I have been involved in Marketing and Sales for long enough to know that it is not like anything else. It has a good size learning curve to it and it takes a lot of your time to implement! Technology has helped things in marketing and sales but it has also slowed the learning curve with all the extra gadgets it has brought along with it. One example is the Internet where sales people and business owners are still trying to figure it out!
There are plenty of resources to try to learn this stuff but let’s face it, most sales people and business owners have everyday duties to keep their businesses up and running strong. So trying to learn this stuff and then on top of that, implement it is a very tough task. Plenty of resources on the Internet can be nice, but at the same time it can make things very confusing. You have many different opinions to weed through and if you buy products that promise the world to teach you how to do it, you have tons of material to review. Then you come to find out that after a lot of wasted time, the product is mostly fluff and really had no implementation strategies to it. The majority of the time when I go through these products it’s about the product maker and how great they were and what THEY did. You know what? I don’t give a crap about that and half the time it’s completely exaggerated!! Or, their magic sauce they have been using is wearing off and the best way to make money with the idea or strategy is to sell it as a product. Meaning if these “product creators” would go use these same strategies by the time the product hits the market, it wouldn’t work half as good anymore. Or, since they have sold a large amount of product and all the product buyers start implementing that one strategy, the market is flooded with people doing it, so it doesn’t have the results that you were looking for or were sold on. That’s a bunch of BS!!!
There are a lot of strategies that need to be implemented and there is no “one special sauce” that will work. You need to use multiple strategies in-sync. The biggest problem is the learning curve necessary in order to learn and implement strategies that can help you dominate your market. So where are you in your business?
METHOD ONE: Buy Products
Positives to this method:
- Usually Cheaper from $29 to $99 – However I have seen them in the thousands which is an amount I would avoid.
- You can always go back and review the product information.
- Sometimes you get weekly or bi-weekly training with the product developer.
Negatives on this method:
- If you spent $500 or more it’s usually a lot of material just to make it look like it’s worth $500 or more but it has no substance or the same amount of substance that a $99 product would offer.
- Over-hyped
- If you get weekly or bi-weekly training with the product developer, it’s with a large number of people and you most likely don’t get your questions answered. (No personal attention at all)
- If it’s centered around one or two strategies, they are not as strong as it was when the product developer was using it or everyone starts using those strategies and the market is flooded with it, therefore weakening that one strategy.
- Not very good service if there is any at all.
- You are not held accountable.
- Very time consuming.
METHOD TWO: Get a Personal coach, trainer or whatever you want to call it.
Positives on this one:
- 1 on 1 attention- You have someone to work with 1 on 1 and full access to the product developer.
- Time Saver- instead of going though endless jargon, you have someone to help you implement instantly.
- The rate of success is going to be higher.
- You, and the product seller/developer, are held accountable to get things done.
- Someone with whom to brainstorm ideas.
Negative on this method:
- Cost – To get the kind of help and service will be costly. You can expect $500 and up for this type of service. Then again, in some cases it still could be less than some of these over priced products that are on the market.
METHOD THREE: Hire out the work to a service provider.
Positives on this one:
- Another time saver with having someone else doing the busy work for you.
- Always nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of.
Negative in this:
- Cost again- Hiring out a service will be pretty costly if you want it done right and effectively.
It really depends on where you are in your business. I think all methods can be used at some point and the end goal is to usually use methods two & three because they will be the most effective and bring the best results. Three will be the biggest time saver with number two right behind it. If you are a sales person or business owner who won’t be able to spend the big bucks, then start with method two and work yourself into method three. Method one is attractive from a cost perspective but the likelihood of it working is low because without someone to help push you in the right direction, not much will likely come out of it. The majority of people who implement this method will get quickly overwhelmed and quit. It’s just the bottom line on what happens in the world of sales and marketing, especially in the digital world.
If you would like a free sales and marketing training strategy and see which method you should choose, give me a call at, 920-242-0087. I will answer my phone and if I don’t, leave me a message. I will call you back!!
Adam Komoroski
Marketing Maniac
Selling with Stealth!
