The “Green Sheet” Method of Getting Sales Leads
- WEALTHY: What’s your "Hurdle Rate"? (Charles Delvalle)
- HEALTHY: Beer bellies, beware (Jon Herring)
- WISE: Morris Hite on salesmanship
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- How to "capture" 80% of your audience (Bob Bly)
- Michael Masterson vs. The New York Times (Michael Masterson)
- Add "tyro" to your vocabulary
He’d Have Called Them Crazy - Or Worse!
With the Internet, it’s now possible to spend no more than a few dollars, write a couple of very basic ads, and have instant access to millions of potential customers all in a matter of minutes.
If anyone had told Jim Sheridan he could bank thousands in just 24 hours. . . without any product of his own. . . without spending a penny on getting it or promoting it, he’d have justifiably said they were nuts.
But Jim made a decision that he would overcome his skeptical nature and give it a go. Boy, is he glad he did! That one deal alone banked him $187,296 in one day.
The great news is - you can copy Jim’s plan exactly. The program is called Instant Internet Income and I guarantee it does exactly what it says it does.
Take a look at how Jim brought in over $187,000 in a single day!
- Patrick Coffey
How Much Do You Expect to Make on That Stock?
By Charles Delvalle
Before you invest in a stock, make sure you know the minimum return you expect from it. This is called setting a Hurdle Rate. And by setting a proper Hurdle Rate, you can avoid getting into investments that might put your portfolio at risk.
Your Hurdle Rate will vary depending on your personal comfort level and the amount you’re investing.
For instance, if I’m going to invest $500 in a stock, my Hurdle Rate would be for it to bring me a minimum 20 to 30 percent return. If a 10 percent return (which, after commissions, turns into a 5 percent return) is more likely, I won’t invest in that stock. The small potential reward is not worth it to me.
But if I’m going to invest $10,000 into that stock, I’d be happy with a 10 to 20 percent return. (Of course, in this case, I’d implement a tighter stop-loss point to protect myself if the investment starts to drop.)
To determine your Hurdle Rate, go with your comfort level when investing various amounts of money. You’ll know your Hurdle Rate is working when you find yourself only looking for really strong investment opportunities and trading less often - which is what you should be doing anyway.
[Ed Note: Charles Delvalle is a regular contributor to INCOME, ETR’s new investment service. INCOME provides a slew of high-dividend-paying companies, with the goal of providing you with a total return (dividends plus capital gains) of at least 14 percent per year.]
"Advertising is salesmanship mass produced. No one would bother to use advertising if he could talk to all his prospects face-to-face."
Morris Hite
The "Green Sheet" Method of Getting Sales Leads
By Bob Bly
Lots of people agree (reluctantly) to give talks to promote their businesses. They do it because they believe it helps build their "image." But imagine giving a talk to a crowded room of potential customers … and turning most of them into sales leads before you leave!
Even better than an image boost, right?
Yet most marketers don’t know how to "work" a speaking opportunity properly to maximize the number of leads and, ultimately, sales generated from their presentation.
The last time you gave a speech to a room of 50 to 100 people, how many approached you when you were done and gave you their business cards? Only a handful, right?
But with the "green sheet" method, you can increase your "capture rate" of attendee names and addresses (that you can mail follow-up promotional material to) to 80 percent or higher.
Here’s how it works …
Before your talk, create a one-page document with some tips, resources, or other valuable content. Print one copy on your laser printer on green offset stock. Bring this one copy only - not multiple copies -to the meeting.
Around the middle of your talk, after making an important point, say something like: "If you’d like more information on this, I have a free tip sheet/resource guide that I can send you." Hold up the green sheet and continue: "If you want a free copy, just write ‘GS’ for ‘green sheet’ on your business card, and hand it to me after the presentation."
When you do this, the audience will swarm the podium after you finish speaking, eagerly shoving their business cards at you to get their freebie. In return, you will capture their names and addresses.
If your talk is accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, you can use a variation of the green sheet method. Tell attendees they can get a free copy of your PowerPoint e-mailed to them. All they have to do is write "PP" for PowerPoint on their business card and hand it to you.
At some events, the conference sponsor gives attendees a big binder with copies of the PowerPoint presentations already in it. But the reproductions usually have multiple slides per page to save paper, and those smaller slides are difficult to read.
You can then tell attendees, "My PowerPoint is in your conference book, but some of the slides may be hard to read. If you want me to e-mail an electronic copy of the PowerPoint to you, just give me your business card."
My colleague, Internet marketing expert Fred Gleeck, likes to automate the process. Instead of collecting business cards and sending out the material, he tells attendees to go to a Web page where they can download it. To download the freebie, the visitor has to give you his name and e-mail address - which you capture and add to your e-list.
Of the above variations, my favorite method of capturing leads from speaking engagements remains the "green sheet" method - for a few reasons.
First, it’s proactive. You promise to do the work of sending them the freebie they requested. You don’t sit around and hope they’ll call you or visit your website to get it.
Second, it has the highest capture rate. You get 80 percent or more of the audience giving you their contact information vs. only 20 percent or less who will go to your website after the conference to download the material.
Third, you get all their contact information - including e-mail and snail mail addresses - because you are getting their business card.
