Pssst ... Did You Hear We're Being Sued?
Imagine this scene -- it's a quiet Tuesday afternoon at your office...Then, suddenly, the tranquility is shattered when a process server arrives. Of course, the receptionist doesn't really know what to do and doesn't want to be responsible for signing for something like this. So, over the loudspeaker she pages someone above her to come out front to sign for the service of process.In just a few minutes, everyone in the office is asking, "What is a service of process?" Once they figure it out, they all start guessing as to why your company is being sued.Now, we know that lawsuits are a part of business. But, to those who are on the outside, all they think of are the disastrous and negative connotations that come with the word lawsuit. So before you know it, hours of productivity have been wasted by employees trying to figure out the drama behind the lawsuit.What could potentially make this situation worse is the fact that potential clients or customers might be present. Again, we know that this is part of business in the United States. But, for a potential client, it's not reassuring to hear that the company you are dealing with is being sued. Additionally, just as it raised suspicions in the mind of your employees, it will more than likely create some questions in your potential client's mind that you rather not have him/her thinking.To sum it up, a day has been ruined by gossip. Productivity went down the drain and a relationship with a new client has been jeopardized. I'm sure many of you have witnessed this situation first hand and have seen how devastating it can be to an otherwise productive work day.Another scenario that happens all too frequently is when process is served and it never makes it to the appropriate individual in a timely fashion. It sits in the wrong person's in box or gets buried under a pile of other mail on the receptionist's desk. By the time the information makes it into the right person's hands, it's too late to respond and you have a default judgment against your company because you didn't even contest the filing.The good news is, it's very easy to make sure that this chain of events can't happen in your office or any

Sustainable Marketing - 4 Ways Your Stationery Kills The Environment (Second of 3 Articles)
Remember when we last talked about sustainable marketing we looked at how PlanetArk and the Direct Marketing Association in the UK are publicising the message of sustainability. And we also noted the conflict of interest that arises with direct mail.Now I'd like to look at how stationery and how you use it affects the environment. 4 Ways Your Stationery Hits The Environment Marketing and marketing related activities consume a vast amount of ink and paper. There are at least 4 ways. These include business cards, letters, bills and brochures which all affect the environment: Forests themselves Printer Inks Dampening solutions Chlorine The Forests Themselves Paper production has a major environmental impact on forests when paper fibre is produced from trees cut from virgin forest without replanting. The good news is that you can encourage sustainable paper use by choosing printers who only use paper from European forests where more trees are planted than felled.Printer Inks The most common inks are petroleum-based. Using these can creates large quantities of volatile organic compounds. (VOC).Vegetable dye inks are more sustainable. They’re cleaner and brighter and more rub resistant than petroleum-based inks. They produce much less of the volatile organic compounds. And they’re the same cost as petroleum based inks.Dampening Solutions Many printers use a dampening solution with high levels of a solvent called isopropyl alcohol (IPA). IPA contributes to the Volatile Organic Compound emissions.Again there is an environmentally friendly alternative. The printer can use a waterless printing process. That means a dampening solution isn’t required and therefore no IPA is released.Chlorine Chlorine is used to bleach paper to make it white. The side‑effect is that carcinogenic organic compounds are produced that are toxic to life.Of course there are plenty of chlorine-free papers that can be used instead.Why Doesn’t Everyone Use Sustainable Printing?Chapter 12 of 14
Adding value to your business…we show you how to guarantee it.

A celebrity endorser is worth absolutely nothing unless you can prove via measurable, lasting, and quantifiable methods that they have added bottom line value to your company. You can have Mr. or Mrs. Nice-person pitching products until they are green in the face, but unless you can calculate the bottom line results in terms of real dollars, chances are you have just wasted a lot of time and money. What we are going to illustrate in this chapter is the theory that adding value is essential to success. What we are going to do is let you in on our most treasured secrets and how we use them year after year to guarantee the desired results for our customers and their celebrity endorser. It’s not magic, but it does take the ability to think outside the box and create favorable situations where none may exist. The benefits to your company or product need to be measurable…and the longer they are measurable the more successful the promotion. What we want is real results from real people for real companies.

