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Strategy Calls! - The Strategic Alliance of Online Businesses - is a new group on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54338290656&ref=mf 

formed for the purpose of being a forum of opportunity for online businesses to network with each other, and to offer tele-seminars, courses and conferences that may be of interest to the online business owner.

In online marketing, this is known as the JV or joint venture.

As was recently pointed out in the astute online marketer, Rich Schefren's recent article on the subject,
http://www.strategicprofits.com/blog/1-plus-1-equals-3/, many marketers have treated the JV as an email campaign, but a joint venture relationship, or a strategic alliance, is what you make it to be.

Traditionally, the ability of a firm to price higher than competitors is called differentiation. A product or a service which offers something unique,or is or greater value than the competition, could then merit a sustainable higher price.

But a firm may also choose to offer a differentiated product or service at a similar price to competitors in order to increase market share and volume.

It is, of course, of no value in achieving competitive advantage unless it is of value to the user, so that the user has preference for those products or services over those of competitors. Focused differentiation through strategic alliances lead to a perceived added value to a particular product or segment, which may also warrant a price premium.

The aim with strategic alliances is to achieve higher market share, and therefore higher volume, than competitors by offering better products or services at the same price; or enhanced margins by pricing slightly higher.

It is much more difficult for a competitor to imitate a basis of differentiation linked to a mix of activities or features rather than just a product or a service, if the mix is a good one, then this is highly likely to benefit many of the businesses online.

Strategy Calls! - The Strategic Alliance of Online Businesses - encourages businesses of all kinds to join this group to

*network
*find possible partners to form strategic alliances or enhanced joint ventures with
*receive information on the subject
*listen to experts being interview from the comfort of your home or office
*receive information on upcoming networking conferences and seminars.

The Strategy Calls!  website, to be located at http://StrategyCalling.com,  is under construction and a schedule of calls is forthcoming and will be available very soon.

Strategy Calls! Please join us!

Angela Wickenberg
Founder

This is the question I posed to my contacts in LinkedIn.  The question was as follows:

"Should we 'make love' to our customers?"

"Do you think marketers should stop treating their customers like wallets and instead treat them more like the people they would like to be their dearest friends, or even a desired lover?"

I received a few interesting responses, and have decided to post them here:

Lucas Allmon wrote:

While I agree with Benny to a certain extent, business IS relationships. You are more likely to do business with someone that you like than someone you can't stand.

Companies need to start treating people more like humans than just policy numbers or walking products.

While you may get a sale by being a hardass, you aren't going to retain those clients as lifers.

Hamish Taylor wrote:

Only if you're married to them as otherwise invoicing becomes really difficult!!!

Ray Miller wrote:

There is the old expression……….you catch more flies with honey than…..

Benny Greenberg wrote:

Actually befriending your customer is a poor approach to closing a sale. I have given a few e-courses on the proper methodology involved in this strategy. You need to be the expert, the person your customer looks to as the one-and-only person to buy from. Not the person to go bar hopping with. Think people - it is much easier to say NO to a friend than to a stranger. The same way you would not present in jeans and a t-shirt, or show up with your cell phone in hand, a bic pen and torn post it notes, you do not turn your customer into your friend. If you want to know more - drop me a note

Eugene Rembor, MBA wrote:

OK, had some time to look at the viedo, but honestly - I don't understand a thing. What's your point??

Eve Morris BSc(hons), Cert DigM wrote:

I think the FSA stance on treating customer fairly gives some valuable guidance on how UK financial services businesses should treat their customers. This guidance can also apply to non-financial services businesses. We should all treat our customers fairly & with respect - not with a veneer of false friendship which could potentially be perceived as shallow & insincere.

Outcome 1: Consumers can be confident that they are dealing with firms where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate culture;

Outcome 2: Products and services marketed and sold in the retail market are designed to meet the needs of identified consumer groups and are targeted accordingly;

Outcome 3: Consumers are provided with clear information and are kept appropriately informed before, during and after the point of sale;

Outcome 4: Where consumers receive advice, the advice is suitable and takes account of their circumstances;

Outcome 5: Consumers are provided with products that perform as firms have led them to expect, and the associated service is both of an acceptable standard and as they have been led to expect;

Outcome 6: consumers do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers imposed by firms to change product, switch provider, submit a claim or make a complaint.

