Converting Thousands of Consumers Into Customers Daily
Need insight from you guys. What’s the best project management software?
CentralDesktop.com?
SalesForce.com?
BaseCampHQ.com?
Need a stepping stone project management system for 50+ employee to communicate, track progress, assign tasks, etc. Once we hit 100+ employees we’re moving to SAP.
Any insight from our audience is much appreciated.
The #1 international traffic source is hands down EngageBDR. Numbers don’t lie:
#1 display network in CA
#1 display network in UK
#2 display network in Brazil
#1 display network in France
#1 display network in Ireland
If you have a campaign with a solid budget ($25k min.) and are looking to open up the flood gates, then reach out to my by Ted Dhanik, owner and managing partner of EngageBDR: Ted@EngageBDR.com.
DISCLAIMER: This post was NOT paid for. Ted is a good friend and a media-buying kingpin.
Do you consider yourself productive? Are you the type of person that gets shit done?
In an average week I accomplish 100x more than just about everyone else around me. I execute tasks, complete projects, and push forward. Competitors that sleep on me wake up to a living nightmare.
Calculated.
Methodical.
And Highly Effective.
This post is for those of us that would get bored by a “4 Hour Workweek.” We seek to achieve excellence and are always looking to take things to the next level. No matter what successes we’ve had, yesterday’s success is always yesterday’s success. In us lies an innate hunger for achievement that is insatiable. Victories are short-lived revelries followed by the burning desire for the next challenge.
1. Not To-Do List
Analyze your entire day to identify the activities that are wasteful. Then create a list of Not To-Do activities.
i.e.
- Do not answer calls from numbers you do not recognize.
- Do not let people ramble on and on.
- Do not agree to meetings unless there is a clear agenda that is worth your time.
- Do not waste time on relationships that have no value.
- Do not take lunch breaks – rather have your lunch brought to your desk. Remember ”Lunch is for wimps.”
2. No Small Talk Unless It Serves A Strategic Purpose
You can add this to your Not-To-Do List as well. Small talk is wasteful. Gossip is deadly.
3. Hire an Executive Assistant & an Office Assistant
There’s a big difference between an executive assistant and an office assistant. An office assistant is often shared by multiple people in an office. Office assistant’s handle tasks such as running errands, grabbing coffee for the boss, and scanning paperwork.
Quite the opposite, an executive assistant’s work consists of supporting management using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills.
If you have the ability to earn at a higher level, then bring on an executive assistant and a secretary. This will free up your time to focus on core projects.
4. Maids & Life Assistants
I spend between 96-110 hours a week working on projects. The greatest compliment that I’ve received, and it is a frequent compliment, it that I’m the hardest working SOB out there.
With a schedule that is as busy as mine, it is paramount that I have down time. Therefore I have maids & assistants helping run my home life. The last thing I want to come home to is a stressed out wife that spends her days cleaning and cooking. What fun would that be?
Instead my wife is in a position where she can spend valuable time with our kids and focus on other important things in our lives – such as our personal finances and our social life 
Happy Wife = Happy Life.
5. Hire Brilliant People That Are Autonomous
We hire talent. In fact, as I’ve noted in previous articles on hiring top talent, everyone that works for me is smarter than me.
Great people are great for a reason. Their success will rub off on you.
6. BaseCampHQ
Create a BaseCampHQ account to manage the people on your team. BaseCampHQ forces accountability.
- Setup projects using the individuals name that works with you. DO NOT setup projects using the name of the project.
CORRECT:
PROJECTS
Rich Gorman
John Doe
INCORRECT:
Projects
Email Campaign for DM
Media Buy on MSNBC for Tony Robbins
- Underneath the project for the person’s name that works with you, create separate to-do lists for each “project” they are working on. Only assign tasks to that person through their project but allow multiple people to leave comments.
- DO NOT assign tasks outside of BaseCampHQ unless there’s a very specific reason for not digitalizing the task
7. Focus On Core Strengths
Stop trying to be the jack-of-all-trades but the master-of-none. Spend time discovering what it is that you do best, then apply that to projects that will reward you the most. Hire people to compliment your weaknesses.
8. Work Smart, Not Hard
Cut out unnecessary steps. Delegate. Discover work-arounds. Engage in time-saving activities.
Bottom line: figure out ways to get things done faster and more efficiently.
9. Laser Focus After Delegating Tasks
Before you get focused on you work, delegate as much work as possible to your team members. Make sure their plates are loaded and assignments are clear. The goal is to avoid staff idle time PRIOR to putting your head down on a project.
Ray Kroc said it best: “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean!!!”
10. Conditioning The Mind
The mind is attached to the body. Strict dieting, exercising, and sleep schedules are a must if you plan to take things to the next level. Utilize these 5 tricks to improve mental stamina.
