Why Direct Marketing Is Like Baseball

Another great article on Early to Rise , by Bob Bly. If you’ve ever used direct marketing in your business - you’ve got to read this!

Please leave a comment about how you test your marketing campaigns.

I heard on the radio a few weeks ago that the Florida Marlins, with 23 wins and 14 losses, has the best record in Major League baseball today.
But that means the best-performing team in professional baseball loses six out of every 10 games it plays.
And remember: That’s the best record in baseball.
What’s ironic is that businesspeople who accept this statistical truth about baseball without a second thought… go bonkers when even one of their marketing programs fails .
Experienced direct marketers know - and expect - a percentage of their test campaigns to under-perform the current control, or even lose money. They accept this fact without despair, because they know that if one test mailing in every two… or every three… or even every five is a winner, they can make a lot of money.
Inexperienced direct marketers don’t get this.
As a result, countless small businesses test direct marketing once every few years. And if they don’t hit a home run the first time at bat, loudly proclaim "Direct mail doesn’t work "… and abandon it.
If you’re a business owner or marketing professional, is there a better way to get direct marketing to work for you? Yes. And it’s nothing more than doing more testing than you do right now.
Let’s say you are planning to mail 5,000 postcards to drive people to a Web page.
You just can’t decide which of two headlines you like: "Tastes Great" or "Less Filling." If you randomly pick just one, your risk of going with the wrong sales appeal - and, therefore, having your postcard mailing bomb - is 50 percent.
A much better approach is to split the postcard mailing into two batches, half with the headline "Tastes Great" and the other half with "Less Filling." Each drives traffic to a different URL so you can measure the click-through and conversion rates. Then you see which one generates the most leads.
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Three Types of Investors

I’ve recently read there are three types of investors:

1. People who don’t invest at all
They may be the ones who feel they’re "entitled" to support from the government, or the companies they’ve worked for. Some might even expect their families to help out. Most certainly, this group has no desire to learn how to take care of themselves and their future.

2. People who invest to not lose
They are generally low risk takers. They want their money safe in CD’s or money market accounts. They might even allow their employers to choose for them where to place their 401K monies. This group usually does some research on their own, but it either intimidates them, or they just have absolutely no interest in managing their own money.

3. People who invest to win
This group doesn’t settle for "safe". They want higher returns and are willing to put forth the effort to learn more about various opportunities and investment vehicles available to them to participate in.

To quote Kiyosaki, "I realized the reason most people invest not to lose is because most people think investing is risky or that investing is gambling. Many also believe that to get higher returns means you have to take on more risk. Nothing could be further from the truth."

The key is to use "leverage", which is difficult to do if you’re an investor like #1 or #2. You need to create an asset base that will grow exponentially. Create multiple streams of income, so combined they work together, even when you’re not. As an "employee" you trade time for dollars and will only be able to earn as much as your hours worked. But leverage "yourself" by becoming a business owner (even part time to begin with), and an investor - and the entire scenario can change.

What would you do if you had more time and money? What is really important to you? I recently explored these questions with one of my clients. He attended a recent company event - had an "AHA" moment, and decided he wanted to be like investor #3. Of course, he heard from some of the best in the industry at that event, and his life will never be the same. Contact me if you’re interested in exploring those questions too…..

Until next time, J.
"Take control of your destiny or someone else will"