We have all heard the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”, but a TERRIBLE picture can lose you 1,000 clients. This photo was taken from a Facebook page for a restaurant. You be the judge – would you want to eat there?

It’s no surprise (to me) that this restaurant is struggling to attract customers. It counts on its Facebook page for referrals – can you see a problem here?!?!

Today’s lesson – check ALL the photos you have online and ask SOMEONE ELSE who will be honest with you if it helps you or hurts you/your brand to have it online.

If you can’t afford professional photos – then don’t put any up.

DON’T USE STOCK PHOTOS for your products, that’s transparent and you’ll lose credibility and trust.

Please comment below to reinforce how bad this image is!

As The Exponential Growth Strategist, once of the cornerstone principles of exponential marketing is uncovering hidden assets. This real life example made me take notice because it’s utterly brilliant!

The only improvement I could make to this creative idea is to identify the balls to the matches played and sell those at a premium. (I asked, they don’t do this).

We’ve all heard of the classic money back guarantee, but where else have you heard of someone guaranteeing results? That’s exactly what we’re doing for our next 2 programs – Etch-A-Sketch Thinking In The iPad Age and Become The Next Corporate Rockstar.

Everyone gets to a point where they run out of fresh new ideas. What if there was a way to always have ideas ready to be deployed? What if these strategies were proven to work? How about is they were GUARANTEED to work?

That’s the premise of this unique event. We’re GUARANTEEING that you will produce at least $5,000 in the next 12 months as a result of attending the program. There is no legal fine print, no strings attached.

We can and are putting our money where our mouth is. No hype. No exaggerations. No smoke and mirrors. A simple iron-clad Results-Based Guarantee.

You can click on the image or this hyperlink > Etch-A-Sketch Thinking In The iPad Age. When all is said and done, if we’re willing to GUARANTEE $5,000 in the next 12 months, you can only imagine how much we expect you to make!

This is a classic advertising story that is worthy of repetition. It’s not just funny, but exceptionally valuable when you extract from it lessons that you can leverage from it. Enjoy!

A barber had been noticing that his clients had been dropping off slowly over the last eighteen months or so. He blamed the economy and people moving on and such things and just kept plodding on as you would expect.

The last straw for him was when,  just two doors down from his barber shop, someone opened up another barber shop! His competitor put up signage all over the front of the store windows announcing “hair cuts $5” .

When they opened, there were people spilling out the door lining up for haircuts. This went on for days and as you can guess his clients dropped off dramatically to the point that he decided that he would rather sit at home watching Oprah than do hair cuts for five dollars. He even decided he would close down his shop at the end of the week.

That afternoon, a gentleman walked in and asked if he could get a hair cut. The barber warned him that he charged fifteen dollars. The gentleman said that’s fine as he did not have time to stand in line and wait two hours for the barber two doors down .

After he finished the gentleman stood up looked and thanked the barber for a really good haircut. He also said he would be back next time he needed a trim because he was very satisfied with his haircut. That’s when the barber advised him that he was going to close his shop because he couldn’t compete with $5 hair cuts.

The gentleman looked at him smiled and asked “If I can increase the number of clients, would you be willing to pay me two hundred dollars?” The barber said he would only have two days to do it since he was going to close the shop on the third day. The gentleman confidently said that would not be as issue. The barber could not help but like this cocky guy in a suit and since it was only two hundred dollars, he thought he really didn’t have much to lose.

The next day, when the barber showed up, there were people waiting for him to open his door! They continued to stream in all day his phone was ring hot taking bookings! He was so busy that by the end of the day, he was exhausted. He could not remember ever being that busy.

The next day the same thing happened and about lunch time the gentleman walked in smiling and asked how things were going. The barber told him about all the clients and bookings and asked him what he did to change things around so quickly -  hoping he hadn’t done anything illegal. The gentleman smiled and assured the barber that everything was OK and that after work there would be something out the front of the store for him.

That night, the barber walked out the front of his shop and saw an A frame – he could not stop laughing when he read what was written:

FIVE DOLLAR HAIRCUTS FIXED HERE

This is a totally exponential strategy – but here are a few questions I have for you.

