Your competitor is not always who you think they are... Sometimes they aren't even in the same industry. Tune in is as David breaks down different types of competitors. 

Your competitor is not always who you think they are... Sometimes they aren't even in the same industry. Tune in is as David breaks down different types of competitors.

A different way of looking at your competition

Tune in to this short message as David talks about the dangers of running your business out of fear.  How do you run your business when things feel uncertain? 

Tune in to this short message as David talks about the dangers of running your business out of fear.  How do you run your business when things feel uncertain?

Don't run your business out of fear

The ONE thing we all want... Do YOU have it?

5 ways to use testimonials to increase response

4 things you can do right now to increase conversions on your website right now

How would you answer this ONE question?

Often we restrict what we do in our business because we get a mental block about how to do it. Listen in as David talks about how to overcome this common problem. 

Often we restrict what we do in our business because we get a mental block about how to do it. Listen in as David talks about how to overcome this common problem.

Don't hold yourself back

Do you struggle with feeling inadequate? Ever feel like an imposter? A fraud? Believe or not, this is really common. Even among high achievers. People you would never imagine. Many people portray confidence outwardly, but inside they are plagued with doubt and fear. Insecure about themselves and their abilities. If you feel this way you are NOT alone... Tune in to this episode and find out some ways to overcome this issue. 

Do you struggle with feeling inadequate? Ever feel like an imposter? A fraud?  Believe or not, this is really common. Even among high achievers. People you would never imagine. Many people portray confidence outwardly, but inside they are plagued with doubt and fear. Insecure about themselves and their abilities.  If you feel this way you are NOT alone... Tune in to this episode and find out some ways to overcome this issue.

Am I worth what I charge? 

One of the most profound success principles I’ve ever heard is this… “If you really want to succeed, take a look at what the majority of your competitors are doing, and do the exact opposite.” Earl Nightingale. You will realize how true this really is when you stop trying to follow the crowd and instead follow what works. Because the truth of the matter is, your biggest competitor is in your own mind. 

One of the most profound success principles I’ve ever heard is this… “If you really want to succeed, take a look at what the majority of your competitors are doing, and do the exact opposite.” Earl Nightingale. You will realize how true this really is when you stop trying to follow the crowd and instead follow what works. Because the truth of the matter is, your biggest competitor is in your own mind.

Know who your REAL competitor is

5-star reviews online are like GOLD and should be aggressively pursued and shamelessly exploited in your marketing. Without reviews your asking your customer to give you a try blind. Amazon has trained us all to check the reviews before we buy… If you don’t take reviews seriously it will significantly impair your ability to grow. A great place to start is to go to your favorite customers first and ask them to leave a review on your google page. Start there and regularly pursue more reviews as you grow. Reviews should be used in all your advertising both online and print.

5-star reviews online are like GOLD and should be aggressively pursued and shamelessly exploited in your marketing. Without reviews your asking your customer to give you a try blind. Amazon has trained us all to check the reviews before we buy… If you don’t take reviews seriously it will significantly impair your ability to grow. A great place to start is to go to your favorite customers first and ask them to leave a review on your google page. Start there and regularly pursue more reviews as you grow. Reviews should be used in all your advertising both online and print.

The most under used marketing strategy

When my wife and I started our music school business, we had just filed bankruptcy, living in my parents basement with two kids in diapers and expecting another child. Now we own the largest private music school in the northwest, we make over $1 million dollars a year from it and we do it all in ONE location. In this podcast I share with you the lessons I have learned over the years and how you can apply them in your business.

It is crucial you have a system and a culture of referrals in your business. It should be expected they refer their friends. Also, the person who refers is more likely to stay than the people who doesn’t refer. So reward the ones that do, and keep reminding the ones that don’t. Once someone demonstrates the ability to refer - That’s who can refer more! You MUST make a BIG deal of it when they refer. I think it’s also worth mentioning the bigger the deal you make about referrals, the more you will get. Especially when you consider people are motivated far more by recognition than they are by money. You can and should use this to leverage more referrals. 

It is crucial you have a system and a culture of referrals in your business. It should be expected they refer their friends. Also, the person who refers is more likely to stay than the people who doesn’t refer. So reward the ones that do, and keep reminding the ones that don’t. Once someone demonstrates the ability to refer - That’s who can refer more! You MUST make a BIG deal of it when they refer. I think it’s also worth mentioning the bigger the deal you make about referrals, the more you will get. Especially when you consider people are motivated far more by recognition than they are by money. You can and should use this to leverage more referrals.

Referral marketing

The best way to retain customers is through relationship with them. So personal touches is one way, b-day cards, gifts, follow up calls etc… Are you recognizing them for contests you run or for how long they have been with you? Is there a way for them to spend more money with you through upgrades or a more premium membership or service? The quickest way to keep people around is to get them to give you more money. 

The best way to retain customers is through relationship with them. So personal touches is one way, b-day cards, gifts, follow up calls etc… Are you recognizing them for contests you run or for how long they have been with you? Is there a way for them to spend more money with you through upgrades or a more premium membership or service? The quickest way to keep people around is to get them to give you more money.

How to keep your students from quitting lessons

Do you send surveys out to your customers regularly to study them? Where do they shop? What do they listen to? Are they primarily men? Women? Do they have kids? What is it keeping them up at night? If you don’t know who your customer is, then how do you know who to market to? And (equally as important) if you don’t know what motivates your customer then you will not know what to say in your sales message to them. 

