If someone you follow on a social network recommends something to you, via an affiliate link, should they disclose it to you or keep it quiet?

As I am sure you know, a lot of people post affiliate links via social networking sites, which they do not disclose.  Over the past few months, I have asked people why they are doing this.  Some explained that they disclose their affiliate relationships on their blog or website, but not when they tweet affiliate links or post them via Facebook etc.  Others told me that they are not legally bound to disclose their relationships to those who followed them, so they don’t.  One explained that he sent a tweet out a year or more ago, which said he was an affiliate of a certain course; which he now tweets hidden affiliate links to daily, without disclosure.

There is also an increasingly popular trend right now, where ebooks are packed with affiliate links, and no mention of this anywhere.  So, the ebook author strongly recommends products to his or her readers; which the reader doesn’t know the author is being paid to sell.  They see the author recommending something and assume it is an unbiased recommendation, rather than something they get paid to sell.

Disclosure and trust

In my experience, trust plays a massive role in commercial success.

We buy from, and recommend, people we trust.  Chris Brogan wrote a best-selling book about it with Julian Smith, called Trust Agents (which you can buy via his blog.)  Trust is also a key component in the longevity of a business.  When someone discloses their relevant commercial relationships, they make it far easier for us to trust them.  After all, if they are being honest and open regarding this, it’s natural for us to assume (rightly or wrongly) that they are also honest in other areas of their business.

Equally, if someone is an affiliate of something and they let me know it’s because they researched the product and LOVE it, I am actually even more likely to buy it, than if they just linked without any disclosure.

Disclosure and marketing relationships

People have previously told me, right here on this blog, that they always try to buy products or services via affiliate links, from bloggers / writers they like and trust, as a way of “tipping” them. I have done this many, many times myself.  For example, when I bought the Headway blog theme that I use here, I bought it from Danny Brown; because Danny introduced me to Headway and he uses full disclosure.  It felt right to buy via Danny.

The business model for avoiding disclosure is a little unclear (to me.)  My assumption is that the decision not to disclose, is based less on a business model, and more on the assumption that if people know you’re being paid to promote something, they will be less inclined to trust you – rather than more inclined.  Whatever the reason for failing to disclose, in my experience, people hate having facts deliberately withheld from them.

Disclosure and you

What do think of those who offer full disclosure and those who fail to disclose?  What kind of things do you believe need to be disclosed?  Get involved and share your thoughts.

Photo: Sasha W

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Many small business owners go to great lengths, to pretend that their business is actually a lot bigger than it really is. When I ask people why they do this, they usually tell me it’s because they think prospective clients won’t use them, if they know how small they are.

In my experience, it’s never a great idea to start any relationship, including a commercial one, on a foundation of lies.  If Bob’s marketing contains addresses for offices that exist only in his mind and fake telephone numbers that are all diverted to his one real line, he’s clearly being less than honest.  When his clients find out he’s lying about the size of his business, he will have lost their trust.  This is perhaps one of the worst possible business scenarios.

Ironically, the whole idea of lying about the size or capacity of a business is completely erroneous, from a marketing perspective!

There’s zero point in pretending you are big enough to handle a project or client, that is clearly way beyond your means.  Even if you do manage to fool them into thinking you have the resources to handle their needs, they will quickly realise you don’t, once they start working with you.

Successful marketing (and business development), is about working with clients that suit your business model, not fooling those who are unsuitable into joining, and then leaving you.

Some of the smallest brands are the most respected

The small business mindset, which says; “if they know how small my business is, I will win fewer clients”, is based on an incorrect assumption.  It assumes that quality is linked to how large a business is, when the opposite is more often true.  In reality, some of the most respected brands are smaller scale and some of the least respected brands are high street chains.

For example, until last year, Twitter employed fewer than 30 full-time people, yet it was massively successful.  Twitter attracted tens of millions of dollars and has been valued at a BILLION dollars. You can join me on Twitter here.

The most famous shop in the UK and maybe one of the most famous in the world, has just one UK outlet.  I’m talking about Harrods.

Conversely, some of the lowest class and most unhealthy food in your local town, is almost certainly dished up by a national or international burger chain – but the best food is almost certainly from a great little independent restaurant you know.

Small businesses should play to their strengths

The most successful small businesses play to their strengths; rather than lie about being something they are not.  They focus on quality, not quantity.  They develop great, long-term relationships with their clients and customers, because in most cases they know their clients and customers extremely well.

Small businesses also benefit from being able to make a decision and take action immediately, whereas large companies typically move much slower. So long as they play to their strengths, small businesses can achieve amazing results and be extremely profitable too.

I would be interested to know what your thoughts are on small businesses, who create a bogus front end to make their business look bigger.

