That Payday Punch

To maintain order of the world, our brains link objects, gestures, and symbols with our feelings, memories, and life experiences. We mentally associate ourselves with such things as endorsements, sights, sounds, colors, music, and symbols, just to name a few. This association allows us to make judgment calls when we don’t have the required time to do thorough research.

Master Persuaders take advantage of association to evoke positive feelings and thoughts that correspond with the message they are trying to convey. In this sense, you, as a persuader, can actually arouse a certain feeling in your audience by finding the right association key to unlock the door. Associations are not the same for all people–obviously, each person has their own set of triggers. However, once you understand the general rules, you can find the right associations to match any prospect. And of course, some associations are universal for an entire culture.

Another aspect of the Law of Association is the use of affiliation. Persuaders want you to affiliate their company with positive images, feelings, and attitudes. We tend to affiliate our feelings with our surroundings and environment and then transfer our feelings to those we are with. For example, one frequently used technique is to feed take the prospect to lunch. Why? Because people like the individuals and the things they experience while they are eating (if the food and company are good). The idea is to link something positive in the environment with your message.

For example, a good game of golf, a weekend at the beach, NFL tickets, or an exotic cruise would all typically build positive associations and feelings in your prospects. Do you remember ever noticing how, after a crushing victory, sweatshirts sporting the university’s logo were seen all over the place? People want to be associated with winners. In fact, a study showed that when a university football team won, more students would wear that college’s sweatshirts. The bigger the victory, the more college sweatshirts become visible. When you bring positive stimuli into the situation, you will be associated with the pleasant feeling you have created.

We are now going to discuss four different affiliations that are most often used. They are as follows: advertising, sponsorships, images, and color. Each of these techniques has a unique role in affiliation.

Advertisers and marketers use affiliation to evoke valuable associations in the minds of their prospects. They know that babies and puppy dogs automatically carry great associations of warmth and comfort in the minds of their audience. Consequently, we see tire commercials with babies and car commercials with puppies, even though cars and tires aren’t really warm and cuddly. These warm appeals grab our attention and create positive associations in our mind.

Want some other examples? Consider some of the popular slogans: “Like a good neighbor,” “The same as home-style cooking,” “Like a rock,” and “The breakfast of champions.” Using slogans in this way, marketers are able to readily create positive feelings and associations without having to create a new image. They simply create even stronger and more positive associations with what already exists.

One of the most common examples of advertising affiliation occurs in the alcohol and cigarette industries. How often do you see a lung cancer patient in a cigarette ad? Instead, advertisers in these industries use young vibrant people who are in the prime of their lives. The beer companies want you to associate drinking beer with having fun and attracting the opposite sex. Their ads portray images of men and women having fun, while surrounded by beer. Their message is, “If you aren’t drinking, you aren’t having fun.” On an intellectual level, we all know that these are just advertisements, but the associations they arouse in us stick in our minds.

When companies need to change their image, they usually find a good cause to latch on to. They will typically find a good social or environmental issue they can tap into. For example, an ice cream company advertises their support for an environmental movement, or yogurt companies start a campaign to stop breast cancer. You also see patriotic endorsements being employed to create a positive association in your mind. The simple sight of the American flag, or the phrases “Buy American” and “Made in America,” can trigger instant positive associations.

In the 1970s, the big American car still dominated the U.S. automobile scene. American carmakers had no fear of imported automobiles. There was a tradition in most families to always buy the same make of car. Imports were associated with being cheap, unreliable, and a waste of money. When the baby boomers came along, however, they became better educated and they refused to blindly follow the guidelines laid out by their parents. They viewed imports as having better gas mileage, greater reliability, and lower prices. The negative association shifted suddenly from foreign cars to American-made cars and the rest is a history. American carmakers were almost put out of business by this shift, and they, still to this day, lose big market share to imported cars. As the tide turned, American car companies had to learn to make new associations with their cars.

Closely related to advertising is the notion of sponsorship. Companies and organizations sponsor events that they believe will produce a positive association in the eyes of the public. They hope this positive association will transfer over to their company. The Olympic Games pull huge sponsorships–companies pay big money to get their name and products associated with the Olympics. What company wouldn’t want to be associated with peace, unity, perseverance, determination, success, and winning the gold? The affiliations that companies create for us are very strong and memorable.

Let’s try an experiment: Think about the following beverages and pay attention to the images that come to your mind while you do so.

