My Copyblogger Debut-Land More Customers
Last week a blog post that I wrote was published on Copyblogger, one of the top 5 internet marketing blogs in the world. It was very well received and within a week had over 400 people share the post on twitter, over 80 people share it on Facebook and 40+ comments.
I just realized that I didn’t even share this post with my loyal readers….That is unless you follow me on twitter. If you don’t…shame on you! lol
Anyway I thought that I would share the post here on my blog as well…Feel free to leave your comments. Also in case you’d like to see it, the original post on copyblogger can be found here. Enjoy!
10 Surefire Ways to Land More Customers
by David Brim
So many people all around the world have great ideas, products and services. And yet some businesses do well, and some fail.
What separates the businesses that starve from the businesses who feast?
For the answer, we turn to another way people have been setting their feast table for hundreds of years: fishing.
Landing a fish, just like landing a customer, requires strategy and know-how if you’re going to come home successful.
Here are my top 10 ways to land the catch of the day.
1. Know what you’re after
In fishing, you always use the best bait possible for the particular type of fish you’re after.
So many times clients come to me and say, “I don’t have a target market”. They’re always wrong.
At a minimum, you should understand:
- The problems your customers have
- Their buying habits
- Their potential objections to your product
- Where they go to find information
- What influences them (their heroes and idols, TV shows they watch, websites they enjoy, magazines they read, etc.)
- What their core demographics and psychographics are
Even if your product “appeals to everyone,” typically 20% of your audience will generate 80% of your revenue. Your job is to figure out who those 20% are, so you can find the kind of bait that appeals most to those customers.
Bait that works for trout won’t necessarily let you land a great white shark.
2. Know where to fish for your customers
Determining the right fishing location can be the difference between a successful fishing trip and going hungry.
Knowing the places where your customers hang out online gives you a much greater chance for marketing success. Figure out which sites your customers frequent and you’ll have a much better chance of reeling one in. Try seeking out:
- Blogs they read
- Forums they participate in
- Social networking sites and other membership groups
- Entertainment or other non-work related sites
You don’t want to use a top water lure if the fish you want are feeding on the bottom.
3. Be aware of your competition
All fishermen guard their secrets closely, but newcomers can still pick up plenty of tricks by watching what their competition does.
I’m not saying it’s smart to copy your competitor exactly. “Me-too” marketing doesn’t work.
But learn from them and get a feeling for the overall marketplace you’re in. Incorporate those insights into your own marketing and content strategy.
By analyzing your competitors you can also figure out how you can position your brand to stand out from the crowd.
4. Use good bait
When you’re hoping to catch a fish standing side by side with a row of other fishermen, you have to make sure your bait is the most appealing fish food dangling the water. Otherwise, that fish is liable to go for one of your neighbor’s hooks instead.
Consumers have lots of options and offers dangling in front of them in any marketplace. You’ve got to have some pretty juicy bait to stand out from that crowd.
So what makes good customer bait?
- Magnetic headlines
- Compelling images
- Content that’s valuable in its own right
- An attractive niche that makes your customer feel “this is for people like me”
- Easy-to-swallow landing pages
5. Setting the hook
Just because a fish bites doesn’t mean you can reel it in. Many a marketer has a woeful tale about the big one that got away.
Once a customer is interested and bites by clicking through to your sales page, you have to set the hook by making an offer that’s so great it’s practically unfair.
6. Forget catch and release
Remember, it’s a lot easier and more profitable to re-sell an existing customer than acquire a new one.
So if you land a big fish, keep it! Don’t throw it back for someone else to catch.
Re-marketing, high-quality affiliate offers, and up-sells are great for keeping the customers that you currently have, instead of letting them drift back into the stream for some other savvy marketer to reel in.
7. Test the waters
Fishermen often track different variables, like what time of day they went fishing or what bait they used. They measure their results over time to figure out the smartest way to get certain fish.
Similarly, in marketing it’s always wise to test various aspects of your marketing campaign. Measure your results to see what works best, and track your results over time.
Try different images, headlines, or layouts to see which one maximizes time spent on your site, lowers bounce rate, and produces the best ROI.
8. Don’t get discouraged
Some days the fish just aren’t biting.
Sometimes you are not going to be as successful as you’d like, but it’s a process. Continue to educate yourself about business and marketing, keep analyzing your competitors, keep talking to your customers and refining your message.
Keep going and don’t get discouraged. Tomorrow’s the day you’ll get the big one.
9. Partner up to get a bigger catch
Fishing with a buddy helps you to both cover more water and come home with a bigger catch than usual.
