Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

How to Find Out Exactly What Your Customers Want

Yesterday, I talked about the importance of listening to your potential customers. Today, I want to share an incredible free webinar on keyword research that lays out a killer way of finding out exactly what is on your customers' minds and tapping into it.

Grab a cup of coffee settle in. It's two hours, but it's well worth you time!

The first half is OK. It covers a lot of basics about the differences between market research versus keyword research.

The best part of the first half laid out the different goals that different people might have for their research and what types of tools were best for each type.

The second half is what really blew me away, though. Keyword research expert Jim Morris spent a full hour walking listeners through every step of finding a profitable niche.

He dealt with details that most people don't even think of. It is really a must-hear for anyone who is about to research a niche.

I'd even recommend it for anyone whose business is not as profitable as they hoped. Following the tips he gave can apply equally well to someone who wants to take their existing site and go back to make it more effective.

Check out how the master of niche research does it.

Jeff

Labels: keyword research, niche marketing, niche research

The Magic of LISTENING to Your Customers
Throughout the early part of this week, I've talked about the importance of making connections with other business owners. They are not the only group of people with whom it is important for you to make connections, though.

It is crucial to make connections with your customers, as well. Yet many online marketers try to structure their business to limit their contact with customers to nothing more than handing over their money or, at most, a simple question or two in preparation for handing over their money.

You can make a lot more money, though, if you simply train yourself to listen to your customers. How do you do that? Here's something I shared with another group of marketers not so long ago about this subject.

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Ever dreamed of taking your $500 startup to the top of a multi-billion dollar industry? A man name Tom Monaghan did exactly that.

He did it in a way that industry analysts said was impossible. He did it by actually doing what his larger competitors only paid lip-service to.

And what he did serves as a lesson for anyone building a small business into something larger.

A story of improbable success

In 1973, Tom Monaghan ran a small, but growing pizza chain, Dominos. Ten years earlier, he and his brother had bought a single, failing pizza restaurant for $500. Monaghan had much higher ambitions, though, than running only one store.

He wanted to take Dominos into the top three pizza chains in the world. Experts dismissed his dreams. They said he didn't have nearly enough money to buy enough market share against larger brands.

Lacking the money to buy his way in the traditional way, he went at it from another direction. He listened to his customers.

What his competitors missed

His larger, fat-cat competitors paid lip-service to the idea of giving the customers what they wanted. They turned to "market experts" and their artificial market research decide on how to win the hearts of customers.

Dominos, though, developed ways to listen directly to customers and respond quickly to their needs and preferences. While the biggers chains guessed, Monaghan took action on what customers really wanted.

Dominos became and remains the fastest-growing pizza chain in the world. They did this mainly because they consistently are the first to adapt to changes in the market. They accomplish this because of the systems they developed for listening to customers and anticipating changes in market demand.

It serves as a graphic reminder of the value of listening to your customers.

Ways to find out what you're clients are thinking

Listen to your customers when you talk to them face to face. Pay attention to their questions. Note what they say they like or don't like.

Ask them questions. Even read between the lines to unearth things that they might not say about what they want or how they feel -- even things that they might not be consciously aware of themselves.

Do the same with emails or phone calls they send you. Keep a log of what you learn from their communications with you. Look through that log occasionally to spot patterns that can help you better respond to their needs.

If your business is in an area that people talk about online (such as health, decorating, beauty, etc.), follow those blogs and forums and take note of what's important to them.

What about using surveys?

You can even do surveys, either on paper or online. Be careful, though, not to bias the surveys by asking questions in ways that telegraph what you expect them to answer. Ask them in ways that encourage them to give more details.

Instead of, "Do you like...?" ask, "What do you like best about...?" Instead of, "Is there anything you don't like about...?" ask, "What could we do better about...?"

Keep it simple. Ask them at least three questions, but don't be disrespectful of their time. Don't expect them to devote an hour of their time to answering your questions unless you've offered them a nice gift for their effort.

