Brainstorm Host Monetizes contacts using Salesconx

I was interviewed recently by the host of Brainstorm (www.brainstormbusinesspodcast.com) Penny Haynes, who also happens to be a successful member of Salesconx.com. Listen here: http://quikonnex.com/search/displayenc_pop.php?itemid=30609.

Penny is actually the founder of Online Communities Magazine (http://www.OnlineCommunityMagazines.com).

Thanks Penny.

Lessons from the First Salesman – The Serpent

The serpent is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made,” Genesis 3:1. The serpent is indeed the original salesman. It is no wonder that when being derogatory about a person’s characteristics one might say that they are slippery like “snake oil”. But (for our purposes) the serpent must have been one heck of salesman. God, as the story in the bible goes, created for Adam and Eve the ultimate in luxury. Think of the Ritz Hotel, Naples Florida with all expenses paid. Everything, from food to worldly pleasures was merely a touch a way. There was but one rule – do not eat from the forbidden fruit.

So let’s review the selling environment for the serpent; no compelling reason to purchase, no purchasing authority at the local level (we can assume God’s commandment was the guiding principal), not a very big market (although 2 out of 2 would be considered 100% market share) and decision making shared between two people. The odds were certainly stacked against the serpent being successful in making his sale. As the story continues, the serpent convinces Eve to bite from the fruit and God punishes Adam and Eve by banishing them from the Garden of Eden. How was the serpent able to convince or sell Eve on eating the fruit? Taking into consideration all the elements working against the serpent – he must have been some salesman.

Perhaps there is something to learn from this salesman #1:

• Get your customer to start talking. The serpent didn’t start his dialogue with Eve about eating the forbidden fruit. Instead, he asks her a question about all the trees in the garden of eden. Listening to your customer or moreover getting them to speak about their issues and concerns is far more important than you rattling off your pitch. Perhaps by actually listening to your customer you could on-the-fly adjust your pitch accordingly.

• Deal with arguments one at a time. The serpent jumps on one of the facts that Eve states – that touching the forbidden fruit will kill her. By focusing his argument on this one issue the serpent is able to get Eve to let her guard down. There are always barriers to a close but getting your customer to state them in detail and then dealing with them one at a time until there are no barriers left.

• Portray a compelling image post purchase. After dealing with the arguments against eating from the forbidden fruit the serpent immediately began to paint a picture for Eve what her world would be like if she ate from the forbidden fruit. Giving tangible examples of revenue generating or cost cutting solutions is critical to selling success. Most folks want to be a hero in their organization (or at least to themselves). How will buying your product/service make them a hero? Make sure that have a clear image of what will occur once your product/service is deployed. Is their life easier? Are they able to earn more money? Save time? Be clear and specific. The serpent convinced Eve she would be Iike a God if she ate the fruit – now that’s a compelling argument.

• Get the customer engaged in a trial. The serpent didn’t ask Eve to take title to an entire forbidden fruit tree, he merely convinced her to take a bite a see what happens. Make sure it is easy for your customer to try out your product/service. Everyone likes to try before they buy and while some services don’t work well in a trialing environment perhaps you could package a subset of your product/service for a trial. Making it easy for your customer to chew on your product/service will help them get a taste for what it will be like when it is fully deployed.

‘You could always learn something from everybody’ as the phrase goes. While most symbolic representations of the serpent are indeed that of evil let us not forget the caduceus or Wand of Hermes - a staff entwined by two snakes in the form of a double helix. The caduceus represents the authority to quickly deliver vital or wise information to aid, assist, negotiate, and enlighten. Perhaps there is something to learn from the serpent after all.

Does Salesconx Really Work?

Since launching this past fall, many of my former sales and marketing colleagues have asked me ‘does Salesconx really work?’ Despite my conviction the ability to prove my theory of Salesconx was a bit limited.

Meet Nat Silverman. Nat is a telecommunications sales rep in NYC selling for nearly 20 years. Though Nat is typically limited to selling a single product line (a T1 line or telco equipment) Nat has a wealth of experience in telecommunications and general IT services.