Volvo — Toyota
Mercedes — Rolls Royce
Hyundai — Chevy
Ford — Porsche

The images we see create attitudes within us. It is no random accident that most U.S. presidents have pet dogs in the White House. Consciously and unconsciously, a loving, obedient, trusting dog creates a positive image of its owner. Voters would be more likely to reject a politician who preferred cats, hamsters, snakes, ferrets, or tarantulas.
It really isn’t a secret that we are abundantly influenced by imagery when making everyday decisions. We are much more likely to donate to someone wearing a Santa Claus suit than to someone in street attire. We are more trusting of a sales rep wearing a gold cross around his neck. Sports bars decorate their walls with jerseys and other sports paraphernalia.

Credit card companies are among the greatest users of imagery and association. Because credit cards give us immediate gratification without us having to face the negative consequences until weeks later, we often think of the perceived positive associations before the negative ones. Consumer researcher Richard Feinberg conducted several different studies testing the effects credit cards had on our spending habits. He came across some very interesting results. For example, he found that restaurant patrons gave higher tips when using a credit card as opposed to cash. In another case, consumers were found to show a 29 percent increase in their willingness to spend when the merchandise was examined in a room displaying MasterCard signs. More interesting still was the fact that the subjects were unaware that the MasterCard signs were an intentional and calculated part of the experiment.

Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. Beware of the common mistakes presenters and persuaders commit that cause them to lose the deal. Get your free report 10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands and explode your income today.

Application Questions

What images can you use to trigger the right a emotions during your persuasive presentation?

What image are your trying to create with your product, service, or cause?

What attitudes will the images trigger?

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing puzzle piece that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you’ve seen some success, but think of the times you couldn’t get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade.

About the Author:

Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available!

Kurt teaches over a hundred techniques to give you the ability to effectively work with every customer that walks in your door. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others. Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income.

If you are ready to claim your success and learn what only the ultra-prosperous know, begin by going to http://www.PreWealth.com and getting my free report “10 Mistakes That Continue Costing You Thousands.” After reading my free report, go to http://www.PreWealth.com/IQ and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale!

Your web business probably gets product inquiries from potential customers around the globe. Inquiries come via e-mail and your web site, and you try to send information to each hot prospect as quickly as you can. You know that you can drastically increase the likelihood of making a sale by satisfying each person’s need for information quickly!

But, after you’ve delivered that first bit of information to your prospect, do you send him any further information?

If you are like most Internet marketers, you don’t.

When you don’t follow that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp! This is a potential customer who may have been very interested in your products, but who lost your contact information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him. Often, a prospect will purposely put off making a purchase, to see if you find him important enough to follow up with later. When he doesn’t receive a follow up message from you, he will take his business elsewhere.

———————————- ARE YOU LOSING PROFITS DUE TO INCONSISTENT AND INEFFECTIVE FOLLOW UP? ———————————-

Following up with leads is more than just a process - it’s an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.

———————————- CONSISTENT FOLLOW UP GETS RESULTS! ———————————-

When I first started marketing and following up with prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the “List Technique.” I had a large database containing the names and e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested information about my products and services. These prospects had already received my first letter by the time they requested more information, so I used the company’s latest news as a follow up piece. I would write follow up newsletters every now and then, and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had previously requested information from me. While this probably did help me win a few additional orders, it wasn’t a very good follow up method. Why isn’t the “List Technique” very effective?

* The List Technique isn’t consistent. Proponents of the List Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their companies have “big news”.

* List Technique messages don’t give the potential customer any additional information about the product or service in question. He can’t make a more informed buying decision after receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that you’ve just moved your headquarters?

* List Technique messages convey a “big list” mentality to your potential customers. When I used to write follow up messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal message to each individual who wanted to know more about my products.

———————————- WHAT FOLLOW UP METHOD REALLY WORKS? ———————————-

Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

First, you’ll need to develop your follow up messages. If you’ve been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter. Your second letter marks the beginning of the follow up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this letter with details that you didn’t have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services! Your next 2-3 follow up messages should be rather short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the contents, and still see the full force of your message.

The next couple of follow up messages should create a sense of urgency in your prospect’s mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to order immediately!

