to make money, just like in any other business.  Below I’ll reveal three of the top lies being told, and the truth behind them.

#1 “Its not selling, its sharing”. This is one of the biggest phrases being told to new MLM sales reps.

The real truth is that in network marketing sales, as with any business, at its most basic level is about an exchange of value, in this case money for a product or business opportunity.   The whole sharing mentality is often told to new MLMers who have a great fear of doing actual selling.

The sharing technique is really just one person relying on the relationships that they have with friends and family, and the trust they have built up with them.  They use this as a point of leverage to grow their business and sell their MLM product or opportunity.

#2 “We are not in sales, we are into educating people on making better choices”.  Educational marketing is a fairly well known technique in the sales and marketing industry, and in network marketing sales as well.  

A great example of this can be witnessed at home depot.  One of the things that many people love about home depot is that they hold classes and seminars on how to conduct home repairs and projects.  This educational marketing at its best.  

They bring in a targeted audience who want to learn something, they teach them that one thing, and then get the sale in a very easy way.  

You can see this technique applied many times in network marketing sales with educational sessions, webinars, conference calls.  All aimed at educating people which makes the sale easier.

#3 “The product sells itself”.  Products don’t sell or market themselves, people sell products, plain and simple.  Try this as an exercise to illustrate this point.  Buy a big box of the latest wiz bang juice, top of the line, best in the world.  

Now, sit the box of juice in your driveway, and leave it there for a little bit.

Does the product magically jump up and sell itself?  Are any sales made without someone proactively working to market the product?

No, real people getting in front of targeted prospects and explaining the benefits of a product or business is what makes the sale, not the product itself.

I hope that discussing some of the points in network marketing sales clears up what this business is really about.  Just like any other business, a sale needs to happen in order for profit to be made.

If you’d like to learn more about network marketing sales, read the information below and follow the instructions.

Starting a membership website is one of the most powerful and stable ways to earn consistently on the Internet. People are willing to pay for access to valuable information, products and services; and you can successfully take advantage of this. You just need to be skillful and creative enough to make your business venture stand out from the rest.

This article discusses some useful ideas that could help you increase your membership sales and retain more members to your membership website.

Membership Site Marketing And Promotion

No matter how great or valuable your content is, it will not make you any money unless you make people aware of its existence. The good news is that the Internet offers excellent marketing opportunities… even if you don’t have much to invest yet in your advertising campaign. Here are some ideas:

1) Optimize your membership website for targeted keywords, so interested people could find it in the search engines easily. Search for “search engine optimization” or SEO in Google to learn some tips and tactics about how to get your site ranked highly for your keywords. 

2) Create a separate website designed for the purpose of promoting a paid membership one. This could be a squeeze page that can offer a small part of your content to give a taste of what your paid service is like. It is also useful in link building to your paid membership site.

3) Having your own affiliate program is a powerful way to leverage from other people’s assets. You can have other marketers promote your membership site through their own websites, and they will have an incentive to do a good job as you are going to share part of the profit with them.

You can provide incentives – such as discounts or bonuses – for your existing customers to promote your website by bringing in new members. But the better option is to make every one of your members your affiliates. Provide them with all the necessary affiliate tools and training materials (video works best) to help them earn affiliate commissions.

4) Some free marketing strategies may work as effectively as – or even better than – any paid method. You can include links to your website through a forum sig line or blog comment (but make sure you follow the rules and do it subtly). Informative articles posted on the pages of high-PR article directories could reach a large number of people and create better awareness of your site.

It’s best to diversify your marketing as much as possible to attract more paying members. Make sure you attractively and informatively describe the features, benefits and advantages of your services in your site and advertisement messages. You could choose to outsource this part of the marketing and have a professional copywriter do the work for you.

Sales Strategies To Increase Membership Sales

Your sales strategy is vital when you are aiming to increase the income from your membership website.

1) Free trials are being used by many marketers, simply because they reduce skepticism and get more orders. Make your offer appealing and irresistible, highlighting the benefits of your full membership.

2) Offer more member categories with different levels of access for the various types of content you have to offer. You can offer discounts for existing members to sign up to an upper category. Diversify your promotional offers by providing an automatic sign up to a higher level of access to new members only for a limited time period.

3) Encourage prospects to make full payment for one year, or even a lifetime membership, by offering discounts or other incentives. This helps in reducing the cancellation rate.

4) Provide high quality and innovative services, and always have a support desk available to attend to their needs.

5) Use the power of Web 2.0 and networking. Send Twitter alerts about upcoming posting of valuable content, exclusive news, promotional offers and all other things that can be applicable to your particular service. Provide your members with networking opportunities by adding a forum on your website.

6) Show your customers as much personal attention and care as possible. Sending greeting cards on holidays, for example, can be done cheaply and quickly.

The best thing about adopting any of these strategies is that they will not only make your membership website more attractive, but will also allow you to charge more in the form of subscription fees.

You could multiply your membership website income as long as you dedicate sufficient time and attention in carrying out the methods described above. Wishing you more membership site profits!