Making Your First Million.pdf - Association of Net Entrepreneurs and ...

Making Your First Million
"How would you like me to double your sales and halve your advertising costs?" I asked.
"Show me how and I'll kiss you!" I showed him how but politely demurred on the kiss.
"Mail 8 times a year to the top 20% of your database, twice a year to the next 30% and
once a year to the rest." He did and it worked. Look after your best customers. Treat them
like the friend-of-the-family they really are, and they'll keep you in the lap of sybaritic
luxury for the remainder of your days. Too many novices in business adopt the "Some's
good, more's better" approach. Don't do it. Remember: "Less is more, more often."
Jump outside the square again. I like to go to a local nursery which caters to me rather
well. A nice cheery greeting, lots of helpful advice as we wander around, free coffee and
biscuits for when my legs give out, help with taking purchases to the car and so on, and
of course we get those $2 vouchers which we occasionally redeem and I guess we'd
spend $120 each time we go, which without any promotion is probably 5 times a year. A
good outfit. Canny marketers. Last time I went I'd spent an hour fruitlessly waiting for a
specialist to show up at the local hospital with my report telling me I was perfectly
healthy anyway that I decided to reward myself and my long-suffering wife with a trip to
the nursery and lunch at the Rose Cottage.
So my wife and I potter about at the nursery when there's nothing much happening and
we spend a small amount of money. But there are times when a sinful amount of money
is called for. You remember the Rodeo Drive scene in "Pretty Woman"? It's the
syndrome: "How much do you love me? . . . . THIS MUCH!" Birthdays, Anniversaries,
Christmas. These are the times when we open our wallets and weep.
Are you getting this money? Not yet? Do you know why not? I can tell you. If you're not
getting it it's because you're not asking and you're not asking because in the customer's
terms you're a total dunce. Does this describe you? You don't know the name of the
person you're serving: You don't know her birthday: You don't know her husband's name
or birthday: You don't know where she lives: You don't know what she's dreaming of
buying next: You don't know her hopes or fears or dreams. All you know is she's just
bought a plant that you've made $8 on, it's totally unsuitable but with any luck it will curl
up and die and she'll have to come back and buy something else.
I'm unwrapping this fairly slowly for you because, if you take it on board it will be the
turning point that catapults your sales into the millions and it's worth your careful
consideration. We live in difficult, competitive times. Discounting is rife. It's a dog-eatdog
climate. I know because I ran a computer mail order business for 20 years. We
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