I have a product / service -- see http://www.PeopleBuilders.com -- from which I've made a ton of money in the past. But, have not done much with in in the last 8 - 12 months.

I'd like to change that beginning with 2006...

(note: I've brought this program up from other angles on the board before... but really have never solved this problem)

Previously, I have effectively sold it in ONLY 2 ways:

1) From the stage when I speak live, and
2) Through endorsements with trade associations

I want to get much more proactive in selling DIRECT via my website, and possibly via direct mail (own my own -- no endorsement), or even maybe through some JV deals with other independent business people.

In order to do this... I BELIEVE I need to work through more clearly the Best and Highest Use for this program.

I personally have "conducted staff meetings" -- what we call "OFI: Opportunity For Improvement" meetings. And, I have to tell you... they programs are GREAT!!!

(Not just a biased opinion because I'm the producer)

They made conducting the meeting a BREEZE...
They got employees engaged and talking...
They generate incredible ideas for company improvement...

On and on...

What I'm trying to do here is FOCUS my marketing message on the CORE BENEFITS or PROMISE(s) of the program/system.

I made some note earlier today...

What is the best and highest use for People Builders?

>>> Get employees together to brainstorm about ways to improve the company

>>> Improve teamwork by getting people collaborating

>>> Improve employee productivity by teaching them the skills and the behaviors for getting more done in less time – and with less stress

>>> Fill up space with good content for someone who’s already having meetings

>>> Make it easy to prepare for a staff meeting – virtually little or no advance prep work required – just a make copies and start the tape

>>> Discover customer problems before they escalate and get out of hand – if you can get employees to tell you about things they’ve seen and heard, then you can deal with them

People who use People Builders – and why:

>>> Training managers
>>> HR managers
>>> Branch / Satellite office managers
>>> Small business owners

Am I asking the right questions?

>>> What questions should I be asking to GET TO THE ROOT of this program?

>>> With a wide selection of video topics in the series... how do I "narrow" this to an OVERALL benefit statement or promise... a USP... etc.

>>> Should I go back to my 250 or so subscribers/former subscribers with a "BRIBE" to participate in a survey or teleconference or interview or something (and if so... what questions would you ask them)

>>> How do you SELL IN PRINT a product like this that has a wide variety of applications?

>>> Unless they are specifically looking for "training videos" -- they may not KNOW they need this product... but they may have a problem this program solves!!!

Does anyone have thoughts on this?

Feel free to HAMMER me with unanswered questions, etc. I really want to rip this thing apart and put it back together RIGHT!!!

JP,

Just some suggestions on what has worked for me. Maybe some will work for you, too.

I recommend you develop a free report or book or CD or some other content that solves a problem or problems. Make it pure content, but make your product the obvious choice in satisfying the needs you lay out for your leads. Each step of the way, you give more bad news...jewelry stores have multiplied 4,500% in the last 20 years (more competition), or whatever. Then present your services as the obvious solution for them.

Then do a direct mail campaign. Or a direct response with newspaper ads. But offer the free premium, which is a cleverly-disguised sales letter. Dan Kennedy talks about this a lot. One guy he mentions, Barry Kaye, has a book he wrote and sells in bookstores, but it's basically a 300+ page sales letter. Other options include tele-seminars, CDs (they reek of tangible value, even though they are a sales letter, too. People listen to them in their car, at the gym, whatever), DVDs, etc. Get creative here.

As long as the ROI makes sense, you'll get targeted leads, just like you did with your mini-seminar for Tyler-area businesses.

Just some ideas off the top of my head. You're usually the idea man, so I'm sure you can run with these.

I typically have found postcards or in some cases self-mailers or oversized postcards to be cost-efficient for my DM campaigns over sales letters or a full DM package, because I primarily use them for lead generation. You can go to www.usps.com and upload your postcard and other format designs and have them mail it (via their partner) for basically the cost of postage...minimum printing costs required.

As far as your questions go:

1) Why not ask your existing customers what they need, then angle your product towards that need. As far as specific questions to ask them, that's something you'll have to develop. Impossible for me to come up with that kind of detail from this post, and without a lot of research.

