Secrets to Success Deborah Cole Micek and John-Paul Micek

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How to make
word-of-mouth
advertising work

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Almost everyone has heard the saying, "The best kind of advertising is word-of-mouth." Unfortunately, it's also the slowest.

If you sit back and wait for it to happen, you may find yourself thinking, "People must not need my product."

But, if you actually plan a word-of-mouth campaign (we refer to this strategy as "referral advertising"), then you'll be able to leverage one of the most powerful, no-cost marketing tools you could possibly have.

Word-of-mouth advertising only occurs when your client feels compelled to tell a friend or two about your product or service.

Referral advertising is a system based on word-of-mouth principles that you can build into your marketing plan and use consistently to bring in a steady flow of new business, not only from your existing clients, but from people who may never even use your product or service.

I just finished offering a teleclass exclusively to people who subscribe to my newsletter, and we talked about implementing this type of system.

Briefly, here are the five key secrets to getting tons of referrals on a consistent basis. Jot down your own ideas as to how you can use these strategies in your business right now.

1) Ask before you make a sale. (This was revolutionary for everyone.)

2) Ask after you make the sale. (While some business owners did this, many of their sales reps did not. That's because there was no system to ensure this happened.)

3) Schedule regular referral events. (This was fun for all. They each came up with 12 events, one for each month of the year, to celebrate with their clients/subscribers.)

4) Cross-promote with other businesses. (Ahhh, practically the magic bullet. Talk about doubling your exposure to a new group of clients, without any extra cost involved!)

5) Become the in-house expert for other businesses and organizations. (Participants who love to speak or write were attracted to this strategy.)

Once I shared the first two secrets, many came to the realization that even though it made perfect sense, they needed to move from knowing what to do, to doing it!

I urge you to do the same right now.

This may be easier said than done, especially if you've been raised like me, where it's impolite to ask. When I got over this fear in business, it was amazing how many things started falling into place.

I was most impressed with those who decided to immediately apply what they learned, and contacted me after the call to ask for the action report on this subject. I sell this report for $28 on my Web site. But they asked if they could have it for free, based on what I just shared with them.

Can you guess what I said?

Now it's time for you to begin asking for what you want, and asking for referrals in the most strategic way possible. Deal?

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Deborah Cole Micek

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John-Paul Micek is the lead business coach at RPM Success Group Inc. Reach him at JPM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.

Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach and life strategist. Reach her at DCM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.

Access an expanded version of this article at www.GetCoachedforFree.com.