If you’re hoping to land more customers than you’ve ever reeled in on your own, find a partner. By knowing your own skill set, you’ll be able to effectively select partners that complement your skills. This strategy can also help you get bigger customers than you could have handled on your own.
10. Enjoy the trip
It’s definitely a lot more fun to catch the big one than to see it get away, but no matter what happens, remember to enjoy yourself.
Entrepreneurship is a lot like fishing. Even when it’s not going as well as we’d like, it’s still a privilege to be able to spend our days doing it.
About the Author: David Brim is the founder and CEO of Brand Advance, an interactive agency that provides marketing consulting, web design, and marketing staffing to emerging companies. David is also the founder of GroupTable, collaborative software to increase group productivity. David blogs at Filled to the Brim, and can be found on twitter @davidbrim.
It’s true that quite often the blog entries that you’re most proud of – the ones that you poured the most effort into or are especially meaningful to you – are the very ones that go largely unnoticed. No comments. No emails. No love.
I am very interested in becoming a tech writer in Taiwan. What do I need to do to have a good chance at landing a position? I am signed up for a tech writing course this summer.
Hi very nice sharing all is looking very great all is share again by again i love very much this post thanks for great sharing.
Great post and Congrats on all the great exposure it has gotten. I love how you used fishing as an analogy.
All fishermen guard their secrets closely, but newcomers can still pick up plenty of tricks by watching what their competition does.
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It’s time for you to actually move to canada so that the rest of us no longer will be forced to listen to liberals’ incessant, whining, empty threats.
This is a very informative post. I learn a lot from you. Thanks for sharing.
David
Congrats on the article submission to copyblogger.com. That a nice amount of traffic and exposure for your site.
Great article as well…my first time on the site and I think I’ll take some time to read a few posts.
Cheers
Phil
Decent post buddy. All your tips are really nice. I will definitely share your nice post to all my friends. Keep updating like that, awaiting for next one.
@Bubba Moe…I hear you about the best posts going unnoticed. It’s like having an awesome shop with a great product on a back alley with no exposure. Building up your personal brand and connecting with people in your industry will help generate exposure and engagement on your posts.
@sell used textbooks- glad you like the fishing analogy. I thought it was very appropriate.
@epreneur I’m glad that you enjoyed the article. It was a nice bump in traffic. I found it surprising that copyblogger now ranks fourth for my name on google. Thanks for stopping by.
@newbury Park Real Estate thanks for sharing the post with your friends. It’s greatly appreciated.
thanks for stopping by and commenting guys
Even if you’re not a fishing enthusiast, this post is great. For those of us who’ve spent many frustrating days whipping the water, it’s especially meaningful.
I believed, was a spectator sport for me. I imagined the process as long, tedious, and certainly not something I was capable of. I pictured the lone man.
I see it in myself and am tweaking my focus to spend less time in freelance writing forums and more time in the forums where non-writers hang out. I need people who don’t compete with me to buy my services.
It actually offends me how difficult it is to build a Twitter audience by using Twitter. Ridiculous.
Fantastic insight and thoughtful musings. Great post and Congrats on all the great exposure it has gotten. I love how you used fishing as an analogy.
There is one great online service, which provides an easy integration of customer feedback form and feedback analytics to websites.
It has been great for me and most the members of our group see a significant improvement in business. We did have a landscape person who eventually had to stop coming because he was too busy!!
Awesome article post. I enjoyed reading this post a lot. I know that I need to find a way to convert my visitor into buyers. Reading this article gave me an idea on how to retarget them. Thanks a lot.
Fully agree with your post here. I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up. Keep blogging. Looking to reading your next post.
I also like the design, and look for to Pearson’s release of a tweakable of your previous design. Using his Cutline right now.
I think that is behind part of the “launch fatigue” many have experienced in the last few weeks.
Early in my consulting career, the late Marvin Bower, one of the early pioneers and legends in management consulting, shared a story that inspired me….:)
I have utmost respect for the car and especially the engineers who worked on it. We will never see anything so refined and capable ever again. This is a car which has to last for 10-20yrs and still be able to do top speed on demand. Good job, really good job.
Thanks for sharing the info with us..
jacob Lee
Wow! really a great thought David on this nice sharing…
We’re not sure exactly how the lingerie-clad models of Maxim are safe for work but we’re willing to go with Playboy on this one.
This is an incredible resource. Looking forward to finding out more about what’s inside the Third Tribe.
