Monthly Archives: April 2020

Consultant Marketing A Tasty Webinar Slice

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Have you noticed how often you are seeing offers to attend a webinar show up in your e-mail? Is the apparent increase because of sheltering in place? Has the world suddenly become more receptive to online offers? Why do they all seem the same?

There is a formula.

It seems like every webinar offered lately uses it. Here’s the way it works:

  1. There’s a reward if you stick around until the end.
  2. Why you should listen to this person
  3. The problem your product solves for me
  4. Some social proof like statistics that tell me you are an expert
  5. A roadmap to the things you’ll learn if you hang in there
  6. Stuff that lured you in the first place…but not all of it.
  7. The program you can buy plus bonuses (with a call to action)
  8. Wrap up the content you promised
  9. Surprise bonuses for a limited time (with a call to action)
  10. Q&A with emphasis on the main objection (with a call to action)
  11. Link to the reward promised
  12. How you’ll be transformed when you buy (with a call to action)
  13. Follow up afterwards if you didn’t buy during

That baker’s dozen was developed after studying this phenomenon and submitting to more product, service and program offerings than I care to count. That includes a couple webinars that were touted to “teach me the secret of a successful webinar.”

The secret.

A member in a mastermind put it this way, “Give them a whole lot of what and damn little how.”

But before you can do that you have to do some solid marketing work. Specifically:

  • Identify the ideal audience for what you want to sell. That means you know their key problem including the emotional pain it causes them and you understand how your offer solves their problem
  • Develop Content that converts. Find a way to help them see things in a different way. Give them “Aha” moments that naturally lead to deciding to take action now.
  • Create a “no-brainer” offer that is clearly valuable for the basic product but irresistible when the dollar amounts of bonuses are stacked up beside it and the clock is ticking.

Don’t stop when the webinar ends.

Number 13 up there was a last-minute add-on. It was grounded in the statistical information presented by organizations teaching this systematic approach. The facts:

If 100 people attend a webinar the max that buy is about 30%. If you follow up with all those that didn’t buy immediately you can get as many as 70% to purchase. People that registered did so because your offer looked interesting. They will appreciate the fact that you are still interested in them even though they didn’t order.

Why is it so prevalent?

It has simply become the go to shiny marketing object in the era of the Coronavirus. It was becoming more common before we started sheltering in place. Now it is more ubiquitous than ever. It has replaced selling onstage even though it follows a similar script. It is hard to know which is the adaption in some cases.

Webinars are the most direct of sales tools available on-line. Nothing else allows an entrepreneur to take her or his complete belief in a product or service out of the box and tell the world about it. No other approach can generate the income from a “tribe” as quickly. This online marketing template is focused on instant rewards.

The ROI is unsurpassed.

Do the math. I’ll make it easy. Let’s say 125 people register. 100 show up (20% drop-out is the usual). Out of those 100 attendees about 30% or 30 people buy. Afterwards you maintain contact with the 70% of people that didn’t buy while you were “on the air.” About 50 of them buy (I rounded).

If your offer was priced at $100 you generated sales of $3000 while you were “on the air.” Roughly ten days later (Follow-up sales go off a cliff after 10 days) you can rack up another 50 sales of $5000. That’s $8000 for one webinar. What could you generate with your product or service in a one-hour webinar?

But it is only the beginning.

Now that someone has voluntarily joined your tribe they are significantly more prone to look into other offers you might make. Even if the initial purchase did not get used (this happens at a rate north of 65%) they still associate your name with products and services that can be trusted and frequently will buy additional products from you particularly those priced higher than their initial purchase.

Would a new template work as well?

I don’t know.

But I’m going to find out.

I figure there are a lot of consultants out there that don’t have time to register and attend a webinar on someone else’s schedule that lasts anywhere from an hour to half a day. I’m going to investigate these variables:

  • Webinar length
  • Time of delivery by time zone
  • Alternate templates (the current one can be done in as little as 3 minutes!)
  • Live versus recorded versus recorded with live kicker
  • Charging versus free for the webinar.

Why test?

I’m up to here with the old template. It has robbed me of countless hours when I could have been doing something profitable both short and long term. It has generated damn few really useable bits of information. True, I’ve found a couple resources that have provided products that work and continuing content that is useful. But overall I’m looking for folks that are not going to waste my time. I may be wrong, but I believe there are a lot of consultants out there that feel the same way. I’ll find out.

And so it goes.

Jerry Fletcher is a sought-after International Speaker, a beBee ambassador, founder and CEO of Z-axis Marketing, Inc.