As much as possible, ask questions that encourage them to give details. You don't want every question to request an essay, but stay away from simple Yes/No questions, too.

Instead of Yes/No questions, put them in the form of rating from one to five or one to ten on how much they agree or disagree with a statement.

Make sure that your most crucial questions get them to answer in their own words, as described above. While you may find those answers harder to categorize, they can reveal the greatest insights about your business.

Take action on what you discover

As you listen to your customers, make sure you take action on what you discover. Tom Monaghan didn't build his business so dramatically by listening to and then ignoring his customers.

He dug into their wants and needs so he could better fill them. Take action on what you learn from your customers so you can grow, too.

Final thoughts

Tom Monaghan built a massive franchise that nobody thought he had the money to build. He did it with a tenacious determination to listen to his customers and incorporate their greatest wants and needs into the services he offered them.

Listening to your customers is an absolutely free way to build your business. And, as Monaghan shows, it's a powerfully effective way, too.
Jeff


P.S. Did you find this article helpful? It is one of the chapters in an upcoming book I am writing. I've been giving weekly previews of that book -- and another book -- to interested readers. If you'd like to find out more about getting previews like this one on a weekly basis for FREE, check out the page where I explain what I'm doing and why. I'd love to have your feedback.

Labels: customer service

The Fastest Way to Succeed
Here's a favorite quote from Brian Tracy:

"The fastest way for you to succeed is by piggy-backing on the good advice and counsel of men and women who have already spent years learning how to succeed. When you do this on a regular and systematic basis, you will open up doors of opportunity and possibilities for you that today you cannot even imagine."

Starting your own business can be a intimidating task. There's so much to learn!

Most people slow up their progress by going at it the wrong way. They scramble all over the Internet, trying to piece together little bits of unrelated strategies. Then they pat themselves on the back for having "learned" Internet marketing.

Brian Tracy points out, however, that the fastest way to success is far different. Instead of learning the strategies successful marketers have learned, you can succeed more quickly by studying the Internet marketers themselves.

As I've said many times. The secret is not in the tools; it's in the way you use them. And the only way to learn to use the tools successfully is to see how those who succeed at using them use them.

Personally, I learn from several mentors. I have to say I've learned much more in this way (and had much greater success) than I ever had just trying to plug in one random strategy after another.

I'll mention just one of my mentors, Jim Edwards. My biggest breakthrough in marketing has come from what I've learned from observing him up close for the past several years.

I highly recommend Jim's "The Net Reporter" training site to anyone who wants to learn from a master. Jim freely shares all the details of his successes -- and his failures. And if you want proof that you can move from where you're at with your business to where you want to be, all you have to do is look at how he moved from bankruptcy and living as, as he calls it, "trailer trash" a few short years ago to running a multi-million dollar business.

Jim's mentoring has meant a lot to me and I continue to look to him primarily as my role-model and my teacher. I invite you to do the same. You won't regret it.
Jeff

Labels: inspirational quotes

Early-Bird Special on Yanik Silver's Underground Seminar
I've been talking about Yanik Silver's Underground seminar for the past couple of days. Maybe you've thought out it. Maybe it simply isn't in your plans.

Either way, that's cool. If you've been thinking about it, though, I suggest you check it out quickly if you want to save a bit of money on it. Their early-bird special ends soon.

The price will soon go up. So if you've been waiting on checking out the seminar, I suggest you check it now. You'll save money and you'll get a couple of cool bonuses.

I'd tell you what the bonuses are, but that would be going against the hush-hush, "secret agent" theme of the seminar. So, it you're thinking about going, check out information about the seminar before you have to have to wave bye-bye to the early-bird special prices and bonuses.
Jeff

Labels: marketing, networking, start business, Underground Seminar, Yanik Silver

About Yanik Silver's Underground Seminar
I've mentioned Yanik Silver's Underground seminar the last couple of days. It's time I shared a little more about it.

