Do you continue to create products/programs/services that you think your prospects need – offerings that seem the most logical to you that will help your prospects do, be or have better – but you can’t seem to sell many – or any?

There are two things you need to remember when creating any offering for your niche:

1. People buy what they want, not necessarily what they need.

2. People buy based on emotion, not necessarily on logic.

And if you’re a fan of The Apprentice, you’ll see time and time again that the team that wins is the one who nails both emotion and desire in their marketing message!

There are several ways to get this information and use it to help you create an offering that will solve your prospect’s problems and make a profit for you at the same time.

The best way is to do your research. Make sure you conduct market research of your niche on at least a quarterly basis. You want this to be an ongoing part of your marketing campaign so you can keep up with the changing desires of your target market and continue to offer them what they want (not what you think they need).

Here are some ways to do this:

1. Simple: Ask them! Ask your prospects a simple, open-ended question, like “What’s your biggest challenge with building your business online?” or “What’s the one thing you’d like to learn more about that relates to balancing your work and family life?” Tailor the question to your niche and use the information you receive to help spark ideas for new products and services.

You can put this question to your target market a number of ways: as an autoresponder when they sign up for your freebie offering, periodically in your ezine, ask them on your teleclass and have them email you their response, or ask them on discussion boards and blogs in your niche.

2. Almost as Simple: Do a simple survey that asks 1-10 questions using a survey tool like Zoomerang or Survey Monkey (see Alicia Recommends below for more). This allows you to ask more specific questions to elicit more specific responses. Doing a survey like this really helps you to NOT waste your time creating offerings your target market simply doesn’t want. (For example, in my latest survey, I’m discovering that no one really wants more information about “defining your niche.” Now I know not to focus more energy in that area. Cool, huh?)

3. Advanced: Set up an Ask Database campaign (www.AskDatabase.com). This tool helps you ask your niche what they want in a sophisticated and professional-looking way. It does a few other things besides just asking the questions, so if you have the budget, it might be worth looking into. (And if you use this system, would you email me and let me know how it’s going? I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s part of my plan going forward.)

One last tip: To entice people to share their thoughts with you, offer them a free gift for answering your question or taking your survey. It’s also a nice way to say thank you for their time.

The information you glean from implementing this strategy (especially over time as your list grows) is priceless! Try it for yourself and see if you don’t agree…

What Trump’s Winning Apprentices Know is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge

You may have heard adding information products (or info-products) to your service business is a smart business decision. And indeed it is. There are many benefits to selling information products as part of your business.

However, there is a dirty little secret around selling info-products. The dreaded refunds.

You see, when what you’re mainly selling services, you rarely run into refund situations. You may run into other challenges with getting paid but not refunds.

But, unfortunately, the unpleasant reality is refunds and info-products go hand-in-hand. And when you’re first confronted with this, it can throw a lot of entrepreneurs for a loop. Even if you know intellectually you’ll get a refund here and there, emotionally it’s a much tougher pill to swallow. And what I’ve found ends up happening is people create “stories” around refunds that simply aren’t true.

So let’s take a moment and talk about refunds and bring this dirty little secret into the light.

First, let’s talk about what’s considered normal. A normal refund rate is 10%. And, in fact if you’re Dan Kennedy, you’ll go as far to say if you DON’T have a 10% refund rate you aren’t selling enough. (Isn’t that an interesting spin on refunds?)

If your refund rate is higher than that, you may have a positioning problem or you’re selling to the wrong ideal client or you need to implement some stick strategies. (Note I didn’t say your problem is the product is bad.)

So let’s assume your refund rate is at or below normal. Now let’s look at the top 4 reasons why people ask for refunds.

1. The product isn’t right for them.
Read that again. The product isn’t right for them. NOT that the product is bad. This is where a lot of the “stories” come in — entrepreneurs spend so much time and energy creating an info-product and then when someone returns it, this sends them into a tailspin because they immediately come to conclusion that there’s a problem with the product. If this is something you’re concerned with, I can assure you that your product is fine. How can I know that? Because you ARE worried about it. People who create bad or low-quality products are not at all concerned about the quality.

So why isn’t the product right for them? Perhaps it’s too basic or too advanced for where they’re at right now. Perhaps they’re not your ideal client. Perhaps they read the sales letter wrong and thought something was or wasn’t included and so it didn’t fit their current needs. Whatever it is, it has little to do with you and everything to do with them.

2. They have second thoughts.
Again, this has nothing to do with you. Perhaps they run into a cash flow problem. Perhaps their spouse gets angry with them. Whatever it is, they’ve decided the easiest way to fix the situation is to return your product.

3. Something unexpected comes up in their life or business.
Things happen. People get into car accidents, spouses get laid off or family members get sick. Whatever it is, it derails them from their current business plans and they have to put things on hold or rethink what they’re doing.