These 6 outcomes should be the foundations upon which all products are marketed & sold to customers.

As regards your love metaphor.. to take it literally - to smile at a customer can be to engage initial interest in your product, to cuddle them can be to comfort & reassure with credibility & brand reinforcement, to make them feel special is to target & personalize the relevance of your communications to them individually, and to love is to value them as an individual who interacts with your brand time & again.

I hope this is helpful - I am open to connect
Kind regards
Eve

Pieter Dorsman wrote:

No that would be too much…

I do hope some of my suppliers say "yes" but preferably just the female representatives…

Hjörtur Smárason wrote:

Depends on what you are selling, Angela

But in general, the answer is no. You should not.

I like it when brands approach me personally and appear relaxed, secure and sincere, (the same goes for people). But if you start stroking my thigh, I'm off. So don't over do it.

Cheers
Hjörtur

Geri Rockstein wrote:

Hi Angela,

I believe that a business relationship should be a professional one where each party meets or exceeds the expectations of the other. I don't believe that is treating someone like a wallet. Being treated or treating a business relationship like a potential friend or lover does not enter into the equation for me.

Best regards,

Geri

Teemu Korpi wrote:

If there can be a person more reserved than a brit then he/she must come from Finland like myself. Like John W. I would find it very troublesome if someone in the position of a salesperson came too "close".

I would rather have that relationship in the right framework that being a customer one. Then again there are certain facts that make a good customer relationship.

One vital part of marketing communication mix is personal selling. That's the contact point where the promises are kept or not. That's the critical point where the basis of returning customer relationship are laid.

So, I would keep my pants on and hands in my pockets.

Tim Chattaway [LION] wrote:

In the industry I work In It pays to be nice, even through gritted teeth sometimes.

However I work with clients/people I get along with, I know this is not always possible, but if you find clients you enjoy talking to the desire to go that extra mile for them is there. Willing to take phone calls from Clients in various time zones at 3am in the morning for example.

We all work to get paid, thats life, but whats to say we can't be nice and treat people with a bit of respect whilst they are also lining are pockets?

John Welford wrote:

I'm not so sure! If a marketer treats me in this way, I will immediately know that they are only pretending to be my dearest friend. If someone said that they wanted to be my lover, I'd get really worried!

The point is that when the marketer is clearly acting out a falsehood, how can I trust anything they say about what they are trying to sell?

This may have something to do with cultural differences. I understand that Americans have a different attitude in these respects from Europeans. As a "reserved" Brit I do not want to be grabbed by the elbow when I meet someone for the first time, and I want people to earn the right to use my first name, not to assume it. In marketing terms, I am deeply suspicious of advertisements voiced in American accents, simply because they sound, to my British ears, less sincere than those that use British accents.

(What I find even odder is the public prudery in America that goes alongside the personal chumminess. Look at the absurd shock and horror generated by Janet Jackson's costume malfunction!)

No - in the same way that I will not jump into bed with you after only one date, don't expect me to buy your product simply because you "come on strong" with your first marketing contact!

Eugene Rembor, MBA wrote:

I don't need to watch the video to yell from the bottom of my heart "YES, they should!".

Thanks so much for all of your responses.  I will be contacting you all tomorrow with your downloads.

The question will be live for 7 days, but from the looks of things, very few people are watching the video.  The question in itself is enough to evoke a passionate answer.  And viewing my video without first reading the Attention Age paper is confusing, as one reader, Eugene mentioned in his second post above after watching the video.  However, when I took a look at my YouTube statistics before writing the post, there were 72 views of the video, so SOMEONE is watching out there!!! Yeah!!!

Apparently, a lot of people do not like the idea of becoming your customer's best friend.  Opinions are also divided.  Many of the interpretations are far from what my intention was.  Eve hit the nail on the head with her analysis and explanation, and I think we can all learn a thing or two from her answer.

For those of you who have not yet seen the video, here it is again:

http://www.strategicprofits.com/66-seconds-compelling/angela-wickenberg/

Talk soon,

Angela Wickenberg

 

 

 

Hi,

I've been so busy transfering my house to the new owners and moving that I haven't had time to work!  You can read about the move and other thoughts and daily things at http://angelawickenberg.com.