Phrase each of your final 1 or 2 follow up messages in the form of a question. Ask your prospect why he hasn’t yet placed an order? Try to get him to actually respond. Ask if the price is to high, the product isn’t the right color or doesn’t have the right features, or if he is looking for something else entirely. (By this time, it’s unlikely that this person will order from you. However, his feedback can help you modify your follow up letters or products, so that other prospects will order from you.)

The timing of your follow up letters is just as important as their content. You don’t want one prospect to receive a follow up the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while another prospect waits weeks for a follow up!

Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterwards. You want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they can make informed buying decisions!

Send the next 2-3 follow up messages between 1 and 3 days apart. Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and services, as opposed to your competitors’. You will make the sale!

Send the final follow up messages later on. You certainly don’t want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters are at least 4 days apart.

Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn’t have to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor follow up - don’t you want to be one of the few to get it right?

You can increase your sales by neutralizing the unspoken objections your prospects may have to buying from you …BEFORE you ask them to buy. Neutralizing unspoken objections will increase the sales you get from your web pages, sales letters and personal presentations.

Neutralizing objections is easier than it sounds. Most of your prospect’s objections to buying fall into 1 of only 3 categories. Let’s look at these 3 categories of objections …and some proven tactics you can use to neutralize them.

1. THE MONEY OBJECTION

Most of your prospects have (or can get) the money to buy what you’re selling. But they have a money objection. Some think your price is too high. Others believe they can get a better value from a competitor.

You don’t have to reduce your price to neutralize these Money Objections. Here are 2 proven tactics that work for any business.

Enhance the perceived value of your product or service. For example, some businesses include with each sale a manual, CD or downloadable e-Book crammed with information related to using their product or service.

Another effective tactic is to promote yourself or your company as a “Specialist” catering to the special needs of a narrowly defined targeted market. Prospects feel comfortable when buying from somebody who thoroughly understands them and their unique needs. They want to do business with you — even if you don’t offer the lowest price.

Here’s a simple 3-step process you can follow to develop yourself into a specialist:

Step 1: Divide your primary market into several more narrowly defined specialty markets.

Step 2: Learn everything you can about prospects in each new specialty market …and about how your product or service meets their special needs.

Step 3: Customize your sales message to appeal directly to the special interests and unique circumstances of prospects in each specialty market.

TIP: If you’re attracting many prospects who really don’t have (or can’t get) the money to buy your product or service — you need to change your market. Target a market where prospects have an intense desire for the benefits produced by your product or service …AND the money to buy it.

2. THE PRIORITIES OBJECTION

Some of your prospective customer didn’t buy from you because they put a higher priority on spending their money for something else. You can get many of these sales by persuading them to make YOUR product or service their priority.

For example, develop some special offers your prospects can’t resist. Create offers so enticing your prospects feel compelled to make your product or service their priority purchase.

TIP: Include a deadline for every offer. It forces procrastinating prospects to make a decision. Many will decide to buy immediately so they don’t forfeit your “good deal”.

3. THE SKEPTICISM OBJECTION

Your prospects bought things in the past that didn’t produce the promised results. That makes them skeptical of your promises. Some of the ways you can overcome their skepticism include:

** Eliminate any risk of loss. Guarantee your customer’s satisfaction. Offer to refund your customer’s money if they don’t get the results they expect.

** Prove your history of delivering what you promise. Provide testimonials from satisfied customers as evidence you’ve lived up to your promises in the past.

** Make yourself available — personally or by phone. This is especially effective for Internet Marketers. Prospective customers feel more secure when they can talk with a real person.

Neutralize all 3 of these unspoken objections before you ask your prospects to buy. Do it in your web pages, your sales letters, your personal presentations — every message designed to generate sales. You’ll see an immediate increase in your sales volume.

When you’re looking for a home loan, you might work with an officer at a bank or other lending institution, or you might choose to work with a mortgage broker. The end result is the same - a new house, but the two types of jobs differ.

Bank Loan Officers: The loan officers at a bank, credit union or other lending institution are employees who work to sell and process mortgage and other loans originated by their employer. They often have a wide variety of loan types to draw from, but all originate from that specific lender.

The loan officer takes your mortgage application and works to find a loan product that suits your needs. If your personal credit is approved, the officer moves forward to process the home purchase transaction.

Mortgage Brokers: Mortgage brokers are professionals who are paid a fee to bring together lenders and borrowers. They usually work with dozens or even hundreds of lenders, not as employees, but as freelance mortgage agents.