4. They want to take advantage of you.
This is a very, very small group but it bears talking about. The reality is there are unpleasant people out there who are looking for ways to get something for nothing. My advice is not to worry about them but know they exist.

So as you can see, it really isn’t about you. It’s about them. Refunds really are just the cost of doing business as an info-marketer and aren’t worth getting upset about.

The Dirty Little Secret Behind Adding Info-Products to Your Service Business is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge

One way to get the word out about your products and services is to offer derivative courses at local community colleges and through online educational sites. These are usually not big money-makers, but they do get you in front of potential clients who might hire you as their coach, book you to speak at their event and/or buy your products and services.

If you are a beginner, it also gives you an opportunity to hone your speaking skills in a smaller group setting that is relatively safe. It is rare to find hecklers in a continuing education course! It forces you to collect your thoughts about your content, as well as the market you wish to serve.

For example, I’ve offered a version of the Marketing Strategies for Promoting YOU! course at one of my local community colleges, Paradise Valley Community College. I’ve also offered online versions through several resources:

The Long Story Short School of Writing at Colorado Free University offers a variety of online courses for both fiction and non-fiction writers. Since this is a target market I wish to reach, I created versions of the Marketing Strategies for Promoting YOU! course for these two audiences: fiction writers and non-fiction writers.

I’m also offering a version of MSPY that has been tailored for professional organizers at The Professional Organizer’s Toolbox.

I’ve even created a special VIP Gold Group through PodClass!

All these opportunities add to your marketing funnel, making it more diverse and robust. This, in turn, makes it healthier and better able to support you in your business mission.

Expand Your Empire is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge

With each successive call in the Turbo-Charge Your Marketing teleseminar series, I realize how much everything in the program builds on and depends on everything else.

Of course I planned it that way — but I’m still realizing that the layers are greater than I had planned.

Anyway, I was thinking about the first three calls this weekend, and reading Michael Port’s Book Yourself Solid and came to the realization that the foundation of every truly amazing business is based on three interconnected concepts: Passion, Niche and Ideal Clients.

Take a look at the graphic here. Each one of these concepts are represented by a circle. Where these three circles intersect … that’s where your most optimized business resides.

Passion is what drives you. It is what motivates you to get up in the morning and keep plugging away at your business. Passion helps you discover your niche and identify your ideal clients.

Niche is what brings your prospects together … it how they self-group, making it easier for you to determine what kinds of products and services will serve their needs best.

Ideal clients are the kinds of people you like to hang around. They energize you and inspire you to do your best work.

Passion helps you find the right niche for you and it is your biggest clue when you are serving your ideal clients. You need to be passionate about your niche and your ideal clients. Your niche must be where you find your ideal clients and be of interest to you. Your ideal clients must energize you and be interested in your niche. You see? They all interconnect … loose one piece of the trinity and your business will start to falter.

Now, when I use the term passion in this context, it doesn’t necessarily have have to be your top passion … that might be for something that is not profitable. But, you do have to have at least a spark or two of interest.

Once you have found your business sweet spot — the business that can be found in the intersection of your interests, the interests of your target market and your ideal clientele — you can build your marketing much more easily.

You’ll have the information you need to choose your words wisely, make use the best media to convey your message, and know that you are doing your best work in the service of individuals you truly like and respect. That is where business nirvana lies.

The Business Foundation Trinity is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge

Apparently not. The August 11, 2008 issue of BtoB magazine reported on a Opinion Research Corp. study that says, at least for small business, otherwise.

Conducted by phone between June 24 and July 3, the study polled 500 small-business owners and decision-makers. What they found was that 65% rated their business conditions as “good,” whereas only 27% rated the economy as “good.”

So, where do you and your business fit? Is business good for you? Or could it use some improvement?

To some degree, I would think, that might have to do with what market you are targeting, as some segments of the population are doing better than others. But mostly, I believe, it would have to do with your marketing. Have you set yourself up for success?

• Is your target market one that you feel passionate about serving?

• Have you done the research you need to see if your target market is large enough and cohesive enough to be profitable?

• Do you have a clear idea of what your ideal clients act like, look like, behave like?

• Do you know what their deepest desires and greatest fears are?

• Do you communicate to them the benefits of what you offer in a way they can relate to?

This is what the first part of Marketing Strategies for Promoting You! is all about … making sure you and your business are in alignment with each other and your target market.

I urge you to take a look at those questions again and see if you can answer them clearly and confidently. If you can, great! You are most likely part of that 65% and I’m happy for you.

But if not … maybe your business is just “O.K.” — you can improve it my improving your answers to those questions. And, if you business is less than “O.K.” — you owe it to yourself to do the work you need to do to get those questions answered and answered well.

Does a Poor Economy Mean Poor Business? is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge