*

The Sky Is Falling ...
The following article is written by Michael Traveler,
author of Super Size Your Sales through Word-of-Mouse

 That’s what the news is reporting, not to mention your neighbors and quite a few other well-meaning folk. It’s spreading like wildfire … through word of mouth ...

Back in the 1930s, many well-meaning individuals spoke those same words, screamed them, when the stock market crashed and the banks closed and unemployment rose and the soup kitchen lines grew. All the advertising in the world couldn’t stop it.

During uncertain times, unstable times, fear runs rampant through the streets and through the hearts and minds of almost everyone, all of us and almost certainly your customers. During these times, it’s quite common to want to play it safe, to protect what we have, to stay close to those we love and wait for the storm to pass.

*

* 

*

Money Changes Hands In Good Times or Bad
Question is:  Will consumers be spending it with you or your competitor?

*

But not everybody is waiting out the storm. Some shrewd business owners are recognizing the opportunity at hand and acting upon it. They realize that while their competitors are playing it safe, there is a massive opening in the market for them to gain control of their competitor’s neglected customers and increase their own profits through word of mouth.

*

*

Build Your Fortune Now!

*

 The reality is, whether the sky is falling or not, life still goes on. Bills still have to be paid. Children still have to be fed. Money still changes hands. The question is: will consumers be spending it with you or your competitor?

During the Great Depression, a lot of fortunes were built. We often have the mistaken impression that business came to a grinding halt, but that’s just not the case. My grandfather went from having 25 cents to his name and sleeping on a loading dock with his wife to owning a fleet of trucks. He took the last 25 cents he had in his pocket and turned it into $20 million during his lifetime. The principles that made that fortune are written about in my free e-Book, Michael Traveler's Supersize Your Sales through Word-of-Mouse.

The history books have countless reports of shrewd businessmen who cleverly reframed their customer’s perception of their business and made money during the worst of times, while their competitors were complaining about a sluggish economy and business being slow. This can be your story, too. It’s all a matter of reframing your customer’s perspective …

It’s all about changing how they see you and getting ‘em talking!

Research shows that during bad times, people want to surround themselves with things that comfort them. They want their children to feel safe and loved. They want their family close to them during times of uncertainty.

Sales of comfort items skyrocketed after 9/11.

People find reassurance in items that remind them of their childhood or better times or a place where they felt safe like their grandmother’s house. You’ll notice that publications like My Guide to the Backroads of America have a very comfy, homey look … designed to help make readers feel relaxed and warm and safe, designed to call up or produce good memories and warm feelings, to make a person feel welcome and at home ...

... designed to help spark word of mouth!

During bad times, it’s wise to align your business with warm and safe and comforting things, to do everything you can to make your potential customers feel secure. I call this evocative reframing.

By helping your customers remember that life does go on, that this too shall pass and that at least we have each other and that’s what is really most important, you are helping put their fears to rest and ignite the spirit of hope and determination, the American Spirit, the same spirit that carved a nation out of the wild frontier.

 *

*

* 

How Do Your Customers See You?

*

It really is all a matter of perspective, all about how you look at things, how you reframe your image in your customer's mind’s eye. Take the Cracker Barrel restaurants, for example. They serve basic home-cookin’, chicken and potatoes, meat loaf and green beans, pork chops and corn. Now, their food is good. But there’s a whole lot more to Cracker Barrel than just their food …

The Cracker Barrel experience begins as you walk onto a wooden porch with rocking chairs, an apple barrel and a checker board game. It continues as you walk inside to a general store, rich with nostalgic appeal from yesteryear.

You are greeted by folks dressed in clothing that fits the nostalgic atmosphere and led to wooden tables and seated in wooden chairs. The walls are adorned with more items from yesteryear and your drinks are brought to you in mason jars. Cracker Barrel is not just selling food. They’re selling a dining experience and evoking memories of yesteryear and all the good feelings that come with it, feelings of an old-time general store, grandma’s house, a taste of small town country livin’ and connecting all those feelings with the dining experience.

This is the secret to succeeding in a bad economy (or a good one), the formula for competing against larger chain stories outselling you on price. By adding value to what you sell, whether through superior customer service, atmosphere or simply by caring more …

… you win, your customers win, everybody wins.

*

*

*

You Are More Than What You Sell

* 

After all, you are more than just a bunch of products on a shelf. You are more than just an employee, punching the clock at some big chain store, being paid minimum wage. Your current customers buy from you, because of your vast knowledge and experience. They buy from you, because of the great service you give them. They buy from you, because they have grown to trust and depend on you as a valuable resource.

