The Sales Process - Scott Andrews on ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business Talk Radio

Don't miss today's ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business radio show on "The Sales Process", where Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions is discussing how to sell, in elaborate detail.

July 16 - Wednesday - 2PM PST / 5PM EST

Dial in during the show: call (724)444-7444 enter 37798 # 1 # to call in and ask Scott questions.

To chat questions during the show or listen to the show, visit: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798

NEW! Listen to the recording of the show here in this player:

The REAL Value of Online Networking

I've been using social networks in an avid way since about 1997. The first site to intice me to use a social network for business was Ryze. Ryze was really booming in San Francisco in 2002, then sort of tuckered out, although every now and again I find someone new getting active there. I was involved during the year that we had these cool business mixers, followed by a party. I was into that. Some business people were turned off by the alcohol, the loud music, and such, but I thought it was all part of the fun. I met several of my best friends through the Ryze mixers in San Francisco.

You'll notice that I'm not talking about the online activity nearly as much as the FACE-TO-FACE activity that resulted out of Ryze. Because, that is truly the value of an online network: it leads you to face-to-face networking.

FACT: The best online networks increase your face-to-face networks.

So, look for this in your network.

In fact, now that I think about it, AOL chat rooms that were popular in the late 1990's were about this, too. You'd connect online, then meet in person. I'm sure most who read this will remember the movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan called You've Got Mail, which introduced the concept of online dating to the masses. Again, they met online, but then took it into real life. That's the way a good social network ought to function. I met a former band-mate, Dino, through those AOL Chat rooms. I also got connected with American Cancer Society events, and met a few other people, too.

A couple of years ago, I built a profile on LinkedIn. But I didn't push it, because I felt it a bit limiting. And, here is where I must lament the value of LinkedIn versus my latest craze: Plaxo. The problem with LinkedIn, in my opinion, is that the system is too closed. I can only email. I don't see a full stream of what people are doing, and it is difficult to navigate. Also, I can't even email half the people without having to pay $30/month fees (or higher). That can get costly. Is LinkedIn worth my cable bill? Frankly, I'm not sure. Since LinkedIn displays your career time line like an online resume, I'd say it is great for recruiters. For everyone else, it's mostly a time-suck. Yes, I use it, but I'm not nearly as active as when I first joined. When I use LinkedIn now, I always include my phone number and invite a call. I just want my connections to be real life connections.

Better online networking:

Now, on the contrary, the new Plaxo, with their Pulse streams, have made it easier to network, view your contact's phone number, email, websites, and so forth. If I want their resume, I can always ask for it. Five people in the last week have called me from my Plaxo networks, in desire to KNOW me. That rocks. Yes, Plaxo sucks time, too. But, the difference is that I'm building a vast global network of people interested in the same things I want to build through my groups function. Not only that, but because I moderate the group, I can control postings. If people get off-topic, their post is deleted. Repeat violators are tossed from my group. I know: I'm harsh. But I hate SPAM. The groups are great, though, because you can connect with like-minded people.

Spam in online networking is a problem, but I get surprised when people report my AspireNow newsletter as SPAM. Why would they do that? After all, they have to double-opt-in to join! This simple fact alone means that my emails are SPAM compliant, not to mention that I run them through Constant Contact, which also enables me to follow the rules. People are so touchy about SPAM - but with good reason. REAL SPAM, is the type where people post to every group a feed about their MLM (Multi-level marketing business), or some other venture, that often appears totally unrelated to the group(s) they posted into. At Plaxo, I detest SPAM, and will quickly rebuke those who violate it in my groups. At the same time, this doesn't negate the power of the group.

An example of online networking results:

For example, this morning I met three new people who are interested in my latest programs, www.howbloggersmakemoney.com and www.coldtogold.com. I would not have met these people had I not been active in Plaxo.

Another example of the power of Internet networking, is how people have involved me in their technology. Today, somone posted an inquiry in my group. I read the post. At first, I thought it had nothing to do with Advanced Collaboration, then I realized it had EVERYTHING to do with Advanced Collaboration. Since I'm building a software program under the veil of http://www.semanticcollaboration.com/, I'm deeply interested in posts like the Wikinomics: the future of social networking.