• How can you use this story to your advantage?
• How can you leverage someone else’s efforts in a legal and morally acceptable way?
• How can you make the most of your marketing budget to get the very best results?

A lot of people have either heard this story or others similar to it. They get a laugh and move on to something else.

Very few learn the lesson. Very few learn HOW to leverage something like this.

That’s what I teach my clients to do, as their business coach, adviser or mentor. I explain to them that this is not just a funny story. It’s a lesson to be learned and applied. I then usually explain via one of my case study examples or one from a client.  In this case, I heard this story and used it to close a $250,000 sale to a top 50 ASX company.

I know you’d love to know how I did that, but sorry – I keep that information for my Platinum Members!

The thing about having an Exponential Mindset is not just thinking differently, but making sure you walk the thought. That only happens when you’re taught how to translate a great story like this one INTO a practical system and process that you can use in your own business.

Otherwise, it’s just another fun story to tell mates over a cold beer at your local.

If you want someone to help you turn things around, like the barber – contact us and we’ll show you how to get people lining up at your shop front door, into your business or if you’re online – visiting your website.

I recently spoke at the 2010 Food Services Australia Show. I presented a summary of “How To Market Your Restaurant To Fill Your Empty Tables”. This all came about because of the 2010 Exponential Entrepreneur Of The Year Winner, Gavin Buckett, also known as the Gourmet Guardian, Australia’s premier Food Safety Specialist and HACCP Certification Expert who put me in contact with the show organisor.

One of the things I didn’t have time to cover is why a restaurant needs to be on the Internet – trust me, it’s not what you think!

Watch this 3-minute video to find out what 95% of people on the Internet don’t know… that can make the difference between a restaurant full of paying customers and one filled with empty tables.

This 4 minute YouTube video takes a fun approach to resolving the challenge of breaking the language barrier in selling to non-English speaking prospects… Sometimes the obvious is well… obvious!

Today’s post is yet another example of how the little things make a BIG difference. As you probably know, I love dogs even though I don’t have any because of my ‘jet set’ lifestyle… Recently, I visited the puppies and dogs at Paddington Pups Doggy Day Care in Brisbane (video below). While I was there, I made a few suggestions to Bree Robbins, Paddington Pups owner and Platinum Program graduate. Here’s how she went…

From ZERO Sales To Sold Out In 3 Weeks

Paddington Pups is a Doggy Day Care and Pet Supplies shop. Since we specialise in dogs, I got my hands on Cesar Millan’s the Dog Whisperer Series 1 and 2 DVD sets to sell at the shop. I was excited to be able to stock these for my clients since I know (first hand) that several of them have training and obedience issues with their dogs.

When I ordered in the first and second series I also ordered a “Display Stand”. I was expecting this to be big so it would stand out. However when it arrived, it was not only tiny, it didn’t say anything about the second series. I was quite disappointed to say the least.

After over two weeks, I hadn’t sold a single DVD series.  Now you might be thinking that’s fine but this was the end of November, early December which is the perfect time for people to purchase gifts like this for themselves and/or friends and family.

That’s when Marc came in for a visit and you know what that means – exponential ideas galore!

Marc suggested that I create a bigger, more obvious display to highlight this popular and much sought-after product.

As with anything Marc suggests, I thought about it and discussed it with my husband. Later that night, Ross was on Google looking for a good quality image we could use to create own display poster.

Next he went to our local print shop had the poster printed and laminated in A3 format all for under $50.

Within the next 3 weeks, I sold 4 copies of season one and 6 copies of season two at full price with no discounting. That’s what’s powerful about Marc’s advice. Most consultants would discount the price whereas Marc thinks one step ahead – the ONLY reason no one bought the DVDs was because they didn’t know I had stock. Marc knows The Dog Whisperer Series is a high-value item that is sought after and does not require discounting to sell.

Once I had my new poster up in full view of my clients, several confirmed they didn’t know I had The Dog Whisperer Series with Cesar Millan. In fact, most confirmed what I thought – that they hadn’t been able to find them anywhere.

