Direct Response Marketing For Small Businesses

There's a simple and profound truth you're almost certainly unaware of in your business - and that's true no matter what business you're in... and I'm about to share it with you. Stay with me, because you'll like this.

Now, I'm a bit of a maths geek, so this kind of thing interests me in and of itself, but you don't have to worry about that. All you need to worry about is something called the "Law of Large Numbers" and how it affects you.

OK, stay with me. It's important.

In the UK, million to one chances happen about 60 times a day; in the US, they happen around 300 times a day. And in the Emerald Isle, my home, they crop up maybe 4 or 5 times every day.

For 'tis the Law... the Law of Large Numbers. It's amazing when that chance happens for you but it happens for SOMEONE every day (just as it's amazing when an individual wins the lottery, but someone wins it practically every week). This, by the way, is why that idiocy "The Secret" seems to work when really it doesn't. It doesn't, of course. But it looks like it does.

So, where's this going?

Well, if you're keeping any kind of tally, you'll know out of every 100 people you call or mail or who signs up to your email list or who walks into your shop... and some of them will buy.

Over time, this number is going to settle down and will be a pretty solid predictor of how your business is going to pan out, assuming you don't test and tweak to make improvements.

And how does this help you?

It's simple.

You can do what I've been recommending to anyone who'll listen since the year dot: let go of the event of trying to sell a client or customer and don't fret if THIS guy doesn't buy... because statistically you know out of 1000 people, 10, 20, 30, 50 or more are going to.

I'm not saying you shouldn't learn new sales skills, bone up on marketing and do everything you can to improve the numbers -- of course you should.

But I AM claiming the statistics are your friend and are most definitely on your side. You can distil this to a simple statement: "how do I get more people through my door?"?" which is a lot less daunting than "how can I grow my business?", isn't it?

Because while it's hard to think of ways to grow your business, and when you've thought of a dozen ways choose the right one for you (which is impossible -- you HAVE to test, but so many people are too chicken to try because they want to get it right first time, so they do nothing and end up broke), it's EASY to think of some simple and cheap ways to get people to come to you.

For example:

1. Make some guest-posts to someone else's blog in your niche.

2. Invest a few bucks and get an article-submission service account and post some articles.

3. Email your list.

4. Send direct mail to your list (postcard, letter, what have you) and offer them something special and time- or quantity-limited... but make sure they have to take some kind of specific action to get it.

5. Make some cold calls (no, I never do and never will, but if you like it and it works for you, then do it)

7. Call your existing customers and ask them what they need. EVERYONE I know who has done this has got business out of it.

So, 7 MORE ways to get business. And it's not just a good idea: it's the LAW!

The Law of Large Numbers!