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for on and off-line Trust-based Consultant Marketing advice that builds businesses, brands and lives of joy.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Consultant Marketing Elephant in the Room

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When there’s an elephant in the room, you can’t pretend it isn’t there. My clients and others in the consulting community finally “got that” this week. You may have noticed.

There has been a marked increase in the number of webinars being promoted. One passed through my email that had pricing of $98 for one major speaker $980 for both major speakers and streaming of the whole event and $9880 to be allowed to Q&A with the principal speakers. I have never seen a pricing structure like that for a webinar. I checked with a friend who literally wrote the book about online presentations. He said, “I’ve seen pricing that high and that low but never with that kind of spread for the same event. Of course, the elephant in the room is causing more people to move their events online than ever. We’re going to see even more weirdness”

More weirdness.

Three times this week I’ve done impromptu workshops with a client to give them tips on how to use Zoom without giving a bad impression. Here are the highlights:

  1. Get dressed. You may be comfortable in those sweats but would you wear them to an in-person meeting? Really? Dress to impress. No, you don’t have to suit up, but you should be in unwrinkled business casual at least. Let your clothes say a little about you. Creative? Wear something zingy. All business? Go with a pressed button down collar.
  2. Hair and makeup please. Okay, you guys can skip the makeup but comb your hair and shave. Before this lockdown is over there are going to be a lot of guys with ponytails. I’m already having trouble finding my ears. Women, do not think the camera on your computer is forgiving. It isn’t. Apply the paint, you’re going hunting after all.
  3. Come into the light. Before you opt into the meeting or request an instant meeting, turn on the camera on your computer and look at your face. One of my clients self-described his look as a “sickly cadaver” Turns out his wife’s grow lights for the plants in his office were on! It is good to be lit from the front with natural light say by a window.
  4. Look behind you. Clients who have visited my office know about the stacks of books and boxes of client products. They would think it strange if I appeared and they weren’t there. Dirty dishes in the background is not good. A stack of toys visible over our shoulder is not good. I’m just as averse to background screens. Let me see your home office. After all, most of us are adlibbing here.
  5. Step away from the computer. Too many of us are used to moving forward to convey our sincerity and interest. It doesn’t work when you are using something like Zoom or Skype. Back up. When you move closer to your computer we lose sight of your hands and suddenly it is like you’re  being muted visually. We are so oriented to body language that when we can’t see the hands of the speaker we feel disconnected. You can see yourself on the screen. Make sure your hands are visible.
  6. Have a live video signal. My Virtual Assistant and I regularly use the video chat capabilities of Microsoft Teams. Her husband who is on lockdown was cooking in the kitchen and leaned in to ask if she wanted tea. It’s hot there. All he was wearing was shorts. Startling when you are deep into a database discussion. The point here is that we are all coping with an unusual circumstance. Let your family know when you are live on video. Develop a visual warning sort of like the red “On Air” lights in radio and TV studios.
  7. Bring it! Stop worrying about what you look like and think more about what you have to say. Before the call, make notes about what you want to cover. If that is complex and you want to say things perfectly, put the information in a word document and put it up on your screen for a sort of homemade teleprompter. (Just don’t inadvertently share your screen!) If you are going to be asking questions figure them out before you enter the meeting and don’t be hesitant to record the session if you’re uncomfortable taking notes.
  8. Know how to use the technology. Take the time to watch the video tutorials and then telephone a friend to actually have a meeting. It is easier to make all the mistakes when the person on the other end knows it is a practice call. Be sure to return the favor.
  9. Take a coffee and body break before. Take it from a professional speaker—you don’t want to step on stage without having relieved yourself. A video meeting is just like stepping on stage. (you don’t want to ask to be excused leaving your fellow caller with “dead air.”  I don’t drink coffee on stage but I like to have my morning cup with me if I’m on a call. And I always have a glass of water handy to  quell those frogs that invade my throat. You can be quite comfortable sipping as you pause to make a point or while the other person is talking.
  10. Play to the camera. When someone is talking you inherently want to look at them. That’s okay. But when you are talking look at the camera. It’s that bright white dot centered above your computer screen. That way people will feel you are looking directly at them. In the “real world” we call it eye contact. It is the fastest way to generate feelings of trust.
  11. Get there early and Network. A video group meeting is no different than one in-person in the days before social distancing. Wave. Say Hello. Put on a happy face. Share some non-threatening observations. Small talk is okay until the meeting is called to order. Want to meet privately with someone in the group later? Be up front about it during the networking. Don’t do it while “in session” though, that generates negative feelings unless it is at the behest of the group or group leader.
  12. Say thank you. In one to one meetings a hand-written thank you note has proven to be one of the most powerful branding devices I’ve ever seen. An e-mail thank you to attendees is, in these times, nearly as powerful. This is particularly true if you met one-on-one with a prospect or client.

