The ultimate monopoly in the world of media is, risibly enough and still perfectly true, available to ninety-nine percent of the population, and is, with only a few identified exceptions, tapped into by anyone on earth. It is so ridiculously simple that even you, the skeptic, in the next few minutes will be impelled and then intellectually compelled to agree that there IS a top-notch method of generating business by monopolizing two sides of the same equation. Sounds sophisticated while working with exquisitely powerful simplicity. The two largest features of sales, the most basic, ignoring EVERYTHING else, are: getting large numbers of people to buy, and that most delicious of business delights, high number of repeat customers and clients. In order to generate large numbers of clients, ignore everything else and focus with care and repetition on the most basic fact: in order to get large numbers of people to buy a service or product, large numbers of people must know about the product. For most of you, that fact is accepted as fact, and moved past. That's why most of you fit into the eighty percent portion of Pareto's eighty-twenty rule; you're moving past the basics, and showing that you're intelligent enough to recognize that large numbers of people must know of your product in order for you to sell them large numbers of your product or service (repeatedly, of course). Showing that you're intelligent enough to see the connection does not mean you're using that informatiobn intelligently. Since it is a basic, and we all know to "stick to the basics," along the lines of the proverbial KISS of success, an acronuym for Keeping It Simple Stpid -- or if you prefer, Keept It Short and Sweet -- and still we insist on graduating beyond those basics to get more sophisticated. Never mind getting more sophisticated; get more sophisticated with the tools you already possess or have access to. Most people get their information from three sources: news, advertising, and other people. Just as the third of this trilogy is, despite its simplicity, the most powerful AND the cheapest form of advertising, so too is the internet providing a massive fast-track. By writing more and more news artciles, versus mere press releases, which are admittedly good yet too ad-centric, you widen the base of people likely to encounter the information. Writing it in a lively way that specifically engages the reader to sit up and take notice adds to the cachet of whatever is being proferred. For example, I was so impressed by one handheld lie detectors model I tried, I decided to sell it. So, first the decision was made to write several articles about this immensely powerful little tool. Marking the price up appropriately, the articles generated interested, and instead of selling zillions one at a time, was able to make a single whopping sale to...? .... you got it, someone who'd read one of the articles. It will be interesting to see how many corporate mavericks and superstars sit up and realize that they need only hire a dozen people to write articles and then pay these people to work their butts off to get published. The result is gratifying and proportionate to the effort invested. It's mathematical, and it's all basic. Take what you know, tell people about it, and then sell it, covering two of the three most vital basics of selling. The third of the triumvirate will show up automatically as long as you're providing good value; people like to brag about wonderful acquisitions and great deals. It's that simple. |
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