Think of mortgage brokers as scouts. They find and evaluate homebuyers, analyzing each person’s credit situation to determine which lender is the best fit for that person’s needs. The mortgage broker submits the homebuyer’s application to one or more lenders in order to sell it, and works with the chosen lender until the loan closes. A good mortgage broker can find a lender for just about any type of credit.

The mortgage broker working to secure your loan is earning a fee for that transaction - and the better deal they achieve for a lender, the more they are paid. Don’t be too anxious to disclose the interest rate you would be willing to accept, let them tell you what terms they can secure. Shop around to make sure the terms are reasonable.

Many of the mortgage options advertised online are by mortgage brokers. What difference does it make? Maybe none, but you should be aware of the differences between the two positions. A local or online mortgage broker may find you a lender in another part of the country. An online bank might not have a local office where employees can help you one-on-one.

Mortgage brokers can often find a lender who will make loans that a bank refuses. Problem credit is one example. Loans for unique or commercial properties might be easier to secure through a mortgage broker.

Lana Hampton makes it easy to find the mortage right for your needs. Visit her Mortgage website today for the latest information.

We all know the expression “you only get one chance to make a first impression,” well it holds true when it comes to presenting your product to your customer.

For starters, the last thing you want to do when a customer walks into your office is present the first product that pops into your head.

Before you present a product to your customer, you must first find out exactly what it is your customer wants and needs.

The first thing you want to do is introduce yourself to your customer. Offer them a seat and make them feel as comfortable as possible.

Get to know your customer, talk about non-business subjects, this will take some of the pressure off of the both of you and make it easier to talk to one another.

Once you believe that you and your customer have found a comfort level, begin to evaluate your customer’s needs.

Start by asking questions to find out his reasons for coming in to see you. Find out what products he currently has and uses. And how much he pays for them. Find out all you can about the company he obtained his products from, and what he thought of the customer service he was provided with.

It is important to know these things for reasons of comparison.

Once you have evaluated your customer and have a pretty good idea of what his needs are, get ready to present the products you have, that you believe to be an ideal match to his needs.

But before you make your presentation, make sure that you are prepared. Have all the materials you need to make your presentation a solid one at your finger tips. Such materials would include, brochures and literature, not only to give to your customer, but to go over with your customer. Unfold the brochure in front of him as you discuss the product. Literature is also a good way to be prepared in case you are hit with a question you can’t answer, this will be a good resource for reference.

The point that I am trying to make is; Present to your customer a product you believe they will need. Your presentation should be based on the information that you have gathered from your customer during your sales session.

You could be the greatest presenter of products in the world, but if you are presenting products that customers don’t need, you’ll never sell a thing.

So be sure to evaluate your customers before you start presenting your products.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

To Keep Growing, Replay The Call - Every Time

Most salespeople continue to make the same mistakes over and over, never recognizing their errors. Therefore, beyond a certain point, they never really get much better at what they do. How can you avoid that trap?

Top salespeople never stop improving because they ‘replay’ every sales call they make.

To continually improve your performance, you need two things. First, you need a systematic, step-by-step approach to planning and conducting the sales call that gives you a clear picture of what the whole process looks like when it’s done right. Second, you need a strategy for critiquing your own performance regularly in light of that ideal approach.

The nine-act structure of Action Selling provides you with the systematic process. And by mentally reviewing your performance in each act after every sales call you make, successful or not, you ensure that you will never stop improving as a sales pro.

Here are some sample questions that top-performing salespeople ask themselves after every sales call:

1. What Commitment Objective did I set for the call? Did I achieve it? If not, what commitment did I gain from the customer and how?

2. Was the person I called upon the ultimate decision maker? If not, did I gain a commitment that will take me closer to that decision maker? Why or why not?

3. What needs did I uncover and agree upon with the customer? Are they needs that will let me differentiate my product?

4. How did I show that my company would be a good match for the customer’s company? Could I have done this better? How?

5. Did I tie the needs that I uncovered to the capabilities of my product? Did I describe my product’s benefits in terms that address those needs specifically and powerfully? How could I have done better?

Objections are the customer’s response to unasked questions. Ask The Best Questions early in the sales call, and customize your presentation so that you’ll hear far fewer objections later. If you do hear an objection late in the call, figure out the question you should have asked and ask it now.

