And by “Hot Tips” I mean ones that will actually work. Want to know how?
- Have a real business. Online is only another channel to market (and a very good one!), but it’s not a silver bullet. Don’t believe anyone who says it is. There aren’t really any secrets — beware of the yellow highlighter crew.
- Work hard. You don’t have to have a unique or novel idea. Just do it better than your competition, and be relentless.
- Use social media properly — it’s SOCIAL — corporate language & marketing won’t work. Social media works when you give your customers and potential customers the chance to get to know you as a person.
- Network off-line, then connect your networks online. The power of online is in its potential to reach virtually anyone in the world, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Start with the people you know in real life, and they’ll do the social media part for you, filtering out the low value, the fly-by-nighters and the follower-collectors and leaving you with high quality prospective clients, customers, business partners and friends.
- Work on people — the right partners, employees and customers. Focus on the people who are passionate about being on the bus with you. Without them you can’t achieve much.
- Design your systems, and work them hard. How will you find customers, how will you get them to buy, how will you ship, how will you get paid? How can you multiply your effort? If you haven’t thought about how to do all those things, reliably, repeat-ably and with as little time and effort as possible, you’ll never get ahead. You won’t see the forest for the trees.
- Watch and try new technologies, but don’t be blinded by shiny toys and clever ideas for their own sake. Technology must complement your business, not the other way around. An extra 10% time or cost saving is enough to put you out in front. An ability to reach more prospects, or retain more customers through better communication or service is golden.
- Under-promise and over-deliver. Aim to delight your customers at every opportunity, and they will love you so much they’ll never leave you.
- Don’t sell to people who don’t need or can’t afford your product or service.
- Read, learn, experiment. Ask those who’ve gone before you for advice and help. Don’t wait for the right time or the right circumstances. For the first time in history, almost all information is freely available to everyone online — if you’re diligent and disciplined you can get started with very little or no money.
Post to comments with your own “golden rules”.
James, years ago I was interviewing for a job selling Apple computers. The lead sales person asked what I would say to a prospect who told me he used Windows (at the time Apple didn’t run Windows) and I started telling him how I’d convince the prospect Mac was better. He promptly thanked me for my time and told me I wasn’t going to get the job. When asked why, he explained what you basically said as point #9, don’t sell to people who don’t need or can’t afford your product or service. Great advice
Thanks Chris — that’s a perfect example of tip #9. I’m really compelled by an ethical, sustainable approach to business. I’ve had a few different sales jobs in the past as well, and I personally could never sell without being able to look people in the eye and know they’d still be happy with the purchase months or years down the track. In a similar vein, I just saw this great video from Yaro Starak, all about knowing your niche and your customers: http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/2998/the-truth-about-niche-selection/