Epiphany Marketing's Strategic Marketing Blog

Today is National Coffee Day. I still haven’t figured out whose idea that was, but hey… I’m all for celebrating! Especially the beverage that I spend so much of my time with, and even attribute some of my business success to!

Why do I attribute some of my business success to it, you ask? Well… aside from keeping me awake so I can be productive, I frequently use an example from Starbucks when speaking to audiences and training small business leaders to get better results from their marketing.

With the Starbucks example, we are essentially trying to help business owners and those responsible for their marketing to understand this: people aren’t buying what you think you’re selling. Starbucks roasts coffee beans purchased from growers all over the world and sells them primarily by making drinks out of them in their local retail stores. What business is Starbucks in?

a. Coffee

b. Beverages

c. Legal Addictive Stimulants

d. Entertainment

Obviously, if Starbucks answered “A: Coffee” then they would probably have to sell for the lowest price possible. They would compete against anyone and everyone selling coffee. But Starbucks is most famously selling something more. There’s a full discussion of that over here.

Let’s Get to the Free Stuff

That illustration on coffee has helped a lot of business leaders grapple with and ultimately answer the question, “What are you really selling?” And when they realize that they’re selling something different than what their marketing has historically focused on, they realize they need help. That’s what has been great for me because that’s when they realize they need training on how to reach out and get new customers in the 21st Century.

That’s where the free stuff comes in. We’re launching a brand new training course that will begin next week. It’s called “The Secrets of Search Engine Rankings for CEOs, Owners & Executives.” If you’ve ever wondered why your business does or doesn’t show up at the top of page 1 in the Google search results, then this training is for you.

Here are some of the questions we’ll be answering:

• How does Google decide which websites to show on top of page 1?
• How can I find my website’s position if it’s not readily visible on a particular search?
• Do I really have to pay someone to be on top of the search engines or can we get there ourselves?
• What can I do to make sure that my site is moving up?
• How can I make sure I’m not getting ripped off with Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”) services?

This training will happen over the course of 3 LIVE webinars. Each will last approximately 1 hour. Here’s the deal: we will be recording this to produce a brand new product that will sell for $97.

I’d like to give you the opportunity to be in on this product absolutely free. Here’s how it works: anyone who purchases our Ultimate Small Business Growth Kit by Friday at 5pm Eastern will automatically be registered to attend the 3 live training sessions absolutely free! This is a priceless bonus! By attending some (or all) of the webinars live, you’ll have the opportunity to get your questions answered live during the training. People who only catch the recordings after the fact will obviously not be able to do that. So this a huge added value!

Check out all the details for the Ultimate Small Business Growth Kit here.

What Others Are Saying About “The Ultimate Small Business Growth Kit”

From December, 2010:
“A quick note to let you know how valuable your training has been to me! It has already helped me identify several key areas that need my attention to cause my business to flourish like I want it to. I am nowhere near finished the training but I have already identified and implemented some of the ‘techniques,’ as I interact with my customers. The results have been phenomenal! I have already made my money back with the orders I have captured as a result of your training.” (emphasis added)

From March, 2011:
“I wanted to thank you again for the services you provide through Epiphany. I have moved up to the first page of the Google search engine in as little as 3 months! One month ago I secured a $40,000+ contract with a vending manufacturer who found my company on Google. I was also recently contacted by another manufacturer who wants to send us all of his business … and yes he found us on the front page of Google. Don’t stop what you are doing. You are truly a blessing to the business community!” (emphasis added)

Sonya L. Thompson
First Choice Locators & Vending SVC LLC
Minneola, FL

I look forward to “seeing” you on next week’s training webinars! Be sure to purchase by tomorrow (Friday, September 30th) at 5pm Eastern in order to get in on “The Secrets of Search Engine Rankings for CEOs, Owners & Executives” absolutely free!

Happy Coffee Day!

Photo: LotusHead

Free Webinar June 30th: The Latest Tools for Attracting Local Customers

Do you sell your products & services to one or more specific local markets?

Have you convinced yourself that internet marketing doesn’t apply to your business because you serve a local audience?

Are you confused by all of the latest options available to get the word out?

Maybe you’ve wondered about:

• How Google “Places” (map listings) affect your Search Engine Rankings
• How to make Facebook work for your business
• How “Check-ins” via geo-social networks like Foursquare and Facebook Places can help you get more business
• How to deal with negative online reviews about your business

We’ve had so many business owners ask us these and other questions related to the unique challenges & opportunities available for getting more businesses in a local market, that we’ve put together a special free webinar this Thursday at 1pm Eastern replay here.

Who Should Attend?

If you own or manage one or more of these types of businesses:

• retail businesses of any kind (with brick & mortar locations)
• contractors & consumer services (plumbers, electricians, pest control etc.)
• medical practices
• even local B2B businesses

this event is for you. And best of all, we’re giving away this valuable information absolutely free!

In fact, we’ll have one of our existing clients live on the call so we can show you exactly what techniques you can use today to get results!