“I realized that there were better opportunities for me to make money by leveraging my network,” Silverman said. “I am always trying to play the role of business consultant to my clients, advising them on services outside my company’s service portfolio.”

Silverman did what ever good sales person is supposed to do – he listened to his customer. He asked questions about what additional products or services his contacts were interested in, these products ranged from marketing materials to web services to telephone equipment. In understanding the immense value of these conversations, of these opportunities, Nat was able to make over $1,700 dollars in a few short weeks by listing his customers requirements on Salesconx.

After his first post was quickly sold, he posted a few more and watched the bids roll in. After a week of posting “Connections for Sale” on the site, he was over $1,700 richer - but he wasn't the only one benefiting. According to Nat, “Of course I’m making money and building my network and repertoire, which is important as a business consultant. But equally important, I’m making my clients happy by introducing them to people that they want to work with.”

We are always told that listening to our customer is a key to making a sale – it couldn’t be more true.

The Top 5 (Classy) Ways to Earn Extra Money on the Internet

As a professional (and of course I take liberty when using that term) how could I leverage the Internet and the billions being transacted on the Internet to make some extra money. I am not about to start selling my kids clothes on eBay nor am I going to start selling online courses to my friends and family. Clearly, I missed out on the opportunity to buy and park domains names – just imagine how much has been made by those smart individuals. If I was more technical I would have set up an offshore development company a few years ago and rode that train – but I didn’t. So what could a regular guy like me do to capitalize on the Internet’s money making opportunities – without being subject to federal investigation by Elliot Spitzer someone else?

Here are my top 5 (classy) ways to earn extra money using the Internet.

1. Take a survey – probably the easiest of the bunch, there are a number of companies that will offer you up to companies to take survey and actual pay you (cash and incentives) for taking surveys. Payment is usually in the form of a company check that is mailed to you via postal mail, usually within a few weeks. But more and more companies are starting to use online payment processors such as PayPal - which is great because it means that you’ll usually receive your reward much faster. The Paidsurveyonline presents the compensation details before each survey and you could decide if you want to participate or not.
   
   
2. Candidate referrals – you know someone that might be perfect for a new job, why not get paid for it. Check out Zubka for potential opportunities. On this site, companies post their job openings and the referral fee they are willing to pay for a successful referral. Fees are in the thousands are dollars as it is generally a percentage of the targeted salary (just like a recruiters commission). I saw this morning fees ranging from $2,000 to $7,000 for referring candidates. If you have a strong network of people why not go thru the Zubka site and see if you have any potential matches.
   
   
3. Blogging – it’s no secret that any blogger can make money. Setting a blog is easy and free, especially with simple platforms like BlogSpot and Word Press. As long as you’re writing about interesting, compelling things, you’re guaranteed at least a bit of traffic to your blog on a regular basis. With traffic, come the opportunities to monetize traffic – many popular bloggers are making hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a month just by blogging about the things that they’re interested in. Google Adwords is a great place to start.
   
   
4. Expert yourself – while freelancing is certainly open to just about everyone with a skill in demand, it could be quite trying to find clients and the time to consult. But what about spending an hour or so every now and then. Do you have knowledge or an expertise that someone would want? There are expert networks such as Gerson Lehrman and Bitwine they will compensate you for providing your advice to another party. Of course someone has to be willing to pay you for your time but thanks to the Internet these folks are getting aggregated to make your opportunity for consulting fees even greater.
   
   
5. Monetize your relationships – similar to the expert networks, there is a growing opportunity to leverage and monetize your business relationships. Just like Zubka will pay you for referral potential candidates, companies such as Salesconx (self promotion) will compensate you for introducing your business relationships to potential buyers. Fees vary depending on the type of transaction from a $25 appointment with a decision maker to a $2,500 success fee for a consummated deal. Didn’t your client just tell you they were looking to replace their telephone system or evaluate a new public relationship firm? Those relationships are worth real money on Salesconx.