Photo: Nevolution

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One of the primary reasons that so many small business owners miss out on sales, is that their marketing messages lack clarity.  When it comes to sales, clarity is king.  In fact, one of the oldest sayings in the business is:

“A confused mind always says NO!”

In other words, if you ask a prospective client to make a purchasing decision, before they clearly understand your proposal, they will typically say “no”.  That’s why the best salespeople and negotiators always make sure they clearly explain their proposition, in as few words as possible.  They prompt prospective clients to ask them questions, and answer them fully, before asking them to make a decision. The clearer a prospective client is about what you are offering, especially regarding how it will benefit them, the better.

Copy writing and clarity

With written marketing, we also need to ensure that prospective clients can clearly and quickly learn what we do and how it will benefit them.  However, when we look at most small business marketing, we see pretty-much the exact opposite!  It is generally written in a long winded, bloated, pedestrian style, which the reader has usually given up on way before the actual core benefits have even been mentioned.  It usually focuses way too much on how great they are, and way too little on the problems facing the person reading their message.

Guess how interested the average reader is in YOU or YOUR business?

Not very!

They came to you because they have a problem.  Every successful product or service is designed to solve some kind of problem.  If your marketing is targeted correctly, the people reading it will be suffering with the problems, which your offering solves.  By clearly explaining how YOU will directly make THEIR situation better, you stand the best possible chance of attracting their custom.  The focus should be on them and how you can help them.

Quick marketing tip

Take a moment to review your written marketing and see how long it takes the reader, to find out exactly how you can help them.  Check your website’s statistics software and note the pages that visitors to your site arrive on the most.  Ensure that your marketing message on those pages is clear and that it gets to the point quickly and without fuss.

Photo: Hyku

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One of the fastest ways to improve the effectiveness of your marketing messages, is to get to the point as soon as possible, in as few words as possible.

For example, I recently helped a new client increase the conversion rate of a page on his website by 450%, after reducing the number of words on that page by 75%.  I have also seen response rates from email marketing soar by over 700%, when rambling copy was changed into a shorter, compelling and more powerful message.

Most of the written marketing I see is at least 50% too long.  This is because amateur copy writers feel they have to include everything in every marketing message they write.  They feel compelled to tell the reader about every benefit of what they do.  They don’t want to miss a thing, so they go into way too much detail.  Thus, what needed to be a brief, focused message with impact, becomes a meandering, diluted message instead.

If you are disappointed by the conversion rates of your written marketing, it might be time to focus more on brevity.  Concentrate on delivering your most powerful points and do it with impact!

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Steve Jobs and Apple in general, never cease to amaze me.  This week, Apple announced their latest product, the iPhone 4 and received, as always, millions of dollars worth of free publicity.  I watched a live video of the iPhone launch event at the World Wide Developer’s Conference, and saw journalists (literally) cheering and shouting as Steve Jobs listed features of the phone.

Within minutes of Steve Jobs’ presentation, there were thousands of iPhone 4 news reports and blog posts.  People were guessing how many millions would sell in the first year and how the new features would change the way people use phones.  The coverage Apple received was something that other businesses and brands can only dream of.

Steve Jobs and Apple – It’s more than a brand

People who buy and use Apple products tend to be more than users – They tend to be advocates or ambassadors.  If you DARE to mention something negative about Apple or any Apple product, in a blog post, article or on Twitter, for example, you will quickly get chastised by Apple users, who will quickly tell you that whatever you said was wrong.  This kind of brand loyalty is gold dust.  It’s not born from smoke and mirrors either, Apple make some amazing products, but they fuse their great products with equally good marketing and PR.

What Apple can teach small & medium sized businesses

Apple offer great quality: Your services or products need to be excellent quality, if you want people to rave about them.  It’s hard work and really low leverage, to market average quality products or services.  In fact, if all you have to offer the marketplace is a similar sounding service to your competitors, stop reading this and start looking for ways to massively improve the unique value of your offering.

Apple have a network of advocates: The Apple team has crafted a network of people, who proactively cover and recommend their products.  I suggest you do the same!  Start getting to know the bloggers, newsletter providers and networkers, who have access to your prospective clients and customers.  When you have something interesting or newsworthy, share it with them.  (This is a subject I will cover in future posts.)  This is a great way to generate word of mouth publicity.

Apple remain relevant: Just as Apple have continued to evolve their design and product lines over the years, you should too.  If your service has remained largely unchanged for a year or more, it’s time to check that it’s still relevant to the marketplace.  We live in a time of great change.  The most successful businesses know this and adapt their offering accordingly.  If your competitors are still offering a stale set of services and you adapt your services to be more relevant, you give yourself a powerful advantage!

