When people think about marketing activities they usually think of tactics like having an ezine, direct mail, sending an email, networking, holding a teleseminar, and so on.

But I think the one marketing activity that weaves its way through all marketing tactics is the activity of creating connection.

Connection is the glue that holds together your marketing plan and really, your business.

If you are not building connection with your prospects, clients, affiliates, joint venture partners, peers, assistants, referral partners and vendors - then you’re not going to gain their like, trust and respect.

They won’t join your list, subscribe to your ezine or newsletter, buy your products, sign up for your teleclasses, attend your workshops, or become a member of your mastermind circle.

If people don’t feel a connection with you, they won’t tell other people about you, share their questions and concerns with you, invite you into their business via the telephone or email, want to partner with you or make joint ventures together.

So you see, creating connection is the number one marketing activity in my experience because everything else will follow from that connection.

Think about that the next time you sit down to craft a sales page, write an email, draft an outline of a new product, create a new service, write an article and any other marketing activity you do.  Focus on creating connection and you’ll do just fine!

As consumers, we get offered upsells all the time:  the car rental company offers upgraded insurance packages, the furniture retailer suggests scotch-guarding the fabric, the fast food joint wants to super-size your meal, the electronics store offers extended warranties, and so on.

So why do most small business owners cringe when it’s suggested that they should be utilizing upsells in their day-to-day interactions with their customers?

Many of us tend to think we’re being pushy salespeople or we’ll make our customers angry at us for wanting more of their money or time.

It’s all in how you approach it.  If you have created products and services that truly help people, then telling them about something else (an upsell) that could increase their satisfaction or help them faster or easier is almost your duty.

Unless you’re upselling in a really obnoxious or annoying way, most people will either upgrade and say thanks for the great offer or just say “no thank you”.

Of course, only some clients will take advantage of the upsell offer but if you don’t let people know about it, then you’ll have no one buying your add-ons!

Take a look at all the different components of your marketing strategy to identify areas where it makes sense to let the customer know about an upsell product or service:

• the thank-you page in your shopping cart can list other products people may want to buy
• the email to people providing the download link to an electronic product they’ve purchased can have a suggestion for the next ebook that would most benefit them
• an insert in a workshop/seminar binder telling them about some products and services they may find beneficial in implementing what they’ve learned at the seminar
• a thank-you email after purchase, telling people about a membership club or teleseminar series they may benefit from as well
• a flyer inserted in the monthly newsletter mailing informing people of an upcoming seminar or teleseminar

Don’t be afraid to upsell your customers - just do it in a helpful, non-pushy and authentic way, and watch your revenue increase.

I remember when my business coach talked about creating products and services that would be ongoing and provide recurring revenue.  At the time, I was just starting out and getting one little ebook created and off of my plate was proving to be an arduous task.

The thought of doing something on an ongoing basis scared the heck out of me!

But now that I’ve gotten some marketing tactics running consistently and smoothly (well, most of the time!) and have a few products and services to offer people, I’m re-looking at the thought of ongoing services to offer.

Who doesn’t get excited when you hear the words “recurring revenue”?!  Especially for us small business owners who have experienced the whole “feast or famine” nature of doing business at some time.

But it’s not just the money that gets me excited; it’s the fact that I would have loyal, stick-around clients and customers that I could really have a meaningful, rewarding business relationship with.  To me, it’s always been really satisfying to see people progress and learn over a period of time, and get to share in their triumphs and missteps and really see them grow.

There are many examples of ways that you can “sign up” clients for a lifetime:

• set up a members’ only blog or forum
• send out a CD every month
• sell a subscription to your monthly newsletter
• have a membership program
• have ongoing coaching calls
• have a “book of the month” type of program
• have a teleseminar series

There are many ways to offer ongoing help and assistance to your prospects and customers - you’re limited only by your imagination and your target audience’s needs!  So start brainstorming today and reap the rewards of recurring revenue and an ongoing connection with people.

