The "Cherry Bomb" Secret For Boosting Sales

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Here's an article I just posted to my blog.

Feedback welcome.
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The "Cherry Bomb" Secret For Catapulting Your Sales
copyright 2008

I've been a serious student of marketing and sales for over
40 years now, and one of the most important things I've
learned in that time is...and you may want to write this down;
"Selling is simple unless you complicate it!"

I don't remember right off where I read that, but I've found
it to be true time and time again.

That's one of the first things my good friend Willie Crawford
teaches in his coaching.

Keep it simple.

Selling doesn't require a lot of "Whiz Bang" complicated
voodoo; just basic, proven methods that have worked since
time immortal.

First, the easiest way to sell anything is to find out where
your customers hang out, and let them know you've got what
they're looking for.

Next, use what the masters call the "Rifle" approach instead
of a "shotgun" method.

A shotgun scatters the shot in a wide pattern that can go
anwhere, which is good for duck hunting, but sucks when you're
trying to sell a specific product.

No matter how good it is, there doesn't exist a product that
everybody wants.

You have to take the "Rifle" approach and target the people that
are looking for your product.

Let me give you an example.

A few years ago a friend of mine owned an auto parts store and
his advertising wasn't bringing in the sales he thought he should
be getting so he wanted me to help him out.

The first thing I saw when I looked at his ads in the newspaper
was "Jerry's Auto Parts for all your automotive needs" with a
picture of Jerry below.

Well, let's not be too harsh on him because after all, he's a
parts man, not an advertising man, and the newspaper is in the
business of selling ad space, not editing their customers ads.

Still, every time I see an ad like that I can't help but think
whoever runs the advertising medium should be horsewhipped for
letting a client waste their money that way!

So, what did we do?

I asked Jerry what was his biggest seller for the last month
among his current customers.

He told me it was Cherry Bomb mufflers. A lot of teenagers were
buying loud mufflers for their cars and Cherry Bomb seemed to
be the one they were looking for.

So...we completely re-vamped his ad campaign using several
different ads instead of one bland, "me to" spot and targeted
customers looking for specific items.

The new ad read "Jerry's Auto Parts--The Number One Dealer in town
For Cherry Bombs" Then we did another ad for the next best seller
for the month and ran them in different newspapers. We continued
to do this with five of his best selling products.

His sales improved by over 300% in the first week. People coming in
to the store to buy Cherry Bomb mufflers also ended up buying
other related parts and accessories, plus when they saw his amazing
stock of practically everything you could possibly need for
hot-rodding and customizing, they became repeat customers.

Online, you want to do the same thing...target a specific prospect.

Instead of advertising "mufflers" which brings up 11,700,000
results, target the people who are looking for "Cherry Bomb Mufflers".

That may not be the best example, but you should get my meaning.

Narrow your sights to a specific product or brand and you'll have
a lot easier time selling them because you'll be offering exactly
what the searcher is looking for when they're looking for it!

Instead of advertising "Digital Cameras", advertise "Canon XSi
Digital Cameras". You'll narrow your field of prospects down
to the ones that are specifically looking for your product and
boost your sales considerably!

Once you sell them what they're looking for, you can then continue
to offer them related products for years to come.

The key is to advertise narrow and deep. Put up a highly specialized
website that focuses on one specific product, and do that for every
product you sell.

The next thing is to find out where your traffic is so you can stand
in front of it.

To start with, you can go to Google and type in "forum + 'your product'
without the quotes. If you're selling Cherry Bomb mufflers, car forums
would be a good place to look for traffic.

If you're selling Canon XSi digital cameras, then a photography forum
might be a great starting place. You could even search for "digital
camera forum" without the quotes.

Set up a blog related to your product. If you're selling digital
cameras, a review site can do well. The same with big screen TVs or
anything else. Be specific.

Don't forget the social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Digg,
and others.

These are priceless resources for finding your traffic stream and
directing it to your website or blog.

However you advertise, remember the "Cherry Bomb" secret and watch your
sales zoom off the charts!

Michael Worthington
#boosting #cherry bomb #sales #secret
  • Profile picture of the author tiger325
    Michael what a great post...thats exactly what its about ..targeting a group of hungry buyers
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  • Profile picture of the author JonathanBoettcher
    Thanks Michael - great advice and kind of relevant to a conversation I had today with a prospective client.

    cheers
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    • awesome post. I totally agree with you. Targeted marketing is the only way to go!
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  • Yes, I learned this the slightly hardway when I got into affiliate marketing. Going after general keywords instead of very specific keywords.

    I didn't lose any money, but I didn't make a lot either. I blame not really knowing the basics of good business practices

    And these are the fundamentals of business!
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  • Profile picture of the author jazzyjeff
    Michael,

    Good tips for the newbie marketers. There is a saying that you will make no money if you try to sell to everyone. Great rifle example.

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author Rich Stevens
    This world is full of hungry consumers, all we have to do as marketers is fulfill that hunger.
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