If you're seeking ways to boost your own social networking, check out Plaxo, and also drive your network back into real-time. No, they're not paying me to plug them. I just like their site. But take the online networking into the real world. Pick up a phone, call the person. Schedule a meeting if you live close to each other. That way, you'll really reap the value of your online networks.
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Post by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Copyright © 2007 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. You may republish this article only if you publish in WHOLE with the COPYRIGHT and ALL ACTIVE LINKS intact.

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The Best Way To Increase Email Open Rates

The Top Way To Boost Your Email Marketing Is To Increase Your Email Open Rates.

Seems easy enough, right? Well, not really. Most people don't realize the #1 way to increase email open rates all keys on one concept:

Write Better Subject Lines.

STRONG SUBJECT LINES are the single most important way to increase your email open rate on emails sent out to a list, database, or newsletter.

That's right. You often end how you begin. Begin with a poor subject line, and people opt-out or fail to open your email (or e-mail). So, be smarter than that, and write catchy headlines that increase traffic and increase website traffic.

Ways to increase your email open rates:

1. Write from the reader or prospect's perspective (instead of the marketing perspective). This is the #1 problem with most email subject lines. Their perspective is backwards. Just as with selling, when the salesperson is obsessed with telling you all about their product, if they don't know what YOU NEED or build a RELATIONSHIP PRIOR to trying to sell something to you (or just allowing you to buy) they'll fail, it is the same with Email Marketing. First, build a relationship. Second, understand the buyer's needs. Third, understand their emotional reasons and logical reasons why they might need your product. Fourth, position your product to address those reasons. Fifth, make it easy to buy. Okay, I digress.

A better way to increase your open rate:

Write to what your customer or prospect cares about instead of writing what you want to sell. We need help with things like (a) more traffic, (b) more customers, (c) more sales, (d) losing weight, (e) staying young, (f) quitting smoking, (g) dress to impress, (h) how to get more love, (i) better meals, (j) more restful sleep... and so on. So, take smoking, for example. You wouldn't say "Five patches to help you with smoking." It would be better to write "Having problems quitting smoking?" Now you're writing about the problem, not your solution. (The solution will come inside the email, not in the subject line.) You will increase your open rate if you think about what the reader needs to see rather than what you want them to see.

2. My most powerful method to increase e-mail opens is to ASK A QUESTION. Using a question is the single best way to increase an email open, because what must we do with a question?

Right. ANSWER IT. So, try rewriting your subject line from a statement to a question. Instead of "We found a way to quit smoking," Better would be "Want a new method to quit smoking?" Fortunately, I have seen very little SPAM with a question mark, so your email is not likely to get flagged for SPAM violations.

3. Find a problem. Increase opens because they will care more. The first thing customers care about is their problem. Write about it. Just as with good headlines in PR, it's the same with Email Marketing in trying to increase your email opens. Find a problem that your article, product, or service solves. Then look at the email from the perspective of the PROBLEM, not the solution.

Say, for example, that you're selling highly professional website design. Your headline might be: "Warning: Is Your Website Ruining Your Professional Image?"

4. An email gets opened when it offers something new, better, or secret. So, offer a secret to get your email opened. Or, offer something new and improved. These words have been staples in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry for so long for a good reason: because they work! "New and Improved! Want new secrets to Vista?" Might be a developer's handbook subject line for secrets to using Vista. Or, "Secrets From A Guru Revealed: How To Build Your List Faster With Less Effort" might be a way to sell an email list marketing solution.

5. Using names to improve your email open rates. First Name/Last Name? People think if you use my name, I'll open it. Perhaps, but what if you used the WRONG name. That's a surefire way to make sure I'll delete it. Or, if the end-user goes by Mike, but his website name is Michael, he can screen you because you'll say "Hey Michael..." See what I mean? As an email recipient, I'd rather you tell me YOUR name. If I like it, I might open it.

For example, "ARRiiVE Discovered The Top Problem With Email Opens" might get read more than "Michael, buy this powerful email marketing tips e-book." Even better: "Want to discover ARRiiVE's secrets to increase your email open rate?"