In The Field:

After the conclusion of an Action Selling Sales Training Workshop not long ago, I was approached privately by one of the more mature attendees. “If I had only learned this 30 years ago,” he said ruefully, “my life would be much different today.”

Naturally, I had to ask: “What would be different?” I will never forget his response. “Everything,” he said. “I wouldn’t be working at this stage of my life. This workshop has pointed out so many mistakes that I have been making throughout my sales career. Those errors have hurt my income for 30 years.”

Those may be the saddest words I’ve ever heard. If you have a feeling that you may be repeating the same old mistakes in your sales approach, take charge now.

Duane Sparks is chairman and founder of The Sales Board, a Minneapolis-based sales training company that has trained and certified more than 200,000 salespeople in the system and skills of Action Selling. He has personally facilitated more than 300 Action Selling training sessions.

In a 30-year career as a salesperson and sales manager, Duane has sold products ranging from office equipment to insurance. He was the top salesperson at every company he ever worked for. He developed Action Selling Sales Training while owner of one of the largest computer marketers in the United States. Even in the roaring computer business of the 1980’s, his company grew six times faster than the industry norm, differentiating itself not by the products offered but by the way it sold them. Duane founded The Sales Board in 1990 to teach the skills of Action Selling to others.

Contact The Sales Board for more sales information or sales training that’s been documented and research-proven to help you sell more! 1-800-232-3485

After the video production is completed the editing phase kicks off. Typically editing control units remain largely with the editing corporations & the technically trained specialised professionals put forward a high level of insight at some stage during the editing procedure. Commonly during the editing process the positive sections of the video recordings are reserved & surplus parts are deleted. There is a range of sophisticated software that are in great demand for this specific purpose. The aim of the video is analyzed and subtle changes are done as well. Sound clips & background music are also utilised at some stage through the editing. There is in addition Special Effect Generators (SPG) which makes the particular clips even more eye-catching. The majority of the corporate businesses offer the footages and the editing services.

At the moment numerous video production companies operate to satisfy specifications of different firms. Apart from businesses presentations, videography is also employed to capture golden instances of life such as anniversaries, birthdays, special occasions; holidays etc. Small video cameras with digital chips are today commonly accessible in the market. Short films have grown to be quite popular not counting being very enlightening & humorous. If truth behold online videos allow people to relate better to the topic than any other kind of online communications. If your are looking for a creative agency dedicated to empowering your business with high quality online video marketing, visit www.vidify.co.uk today.

Today, many people are setting up video production & publishing agencies as need of these sorts of studios are at a rise. It’s also possible to get a lot information from the World Wide Web on video publishing just with one or two mouse clicks. The rise of audio-visual market has influenced the growth of video commercials & to create gorgeous commercials, an excellent video production and publishing company is very important. Internet videos play a substantial task in execution of business tactics & currently video marketing and publishing is a very popular idea with the World Wide Web users. So, across the globe video production and publishing plays a main function.

According to an Associated Press story, Florida State University professor Doron Nof claims he may have found a scientific explanation for Jesus’ miraculous walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee. According to Nof, an oceanography professor, a rare combination of water and atmospheric conditions in the Sea of Galillee two millennia ago may have caused a patch of ice to form.

To observers, in this case, the disciples in the boat, the ice would have been hard to distinguish from the unfrozen water surrounding it. “I’m not trying to provide any information that has to do with theology,” Professor Nof is quoted as saying. “All we’ve thought is about the natural process.”

Against this theory are two strong arguments.

1. The walk on the water took place at the wrong season of the year for ice. According to John 6:10, “there was plenty of grass” at the place where Jesus fed the 5,000, a miracle that He performed earlier that same day (see also Matthew 14:19). Mark’s account (6:39) describes it as “green grass.” This historical detail indicates the event did not take place in the winter but some time during the season when grass is green. In fact, the context of John 6 and 7 suggests that it happened before the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which occurs in October. Sukkot involves sleeping outside in shelters made of tree branches, not an activity for sub-freezing temperatures, and the miracle apparently took place before Sukkot, closer to summer.

   According to the temperatures posted by the Israel Meteorological Service, mean temperatures there from July through September range from a low of 70 F. (about 20 C.) at night to a high of 84 F. (about 30 C.) during the day. Even in October, the range is much too warm for ice - 66 F. (19 C.) to 81 F. (27 C.).

