A cartoon explanation of Twitter.

Copy writing is an art of writing information for various forms of media. It has evolved through time from its early forms in books, magazines and newspapers, Copy writing has again transcended from its usual form and practices into the new internet era; Copy writing as utilized by the Search Engine Optimization business is also known as Internet Content Writing, Web Content Writing, amongst other terms. The various terms of Copywriting shall be used interchangeably throughout this text.

This article will try to tell you about the basics of copy writing and its advanced application on the SEO aspect. This article aims to provide the beginners in the Search Engine Optimization industry, an in-depth but friendly guide to seo content writing, as well as providing the more advanced copywriters with a guide to remind them of the several tricks they might have forgotten about the craft.

This guide shall be divided into the three parts of the copywriting process: the before, during, and after. This is the first part of the guide dealing with the things a copywriter must do BEFORE writing the copy. Succeeding parts shall be posted separately because of the size.

Before Writing

Before doing any writing you should first know the purpose why you’re writing that content. Your purpose should be clear and definite so no equivocation of ideas will exist that might confound your readers. Is the writing for sports? Is it for entertainment? Is it educational? These things should be clear on your mind before you write your copy, so a natural flow will exist as you write.

Another thing to consider is to know whom are you writing for and who are the people you wish to convey the message to? Knowledge of your audience will give you many benefits: people with different cultures only respond to a specific approach you use, technical terms would be very trivial when talking to beginners while spelled out and explained details would be very time consuming for experts. The internet is used by a vast network of people and your target may only comprise a very small minority. It is important that you address your target effectively if you want more conversions (making site visitors into customers) on your web site.

Knowing the right information will certainly give you the right results. Knowing what people want and what they are searching for will be one of the keys to make it big in this business. One of the things that can help you acquire this information is through case studies, surveys and polls that can be found all over the internet. Most of these studies provide general demographic information about internet users. If you’re lucky enough (since it is discouraged), you might even stumble with information regarding the searching habits of different demographics.

Once you have decided to use particular information from the internet, make sure that it is from a reliable author or source. Incorrect and inaccurate data proliferates all over the internet and it happens that you may be misled by others to use them, so, see to it that the articles or studies you are about to use are made and conducted by certified educational institutions or known private companies so you will not have any problems about their authenticity.

Another effective source of information from the internet are pages which rank high among search engines especially those that are related to yours. Analyze and learn the effective things they have done to increase their PageRank and apply them to your work. You could also check out the pages of your top competitors, you might learn a lot from them but be careful not to copy their stuff as it is since they will be constantly checking out their competition. Copyright guidelines are finally catching up with those who replicate content, ending blacklisted by major search engines.

SEO forums are also helpful in guiding you about the latest trends in the Search Engine Optimization business. Experts usually crowd in these forums to discuss the tricks and trends of the business. Moreover, new updates and trends about Search Engine Algorithms and Technology can be found on these forums so it is highly advisable that you check out those forums. However, the forums might be a little too complicated for beginners as terms often become too technical to understand even by seasoned users.

About the words

Now let us go down to business! It is time to know what are the keywords and keyphrases you will use for your copy! The key words and phrases would be the ones that you will use and try to integrate throughout the whole copy. It would be the bait you place in the hook in order to attract and hopefully catch your potential customers.

First of all, you and your client should brainstorm together (face to face if possible) about the keywords and keyphrases you want to use for the copy. It is important that you brainstorm together so that you will be able to stay true to the brand and have an effective choice for use in the search engine optimization efforts. You could make use of different keyword tools found in the web such as Keyword Discovery, GoodKeywords, WordTracker, Overture, etc. (issues regarding their usability and effectiveness will be discussed separately). These tools can be downloaded or used directly over the internet should you choose to utilize it.

In choosing keyphrases or keywords remember to start with and use popular but “not-so-competitive” terms since it would be very difficult to compete with more established websites if you have just been starting. The above-mentioned tools will help you determine which key words or phrases you could use.