Having an information product is the best way to do something once and get paid for it over and over again.  It’s the way smart business owners and solo-preneurs stop trading time for money and start trading all that great, valuable knowledge in their heads for money!

So where do you start?

Here are 3 ways for you to inexpensively and quickly create an info-product:

1)  Offer a teleseminar or teleclass

• record it using audioacrobat
• offer the MP3 or burn some CDs and offer it with a transcript if you want

This is a good choice if you are starting from scratch and aren’t already doing any training or workshops.

2)  Use an existing training program or workshop

• record the training or program and offer with or without the transcript
• if you already have a recording, then just package up with an introduction and sell as an MP3 or CD, or as a higher end product that included both the transcript and audio
• if you’ve only got the written version, record it yourself using audioacrobat

Choose this one if you are already delivering some content to people and you can take advantage of an existing program or booking.

3)  Re-purpose existing articles, reports and blog posts

• collect the best ones, add an introduction and sell as an ebook
• record some of the articles and add an MP3 or CD to charge more

This works well when you have lots of existing content (i.e. articles and blog posts) that is still relevant and “fresh”.

As you can see, creating info-products - especially “beginner” ones - can be inexpensive, quick and painless!  Take a look around you and see what opportunities you can take advantage of to make simple, yet valuable, information products that you can offer to your prospects and clients.

Many businesses and salespeople concentrate all their energies on the really “hot” leads - the people who want something right now and are willing to pay for it now.

I believe this is a big mistake.  ALL of your leads are valuable.  Just because they aren’t customers yet, doesn’t mean they won’t become one later on when their circumstances change or their need is more acute.

There are many reasons why prospects may not be willing to engage your services immediately:

• they are dealing with more pressing things at this time
• they do not have enough information about your product or service
• they are not ready to make a decision
• they do not yet feel comfortable or trust you enough yet
• they are comparing information from other companies and trying to determine the best choice for them

By following up repeatedly with prospective customers, you have a better chance of getting the sale when they are ready to buy - because you’ve remained top-of-mind by providing valuable communications with them.

When you keep in contact with your leads - warm or cold - you are sending them a powerful message: that you believe they are important and worth cultivating a relationship with - even if they haven’t bought anything yet.

So be a smart marketer and treat all of your leads - wherever they are in your marketing funnel - with the same level of respect and importance.  Remember that today’s leads are tomorrow’s customers.

If you are a business looking to grow your lead volume, consider Resource Nation’s vendor program.

I know that many businesses feel that their main purpose is to make a profit and provide for their family and employees.

But I would say that your prime purpose is to give as much as you can to everyone you meet during the course of your business.

Many people wait until someone becomes a paying customer before they start adding value to that person’s life.  I think that’s short-sighted thinking and definitely not in line with the idea that we are all connected, and that prosperity and abundance flows amongst us.

To be successful within our businesses and our lives, we need to start giving.  Giving of our time, our expertise, our opinions, our strategies, our mistakes, our triumphs, our ideas, our money, our credibility and on and on.

I believe that at the heart of each of us, we have a deep desire to make a real difference with our businesses - that’s where the passion and fuel comes from that sustains us through shaky beginnings, down times and expensive mistakes.

Try to approach you business for the next few weeks in the frame-of-mind of giving.  Add value to anyone and everyone you run across in the course of your business day.  Not only will people feel good interacting with you and get an amazing experience, but you’ll have a great day practicing abundance with everyone.

