Mike McRitchie | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

What Jay Abraham Says About Using Bonuses in Your Marketing

April 17, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

I spent a year working through a program with Jay Abraham several years ago. Jay is a wealth of information about marketing, joint ventures, and out-of-the-box thinking that can literally transform businesses.

In this short video Jay gets your brainstorming juices flowing around using bonuses in your business marketing. Take a look.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DAQW1G8364[/youtube]

You may have noticed that in addition to discussing the benefits of bonuses, Jay also touched on some concepts you may not be familiar with – lifetime value and marginal net worth.

Let me fill in the blanks for you so the bonus concept will have a more powerful anchor for you in your mind.

When we talk about lifetime value we’re talking the lifetime value that a customer brings to your business. More specifically it is the profit an average customer brings to your business from the first time they buy, including what they buy each year, for as many years as they remain a customer.

So for instance if a you earn a $100 profit on each sale and the customer buys 5 times a year for 3 years, you’d have a lifetime value of $1,500 ($100 X 5 X 3).

So, all else being equal, you can spend up to the $1,500 in lifetime profit to get a customer (that has that lifetime value profile) before you lose money on the proposition.

So if you decided to work out a deal with a local restaurant to buy a $50 gift certificate for $25 (enough to cover their hard costs – and they’d be looking to convert that potential customer that comes into their restaurant into a regular customer) and add that $50 face value gift certificate as a bonus/incentive to purchase a certain product or as an upsell incentive, wouldn’t that make sense?

You’d be spending another $25 to generate a portion of that $1,500 lifetime value. Who knows – you might even want to make that offer to generate more value from an existing customer who might have a larger than average purchasing appetite but just needs that nudge a bonus would provide.

I find that people will often spend large amounts of money on advertising that goes no where or isn’t tracked. Or they spend a boatload of money creating a website or trying to do social media. Or relying on the economy to pick back up.

But often it is the simplest of things, like this, that can get you the biggest bang for your buck.

So why don’t you consider the power of bonuses in your business. Go ahead and brainstorm some ideas. You’ll be amazed how many ways you may come up with to implement this bonus marketing strategy.

Got the Tax Deadline Blues?

April 15, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Have taxes got you down?

Are you still working on your taxes and trying to hit that midnight deadline?

Or maybe you’ve already filed your extension and are just trying to buy a little time.

As a business owner, your taxes are always more complicated, more time consuming, and a more palpable reminder of how much your government really does steal from your life’s energy.

You work long hours. You keep up with all the governmental regulations. Obamacare. OSHA. Licensing. You name it…you pay it, fill out the forms in triplicate, and do all this so the 50% not paying income taxes each year can enjoy their cushy lives.

And you’re the one creating, marketing, selling – the products, services, and experiences that we all get to enjoy because you took the risk, had a dream, and made that dream a reality.

I salute you. You’re the entrepreneur. A member of a very elite community of doers.

So as you complete your final page of your 1040 Tax Form. And take it to the Post Office to make sure it has that April 15th postmark. Know that your efforts make a huge difference.

And coupled with other entrepreneurs like you, we’ll stem the tide of a smothering, controlling government, and release freedom and free enterprise to reign supreme!

What the Definition of Insanity, A Clothes Dryer, and Your Business May Have In Common

April 13, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

So at the end of the day I’m catching up on some domestic duties around the apartment. And one that I must do is the laundry (running out of work clothes).

So this time I happen to be waiting for the washer to finish the rinse cycle and prepping the dryer (throwing in the dryer sheet and waiting for the washer to finish).

Now in my apartment is a small washer dryer combo. And I’d been frustrated with how long it had been taking to dry my clothes. It used to take one cycle of 50 minutes. But lately it has been taking 2-3 hours to do one load.

So I assumed that it was just because I was packing the dryer too full and not getting enough air through things. And that would be reasonable…and would be wrong.

And why was that wrong? And what does it have to do with insanity and your business?

We’ll as I’m staring thoughtfully into the dryer I notice the air holes in a section at the back of the dryer.

Now in the past there has always been a lint trap in front of the dryer that I religiously empty each time. But with this dryer I couldn’t find a lint trap. So I just assumed it had some kind of internal lint trap that didn’t require user maintenance. Another reasonable but stupid assumption. I thought maybe they’d dummy-proof the dryer since apartment dwellers are notoriously bad about maintenance and they didn’t want dryer caused fires.

Wrong again.

So for a year I’ve been running the dryer and dryer times are getting slower and slower.

So what happened?

I reached into the back of the dryer at the vent hole area and…low and behold…there is a lint trap at the back…and a whole boatload of lint.

And after pulling that gob of heat dampening lint out of the lint trap, my next load is dry in…50 minutes again…it’s a miracle!

So after smacking myself upside my head and thinking how much money I’ve wasted running a dryer for hours and hours more than was needed I thought…there’s a lesson to be learned here for everyone.

Including business owners like you.

So what’s the definition of insanity???

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein

Now I’m no Einstein (obviously) but how many times are you putting your head down, following a script or procedure or routine that made sense at one time but after things have changed (like lint filling a lint trap…or the internet driving business marketing) have you not noticed the change and wondered why you’re not getting the results your efforts deserve?

So in this instance, a simple change (emptying the lint trap) resulted in reducing drying time by 66%.

What if a similar small change in your business could generate a similar boost in cost savings, increased sales, or profit?

It is very possible…IF…you step back from the routine and get a new perspective.

Now go clean your lint trap!

Out with the old…in with the new

April 10, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Today was the first day of The Masters golf tournament. It was fun watching Jack Nicholas sink a hole-in-one yesterday in the Par 3 competition. The Masters brings together great history, great scenery, and great players – both current pros at the top of their games, and old pros who were the best in years past. All playing together.

So today young gun, Jordan Spieth, was on fire – taking the first day lead by three strokes. And the world #1, Rory McIlroy struggled in but still in the hunt. And Tiger Woods. Coming back from many ailments. Made his first tournament test back under the white lights of a Masters stage a passing grade.

And like these golfers, this is my new adventure into this business blog. I hope you enjoy it and get some great ideas you can use back in your businesses to grow and thrive.

And if I get off course, just yell, “Fore!”