6. Poor word choice limits email opens. Good word choice will increase your open rate. Words like Welcome... Free.... Win... might either turn off your prospect, or worse, get caught in a SPAM filter, so your prospect never sees the message at all. Exclamation points are over-excited. Avoid those. Even F-R-E-E could get you blocked. Hey, Hi... What's up? Are all getting blocked by some people. No subject line at all is definitely a no-no.

Better word choices: Secret... Top 5 Ways... Challenges facing...

7. Make a joke. Depending upon your industry, saying something funny might increase your open. Or, if it is a holiday, you might say, "A Funny Message for Thanksgiving" as people like funny emails. You can also get clever. Words with the "K" sound make people laugh. If you want people to think your email is funny, you could say, "Want To Touch Something Squishy?" That sounds funny, silly, and inviting. I'd expect a goofy email to follow.

8. Offer a Statistic to increase open rates. Even better yet, a statistic is more powerful if the statistic is something shocking. For example, a company who helps you quit smoking might say: "15 Million People died of lung cancer this year. Are you next?" They're hitting the problem square in the nose: it isn't smoking, it's HEALTH! Identifying the right problem, then giving a statistic for that, especially a shocking one - people's health, baby health, loss of something, or so forth, can be shocking. Like "100 Billion In Toxic Waste. What About Your Baby's Diapers?" might be a way to sell "green" diapers, for example.

One funny email I'm thinking about trying is this: "Only 3% of people will open this email." Just to see what percentage opens it.

9. Keep Is Succinct. The only thing I don't like about the last example I gave is the LENGTH. Sometimes, length matters. As in, brevity. And, the more powerful way to say it is with the right words, in as few words, as possible. In my tests to write this blog posts, I found that subject lines with 49 or fewer characters had click-through rates 75 percent higher than for those with 50 or more characters.

Try these tips to increase email open rates and see if you don't increase your email opens in your email campaigns.

If you're seeking more of this type of information, I'm publishing a new e-book on email marketing, which will be coming out in about a month. Add our feed and you can keep track of the product announcement.

Remember, with your subject line, you've got about 3 seconds to impress someone, if that. So, it has to be powerful, concise, intriguing, funny, shocking, or at least intriguing enough to get an open.

I'm actually thinking I need to update how I do my newsletter, to address these, rather than say "AspireNow's Monthly Newsletter" as that does not follow the guidelines of my subject lines. So, see, sometimes in writing advice, we improve our own material. If you subscribe to AspireNow's Newsletter, you'll see how I do at following my own advice!

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Post by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales and marketing, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Copyright © 2007 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. You may republish this article only if you publish in WHOLE with the COPYRIGHT and ALL ACTIVE LINKS intact.

More joy than jellybellies: SUBSCRIBE to our feed to stay "in the know" with articles like this.

Internet Video Ads: Is This The Future of Advertising?

Have you noticed the increasing prevailing pattern of major news sources putting ads in the front of their video footage on Internet Video clips?

Is this annoying you? It bugs the heck out of me. But, they've got my eyeball attention, so why not hold those "eyeballs" hostage?

There are different methods being utilized regarding advertising on, around, and within videos played on the Web. We'll examine five of them here:

1. Ads around the box. These are the least intrusive, to me. They can put an ad next to the box, I'll still see it, but it isn't BLOCKING the content I'm trying to view. This is a friendly way of doing ads, although the ad is not interactive beyond the simple click and view. An example of ads around the box is with Yahoo, who puts their ad in a sidebar on their home page. The ad may or may not be interactive. Yahoo also uses text ads for "sponsored by" for their stock watch and also the "marketplace section" appear to be text-based ads.

2. Peeling or Rollover ads. This is a fairly new ad methodology where you show an ad that peels back from the page you are viewing. The peeler ad is not very intrusive, and the viewer only sees the total ad content if they click the peeler. One of the more interesting Rollover ads I saw came up today while looking at Ad ratings for this blog article. An example of a peeling ad includes:

I saw a "roll-over this ad" comment and moused over it, to reveal an Eye Wonder Testimonial ad campaign. I loved the ad format, with testimonials from clients, then they used my #5 strategy here, end of ad to ask "Does your rich media company deliver results like this for you? They should. Contact Eye Wonder." Brilliant! (Only Eye Wonder's website fails the rule of Google [read: load fast] and took so long to load I got bored and clicked away from their site.