One word keywords are very difficult if not impossible to compete with as it would have a more general scope compared with key phrases. For example, if you are trying to write content for a company selling educational toys, choosing a keyword like “toys” would be a stupid idea since search engines would give around one hundred million hits for that particular keyword, while changing it into keyphrase like “toys for students” or “educational toys” would only have hits of around five million. This means that the chance that a web searcher would actually go to your website would be 100,000,000:1 under the keyword “toys” while choosing the keyphrase “educational toys” means a chance of 5,000,000:1, greatly increasing your chance of being visited. Besides, customers are more likely to refine their searches since using or typing just one word searches would mean being bombarded with a lot of unwanted information than they need, costing more time and effort.

Your keywords should specifically target (1) the product or service that you are offering and (2) what people actually type whenever they use the search engines in looking for products and services like yours. A good example would be when writing content for a company selling kilns for bricks, you should not optimize for the keyword “kiln for bricks” if most people actually type “oven for bricks” when they are looking for such equipment. It is useless to optimize for the term kiln when most people opt to type oven since a few if none will be looking for the term kiln.

You should also identify and discover various words and terms which are closely related to your keyword or keyphrases. Some key-terms and keyphrases are so intimately intertwined with others that one group associates it with a particular field while another choose to associate it with something else. One good example would be Cosmetic Surgery. Cosmetic Surgery is a medical procedure, so, it can be regarded as something related with medicine and surgery, while it is also correct to say that it is related with cosmetics and beauty. Since the fields of medicine, surgery, cosmetics and beauty are popular fields, optimizing for both the cosmetic and the surgical aspect of the keyphrase Cosmetic Surgery would bring more keyword hits for searches from individuals of both parts of the spectrum.

Another thing to consider is to integrate local terminologies or equivalents of your products or services when optimizing with key words or phrases. An “elevator” in the US would be a “lift” in the UK, a “truck” in the US would be a “lorry” in the UK, and the list goes on. When trying to sell products or services for a huge demographically different society, you should optimize for both of the groups as each would tend to search for the more familiar local term. Better yet, you could create different sites for different demographic groups, replacing particular key words and phrases; enabling you to cater to both.

Moreover, it would be wise to consider placing regional information or regional key words or phrases. Integrating regional information along with keywords and keyphrases enables users who prefer more specified searches to visit your website. You would also benefit from the limited competition because of the more specified search. Most people looking for products and services in the internet would certainly prefer to find what they need locally, so adding local regional information would definitely be of great help to you and your potential client. Another benefit is that you could add another keyword, which is the regional information to your existing key word or key phrase. For example, instead of having just “plumbing services” add “Atlanta” before ‘plumbing services’. This would give you an edge over competitors as it would profoundly decrease your competition.

About the content

Now that you have the key words and phrases you would need its time to plan about the general thrust of the content, on what the content should be like.

Generally, the main idea of writing content is for it to be able to provide useful information for visitors in your site. You are primarily writing for the readers, the human visitors of your site, and about the products and services that you have to offer. Secondary to that idea is to provide the search engines information so they could properly and accurately index your site according to its proper category, so anyone who wants to look for something in particular, through the use of search engines, would eventually find what he needs. In other words, your content should be both customer-oriented and search engine friendly.

In order to do that, you need to plan properly on how to do your copywriting. The whole text should be able to give them what they need and want to know about the products and services you have. Hence, it is highly advisable that you read a lot of information about the subject product or service before you write the actual copy. The goal is to become extremely knowledgeable about the product, so you can explore all the possibilities and play with its strengths and weaknesses and write everything that is needed.

One important thing to remember is to write content that is unique. Copying content is not only plagiarism and cheating but is also a serious offense that could cause painful penalties under existing Copyright laws. More and more Intellectual Property Rights watch dogs are reporting cases of content stealing and have gained some grounds over the years. Major search engines are now penalizing sites which illegally acquire content from other sources. Penalties include permanently putting sites under a blacklist, sort of a “permanent not to contact sites” for crawlers. Lawsuits and cases about web content writing are now increasing day by day, with more countries enacting laws on Intellectual Property Rights. The risks are just too great if you plagiarize and copy content. So make sure that you quote or place endnotes when you choose to use parts of other’s content.