I guess you should have the indoctrinate list of thing to be added/removed/replaced to/from/in the successive rom (rooted 1.6 or following ones). you am starting by adding the following to the list: 1- Dialer: The tide BH2 dialer is unequivocally behind as good as bad as good as inefficient. you used the Galaxy dialer as good
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I admire those writers who share the best of their knowledge in writing such articles. Keep up the good work and continue inspiring readers.Thank you so much.
It offends me how difficult it is to build a Twitter audience by using Twitter.
I’m hoping all the best for EA games team to be successful in building a new simulation.its true that theres a lot of competitor around the world now. but EA should know that YOU guys were the original LEADING Game meaning you guys can still beat the competitors in time. you know what to do.
Your blog may be stimulating flaws on my IE 7 cell phone browser.
Hey many congratulations for getting your post published on such a famous blog. Oh i so wish i could do that too 🙁
It’s too bad that this game started taking, taking, taking from the players, but wasn’t adding much.
You moron! What have you done?” I expected to pull up FeedBurner and see my subscriber count having dropped to zero. That’s what you get when you expose your innermost weaknesses, right.
A large amount of my self-worth as a blogger is defined not by my traffic, or readership, or income, or buzz. It’s defined by the relatively meaningless number below.
@Steve can you elaborate on your point a bit auto
I have a stay at home business, that hasn’t been going anywhere. I do telecommunications: land line, cell phone (all major providers), digital phone, video phone , internet: dsl and dial-up, and direct tv service.
I am truly here to help, you need to check comments right here. Come on.
I’m plainly right here to help, you’ll need to moderate reviews right here. Extremely.
I know that I need to find a way to convert my visitor into buyers. Reading this article gave me an idea on how to retarget them. thanks..
Amazing post thanks..
you am starting by adding the following to the list: 1- Dialer: The tide BH2 dialer is unequivocally behind as good as bad as good as inefficient. you used the Galaxy dialer as good.thanks..
That a nice amount of traffic and exposure for your site.
What u can incorporate as the 11th point is Mystery Marketing
My long term goal is to become an authority figure / have an authority blog in the pro blogging / IM niche and it was reassuring that the stuff Brian talked about I am doing to some extent.
The ones that you poured the most effort into or are especially meaningful to you – are the very ones that go largely unnoticed. No comments. No emails. No love.
This is great info for landing more customers, a good tip which I agree with is never give up, no matter how bad it looks. Always keep on and you will get more customers eventually.
It was a nice bump in traffic. I found it surprising that copyblogger now ranks fourth for my name on google.thanks..
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money; the ability to create matchless income with affiliate marketing can not onl…
Hi congratulations Davidbrim your blog have all collection is very useful all is share again by again i love this blog very much.
A fish standing side by side with a row of other fishermen, you have to make sure your bait is the most appealing fish food dangling the water. Otherwise, that fish is liable to go for one of your neighbor’s hooks instead.
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I am very glad to great this healthful article with have a great platform of nice thought.
I also like the design, and look for to Pearson’s release of a tweakable of your previous design. Using his Cutline right now. 😉
The ones that you poured the most effort into or are especially meaningful to you – are the very ones that go largely unnoticed. 😉
Its true that theres a lot of competitor around the world now. but EA should know that YOU guys were the original LEADING Game meaning you guys can still beat the competitors in time.thanks.
This is a car which has to last for 10-20yrs and still be able to do top speed on demand. Good job, really good job.thanks..
Great post with great stuff, i like it.
so what have you been up to?ah good. thats something we seem to have in common.
You are definitely right about the strategy and the know how in order to land more customers! I really like tip #8, Don’t get discouraged! If something doesn’t work, get back up again and try, and don’t be afraid to take risks.
Till then,
Jean
Hi david your blog is very nice but i think u never post any new post or contain plz keep some new all is very nice for me or every blog reader thanks for it.
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Oh wow! I gotta look into this!
I know that I need to find a way to convert my visitor into buyers. Reading this article gave me an idea on how to retarget them. thanks..
He Second Encounter for the PC and Xbox 360. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot ” Serious …
you am starting by adding the following to the list: 1- Dialer: The tide BH2 dialer is unequivocally behind as good as bad as good as inefficient. thanks..
Great article as I have said before. But quick question. When did you stop modifying your site. The top comms are kinda sleezy. When did this happen. I have seen this a lot on others who use the same template.
Great tips. It’s really nice to get some different perspective on this issue, although it gets a fair amount of attention on the web!
What an awesome blog! Some business experience ups and downs but it just normal as long as you keep on striving to reach your goal.. Stay focus on what your doing and be more active on your business…