How To Make Powerful Offers That Instantly Attract New Customers To Your Business

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Getting new customers is easy if you know how. Most people in business do it the hard way. I'll show you the easy way. And it's also the cheapest way to get all the customers you want.

To do this I need to explain what's known as the "Lifetime Value" of a customer to you. No matter how large or small your business, no matter what product or service you sell, you must first calculate the Lifetime Value of your customer. Once you know it, you can decide exactly what you can afford to spend to bring in a new customer - and the best way to go about it.

In a nutshell the Lifetime Value of a customer is...

The average purchase value, multiplied by the number of times they buy from you in a year, multiplied by the number of years they remain your customer.

For example: You own a restaurant and your regular customer spends £25 each time they visit you, of which £15 is profit. Let's say they come to eat 12 times per year and stay with you for 2 years on average.

This makes your regular customer worth £15 x 12 x 2 = £360 in profit to your business.

And once you know this...

...you'll know what you can afford to spend in order to get new customers.

Most marketing promotions consist of ads in the newspapers and magazines, beautiful brochures and outdoor signs. They do mail shots telling the world about their wonderful products, service and themselves. And they usually offer a 'special' discount. Something weak, like 10% or 15% off or £10 discount every time you spend £100. Let's face it - how excited do you get when you see these promotions?

Well, let me tell you about Warren, an Australian entrepreneur who built a business starting from zero using this approach. He spent $1 million building 3 tennis courts, swimming pools, game room and barbecue facilities in the middle of Sydney. The place was magnificent. There was one problem:

He had no customers.

So this is what he did. For one month he advertised in the local newspapers: Free Tennis Lessons, Free Court Hire, Free Barbecues and Swimming Pool Parties. And guess what happened? That's right!! The place was packed out from 7 a.m. 'til 10 p.m. every day that month.

He gave away lots of tennis lessons, sausages and court hire. It cost him a few thousand dollars. The interesting part is that at the end of the month, he had a going business. The courts were booked solid, and have been ever since.

Warren understood what a new customer was worth to him. He knew that once people got used to playing at his courts instead of someone else's they'd be back. He charged more per hour for court hire and coaching than the other tennis court complexes. But the customers got extra value with the swimming pool and barbecue facilities and friendlier service.

Because Warren knew what the Lifetime Value of his customer was, he gave something away and ended up making a fortune.

But what if you don't have a tennis complex? How can you apply this to your business? Here are some examples:

Accountants, lawyers and specialist consultants can give away a free consultation worth £150.Florists - a free bouquet.Grocery shops - coupons for free food items.Car service centres - free first service or free brake checks.Landscapers and nurseries - free lawn reports.Retail businesses - no strings attached free gift vouchers.

Anyone can use this technique. I am always offering potential customers FREE information. And some of those people end up spending thousands of pounds with me.

What I am really doing is "buying" new customers.

"Buying" new customers with an irresistible offer really works, and it works amazingly well almost every time. However, please be warned, it won't work if:

your offer is weakyou target the wrong peopleyour product or service is lousyyou don't follow up your customers

Human beings are creatures of habit. We keep doing the same old comfortable things we've always done. To get a potential customer to break their habit of going to another business, you must give them a very strong reason to try you. That's why a FREE offer is so effective.

It's a risk free way for them to get to sample your product or service.

A Word Of Caution

Before you rush out and start making free offers to the world, work out the Lifetime Value of your customer and test all your offers and ideas on a small scale.

Analyze the results, adjust your approach if needed, and only then go all out. If you test everything you do on a small scale first, you'll never get burned.

But you will knock the socks of your competitors every single time, because they'll still be offering 10% off.