And lastly, your content should be written in plain, simple, and natural language so as not to destroy the natural flow of words as you write. Highly technical words and terms should be reserved for highly technical discussions, and should be discouraged for everyday internet use.

Liam Anthony is a Copywriter/Ghostwriter for SEOGlobalPro, a Search Engine Optimization Company based in Davao City, Philippines. He graduated with a Bachelors degree in Arts with a Major in Political Science at Ateneo de Davao University, he is currently a Law Student at Ateneo de Davao Law School. http://www.seoglobalpro.com

Darren Rowse

Co-founder of b5media, Problogger.net and author of ProBlogger the Book

“Never Give Up” – in my industry one of the biggest reasons blogs fail is that blogge[r]s don’t see instantaneous results and give up before they even come close to reaching their potential. I’d suspect that this rings true for many businesses. One of the keys to building a successful business is consistent effort over the long haul.

John Chow

Writes for John Chow dot Com

The best business advice I ever got came from the late founder and CEO of Canadian Forest Products.

“If you can make something for a little less than your competition, and sell it for a little more, then you’re doing OK.”

Dean Hunt

Social Media Master, deanhunt.com

“Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream, and he thinks you’re crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you’re lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you’re greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn’t understand.”

Garry Conn

Successful blogger at garryconn.com

The best advice I got was when my father insisted that I get into computers at an early age. He had said with the birth of the Internet would come an abundance of money that would be almost free for the picking as if it were growing on trees.

Yan Susanto

freelance consultant and full-time blogger at thoushallblog.com

The best advice I had is, “Choose to blog about something that you can see yourself still blogging about in 3-4 years – it takes that long to build a successful blog.”

It takes lots of dedication, patience and most importantly, passion to run a successful blog. Without the passion, how could anyone be able to survive in 3-4 years? It’s no secret then that the blogosphere is littered with dead blogs. I hope I could look back in 4 years time and reflect on that one advise I was given early in my blogging career.

Donny Gamble

The Man who runs Linkersblog

I would say that the best advice I have ever received was to never give up on anything that you start. My dad always taught me at a young age that if you quit something that you have started, then you did what people wanted you to do and that is quit. I think society is designed for people to fail at things and not accomplish the things that they want to accomplish. The economy is set up where only a few people excel while the other people struggle to succeed.

Thomas Sinfield

Author of the Stand Out Blogger, standoutblogger.com

I would have to say that the best advice I have ever received is:”To follow your passions”

I have found that if you chose a business venture in an area that you are not passionate about and cannot find anything in the business that makes you passionate – you will lose interest and give up very early on in the venture.

Gyutae Park

Internet Entrepreneur and Professional SEO at Winning the Web

The best advice that I received was that “action brings clarity”. A lot of times people procrastinate and wait until they’re smart enough or are prepared enough to take action (e.g. starting their own business). Unfortunately, they never get started with that mentality.

It’s important to take the plunge even if you don’t know anything. Experience is usually the best teacher and taking action will open up new doors of opportunity.

Jim Karter

blogs at jimkarter.com

My best advice is what I got from my father. He used to say “Son, always remember to keep your one leg firm on the ground while you try to reach for the stars.” Means, whatever you try to do in your life, always keep your fundamentals strong.

Jonathan Volk

Super Affiliate and blogger at jonathanvolk.com

The best advice I ever got was to ask penetrating questions.

Syed Balkhi

Successful blogger at balkhis.com

The best advice I have ever got was: You have to earn their trust, before you can make a successful sale.

Caroline Middlebrook

Successful blogger at caroline-middlebrook.com/blog/

Never give up!

Glen Allsopp

Successful blogger at Viper Chill Plugin ID

The best advice I’ve ever received and try to pass on as often as possible is that “you are enough”. You are enough to become a millionaire, you are enough to have an attractive partner, you are enough to fulfill your dreams. You don’t need to keep adding things to yourself, you need to take away the things that hold you back such as doubt, fear and limiting beliefs. You are enough to do [insert anything here].

