If you've never heard of John Reese, you're about to learn about one of the greatest marketers alive today. He started studying direct marketing in his teenage years.

Anyway, check out this email fron John. He is talking about moving the free line and what Mike Filsaime is doing.

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Hey,

I hope your day is going great!

I wanted to share something with you…

In the past few months I've been telling
you how marketers are really starting to
"raise the bar" in different ways to stand-out
and to provide more VALUE in their marketing.

More value in their marketing itself, not just
products they sell.

"Moving The Free Line" is a concept you're
probably now hearing more and more
about.

It basically means giving more great value
away for nothing to increase the initial
impression with prospects and to strengthen
a "pre-purchase" relationship — i.e. treat
people so well before they give you a
penny that they will be more likely to do
business with you.

Well, we're starting to see a lot of exciting
new stuff and you should be paying close
attention AND thinking about ways to
incorporate this into YOUR business.

- We've been seeing some great video content
during 'launch' processes.  Video content
that you DON'T have to opt-in for.

- We've been seeing high quality PDFs and
special reports given away.  Some are better
than ebooks that are being SOLD.

- And this trend is going to continue.

HERE'S A GREAT EXAMPLE…

If you're a serious Internet marketer you
need to 'investigate' what Mike Filsaime
is up to.  This is one smart marketer…

He just started a new 'giveaway' of sorts
but he's taking things to another level.

He's giving away one of his own PAID
PRODUCTS.  A product he actively
sells for $97.  (He's still going to sell
it but for a short time will be giving
it away as part of a marketing promotion.)

He's also giving away all kinds of other
bonuses as part of a marketing promotion.

It's the SAME type of thing we see
happen when someone is SELLING an
expensive course.  But this time it's all
being given away for nothing in hopes
of making prospects extremely thrilled
so that they might want to buy some
of the products that are for sale (optional).

In Mike's case he's also shipping part
of the giveaway and just charging a
small fee to cover the costs — this also
separates the 'real' potential prospects
from the 'tire kickers'.  After all, if
someone's not willing to spend a few
bucks to have something worth hundreds
in value sent to them, there's a very
high probability they'd never buy anything
no matter how great the offer is.

But what Mike is doing is just a BRILLIANT
strategy.  Every serious marketer should
sign up just to go through his 'process'
and spy on what he's doing — not to mention
he's giving away some truly great content.

Check It Out While You Can:
http://www.trafficsecrets.com/sneakyfilsaime.html

Yours For Online Profits,

John Reese

As I watched the thousands upon thousands of people cross the finish line, I had a couple of observations. See if my business metaphors might  resonate with your own business or service.

• Committing to run a marathon is the easy part. Preparing and training is sometimes difficult, tedious and outright annoying for many. In the end, though I watched many smiling faces cross the finish line.  Success sometimes is the best medicine for pain.
  Business Lesson: Plan, Plan, Plan for your business. Track and Test your results and push through the tedious, annoying details.  Planning can take time and attention to details can be annoying. In the end,  push through and execute and  you'll enjoy the success you have planned.
   
• Consistency wins marathon..
  Business Lesson: Any business, service or relationship takes consistent work. (sometimes referred to as positive habits) Every runner finished the race only one way….one foot after another.
   
• Marathons can be painful, tiring and exhaustive, but my wife admitted the second one was easier than the first.
  Business Lesson: Business growing pains can be also be arduous, but its much easier the second, third, fourth etc. time around.
   
• I watched guys and girls dress as Elvis, Catholic Nuns, boxers and other  silly "characters". Despite the challenging conditions, these  "characters"  were smiling more than the others and demanded louder cheers from the crowd.
  Business Lesson: Don't take yourself or your business so seriously. Have fun with it.
   
• The month before the marathon, my wife, shared that her goal  for the marathon was to  "finish." Reminding her that she and I already "finished" our first marathon many years ago, it was time to crank up her goals and reach even higher. She set a clear goal and beat that goal by five minutes and just missed qualifying for the prestigious Boston Marathon by a few minutes.
  Business Lesson: Set Clear Goals and believe in Yourself. When you set goals, you will be supported and mountains will move to support you and your goal. Set clear goals and visualize achieving them. You may be shocked by how much you and your business are truly capable of.
   
• Runners come in many shapes and sizes. I watched many runners cross the finish line in all shapes and sizes, but in the end they all finished in the same spot.
  Business Lesson: Your business can come in many different shapes, sizes and flavors. In the end, it doesn't really look like. You can have a business with 50,000 employees or a business with one member. In the end, all that is left is the result. The result in how you finished and the relative position you have with other companies.
   
