Taped to the top of the box is an envelope. You open the envelope and you see a beautifully written letter addressed to you from someone who believes in you and your business.

Written is the following note:

Dear Business Owner,

This box includes everything that you need to build a successful business. You will notice that there are a few basic instructions about fundamental business rules with this block set, but other than that, you have free reign. It is your task to put these blocks together to build the business you want.

Remember, this business will be uniquely yours, because there’s no one else out there that can do what you can do the way you can do it.

I believe in you, so build away. I look forward to seeing what your business looks like in the future.

Warm regards,

Mr. B. Leevinue

PS. You will notice that as you begin to build your business with these blocks, there will be new blocks that magically appear. The new blocks will be different from the old, different shapes and sizes textures weights, etc. you will find that the box will never run out of building blocks.

WOW … now it is time to build something.

As a small business owner, you are constantly faced with the challenge of “There is so much to do.”, or “Where do I start?” You are constantly thinking about all of the aspects of your business: your product or your service, your clients and prospects, your employees, your accounting, etc. Honestly it can be overwhelming, not to mention the fact that you are putting yourself in an environment that is constantly changing.

Like Rome, your business is not built in a day… but it does get built, and in this case, it gets built how YOU want it to be built.

In this ever-changing world, where time continues to be the essence, the most important thing to remember about building a business is that it is your business to build. Remind yourself of this, frequently. This is your business… make it what you want to make it. It’s much easier to work in a business that you like rather than working in one that you don’t.

And if you are the business owner, and this is your business, then why not make it what you want to make it?

Just for thought.

Christian

The Hard Way:

Saturday, the morning of the seminar, Henrietta gets ready to leave. She has to be there at 11:30 AM, right… isn’t that the time? Rats… she wrote down the directions when she called the second time but she did not write down the time. Oh well, she’s pretty sure it’s 11:30 AM.

She arrives at the center, only to see a bunch of people exiting the building. The seminar is over. Bummer, it started at 10:30 AM. Henrietta is really disappointed and decides that as a matter of fate it’s just not meant to be. Dr. Wayne loses a potential customer.

The Smart Way:

Saturday, the morning of the seminar, Henrietta is getting ready to leave her home. She feels very secure because three days prior she received a letter from Dr. Wayne in the mail reminding her of the seminar and telling her how he was looking forward to meeting her.

To add fuel to her fire, last night she received a simple phone message (it was automated) that reminded her of her seminar coming up on Saturday and asking her to go check her e-mail for the time and directions.

She leaves the house on a perfect Saturday morning, follows her directions that she received via e-mail, and shows up at the right time in the right place, a little early. She gets settled, gets to meet Dr. Wayne before the seminar starts, has a great seminar and schedules an evaluation.

WOW… WHAT A DIFFERENCE AUTOMATION MAKES!!!

The point that I want to make here is that the use of automation kept the prospect informed. The marketing pieces allowed Dr. Wayne to provide value and engaged the prospect to the point where the prospect actually was ready willing and able to become a client.

The marketing process goes on.

As Henrietta signed up for an evaluation, the automated marketing was in place to deliver to Henrietta the valuable information that she needed, things that she needed to do before her next visit.

Dr. Wayne has gotten pretty sharp with these marking techniques. In one of his automated messages to Henrietta, he includes a survey. When Henrietta answers a survey she gets a coupon for free one-hour massage. You better believe that Henrietta completes the survey.

Now picture this. We have Henrietta coming into Dr. Wayne’s center twice now before she even has her evaluation. She hasn’t spent a penny yet… and she is getting great value. She learns how nutrition affects fat burning and she gets a free one-hour massage.

Guess who’s feeling pretty comfortable with Dr. Wayne’s Wellness Center? Guess who is probably going to refer some friends and talk about this free massage that she got? You got it… Henrietta.

Dr. Wayne’s made a really good decision by automating his marketing. He’s using this automation to drive sales in his Wellness Center. Dr. Wayne’s business continues to grow. He has developed a strong marketing system and has the best tools that technology can offer to deliver those messages. He can now focus his energy when expanding his business, hiring other practitioners to become a part of Dr. Wayne’s Wellness Center. He is using the same marketing system to increase the new practitioners’ client base.

Oh… and did I mention… Dr. Wayne has someone else running his Saturday morning seminars. He also has another practitioner taking his Thursday and Friday clients. He now works three days a week.

The most important thing to remember is the automation can drive your marketing to inform, clarify, and provide value.

Some of the most successful businesses use automation to inform and continue delivering value, without pressuring the prospect to buy. When the prospect is ready to buy, they know who and where to buy from. If you use automation correctly, you greatly enhance the chances of that who and where being you and your business.

• Direct Mail
• E-mail
• Voice Broadcast

As an example of how these three different delivery methods can be used effectively, I’m going to use a real-life business example.

Dr. Wayne, the Wellness Guy, has an office in sunny South Florida. He has a thriving business, offers a fantastic service to his clients, and wants to use automation to grow his business more.