Fourth, as audience members hand their business cards to you, a percentage will express interest in not just getting the green sheet, but in exploring the possibility of hiring you or buying your product. Jot a brief note about their needs and requests on the back of the business card they hand you, and follow up the next day when you get back to the office.
When you put these name-capture techniques into practice, you will double or triple your seminar leads. You can also use them to get more high quality leads from any workshops you run.
As Fred Gleeck points out, the quality of a sales lead is proportional to the proximity of the prospect. When you get a click on your site from an Internet user in Hong Kong, the likelihood of doing business with him is slim. But if you get a phone call from a postcard mailing you did to prospects in your town, the lead quality - and likelihood of closing a sale - go up, because the prospect is much closer to you.
At a seminar or speech or workshop, the prospect is as close to you as he can get - literally in the same room. And so lead quality … and the chances of a sale … are at their highest.
But to close those leads, you have to first get them. You do that by asking for them proactively - using the "green sheet" method.
[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a popular Early to Rise columnist, self-made multi-millionaire, and the author of more than 60 books. He is also the editor of ETR’s Direct Marketing Masters Edition - a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail business.]
I stumbled my way into a limitless source of cash - that was virtually un-tapped!
“Your methods helped me raise 240k within 24 hours! Boy- was I SHOCKED I could do it. Thanks Alan - for jump starting my battery! Being in the Real estate business for sometime, I was throwing away 5-10 deals a week because of lack of funds!”
- Esther Headley, Lonewood , FL
Find out more about this “investor friendly” limitless source of cash, and how you can get your hands on $100,000 or more in the next 30 days.
The Connection Between Belly Fat and Heart Disease
By Jon Herring
I was running on the beach yesterday when I saw a man with a body type I’m sure you’re familiar with. From behind, his weight appeared normal. His legs and arms were thin, and he hardly even had "love handles." But as I ran past, I saw that his belly stuck way out. It looked as if he had swallowed a beach ball.
My intention here is not to make fun of him, but to illustrate a serious health risk. Numerous studies show that the more your belly sticks out, the greater your risk of developing heart disease. In fact, how much fat you have in your abdomen is more important than how fat you are overall.
Researchers at Kaiser Permanente of Northern California measured the abdominal diameter (the distance from the back to the upper abdomen, midway between the top of the pelvis and the bottom of the ribs) of 101,765 men and women. They then followed the subjects for about 12 years.
Results of the study indicated that the men with the largest abdominal diameters were 42 percent more likely to develop heart disease as compared to those with the smallest. The increased risk for women with the largest diameters was 44 percent. The researchers noted an increase in risk even when these subjects were of normal weight.
The message is this: If you tend to carry excessive weight in your belly, you should be aware that this indicates an increased risk of heart disease. That means you should be extra careful to avoid sweets and high-glycemic carbohydrates. Consume plenty of omega-3 fatty acids (in naturally raised meats, fish, and fish oil) while staying away from foods that are high in omega-6 fatty acids (fried foods, vegetable oils). And engage in high-intensity exercise at least several times per week.
Notes From Michael Masterson’s Blog: On Being a Small Fry in the Info-Publishing World
I read The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times almost every day. Lots of the news articles are written by tyros who don’t understand the subjects on which they are reporting (which is especially obvious to me when they report on business). But most of the regular feature writers and essayists are remarkably good.
Those writers are the lucky few.
Among tens of thousands of would-be writers, they have made it to the top. They are getting paid to write for a wide, receptive audience. However incompetent they were when they were starting out, they have mastered their craft - and the quality of their skill is apparent almost every time they appear in print.
I sometimes wonder how my writing would stack up against theirs. When I think about it, I realize that I am sometimes competing with them (when I cover the same topics in ETR).
The WSJ and the NYT have an advantage over me, with more money to spend on editorial and a bigger, broader reputation. But, as my own publisher, I have an advantage over them. Because of e-mail, I can be in constant contact with my readers and thus develop a more personal and more rewarding (for both of us, I hope) relationship.
And as lucky as their top writers are, I am, in fact, luckier. Not only because I have an audience that I can contact, but also (again because of e-mail) because I can write to them just about whenever I want. I scratch out an idea, send it to my editor, she cleans it up … and the next thing I know, it’s published. I get immediate feedback from my readers too - via e-mail - that lets me know when I’ve done a good job.
- Michael Masterson
Reader Feedback: "Thank you all for the marvelous work."
"I truly appreciate the information that you make available to your readers every day. I have gained an incredible amount from daily reading of ETR, both from the topical essays and regular sections … especially ‘Word to the Wise.’
"Thank you all for the marvelous work that you do."
Mark Grogan
Thornlie, Perth, Western Australia
This “razor thin” device is changing the way the world does business…
…Chances are you’re using it right now and you don’t even know it!
Time magazine says it’s: "fueling a quiet business revolution that promises to speed up inventory and payment systems – and change our lives."
In fact, Wal-Mart’s profits have increased so drastically as a result of this technology they’re teaming up with a small-unknown company to streamline their entire operation.
Wal-Mart’s secret new partner is ready to make early investors millionaires- here’s how you can turn $6,000 into $223,680 within the next few months…
Word to the Wise: Tyro
A "tyro" (TIE-roh) - from the Latin for "young soldier/recruit" - is a novice, a beginner in learning something.
Example (as used by Michael Masterson today): "Lots of the news articles are written by tyros who don’t understand the subjects on which they are reporting."
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007