While the Internet is crawling with MLM, get rich quick gimmicks and online courses to get rich quick MLM and gimmicks there are a handful of reputable and high class ways to earn some extra money leveraging the Internet. I don’t think you’ll retire on any one of these methods but earning an extra $1,550 in 5 days (see my next Blog) leveraging ones relationships doesn’t sound too shabby either.

The Top 5 (Classy) Ways to Earn Extra Money on the Internet

As a professional (and of course I take liberty when using that term) how could I leverage the Internet and the billions being transacted on the Internet to make some extra money. I am not about to start selling my kids clothes on eBay nor am I going to start selling online courses to my friends and family. Clearly, I missed out on the opportunity to buy and park domains names – just imagine how much has been made by those smart individuals. If I was more technical I would have set up an offshore development company a few years ago and rode that train – but I didn’t. So what could a regular guy like me do to capitalize on the Internet’s money making opportunities – without being subject to federal investigation by Elliot Spitzer someone else?

Here are my top 5 (classy) ways to earn extra money using the Internet.

1. Take a survey – probably the easiest of the bunch, there are a number of companies that will offer you up to companies to take survey and actual pay you (cash and incentives) for taking surveys. Payment is usually in the form of a company check that is mailed to you via postal mail, usually within a few weeks. But more and more companies are starting to use online payment processors such as PayPal - which is great because it means that you’ll usually receive your reward much faster. The Survey Club presents the compensation details before each survey and you could decide if you want to participate or not.
   
   
2. Candidate referrals – you know someone that might be perfect for a new job, why not get paid for it. Check out Zubka for potential opportunities. On this site, companies post their job openings and the referral fee they are willing to pay for a successful referral. Fees are in the thousands are dollars as it is generally a percentage of the targeted salary (just like a recruiters commission). I saw this morning fees ranging from $2,000 to $7,000 for referring candidates. If you have a strong network of people why not go thru the Zubka site and see if you have any potential matches.
   
   
3. Blogging – it’s no secret that any blogger can make money. Setting a blog is easy and free, especially with simple platforms like BlogSpot and Word Press. As long as you’re writing about interesting, compelling things, you’re guaranteed at least a bit of traffic to your blog on a regular basis. With traffic, come the opportunities to monetize traffic – many popular bloggers are making hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a month just by blogging about the things that they’re interested in. Google Adwords is a great place to start.
   
   
4. Expert yourself – while freelancing is certainly open to just about everyone with a skill in demand, it could be quite trying to find clients and the time to consult. But what about spending an hour or so every now and then. Do you have knowledge or an expertise that someone would want? There are expert networks such as Gerson Lehrman and Bitwine they will compensate you for providing your advice to another party. Of course someone has to be willing to pay you for your time but thanks to the Internet these folks are getting aggregated to make your opportunity for consulting fees even greater.
   
   
5. Monetize your relationships – similar to the expert networks, there is a growing opportunity to leverage and monetize your business relationships. Just like Zubka will pay you for referral potential candidates, companies such as Salesconx (self promotion) will compensate you for introducing your business relationships to potential buyers. Fees vary depending on the type of transaction from a $25 appointment with a decision maker to a $2,500 success fee for a consummated deal. Didn’t your client just tell you they were looking to replace their telephone system or evaluate a new public relationship firm? Those relationships are worth real money on Salesconx.

While the Internet is crawling with MLM, get rich quick gimmicks and online courses to get rich quick MLM and gimmicks there are a handful of reputable and high class ways to earn some extra money leveraging the Internet. I don’t think you’ll retire on any one of these methods but earning an extra $1,550 in 5 days (see my next Blog) leveraging ones relationships doesn’t sound too shabby either.