1. Contests

As one example, a cookware store decided to sponsor cooking contests. After sending out a press release announcing a competition for the best cookie or chocolate cake, a mailing went out to the store’s customers soliciting entries. Food editors, professional chefs and cooking teachers were invited to be judges. Both the winners and the winning recipes were publicized. Essay and design contests are also possibilities, such as a furniture store establishing a prize for student furniture design. Pie-eating, pancake-flipping, oyster-shucking and grape-stomping contests make sense for restaurants. Dentists can hold smile contests, while video rental stores can stage movie trivia quizzes.

2. Newsletters

Another good way to promote, particularly for brokers, banks and business consultants, is through newsletters. Newsletter articles demonstrate how much you know about your field and do so in a low key, informative way. They also help keep your company high in the consciousness of your prospects.

3. Demonstrations

Demonstrations are an option to attract people to your place of business, to show them how to best use your product and to establish your credibility. A retail wholesale fish outlet holds cooking demonstrations twice a week, featuring a different restaurant chef each time and attracting substantial crowds. Recipe cards are even given out. Wallpaper demonstrations, fashion shows, gift wrapping, refinishing and computer demonstrations have all worked well for retailers who were selling products associated with them.

4. Seminars

Often more appropriate for business to business marketing, seminars are the commercial side of demonstrations. If you hold a seminar, follow these rules for success:

1. Schedule the event at a time that is convenient to most attendees.

2. Be specific in the invitation about when the event begins and ends, who will be there and what the agenda is.

3. Follow up the invitations with personal phone calls.

4. Charge for seminar entrance to give it a higher perceived value.

5. Follow up after the event to get people’s reactions.

5. Premiums

Also called an advertising specialty, a premium is a gift of some kind that reminds your customer of you and your service. There are thousands of premiums from which you can choose: key chains, coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, baseball caps, paperweights—just about anything that can be engraved, imprinted, silk screened or embroidered with your company name and phone number.

6. Speeches

Depending on your topic and your market, you might want to speak before chambers of commerce, trade associations, parent groups, senior citizens or other local organizations.

7. Articles

Another possibility is to write an article for a trade journal, reprint it and mail it off to your friends, customers and prospects. Well-crafted articles position you as an expert and are a particularly good way to promote a consulting business.

8. Bonuses

If you have a restaurant, give away a glass of wine with dinner to introduce a new menu. If you sell to retailers, give them a display fixture with the order of a gross. If you sell office supplies, give away a new pen with a sizeable purchase. If you’re in the cosmetics business, offer customers a free sample blusher when they buy mascara and lipstick.

9. Coupons

For best results, the price break should be significant—at least 15 percent. Coupons are one of the least expensive ways to develop new trade and are an excellent tool for evaluating advertising. However, one theory holds that coupons draw people who only buy discount and never become regular customers, so be sure to monitor the results.

10. Donations

Donating your product or service to a charitable cause often results in positive exposure to community leaders, charity board members, PTAs and civic groups. While consumer products are desired most, many organizations also look for donations of professional service time. If you have a restaurant or a large meeting facility, consider hosting an event for a charitable organization. This strategy works best if volunteers for that charity are potential customers.

11. Samples

No matter what you do to promote your business, giving potential customers a sample is an excellent way to attract attention and make a positive impression. In many cases, it makes just as much sense to spend your marketing and advertising dollars on giving out your own products instead of buying advertisements—especially if cash is tight. The key is to give samples to the audience you want to reach (i.e., software packages to computer user groups or nutritious snacks to health oriented consumers). In the food arena, where one taste is worth a thousand words, firms now exist that test market new products for large and small companies alike through in-store demonstrations. A good demonstration company not only keeps track of how much of your product was given away but also submits detailed reports on what people said about the product and how much of it was purchased.

12. Free Trials

If your product is too big or expensive to give away outright, why not offer a free trial to qualified customers? Try shipping it out to prospects with no strings attached. Most people will appreciate the opportunity to try the product, and many will like it enough to buy it.

