In my experience, people spend a disproportionate amount of time chasing after fresh leads than versus converting their existing leads.

Let’s start by defining a lead. It’s that person who has “raised their hand” and let you know that they are interested in what you have to offer…which you do through effective direct response, education based marketing.

So when a person has simply shown interest, but not “bought” from you yet, they are a “lead.” Maybe you’ve even gone as far in the process as giving them your Free Room of Cleaning and Carpet Audit™, but they still haven’t paid you any money. Do you just “write them off” and move on, chasing after the next lead? Or do you know how to “dig in” and find those “hidden profits”?

Don’t get me wrong, keeping a steady stream of fresh leads coming into your business should be an integral part of your automatic marketing systems. However, it’s what you do with those leads once you get them into your database that can mean all the difference in the world to your profit margins.

Statics show that once a person has shown interest in what you are offering…there is a 50% chance that they will buy from you in the next 18 months. So for every 100 leads you have, their business could be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000.00 to your bottom-line. (I.e.; if your average job ticket is $300 and you get 50 out of 100 of those leads to buy from you.) Therefore it’s definitely worth your while to pursue converting your existing leads into paying clients.

My friend and fellow ninja marketer Dean Jackson recently revealed a simple 9-word e-mail that works like magic (marketing magic) in re-engaging and converting sales from your existing leads. Here it is….

First, go out and find every lead you can in your business. Every person who you have ever had contact with that hasn’t become a client yet. All of them, even the names of clients you haven’t heard from in 2 or more years. Now here is the email that works so amazingly well…(Please note: you can very easily turn this into a “print” or offline piece and mail it following my “tricks of the trade” for getting your direct mail opened.)

Simply put the person’s name in the subject line of the email, “Joe”. Then type these 9 words for the body…no more no less… “Are you still looking at getting your carpets cleaned?” Here’s an example:

From: Mr. Clean Carpet Cleaning
Date: Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 9:53 AM
Subject: Joe
To: Joe@yaho.com

Are you still looking at getting your carpets cleaned?

====

That’s it. End of story.

Don’t be tempted to say one more thing. There is no need to sign it or include a phone number in the e-mail because with one-click they will respond to you. (If you are mailing this piece make sure to include a way for the client to contact you i.e. a phone number, email or web address, or all three.)

Now it might feel weird to just throw a question out there with no reason or explanation, but leaving this “open loop” is what makes it work. You will find your “leads” cannot resist the open-endedness of this conversation and it will engage them. You’ll find your inbox filling up with responses.

One real estate agent that Dean taught this to had a 40% response on leads she was literally throwing into the wastebasket because she thought they were “dead ends”.

Look at the stack of “leads” you have. 50% of those could be jobs if you just take the time to re-engage them in a “conversation” with you…

And remember, there is no such thing as “But my clients are different…” or “My area is different…” Response is universal. It’s human nature and that is consistent across the board, no matter where you’re located or what business you are in.

So, if you want to see a cash infusion from jobs next week, don’t look any further than the leads you already have. Please, take an hour right now to listen to the episode Dean and I did on this subject at www.ilovemarketing.com. It is episode 54, “The One About Lead Conversion”. This is a critical episode, one of those “can’t miss” ones that you need to listen to on a loop several times this week. Converting your existing leads into paying clients is a “system”. A system that once implemented, will reveal, “hidden profits” for you. So start today!

As a business owner, your most important job is to be a “marketer” of your business…after all, if you have no customers…you have no business.

And as a “marketer” you have “tools”…tools that facilitate the job of bringing in business like clockwork. But as a business owner you also have to fill many other rolls and can get so overwhelmed that you can easily forget about some of your best “tools.”

I have three references for my marketing “tools”…these references help prioritize and organize my “tools” so I can be sure to keep them handy and accessible. I call them my “tool belt”, my “tool box” and my “tool shed”.

Your Tool Belt…Everyday Access

Your “tool belt” is something you “wear” daily…the staples of your marketing systems. They should be things that are always working for you around the clock to bring in business and keep your cash flowing. The tools in your “tool belt” should be things like your web site, a Consumer Awareness Guide, Free Recorded Messages, “5–arounds”, a Free Room of Cleaning, email, texting, confirmation calls, flyer deliveries, direct mail campaigns, “Thank You” calls, and Carpet Audits™.

These are different “tools” from your “Before, During, and After Unit” that you need and use frequently. My clients that consistently use these tools are the most successful companies in their market place.

But it’s also important you don’t overlook the tools in your “tool box”…

Your Tool Box…Frequent Access

Don’t let the importance of these tools “slip through the cracks.” I’ve had clients report as high as 45% of their monthly business coming from repeats and referrals by simply making sure they regularly used the tools in their “tool box”.