Steve Jobs speaks with passion: When I saw Steve Jobs take the stage, a year or so after a liver transplant, and then speak with such passion about the new iPhone, I was left with a feeling of awe.  I hear from businesspeople all day, who are in great health and have 1% of Jobs’ drive and passion.  Have something worth saying and say it like you mean it.  If you are not clearly passionate about your business, products and services, no one else will be!

Your thoughts

I would be interested to know what your thoughts are on the coverage Apple get.  Equally, what are your thoughts on how small and medium sized businesses can learn from what much larger companies do?  Let us know!

Photo: Benm.at

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Did you ever hear that old saying; “You can’t keep everybody happy”?  Well, when it comes to marketing messages, you shouldn’t even try!  When you embrace this idea, it can provide a massive boost your sales figures.

It’s all about using a more targeted marketing approach.

Targeted marketing messages

A targeted marketing message consists of 2 equally important components:

1. The message is sent to a targeted group; those most likely to have a need for whatever you are offering.
2. The message is composed exclusively, with the people in that target group in mind.  In other words it’s directly relevant to them and their needs.

Marketing to a targeted group

Every day, you will see offers in your mail and your email inbox, from companies offering things you have absolutely no need for.  What do you do with these?  You ignore them!  That’s because no matter how great a product or service is, it will only succeed commercially, if it’s marketed to the right people.

For example, you may have just been offered the best deal ever on a new coffee machine, but if you are not a coffee drinker, that offer is not going to motivate you to buy the coffee machine.  So, make sure that you are speaking, writing and advertising to the right people.

A targeted marketing message

Most of the marketing messages we see are very poorly targeted.  The reason this is so common, is that amateur marketers often think that by writing for the widest spread of people possible, they stand the greatest chance of making a sale.

They want to ensure that everyone who reads or listens to their marketing message, will find “something” there that’s interesting.  However, that approach is the exact opposite of what effective, targeted marketing is all about.

Effective, targeted marketing is about getting a directly relevant message in front of a targeted reader / listener / viewer.  It’s about talking to that person, about their needs and what’s happening in their world, and showing how you can help them, with your products or services.

The bottom line here is this: The more compelling, inspiring and motivating your message is, the more successful it will be.

If you would like to see a better return from your current marketing efforts, take a moment to check who you currently market your services to, and also, how targeted your marketing messages are.

Photo: Erika

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Why do so many marketers focus on what THEY want in their marketing messages, rather than the needs of their marketplace?

I was looking through my inbox earlier, and found several emails from people, who have been hounding me for business.  Not only have they been emailing me too frequently, but the tone of their emails is all about them, them, them.  Here’s what I keep seeing, from various people marketing AT me, right now:

• THEY WANT the opportunity to show me their wonder product.
• THEY WANT just 10 minutes of my time.
• THEY WANT to add me to their mailing lists.
• THEY WANT me to call them before Friday, when THEIR sale ends.

Guess what?  The marketplace does not care what THEY WANT!

It’s all about the customer

One of the golden rules of effective sales and marketing, is that it needs to be customer focused.  We need to look for ways to help our prospective clients or customers, using our products or services as part of that solution.  As a wise man once told me;

“To a guy with severe toothache, who is in constant pain and has not slept in 2 days, the pain of that toothache is more relevant than the news that scores of people perished in a disaster on the other side of the world.”

The more relevant something feels to us, the more inclined we are to give it our attention.  This is just as true with marketing.  A well targeted marketing message, which focuses on helping the reader improve their situation, is far more powerful, than a self-focused sales pitch.

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How well do you prepare for unexpected, potential business problems?

Some people are great.  They cover all the bases and sleep well at night.  Others are not so good; like the trainer I heard of, who had 30 people in a conference venue waiting for his seminar, only to find that his laptop was broken.  He failed to take a second copy of his presentation, to use on a replacement laptop.  The event was cancelled.

A USB thumb-drive with a copy of his seminar presentation would have cost him pennies and saved him thousands in refunds.

From a marketing perspective, I’m always amazed that so many business owners rely too heavily on a single, major source of new business, leaving them exposed and unprepared, if that source stops delivering.

I remember speaking with the owner of a printing business, who attracted most of his sales leads from a networking group he attended.  Although it worked for him, others in the group saw little in the way of results, so the group folded.  Overnight, he lost his primary source of new business.  His income dropped like a stone and he ended up having to let some staff go, because he literally couldn’t make payroll.  It took him almost 18 months to get back to where he had been, before the collapse of the group!

