The Most Important Tip for New Business Startups

One of the newsletters I subscribe to and always make a point of reading is Michael Masterson‘s "Ready, Fire, Aim" dispatch.   It’s smart, engaging and no-nonsense insight into how Michael thinks and looks at business, and is a fast, easy read.

For example, today he mentioned the basics of starting a business that new entrepreneurs should be focused on:

• Know the top-selling products in your industry.
• Know what marketing methods the most successful companies use.
• Understand what your optimal selling strategy is.
• Know what the best offers are for the market you have targeted.
• Understand what a house file is and how to build it.
• Know why you shouldn’t use brand marketing when starting out.
• Have a very good idea of which marketing channel will work best.
• Be prepared to spend 80 percent of your time, money, and efforts to make your first profitable sales.

This really resonates with me.  Lately, I’ve been emphasizing to many of my clients how important it is to focus on understanding the market, knowing your customers’ deepest needs and desires, and using your competition as an ultimate resource to (a) prove there is a market, (b) identify the features and benefits customers value; and (c) how you might position your own products and services in the market to fulfill an unmet need.

It’s a tough sell.

Usually clients want to go straight to tactical questions.  "Yeah, but how do I get my website up" or "How do I create an ebook" and so on. 

I get that.   Having a site online, or an optin page ready to collect email addresses gives the feeling of progress.  We can DO something, and after a while, we can SEE something.

Strategy and research don’t give us that same visceral feeling of success.  It’s mundane, laborious, work with no tangible results.

The challenge is that without the clarity that market research provides, your beautiful website and product graphics and world-leading content may not be relevant in the market to which you promote.  Think of it like trying to sell a hamburger to vegetarians.  Great product, wrong market.

So I urge you now: slow down on the implementation just long enough so you get real clear that all your time, money and effort will produce a product or service that has the greatest chance of success.  Take a month to understand your market fully, and save yourself from losing money over years of frustration.

And please take special note of the final bullet: "Be prepared to spend 80 percent of your time, money, and efforts to make your first profitable sales".

My heart breaks to watch so many well-intended entrepreneurs invest in professional development, continuing education, a myriad of $97 products that end up on the shelf, or trying each new marketing tactic that some guru or another made a million dollars on last month. 

In no time, they are tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars in debt trying to get the business off the ground -- with no income to offset these expenses.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m a BIG fan of continuing education and development.  But at the start of a new business -- especially if you’re a novice entrepreneur -- cash is king.  All those advanced strategies and indirect marketing techniques can come later, when you have the business assets (cash, large list, industry relationships, experience, etc) that will make them work.

If you’re just starting out, or if you’ve been at it for a while and not seeing income, consider the following:

- Don’t spend anymore money on anything that doesn’t directly produce sales -- unless it comes from the PROFITS you generate from those sales.

- Budget your expenses and know where you apply your funds, what results you expect, and by when.  Don’t talk yourself into going over budget because what you’re buying has a fuzzy, indirect or unmeasurable impact on generating more sales.

- Become familiar with the lowest cost, or free, marketing strategies and use them first.

- Focus most of your early time, energy and money on creating products and services, and promoting those products and services.  Everything else is secondary until you are sustainably, predictably, profitable.

- Focus on direct-response marketing.

- Adopt the paradigm that "everything is a test".  Don’t get down about things that don’t work out as planned.  It’s not about you -- it’s just more market data that you can use.  Review the results, then quickly correct and continue on course until you get the results you expect.

You know enough, and you are enough to get started now.  Act quickly, but wisely.

To your fulfilling success,
Lou

Technorati Tags: business, marketing, entrepreneur, advice, tips, internet, coaches, coaching, small business

Tubemogul Video Viewer Research Stats

Dave Kaminski, (Web Video University) has always told me to keep marketing videos down to 2-3 minutes.  Tight and snappy, says David.

I just saw an interesting chart in a recent edition of the Tubemogul newsletter that shows how much of a typical online video is actually watched (below).  In not only validates what David’s advice, but the stats prove it out: the shorter the better.

I notice many videos I watch are "saving the best for last".  The call to action or the "meat" is in the last 10-25% of the video.

But this graph tells me that I’d better capture attention fast (10-20 seconds) and get the key points across in the first 30-60 seconds, or I’ll lose up to almost 90% of my viewers.

For slides-based (i.e. powerpoint style) video sales letters, this reinforces the idea that crafting a video is much like writing a sales letter. 

Connect with the viewers and grab their attention instantly with the first slide or two, create curiosity or desire to watch more, then work the "bucket brigade" effect where each set of 1-3 slides creates desire to keep watching, while building value and curiosity towards the call to action.

For full motion videos, it gets even more challenging, where you have to create an interesting enough sequence of image, video and sound clips to engage the reader instantly, and keep their attention.

Clearly the more thought and planning that goes into your videos, the better. Just as clearly, the faster your message connects and captures the viewer attention, the more likely your viewer keeps watching until the call to action.

If you’re not Martin Scorcese, and you want to learn to make effective video sales and marketing presentations, check out David’s Web Video University.  Not only does Dave really know his stuff — but he knows how to teach it so YOU can master it.

I bounced through the lessons in Web Video University and had my first 3 minute promotional video online in a day.  Complete with music, narration, special effects and a tight promotional message.

Mind you, I’m talking specifically about promotional videos.  If you want to teach or entertain through a movie, well…stretch it a bit, naturally — just don’t go "Ghandi" on your viewers.

Once your killer video’s complete, you’ll want to use TubeMogul or Traffic Geyser to get it out to all the major video portals -- fast.

Doing video marketing? Want to do video marketing?  Would love to know: What does this graph say to you and what new action does it motivate you to take, if any?