Big Ideas: The biggest mistake you will ever make | Travel Research Online

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Big Ideas: The biggest mistake you will ever make

You’ve made a few mistakes. I guarantee it if you’ve been in business for any length of time.

The number one mistake you will ever make while you are in business is the one mistake that you can’t apologize your way out of.  It is simply the worst. Bar none. Without exception. Hands down. Guaranteed. Numero uno.  The big Kahuna.  When you fall victim to this huge mistake, you will probably never be given a second chance to make things right. So here is some sage advice: DON’T MAKE IT.

Luckily, your customers will forgive you for a lot of the mistakes you make; and as long as you make up for the mistakes they’ll stay your customers.

Except for The Big One. There is one mistake which is unforgiveable because you’ll never get a chance to fix it. The problem is that this mistake is being made all the time in business today. If you do it, you’ll never have a chance to apologize and make up for it. After you make this one, your customers simply won’t listen to anything else you have to say!

This one, ultimate, unforgivable sin is …

to be boring.

Once your customers feel you are boring, they simply stop paying attention to you. Let’s talk about this mistake for a minute.

You are probably competing with a thousand other ads, TV, radio, billboards, pop-ups, etc. Everyone, including your prospects and customers are getting bombarded constantly with marketing messages from all walks of life.

Your emails are competing with two hundred other emails for attention. The average surfer only looks at your site for a few seconds if it doesn’t immediately grab their attention. You have no other recourse.  You have to stand out in a crowded marketplace top get noticed, listened to and responded to appropriately.

If you’re content to be “normal” or to simply be a “me-too” business practitioner, you don’t stand a snow ball’s chance in hell in today’s fast-paced, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately environment.

Here are three things to keep you from boring your customers.

1. Be unique.

You absolutely can’t be the same as everyone else. Come up with something different about you and your product that no one else is doing. Step outside the lines if you dare. Risk being risky. For example, you can offer the most insane guarantee. Include the most perks and benefits. Include no perks and benefits. If everyone else is selling an ebook, produce a video. If everyone else is selling videos, do an ebook.

Search other niche markets outside your own to see how they’re doing things. Is there anything being done in another industry that isn’t done in your marketplace yet? If so, you might have the ideal opportunity to position yourself and your service as something unique. Just because it has to be “different” in your niche market doesn’t mean it has to be created from scratch. Look for ideas already working in other areas.

2. Be outrageous.

Sure. You could have a headline that says, “Make $5,000 in the next 30 Days.” But it would be better to say, “Bankrupt New Jersey Truck Driver Makes $17,499 in 30 Days…and You Can Too.”

Find a “hook” in your service. Is there a human interest story you can share? Is one of your customers totally weird? Is there some intriguing way to look at the offer?

Everybody is selling a service. Your job is to tell an exciting story.

Take a look at the Enquirer and the other tabloids for ideas on headline writing. It has been noted that Cosmopolitan Magazine has the best headline writers in the business. Those are some of the highest paid writers in the country–and they spend the majority of their time coming up with the headlines. And they are good headlines–words that pull readers inside the story. You can learn a lot by reading Cosmo; both about headlines and other stuff.

3. Wow them.

Be outrageous at the beginning of your relationship with a customer. That’s both fun and good, but it’s only the beginning. The biggest percentage (70% or more) of any marketer’s profits come from back-end sales.

You have to Wow your customers. Surprise them and give them more than they expect. Have outrageous surprises sent to them by email after they book—videos, destination guides, an agent report.

Don’t just give them what they paid for. Give them more than they paid for and they’ll love you. Then they’ll gladly jump past all the other ads out there and want to do business with you.

Unique, outrageous and wow! The big three when it comes to staying clear of the biggest mistake you could possibly make … be boooorrrriiing!

PS. Speaking of which, my new book titled “More-On Marketing” is now ready to be read … by you. Go right now to www.marchev.net to order a copy of “More-On Marketing” right now.

Mike Marchev has “been around the bases” more than a few times, and enjoys sharing his street-smart lessons with who ever will pause long enough to listen.

If you are interested in receiving his FREE 7-Lesson On-Line Marketing Course, go to www.marchev.net and sign in at the box.  It is as easy as saying Bada Bing, Bada Boom. DO IT! Now! www.marchev.net

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