Doug, an equipment sales representative, hired me for a consulting
session over lunch. He was struggling to overcome the long sales
cycle that is typical of his market, as well as fighting the
credibility problem that a "small guy" naturally has when
he's competing with big companies. He's in a business where
a mistake can cost a customer big money, so customers are skeptical of
"small guys."

I discovered that he's held a number of jobs where he installed
the kind of equipment that he is now selling. He has some expertise
that could certainly save people money. Selling that expertise would
help his cash flow and raise his credibility.

My advice to him was to add a "consulting department" to his
business. That is not difficult to do since he is something of an
expert already. (Most people ARE an expert in something, they just
don't realize it. What about you???)

The problem is, when you're a salesman, people view that
expertise with a jaundiced eye. They figure you've got an
ulterior motive, even if your advice is solid.

I told him the way to overcome that is to write articles for trade
magazines (industry-insider publications serving the business-to-
business needs of specific professions) and become a resource for
those reporters and editors.

After customers read your name enough times, they just assume
you're an expert (which is probably true anyway) and your
perceived value automatically goes up. You can sell as a consultant
instead of as a salesman.

This is easier than you think. Trade magazines are a bit different
than newspapers and news stand subscription magazines. They're
usually free to qualified subscribers, supported entirely by
advertising, and they have thin editorial budgets.

When a reporter needs information, often the subscribers (users)
won't talk. That's because their competitors are all reading
the same magazine, and they don't want to give their secrets
away.

So most of the time, reporters have to turn to manufacturers
(vendors / suppliers / advertisers) for expertise.

This naturally creates a credibility problem for the magazine,
because it's just interviewing all their advertisers. It
reinforces the impression that the magazine is just a thinly
disguised, incestuous marketing medium. (Not that this impression is
always false, you understand!)

A "small guy" like Doug then is a perfect resource for
reporters, because he's a more `politically neutral'
information
source. He's a local or regional specialist, not a big
manufacturer. All he's got to do is get in front of them on a
regular basis with press releases, articles and useful information.

Pretty soon they'll call him with questions and quote him in
their stories. They'll refer to him as a "specialist" or
"systems consultant" or whatever he calls himself.

So he grows a collection of articles and quotations from these
magazines and re-cycles them: Sends them to customers and includes
them in his literature. That's how a salesman becomes a
celebrated industry expert.

* * * *

Many of my newsletter subscribers know they should have a website,
but don't. They don't want to muddle through all the
technical details, and they know that hiring a company to build a
site for them will cost thousands of dollars.

I was discussing this with my webmaster, Vivek. So he put together a
special "getting started" package that looks like this: You
get a
domain name of your choice ( www.YourName.com ) AND 5 email
addresses ( such as You@... ) AND a functioning website for
one year AND the services of a professional webmaster (Vivek) for one
year. Vivek will literally build the site according to your needs
and maintain it for you for one year.

It only costs you $299. That averages out to $25 per month, less
than $1 per day.

That's ridiculously cheap, you say.

That is correct.

How is this possible?

First, Vivek operates from India, where solid expertise and web
hosting services are much less expensive. That's the main thing.

The other thing is that there are some limitations within this
special price:

1) At this price, the site can have 10 web pages max. (Which is
probably enough to tell your business story, don't you think?)
2) The price includes 2 updates per month after the site is
built.
3) Standard html only, no fancy stuff like live databases –
that's extra.
4) Vivek's a very busy guy and he can only take a very limited
number of new customers.

You ask: Will this be cheesy and unreliable?

No, it won't. In my humble opinion the www.usedtapes.com site Vivek
built for me is sharp and runs like a well oiled machine, see for
yourself. Your site will be professional and reliable.

With a deal like that, you can't lose. Many of you will get back
the $299 investment just by getting one or two new customers, right?

Contact Vivek at vivek@... and you can discuss the
possibilities with him. I don't know of a better deal out there!

Sincerely,

Perry