13. Free Services

If you can’t afford to give away products, offering your services as a way of generating new business can also pay off. For example, if you own a retail clothing business, send out a flyer offering customers a free fashion consultation to draw them into the store.

14. Special Benefits, Rates or Notices

Smart organizations go out of their way to make customers feel important and appreciated. Frequent flyer clubs are the most pervasive example of loyalty building benefits for customers only that are now being adapted by many kinds of businesses. Most software companies sell program updates to customers at discounted prices. And advance notices about sales or other changes or opportunities can help cement customer ties.

15. Say “Thanks”

One of the best ways to let customers know you value their business, and to simultaneously encourage their continued patronage, is also one of the easiest. It boils down to saying “thank you” in letters, mailers, surveys, statement stuffers, receipts and invoices, and in person.

What’s more impressive is the cash behind this cow. Back in January, Entrecard was earning a little over $2.50 a day times 8 ad spots using Project Wonderful. This set up earned a little over $600 a month based on Business Leaps’ estimates. Now, at the end of this year, Langdon deposits a conservative estimate of $250 a month times 8 ad spots generating $2,000 a month — an increase of 233%.

However, that doesn’t include the income from users buying Entrecredits or other advertising deals. In the beginning of the year, Entrecard had one stream of income, Project Wonderful; now, Langdon has moved from Project Wonderful towards private ad sales with other revenue streams including EntreCredit sales and what appears to be affiliate income. To date, Langdon failed to return comments regarding any revenue assumptions.

However, before there was Entrecard, there was College. Langdon attended the University of Connecticut for three years. Langdon dropped out his senior year in part because of the success of a different successful venture. Million Dollar Wiki was founded by Langdon and grossed nearly $100,000, after which, Langdon saved 30% for taxes and paid off his school loans of $30,000. The rest, $40,000 or so, was used to start Entrecard, and according to past interviews, every dime of that $40,000 has been spent on Entrecard. Even after spending every dime on Entrecard, Langdon found himself selling the wiki to further expand his next venture Entrecard according to past interviews.

Entrecard, an idea born from BlogRush describes the creation process behind Entrecard saying, “It was shortly after Blogrush launched. I watched in awe as the Alexa ranking for blogrush on launch day hit something like 400. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone was using it. And then I watched as everyone removed it, and it failed as quickly as it had launched. Then I analyzed how it succeeded.”

Even if Langdon can’t be credited with a completely unique idea, he can be credited with a massively successful idea. And building on this success Langdon hopes the future of Entrecard becoming a new media powerhouse. The road to a media powerhouse does require additional funding, and this founder has been in talks with several angel investors and venture capital firms. Langdon also failed to return comments on the details of talks with venture capital firms. And, to date, a deal has not been officially drafted according to the Entrecard blog. However, according to sources, a venture capital firm was initially investing $700,000 with future funding of $1 Million. Yet, these claims have not been verified by Business Leaps.

Another goal Langdon finds himself reaching towards is 50 million daily widget impressions on high-quality blogs. That goal depends largely on his what some call “erratic decisions.” Decisions, more recently, that have cost him some high-quality blogs he aims to retain. The near instant decision to ban a member came after a Twitter post named Graham Langdon an “asshat” from the blogger Turnip at TurnipofPower.com. Entrecard moved quickly to ban Turnip citing a zero tolerance policy towards “intentional uses of profanity or harassment or harassment directed at other Entrecarders or Entrecard Staff.”

However, one look at Graham Langdon’s personal blog, grahamlangdon.com. Readers might notice a blog category Langdon has named “buying shit.” And as far as harassment, other users are quick to note harassment might be too strong a word in describing the recent Entrecard controversy.

Controversy aside, Langdon exposes his humanity. Shortly after the banning incident, Langdon describes his shortcomings in a blog post, “I’m still a human. No, I have not matured as far as I possibly can yet. I know that I still have a lot of personal growth to achieve. And yes, sometimes I do act emotionally, [erratically], and in poor form. I am human.”  Yet, for a 23 year old, Langdon has made far more intelligent decisions than not.