Your marketing strategy needs the right mix

As I have said many times, one of the secrets to a successful business, is to have a number of effective marketing processes working for you all the time, to form a marketing strategy.  The most successful businesses I know, use 8 or more different forms of marketing at any one time (often more.)  This broader approach to marketing provides 2 massive benefits:

1. It means the business is never over dependent on any single source of sales or enquiries.  This makes your business far more robust and better prepared.
2. A number of effective marketing processes working together, creates something called compound marketing leverage.  Like compound interest, compound leverage gives you a disproportionately large increase in sales; because the sum of the parts is greater than the total of their individual values.

If you are over dependent on a small number of marketing activities, the time to develop a broader, more robust and reliable marketing mix is now!

So, how many different forms of marketing are you using right now?

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In marketing, the more focused your messages are, the more effective they will be and the more business they will generate for you.

A focused marketing message speaks directly to the reader, in a language they understand.  It addresses a challenge or opportunity that’s directly relevant to them. These messages have the power to motivate the reader to take action, to; buy from you, call you, email you or visit you.

Compare that kind of focused approach, to what we see with the typical marketing messages used by small and medium sized businesses.  These messages are fuzzy.  They try to be all things to all people and as a result, they are not directly relevant to anyone.  These less focused messages have no pull.  They don’t compel.  They are impotent.

Take a wile to review your written marketing and check how focused your core marketing messages are.  Do they speak directly to your prospective clients, in a language they will understand, about a challenge or opportunity?

If not, now might be a good time to come up with a more focused, compelling and inspiring message.

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This post contains 3 lessons, which have helped Leo Laporte become one of the Internet’s biggest success stories of recent years and which we can all learn from.

Who is Leo Laporte & what can we learn?

Leo is the massively popular guy behind a network of mainly tech-based programs, which can be watched online or downloaded.  Leo started his online broadcasting network after his mainstream TV show was cancelled.

His network is known as TWiT (This Week in Tech.)  Just 5 years later, Leo’s shows are listened to and watched by millions every month and his advertisers and sponsors include the likes of Visa and Ford.

He now employs a dedicated team of professionals and produces and amazing TWENTY PLUS shows a week.  He’s aiming for a full 24-hours a day “CNN for geeks” service and I know he will do it. More info on Leo can be found here.

Learning from Leo Laporte?

I can see 3 BIG lessons from Leo Laporte’s growing success, which we can all learn from.  Here they are:

1. Quality.  Leo focuses on delivering a very high quality product.  From the beginning, Leo insisted on investing in the best quality equipment possible, and then reinvesting, as the business grew.  He has also worked hard to attract the most entertaining, knowledgeable guests he can.  As the success of his network grew and he was able to start employing people, he brought in the best people he could.  At every step, he has focused on quality, rather than speed or “cheap.”

In my experience, quality does not come cheap, but quality costs far less than when we take the cheap route.  For instance, it can often seem like a wise move to go for the cheapest web host, but what about the cost of all that lost business, if our site is down too often or too slow for people to use?  It might seem like a wise move to hire a cheap accountant or CPA, until you find out that by saving a few hundred a year, you have been overpaying thousands each year in taxes.

It’s about getting the best you can afford and then when you become more financially secure, reinvesting in even better quality.

2. Community. Leo Laporte understands the importance of building a community and engaging with that community.  He takes messages from his listeners and viewers during most of his programs and asks them for suggestions / feedback.  He sets up dedicated chat rooms, where the listeners and viewers can chat with each other and contribute to the show.

There’s a real community feel to Leo’s network, something that helps retain his audience and engage them.  Some of his advertisers have been with him for years, because Leo’s community appreciate that the advertisers are who fund his shows and they are vastly more likely to use and recommend their products.  The advertisers and the listeners are thus, part of the same community. It’s amazing to watch!

As I said yesterday, a community is far, far more commercially valuable than a following or an audience that you broadcast too.

3. Work.  Leo has worked extremely hard to build the TWiT network.  Having come from a mainstream media background, Leo was used to big studios and teams of professionals to get his shows on air.  It must have been hard for him in the beginning, to go from that, to being the guy who made the coffee, wrote the scripts, fixed the equipment and booked the guests.  Until relatively recently, Leo fronted all his shows himself; as well as working with his advertisers, booking guests, writing show plans, working the control desk AND doing a daily tech radio show for an FM station too!

The lesson here is as old as commerce itself.  The best plan in the world will not work for us, if we don’t work for it.

Business leaders are often the first people into the office in the morning and the last ones home; at least during the earlier stages of their business.  All too often, we see people who want to get the result, without putting in the work first.  This is why scammers and con artists have always found an endless stream of people to fool out of their savings, with the promise of easy money.

Quality, community and work.  Three simple words, which bring with them a lot of challenges – But also the promise of something amazing.

What do you think?

Photo: Roland

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