11. Create A Positive Environment
If we’re going to spend so much time at work, then we ought to have a really nice environment to work in. Here’s some things we do to create a nice atmosphere that’s “worth waking up to“:
- refrigerators stocked full of Fiji Water, Cola’s, Red Bull, and Starbucks Double Shots!
- attractive and comfortable furniture from Restoration Hardware
- tract lighting that’s dimmed. NEVER work under bright flourescent bulbs – yewwwwww.
- inspiring and energetic art. I <3 Romero Britto & Michael Godard. Their work brings out the life in ya!!!
- comfortable chairs. Herman Miller makes the best in the world. If you plan on spending the hours I spend every week sedentary, then it is a wise investment to have a comfortable chair to sit on
NOTE: Studies have shown that bad work environments can cause depression, hostility, and sometimes even suicide.
12. Turning Down Distractions
Ahh, my favorite. Lot’s of new ventures, opportunities, and invites will come your way as you climb the latter of excellence. You’ve gotta avoid these distractions like the black plague. I respectfully turn down the majority of these distractions. Unless it makes absolute sense, and will add greater value to an existing project that I’ve committed to, then it’s simply not something that I’ll get involved in.
At the end of every week my laser focus produces ground-breaking results. Time is the most precious commodity that we own. Maximize it while its yours!!!
If your business involves signing contracts, then go paperless.
The 2 best solutions on the market are DocuSign and EchoSign.
1. If you use SalesForce.com, then go with DocuSign as it automatically integrates.
2. Otherwise use EchoSign.
These programs digitalize contracts and allow for recipients to sign electronically. The signatures are just as legally binding as a signature in ink pen on paper.
By digitally transforming your contracts the sales cycle is shortened. The following steps are eliminated:
1. Printing the document.
2. Finding a pen to sign.
3. Scanning / faxing.
4. Pulling up the recipients contact information.
5. Sending file.
Voila! Shortened sales cycles = ease on prospective clients = increased conversions rates.
Cheers!
This is a guest post by Thomas Cohn. Thomas A. Cohn is a partner in Le Clair Ryan’s New York office, and he is the former Regional Director of the FTC’s Northeast Region. He can be reached at (212) 430-8060 and thomas.cohn@leclairryan.com.
Affiliate Marketers, and “Reasonable Monitoring”
In January 2012, six online marketers settled FTC charges stemming from their use of fake news websites to market acai berry supplements and other weight loss products. If you’re an affiliate marketer or you’re thinking about building an affiliate program into your business plan, the cases merit your attention. Assuming the product is advertised truthfully by the affiliate and consumers are treated right by the advertiser, affiliate marketing can be a win-win situation.
But what happens when affiliates are let loose without adequate direction or supervision to ensure what they’re saying is truthful and non-misleading? Some appear willing to cross the legal line as long as it results in the ka-ching of a sale. They drive as much traffic as possible to the seller’s site by any means — legit or not — that will achieve the goal.
According to the FTC, sometimes those means have included false and deceptive claims about what the product can do. Affiliates also have used fake blogs, bogus news sites, and other deceptive formats that mislead people about the source of the information or that fail to disclose a material connection between the affiliate marketer and the seller, as explained in the FTC Endorsement Guides.
That’s what the FTC says happened in the cases it recently settled. According to the lawsuits, affiliate marketers set up fake news sites with titles like News 6 News Alerts, Health News Health Alerts, or Health 5 Beat Health News. The sites claimed to document a reporter’s first-hand experience with acai berry supplements, typically touting a 25-pound loss in four weeks. According to the FTC, many of the sites falsely represented that the reports had run on major media outlets — ABC, Fox News, CBS, CNN, USA Today, Consumer Reports. But, as the FTC charged, they were nothing more than ads deceptively enticing people to buy the featured product from online merchants who paid the affiliates for driving traffic to their sites.
The message for affiliate marketers: You can be held legally responsible for the deceptive claims you make — and non-compliance can be costly. The proposed settlements impose monetary judgments in the full amount of the commissions the affiliates got for driving traffic to the sellers’ sites. Due to the defendants’ financial condition, the judgments will be partially suspended, but not before the boat, the Beamer, and other assets are sold in partial payment.
The message for companies using affiliates: When you pay third parties to act on your behalf, you can’t wipe your hands of responsibility for what they do to sell your products. First, take steps to ensure the advertising messages they disseminate on your behalf are truthful. Give them detailed guidance about what should — and shouldn’t — be said about your product. Second, do some quality control on the back end once buyers have been directed to your site through affiliate marketing. Look at the affiliates and the ads that generate the largest number of referrals to see what claims they’re making. If you spot something amiss or hear concerns from consumers, follow up to find out what’s going on and take appropriate action. Reputable marketers can and should play an important role in bringing more order and accountability to the affiliate marketing industry.