2. The observers of the event were well qualified to distinguish between water and ice. They were not visitors to an unfamiliar setting; they were professional fisherman who had spent their entire lives on that very lake, night and day, in all seasons and every kind of weather. Furthermore, at the end of the walking on water incident, they received Jesus into the boat, which means they were not just viewing Him from a distance, but close upclose enough to discern ice if it had been there. The larger the piece of iceand it would have had to be substantial to sustain a grown man’s weightthe more easily it could be seen. When we add the detail that Peter climbed out of the boat and also walked on the water, the possibility of a patch of ice melts away.

Naturalistic explanations
The world has suffered a long history of such naturalistic explanations for the miracles of Jesus. People who read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John with an anti-supernatural bias feel compelled to deny His power however they can, no matter how implausible or bizarre their proposed solution becomes. The gospel accounts, however, do not focus attention on the miracles, but describe them as signs. They point, not to themselves, but to Him, and they force us to look at His inner nature, inside the skin of the Miracle Worker. They compel us to see Him as something more than just a man.

When we accept this as a legitimate miracle, we then analyze where it is pointing. One who can suspend the laws of nature like this must live outside those laws, or rather above them. Colossians 1:16-17 explains it this way:

For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones of powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

That last statement that “in Him all things hold together” suggests that by His power and authority, by His constant attention, Jesus Christ holds the universe together moment by moment, including all of its natural laws.

Follow the signs to this One who has set the universe in order and can straighten out your life as well. Please, don’t linger looking at the sign, or looking for reasons why the sign can’t exist.

Copyright ©2006 Steve Singleton

Steve Singleton has written and edited several books and numerous articles. He has been an editor, reporter, and public relations consultant. He has taught college-level Greek, Bible, and religious studies courses and has taught seminars in 11 states and the Caribbean.

Go to his DeeperStudy.org for Bible study resources, no matter what your level of expertise. Explore “The Shallows,” plumb “The Depths,” or use the well-organized “Study Links” for original sources in English translation. Check out the DeeperStudy Bookstore for great e-books, free books, and great discounts. Subscribe to his free “DeeperStudy Newsletter” or “DeeperStudy Blog.”

Copyright information: This article is free but must be reproduced in its entirety, including any live links & this copyright statement.

Top 10 Principles of Great Sales Messaging by Michael Cannon

Sales Messaging - the stated reasons you give people to buy from your firm - is the foundation on which all your sales and marketing efforts rest. Sadly, most companies lack a definition for their sales messaging, let alone a methodology for developing and deploying it. The results are millions of dollars in lost revenue, higher sales costs and missed bonuses.

Sales messaging is the foundation for all your sales and marketing efforts

Here is your chance to break from the pack and enhance your competitive advantage. Use these top 10 principles to create a definition for great sales messaging that will enable your company to win more orders, increase market share and improve margins.

1. Specific to One Offering. Sales messaging is about selling one offering –a complete product or service. If you sell a number of products and services bundled together, then you can think of this as one offering. If the products or services are sold on a standalone basis, then you must have separate sales messaging for each offering.

2. Target Each Buyer. There are a number of buyer types to consider, including the prospect, customer, channel partner, industry analyst and investor. There are also buyer roles like User, Technical and Financial. It’s important to identify buyers by offering, by title and by role so that the sales messaging resonates with each buyer’s interests and perspective.

3. Answer Buyer’s Primary Buying Questions. Each buyer has different buying questions. For example: Prospects are asking, “Why should I buy your solution rather than a competitive option?” Customers are asking, “Why should I keep buying from you?” Channel Partners are asking, “Why should I distribute your product or service?” Each buyer’s questions are different and thus require tailored answers.

4. Support the Product and Sales Cycle. In the early stages of a product life cycle, the most important buyer question to answer is “Why should I change what I currently do and buy a product or service like this?” The question has nothing to do with your company. It’s about educating the buyer on why they should make a change. The primary goal is to create a buying event.

In the later stages of the product life cycle, when market demand is established, the primary buying question shifts to “Why should I buy your solution rather than a competitive option?” It’s about competitive differentiation and educating the buyer on why they should buy your offering. The primary goal is to create an order for your company.

Great sales messaging supports each phase of the sales cycle

Like the product life cycle, the sales cycle has distinct phases. For example, let’s say you’re selling an early stage product. At the beginning of the sales cycle, the primary buying question to answer is “Why should I meet with you?” Once you have a meeting, the next phase in the sales cycle is answering, “Why should I change what I currently do and buy a product or service like this?” The final phase of the sales cycle is then answering, “Why should I buy your solution rather than a competitive option?” Great sales messaging supports each phase in both the product life cycle and sales cycle.