The value added proposition deviates a little from the overall theme of this e-book, but because we believe it is so critical to your overall business we feel compelled to share our insider secrets with you and how we squeeze every last drop of revenue out of every celebrity endorsement deal we involve ourselves with…it’s our job to make sure this works.

Hopefully most of you know that adding value to your existing business is critical to its long-term survival. Every business should have a dedicated approach to the added value proposition. Because you have rightfully chosen to use a celebrity endorser, you must be able to quantify the results. For that reason, we are going to cover a number of what we consider very compelling issues, for growing and sustaining growth with an exponential effect. We are going to analyze, scrutinize, embellish you, and help you determine how the celebrity endorser will benefit your company or product.

Our comprehensive look into the world of adding value through the use of celebrity endorsers, with practical and current, examples will include the following added value multipliers. In no particular order we will look at reactivating old customers, using referral systems, joint ventures, risk reversal, developing “back-end offers…too good to pass up”, intensifying your public relations (you now have a celebrity endorser on board), up selling and cross selling, developing a new or first time USP, determining the lifetime value of a customer, creating special events that in turn create special selling opportunities, and so much more, all using tried and true real life examples that you can immediately start to implement in your own business. The next few pages are power packed and supercharged with practical low to no-cost tactics that you can apply immediately to dramatically and instantly increase your business worth. Hang on to your hats as the next few pages offer some of the most revealing, comprehensive, easy-to-apply business practices that you can immediately take and adapt to your own business…starting today.

The reactivation of old customers now that you have a celebrity endorser on board is easy and sure to draw a very high response rate. It’s absolutely one of the best things you can do when it comes to increasing sales. It is so much easier to get old customers back then it is to get new customers. The cost of getting the old customer back is just a fraction of trying to find the new customer. One advantage is that they have already spent money with you so if you can offer them a compelling reason to come back, chances are they will spend again.

A very simple, easy, and effective way to get the old customer back is to throw a special invited guest-only meet and greet with the celebrity endorser. When we do this, we like to make sure that the old customer feels really privileged. We tell them that in the invite. We also tell them that because they are a valued customer, we are extending the offer for them and one special friend of their choice to come and meet the celebrity endorser at no cost. Once we have this in place, approach a local caterer and have them supply finger foods at no cost. The benefit to the caterer is that they are now in front of a bunch of potential new customers all for a minimal marketing expense. Next we approach a local beverage distributor (not stores…but distributors) who are always on the look out and have a large budget for such promotional activities. This simple, low cost, private event will certainly create its own buzz.

The use of referral systems is one of the oldest tricks to building a successful business, however, we run into tons of companies that don’t do this. Only certain industries consistently use a referral system. It should be a dedicated task that is done religiously. There are numerous ways in which to take advantage of a referral system using your celebrity endorser. We will give you two easy, cost effective, timely ways of making it a part of your business.

First, start with an opt-in email program if you don’t already have one. Begin by simply emailing your existing customer base and telling them that every time one of their referrals buys (minimum $50) from you, they get a discount coupon good for 10% off of anything you sell. The way to make sure that these emails will get read is to make the email look like it was sent directly from the celebrity endorser. The creditability and friend-factor comes into play immediately.

Another way to build a referral cash cow is to offer a special gift for referring someone. Remember back when I mentioned that you should keep you celebrity endorser busy? Well, if you did, you now have a bunch of autographed items that you can offer as a very special incentive. If you had one hundred items and offered the items to anyone who spent $100 or more, all of a sudden you have an extra $10,000 in sales. Now what did those autographed items really cost…just the cost of the item! You used that celebrity endorser’s time to your maximum benefit. By thinking just a little out of the box you can maximize the cost of the celebrity endorser by constantly thinking and re-thinking ways to take advantage of the time (not the celebrity endorser) and make every little thing you do turn into a revenue and profit stream for your business. Celebrity endorsers are people who are constantly on the move and they don’t like being bored, so keep them busy without being overbearing and you will get more than you ask for. That little extra effort can turn an ordinary event into an extraordinary money-making opportunity for you and your company. You’re paying for their time use it.