*

All of this is what you are actually selling.  Your knowledge.  Your service.  Trust.  This is what adds value to the experience.  This is what makes you a valuable resource and why they would entrust you with their hard-earned money. This is why your customers buy from you, rather than the big chain store. And it is this experience as a whole that you must find a way to show to potential new customers, if you want them to buy from you.

*

They don’t know about your vast knowledge and experience, unless you show them. They don’t know about your outstanding customer service, unless you show them. And they may never know about either of these things, if you wait til after the sale to show them.

To learn affordable and effective ways that you can tap into the power of Word-of-Mouth (and online, Word-of-Mouse) to show potential customers up-front (before they've even spent a penny with you) about your extraordinary customer service, vast knowledge, superior service and amazing product(s), download my free e-Book, Michael Traveler's Super Size Your Sales through Word-of-Mouse and discover how you too can .

&

&

* 

Reserve Your Free Copy Now!

Yes, I'd like to Reserve My Absolutely 100% Free Copy
of SuperSize Your Sales through Word-of-Mouse ...

*

 *

Note: by requesting a free copy of Super Size Your Sales through Word of Mouse, you are giving us permission to contact you, in order to provide you with the ebook.  However, this does not obligate you to buy anything and your personal information (such as, your email address) will not be shared with anyone nor will you be bombarded with unsolicited emails from us.  We respect your privacy and take every measure humanly possible to respect and protect it.

&

*

*

*

Got a Question?
Your Traffic Coach Can Help ...

 &

• Looking for answers?

•Tried everything & nothing has produced enough results?

• No idea which way to go to increase sales?

Here's the place to Ask whatever question you might have ... your personally assigned Traffic Coach will walk you through the process, help you diagnose the problem and develop a strategy tailor-fitted to your unique needs ...

*

*

To ask a question & be assigned your personal Traffic Coach, first you must log-in as a Roadside Cafe Member (membership is FREE; to become a member, click here), then simply post your question in the comment area below ...

*

*

* &

&

*

*

How Do I Get More Traffic to My Site?
(Tip 2 of 5)

by Michael Traveler

*

*

Tip # 2:  Help Your Customer First ... 
If You Want to Help Yourself!

*

He had just added a new product to his inventory that he was very excited about.  The product would save his customers time and money and make their lives easier.  He knew, that once the public saw this new product, everybody would want one. 

*

So, he spent thousands on ads in the local shopper, the newspaper, television, radio, even billboard - the works - promoting a Big Event to be held on Saturday.  The ads bragged about prizes and free give-aways and huge discounts.  The merchant just knew this event would be a great success. 

*

Saturday came and the minutes ticked away into hours and the morning into the afternoon, and the afternoon into evening, but the huge crowds never showed.  A few people wandered in off the street looking for prizes and free stuff, but interest in the new product just never materialized.

*

 The advertising had failed to produce the needed traffic.

*

 I asked the merchant if I could ask him a question. 

*

He was quiet for a few seconds, then said gruffly, "Go ahead ... " 

*

"Why do your customers buy from you?"

* 

He thought for a moment, then answered:  "Because I take care of them ... they can ask me any question and I'll gladly answer them ... they know that I'll go out of my way to make things right ... and they know my products are of the highest quality, not like that junk they sell at the chain stores ... " 

*

"Sounds like you really take care of your customers and if people knew that, they'd buy from you." 

*

"That's right." 

*

"Hmmm ... just wondering ... do you think a coupon that you mail to someone's home can convince a person who's never experienced how helpful and knowledgeable you are that they can depend on you?"

*

"What do you mean?"

* 

"Can someone looking at an ad for three seconds come to believe what your satisfied customers already know ... that they can depend on you to answer their questions, to solve their problems, to be there when you need them?" 

*

"Well, of course, not ... "

*

"Then, why advertise?  Wouldn't your money be better spent actually answering questions for potential new customers, actually showing them first hand that they can depend on you to be there for them?" 

*

"Well ... yeah ... but how do you do that?"

*

*

* 

Tip # 3: Discover New Ways to Build & Convert Traffic   click here  >*

*

*

*

If you have any Questions, Ask Us ...

&

&

*

*

If you're Not A Member, it all starts by joining our community ...

*

* 

 &

&

First: Join our community for FREE

&

Then:  Once on your Account Page, scroll down to Latest News and look for the following words ... New Member?  Start Here >

&

&

&

&

Join Community Now >

*

* 

*

*

< How Do I Participate in a Group Discussion?

*

*

How Do I Stand Out from the Crowd? >

&

&

< Return to QuickStart Guide Contents

&

&