Do you send surveys out to your customers regularly to study them? Where do they shop? What do they listen to? Are they primarily men? Women? Do they have kids? What is it keeping them up at night? If you don’t know who your customer is, then how do you know who to market to? And (equally as important) if you don’t know what motivates your customer then you will not know what to say in your sales message to them.

Know who your customers are

When a customer calls your business who answers? What do they sound like? Are they happy? Are they trained with scripts? Do you mystery shop your own business? Do you have regular training to focus on 5-star customer service? The truth is, no matter how good your marketing is, it won’t matter if you don’t have awesome customer service. The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos said “Customers are loyal to you up to the moment somebody offers them better customer service.” 

When a customer calls your business who answers? What do they sound like? Are they happy? Are they trained with scripts? Do you mystery shop your own business? Do you have regular training to focus on 5-star customer service? The truth is, no matter how good your marketing is, it won’t matter if you don’t have awesome customer service. The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos said “Customers are loyal to you up to the moment somebody offers them better customer service.”

Tips for amazing customer service

Have a marketing system with at least TEN different lead sources. You cannot expect to get a big response in your marketing if your just in one place. Or worse… No place. You have to be everywhere. Online AND offline. Don’t be fooled into thinking you should only be marketing online. Do YOU still read mail that come in your mail box? Yeah… I do too. And so does your prospect. You need to be there. 

Have a marketing system with at least TEN different lead sources. You cannot expect to get a big response in your marketing if your just in one place. Or worse… No place. You have to be everywhere. Online AND offline. Don’t be fooled into thinking you should only be marketing online. Do YOU still read mail that come in your mail box? Yeah… I do too. And so does your prospect. You need to be there.

Are you everywhere?

If your website lands on page two, it might as well be on page 812. It’s irrelevant. There’s a reason everyone uses the phrase “just google it”. It’s because EVERYBODY USES GOOGLE. Don’t waste your time and money worrying if your on the other search engines. Nobody cares about Yahoo or Bing… Google is king. Your ability to get yourself to page one of Google as fast as possible will directly reflect in your sales numbers. 

If your website lands on page two, it might as well be on page 812. It’s irrelevant. There’s a reason everyone uses the phrase “just google it”. It’s because EVERYBODY USES GOOGLE. Don’t waste your time and money worrying if your on the other search engines. Nobody cares about Yahoo or Bing… Google is king. Your ability to get yourself to page one of Google as fast as possible will directly reflect in your sales numbers.

There's really only one search engine that matters

One of the ways to retain your customers and keep them coming back and paying you money is to stay engaged in relationship with them. The bigger you get the less this becomes a possibility. A newsletter that is sent to their mailbox every month is a fantastic way to continue interacting and relating to them. This is a must if you expect them to continue to be committed to you and not forget about you and go with your competitor.   

One of the ways to retain your customers and keep them coming back and paying you money is to stay engaged in relationship with them. The bigger you get the less this becomes a possibility. A newsletter that is sent to their mailbox every month is a fantastic way to continue interacting and relating to them. This is a must if you expect them to continue to be committed to you and not forget about you and go with your competitor.

A powerful retention tool

Your friends opinion doesn’t matter, your colleagues opinion doesn’t matter, your competitors opinion DEFINITELY doesn’t matter… Only RESULTS matter. At the end of the day, no matter how much you like an ad you might have written, if it doesn’t get results, it’s gotta go. If you have a product that is not selling, no matter how much your employees like it, no matter how pretty it might be… It’s gotta go! If you want your business to survive for any length of time you MUST extract your personal opinion and bias and just follow the money… The ONLY thing that matters is results. Period.

Your friends opinion doesn’t matter, your colleagues opinion doesn’t matter, your competitors opinion DEFINITELY doesn’t matter… Only RESULTS matter. At the end of the day, no matter how much you like an ad you might have written, if it doesn’t get results, it’s gotta go. If you have a product that is not selling, no matter how much your employees like it, no matter how pretty it might be… It’s gotta go! If you want your business to survive for any length of time you MUST extract your personal opinion and bias and just follow the money… The ONLY thing that matters is results. Period.

The only opinion that matters

What you do is just a deliverable… Ultimately, it’s just a commodity if there are others offering it too. So you don’t want to be in the commodities business because you’ll be just another one of the thing you're offering. You’re REALLY in the business of getting and keeping customers. A lot of business owners take great pride in the deliverable. Which is fine. But no matter how good you are at what you do, it will be irrelevant if you have NO CUSTOMERS. So whether you like it or not, you are really in the marketing business. 

What you do is just a deliverable… Ultimately, it’s just a commodity if there are others offering it too. So you don’t want to be in the commodities business because you’ll be just another one of the thing you're offering. You’re REALLY in the business of getting and keeping customers. A lot of business owners take great pride in the deliverable. Which is fine. But no matter how good you are at what you do, it will be irrelevant if you have NO CUSTOMERS. So whether you like it or not, you are really in the marketing business.

The business your REALLY in

We are not in the perfection business. Highly productive people know when the project is good enough to produce results. And that’s when they move on to the next thing… It can ALWAYS be better. But at a certain point it won’t be any more profitable. So you MUST know your "good enough" spot. 

We are not in the perfection business. Highly productive people know when the project is good enough to produce results. And that’s when they move on to the next thing… It can ALWAYS be better. But at a certain point it won’t be any more profitable. So you MUST know your "good enough" spot.

Know your good enough spot

The David Martin Show

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