"One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.
Two can be as bad as one.
It's the loneliest number since the number one."
The 60's group Three Dog Night made these words immortal, but it's the entrepreneur that feels the cruel sting of being dumped just as painfully.
If you are over-dependent an any one thing in your business life, you will suffer for this vulnerability. One key person, one skill, one product or service, one technology. Each leads to instability - and instability cripples.
Just using online or offline marketing strategies exclusively is a recipe for a disaster.
The worst number in business is 1. The next worst number is 2.
The more dependent you are on a single means of lead generation...the more vulnerable you are if that lead source should suddenly run dry.
For you Internet marketers, remember the Google Slap heard 'round the world in 2007? We took a major hit back then when we were heavy into affiliate marketing. Our Google Adwords account had been unequivocally banned, and none of the "gurus" could get me back in the game.
In retrospect, it was the best thing that happened to us - I got certified with Google as an Adwords expert and got it taken care of myself. I said "Adios" to affiliate marketing (although I'm still a closet player) and "Hello" to PPC campaign management for clients.
50% of consumers say that they trust postal mail more than they do email (Epsilon Preference study.)
Anyone in about nine US states who is dependent on radio and TV as their primary source of advertising will virtually be out of business during the months of September, October, and November because of the presidential election - ad time will be so astronomically high, no sane marketer will be willing to pay premium price.
If you are only an online marketer and there's a major news break, people will go offline to watch CNN. When you are selling online, you are competing with a lot of distractions and face the real possibility of technical glitches.
On the other hand, when you use direct mail, you're operating in a one-on-one vacuum where you have your target audience's complete attention...it's like having a salesman come to your door and talk with you eye to eye.
We encourage our clients to use direct mail and then send people online to continue down the sales cycle. Direct mail is not cheap, but the ROI justifies the investment if done correctly. The more doors you have open, the more stable your lead generation will be.
Benefit of online marketing: Unlimited real estate.
Benefit of direct mail: Allows you to have a longer conversation with the contact - therefore, longer engagement.
Even better would be to have a 2-step online lead capture process in place where the second web form collects the lead's physical address - primo info. You then send them a "Shock 'N Awe" package to establish yourself as an authority in your industry and then send them back online with a call-to-action somewhere in the print materials.
Complexity is a great barrier to knock-offs. And sophistication hides the moving parts.
The goal is to make your sales funnel an experience for your leads - a memorable journey of twists and turns that keep them engaged and anticipating the next time they hear from you.
And that's the key to great salesmanship...always leave them wanting more.
Seize the day!
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