• I watched hundreds of people slow down and walk at mile 26 only .2 miles from the finish line. The crowd around them screamed and literally pushed them with momentum and energy.
  Business Lesson: Momentum is powerful and can be a great force multiplier. Use it and channel it to drive you to the finish line.

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Blogs or Regular Sites.

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Check it out.

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The internet is growing.

The internet is getting even faster and some in the world still don't have a computer or an internet connection.

If you recently read about my posts about the chaning face of marketing and the 7 layered cake of marketing, then you shouldn't be surprised to know that the way companies are marketing is changing.

So, how will companies compete in our brave new world?

First off, in my opinion, the single, most lucrative medium companies will bring their products to market is through the channels of "tribes" or "groups."

We've already seen how the web has started to morph into online organizations and groups or tribes. Within these tribes, information is sacred and trusted.

That's why it will become as important as ever for companies to clean up the basics. Efficient Delivery, and impeccable Customer Service will be demanded or the information flowing through the "tribes" will decimate a company.

You already saw how much traffic the post about AOL's atrocious service got from bloggers and others thirsting to slam the company.

So, in essence, your marketing will start to incorporate branding, customer service, delivery and many other aspects that you've never even considered.

FREE Downloads.

FREE Sample.

Moving the FREE Line.

The question I used to wonder, "If all these things are FREE, how do the businesses make money?"  It took awhile, but I soon figured it out and I blogged about this concept awhile ago, in what I referred to as Moving the Free Line.

Well, I'm putting my money where my mouth is and Moving the Free Line.

If you are serious about building your business or taking your business to the next level, I have a quick announcement I'd like to make.

We are giving it all away and moving the free line.

We are launching our Beta Membership site for FREE.

Why?
Simple.
Because we want quality members to sample our products and consume our content.

Click Here to See Our Beta Launch and get the best marketing training on the internet.

Learn SEO

SEM

Blogging

Marketing and more.

RNP

Just ask my wife.

There is a saying that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason.

I admit it. Sometimes my ego gets in the way and while I know how critical it is to listen to clients, I know it can be difficult.

I get excited.

Compared where I was 5 years ago, I'm a much, much better listener, but can always use some assistance.

My friend, BJ emailed me about a new piece of software that allows your business to listen.

Well, not literally listen, but its a tool to assist you in collecting valuable feedback.

Check it out.

SuggestionBox.com is the new, creative, and interactive way to send and receive ideas and suggestions.

A vibrant community where you can follow all your favorite suggestions and vote / comment on others. 

They'll even keep you in the loop letting you know your suggestion status in real time. If you run a businesses or organization, SuggestionBox  helps you listen to the people who care about what you're doing. 

You can review and take action on ideas and suggestions for improvement, from those with suggestions specifically for you.  This lets them know that you are listening and a part of the conversation….

Remember, the customer is always right..

If you would like a free two month trial version, type in this code:

www.suggestionbox.com

"twomos"

Don't thank me. Thank your clients and customers.

This man was a legend and every day he hunted, he came back with many lion skins.

He would leave before sunrise and come back dragging dozens of lions behind his jeep.

Hunters from all over the world heard of this legend and began watching and observing him, but they couldn't figure it out his secrets to success.

The hunters bought new rifles and camouflage pants and fresh meat that would surely attract the lions, but at the end of the day it never worked. 

Finally, after watching this man's continued success, one brave hunter walked up to the man and asked flatly, "What is your secret? Every day dozens of us go out to hunt but find no lions. We have the best equipment, the best bait, but we never find any lions. How do you do it, old man?" 

The lion hunter humbly replied, "You hunters dress like hunters with your shiny rifles and new pants. You brag loudly about your clean jeeps and fresh meat. The problem is that you think like hunters. I think like a lion."

The best marketers I know don't think like marketers.

They think like their clients and customers. They know what they think, they know where they shop, they know their dreams and fears and they know why they buy.

They listen.

They watch, observe, track and test what their customers are doing. (in that order)

They become like the lions and then they slay them.

This one lesson took me awhile to learn but is worth millions and millions of dollars.

I am an online marketer. 

For those of you who don't  know what that means — that means I  optimize websites for the search engines.

This means that when you type in a certain phrase in google, I optimize my own sites and client's sites to get ranked for those search terms.

However, I often must remind myself that I'm a marketer.

While I personally am partial to online marketing for many good reasons (mainly due to control and low costs)….I'm a marketer first and foremost.

My point is that online marketing is only one of 7 different marketing mediums.

Good marketers use all 7 together to build a successful marketing campaign.

If you can use all 7 mediums, I promise you will see an increase in traffic and conversions.