It's one of the premier learning seminars in the world. It features underground entrepreneurs who have each made millions in their niches.

You get NO marketing gurus and NO pitches for marketing products. These people have no marketing products to sell, so you get nothing but the strategies that made them rich.

On top of that, Yanik offers a $10,000 "prize" to the presenter whom attendees vote as having given the most nugget-packed presentation. Yanik donates $10,000 to that presenter's choice of charity. But presenters compete like crazy to win the money for their favorite charity.

On top of that, it's a great networking event. You'll meet other marketers from all over the world.

Don't underestimate the value of networking. Even if you've always planned for your business to be something you did all by yourself with no outside contact, having other marketers to whom you can turn can be a lifesaver -- and a business-saver.

Frankly, I wouldn't still have my business if it wasn't for the networking I did at a seminar much like this one. But I've told you that story the last two days.

This year's seminar features Web 2.0 visionary Gary Vaynerchuk as the keynote speaker. The second keynote speaker is Jessica Jackley, co-founder of KIVA.org, an organization that connects investors with business startups in developing nations. KIVA, in four years, has helped loan out over $100M and connected thousands of people across 120+ countries.

As usual, most of the other speakers are unannounced. It plays in with the cool "secret agent" theme of the entire seminar. And it also protects them from competitors signing up for the seminar just to gather competitive intelligence on the precise strategies these presenters have used to dominate their markets.

These presenters, remember, are not the usual crowd of Internet marketing gurus that go around from seminar to seminar to pitch their stuff. They are highly successful business owners who are largely unknown outside their niche, but big names within them.

At any rate, those are the key points about Yanik's seminar. Check it out. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it. Will it make the difference in your business that the seminar that I attended made in mine? I don't know. That's up to you.

But whether you go to Yanik's seminar or another one, if you haven't started making connections with fellow business owners, it's time you started looking for a way to start. You'd be surprised what a difference that making those connections can have.
Jeff

Labels: marketing, networking, start business, Underground Seminar, Yanik Silver

A Tale of Two Internet Marketing Seminars
I related a major turning point in my business in yesterday's post. I described how going to a live, Internet marketing seminar led me to change my mind about closing my business and returning to my old, 9-5 work world.

I want to stress one thing, though. Simply going to a marketing seminar is not a magic wand. You need to go into it with the right mindset. The seminar that turned me around was not the first one I ever attended.

I had gone to one a year earlier as well. I went there looking for information. I took copious notes. I pretty much ignored everyone around me, though. I struck up few conversations. And those conversations I had, were all brief and functional.

I gave out no business cards and got none in return. I used my meal breaks to get a table by myself and study my notes rather than meeting other business owners.

I went home from that first seminar with lots of notes that I've never put into action. I went home from that first seminar still carrying the weight of my business on my shoulders, and carrying it alone. It wasn't that the seminar wasn't any good. It was that my approach to it stunk.

I came home from the more productive seminar with ideas that I've put into action -- because those that I met there were carrying them out, too. Sharing where we all were at in integrating those strategies into our businesses kept me focused on making use of what I learned instead of filing it away.

I came back with people to bounce ideas off of and share my insights with in return. I came back from that more productive seminar feeling energized, rather than feeling even more overwhelmed.

Why would I get more out of a seminar that I went to as my "last hurrah" before closing my business? I suppose it was because I wasn't so focused on information at that seminar. I went to have fun than to cram every bit of knowledge I could into my head for future reference.

And in having fun and making connections, I was able to realize that making connections was the most important thing I needed in order to succeed at the business I was about to throw away.

Business is all about making connections. You make connections with customers. You make connections with other business owners whose businesses overlap yours. Without connections, you're toast.