He offers a free seminar (providing value) where he teaches the dynamics of nutrition and fat burning. He holds these free classes on Saturday morning and Wednesday night. He advertises the classes on the radio and has people call into his office to sign up.

When they come to the free seminar, they are then offered the opportunity to get an evaluation. The goal of the evaluation is to show the patient exactly where they are – from the perspective of diet and exercise – and how the patient could benefit by being on Dr. Wayne’s three month plan.

From the perspective of the marketing system, Dr. Wayne’s provides value in the form of a free nutrition and weight loss seminar. His end goal is to have patients sign up for his three month plan.

So, how can Dr. Wayne use automation to do this and increases business?

Well, first let’s look at some of the pitfalls of what can happen in his present method (The Hard Way) and then see how that scenario plays out when he automates his marketing (The Smart Way).

The Hard Way:

Henrietta is on her lunch break and hears the ad on the radio about a nutrition and fat burning seminar next Saturday. She thinks that this is a great offer. She has wanted to lose weight for a long time. She has tried different diets and exercise programs and nothing has worked for her. Because of the well-crafted message that Dr. Wayne has delivered over the radio, she just knows that this is the right program for her.

She picks the phone up and calls the 1-800 number. The phone line is busy because of all the call-ins from the radio ad. She tries a few more times, but cannot get through. Too bad… she now has to get back to work.

Did she save the phone number to call her next break? Let’s hope so.

The Smart Way:

Henrietta is on her lunch break and hears an ad on the radio about a nutrition and fat burning seminar next Saturday. Three times the ad mentions the website of DrWaynesWellness.com. She pulls up the site immediately and is able to register for the class. She gets an e-mail confirmation immediately that tells it that she’s registered and confirms the time and date. The e-mail also gives her directions along with a map or easy navigation.

The Hard Way:

Henrietta has a break in the afternoon and calls back once more… yes she did save the phone number. She is able to get through this time and schedules attending the nutrition and fat burning seminar next Saturday. She writes down the address and the time that she is given by the office staff at Dr. Wayne’s  Wellness Center. Now she’s all set.

A few days pass and Henrietta realizes that she’s misplaced the address of Dr. Wayne’s Wellness Center. She is a little forgetful, and tends to miss things like this unless they are posted with magnets to her refrigerator. She hopes she still has that toll-free number and frantically looks through her purse to find it.

Alas, good fortune is on her side as she is able to find the number to Dr. Wayne’s Wellness Center crumpled up in her overstuffed purse. She calls the number and gets directions again.

The Smart Way:

A few days have passed and Henrietta is getting excited about the possibilities of her getting healthy and shedding unwanted weight. She checks her e-mail and there is a reminder along with directions to the seminar on Saturday. Also along with a reminder is a link for her to send to her friends if she thinks that they might have an interest in the seminar. Henrietta’s feeling really good about this now.

Stay tuned for Part 3 to find out what happens the morning of the seminar.

Christian

A great majority of businesses today still require clients to come in to the office or for the professional to visit the client on-site. Doctors, painters, hairstylists … the list goes on and on. If you can identify your business as one where your customer walks into your door, or you walk into theirs, then read on. What I’m about to share with you is exactly how you can use automation to enhance and invigorate your marketing to bring value to your prospect and ultimately grow your business.

There are some key elements that you must take into account when considering the automation of your marketing. Actually, when I think about it I really could begin to write a book here, because the subject matter can be stated in such a great degree in detail that to cover it all would require volumes. So I’m just going to begin to cover just a few of the basics.

First of all, you have to document your marketing system from beginning to end. Every business has some type of system in place now. It starts when the business reaches out and touches the potential client delivering a message about the product or service, and, in a perfect business setting never ends. The reason why say it never ends is because that somewhere along the way, the prospect becomes the first time customer, and the relationship becomes long-term. Even if your product is a one time purchase, something that would last a lifetime, there is still a great need and opportunity to nurture that relationship long-term. The benefits of repeat business and referrals go without saying.

It is vitally important that you break down each element of your business process as it relates to your marketing and to document that process.

You need to have a very clear understanding of your message to your prospect. You need to be very deliberate about how you deliver that message so that your prospect understands exactly what your product or service is going to do to help them. Then you make it so easy for them to purchase it from you.

For a prospect to spend money with you and to become your customer they must feel like they can trust you. The way that you build trust is by building relationship. And the best way to build relationship is to be willing to give.

In business relationship, I like to call giving “providing value”. You as the business owner must be ready, willing and able to provide something of value to the potential client. Providing value, whether it be a product, service or just information helps build credibility with your prospect and strengthens the relationship.

Okay, now let’s say you are a small business owner and you’ve documented your marketing message. You have determined exactly how you want to provide value to your prospect. You know that building rapport with him is important to the thriving success of your business.

Now we have to talk about delivery. How do you get your message out to your prospect or your client? How do you do it effectively, efficiently, and timely?

Stay tuned for Part 2

Christian