Joint Ventures are a sure fire way to help offset the cost of a celebrity endorser, as everyone wants to be around a celebrity. By positioning your company into the deal as a middleman, all types of good things can and will happen. Here is an example of how we offset costs. As soon as we know we have a celebrity endorser under contract we issue a press release to all the local media. The media is always hungry for news about stars. We use the press release to reel in a few prospects that always call asking about the details. We are always quick to find out what the real reason for the call is. Often, it is not what you think. By using just a little bit of old fashion prodding we can usually determine if there is value in pursuing the call. Most likely there is, so don’t let a hot opportunity pass you by…always ask questions.

Risk reversal, for those of you new to marketing, is nothing more than offering a super guarantee on any product you sell. It is the supercharged guarantee that can and will catapult your sales quicker than any other tactic. Offer a guarantee no one can refuse. Here is an example of how you might position this with a celebrity endorser. Announce the celebrity endorser and the hours when they will be in your business. Make an offer that states that anyone buying over $50 worth of goods will receive a free autographed picture with a purchase. To further cement the deal and clean up on sales, offer a 100% guarantee and return policy for thirty days. If they aren’t 100% satisfied, they can return the item they purchased for a full refund and keep the autographed item. No questions asked. The reality is that most people won’t bother to return the item. In fact, the longer the return period is, the less likely there will be a return. If you really sell a superior product, the returns will be infrequent. By offering the signed picture as an incentive to purchase the product, sales will dramatically increase just by the offer.

There is risk associated with this type of offer, but if you have a great product you need not worry about the risk. People will purchase your products now without returning them. Why would they suddenly start returning them now? More than likely that is not going to happen. What you have done with this simple idea is made your customer feel 100% at ease and probably much more willing to buy from you. In addition, you have thrown in what they may consider to be an item with a very high-perceived value at no extra cost. You have done more than just sell them something. You have gained a customer who, over their lifetime of shopping with you, could be a significant and consistent person “in play”.

All too often consumers are allowed to slip right through the hands of retailers who just don’t understand what full cycle marketing is all about. When someone purchases an item from you, it should be your duty as a professional to find out as much as possible about your customer without being overbearing. The one and only time you might connect with that person may be only on the initial sale. If you are not armed with the fastest, latest, most up-to-date marketing techniques for securing additional information, then you are missing a major opportunity. An opportunity that will cost you down the road. Once the customer has made a purchase, it is impossible to connect with them again without any information.

Information is key and is so easy to obtain when you have a satisfied customer standing in front of you. If it is so easy, then why do so many businesses blow this opportunity? They simply fail to plan. Don’t make the mistake of letting your customer slip out of your hands, never to be heard from again. When gathering information, you are really just setting the stage for the next sale. The next sale could

e of celebrity endorsers, with practical and current, examples will include the following added value multipliers. In no particular order we will look at reactivating old customers, using referral systems, joint ventures, risk reversal, developing “back-end offers…too good to pass up”, intensifying your public relations (you now have a celebrity endorser on board), up selling and cross selling, developing a new or first time USP, determining the lifetime value of a customer, creating special events that in turn create special selling opportunities, and so much more, all using tried and true real life examples that you can immediately start to implement in your own business. The next few pages are power packed and supercharged with practical low to no-cost tactics that you can apply immediately to dramatically and instantly increase your business worth. Hang on to your hats as the next few pages offer some of the most revealing, comprehensive, easy-to-apply business practices that you can immediately take and adapt to your own business…starting today.