What’s the motivation behind this 23 year-old entrepreneur? Langdon wouldn’t say specifically, but based on his last venture many would have to conclude money.  When asked about the inspiration behind the Million Dollar Wiki, Langdon described his need,  “to make money that didn’t require any upfront investment.” In  a way Langdon wanted the cash without an investment.

The underlying motivation behind Entrecard could be the same as the past venture. Money. Entrecard was listed on the Site Point auction site with a minimum bid of $100,000. However, to date Entrecard has had no serious bids, did not meet Langdon’s reserve price, and has been taken off the market. According to sources, the reason posted on Site Point was the venture capital firm pulled out of Entrecard.  Langdon explained on the auction, the funding consisted of “700k seed investment and a 2-5m follow on Series A investment in 6 months,” yet the “deal fell through in the 11th hour, right before the terms sheet, because they lost faith in my ability to execute,” said Langdon.

Regardless of the motive, regardless of the controversy surrounding Entrecard’s decisions, regardless of the possible decline of Entrecard in the future, Entrecard has still been an incredible story of innovation, bootstrapping, and viral marketing. All these factors are key to a successful entrepreneur, for this reason Graham Langdon has proved better than many others his creative innovation, his bootstrapping success, and his ability to spread the word about Entrecard earns him the name Entrepreneur of the Year.

For example, when you think of a brand, what is the first thing that comes to mind? If you are like many other individuals you would respond with a logo. A logo is a part of branding, but branding is also much more than just a logo. That is why, if you are preparing to start a new online business, you should familiarize yourself with popular branding strategies; it is a great way to make your business a successful one.

As previously mentioned, a logo is an important part of a brand. After all, it is the first thing that many people think of when they think of branding. There are many business owners who mistakenly believe that logos are only essential for storefront business locations.

The reality is that this couldn’t be further from the truth. If you are running an online business, whether that business sells a product or a service, you are advised to create a logo for yourself. When choosing a logo, it is important that you choose one that is unique and one that does not resemble another company’s logo, especially another company that is considered your competition. Since a logo is what your customers are most likely to remember about you, it is important that your logo be attractive and eye catching.

Since your business logo will likely play an important part in the success of your new online business, you will want to take the time to thoroughly examine all of your options. If you are creating your own business logo, it may be a good idea create numerous samples and then ask your business partners or those that you trust for their opinions. In fact, it may even be a good idea to seek assistance from a professional.

There are branding specialists that you can approach for ideas or even those who professionally create business logos. For a business logo that will leave a lasting impression on your customers, it is more than worth it to pay for the cost of a professional.

In addition to a logo, branding is also a way to describe how your customers feel about your business. For example, when speaking to those that they know, a customer is less likely to describe your company logo, but they are likely to discuss the type of service that you gave them or even the way that your website looked, appearance wise. That is why, if you are running an online business, it is important that your website be easy to navigate and professionally looking.

If you are selling a product or a service, you want your customers to return, as well as bring you new clients. You want to be known as the company that sell great products and has an easy to use website, not the company where is hard to find what you are looking for. Since the service that you provide your clients with, as well as the design of your website is important, they too can be considered branding strategies.

It is also important to point out that the domain name you choose for your online business website is also important. This branding strategy is almost as important as the logo that you will choose. When trying to get to your website, there are many internet users who will bookmark your site, but others will directly key in the address. That is why one of the most important branding strategies is choosing a domain name is that fits your business, but is short, memorable, and attractive, all at the same time.

As previously mentioned, you may want to think about seeking assistance, when it comes to developing a brand for your new online business. The above mentioned branding strategies are just a few of the many that exist. That is why if you are pressed for time or if you are unsure about how to proceed further, you may want to seek the assistance of a professional internet marketing firm, such as SmokeDog.net. What is nice about internet marketing firms, namely those that specialize in SEO content, is that they don’t just focus on branding, but also a number of other successful internet marketing techniques.

Want to improve search engine ranking? Visit our site for more search engine ranking information. Start your path to success today!