Make sure you are implementing your monthly client newsletter, blog posts, updating testimonials/reviews both online and offline, Facebook/Twitter/Social Media marketing, a “reminder” program, an “I Miss You” campaign, and a “referral rewards” program.

By regularly using the tools in your “tool box”, you will see massive and consistent growth in your business.

And never underestimate the value of the tools in your “tool shed”…

Your Tool Shed…Not As Frequent But Just As Valuable

These are the tools you may only need to use maybe one time per year…but when you bring them out and use them…you will see huge payoffs.

“Tools” like the Client Appreciation Dinner, an annual referral contest with prizes, and getting free publicity through magazines, newspapers and/or television. These tools are not things you access daily or even monthly, but they are definitely worth pulling out of “storage” and implementing.

For example, one of my clients recently reported bringing in over $47,000.00 this past year from the “Client Appreciation Dinner” alone.

Organizing Your “Tools” Prevents Overwhelm

If you were to just throw all your literal tools into a big pile in the garage, how often would you dig through that heap to find what you need?

It could be so daunting to try to find something as simple as a hammer that you might just forget about it and use the heel of your shoe to hammer the nail instead. The point is…if you don’t have a spot for each of your tools (literal or not) …if you don’t have some semblance of organization….your “tools” are not going to be used. By the simple act of prioritizing and organizing your marketing tools, you will make them so much more accessible to you. (After all no tool works unless you actually use it.)

If you have to fight overwhelm (who doesn’t these days) then simply take a few minutes to “organize” your “tools” today. When they are organized and prioritized you can be sure you are using all of your tools that bring in money every day of the year.

Keep it E.L.F.™!

Best,

JOE

Note: For more tips on prioritizing, listen to Episode 47 “the one about your annual marketing calendar” and Episode 50 “the one to start the year off” at www.ilovemarketing.com for free today.

Hello, it’s Joe Polish.  I want to take a minute and thank you for being a part of Piranha Marketing and wish you all the best in the coming year.  I hope your past year was a good one, and I really hope 2012 will be even better.  Today you’re going to be getting a few little “gems” that can put you (and keep you) on the path to a truly successful year and a truly E.L.F. business. (Easy, Lucrative and Fun!)

But before I go any further, I want to take a minute and tell you about the exciting happenings at Piranha Marketing this past year.

Piranha Marketing Stretches And Grows…

Many of you already know my hardworking, awesome team…Eunice, Gina, Miki, Victoria, Rachelle, Casey, and Lisa.  And I’ve recently brought back Tim Paulson to facilitate my Platinum 2.0 group and Kevin Donohue to help me grow my Genius Network Mastermind Group (a.k.a. “25K Group”) and run my local I Love Marketing Meetup Group. (More on that in a minute.)  And our newest additions to the team are Joel and Julie Cohen, 17-year veteran carpet cleaners and one of my original “success stories”…they’ve been helping me to update and restructure the marketing systems I offer specifically for the cleaning niche.

Piranha Marketing started out a decade and a half ago with Eunice and I sharing my systems with the cleaning industry but that path has led me on a journey that today allows me to influence thousands of people from all walks of life and industries to grow their businesses, skyrocket their income and improve their lives.

One of the most exciting developments at Piranha Marketing just marked its one-year anniversary….

Have You Heard About The “I Love Marketing ” Phenomenon?

It’s been about a year since I launched this free weekly podcast, along with “ninja marketer” Dean Jackson, called “I Love Marketing”.  You can download these podcasts on iTunes or directly from www.ilovemarketing.com Dean and I have been having interesting conversations about successful marketing for over 15 years and now you can “listen in” on our conversations for the whopping cost of FREE.

Seriously though…these podcasts have quickly gained an international following of thousands of people from all industries.  Hundreds of people have written to us and told us the information we are providing through these podcasts has transformed their businesses already.  It’s “real-world” information you can listen to and “take to the bank”.

Also, because I’ve been interviewing brilliant people for almost two decades for my Genius Network, I have connected with literally hundreds of the top book authors, money-making gurus and most successful and brilliant businesses minds on the planet…that enables Dean and I to have some incredible guests on our I Love Marketing podcasts that share a wealth of knowledge with you and it’s all free for the taking.

And what’s been a really cool and unexpected result from “I Love Marketing” is the “Meetup” groups that have popped up…over 40 groups (and counting) in 5 countries.  (We even have one in China.)  These “meetup” groups give people from all kinds of industries the chance to share and grow in a mini “Mastermind” type setting…a live forum where everyone shares the common thread of Direct Response Marketing and the common goal of success.

