| If you're in sales, you may feel like you're trapped in | | | | and this tool will tell you how to improve the SEO of |
| a constant cat and mouse game with your | | | | your site. Mortgage Brokers and Real Estate Agents |
| prospects, forced to chase them around until they're | | | | often offer their clients a Mortgage Calculator that |
| ready to buy. This usually means that you need to | | | | will tell their prospects what their monthly payments |
| make relentless follow-up phone calls so they won't | | | | will be for a home. What kind of tools could you |
| forget about you. But is there a better way to stay | | | | create for your prospects that they will find useful? |
| top-of-mind with prospects without investing so | | | | 5. Top 10 Lists |
| much time? For many salespeople, email is the best | | | | Just like this article you are reading, people love Top |
| answer. | | | | 10 Lists. David Letterman made a career out of his |
| If you plan to use email to keep in touch with people, | | | | Top 10 Lists. Build a list for your prospects. What |
| it's important that every email message creates value | | | | about The 10 Best _______ In Your Industry? Or, |
| and earns their trust. This means that you'll want to | | | | The Top 10 Ways to Produce _______ Result? |
| avoid sending those marketing materials your | | | | 6. Industry Surveys and Trends |
| company created. You'll also want to quit "checking | | | | You can find thousands of different surveys online |
| in" to see if the prospect is ready to make a decision. | | | | that have been conducted on nearly every imaginable |
| These type of approaches are self-serving and void | | | | topic. Do a Google search and see what comes up. |
| of any value to the prospect. | | | | You could also create your own survey by reaching |
| It's time to start sending your prospects information | | | | out to your customer base. People love to hear what |
| and resources that are relevant and useful to them. | | | | their peers think. You could ask your prospect to |
| You're probably wondering what kind of content to | | | | participate in the survey, and promise to share the |
| send. Here are my recommendations: | | | | results after the survey is complete. |
| 1. Blogs | | | | 7. Recorded Webinars |
| Don't know what a blog is? Think of it as a journal | | | | Webinars are a great way to promote your services |
| filled with articles on a specific topic. For example, | | | | while building value for your prospects. Best of all, it's |
| there are blogs about Internet Marketing, Elvis | | | | easy to record them and then archive them on your |
| Presley Collectibles, Recruiting Strategies, and | | | | website. Then, provide a link to the recorded |
| everything else you could imagine. While some of the | | | | webinar. You could also ask people to submit their |
| blog articles are written by corporations, many of | | | | name and phone number before they have access to |
| them are written by individuals who have a passion | | | | the recording. |
| for the topic--and a lot of great content! Do a google | | | | 8. Videos |
| search for "blog: insert topic here" and see what you | | | | Recent Research has shown that the popularity of |
| can find that would be relevant to your prospects. | | | | videos is growing, and the YouTube generation |
| Emailing people a link to a blog is a great idea | | | | responds more to a video than to an article. Do a |
| because blogs are seen as an unbiased article. | | | | search on YouTube to find relevant videos you could |
| Bloggers also love it when you borrow their content, | | | | send your prospects. Better yet, create your own |
| and they'll often reward you by linking to your | | | | video. The good news: it doesn't need to be |
| website or even featuring you in a future blog article. | | | | professionally produced. Today, good content is more |
| 2. Best Practices (How-to and Tips) | | | | important than good video quality. |
| The odds are, you have specific knowledge and | | | | 9. Humorous, Tasteful Cartoons |
| insights that other people want. Find a niche and | | | | Humor can still be one of the best ways to break |
| write about helpful tips and strategies that others | | | | the ice. A Dilbert cartoon or even a video clip from |
| can implement. Don't worry about giving away too | | | | the TV show "The Office" can be a great way to |
| much of your "secret sauce". Research has shown | | | | connect with prospects. Before you send a cartoon |
| that even if you give away 90% of your ideas, | | | | to your prospects, I would suggest that you first |
| people will still pay a premium for the remaining 10%. | | | | share it with a few colleagues to get their reaction. |
| Best of all, sharing your knowledge will demonstrate | | | | 10. News articles |
| your expertise and establish your credibility. | | | | Send your prospects industry news and recent |
| If you don't want to write the article, search online | | | | events. It shows them that you're in touch with their |
| for other people who have written about a specific | | | | industry and it's relevant to their business. An article is |
| how-to topic. | | | | especially useful when it's about your prospect's |
| 3. White Papers | | | | competitor. |
| These could be written by you or by a third party. | | | | Where can you find all these articles? |
| Did you conduct a study and can share your results? | | | | There are several sites that will help you search for |
| Do you have a case study or success story from a | | | | news articles, as well as blogs, white papers, and |
| client? White papers can be a great way to educate | | | | other articles. Here is a short Once you create a |
| your audience and help them think differently about | | | | series of email messages, you'll need to have a |
| their needs (and your services). | | | | system for scheduling when articles will be send to |
| 4. Free Tools & Resources (ROI Calculators, | | | | each prospect. You could use a spreadsheet for this, |
| Analysis Tools, etc) | | | | or I'd also recommend using an Email Marketing |
| Email your prospects a link to a great tool or | | | | System. However you decide to manage your emails, |
| resource they can use in their business. For example, | | | | you'll generally want to send a message to your |
| I created a drip campaign for marketing managers, | | | | prospects every 2-4 weeks. Remember, consistency |
| and one of my emails includes a link to a tool called | | | | is king. |
| Website Grader. Simply type in your website address | | | | |