Let's start briefly discussing the various mediums and how you can begin to use one to feed off another.

The 7 different marketing mediums are as follows:

1. Internet (of course, my favorite)

2. Television

3. Radio

4. Trade Shows or Seminars

5. Direct Mail

6. Sales People or (telemarketing)

7. Print /and or Brochures and Promo Pieces

So, the key is to use all 7 to feed of one another.

For example, a targeted, tracked and tested online advertising may have a "call to action" for the client to call inbound to a call center where #1 would leverage #6.

Another example which is common is to have the client log on to a website following a radio or television commercial.

These strategies work. And the more you can use the strategies the better off you'll be.

Here is a quick example of using 5 marketing weapons.

The Call to action is for the client to call inbound to a call center after they've heard a radio commercial.

Once the operator answers (inbound calls are so much easier than outbound calls) the operator can ask the client if they would like a free brochure and quickly tell them the benefit of this brochure and instant coupon.

Now, the company has the client's name and address, the company can include #7 and have a printed call to action for the client to logon to the company website to learn even more information.

After a few days, the company can thank the company and start with a direct mail campaign and invite the client to a free trade show or seminar.

Its very powerful.

The problem is most companies focus on one or maybe two of these strategies and become complacent (me included)

Get creative, track and test your efforts.

Because how did we get here?

We were just at the turn of the century and the world was turning online.

AOL was the center of the universe and the NASDAQ was the darling of Wall Street. Any business with a "dot com" in its name had Venture Capitalists lined up to throw money at it.

Then, along came a small company that believed they could offer a better search engine without annoying pop-ups or flashy banner ads. They also told investors they would offer the majority of their services for FREE and still be profitable. 

So what happened?

Well, its obvious.

AOL simply got beat with its quality of service, by a company called Google.

But, the real crime is that AOL tanked with their customer service. 

See, this is not an example of poor marketing, branding or business management, this is an example of flawed thinking.

Since, when do companies have the nerve to try to "upsell" their customers when they are trying to cancel their service?

Since when do companies think that the customer is wrong?

Since when do companies blow off our feedback and forget to listen to their customers?

I don't have a lot of these answers but but the only person to blame is You.

You allowed this to happen and as best-selling author, Seth Godin says, "You are smarter than the marketers selling to you every day…."

Before the internet and blogs, forums and online communities, many companies had whole divisions setup to handle customer care.

Companies were regularly rated in prominent newspapers and investors based their confidence and investments on the company's customer service programs.

Good companies fought very hard to have the best possible service.

There were whole divisions and departments setup to hearing customer's feedback and complaints. It was like the executives had entire virtual suggestion boxes at their disposal.

Then, globalization entered the equation and cheap, outsourced "customer service commodities" replaced actual customer service departments. The internet followed and many big corporations simply didn't see customer service as a necessity anymore as investors demanded tighter budgets and  bigger bottom lines.

I think its time for a change.

I think is time that we start demanding quality, service and start rewarding those companies that will truly listen to our feedback.

When you create your customer service department in your own company, don't look at a customer service department as a cost, but look at it as an investment.

It is so common to invest lots of money to attract and retain good customers through quality advertising, then why should a quality customer service department be any different?

Also, the managers in your customer departments should be sitting in your marketing meetings.

Why?

Because these customer service managers have the pulse of the market and KNOW what the market is saying (or yelling in AOL's case)

If the market is telling them that the widget is too this or too that, I think it would be pretty important for the marketing or design team to know that and repackage their product and/or message.

In summary, the best companies with the best customer service departments use the customer care departments much different than others. They not only treat their customers with care, but take the valuable feedback from their customers and then make improvements or changes to their product or message.

Surveys, and focus groups don't work either so don't bother.

You, the customer are smarter than you think.

You, the small business owner are smarter than the big business for knowing that.

Of course, we could spend thousands of hours and pages discussing these themes, but here are 10 short keys to marketing success.

1. Targeted, informative, advertising always performs better than scattered, confusing messages.

2. Delivering what you say when you say it is a great way to brand your product or company.

3. Good Customer Service is never a feature or benefit. It's expected.

4. Good Marketers Test, Measure and Analyze.

5.  "The Customer is Always Right" is not a cliche'; its Law.

6. A transparent, honest message will always outperform flashy, slick marketing campaigns. Honesty sells.

7. Good marketers tell a story.

8. Good marketers Listen….Good marketers listen to constructive criticism.

9. Good marketers know their markets. If you can't define them, you can't find them.

10. There is no such thing as a free lunch; Getting #1 on google takes work; there is no such thing as "free traffic."