Stephen D. Gross

So what is all the magic about the number 37?

Very simply stated, the number 37, in our opinion, is the root of success for almost all sales and marketing.  Every web designer, content writer, and marketing guru should know and understand the power of this number!

Ok, so what the heck is the magic in 37?  Did it originate from some super-duper magic show in Las Vegas?  HA!  Not really.

It really should be shown as 3-7.  These two numbers are somewhat separate in terms of how they perform their magic.  You probably use these numbers everyday without knowing it.

Had enough?  Give up yet?

The first explanation concerns the use of getting the buyers attention and making them sticky.  In other words, getting them to return to your website.  So here are the forms of magic:

You have no more than 3 seconds to gain the customer’s attention on your website, page, content, offering, and/or pricing.  Additionally, you have no more than 7 seconds to verify their decision to commit their attention and gain their trust. That’s right, you only have a maximum of 10 seconds to gain their attention and prove they made the right decision to commit their time.

Secondly, during these economic times and under non-emergency conditions, its takes an average of 3 visits to your website, etc. to get the customer to believe in your offering.  It may take as many as 7 visits for the customer to take the action you want them to take.

The “Marketing 37″ concept has been applied, in many different forms, throughout marketing history.  No the magic is not in pasting this number throughout your website (duh).  The real magic is using and applying these two “Marketing 37″ concepts to drastically increase your conversion ratio.  Understanding the need to grab the customers attention, get them coming back, and having them apply the actions you desire is really what the magic is all about.

What is your conversion ratios?  Leave a comment.

Visit Brookstone Marketing Group for more information

It seems the world of Web Design, Internet Marketing and Advertising, and Consulting is becoming over crowded with Guru’s, Strategists, and so-called experts.  These bobble heads are claiming to be online professionals with top-secret methods and strategies for success beyond imagination.

Well if it walks like a duck…..

Unfortunately, the real professionals find themselves having an even tougher time separating their message and abilities from the crowd.  Have you searched Twitter lately for online marketing experts?

The well intentioned, professional, and successful people like Jeff Walker, Mike Filsaime, Dan Hollings, Frank Kern, Shawn Casey, Tellman Knudson, and the staff at StomperNet to name a few, are providing tons of great information to educate oneself on the means to attack the world of Internet marketing.  Unfortunately, more often than not, the people who listen and learn from these sources do so haphazardly and tend to take a poetic license and automatically deem themselves a professorship at the World Wide Web College.

Can you say impostor?

So why did I use the term “Newscaster”?  Have you ever watched TV News?

Many years ago I had the opportunity to spend a few days with one of my wife’s relatives.  This relative just happened to have on-air experience with national news casting and a couple nationally known TV news shows (Don’t want to get in a law suite).  After trying to beat him in word games and TV shows several times, such as Jeopardy, without success, I finally asked him how in the world he knows so much about everything.  Was it his world travels? Education? Books? What was this top-secret weapon?

When he stopped laughing he informed me that he really isn’t that intelligent.  In fact he challenged me to get out the dictionary to see how many words he really knew the definition to.  I was astounded!!!  He was right.

So how does that story relate to Internet bobble heads? Just take a look around, find a few of them, and ask them some questions (Contact me if need some advice here).  Most of them can talk about online marketing with the best of them but most rarely ever make a dime for themselves or their customers.  In fact, more than likely, they have never even conducted a long-term online marketing campaign much less stuck around to see if it made money.

Employers get stuck with bobble heads on their payroll everyday.  Slick talking imposters have a habit of over exaggerating their abilities and experience.  For the most part, the intentions are honest but reality quickly sets in that the actual return on the employer’s investment may leave a lot to be desired.

How do we correct this trend?

Time is usually the automatic fix.  As metrics and analytics become less hyperspace-oriented and therefore more user friendly, business management will rely less on the messenger and more on the message for actual results and justification.

Have you been burnt by “Newcasters” ?  Leave a comment.

Visit Brookstone Marketing Group for more information.

While it is very common for online businesses to neglect the opportunity for additional revenue by simply providing an 800# on their website, these same companies further neglect to understand the real power in this simple but sometime difficult to implement strategy.

Our experiences have proven that a visible telephone number shown on the header of a website can not only increase revenue by as much as 100%, it can also provide a tremendous positive effect on authority and trust values.  Many online researchers and consumers alike believe that an 800# provides a sense of security with their decision to purchase.

Obviously providing an 800# alone will not reach the intended goals of doing so.  A business must then implement a system to answer and take the appropriate action as requested and shown in the eyes of the caller. Developing proper telephany expertise in sales and customer service is a must.

Telephone Systems must be researched and implemented.   The following questions must, at a bare minimum, be addressed:

- Does the system provide ACD, Multiple Voicemail, Transfer, Groups, multiple methods of Call Distribution, and DID numbers?

- Does the system have CRM capabilities and what systems will it integrate with?

- Does the system provide variable methods of reporting; by employee, phone number, time and day, group, area code, and department?

- Does the system provide import/export and data support to integrate with outside reporting systems?

Finally, it is wise to understand what type of business you are involved in.  Do you sell a need based product or service?  Or, maybe you sell a more emotional or decision based product or service?  The payback and profitability for purchasing a system and hiring a staff for support may well rest on the answer to these questions.

Do you have a telephone sales story?  Leave a comment.

Provided on behalf of Brookstone Marketing Group

We build first and analyze second right?

This sounds like a crazy question but that is exactly what most website designers and online marketers do!  The pressures of today’s tight budgets and rapid launch demands are dictating short cuts in strategy and design.  The Internet is full of the dead bodies of failed websites, content and strategies due to a lack of professional analytics.

The movie “Field of Dreams” said it best….. “If you build it, he will come”.  This mentality is the root cause of the problem.  The sad fact is most if not all Internet failures could have been avoided by applying pre-launch analytics.  Most wait until after they are experiencing an impeding implosion before conducting any form of analytics.  The end result is more often than not a decision that the cause, product, or market must have been a bad fit.

Read more…

Provided by Brookstone Marketing Group