Rob Toth Rant:

All You Need For Sales: Traffic, A Notepad and A Yellow Rubber Duck

I decided to soak up a bit of Malta sunshine and hit the patio for a late breakfast (aka lunch)...

This wasn't one of those "let me grab a nice coffee and something to nibble on and enjoy the moment" kind of events.

It was a more of a "let me see if my stomach can figure out what the hell just happened" kind of days.

I was hungry!

I started off with a cappucino.

Didn't sip it and savor it like a good sophisticated person.

I polished it off like it was a vodka shot on a Friday night.

Grabbed a second one.

And an orange juice.

And a side of fries.

Garlic toast.

(This was all while waiting for my food).

My seafood linguini arrived! The sauce was less than stellar. But the portion gets a medal of honour.

The stereotype of Italian mothers saying "you're skinny, eat, eat" came dancing in my head while sitting on this Italian's restaurant's patio in the Mediterraean.

In the middle of this food-abuse episode...

... A man walked up to my table.

He stood at my table with a duffle bag.

Didn't say a word; He just got right to work.

He proceeded to place a wrapped up Notebook along with a Yellow Rubber Duckie on the corner of my table.

I clued in.

This was his attempt at commerce.

This was his sales presentation.

(I watched with curiousity).

He then placed a card on the notebook+rubber duck that read "$2 Euros".

That was his call to action.

You'll be surprised to learn that I passed up this opportunity of owning a Notepad and a Yellow Rubber Duck for $2.

But I commend him for the effort.

Somewhere in the entrepreneurial mind of his, he obviously felt there is an absolute market out there for individuals who are sitting on patios and just quietly thinking to themselves "if only I had a Notepad and a Yellow Rubber Duckie".

Apparently, I'm just one of the rare few who doesn't fit that demographic.

Tips On Selling Notepads and Yellow Ducks...

I could have helped this man. :-)

First, I would teach him to make eye contact and smile. This builds trust and rapport and will increase his conversions.

(Build rapport, establish trust).

If I WAS selling general junk like a notepad+yellow duck, at minimum I'd approach tables where there are kids with parents and I'd place the duck in front of the kid so they start to play with it immediately.

I'd probably also at least have a crayon so that the purchase becomes a logical one for the parent.

The yellow rubber duck and the notepad+crayon can entertain and engage their kids while they enjoy their grown-up meals.

(Better target your offer and create an emotional purchase not a logical one).

ClubPenguin.com, built by 3 "average fathers" from my previous home of Kelowna, B.C. did a similar play. The virtual penguin online gaming and community was aimed at kids, but the call to action and the emotional purchase was targetted at their parents.

It's why they were bought out by Disney just 18 months after the site went live for $750 Million.

That being said, I'm very sure that out of all the random items I'd be selling, a notepad+duck combo on restaurant patios wouldn't be it.

Observations From Illogically and Poorly Thought Out Offers (What I Call "Selling a Dead Offer")...

No matter what YOU think should sell, if the market doesn't agree with you... you're going to have a lot of years filled with fond memories of frustration and an empty bank account.

You'll go broke or stay broke, whichever the case.

And even if you pick a bundle (the Notepad + Yellow Duck) that there is a market for, you need to be able to reach them not just shoot in the dark trying to sell it to random, uninterested, lunch-eating strangers on sunny patios.

Point is, even if there is a micro-niche or a hugry buyer group that WOULD be interested in whatever you're selling, are you really reaching THEM?

And if you're reaching them... are you also getting their attention? And if you've got their attention, are you effectively communicating your offer to them? Properly following up with them?

Finally, and most importantly, you have to be able to sell it!

If your sales process is about as effective as just placing a price tag in front of your "prospect" and hoping they buy, you'll very soon be telling stories of "I've been doing this for 5 years and I just can't seem to make any worthwhile sales".

Interestingly, anyone reading this can nod with each of those observations and quietly say "uh-huh" in agreement.

So if EVERYONE logically knowns all this already...

Why is Clickbank (for example) and other marketplaces filled with boring, weak, me-too offers that don't capture attention let alone a lead or a sale?

Many of these offers are dead. Period.

All I Need Is Traffic! All We Need Are Affiliates!

Through my client work, I get solicited on a number of occassions by well-meaning entrepreneurs who come to me saying "all I need is traffic" or "all we need are affiliates".

They are dead set on the fact that every other VERY CRUCIAL part of the product concept, their pricing, their product positioning, their target market, their sales funnel, their lead capture, follow-up process, back-end (and so much more)... all of it is fully dialed in. And all they need is to get the message out there.

"I just need distribution for my products."

"We just need affiliates."

"I just need more traffic."

They want the website visitor traffic.

They want the affiliates who will sell for them.

Obvlious to the fact that what they're selling is a Notepad and a Yellow Rubber Duck on a lunch patio...

Recently I even had one Clickbank merchant, a very savvy businessman by his own not-so-modest admission, he had a weak offer with a terribly unconvincing sales presentation and no back-end... yet he convinced himself (and told me) "the only reason it's not selling is because the stupid customers who should be buying it are instead buying any dumb offer they come across".

Those were more or less his words.

Call me outdated, but refering to your target market as "stupid customers" and convincing yourself that they SHOULD be buying instead of figuring out how you can modify your offer and your presentation so that they WILL buy is probably not the smartest attack plan.

But these are typical frustration responses.

I'm not one for sugar-coating or patting on the back and saying "just believe". (Yeah, in case you didn't already notice, I figured I'd point it out).

The hard fact is, if you're pushing against a wall and getting nowhere, you need to either (1) study, learn, test and tweak (expect several years and tens of thousands for this path) or (2) bring in a professional to point out where the leaks are.

Without doing either #1 or #2, you will *not* get ahead.

You either have to study online marketing tactics, put them into practice to get hands on experience, continually test and tweak the process... and invest the years and tens of thousands this will easily cost you.

Or you must call upon a professional.

And hopefully not just an employee of a "marketing company" or a "consultant" who just studied theories but has little of his own hands on experience to guide you with.

Alternatively, you can keep selling Notebooks and Yellow Ducks for $2 to uninterested prospects ... As always, it's your decision.