So not only was I not selling any, I had clients WILLING AND LOOKING for the product I had in stock.

That hurts just writing it. I don’t know about you, but I want to sell as much inventory as I can, as quickly as I can. I consider myself a smart woman, but clearly I wasn’t being smart about this product promotion even though in hindsight it’s self-evident.

That’s what I appreciate about Marc’s advice – not only does he have a view from the ‘outside’, he understands people who buy. His Exponential Mindset is all about making it easy for people to buy from you.

Thanks Marc for your help once again – Come back again soon!

Bree Robbins
Business Entrepreneur

I don’t know about you, but every once in a while something like this comes around and you want to reach out and shake  Matt’s hand – for doing something that was so obvious, but took so much time and effort…

The ketchup packet has been around for more than 40 years, and complaints about it for nearly as long: too messy, too small, too hard to open.

Read More »»

Recently, I attended the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games and I came across this story about one of Canada’s top franchises that banned a disruptive client from its stores.

I don’t know the details of the story, but I like the fact that the retailer made the decision it wanted to make – to get rid of a disruptive client.

Read More »»

I often talk about Risk Reversal as an Exponential Marketing Strategy. This YouTube video is something US Corporate America had never seen before. I guess you have to wonder if it’s too little too late or the real question might be “if they had this risk reversal guarantee years ago, would they be in the situation they are in now??!?!?”

Hmmm…. Something to think about.

This Business Mastery Blog is all about putting Exponential Marketing strategies, tips and ideas in front of you so you can assess, evaluate and consider them for your business or career.

When you think you’re ready to step on to the fast track of exponential results and success, come on board and join one of our programs.

You know how to reach us: www.ExponentialPrograms.com.

In one simple sentence, we teach our clients to use strategies like risk reversals, not out of desperation and despair, but within a proactive strategic approach that enables and empowers them to out-perform their competitors on an on-going basis with a lot less effort and with a lower cost base.

Whenever I ask most people what business they’re in, I usually get an incoherent rambling about what they do (and they wonder why they’re struggling for new clients… but that’s a discussion for another day!) Then I ask then what’s important to their clients and 9 times out of 10 they have no clue. If only they understood it as well as this restaurant does -> it’s not about the food!

Go on and click on the hyperlink (they don’t allow it to be embedded) and then ask yourself, one simple, yet exponential question:

What’s MOST IMPORTANT to my clients?

If you can answer that question, then you know where your focus should be.

I know this sounds too simple , but watch the video again and just listen to what the clients are saying and the RESULTS it’s producing.

Case closed.

Watch this short video that reveals how retailers unknowingly throw away as much as 28% of their sales – that is one customer for every 4 walking out their shop door… This is one of those rare videos that hits you across the head like a two-by-four… As it should! WHAM!!!!

The 4 Ways Sound Affects Us

A good sense of humour never hurts, unless of course if you’re INsignificant!

Exponential Marketing Strategies include the use of humour as long as it is tasteful, relevant and ADDS to the customer experience as this one plain does with a tongue-in-cheek approach. Think of ways you can re-phrase want you do using puns and other linguistic skills – we teach them at Unleash The Speaker Within as well as in our Killer Kopywriting and Konversation Workshops… Contact us if you want to take laughs and giggles and turn them into sales!

Big Mens Clothing For The Significant Man

Sometimes people think that retail businesses have limitations when it comes to Exponential Marketing Strategies. They do and they don’t. It’s just a matter of how you Twist The Kube! Andrew Powell of Montreal Canada knows this only too well and sent this link to a Canadian retailer who has taken the Exponential Marketing Strategy of risk reversal to an extreme… Check out this short article that proves that an Exponential Mindset still wins the game!

Retail Risk Reversal

Click on this link -> Retailer reverses risk to below zero!

There are many instances when I get into a stream of consciousness ‘trance’ and really fun stuff happens. Sometimes I think people think it’s just fun and games, but it’s not – every single one has the opportunity to become a ‘business model or concept’ – here is one example that proves that when you run with something, you can make it into a viable business that really stands out above the crowd!