So as you can see…even though I still specialize in the “cleaning niche” and offer a highly successful and newly updated for 2012 “Rich Cleaner System” to carpet cleaners, restorers, duct cleaners, and cleaning companies of all kinds, it’s not the only thing we do at Piranha anymore.

Through my new and improved Platinum 2.0 Membership program, my highest level “brain trust” 25K group and through I Love Marketing, we also help businesses “cross over” and learn from other industries…we help all kinds of business grow and push themselves to new limits… in ways they never could have imagined without the resources and opportunities they are finding through Piranha and I Love Marketing.

And that brings me around to the subject at hand…

Growth.  Possibilities.  Goals.  Productivity.

Especially with the “New Year”, most people find themselves reflecting on their businesses and wondering how they can take it to the “next level”.

My friend, Harvey King, from Vistage, a coaching program for CEO’s, recently shared these four steps to success with my team and me.  They are simple and straightforward…maybe it’s nothing you haven’t heard before but these basic ideas are something we all need to be reminded to focus on from time to time.

If you reflect on these four steps to success, I will share my “take” on them and show you how to use these ideas to propel you forward toward greater success in 2012…

1)    Identify Your Vision, Goal and/or Dream

2)    Create and Maintain A Positive mindset

3)    Make A Game Plan; Be Specific Day to Day,
Week to Week, Month to Month

4)    Monitor The Plan…Keep Yourself In Check!

Okay…let’s take it a step further and break down these four steps, starting with the first one…

Step #1:  Identify Your Vision…Goal…Dream… Define Your “Bigger Future.”

I’m what most people would call a success, right?  Self made millionaire, marketing guru to thousands, creator and facilitator of several high-level coaching memberships.  Known for “hob-knobbing” with celebrities like Paula Abdul and Sir Richard Branson…

But…

If you recall, I was supposed to be a failure…I had no formal education…no stable family life…struggled with drug addiction at a young age…not exactly a recipe for success.

What kept me from going down the path to ultimate failure and disappointment?

I knew I had a “bigger future”.  And I didn’t let the “cards” that were “stacked against me” change that.   And I didn’t let the early failures of my carpet cleaning business change that.  I had a vision.  And I kept that vision at the forefront in my mind.  So that the journey to success even with all its ups and downs never changed my final destination….my “bigger future.”

I once heard it said, “A goal not written down is merely a wish.”  So turn your goals and dreams into something visual…grab a pen and paper and put your “bigger future” for 2012 on paper…and then keep that paper somewhere where you can see it often like on your refrigerator, in your office or even taped to the bathroom mirror so you look at it every time you brush your teeth.  The point is…make your goals and dreams into something tangible and keep them in front of you.

That brings me to the 2^nd step toward success in 2012…

Step #2:  Keep A Positive Mindset. No Matter What Life Happens To Throw Your Way…

Sometimes this is easier said than done.  But it is so important.  No one is immune to the negativity, the stress, or the difficulties of life at times.  Whether it be in our personal or professional life…at times everyone faces major challenges.

For example, we happen to be living through the biggest recession the world has seen in decades…maybe even ever…how are you fairing? Are you allowing disappointments or perceived “failures” such as losing a home or being upside down in a mortgage to crush your dreams?   Is the stress of having a business that is “flat-lining” or a seeing a downward slide in your income “sidelining” you on your journey to your “bigger future”?  Ask yourself this question…

Are you going to let the past define your future?

To keep a positive mindset you need to really believe…the past does NOT equal the future. You have the tools and resources through Piranha Marketing, I Love Marketing and at  www.piranhacentral.com to keep yourself in a positive mind set.  You have the power to put any disappointments aside and move forward with a fresh perspective, and a real “plan” to reach whatever goals, dreams and visions you have for your own “bigger future.”   You have the ability to reach out to any of the Members or staff at Piranha and face your challenges through the experience of others.

So, what makes some people able to push through barriers, real or imagined, and take their lives to heights beyond their goals and dreams?

Do you think the person that sits around griping about the economy and the sorry state of their lives….and then spends their days and nights “going through the motions” of life, never taking control of their “path” is ever going to reach their “bigger future”?  Most of those people don’t even realize they can have a “bigger future.”

It’s people who know exactly what they want and where they want to be…even if at first they don’t know how they are going to get there….

Those Are The People Who “Crack The Code” And Achieve Levels Of Success The Rest Of The Masses Can Only Dream About…

I know you don’t fall into the group of people who just let life “happen to them” or you wouldn’t even be receiving this letter from me.   I know you are a “doer” because at one point you decided that you weren’t going to just let life “happen” to you and you took action and did something to move forward toward success and you came into contact with me.