Here's a page with the Eyewonder rollover, last I checked: http://www.clickz.com/3627158 or
http://cdn.eyewonder.com/100125/adWdrDemos/749947/749947_88939_24597_Demo.html
(I just read that the ad won an award). According to Eye Wonder, "Video has been embraced as the future of online advertising." I tend to agree with them. Methods that work as well as theirs are likely to further that aim.

3. Ads in front of the video.
Now, here's where I was expecting to find ads in front of the video: at NBC, at their version of "The Office" show online. Guess what? Not only did I NOT find ads in front, I found NO ads at all! The shock! The Horror! So, sometimes, in life, on the Internet, we are still pleasantly surprised (note: with nagging thought in the back of my mind..."I wonder when they'll add ads to this?"). http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/episodes.shtml

So, an example of where they DO have ads in front, see this:
http://www.nbc.com/Bionic_Woman/video/#cat=new
Ahh. Yes. Much like I thought I'd see with The Office. Whoever is running that part of the website. Thank you. For the bionic women, I might say I missed the front part of the Bionic woman clip because I didn't want to see the Mazda commercial. (Sorry Mazda). I guess you could say that I personally DISDAIN ads in the front of my video. For the same reason I stopped watching AMC and switched to Turner. Go figure. Moving on...

4. Pop-up ads during the video. This is a strategy being utilized by Google. It reminds me of watching a show and having people walk across the television screen from an upcoming show. It is annoying, and definitely more interactive than passive, as you can click to view the ad, but you're going to see the transparent part of the ad regardless. In addition, the ad is in the middle of the clip, meaning that the ad becomes more VIRAL, as you pass the video around, everyone sees the ad. Last, this ad strategy is being auditioned by Google, who owns You Tube.

According to Regalix, "The overlay ad strategy is not new but the massive popularity of YouTube will certainly give Google an unfair competitive advantage and turn the format into an industry standard, especially for short video content.

Whether the other major video content providers like MySpace, AOL & Yahoo follow suit, remains to be seen. As the proliferation and popularity of user generated content or viewer created content increases, online video advertising seems to be coming of age at the right time." (source: http://www.Regalix.com).

Hmm. I wish the people at Google watched The Office. But, you can't sell thin air, now, can you? Thinking back to when a friend came back from Jamaica with a can of "Fresh Jamaica Sunshine" it dawns on me that, even though it may be a gag, you CAN sell thin air. Just as long as you wrap it in a funny jar, can, or other wrapping.

5. Ads after the video or at the end of the video. This is a strategy being utilized by i-Justine, a self-proclaimed "lifecaster" who has developed a skill at both directing, producting, and starring in personal video's aimed at humor, spoofs, and technology (most notably, Apple). She hit it big with over 1,000,000 views with her "First Apple i-Phone bill in a box" video. I noticed in that video she placed an image to "save a tree" at the end of her video, clearly utilizing an add at the end of the video as a method to capture your attention and hopefully act accordingly.

Another example of "ad contained in the end" is by Human Flipbook (http://www.humanflipbook.com), who created a complete flip book video using t-shirts: http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1191601&fr=&cache=1. This video was, without a doubt, one of the more innovative and viral campaigns I've seen from a SANDWICH SHOP online! Nice.

I actually find this model of advertising to be the friendliest, least obtrusive, because I have the right to click away to something else or click on the ad, and the ad didn't hold my eyeballs hostage either before the video or during the video. I clicked on both the sites at the end. However, that's user experience. It is possible that the ads for video may follow a similar pattern for Google AdSense ads, whereas a certain percentage will hit an add in front, another percentage will hit the ads next to the video, another percentage will click ads in the middle, and another percentage in the end.

We'll have to run a test on this and report back to you when we have more data as to which type of ad is most effective.

In the meantime, I'd suggest the following: "Do unto others as you wish it done unto you." If you want people putting ads in the front of their videos, put ads in the front of yours.