Melina Abbott helps small business owners get new customers and more sales. You can download her popular free bulletin - How to Attract New Customers in 7 Easy Steps - at http://www.businessbyresults.com/free-marketing-resource/

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Why Defining Your Target Market Is the Fastest Way to Increase Sales and Attract Customers Who Buy

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The purpose of a solid marketing plan is to act like a sorting and sifting machine that attracts a select group of customers who want what your business sells.This defines your "target market," and that's where you need to start. Otherwise your marketing efforts will end up attracting customers who really don't want to buy what you sell. And guess what? They'll waste your time and they won't buy anything! So to avoid wasting ad dollars on the wrong people, you must start by targeting the right people, and this article explains why.

I believe that most customers have no idea what, exactly, they really want or need. They have a "feeling" about it, or a friend told them to buy "such and such," but rarely will you meet a customer who truly knows the best way to solve their own problem. It's up to your business to provide the expertise and experience that guides them to a valuable solution, or the solution the customers really wants.

Your customers need help because we humans are goal seeking creatures, and it puts us in a position of always wanting, but not knowing how to get there. We try new things and then realize there's more to it than we imagined, so we look for help completing what we started.

For example:

Let's say your goal is to build a simple outdoor bench. You go to the hardware store and tell the clerk you need a drill and a selection of bits, bolts and nuts. (You have the wood.) The clerk hands you what you request, but when you get home, you realize the cord on the drill is too short to reach the patio and you don't have an extension. Then you realize that you bought the wrong kind of bits for the bolts you purchased.

Hmmm. What's missing in this picture?

The clerk didn't know what you had in mind and they didn't bother to find out. So you bought the products you thought were best, and none of them solved your problem. You can't really "blame" the store, but what if the clerk had given you some helpful direction that a few thoughtful questions could have supplied? How much more inclined would you be to shop at that hardware store again?

That's a hands-on example of why It's up to you, the business owner, to learn as much as you can about the people your business attracts so you can become their best problem solver. Better yet, it's up to you to attract ONLY the type of customers who have problems that your products and services are designed to solve so they know they're dealing with experts who will steer them the right way.

Effective marketing must be specific and targeted, so now it's time to get very specific about:

How your products are usefulWhat benefit they will experience (their value)Who the people are that will use them

These add up to your target market (your ideal clients.) Like all people, customers have their preferences, habits, fears and suspicions, desires and joys, problems and pain. Which of these things come into play concerning your products or services? Write them out. Now, reduce your description to the most accurate "fit."

This is information provides the fuel for your marketing and sales funnel. It's like drilling for oil. The deeper you go (the more targeted your market niche) the more likely you are to strike gold. But you cannot dig randomly. Look for indications that there's oil waiting to be discovered!

Here are some tips to help you define your Ideal Customer:

Find an image that represents your ideal customer (Or several.)

Answer these questions (Don't over think it.)

What are their hobbies, favorite foods or TV shows, preferred books, magazines, or clothing designersDo they have a family, want to get married, get into college, or lose 30 lbs.?Where do they live, what car do they drive, and what beliefs shape their lives?

So get busy and start brainstorming.

You can do as much research as you want, but the goal is to match your products to an ideal customer whose very thoughts you can read, and whose desires are reflected by your ads, sales letters, and by the brand presence you develop to attract this particular niche market. You can hire someone to do the work for you, but first be sure you can answer "How, Who, and What," plus the 3 questions above.

Marketing conveys the value you have to offer your customers. It's finding the words they want to hear that describe the results they want to get. When your message matches their desire, expect an oil gushl!

When you target your market, your business will experience incredible marketing power that produces sales easily and consistently. A little research and planning makes all the difference in the long run. Trust me, if you don't know what your customers really want and what motivates them to buy, now is a good time to find out!

Betsy Shulman loves to help business owners grow their businesses and increase their sales with simple marketing and selling solutions. That's why she uses a common sense approach that positions your business products so they attract targeted customers who are ready to buy. It doesn't need to be complicated! Her free Sales Action Guide: "How to Make Selling Easy" is filled with ready-to-apply selling tips. So be sure to visit http://www.rightmindmarketing.com/ and pick up your Free copy!

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