Fake Money Blog

Year ago tomorrow is the day for my first official post in Fake Money Blog (capital letters make anything official). I wrote the framework today and plan to go it through tomorrow and then post it.

Has anyone been watching TV-series called Heroes? Even after this second post I start to get all mixed up on how should I deal with time referrals… Should I use the point of view of a current timeposter or a future timeposter, after all you are reading this right now, but for you I wrote this crap a year ago. I’ll probably deal with it like I deal with this blog - drop it to the floor after use like dirty underwear. And just like my wife, I believe some of you will read after my lines and keep yapping about it.

It’s year 2008 and here you have it - the post from the past. Blogs have most peculiar reasons to exist and here crystallizes my reason. I believe that phytiatic declarations shout out to the darkness of future are closest thing to emulate marketing without actually doing any marketing.

We shall see how my prophesies hit their mark and we’ll see it in the most convenient way. No need to link to old posts and selectively gloat with occasional “told-you-so”s, just read it and judge it. I’d like to start by stating that this post hits right in the middle of silence and for quite some time is a sign of blog life.

SELL IT! ON A WEB

This one is a beauty. Sell it! on a web writes about cross and up selling both of which are often neglected in the sales process as some kind of externalities. It is true that one shouldn’t think them as important as the normal sales process in what comes to generating turnover, but the real value of cross and up selling is in the extra value that customer experiences. Now go and read what the article says about it.

You're out!

THE DIGERATI LIFE

Benchmarking used to be the hype word about 538 years ago. That old practice from ancient marketing and business management history was exactly that came into my mind while reading the article submission from The Digerati Life. It is a good read if you want to learn how to analyze the stance and business strategy of your competitor by looking into their advertising. Oh, by the way, the article is hilarious.

I’ve been sorting out disputes between two representatives who just can’t seem to get their game together. Both seem to be overly concerned about their geographic sales area instead of actual sales. Now they are in their throats trying to gain larger area. Terrible. If your sales is solely based on the idea that you control an area and are donated a commission on every sale that comes from that area then the only logical approach is to work to get larger sales area.

In reality many low potential areas match the sales that come in from bigger areas, because salespeople really know their market in a limited area. Focus to the sales person and not to drawing the lines between areas.

Already 18th volume. Let’s start with a fitting video.

THE BEST ADVICE IS OFTEN SIMPLE

Gavin Ingham shows that simple persistence goes a long way. All in all salespeople can learn a lot by observing how parents let their children bully them to make what kids want.

LOW COST MARKETING

I don’t know about you, but I just love low cost publicity. However, it is very difficult to get these days and that’s why you have to get creative. I didn’t find these methods especially creative, but then again I have tendency to be somewhat of a motorhead.

LOW COST ONLINE PUBLICITY

What a lucky coincidence, don’t you agree? Right after an article that discussed low cost publicity in general there comes one specifically about online publicity. It took a genius to place them in this order.

MANAGING CLIENTS

This article seems to be written by a person that has limited knowledge of human behaviour, which is really ironic because the blog is largely about marketing and design. Anyway, like it always is, if you write long enough you are bound to land couple of lines here and there.

I hate those weasel salesmen who don’t know how to stand their ground and give an honest recommendation. I had this experience today - everything was fine and every single product had good qualities and therefore it was impossible to say anything really bad about them. When I pressed the guy and asked if he had a favorite he shrugged and said “not really, they are all very good”. What do you think, did I buy anything?

Scott R Sheaffer posted an awesome article. It is about being constantly nice and how it can torpedo your sales. Go read it and be mean for a change.

This is one of my most important discoveries in sales and it is staggeringly simple, yet so hard to really understand. Are you ready? Do some lead prospecting every single day. Simple, eh?

WEIGHT LOSS PHENOMENON

Now you need some kind of an explanation for that pearl of an advice, right? Well, consider sales as yo-yo-weight-loss phenomenon. First you slack like a lazy idiot and then you try to tip the scale (some kind of pun intended)  by working like a SM slave. This process usually gets you fat plus you lose your dignity.

HOW DOES THIS APPLY IN SALES?

Have you ever done tens and tens of calls per day and after hard day of work returned home only to notice that it is impossible to keep up with the pace because following day you get flooded with the follow-up work. So you forget the lead development and answer questions and down the line maybe close few sales. This way you get some money every few months - learn to go frugal.

If you want to have manageable sales funnel, you have to feed it constantly - not a lot, but constantly. This way you have deals in every stage and quite miraculously you notice that you have more time to handle your customers well. In the end you close much more sales.