5. Determine the Key Differentiation Factors. There are 5 important differentiation points including Time, Money, Risk, Strategic, and Personal. The more of these differentiation points you appeal to, the more likely you are to attract and create buyers.

6. Apply the Black and White Factor. Numerous studies conclude that the brain comprehends best when presented with clear contrast between opposites. Statements like “We are one of the leading…” is not as compelling as “We are the leader in…” Use lots of sharply contrasting adjectives like Only, Fastest, Easiest, Best, etc. to create powerful sales messaging.

7. Test Against the Me Too Factor. In order to have truly effective sales messaging, especially for competitive differentiation, no other company should be able to make the same claims that you do. The buyer must perceive that your company is different from all the other competitive options and vendors.

8. Organize into Three Points. People remember things best when they are presented in groups of three. The brain works this way, so optimize your sales messaging for maximum effectiveness by incorporating this important principle.

9. Summarize on One Page. The answer to each buying question must be simplified to a one-page format for a few of reasons. Your sales reps cannot remember and articulate more than this and your buyers surely will not. In order to be effective, sales messaging must be delivered to the buyer in digestible amounts.

10. Provide Proof Points. Most buyers consider your sales messaging to be claims. To add more credibility to your key points, you must provide lots of evidence that your claims are true. The more evidence you have, the more believable your claims. The best way to validate that your claims and evidence are true is to use proof points such as customer testimonials, case studies, etc. The second best proof points include third-party organizations like International Organization for Standardization or Gartner Group, etc. The next best proof points are a demonstration or proof-of-concept.

Great sales messaging gives your company the foundation on which to create more meetings, buying events and orders for each of the products and services that you offer. Since most companies do not know what sales messaging is, and you do, you have a tremendous opportunity right now to gain a competitive advantage. This advantage has been proven to increase sales, reduce costs and improve margins. To learn more about how to develop and deploy great sales messaging go to: http://www.silverbulletgroup.com/training.shtml.

About the Author Michael Cannon is an internationally renowned sales expert, best selling author and a dynamic speaker. He is CEO of the Silver Bullet Group and creator of the hugely successful Silver Bullet Sales Messaging System. For more information, visit www.silverbulletgroup.com or call 925 930 9436.

© Copyright 2005 by the Silver Bullet Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If you want to kick off a new online holiday or event, you’ll
need to do it with a Big Bang. Make your entrance, and then keep
the momentum going by cattle-driving traffic and human interest
to the source. Yes, cattle-driving! You need to climb on that
imaginary horse and start corralling people in. Everyone on the
web is highly distracted, even your best buddies. Help them
notice you, remember you, and get your name out into mass
circulation. Make it fun, and don’t forget to have fun yourself.
People are attracted to others who seem to be having fun.

In online event planning, your two best friends are your social
network of humans and the search engines. You can’t possibly
pull this thing off unless both are wound into the plan - and it
should be pretty clear why. If you stick with search engine
tricks alone, you’ll find that your website begins to pull some
rank on Google because you’ve driven those search words via the
major marketing generation methods… but there’s an absence of
life at the point of contact. That’s no good.

If you concentrate solely on your human network but fail to tap
the engine power, you’ll get a small group of excited parties
all sitting in a closed circle and blinking at each other. I
guess small and intimate isn’t terrible, but we’re talking about
an online event here and that phrase connotes BIG. So, use
search engine optimization AND word of mouth to spread it far
and wide.

Let’s talk about the ways you can viral-market your internet
promotion and blast it out there in a short period of
time.

1. Article marketing. Article marketing is at the heart
of every great marketing effort. Don’t get me wrong - blogging
is instant entertainment, but if you want credibility, then
write potent, info-rich articles or have someone write them for
you. Your articles are going to get picked up and added to other
people’s websites, so you’ll want to mention the event name and
the URL to the event website in each one that you write for your
promotional effort. Submit your article to as many article
directories as possible but beware the No Advertising Rule! If
these guys catch you being too promotional your article will get
the shaft and there goes your big article marketing Event Master
Blaster Plan. Email me if you need a jumping point for your
article marketing campaign: Dina/AT/Wordfeeder.com.

