If you want to know one of my biggest marketing secrets here goes... go to an industry outside of your expertise, ideally in technology, or a bigger cousin of the industry you are already in. Perhaps something similar, but not quite related, or directly influencing your niche. Then, find some of the most successful and innovative brands there, and copy the hell out of them in your niche. (legally of course)
Zig While They Zag
At a time when businesses were building massive e-commerce stores with hundreds, or thousands of products, I did the opposite and curated a collection of high end motorsports performance parts, and it took off like wildfire. I took the botique concept, and applied it to "of all things" the powersports niche.
In many ways ecommerce has changed a lot since then, but not as much as you might think. You see, online there are only two things that matter. Traffic, and conversion. The traffic/buyers are out there. Are they finding you?
The way you get traffic has pretty much remained the same for the last ten years. If you are missing out on the digital revolution, don’t think you’ve missed it. You just need the right plan.
Once you have targeted traffic, via your Instagram page, Google, Facebook or whatever, you need high quality content to educate and inform the customers to make a good buying decision. Ideally that content is from you, or your website.
Content Drives The Internet
Content is any words, images or video that is used to convey the value of your product, service and brand. Most brands totally miss the boat on content. They don’t even use a proven strategy. They just have the front desk lady try to write something and call that good enough.
Or worse, maybe you paid a copywriter and……..nothing happened.
What Business Model Are You Following?
I find that most businesses today are following business models that were created in a “pre-technology” world. Basically, 90% of businesses are walking around with their grand-dads business plan. This concept scares me a little because I realize how much small business means for the health of the American economy.
Small Business Needs This
I can tell you for certain that when you get your content strategy right, hit the correct traffic triggers, you will get floods of business for your brand. It’s not an art, it’s a science.
At this point I’ve advised brand and marketing strategy for well over 100 organizations, and on the whole, they are all suffering from outdated thinking, as much as anything. But it’s really nobody’s fault.
I’m not here to blame universities, or anyone for that matter, we just went through a technology revolution that changed the world more in 20 years, than the world has seen in the past 100, perhaps longer.
Get A Modern Plan Based On Clear Market Research
The challenge in this economy is getting the right data and making good decisions based on what the market is looking for. In 90% of cases, I can find highly valuable traffic that will pay top dollar for the products you are already selling. Infact, your pricing is probably too low.
Having done this for 15 years, I know the bones of a successful project, and it goes something like this.
Market Research (doesn’t have to cost a lot.) In many cases it's free.
Brand & Pricing review, (people are usually packaging wrong and charging too low.)
Key Member Acccountability: Inside the company, there must be someone who is ready to see this program to results. (no matter how hard I’ve tried, I can’t push a company to grow, it has to come from the inside.)
Apply the right plan long enough to see results. This means working within a budget you can live with, and aiming for goals that are significant, but not over the top.
The result of this process is increased sales, increased dollars per sale, decreased costs of leads, lower returns, refunds and customer service complaints. Remember, this is a reliable, repeatable process. Other brands in your industry have gotten on to this sales automation revolution. Why haven’t you?
"Working alongside Kyle for several years, I watched him build our website that reached close to $70,000 per month in sales at it's peak, from customers all over the world. He basically built a premium motorsport brand online from scratch." ~ Josh Mazzei - Partner Five Star Powersports
For Racers, By Racers
When the website I built went from $0-$60+K, in around 18 months, I was smart enough to know I got lucky in some ways, but I also knew there were rules and patterns I was following to create the success I made.
I could have copied what our competitors were doing, who had hundreds, to thousands of items for sale, with no seeming pattern of hierarchy of recommended products.
I don’t know how well our competitors did, but I hardly gave them a thought, because I was serving my market and they responded powerfully. Within 6 months of launch, we were selling performance accessories to customers and companies all over the world. I was a fanatic about product quality, and customer support, and the market responded.
The internet gave us almost instant access to a global market, and I was as busy as my 20 something brain knew how to handle.
Be the Cheapest, Or The Most Expensive, Never In The Middle
Every time I meet with a new client, they are almost always under pricing their products, and their value ladder is never complete. This means they are almost always leaving money on the table by not offering high end, white glove, full, or premium service options. A certain percentage of your market will always pay a premium for quality, convenience, status etc.
I Knew I Built Something Significant
Could I do it again, or did I just get lucky?”
3,4,5th Time’s A Charm - Repeatable Results
I’ve waited almost ten years to launch this website, and launch the marketing and business growth products I now offer. I wanted to be sure the systems and processes I’ve picked up and refined over the years actually work reliably and repeatedly. While the other articles on the blog discuss in detail what my team and I have been able to accomplish, here is a quick rundown by the numbers.
$0-$60,000 per month ecommerce motorcycle accessory store
$.9M-$4M/yr nationally distributed health & wellness brand
$0-$10M Valuation for enviro-tech water cleaning startup
1380% R.O.I. on marketing spend, for a specialty hospital who wishes to remain anonymous to protect their competitive advantage
Who Is Next?
The Digital Economy Is Thriving. Isn’t it time to get in on the action? Businesses who automate sales with their website and social media receive consistent leadflow and new customers. Is it hard? Yes, if you try to do it yourself, feel around in the dark and hack your own path. No, if you follow proven plans and systems.
Schedule A Call
During our virtual meeting we get down to what’s most important to your business goals, and I’ll give you every bit of my knowledge to help you get a clearer vision of what’s possible, including pricing, plans and action steps you can start with immediately. Stay ahead of the automation revolution. Schedule Today
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