How You Can Turn $25 into $4,000
by Joe Gracia
In addition to being one of the best marketers I know, my wife, Maria, is also an expert organizer. Her
Web site, Get Organized Now! is one of the most popular and successful organizing sites on the Web.
Before we moved our organizing business to the Web, Maria used to market her personal organizing
services to individuals and businesses.
Using a variety of powerful marketing techniques she grew an incredibly successful organizing
business in a very short period of time.
The following is just one example of how she did that.
Maria knew that she would get very little business by merely placing ads in the local media for her
services, even though this is what 90% of all small business owners do.
Her marketing goal was to build a prospect list of people who had a high interest in getting organized.
One of the ways she would attract prospects was by holding free workshops.
She contacted a local business who had conference rooms that could be rented out by the hour.
Instead of paying for the conference room, she offered the owner a unique proposition.
An irresistible offer
She told the owner that she would be happy to offer one of her 'Get Organized Now!' Noon
Workshops to any of her clients who would be interested in attending -- for free.
She made it clear to the owner that she regularly charges $35 per person for her workshops, but that
she would be willing to offer this one workshop on a complimentary basis.
She was willing to do this if the business owner would, 1) allow her to present the free workshop in
one of her conference rooms at no charge, and 2) would include an invitation to the workshop in her
next invoice mailing to her list of clients.
A win-win-win proposition
The business owner readily agreed because she correctly saw this as a win-win-win opportunity. She
would be seen by her clients as providing them with added value by offering them a $35 workshop for
free, her clients would win by gaining valuable organizing information, and Maria would win by
introducing herself and her services to a group of new prospects. This was a perfect Give to Get
opportunity for everyone.
To prepare for the workshop, Maria created a packet of handouts for each of the attendees. The total
cost for the handouts was $25.
The business owner included the RSVP invitation to the free Get Organized Now! Noon Workshop in
her next mailing to her client list. And she even followed up with a phone call to many of her clients to
see if they were interested in attending.
The mailing and calls resulted in 17 people attending the workshop.
Maria's workshop was very well received. The attendees loved the information presented, and the
business owner was so pleased with the positive response, that she immediately made plans to hold
more free workshops in the future.
Since Maria's main purpose for holding the workshop was to attract prospects for her organizing
services, she wanted to get contact information from everyone who attended.
Offer an incentive to get contact information
She did this by offering everyone a free Get Organized Now! Idea-Pak filled with even more great
organizing tips.
She passed out sign-up slips for her attendees to fill out.
But she didn't stop there, she also had a drawing for a door prize, and used the sign up slips as the
entry form for the prize. This made certain that 'everyone' filled out a sign up slip.
After the workshop a number of the attendees came up to talk to Maria about her services. Maria
answered their questions and got their phone numbers so she could follow up with them in a few
days.
The first part of Maria's marketing system worked beautifully. She now had 17 new prospects who
had already gotten to know, like and trust her through personal contact.
The workshop had also helped to establish Maria's credibiity as an expert in her field. This is
something that can't be accomplished through one-step ads.
Getting appointments
Maria's next step in her strategy was to get an appointment with as many of her new prospects as
possible.
Of course, she used our 'Give to Get' approach to accomplish this. Instead of simply calling her
prospects and asking for a sales apppointment, she instead contacted her new list by mail and then
by phone offering them a free Organizing Tips Presentation where she would offer them a few more
tips and answer any specific organzing questions they might have.
She also let them know that she would tell them about her services and leave them with some
information about her fees.
When she followed up with her 17 prospects, 3 agreed to meet with her for their free tips presentation.
Of those 3 appointments, she secured 1 new client, for a $585 organizing project. Already that was an
excellent return on her $25 -- but that isn't where the story ends.
Within a few weeks, Maria received a call from someone who was very interested in her services. She
was referred to Maria by an attendee at the workshop. That referral resulted in another immediate
project for $475.
That same new client secured Maria's services two more times that year for a total of $1500.
By following up a number of additional times with the original attendees, Maria was able to convert
another attendee into a client.
There would be more referrals to come from these new clients.
Within 8 months of the inital free workshop and a one-time $25 investment, Maria received over
$4,000 in organizing project fees.
Of course, over the next year or two, repeat sales and additional referrals increased that amount
substantially.
This was just one of the marketing techniques that Maria used to grow her organizing business.
It is a powerful technique that you can apply to your business as well.
Notice that she didn't spend a penny on advertising.
Instead she 'gave people what they wanted,' and they responded.
You will always have much more success by using the 'Give to Get' approach to overcome resistance.
Generating a high income from your business doesn't have to be difficult. If you follow the step-bystep instructions from people who have already succeeded in doing it, it can actually be quite easy.