Space is extremely limited, so you’re going to want to RSVP early to make sure you have a spot check out the replay here.

All you need to attend is your computer (and a phone if your computer doesn’t have speakers). Reserve your spot right away! I’m looking forward to “seeing” you Thursday! 

The replay of this event will be available for a limited time. Be sure to watch it soon… we’ll be taking it down without notice. Hope you enjoy it!

Can You Grow Your Sales Quickly?

One of the most common questions I get asked when speaking to audiences of small business owners and salespeople who earn commissions is:

What can I do that will rapidly produce results for my business?

Now, I’ll be honest with you: I’m not usually a “quick fix” guy. I believe in strategy… and particularly, in consistently executing strategy over time to get results.

But sometimes, a business or salesperson finds itself needing new prospects or customers quickly. Yes… a well-formed, consistent strategy is great, but sometimes you need sales quickly so you can make it long enough to create and implement a longer-term strategy.

The truth is… I understand completely. I’ve created and owned multiple businesses, and sometimes you just find yourself in a tight spot.  I’ve been there.

When that happens, you know that with a bigger budget (or more time), you’d do some other things. But sometimes you just need to do something that gets results so you can create the budget (or time) to do more.

And that’s why I put together Fast Ideas to Skyrocket Your Profits & Sales Now.

Check out the details here.

This is something that’s especially designed for you, and it starts this week. To get on board in time, you’ll need to respond right away.

I’m looking forward to being in touch!

Committed to Growing Your Business,

David G. Johnson, Founder
Epiphany Marketing, LLC

What can you do to sustainably reach out?

You know it… and I know it. Offline marketing the way you’ve always done it doesn’t work. (Stick with me for a video clip about what is working.)

Direct mail response is down. Your hometown newspaper is quickly becoming your hometown leaflet. I’m willing to wager that more copies of your local yellow pages hit the recycling bin the day they got delivered than ever before. (And the ones that didn’t get recycled that day are proudly being used as doorstops — if they’re heavy enough!)

Most trade shows are ghost towns… and the ones that aren’t have attendees instead of buyers. Magazines and other print media have a little life left in them — especially when they’re highly niched.

So you’re in a small business. Either you own the business, or you’re responsible for marketing. It seems like you’ve barely had time to catch your breath. (Maybe you haven’t!)

What the heck are you going to do to find new prospects and customers?

How To Get Sustainable Marketing Results in Your Small Business

Recently a small business owner approached me. Nearly 2 decades ago, Becki bought an already successful florist shop from its original owner. She’s hard-working, professional, and full of ingenuity. She was referred by her hometown web designer. They had built her a functional and visually-appealing website almost 10 years ago, which they’d overhauled once since then. Every day Becki and her crew get new orders from their website.

But like you, Becki wasn’t satisfied with her results.

She was nowhere to be found in Google for the most important searches. Actually, using one of the tools in our bag of tricks, I found her site on page 112. Needless to say: no traffic from Google.

But Becki had already figured out that while she needed to solve that problem quickly, even that wasn’t going to be enough. She was astute enough to know that customers demand interaction — something that is prohibitively difficult in offline media and nearly so in most traditional websites. She recognized that she needed a Facebook presence.

Since a substantial percentage (I’m not going to share the numbers here just to protect her private business information) of her business revolved around weddings, she recognized that brides — especially the twenty-somethings — are using Facebook.

In short, here were the problems she faced:

• She needed to improve her Google rankings
• She needed to put her business on Facebook
• And perhaps most importantly… she needed a strategy and a plan to know what to do with everything to achieve sustainable ongoing results

After I met with Becki, I outlined a simple 3-step plan that would solve all of the above challenges and more. Within 2 weeks after we started working with her, her website was on page 2 of Google. We built out her Facebook presence, and she quickly began gathering fans.

Her ongoing maintenance strategy requires just minutes per week. Some weeks they even skip it completely (not something I recommend).

Just a few months later, Becki’s shop has 315 fans on Facebook. She’s received thousands of new visitors to her websites, and countless phone calls.

But Here’s the Kicker… Her Sales Have Multiplied

Becki told me yesterday that by the end of this month, she will have processed as many orders in the first 3 months of this year as she did in all of last year. Here’s what she had to say:

You can hear her whole story in a free webinar on Thursday, March 18th at 9PM US Eastern Time. Space is limited! Reserve your spot here right now. I’ll show you exactly how to do what she did!

Now… you may be saying, “I don’t sell products online.” No problem. At the very least, you can get your phone to ring (just like Becki did)… or whatever it is that you need people to do to get into your sales process.

Don’t wait! Register now even if you’re not sure you can make it. Talk to you soon!

I gotta tell ya… it’s very exciting to me. We recently wrapped up a consulting project for Ziglar, Inc.  And I’m still pinching myself. I’ll never forget the first time I heard  Zig Ziglar’s distinctive voice… I was in middle school in Texas, and we got a 2-minute dose of “I’ll See You at the Top” every single day on the announcements. He had an impact on me way back then, and has continued to do so throughout my life. I’m grateful to the Assistant Principal of the school who made it a point to infuse every day with Zig’s positive, insightful, motivational wisdom.