A child does not stop repeating bad behaviors and adopt new ones because her mother is disappointed in her. She stops because she quickly learns that there are repercussions for her actions. In sales training, an effective tool that is often downplayed is the idea of consequences. You can effectively communicate the sales training techniques, share this effectively communicated sales training softly or loudly, repeatedly in memos and meetings and trainings, but still not have the desired outcome.

The problem comes in when you don’t follow through. For example, you have spent a great deal of time encouraging them to learn the sales training techniques that you’ve designed because, ultimately, it will make their jobs easier and more fluid. However, learning these new techniques may be more difficult or time consuming than they may have thought and, for them, their job is not made easier with this new responsibility.

You may have communicated quite efficiently to your employees that you would suspend anyone who wasn’t implementing the new sales techniques by a certain date, but that date came and passed without suspensions despite the fact that many were still using the old ways. This may be due to an overwhelming work load or an inability to do the actually suspending, but whatever the reason, your lack of follow through communicates to your employees that you probably won’t follow through with these new sales training techniques either, so why bother?

Along with working out how you will communicate your new sales training, decide what consequences, or incentives, you will put into place. When an employee successfully learns and implements the new training, there should be a benefit or reward. When an employee does not learn the new training or does not put it to use, then, too, should there be a consequence.

These consequences should be very personal to your employee they should not be benefits or drawbacks for the company. For example, the benefit should be a monetary bonus for the individual employee instead of the airy concept that profits will soar for the company and that this will trickle down into raises for everyone. The drawback should be a suspension for the individual employee or a cut in hours rather than the general threat of bankruptcy for the company – or even the threat of layoffs in general. Just like sales to the customers, the way to sell your new sales training techniques to your employees is to make it personal.

Simply put, repetition or angry tirades do not back up effectively communicated sales training strategies. Instead, put your time and energy into creating and backing up consequences for jobs well done (or not done). Plan casual meetings during the a work day to get input on how things are going, to see if anyone has questions, concerns, or needs help. In this way, you will create an environment of trust and a foundation of follow through that will not only help you implement your current new sales training ideas but future ones as well.

Jeff Blackwell is the founder of SalesPractice.com a vibrant online Sales Training community that offers sales and marketing professionals free access to a comprehensive range of high quality sales training resources.

A magazine used this strategy to double sales in 15 months flat. Here’s what they did:

They took a database of 2200 advertisers and sent promo-pieces to them each month. After learning this strategy, they did an analysis and found that 167 of those 2200 advertisers bought 95% of the advertising in their competitor’s magazine.

This concept is called “The Dream 100 Sell,” a concept where you go after your “Dream” prospects with a vengeance. This magazine sent the 167 (best buyers) a letter every two weeks and called them four times per month.

Since these were the biggest buyers, the first four months of intensive marketing and selling brought no actual reward. In the fifth month, only ONE of these Dream clients bought advertising in the magazine.

In the sixth month, 28 of the 167 largest advertisers in the country came into the magazine all at once.

And since these are the biggest advertisers, they don’t take quarter pages and fractional ads, they take full pages and full color spreads. These 28 advertisers alone, were enough to double the sales over the previous year. The magazine went from number 15 in the industry to number one in just over a year.

Lesson learned: Market to your best buyers

Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, who are my best buyers? If you sell to the business-to-consumer market, chances are, your best buyers live in the best neighborhoods.If you are a dentist, accountant, chiropractor, R.E. Broker, financial advisor, restaurant, or even a MLM professional you should consistently go after the folks who live in the best neighborhoods.

They are the wealthiest buyers who have the money and the greatest sphere of influence. If you send them an offer every single month without fail, within a year, you’ll have a great reputation among the very wealthy.

If you sell to the business-to-business market, it’s usually fairly clear that your best buyers are the biggest companies. So what are you doing, every other week, no matter what, to let these companies know who you are?

There’s no one you can’t get to as long as you constantly market to them, especially after they say they’re not interested. People will not only begin to respect your perseverance, they will actually begin to feel obligated.