The American Idol Philosophy of Selling

I don’t know about your home, but my house is an American Idol home. I am not alone as American Idol is now the most valuable TV format in the world with an estimated value in excess of $2.5 billion. As we are in the midst of American Idol mania I was thinking about the lessons learned from seeing talented performers compete week after week. What makes an American Idol champion? What makes a winning American Idol performance? All things being equal how does one contestant rise above the others? Given that it isn’t always about the one who has the best voice - what makes an American Idol? The biggest reality of this reality show is the contestants need to sell themselves week after week to the American public. These 12 contestants (now down to 11) are therefore thrust into being top salespeople. The compensation plan is fierce, the payout is huge and the space in the President’s Club is limited.

Here are the characteristics that make up an American Idol:

The Right Place at the Right Time - a solid performer picking the wrong material is a sure fire way to get ridiculed by the judges and fall out of grace with America. Timing in sales is always important. Getting in front of the right decision maker with the right solution at the right time is more an art form than coincidence. You could be the best salesperson on your team but not returning a client call in time could be the difference between getting the deal and losing the deal. Knowing when your client is most open to your pitch is just as important as the pitch itself.

You Gotta Have Heart - being emotional in what you sell is always important. People respond to those who really care about what they are selling. You have to always believe in what you are selling. If you don’t, then I suggest you sell something that you can get passionate about. Passion sells.

Honesty - a lot of the judges talk time on American Idol is telling contestants to be true to who they are. A country singer should sing country and a rock and roller should always rock and roll. Putting on a bandana and carrying a chain doesn’t make a person a rock and roller and the customer is never fooled. Don’t try to convince the customer that your service or product does more than it really does. While you might get through the first few rounds, the likelihood is that you’ll soon get tossed.

Listen - nothing pains me more than watching these young performers acting smugly when getting advice from Simon Cowell. Simon, a seasoned recording professional is always trying to get the best out of the contestants. The show is his product and he strives for excellence. Those who listen to him almost always come back the following week to rave reviews. All they have to do is listen. Selling is just as much about listening to your customer as it is talking to them (maybe even more so). Hear the feedback from your customer. Why aren’t they as excited about your offering as you think they should be? How was your pitch?

Never Forget Your Lines - remembering the words to your song is selling 101 basics. Giving a presentation to a room full of people should be a conversation between you and your audience. Stopping the presentation to look up your notes ruins the flow of your presentation. Rehearse your presentation over and over again. Go over potential questions. Be prepared.

Nice Guys Don’t Always Finish Last - while American Idol is supposed to be a talent contest it is just as much a personality contest. An obnoxious, egotistical and arrogant performer no matter how good never makes it to the end. Simon is quick to point out who is nice - never as a matter-of-fact but always as an asset to any performer. People like to work with nice people. A sale is about forging a relationship between two parties. Choosing nice people to work with is the prerogative of the decision maker. When in doubt - be nice.

So, do you think you have what it takes to be an American Idol?

Driving leads with a balanced portfolio

There was a Linkedin question posted on the 29th of February – perhaps the whole leap year effect brought out the best out. The question asked, ‘What type of lead generation strategies for software industry do you recommend?’ Well, given that Linkedin is limited to 4,000 characters could only assume that the person asking the question was hoping for a single answer. I could only assume that the same person would ask a hedge fund manager ‘what type of investment strategies do you recommend’.

Ironically, both answers are pretty similar – a balance portfolio. In marketing this means a combination of online marketing such as banner advertising and pay-per-click, event marketing such as tradeshows, seminars (online and offline), cold calling which including telemarketing, word-of-mouth and referral campaigns, channel marketing and advertising. Depending on your industry some of these initiatives should be weighed more than others. Specialty software for example would do better at a niche tradeshow than say cold calling. A broad horizontal software service for SMBs for instance would do better with PPC campaigns than with a live seminar – though you may want to try both.

The key is to invest some time and money in a combination of these items and always measure the results.

Many of today’s marketing programs could be started and stopped with very little notice; Google Ad words could be set up online and your could pause your account or double it instantly. Clearly, planning for an industry tradeshow takes time and money but many programs have less up front costs. Regardless, always measure your return on these programs increasing your investment in those that are working. One last thing to remember is that marketing in today’s world is very fluid. What worked great 2 years ago produces poor results today. Think of where direct mail is today.