Working with the Ziglar team, they tell me that everybody has a Ziglar story. Whether it happened through one of his famous live talks to audiences numbering in the tens of thousands, or through one of his best-selling books, or through one of his audio series, when someone contacts Ziglar, Inc. they have a story to tell about something that changed their life.  Many times the stories are quite dramatic.

Of course, there’s much more to the Ziglar organization than just Zig’s speaking and his books, CDs, training programs and audio downloads. They offer world-class corporate training solutions for just about any size business — and I do mean any size. And they’ve recently begun conducting webinars featuring both their top-flight in-house experts as well as outside experts.

I was thrilled to be invited to speak to their audience next week for an event entitled:

How to Attract Customers at Low Cost in this Tough Economy

Hosting the event will be CEO Tom Ziglar, who tags his blog posts, “Proud Son of Zig Ziglar.” Tom is now tasked with taking their business into the future and has quite the vision for the impact they — as a company — can have. He’s been handed the reigns of a multi-million-dollar business and handles himself without any of the awkward trappings that are typical of someone who has grown up in the shadow of a household name. It’s an honor to be associated with him and with the phenomenal team he leads.

In any case, if you’re looking to make the transition into how to thrive in the 21st-century… in any economy, then I hope you’ll join us. The 90-minute event will be jam-packed with practical information that you can put to use right away in your business.

Among the subjects we’ll be covering:

• The Top 5 Mistakes Businesses Make When the Economy Goes South… and how to avoid them!
• Why Things That Worked 10 Years Ago… 5 Years Ago… Even Last Year Don’t Work Anymore… and what you can do about it!
• How to Make Sure that the People Looking to Buy What You Sell Find You… Instead of Your Competition!
• and, of course… much, much, more!

Courtesy of Ziglar, Inc., this event is being made available absolutely free of charge.

Check out all the details… along with a quick video of Zig and Tom Ziglar right here!

Oh… and you’ll want to reserve your spot early, because the 2 time slots will fill up quickly!

Don’t miss the info on all 3 bonuses in this video… plus, I show you exactly where we’re going to meet this Saturday at the end… and you’ll also hear 2 quick stories about businesses getting results now!

Bonus #1 (valued at $297) was added a couple of days ago — it’s the 2.5-hour downloadable video training on the subject of e-mail. It includes step-by-step instructions for how to manage your e-mail database as well as how to avoid blacklisting and SPAM accusations.  You’ll come back to this training session again and again!

Bonuses 2 & 3 have just been added today!  In fact, the Results Now Marketing website doesn’t even mention any of these bonuses…

Bonus #2: Advanced Keyword Training (valued at $297).  This is another downloadable video that teaches you in detail (including step-by-step instructions) how to discover the exact nuances of keywords that your future customers are using to search Google and other search engines.  Many businesses that obtain just one new client would already have earned enough to more than pay for this video at its full retail price.  But… it’s not available for sale anywhere!  Only our members have access to it, and you’ll receive 60-day download access to it absolutely FREE when you register for Results Now Marketing.

Bonus #3: Our Resources List (priceless!) You know, if I were to tell you that I had a piece of paper that was worth thousands upon thousands of dollars, you might be interested to find out why.  Am I right?

You see, it’s not the paper itself… it’s what’s written on the paper that makes it valuable.  And… what’s written on the paper isn’t just a collection of words.  This list of resources has taken years to put together… years of trial and error.  Investment of thousands upon thousands of dollars in both cash and in my time.  I have never before offered this list to anyone. You will receive it absolutely FREE as part of your training in the Results Now Marketing seminar this Saturday.

These bonuses are worth $594 at a very minimum… and thousands (or even tens of thousands) at most.

As I’ve already mentioned… those of you who have already paid for your registration for this weekend’s event are receiving these bonuses too!  This is just our surprise way of over-delivering.  But if you haven’t yet registered, then these bonuses add significant value to the investment you’re about to make.

Reserve your spot right now.

Have you wondered why your tried and true historic methods of gaining new customers have been less and less fruitful in recent years?

Consider this: according to author David Shenk in his 1999 book, Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut, the average American was exposed to 560 marketing messages per day… in 1971.

By the 1990s, that estimate had reached 3,000 per day.

With the explosion of the number of channels on cable and satellite TV, the number of display ads being served on websites, the advent of Google, YouTube, FaceBook and other new media outlets, the number of marketing messages your customers are being exposed to every single day has exponentially increased!

Understanding what this means and how it affects your efforts to drive new prospects into your business can absolutely make or break your business in today’s world.

Getting results in the 21st Century is a different ball game. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce that we’re bringing our revolutionary training to Sarasota, FL on September 27th. Until now, this training has only been available through our 12-week online program. We’ve condensed it down to a half-day event, and it’s sure to change the results of local business people.

Find out more about this event at Results Now Marketing.  Hopefully, we’ll get to meet you there!