The reactivation of old customers now that you have a celebrity endorser on board is easy and sure to draw a very high response rate. It’s absolutely one of the best things you can do when it comes to increasing sales. It is so much easier to get old customers back then it is to get new customers. The cost of getting the old customer back is just a fraction of trying to find the new customer. One advantage is that they have already spent money with you so if you can offer them a compelling reason to come back, chances are they will spend again.

A very simple, easy, and effective way to get the old customer back is to throw a special invited guest-only meet and greet with the celebrity endorser. When we do this, we like to make sure that the old customer feels really privileged. We tell them that in the invite. We also tell them that because they are a valued customer, we are extending the offer for them and one special friend of their choice to come and meet the celebrity endorser at no cost. Once we have this in place, approach a local caterer and have them supply finger foods at no cost. The benefit to the caterer is that they are now in front of a bunch of potential new customers all for a minimal marketing expense. Next we approach a local beverage distributor (not stores…but distributors) who are always on the look out and have a large budget for such promotional activities. This simple, low cost, private event will certainly create its own buzz.

The use of referral systems is one of the oldest tricks to building a successful business, however, we run into tons of companies that don’t do this. Only certain industries consistently use a referral system. It should be a dedicated task that is done religiously. There are numerous ways in which to take advantage of a referral system using your celebrity endorser. We will give you two easy, cost effective, timely ways of making it a part of your business.

First, start with an opt-in email program if you don’t already have one. Begin by simply emailing your existing customer base and telling them that every time one of their referrals buys (minimum $50) from you, they get a discount coupon good for 10% off of anything you sell. The way to make sure that these emails will get read is to make the email look like it was sent directly from the celebrity endorser. The creditability and friend-factor comes into play immediately.

Another way to build a referral cash cow is to offer a special gift for referring someone. Remember back when I mentioned that you should keep you celebrity endorser busy? Well, if you did, you now have a bunch of autographed items that you can offer as a very special incentive. If you had one hundred items and offered the items to anyone who spent $100 or more, all of a sudden you have an extra $10,000 in sales. Now what did those autographed items really cost…just the cost of the item! You used that celebrity endorser’s time to your maximum benefit. By thinking just a little out of the box you can maximize the cost of the celebrity endorser by constantly thinking and re-thinking ways to take advantage of the time (not the celebrity endorser) and make every little thing you do turn into a revenue and profit stream for your business. Celebrity endorsers are people who are constantly on the move and they don’t like being bored, so keep them busy without being overbearing and you will get more than you ask for. That little extra effort can turn an ordinary event into an extraordinary money-making opportunity for you and your company. You’re paying for their time use it.

Joint Ventures are a sure fire way to help offset the cost of a celebrity endorser, as everyone wants to be around a celebrity. By positioning your company into the deal as a middleman, all types of good things can and will happen. Here is an example of how we offset costs. As soon as we know we have a celebrity endorser under contract we issue a press release to all the local media. The media is always hungry for news about stars. We use the press release to reel in a few prospects that always call asking about the details. We are always quick to find out what the real reason for the call is. Often, it is not what you think. By using just a little bit of old fashion prodding we can usually determine if there is value in pursuing the call. Most likely there is, so don’t let a hot opportunity pass you by…always ask questions.

Risk reversal, for those of you new to marketing, is nothing more than offering a super guarantee on any product you sell. It is the supercharged guarantee that can and will catapult your sales quicker than any other tactic. Offer a guarantee no one can refuse. Here is an example of how you might position this with a celebrity endorser. Announce the celebrity endorser and the hours when they will be in your business. Make an offer that states that anyone buying over $50 worth of goods will receive a free autographed picture with a purchase. To further cement the deal and clean up on sales, offer a 100% guarantee and return policy for thirty days. If they aren’t 100% satisfied, they can return the item they purchased for a full refund and keep the autographed item. No questions asked. The reality is that most people won’t bother to return the item. In fact, the longer the return period is, the less likely there will be a return. If you really sell a superior product, the returns will be infrequent. By offering the signed picture as an incentive to purchase the product, sales will dramatically increase just by the offer.