I'll also write about my upcoming firesale in this blog very soon.  The firesale will be at http://startingoversale.com and will offer a more than fantastic deal.  Watch for this in the coming days.  Also coming very soon is the re-launch of http://e-bizsecretsexposed.com as a membership site.  *Lots of great news to come in the coming weeks.

One report that I did give time to reading was by a former Google Adwords administrator, Simon Leung, who claims that Adwords will soon be dead!

paydotcom.com/r/25065/Gaiaangel/2223061/

 

 

I read through the report, which I had to pay $2 for.  There are a lot of credible testimonials on the page and the report is a precurser to an ebook that presents solutions to the problems, a classic marketing tactic.  I found the report worthwhile and paid the $2 because I know that Simon really was an employee of Google's so I wanted to read what he had to say. The ebook lays claims to being able to save your business from a slow and painful death.  Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, then you are well-aquainted with the many changes that have come about in adwords.  Some months ago - nearly a year - many businesses went completely under due to these changes.  Many of the businesses were legitimate, but many weren't and were abusing the Adwords system.  Even though many of the strategies used for Adwords became obsolete after the infamous "Google Slap", several marketers have continued to profit by selling out-dated ebooks and courses on the subject.  Some marketers simply weren't aware of the harm they were doing, but perhaps some just didn't care whether the information was up-to-date or not.  Some marketers sell information on heresay, not having tested anything that they sell.  This is prevalent in affiliate marketing circles - marketers take a product that is selling and without testing it at all just push it to make as much money as possible.

So in this sense it might be a wise decision to read Simon's report and purchase his book.  He is a very reputable source of information for Adwords strategies and tactics.  Here's the link again:

paydotcom.com/r/25065/Gaiaangel/2223061/

 

To Your Online Success!

Angela Wickenberg

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pre>A short time ago, I discovered a series of strategies that
regularly bring in the cash for many of the most renowned
celebrity entrepreneurs in the world. These strategies
were developed and perfected by a woman I'd like you
to meet. More

My Friends,

I want to share something with you.   I have been studying self-help/motivational writings and practices for over 30 years.  One thing I firmly believe is "your mind creates your reality".

An ultra-successful marketer, Lisa Diane, apparently also adapted this mindset and shares the reasons for her success.  She has created five multi-million dollar businesses when she discovered this for herself.  She started in over $50,000 in debt and had her car re-possessed.  She now earns $400,000 per month in automated income, so she is probably someone to listen to.  She started with direct mail.  She went from flat broke to earning $1,000,000 in one year, which is quite an accomplishment.

Here are two links that are free and you don't have to opt-in to listen to them.  The first one from a webinar last night.

http://www.6mprofitmethod.com/af/replay

The second link is here.

www.themilliondollardesire.com

Enjoy and please listen to what she has to say.  It may change your life.

All the best!

Angela Wickenberg

The 4 ESSENTIAL Keys to Building an Internet Business:

1. You need to build a list

2. You need to have a backend and multiple front-ends

3. You need to be working with at least one other individual (partner), or in a team

4. You need to build a business with continuity income.


You need to begin with the end in mind and build your business based on the basic principles of marketing that have been around for hundreds of years.

So, how are the gurus making big, big money online. How are they constantly entering new markets and extracting huge profits from them?

They're using a very consistent, tried and true model.

It's actually a very simple model that they use over and over again, and it's easy to copy.

There are no secrets when you know the model. You only think there are secrets now because you haven't been able to piece the model together yet.

So, here it is:

This model (the KEY to online wealth), consists of multiple front-ends leading to a backend, which is either a high-ticket item or a continuity program (something where someone is billed automatically each month).

This is the foundation.  Every major online success has been a result of implementing this model properly.

Look at the most successful companies in the world, and you'll see the continuity model in action:

- Credit card companies

- The phone companies (cell phone and regular)

- Gas

- The grocery store (you HAVE to eat!!!)

- Cable TV

Even certain retail stores, like Costco are member-based. Costco charges an annual memembership fee to even allow you to shop at their store!

Of course, they can do this because of the way they've presented their product offering: buy in bulk and save.

It's no accident that these companies lock you into a subscription, and sometimes even a contract where you HAVE to pay them for a certain length of time.