This doesn’t happen right away, but even the most hard-bitten and cynical executive or prospect begins to respect you when you refuse to give up. The publication I mentioned earlier went on to double sales two more years in a row. They consistently marketed to the best buyers and much more aggressively than they did to the rest of the buyers.

A company selling to manufacturer’s used this strategy to target the 100 biggest manufacturers in the country. For the first three months no one responded to any of the calling or phoning.

But after three months executives started saying: “I just have to meet you. I’ve never had anyone continue to call me so many times after I said no.” Within 6 months they had gotten in to see 54% of those they targeted.

The secret is to NEVER give up.

Just keep going after those companies again and again. Or if you sell to consumers, commit to sending a promotional piece every single month to those wealthy neighborhoods. Eventually, all the wealthy people in your area will know exactly who you are.

Now the question is: Who are your DREAM prospects and how committed are you to getting them as clients?

Money Curve

Following the money curve is more difficult than it appears. The first step is to learn how to budget. One of the most common business mistakes is spending money as it comes in and leaving nothing for major projects such as an advertising campaign, upgrading equipment, or starting a passive stream of income.

Cash management starts with the ability to budget money and prepare a cash flow projection. If this tool will tell a bank whether the business is a good credit risk, then it will tell the business owner how healthy the company is.

The second half of the strategy is the Cash Flow Statement. The projection lets the owner calculate what they need in the future. The statement tracks the money that goes out. The statement can be created based on the actual cash, including personal money, or it can be based solely on the business’s books.
Watch for Falling Sales

Never wait until the cash flow starts a downward trend. A healthy business should have a gradually upward curve. A level or wavy curve is a sign of trouble. An advertising campaign should be started at least six months before the cash flow starts a downward turn.

Another thing to measure is profit margin. Sales and profit margins are different and can be totally unrelated. Sales and Revenues are the money that comes into the business. Profits are the money left over after the expenses are withdrawn.

Two companies may earn $10 000. One earns $1000 profit, and the other earns $5000 profits. Calculate the profit margin. Create a ‘cut off’ rate. Anything below that level should be considered a ‘warning.’

Borrowing

Borrowing money to pay debts is a sure sign of trouble. This doesn’t mean that it is wrong to borrow. The amount borrowed should never climb above 20% of revenue. Any amounts above this should be considered a ‘warning’ and be corrected as soon as possible.

Another aspect of borrowing is to calculate the amount of money spent on interest in a year. The lower interest rates are important, but so is the term of the loan. Businesses should keep the term as short as possible.

Past Due Notices

This is the ultimate red flag or warning sign. It signals to the business owner that they have lost a grip on the business’s cash flow. No matter how much, or how little, a business has coming in, it is vital to ensure that the business is self sustaining.

Stealing from The Company

The company should be seen as a separate entity. Its cash belongs to it. A business needs to be nurtured. In the brick and mortar world, a business should be self-supportive for the first five years.

Traditionally, business owners never expected the business to support the family through this time. Internet businesses have a shorter span, but they still need to be nurtured.

Every time money is removed from the company the business owner should tack a ‘red flag’ to their cash flow charts. All revenue should be returned to the business until it is self sustaining with enough ‘cash in reserves’ to avoid at least on emergency, and support expansion.

How to Avoid Problems

Get Help: There are thousands of qualified professionals who freelance for a fraction of what a company would charge.

Be Truthful: Avoiding issues, brushing over problems, and lying to people who can help should all be considered warning signs. When you run into financial trouble, then head to the bank. They have a lot in stake and will help, even if the business owner hasn’t borrowed any money.

Save Money: Save money, even if it only means sticking $1 into a jar every week.

Cut Costs: There are some vital questions to ask before spending any money. Do I need it? Can I get it cheaper? Am I buying this because I ‘want’ it? How long can I do without? What problems will I encounter if I don’t buy this?’

Emergency Plan: This is a plan of action that you’ll use to help avoid problems.

There are several ways to use these tools. One business owner can keep a chart. Another one may put red pins on a cork board. Another will create a strategy plan to solve the problem. Whatever is used, it should be considered a vital part of business success.