Antimimeticisomorphism Example: Felony Franks

This is so obvious it’ll make you smile. It’s from Peter the Baker who will be getting his website up and running soon… This is exponentially valuable for anyone who deals with people who want ‘FREE samples’…

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Every week people ring and ask me what type of products I produce and just
about all of them ask if they can have a free sample… so remembering
something that you did when you had your print shops, I came up with this…

“OK I will give you a free sample if you buy a cake from me. That way you get $25.00
return free from your outlay of one cake. That way we both win. I sell a
cake and they get a sample…

If they don’t agree I don’ bother giving away $25.00!

Sometimes it’s the SIMPLEST IDEAS that create the greatest value… There is beauty in the elegance of simplicity!

I just had to share this one example of an Exponential Marketing Strategy that comes from the heart. The New Year is often when most people want to lose weight, get fit and healthy…

Paulo Frietag and Annie Guillet are personal friends of mine – they have produced this amazing book called the Alkaline CookBook that reduces the acid your body creates so you can feel better and in my case play better squash with MORE endurance and RECOVER MORE QUICKLY…

But that’s not the point for today…

I got the PHYSICAL HARD COVER VERSION in the post… It was nicely packaged with a branded sticker, but look at how it was wrapped… WOW!!!

The Alkaline CookBook

This is the hard cover version of the bestselling ebook… Look at the mouth-watering photos… Doesn’t it make you want to go and cook something healthy?!?!

Mouth Watering Meals That Taste Great And Are Healthy!

So what’s today’s business-building distinction/idea?

When you do send your clients products – send them with this kind of packaging and see what happens. Monica and I felt like it was Christmas all over again. The fact that there was a personal note attached made it ever more special…

Don’t rob yourself of making the buying experience enjoyable, memorable and special – your clients want you to do it and WILL REWARD you for it by telling others about you and your product, like I have just done.

Go on and check out the Alkaline CookBook for more than 80 mouth-watering recipes that are each accompanied with beautiful and tantalising photos!

I can’t do this one justice – you have to read this e-mail for yourself…

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SUBJECT: I DON’T BLOODY BELIEVE IT “BUT”

Hi Marc,

Thought I had better tell you this because I don’t believe it happened…

On Sunday I was listening to your Tele Conference Call that you sent me and being the Dinosaur that I am I had just woken up & come out of the cave and was trying to get my head around what you were saying, talking about Bundles and it was not until you mentioned the muffin that I understood…

I used to be a Retail Butcher and when ever there was a shop or establishment that was going bad I would offer the owner a deal and tell them I can double their sales and still make profit on the bottom line.

The first thing I would do after cleaning up would be (we used to call them 2 Fors) to start increasing sales by Bundling — I did not know they were called that…

Well yesterday I thought I would give it a go and bugger me dead I nearly doubled my sales in one day… a normal Monday probably would be about $600.00. Yesterday I took in $1,100.00 in one day…

How does it go again? You know something but you don’t know you know it?!?

Something like that…

If you’ve seen my location you would laugh… It is like Fort Knox security grids everywhere.., and the only cost to do that little exercise was 2 bits of butcher’s paper… I don’t know if I am allowed to a say it or not but, Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching.. Ka-BLOODY-CHING!!!

I just thought I would tell you ..  THAT’S AMAZING!

THANK YOU!

Regards,
Peter Wilson,
Oz Cakes.
64 EAST STREET corner of FITZROY STREET in HADFIELD, Victoria
oz.cakes@bigpond.com
Phone: +61393599292
Fax :    +61393599344
Mobile:  0412 103 943

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When you’re in Melbourne, you want to get out to Peter’s shop… I am sure his pastries are as good as his Exponential Marketing Strategies!

Onward and upward!
Marc

P.S.

If you want results like this – for only $97/month, we’re having a one-time-only Christmas sale with a $2,995 SECRET BONUS GIFT that will knock your socks off, but you have to give us a call on 1800 626 204 to find out what it is.