[Paul Wenke has been an E-Myth Client since October 2005, and graduated from the Mastery Impact! Business Coaching program in December 2006.] Back to the Drawing Board As I detailed in Part 1 of my story, I started an online business called Hardware Overstock without implementing any of the E-Myth principles. The result was that we had spent a great deal of time, energy and money building something that would have to be rebuilt. When we went back and consulted the E-Myth lessons we had used in building our bricks-and-mortar business, we had a clear understanding of where we had failed. My original objective for our new bricks-and-clicks business on eBay was simply to sell products on the Internet, and that's as far as it we ...

Your best customers are those who love doing business with you, and can't say enough good things about you. E-Myth defines these customers as your "advocates." Looking at your overall sales strategy, are you remembering to leverage these precious resources? If not, why? Asking your advocates for referrals Is your referral program reactive, or proactive? In other words, is your system set up to passively wait until someone decides to give you a name, or do you actively ask for the referrals? Some business owners fear that asking for referrals will make them sound desperate or needy, or that they will be bothering their advocates if they ask. This concern, however, couldn't be more off the mark; your advocates want to give ...

How I learned - the hard way - what happens when you forget to apply the E-Myth principles to your online business [Paul Wenke has been an E-Myth Client since October 2005, and graduated from the Mastery Impact! Business Coaching program in December 2006.] My wife and I own an ACE hardware store in a small town located high in the remote Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado - a beautiful area with a population of only about 4,000 people in the whole county. Our business philosophy has been to stock a wide variety of products to meet as many of our customer's needs as possible. Like all retailers, we have some products that don't sell very well, or don't sell at all. But, because of our business philosophy and remote lo ...

In the 1960s, communications theorist Marshall McLuhan announced that "the medium is the message," which gave rise to the idea that the channel has as much impact on the intended audience as the actual content. This heralded a new yin and yang of business communication: Reaching out to customers with a compelling lead generation message is crucial, but choosing the appropriate lead generation channel to carry that message is equally important. Which channel is right for your business? A channel is effective if it leads directly to the hearts and minds of the target audience. The long list of lead generation channels includes print media, broadcast/electronic media, display ads, direct-response advertising, PR vehicles, and word ...

Lead generation messages are everywhere. They drive television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, the Internet, and the jingles that get stuck in our heads. They account for most of our mail, too many of our phone calls, and probably most of the world's paper. With so many messages bombarding us, how can your lead generation messages shine through? And shine through they must, for in order for your business to survive and thrive, you must be able to consistently attract and retain customers. But, most lead generation efforts simply don't work. Three Reasons Why Most Lead Generation Efforts Fail: The sheer volume of messages dulls our senses, and in our consciousness they resemble the wide telephoto shots of Time ...

Lead Generation Through Referrals A sign hangs on my mechanic's office wall that reads: "If you're happy with our service, please tell a friend. If you're not, please tell us." This sign succinctly sums up the fact that the most efficient and cost-effective way for you to increase your market share is to expand your sales team to include your most satisfied clients. Your business can only sustainably thrive when it not only satisfies today's customers, but also attracts and recruits more for tomorrow. No matter your type of business, it simply cannot survive on a series of one-off sales. Turning customers into promoters At E-Myth Worldwide, we focus on what author and loyalty expert, Fred Reichheld, has identified as ...

The Embark Community Connection went live in November 2005 and it has been fascinating to see diversity of the member base. In less than two months we have had visitors from more than 20 different countries including: Ireland Malaysia Australia Mexico New Zealand Canada United States Ecuador Romania Saudi Arabia Argentina Singapore Vietnam El Salvador Philippines Brazil Peru Nigeria Slovenia Thailand In the United States members from over 100 cities across more than 35 states have visited. We wanted to share this with you because diversity and global perspective are some of the most important value added elements of an online community and we are glad to see such a wide array of people and countries ...

Lead generation accomplishes two indispensable results for your business it attracts the attention of potential customers and it creates factual and emotional impressions. If you do these things right for your target market, you'll get the response you want. What is that response? It's a person making contact with your business through your door, by telephone, by mail, or on-line with the motivation and the ability to buy from you, already having made the conscious or unconscious emotional decision to make the purchase. It's this type of response a qualified lead that you most want to attract. So, lead generation is all about creating qualified leads for your business. Then you have to do allow them to move through the lead convers ...

I run a management consulting business specializing in a very small discrete industry segment. We have had extremely good results through me personally visiting the CEOs or other senior executives. However, although I believe it is important for me to meet with these prospective clients early in the sales cycle, it is proving too time consuming a process to continue to employ for lead generation. I would therefore like to implement an alternative system that will assist me to make better use of my time. Because of the small size and professional nature of both the target market segment and our services I believe traditional advertising or direct mail may detract from our quality image. Are you able to assist with any suggestions? ...