Sometimes journeys take unexpected twists and turns.  Sometimes there are highs and sometimes there are lows.  At times there are roadblocks and at other times the sky’s the limit.   If you have a “plan of attack” to make things “happen for you”…instead of just letting things “happen to you”…you will reach your “bigger future”.

And that leads us to step three in this formula…

Step #3:  Make A Game Plan…Be Specific Day-to-Day, Week to Week, Month to Month

You already have a “game plan” that you got from me and Piranha Marketing …Are you putting it to work for you?

It’s really easy to get overwhelmed and find yourself with “paralysis by analysis.”  Especially when we are so overloaded with e-mails, Facebook, Google +, junk mail, bills, Apps, (the endless array of highly addicting “time suckers” like caring for virtual farms or making your next “Scrabble” move), and on top of it there are the daily tasks of “wearing all the hats” we must as entrepreneurs.

That’s where a good old-fashioned checklist can come in handy.  Create daily, weekly and monthly “to-do” lists.  Prioritize items on your lists by putting the tasks that move you closer to your goal as your “Major Outcome Achievements” (MOA).  And you only need to place one or two of these “MOA’s” on your to-do list a week if need be.  The point is you will be making progress toward your goals.

Create a weekly, monthly and yearly “marketing calendar”.  Years ago I started teaching my members the concept of “Marketing Mondays”.  Where I encourage people to block off some time every Monday for getting their marketing tasks for the week done.  Julie Cohen said that implementing that habit helped her and her husband to increase their business by 833% (Yes, that was eight HUNDRED and 33% in just 24 months.

There are dozens of digital Apps, tools and programs for creating and monitoring your “plan”.  Or you can use good old-fashioned pen and paper…and every entrepreneurs necessity…the sticky note.

Going right along with this subject, I highly recommend that you download and listen to the podcast Dean Jackson and I did called “the one about your annual marketing calendar.”  It’s episode #47 you can find it at www.ilovemarketing.com or download it from iTunes.  As always, the information is killer but offered to you for free.  So take a listen while you’re working or driving around today.

This is exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about when I refer to “little hinges swinging big doors”  do these “little things” and open the door to your “bigger future.”

Step #4:  Monitor Your Plan…Keep Yourself In Check!

No matter how long you’ve been in business or how you are “doing” right now… You need to “keep yourself in check” and monitor your plan.  Why is this so important?

Well think about this…the world around you…and subsequently your consumer…is changing rapidly.   For example, we are witnessing the death of the “PC” (personal computer) and that means the way you communicate and “reach” your consumers and clients is going to be changing… or your savvier competition is going to put you out of business.  Plus, with the shift in the “new economy” your competition in general is rapidly increasing and competing heavily by price.

Being involved with Piranha Marketing can be your “life line” to survival in today’s business climate.

Just by reading this newsletter every time you receive it , using www.piranhacentral.com and putting into practice all the tools, resources and systems you receive from me you will be “keeping yourself” in check.

That’s also the beauty of my membership programs like Silver, Platinum 2.0 and 25K…it’s built in “insurance” that you will be “kept in check” and that you will always be on top of your “plan”.

Here is a simple exercise I’ve learned from all my years in participating in high level coaching clubs for entrepreneurs.  I teach it to my members when they attend my Bootcamps and Conferences…It goes something like this…

Take a minute and ask yourself three questions…

• Where are you?
• Where do you want to be?
• How do you plan to get there?

This exercise brings you into the present and helps you focus on the future.  If you ask yourself these three questions regularly…maybe even sit down on the first of every month and put the answers on paper…you will keep yourself “in check” and focused on your plan….and ultimately on your “bigger future.”

Now you have four easy steps to…

“Make Things Happen” For You In 2012

And “making things happen” is what it’s really all about when it comes to reaching your “bigger future.”  Even though I started out on the other side of success (that would be failing miserably) the point is I started doing something. Even in the beginning if I didn’t know what I was doing I at least did something.

My hope today is that this letter inspires you.  Before I close I want to leave you with this simple thought, “The best way to get started is to get started.”

Don’t let another day just “happen” to you…go into 2012 making things happen for you….be determined to stick with me and Piranha Marketing and I can help you reach your “bigger future” in 2012.

Best,

Joe Polish

Piranha Marketing, Inc.

P.S.  Be sure to keep a spot open on your calendar to attend my I Love Marketing event in Phoenix on October 3^rd-6^th, 2012…it is going to be my most KILLER event yet for helping you create you ideal E.L.F. business and lifestyle…details coming soon.

P.P.S.  In the spirit of “Marketing Mondays” look for a fresh money-making blogpost every Monday in 2012  – right here !