Like I said yesterday, a golden opportunity is here for you to experience the same boost to your business that turned mine around. Yanik Silver's Underground seminar is open for registration. You'll get prime opportunities for learning, for fun (check out the "secret agent" theme Yanik weaves through the entire seminar experience), and, most importantly, for the connections you need to boost your passion and find like-minded individuals who can make a big difference in your business.

I encourage you to check Yanik's seminar out. And if not Yanik's seminar, find another one. I can't stress how much a good seminar can do for your business.
Jeff

Labels: marketing, networking, start business, Underground Seminar, Yanik Silver

How a Successful Online Business Nearly Drove Me Back to Work
In January of 2007, I made a decision. I was closing my business.

It wasn't because I wasn't making any money at it. For five years, I had made my full-time living online.

But I was willing to shut it down. It had become a burden to me. Going back to the 9-5 work world looked more attractive than working from home.

Doesn't that sound crazy? I'm sure it does to anyone stuck in a 9-5 job that they hate, anyone who longs for the freedom that running their own business would bring.

But I missed certain things about working for someone else. I missed being able to pop into the next cubicle and bounce ideas off of someone -- or just shoot the breeze. I missed having someone say, "Good job!" for a job done particularly well.

I missed people.

I had structured my business to have minimal contact with others. I had a few clients, but I reported to them on a limited basis. I had some customers online, but interaction with them was pretty limited as well.

I sat at my computer -- on my own schedule -- and did whatever tasks I wanted. I made all my own decisions and didn't have to deal with any diverging opinions. I was my own boss.

Many people would kill to be in the position I was in. But I had grown to hate it. I had grown to hate it so much that I had decided to shut it down.

I was already job-hunting. I had one, last hurrah as a self-employed person. Then I would wind things down.

See, before I had made my decision to shut my business down, I had signed up for a big Internet marketing seminar. I had already paid for it. I already had the plane tickets and the reservations.

Other than the hotel cost and incidentals, I wouldn't get that money back anyway. So my wife and I decided to go ahead with the trip. My daughters would fly there, too, and see the town with her, while I would go to through the motions at the seminar. Then I would come home and shut my business down.

A funny thing happened at that seminar, though. My fire returned.

I made new friends. I formed joint ventures. I ate lunch with business owners who had gone through the exact same feelings of isolation and found out how they dealt with them.

Don't get me wrong. My renewed excitement wasn't just about meeting people. I learned a lot from the speakers, too. I learned strategies that have served me very well in building my business since then.

I came out of there with with a lot of quality ideas. Still, all of that would have been meaningless if I hadn't solved that feeling of isolation. The most important thing with which I came out of that seminar was the realization that I was not alone.

I had people to bounce things off of. I had people to share experiences with. Some of us formed a mastermind group that still meets regularly to encourage each other and hold each other accountable.

I would not still have my own business today if it wasn't for that seminar.

That seminar comes to mind right now because one of the biggest -- and best -- seminars is approaching. Yanik Silver's Underground Seminar is open for registration now.

Whether you've reached the point in your business where you're starting to miss the camaraderie of the job site or not, I highly encourage you to look into this seminar -- or whatever others you can find.

You'll leave there with new ideas and new strategies that will be immensely valuable for your business. You'll leave there with new, human connections that will be absolutely priceless.

One thing about Yanik's Underground seminars: Yanik always makes sure his attendees have fun!

It's not your typical business seminar. He weaves a spy theme throughout his seminars. Check out the information page and you'll get an taste of the fun he weaves in.

Bottom line, if you're isolating yourself in your business, MAKE CONNECTIONS! Take some of weight of working alone off your shoulders. And even if you don't feel that weight yet, MAKE CONNECTIONS before you do.

Going to a seminar three years ago made the difference between me having my own business now and being stuck back in my old 9-5 world. Consider going to Yanik's seminar, or whatever other one you can find. I think it will make a huge difference in your business -- and your life -- too.
Jeff

Labels: marketing, networking, start business, Underground Seminar, Yanik Silver