There is risk associated with this type of offer, but if you have a great product you need not worry about the risk. People will purchase your products now without returning them. Why would they suddenly start returning them now? More than likely that is not going to happen. What you have done with this simple idea is made your customer feel 100% at ease and probably much more willing to buy from you. In addition, you have thrown in what they may consider to be an item with a very high-perceived value at no extra cost. You have done more than just sell them something. You have gained a customer who, over their lifetime of shopping with you, could be a significant and consistent person “in play”.

All too often consumers are allowed to slip right through the hands of retailers who just don’t understand what full cycle marketing is all about. When someone purchases an item from you, it should be your duty as a professional to find out as much as possible about your customer without being overbearing. The one and only time you might connect with that person may be only on the initial sale. If you are not armed with the fastest, latest, most up-to-date marketing techniques for securing additional information, then you are missing a major opportunity. An opportunity that will cost you down the road. Once the customer has made a purchase, it is impossible to connect with them again without any information.

Information is key and is so easy to obtain when you have a satisfied customer standing in front of you. If it is so easy, then why do so many businesses blow this opportunity? They simply fail to plan. Don’t make the mistake of letting your customer slip out of your hands, never to be heard from again. When gathering information, you are really just setting the stage for the next sale. The next sale could

and have them supply finger foods at no cost. The benefit to the caterer is that they are now in front of a bunch of potential new customers all for a minimal marketing expense. Next we approach a local beverage distributor (not stores…but distributors) who are always on the look out and have a large budget for such promotional activities. This simple, low cost, private event will certainly create its own buzz.

The use of referral systems is one of the oldest tricks to building a successful business, however, we run into tons of companies that don’t do this. Only certain industries consistently use a referral system. It should be a dedicated task that is done religiously. There are numerous ways in which to take advantage of a referral system using your celebrity endorser. We will give you two easy, cost effective, timely ways of making it a part of your business.

First, start with an opt-in email program if you don’t already have one. Begin by simply emailing your existing customer base and telling them that every time one of their referrals buys (minimum $50) from you, they get a discount coupon good for 10% off of anything you sell. The way to make sure that these emails will get read is to make the email look like it was sent directly from the celebrity endorser. The creditability and friend-factor comes into play immediately.

Another way to build a referral cash cow is to offer a special gift for referring someone. Remember back when I mentioned that you should keep you celebrity endorser busy? Well, if you did, you now have a bunch of autographed items that you can offer as a very special incentive. If you had one hundred items and offered the items to anyone who spent $100 or more, all of a sudden you have an extra $10,000 in sales. Now what did those autographed items really cost…just the cost of the item! You used that celebrity endorser’s time to your maximum benefit. By thinking just a little out of the box you can maximize the cost of the celebrity endorser by constantly thinking and re-thinking ways to take advantage of the time (not the celebrity endorser) and make every little thing you do turn into a revenue and profit stream for your business. Celebrity endorsers are people who are constantly on the move and they don’t like being bored, so keep them busy without being overbearing and you will get more than you ask for. That little extra effort can turn an ordinary event into an extraordinary money-making opportunity for you and your company. You’re paying for their time use it.

Joint Ventures are a sure fire way to help offset the cost of a celebrity endorser, as everyone wants to be around a celebrity. By positioning your company into the deal as a middleman, all types of good things can and will happen. Here is an example of how we offset costs. As soon as we know we have a celebrity endorser under contract we issue a press release to all the local media. The media is always hungry for news about stars. We use the press release to reel in a few prospects that always call asking about the details. We are always quick to find out what the real reason for the call is. Often, it is not what you think. By using just a little bit of old fashion prodding we can usually determine if there is value in pursuing the call. Most likely there is, so don’t let a hot opportunity pass you by…always ask questions.

