Here’s an excerpt from The Gary Halbert Letter, where Gary tells a story that’s become famous within the direct marketing world. Enjoy: “As you may or may not know, every once in a while I give a class on copywriting and/or selling by mail. During these classes, one of the questions I like to ask my students is: ‘If you … Continued
Make 2016 Fastest Growing Year Ever
The constant struggle to produce marketing campaigns and to fulfill the promises you have made to customers makes it difficult to spend much time planning. But the only true shortcut to success is planning. Once you have completed your planning, you’ll be better able to stay on task, monitor your results and implement new ideas that may come up during … Continued
Beyond Member Benefits, Advocate for Your Members; Make Them Proud to Belong and Retain Them for Life
Since August 1, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Florida Farm Bureau Association. This is an association with approximately 145,000 members, with the goal of growing to 155,000 members by October 2016.
Failing Before You Begin
“If I wear that shirt, some kids may make fun of me.” But then he answered himself by saying, “They may or may not. There’s nothing we can do about what they choose to do; we can only control ourselves.” My son, Robert William, is a junior in high school and he’s participating in student government. Everyone in student government … Continued
High-Performance Business Insights From Harley-Davidson® Dealerships
For 11 years, I’ve had the honor of consulting with Florida’s Harley-Davidson® dealers. I’ve conducted ambitious cooperative marketing programs together with training for all departments of motorcycle dealerships (sales, parts, service, accessories and general management.) While it may appear from the outside that the Harley-Davidson® brand is as strong as ever, if you’ve been following the stock price of the … Continued
Was I ripping him off?
He told me I was a thief—after a coaching call no less. Tom said that based on his first coaching call, he had figured out how I was trying to rip him off. To him, I was a fraud. I took it personally. It bothered me for weeks, and it cost me a lot of money before I figured out … Continued
Building a Life Entirely Supported by the Trust, Faith, and Loyalty of Members
Every evening when I returned home from work, the drug dealer would be standing on the right side of the road. His house was the fourth one down the street, on the right. My home was on the same street, sixth one down, on the left.
The $5 million dream business that’s become a nightmare
Once you build a large fire, the coals will stay warm for hours as you leisurely cook your favorite campfire meal. You can relax and enjoy the fire, tending to it periodically to maintain its heat. But it’s impossible to start a fire without kindling. Job one of campfire building is to gather kindling, small sticks and leaves that catch … Continued
Ascension: THE Source of Membership Profit
I recently reviewed reports for a client’s membership programs. His company has annual revenues of $7 million. Like many owners of such businesses, he offers multiple levels of membership: a basic level that has about 500 members at $59.00 monthly and a higher level with about 150 members investing $249.00 a month. His average member value for basic is about … Continued
The Five Ways Membership Programs Fail, and the Components that Create Success
It’s frustrating when you do so much right and still fail to grow membership. Turns out, there are five important elements to make sure your programs work. When I conduct a thorough Membership Program Growth AnalyzerTM, I look at each of the five critical growth factors: attraction, conversion, orientation, retention, and support.