2) Narrowing your USP...well, that's always the name of the game, but I find case studies usually do well here, especially if you can boast that your company is the only one to provide these kinds of results or solutions. Again, more research is needed, but I'll bet you can brainstorm or hire the right someone to help.

3) How do you sell in print a product that has a wide variety of applications? You segment your target market into groups. Then develop the offer and message to match your market segments, pushing those buttons each segment would liekly respond to the most (again, much research needed here for maximum effectiveness).

Think "Peel 'N' Stick", if you ever read Perry Marshall's Google Adwords course.

4) If they are not specifically looking for training videos, but you know they will have a desire for your product, whether they know it or not (based on your solution and USP), well, that's where a great copywriter comes in.

One final thought: try to capitalize on what's worked for you before. You say you've sold through speaking engagements and trade product endorsements. So look for ways to continue that trend, but also branch out in new directions. It sounds like you might be becoming the victim of the "too many eggs" syndrome. Diversify, my friend.

Best of Luck!

John

Thanks JP for all the input you give the board...you really offer a great service to those of us who are new to the forum and to copywriting.

I am not sure that I totally get what the product does, and I am writing this on the fly so please forgive me if it is incoherent babble.

I think that you can solve the multiple product/fixes 2 ways

First, after reading your sales letter I think your product is a robust employement development system that turns employees into solution oriented profit creators for a company...I don't necessarily get that from the post below or the first half of the sales letter.

I think the focus on the "meetings fixer" is confusing and is adding to the difficulty in boiling the program down to a sellable USP.

With the perceived "meeting focus" it forces you to sell each idea instead of the more global employee training.

Okay I lost the second one...my ADD kicking in, sorry.

To promote on line I think I would take each of the modules and write an article about that topic that ends with the total solution to their problem being your product

Use Wordtracker and find some problems people are searching for (I did a quick look and both training and motivation (ie motivational problems are created by a lack of challenge...our program helps them to perform at the top of their ability...you get the idea) had decent searches).

I would use PPC to promote these articles and again drive everything to your sales page.

Otherwise...If I was going to focus on the meetings themselves, I would break it into multiple products so that they could by them a module at a time...of course bying the program as a set would be cheaper for them...but if you want to sell the usp of each module it gets too confusing...and confusing means no sale.

One other thing...is the $149 forever or is there some end in the future (12 months)...I didn't understand that from my quick read through.

Hope this helps...If not, well then just forget about it.

Chad

John & Chad,

You've given me A LOT to chew on... I'm printing this and carrying it with me today and will read between meetings this afternoon.

This gives me some new perspective -- as you may know, sometimes you're so close to your own products it's tough to see.

Thanks... REALLY!

I'll be back later with some thoughts, ideas, restructuring, etc.

I'll let you and everyone on the board walk through this process with me. Maybe we'll all learn something!

Warmly,

Did I Find Some Pain? This is really interesting... could EASILY tie these problems to my system! -- JP

Hi JP,

I don't know if this will be helpful commentary or not, but it relates to the debate Michael W and I were having last week about "creating demand".

With much of what we do as consultants, it's my belief that there is little immediate, obvious or direct demand for what we offer. People are probably not specifically looking for my services or your product, at least because they don't know they exist, or don't understand the benefits. So the question is "what is going on in their heads"?

Michel outlines this beautifully in his "OATH" formula. I can't remember what the letters stand for, but basically a prospect can be somewhere between "I know I have a problem, it hurts really bad and I'm desperately seeking a specific solution" through to "I'm completely unaware of my problem (even though it does exist), and am not actively looking to solve it".

Most people are somewhere in between, and it's our job as service providers to decide which level of need recognition/problem awareness we are going to target and how we can move people to the point of feeling their pain and deciding to do something.

Many marketers will advise to only target those actively seeking a solution, and this obviously makes sense in terms of this group being more ready to buy. However, if they don't know that your category of solution exists, then they may be looking in the wrong places and not looking for you or your products at all.

It is at this point that we have to connect their problem to our solution. Very often, they won't see that connection, and therefore it's up to us to explain it and educate them in order to stimulate their indirect/latent demand. If I cite my own service as an example - my PPC tests show that only 3 people searched Google UK last month for a marketing coach. One assumes that they have identified their problem as one with a marketing solution, and they have elected to find a coach as the best way of providing that solution. Not a lot of demand for marketing coaches and maybe we should all pack up shop and take the next 10 years off!