Risk reversal, for those of you new to marketing, is nothing more than offering a super guarantee on any product you sell. It is the supercharged guarantee that can and will catapult your sales quicker than any other tactic. Offer a guarantee no one can refuse. Here is an example of how you might position this with a celebrity endorser. Announce the celebrity endorser and the hours when they will be in your business. Make an offer that states that anyone buying over $50 worth of goods will receive a free autographed picture with a purchase. To further cement the deal and clean up on sales, offer a 100% guarantee and return policy for thirty days. If they aren’t 100% satisfied, they can return the item they purchased for a full refund and keep the autographed item. No questions asked. The reality is that most people won’t bother to return the item. In fact, the longer the return period is, the less likely there will be a return. If you really sell a superior product, the returns will be infrequent. By offering the signed picture as an incentive to purchase the product, sales will dramatically increase just by the offer.

There is risk associated with this type of offer, but if you have a great product you need not worry about the risk. People will purchase your products now without returning them. Why would they suddenly start returning them now? More than likely that is not going to happen. What you have done with this simple idea is made your customer feel 100% at ease and probably much more willing to buy from you. In addition, you have thrown in what they may consider to be an item with a very high-perceived value at no extra cost. You have done more than just sell them something. You have gained a customer who, over their lifetime of shopping with you, could be a significant and consistent person “in play”.

All too often consumers are allowed to slip right through the hands of retailers who just don’t understand what full cycle marketing is all about. When someone purchases an item from you, it should be your duty as a professional to find out as much as possible about your customer without being overbearing. The one and only time you might connect with that person may be only on the initial sale. If you are not armed with the fastest, latest, most up-to-date marketing techniques for securing additional information, then you are missing a major opportunity. An opportunity that will cost you down the road. Once the customer has made a purchase, it is impossible to connect with them again without any information.

Information is key and is so easy to obtain when you have a satisfied customer standing in front of you. If it is so easy, then why do so many businesses blow this opportunity? They simply fail to plan. Don’t make the mistake of letting your customer slip out of your hands, never to be heard from again. When gathering information, you are really just setting the stage for the next sale. The next sale could

every little thing you do turn into a revenue and profit stream for your business. Celebrity endorsers are people who are constantly on the move and they don’t like being bored, so keep them busy without being overbearing and you will get more than you ask for. That little extra effort can turn an ordinary event into an extraordinary money-making opportunity for you and your company. You’re paying for their time use it.

Joint Ventures are a sure fire way to help offset the cost of a celebrity endorser, as everyone wants to be around a celebrity. By positioning your company into the deal as a middleman, all types of good things can and will happen. Here is an example of how we offset costs. As soon as we know we have a celebrity endorser under contract we issue a press release to all the local media. The media is always hungry for news about stars. We use the press release to reel in a few prospects that always call asking about the details. We are always quick to find out what the real reason for the call is. Often, it is not what you think. By using just a little bit of old fashion prodding we can usually determine if there is value in pursuing the call. Most likely there is, so don’t let a hot opportunity pass you by…always ask questions.

Risk reversal, for those of you new to marketing, is nothing more than offering a super guarantee on any product you sell. It is the supercharged guarantee that can and will catapult your sales quicker than any other tactic. Offer a guarantee no one can refuse. Here is an example of how you might position this with a celebrity endorser. Announce the celebrity endorser and the hours when they will be in your business. Make an offer that states that anyone buying over $50 worth of goods will receive a free autographed picture with a purchase. To further cement the deal and clean up on sales, offer a 100% guarantee and return policy for thirty days. If they aren’t 100% satisfied, they can return the item they purchased for a full refund and keep the autographed item. No questions asked. The reality is that most people won’t bother to return the item. In fact, the longer the return period is, the less likely there will be a return. If you really sell a superior product, the returns will be infrequent. By offering the signed picture as an incentive to purchase the product, sales will dramatically increase just by the offer.