Some ways you can add value are:

• gracefully acknowledge the comments people give you via your blog or online forums/discussion groups, and give them an extra tip
• when people register for a course or teleseminar, always give them a bonus report
• after people buy something, have an extra little goodie they can access on the shopping cart page
• surprise people with discounts on your products and services at unexpected times (everyone gives on their birthday and around Christmas)
• pop a great article into the mail to a client you know would get something out of it
• send a cool link or uplifting video to your list - just make sure it’s something that would be of value to them
• offer special deals and VIP pricing to your top clients
• have a contest for your prospects and offer 3 months in your membership program free for the winner
• pass along a great marketing opportunity you’ve come across to your peers and similar companies
• give a new person in business a break - support their launches with a bonus product, share a business or marketing idea, introduce them to your list

There’s many ways that you can give in your business - try to cultivate opportunities to give value to everyone you talk to…you’ll not only boost your good feelings, but boost your success.

There are tons of different marketing tactics that are available for you to use and you get inundated with many “new” opportunities every week.  How do you figure out if you should do a specific marketing activity or not?

Below are a few questions to ask yourself when confronted with a great, new, one-of-a-kind, stupendous, money-making, guaranteed marketing opportunity!

1)  Will this marketing strategy actually reach your target market?

It goes without saying that any marketing you do needs to be aimed at your target market.  That being said, we can still get wooed by a great talking sales rep!  You want the marketing vehicle to be as specific as possible in targeting your target.

That’s why you need to really think hard about advertising in more broad-based mediums like magazines and newspapers.  For example, you maybe don’t want to reach all financial planners but only those that specialize in legacy and inheritance issues.

Try to get into special supplements, inserts or sections that are particularly focused at your segment of the readership.  This is key with these broad-based media vehicles because they also are usually quite expensive.

2)  How frequently will your message be seen by prospects in your target group?

This is an important consideration when choosing any marketing activity because we’ve all heard it takes anywhere between 7 - 11 exposures to your message before people will react.

If you can only afford to run an ad in the newspaper, magazine or ezine once then it’s most likely not the best use of your money.  Of course, you need to weigh the perceived credibility of the marketing vehicle and how much “bang you’ll get for your buck”.  For example, one ad during Super Bowl may make sense if you’ve got the money - because of the number of people you’ll reach and the prestige of being one of the advertisers during the Super Bowl is priceless.

So maybe you’ve got a great one-time opportunity to advertise in a big-name person’s workshop binder or new book they’re putting out.  Just make sure that the value and exposure to your target group make the one-time price worth it.

Try to use marketing tactics that allow you to keep in contact with your prospects and clients frequently.  That’s why email marketing and having a newsletter are such cost-efficient and effective marketing strategies.

3)  Is this marketing tactic something you can do consistently?

One of the worst things people do with their marketing is to start something, do it for a little while and then abandon it when something else grabs their eye.  To reap the most benefits (read: profits and great relationships) you need to choose marketing tactics that you can do consistently and in that way build the relationship with your prospects and customers.

When evaluating a new strategy figure out if you’ve got the time, money and sometimes most importantly - the interest in doing it on a consistent basis.  For example, don’t start a weekly ezine unless you can dedicate an hour each week to writing it.  You don’t want to send a message to your prospective clients that you can’t be reliable and “stick” with something.

Next time you’re told about THE newest, best marketing activity that you MUST try, step back and take a few minutes to ask yourself these 3 questions.  It will make marketing easier and less stressful for you and also for your prospects!

It’s pretty hard to have a relationship with somebody if they don’t ever hear from you!

That’s why the cornerstone to creating an ongoing marketing relationship with your prospects and clients is to build a permission-based email list.

Only when people have given you their permission to market to them, and you have their name and email address, can you start to have any kind of business relationship with them.

In order to build a hot and steamy list….or at least a satisfied and happy list of prospective and current customers, you need to strategically use every point of contact with people.