However, 2,600 people searched on another related term. What this suggests to me is that people are looking for information regarding this other term, but have not got to the point of deciding how they change things or get help. It could be they think they can do it themselves; it could be they think they need a consultant but are worried by how much that costs; they may do nothing at all. So the aim of the game is to get their attention long enough so that they'll look at the alternative I offer. If I can prove to them that it will solve their problem, at a price they want to pay, then even though they had no demand for it in the first place, maybe I can stimulate or create demand.

And in another scenario, you may have people who are not looking at all (so not doing searches on the internet), but who have a niggling feeling at the back of their minds that they've got to do something about their marketing. When they see your ad or receive your DM piece, if it catches their attention and pushes a buttom, they may then move marketing (or whatever) up their priority list because you have reminded them of the problem and are promising a solution that they hadn't thought of or didn't know about.

So whilst it's true that we should only market to hungry people, sometimes we need to remind people how hungry they are and that our mouthwatering delicacy is much better for them than anything else they'd thought of to date.

We are not creating demand as such; we are channelling that demand to our product or service, and this requires some education and helping them to see the connection between what they want and what we offer.

Am I making sense?

Jane

Well said Jane.

Chad

Hi JP.

Here's my 2 cents worth.

You should niche this product in an industry sector.

You see, people want very specific solutions to very specific problems.

You provide a very general solution to a general audience.

It's not going to sell well that way.

Pick an industry.

The delineate the problems which that specific industry experiences
in the HR area. (Yes, the HR problems are different in different
industries).

The address each one of those problems in your salesletter.

Go and read the letters on my sites
www.ConsultantsMarketingBootcamp.com and
www.InstantReferralSystems.com

Notice that I immediately outline the very specific problems that
consultants and people trying to get referrals face.

In your salesletter you hardly address the problem side at all.

The subject for your post is how do you get someone who doesn't think
they have a problem to buy your product (or something like that).

Well....they don't.

You have to spell out their problem for them BEFORE you can talk about
your solution.

So....

1. Niche your product to an industry so that you can talk about specifics.

2. Hit the problem hard and make it excruciatingly dreadful.

You'll find that after you've done this, you'll have a LOT easier time selling
this via associations, trade mags, industry specific PPC's, JV's etc.

My 2 cents.

David Frey
Author, The Coaches and Consultants Marketing Bootcamp
www.SuperstarConsultants.com

David,

Thanks a million. I don't want to sound like I'm arguing with you -- especially since I personally asked you to look at and respond to this thread...

So here's my question for clarification:

On your two sales letters you mentioned -- you're speaking to: Consultants and People Who Want to Generate Referrals -- as you put it.

But, you're not addressing "Consultants to the Insurance Industry" or "Consultants to the Banking Industry" or "Sales People In the Real Estate Industry Who Want Referrals."

Is that what you're suggesting I do? A People Builders sales letter for Banks, or Real Estate offices, etc.?

Or, are you suggesting I have a sales letter for each of my "target buyers."

1) Entrepreneurs/Business Owners
2) Branch Office / Department Managers
3) HR Professionals
4) Training Professionals

??????

I certainly see how both approaches would be valid -- but from your own letters you compared this to, I'm not getting the "Industry Niche"... I'm seeing more of a "Position / Job Description / Situational --- Type Niche."

Can you clarify?

JP.

Actually, I am working on a "referral system program" for realtors and mortgage brokers. So I am taking my own advice and breaking my referral program down into an industry.

But you don't necessarily want to do that unless you have a BACK END for that niche, which I don't (this is an entirely big conversation and out of the scope of this response)

Think horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal = expertise (HR, Marketing, Operation etc.)

Vertical = industry (energy, telecommunications, boat dealers etc.)

You want to target a specific vertical industry with your product and "perhaps" write the sales letter to a specific "title" in that industry...if you're doing direct mail marketing.

I referenced my salesletters simply to show you how to identify the pain points in your copy that get's people attention.

"Consultants" is a vertical industry.

Again, the referrals site is something that I will be targeting to vertical industries. (I already sell it to the hot tub and pool building industry)

Hope this clarifies what I was trying to say to you.

David