There is risk associated with this type of offer, but if you have a great product you need not worry about the risk. People will purchase your products now without returning them. Why would they suddenly start returning them now? More than likely that is not going to happen. What you have done with this simple idea is made your customer feel 100% at ease and probably much more willing to buy from you. In addition, you have thrown in what they may consider to be an item with a very high-perceived value at no extra cost. You have done more than just sell them something. You have gained a customer who, over their lifetime of shopping with you, could be a significant and consistent person “in play”.

All too often consumers are allowed to slip right through the hands of retailers who just don’t understand what full cycle marketing is all about. When someone purchases an item from you, it should be your duty as a professional to find out as much as possible about your customer without being overbearing. The one and only time you might connect with that person may be only on the initial sale. If you are not armed with the fastest, latest, most up-to-date marketing techniques for securing additional information, then you are missing a major opportunity. An opportunity that will cost you down the road. Once the customer has made a purchase, it is impossible to connect with them again without any information.

Information is key and is so easy to obtain when you have a satisfied customer standing in front of you. If it is so easy, then why do so many businesses blow this opportunity? They simply fail to plan. Don’t make the mistake of letting your customer slip out of your hands, never to be heard from again. When gathering information, you are really just setting the stage for the next sale. The next sale could

item. In fact, the longer the return period is, the less likely there will be a return. If you really sell a superior product, the returns will be infrequent. By offering the signed picture as an incentive to purchase the product, sales will dramatically increase just by the offer.

There is risk associated with this type of offer, but if you have a great product you need not worry about the risk. People will purchase your products now without returning them. Why would they suddenly start returning them now? More than likely that is not going to happen. What you have done with this simple idea is made your customer feel 100% at ease and probably much more willing to buy from you. In addition, you have thrown in what they may consider to be an item with a very high-perceived value at no extra cost. You have done more than just sell them something. You have gained a customer who, over their lifetime of shopping with you, could be a significant and consistent person “in play”.

All too often consumers are allowed to slip right through the hands of retailers who just don’t understand what full cycle marketing is all about. When someone purchases an item from you, it should be your duty as a professional to find out as much as possible about your customer without being overbearing. The one and only time you might connect with that person may be only on the initial sale. If you are not armed with the fastest, latest, most up-to-date marketing techniques for securing additional information, then you are missing a major opportunity. An opportunity that will cost you down the road. Once the customer has made a purchase, it is impossible to connect with them again without any information.

Information is key and is so easy to obtain when you have a satisfied customer standing in front of you. If it is so easy, then why do so many businesses blow this opportunity? They simply fail to plan. Don’t make the mistake of letting your customer slip out of your hands, never to be heard from again. When gathering information, you are really just setting the stage for the next sale. The next sale could be a back-end offer, cross-sell offer, or an up-sell opportunity. But without customer information there isn’t opportunity for another sale.

Once you have your celebrity endorser on board you can start the press releases rolling. One of the most powerful attributes of the celebrity endorser is to be able to harness their star power. The media is attracted to the celebrity like a powerful magnet. Once you have the celebrity endorser under contract, you need to immediately deploy a managed press release attack. Below is a sample press release we used for something we are doing with Rollie Fingers.

March 1, 2006

Press Release: For Immediate Release

RE: Celebrity Endorsements/Rollie Fingers

Las Vegas, NV: 4:25 pm. Hall of Fame baseball player Rollie Fingers has broken the mold when it comes to compensated celebrity endorsements. Mr. Fingers has recently started to use an amazing new fuel additive product produced by Bio Performance, Inc. Not only is he using it and getting significantly higher MPG’s, he is doing so without being compensated in any way by Bio Performance. He bought into the program like every other distributor. In the celebrity endorsement world where it is all about the money, it’s refreshing to see someone from the “A list” doing something because it works and feels right.

The fuel pill that is sweeping the country (over 20,000 people have signed up in the first 3 months and sales are over $9,000,000) has attracted Rollie because of what it is doing for his gas mileage…it’s increasing. Not only are the benefits felt in his wallet but it is also significantly cutting down (by as much as 80%) on fuel emissions. That’s a subject near and dear to Rollie as he has two small children who he wants to be able to grow up in an environment that is as clean as possible.