2. Networking. Don’t even attempt online event planning
unless you already have a solid online network of marketing
colleagues in place. Your friends are the ones who already love
you, admire you, will listen to what you say and join in for the
group project. Very few “random finds” on the web will just
catch wind of your Pied Piper event promotion tune and start
following along (but when they do, it’s really cool). You’ll
want your network topic to be themed around your event. So, if
yours is a Kids’ Artwork Show with a portion of the proceeds
going to a children’s hospital, then your network should ideally
be for work-at-home moms and parents. DON’T promote your event
on a network of unrelated subjectmatter. That’s a great way to
drive people away completely!

3. Landing page and email drip campaign. Your landing
page should be accessible from your articles and other
“outreaching” content vehicles. When your reader clicks the
link, he should be “hard sold” on why this is going to be
fantastic, what’s in it for him, and compelled to drop his name
in the box. Your email subscriber base should continue to grow
throughout the event’s developments. Use it as a megaphone to
‘rally the team’, send updates, and guide others to help spread
the word and click the links to your blog, articles, ebooks and
other web traffic helpers. Frequently tell the team what they’ll
get out of this. Offer them gifts. Without an incentive, nobody
will want to be your groupie and I for one wouldn’t blame them
in the least.

4. Blogging. Blogs get indexed quickly! If you want your
mass event to power up the Google ladder, then choose a blog
hosting company that will “help you along.” TypePad has been
working well for me. Fill your blog with categorized keywords
and turn your “major search term” (the name of your holiday)
into something that will ring a bell and prompt folks to start
typing into the Google box out of sheer curiosity. Your blog
should contain plenty of links that “point” to your hot pages;
for example, any fun contests or activity pages you plan to run,
your articles. Include your landing page at the end of every
post. This will lend clarification for the confused who just
landed from outer space and also “grab” them for the email list.
Your blog should be highly interactive. Initiate discussions;
blast out participants and supporters by linking to their
websites. Make your blog sticky, and offer plenty of reciprocal
links as incentive to keep watching your show.

5. Web PR. Web PR is needed so those RSS feeds can sound
off your news to the mass communication circuit online. Just
like article marketing and blogs, you’ll want to include the
name of your event frequently (about three times per press
release) so that the search term will get carried along on those
content feeds and bring you higher up on Google. Think of that
web surfer, glazing over your press release and reading a term
like “Web Content Awareness Day” multiple times. It sinks in
somehow. Later, when he stumbles across you again, suddenly he’s
compelled to hunt for more info and he types those words into
the search box. That’s how the momentum keeps building and it’s
a great reason to submit to free PR sites. If you email me, I
can help you out: Dina/AT/Wordfeeder.com

6. E-Books. E-books are super-vitamins for your website’s
page rank. When people open up your info-laden PDF file, that
counts as a page view. Page views give you a push in the search
engine hierarchy. So DO give away free information. Link to your
free downloadable e-book from your blog, from your group emails,
from your network posts and from your “main holiday website”
after you launch it. Encourage friends to pass your e-book along
to keep the page views coming. Links in your e-book should point
back to… guess where? Your blog and your landing page. Are you
getting a feel for how all this content is connected?

7. Your Big Yap. Huh? I’m talking about word of mouth.
Don’t forget to USE YOUR VOICE in all of your event promotion
materials. So many people forget to “speak to their audience” in
their marketing, and every time I see it I want to slap myself
silly. Don’t just plunk a link or a photo down and think people
will click it. There’s so much going on out there, you need to
be heard. I’m not just saying that because I’m a copywriter and
I love words. Clear, simple, compelling communication is
crucial. Don’t be afraid to tell your reader what to do. And
ALWAYS tell him what he gets out of it, always! If you have any
questions about this EMAIL ME: Dina/at/Wordfeeder.com.

As you can see, it takes some knowledge of cohesive internet
marketing to be able to manipulate the search engines while
getting folks excited about your big jamboree.

Want to witness event planning live in action? Please join me
and my marketing friends for the First Annual Web Content
Awareness Day, scheduled to launch on February 9, 2006 at
http://WebContentAwarenessDay.com.

Sneak Peek: Visit the Countdown to Web Content Awareness Day
Blog and learn how you can ride our wave of high web
traffic!

Paste in this link:

http://wordfeeder.typepad.com/web_content_awareness_day/

Copyright 2006 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.