Here are some suggestions on different ways you can get people to opt-in to your list:

• make sure you have an opt-in box/sign-up form on the top of every page of your website
• advertise your opt-in form when you ship products - include it in a postcard or a colored one-pager included in the shipping box/envelope
• include a “send to a friend” option with your ezine, special reports and so on
• have the link to your free-giveaway/ezine sign-up form in your resource box at the end of any articles you distribute to article submission sites and other people’s ezines
• give information on how people can sign up for an email subscription with all your print ads and direct mail
• have your opt-in message and box on your shopping cart pages when people purchase something
• have email signatures on all email being sent out by you and employees to have a one-line blurb about signing up for the company email newsletter or free report
• include information and link to your ezine/free report opt-in page in any press releases you send out
• add sign-up information to invoices, warranty and product registration cards
• have call center and sales staff ask people if they’d like to receive ezines and informational emails - whenever they’re talking to a prospect or customer over the phone
• promote your free-giveaway and provide sign up information at all your in-person meetings, workshops, trade shows and presentations
• promote your ezine or free special report in consumer and trade publications, other company’s publications, industry sites and directories
• add the opt-in box to any reports, white papers and registration forms you send out
• include information on how to opt-in to your ezine or free-giveaway on any surveys you send out to people

As you can see, there are many places of contact with your prospects and clients where you can tell them about your free-giveaway, special report or ezine subscription. Take advantage of these opportunities to add people to your email list - so that you can ensure a profitable and productive marketing relationship between you.

In order to gain your prospects’ and clients’ attention you have to appeal to their pleasure or their pain.

Your future and current customers are looking for products and services that will enhance their lives personally, professionally, spiritually, emotionally or physically.  You will enhance their lives either through alleviating or eliminating some kind of pain for them OR providing them with something pleasurable and enjoyable.

You’re probably thinking that I’ve “dumbed” it down too much but it really is that simple.  Your prospects and clients will go searching for something when they have pain or want some pleasure.

Or maybe I should say, they will pay money to you to change how they feel - positive or negative.  They might go looking for solutions out of curiosity but the majority of them won’t hand over their hard-earned money to you unless they are actively needing something.

So that means your marketing needs to target people’s points of pain, discomfort, dissatisfaction or on the flip side, it must show how they can add more pleasure, enjoyment, joy, happiness, satisfaction into their lives.

Of course, sometimes the two (pain and pleasure) aren’t mutually exclusive….get rid of some pain and the person will feel better, but the important thing is that the person went looking for pain relief.

Before you can determine if your marketing message and communication is around pain or pleasure, you need to figure out what your products and services promise.

What benefits do you guarantee your business offerings will provide?  Does your product help people alleviate pain or obtain pleasure?

Remember that people make buying decisions because they believe that a service or product will help them in some way.

It may help them gain more:  money, health, success, love, time, recognition, security, confidence, respect, and control.

Or it may help them avoid:  danger, losing money, ridicule, losing love, frustration, pain, risk, failure, embarrassment.

A free-giveaway is a vital first step in marketing your business and building a list of prospects that you can turn into customers and clients.

Once you create your free-giveaway, you don’t need to touch it again.  Remember, there will always be new people who “discover” you - new people you’ll be getting into your marketing funnel, pipeline or pyramid (however you think of it).

Your free-giveaway is aimed at this constant stream of new prospects and is the vehicle you use to build the marketing relationship with them, build credibility, earn their like and trust and convert them into loyal clients and customers.

So your free-giveaway will always exist as a stand-alone and entry point into your marketing system for the majority of your list.  This doesn’t mean, though, that you can’t build on the work you’ve done with your free-giveaway and leverage its power.

Another word for this is re-purposing your work.  That’s what smart marketers and business people do:  take the time and money you’ve invested in something and re-purpose it to use in conjunction with, or as another marketing tactic or product and service.

For example, with your free-giveaway you can take out pieces of it and write articles around it, blog posts and ezine content.  In this way, you spend the time once on creating your free-giveaway but you take parts of the content and re-purpose (or recycle) it to use in other marketing strategies that you employ.

Smart marketers, like yourself, know that the power of leveraging new marketing tactics with existing strategies is the way to get the most out of your time, expertise and resources.

Schedule a few minutes today to see if you are utilizing the power of your free-giveaway to the fullest.