Rollie has personally experienced an increase in his mileage. If you would like to join Rollie in this unique venture just go to the bottom of this release and look at his attached web page. Listen to him personally speak about bio Performance. After listening, if you would like to explore in more depth the opportunities associated with this great company, simply follow the instructions and either Rollie himself or one of his close associates will contact you personally.

As Rollie so adeptly said, “I will try anything that can increase my cars mileage, lower emissions and make my car run better…I did and it works and for that reason I suggest you do the same…come join the number one team in the nation”. Now, who better than Rollie to know the value of a team…a man who played on what many consider the first modern day 3-peat with the Oakland A’s.

Thanks for reading and Rollie is looking forward to you joining him in this great business opportunity.

Once you get the knack for writing press releases, they will become your best friend. There are a number of services on the net that you can find under a Google search that you can use to submit your release online. The online services are going to provide you with national coverage you need, while all your local media contacts should also be sent the release. What you are trying to do is get local media exposure for free.

When using a celebrity endorser in an in store promotion, there are creative ways and incentives that can be used to attract a new customer, a larger spending customer, a devoted customer, and one that will turn into a long term regular customer. You can use cross-selling and up-selling techniques combined with the star power of the celebrity endorser.

For example, we used a famous female Olympic Hero for an in-store fragrance promotion. We announced that she would be at the store autographing pictures and doing a general public meet-and-greet. We also announced that there would be a private wine party after the regular event. During the event, all who paid to attend would get a chance to have pictures taken with the gold medalist, have those pictures signed on the spot and immediately framed. Remember, everyone paid to get into this event. In fact, the cover charge alone covered the cost of the picture, signature, champagne and every other detail of the promotion. It was a winning situation for the retailer, as long as they were able to sell one hundred, tickets which they did. In fact, if we were to do this again we would up the price and give part of it to a local charity so that they to could throw “their hat in the ring” and use the opportunity to contact more participants. The more ways you look at the opportunity, the more ways there are to up-sell and cross-sell while minimizing the cost.

If you don’t already have one, you need to sit down and determine your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. A USP is that single benefit that you communicate to your customer that separates you from the competition. Having a USP is a defining moment in your business growth and maturity. Because you have a celebrity endorser, you have the opportunity to deliver your USP well beyond the written word. By using the celebrity endorser as part of your USP, you have created a business that is a force to be reckoned with. Once you have decided what your USP is, you can develop an overall marketing strategy based on the USP, using multiple points of attack through which you win over your customer. The celebrity endorser can go a long way towards helping you define and deliver your USP. They can be the mouthpiece that delivers the message or at least reinforces it.

When evaluating the celebrity endorser and the benefits you expect from them, it is always nice to perform a little equation to validate your decision. One way to do this is by using actual numbers to determine what the lifetime value of a new customer might be. In order to do this we need to create a numerical matrix that estimates how long a typical client will continue to buy from you once they start.

For purposes of illustration, let’s assume that the first year’s profit is $150. Let’s also assume that the typical customer buy’ for three more years. If we assume that the customer is worth $300 per year in profits, then the total value is $1,050. Once we know what the value is then it is up to you as a business owner to determine what you are willing to spend to obtain and retain a new customer. In theory, you could spend up to $1,049 to obtain the new customer. Of course that would not be practical since overhead costs, including advertising, are not part of the equation.

Celebrity Endorser’ can be a terrific brand builder, but before you jump into a celebrity endorser agreement make sure you take into consideration as many of the variables as possible that we have covered in this e-book. Don’t let the celebrity part get in the way of rational thinking. In rare instances, a celebrity (George Foreman is a great example) can really pull a rabbit out of hat. However, usually the celebrity endorser is nothing more than icing on the cake of an already thriving business.