Ever-tougher court orders
In January 2012 the FTC announced that an operation that marketed acai berry supplements, “colon cleansers,” and other products using allegedly fraudulent free trial offers and phony endorsements from Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray will pay $1.5 million as part of a settlement. The money will be made available for consumer refunds.
The case against Phoenix-based Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Inc. (“CCN”) is part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to protect consumers from fraudulent internet marketing, as well as false and misleading health claims. The settlement order bans the defendants from so-called “negative-option” sales, such as continuity plans and free or introductory price trial offers, in which consumers pay nothing up front or only a small fee to receive a product, but are then automatically charged a higher price unless they take steps to cancel the shipments, or return the product before the end of the trial period.
The 2010 FTC complaint alleged that two individuals and five related companies deceptively claimed that their Acai Pure supplement would cause rapid and substantial weight loss, and that their Colotox colon cleanser would prevent colon cancer. Also, despite claiming to offer a “free” trial for a nominal fee and full refunds upon request, the defendants allegedly repeatedly made unauthorized charges to consumers’ bank accounts, and made it all but impossible to avoid paying full price for the products, typically $39.95 to $59.95.
At the request of the FTC in August 2010, a federal court halted the allegedly illegal conduct of the CCN defendants, imposed an asset freeze, and appointed a receiver to oversee the corporate defendants.
The settlement order against the defendants includes an $80 million judgment, which represents the total amount of consumer injury caused by their scheme. The monetary judgment will be suspended when the FTC receives assets worth approximately $1.5 million from the defendants.
The settlement order requires Gibson to pay the FTC the balance of his investment account; transfer to the FTC $500,000 after mortgaging his home in Phoenix, or transfer the property to a court-appointed liquidator if he cannot obtain the mortgage; and divest himself of his interest in a Hawaii vacation property. It also requires the court-appointed receiver to transfer to the FTC the estimated $600,000 that will remain in the accounts of CCN and the affiliated corporate defendants after their outstanding expenses are paid. If it is later determined that the financial information the defendants provided was false, the full amount of the judgment will become due.
In addition to banning the defendants from selling any products or services with a negative option feature, the settlement also prohibits them from, among other things:
*making deceptive statements that there is no cost for a trial purchase; that all consumers who request full refunds will get them; that celebrities endorse their products; that consumer testimonials reflect typical consumer experiences; about the total amount consumers will pay; or about any other material fact regarding any goods or services sold by the defendants;
*failing to make adequate disclosures about the material terms and conditions of any offer;
*charging consumers’ credit cards, or debiting their bank accounts without their consent;
*making any claim that a product can diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent any disease, including cancer, unless the claim is approved by the FDA;
making any claim that a product can cause weight loss, unless the claim is supported by two well-controlled human clinical studies;
*making claims about the health benefits of any supplement, food, or drug without competent and reliable scientific evidence, and misrepresenting any tests or studies; or
*making deceptive or false statements or failing to disclose material facts, to a payment processor or financial institution.
Under the settlement order, the defendants also are required to monitor the activities of any affiliate marketers selling products or services on their behalf, including reviewing any marketing materials used to ensure that they comply with the order.
Victimized consumers flooded law enforcement agencies and the BBB with thousands of complaints about the company. The defendants’ marketing traded on the rampant popularity of acai berry supplements. The BBB named fake “free” trial offers – including those for acai supplements offered by the defendants in this case – as one of the “Top 10 Scams and Rip-Offs of 2009.” The bottom line here? Tougher than ever injunctive provisions, monetary provisions, and substantiation requirements.
Lessons Learned, and Best Practices
What do the above cases illustrate? That the FTC will continue to place a high priority on all marketing [online and offline] of health products making weight loss claims, or any claims to prevent or cure serious diseases. In addition, the FTC has made as an ongoing top priority, the prosecution of cases in the “poverty vertical.” This means any offers for goods or services that prey on vulnerable consumers during the economic downturn. This includes any debt or credit related offers [debt consolidation, mortgage modification, foreclosure rescue, grant assistance, etc.], and any work from home, multi-level marketing, or other business opportunities with “get rich quick” promises.
Furthermore, the FTC is anticipated to go after more and more third parties who “assist and facilitate” those allegedly defrauding consumers. This could mean list brokers, lead generators, payment processors, or any other service provider that looks the other way or turns a blind eye to its business partners’ deceptive practices against consumers.
To avoid FTC scrutiny, the best defenses are clear:
This is a guest post by Thomas Cohn. Thomas A. Cohn is a partner in Le Clair Ryan’s New York office, and he is the former Regional Director of the FTC’s Northeast Region. He can be reached at (212) 430-8060 and thomas.cohn@leclairryan.com.
Disclaimer: This blog post is for educational purposes only as well as to offer general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the author. The blog post should never be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.