Successful marketers often use a technique called forced continuity. This is where in order to buy something, someone absolutely MUST join the continuity program. The brilliant part is that the continuity program is positioned as a bonus, and on top of that the first month is free.

So, conversions on this are very, very high. And, once you have someone in your continuity program, there is a good chance they'll stay for awhile — possibly for years.

Watch the progression:

1. Customer comes in though a $30 front-end (ebook, cd, etc)

2. Customer is funneled into an email list where they are hit multiple times over the next few weeks (or even months) with autoresponders.

3. Customer is upsold into a $49/month continuity program.

4. From within the continuity program, customer is upsold to a $1000 home-training course.

5. From there, customers are upsold into a $7000 mentoring program including personal coach and teleseminars, plus other tools and bonuses.

If you didn't catch what I just wrote, read it again.

This is how the big names are making BIG BUCKS online. There are also many, many people who you've never heard of who are making insane amounts of money using this model.

Ever heard of Agora Publishing? Their model is based on continuity - they are one of the largest newsletter publishers in the world. At this point, they're bringing in $1,000,000+ per day using the model I described to you above.

With that said, let's take each of the bullet points I listed further up the page and break them down.

I want to tell you exactly what you need to do starting today.

- List Building

Building a list (with either email addresses and/or snail mail), is CRUCIAL if you want to succeed online.

If you don't do it, you will probably never reach your income goals, much less your income potential.

Start building a list now, in whatever niche is most appealing to you.

Now, once you have that list, keep in touch with your subscribers. Send them free content — build a relationship.

- You need to have a backend and multiple front-ends

This is one of the golden rules of Internet marketing.

Do you think guys are Armand Morin are making their money selling their little software scripts and eBooks? Heck no! These products are front-ends.

Armand's big backend is his BIG SEMINAR, which he holds annually. He not only charges people to be there, but he also takes a cut of whatever commerce takes place between people there. It's his seminar, so he can do it!

Remember, a backend can be a high-ticket item or a continuity program.

In this case, Armand's seminar is a high-ticket backend.

If you don't have a backend, you are seriously limiting your income. You're not following the model I've laid out for you!

Just remember, a backend is useless if you don't build your customer relationships. So, I urge you to go back again and read the 4 bullet points I've listed above.

You need to have ALL of them to make this work.

Here's a suggestion. In your everyday life — shopping at the store, taking the kids to school, etc — just pay attention to the businesses around you and ask yourself how they are utilizing the continuity model.

You're going to start seeing examples EVERYWHERE because this is a model that the rich have been using for many years. It's so freaking obvious, yet so many people miss it.

As you're observing the businesses around you, you're also going to see examples of businesses that have no backend whatsoever and you're going to wonder what the heck they are thinking.

As a final note, I want to stress that you don't need your own product to do what is described here.  Some people make it online with one affiliate site.

The model is dead simple — it's the model described above. The only difference is to use other people's products as front-ends. A successful marketer gathers email addresses, and upsells his customers to teleseminars, personal coaching, and his community subscription site.

- You need to be working with at least one other individual (partner), or in a team

I'm not going to devote too much time to this bullet point.

I just want to stress that if you're working alone right now, you're going to move much more slowly than if you find a partner who understands this model.

As entrepreneurs, we have a psychological condition where we think we know everything and can do everything better than anyone else.

This is perhaps our greatest downfall, because it is serious self-delusion.

You are going to be severely limited until you find a partner. This is a universal rule.

- You need to build a business with continuity income.

I think we've pretty much drilled this point into the ground, so I won't talk about it anymore here.

I hope that at the very least this letter has made you think.

I hope it's jolted you and caused to take a step back and really think about how you're spending your time online.

For some of you, what you're reading here will seem like nothing new.

In fact, a lot of people will say: " I already knew all that stuff…"

But the astute marketer, Frank Kern, does not seem

to think that everybody knows this.  Frank Kern wrote in his email to his list

"Listen - some idiots out there will say you don't

need a list …and if you're like me you're sick of their

B.S.  HERE'S PROOF THEY ARE LYING.

Think about this.

How many gurus do you know who don't have a list? None!!

How many big launches have you ever seen where email

marketing wasn't the NUMBER ONE method of promotion?

How many super affiliates do you know without lists?"

Please leave your comments and questions below.

Thanks, 

Angela Wickenberg