Zoom and Skype and other kinds of video calls have replaced face-to-face meetings for the moment. It is truly the elephant in the room but not one to be afraid of. Acknowledge it and have fun learning to ride it.

Sorry, I’ve got to run. I have a video meeting coming up and I have some files I’m going to want to share and I need to refill my coffee and comb this unruly mop. Barbers are going to be really busy once the all clear sounds!

And so it goes

Jerry Fletcher is a sought-after International Speaker, a beBee ambassador, founder and CEO of Z-axis Marketing, Inc.

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for on and off-line Trust-based Consultant Marketing advice that builds businesses, brands and lives of joy.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Consultant Marketing Capitalizing Now

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”He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one Mojo filter
He say one and one and one is three
Got to be good looking
‘Cause he’s so hard to see
Come together right now
Over me”

I awoke to those Beatle Lyrics on a rinse and repeat cycle between my ears.

I let it thrash on for a while and then tried to logic it.

The best I could do was assume it was about where Consultant Marketing was headed as a result of this damn virus.

He roller coaster

That must be a reference to the way most Consultants market their services. You know that clicking sound as the roller coaster is lugged up to the top of the first hill…Market, Market, Market. Then you tip over the top…Do the work, Do the work, Do the work.

That’s when you begin to think about finding a better way, a way to have business in the pipeline.

He got early warning

Wouldn’t that be loverly! Knowing, in advance where the work might be coming from and what it might entail is the dream of every independent professional. All of us yearn for that full-tilt referral-based practice that somehow gives us visibility of what is in store for us next week and next month. That would be nice to have but how do we get it?

He got muddy water

It was tough enough before but now with this Coronavirus lockdown we don’t even know when we can see someone in person. Audio and video conferencing just isn’t the same. Senses are blunted. Body language is not as easy to see and interpret. I almost believe that pheromones have some sort of role in the traditional face-to-face! The roiled surface caused by social distancing keeps us from getting information with any depth.

He one mojo filter

  • We must capitalize on the hesitance of the competition. Me, I hired a Virtual Assistant.
  • We gotta put what we have to better use. I’ve had Office 365 since a client recommended it. I’d never used the Teams capability in it. Now, my VA who is resident in the Philippines and I share files, chat, phone and video as if we were just cubicles apart. It took just 10 minutes to set up.

  • We have to start substituting. We find apps we didn’t know existed before. And we link them into our operational software. We do video testimonials using Zoom or Teams to record and Camtasia to edit. We get the job done by adapting our methods to meet familiar objectives.

He say one and one and one is three

It does all add up if you take advantage of both intuition and logic. That ain’t easy. You have to work at it. The elite consultants I work with have that skill. They find the fundamental differences that lie behind the figures. They explore form and fit and focus to determine how your business can find hidden profit. They listen to what you say and what you do to reveal better ways. Often the solutions they find are to problems that may not have surfaced for you.

Got to be good looking ‘cause he’s so hard to see.

In a way that is what my mission is all about. Consultants must have a brand that is not widely known but is fascinating to the prospects that need their help. You have 3 seconds in person or online to get to Memorable, 10 seconds to get to Trust. That ability to be both logical and intuitive at once is what will make you Unforgettable. Doing your job well will not make you visible to the general public. But do it often enough and well enough to generate a lasting legacy within that group of people and organizations that need your help and you will become Legendary.

My job is to help you craft unique trust-based marketing strategies to connect, become Memorable, deliver in an Unforgettable way and develop the mindset to become Legendary as you build a business, a brand and a life of joy.

Come together right now, over me

What that all comes down to is that within a week we will send out invitations to participate in: The 17th Annual Consultant Marketing Survey.

We will ask you to tell us how you marketed your practice last year, what you’re doing now and how you anticipate going forward after we stop sheltering in place. We will, of course, send participants the report before we release it elsewhere.

And so it goes

Jerry Fletcher is a sought-after International Speaker, a beBee ambassador, founder and CEO of Z-axis Marketing, Inc.

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for crafting on and off-line Trust-based Consultant Marketing that builds businesses, brands and lives of joy.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com