Most commercials bore me, but recently I saw one that caught my interest.

The spokesman gave the usual spiel, selling his brand and talking about how things are run today, but then he finished with something different. He said, “Why do we continue to do things the same way and never try anything different?”

Why did this statement stick with me? It’s simple. For a long time, his statement has been my business philosophy. I believe if your competition is doing something, you need to do something different.

A Copycat Industry
Merchant credit card processing is a business of copycats. There isn’t much to differentiate the various players. And there’s an entire group of players selling merchant card services that have been dubbed “me too” companies because they offer the exact same services. Often, the only thing that they differ on is cost.

Start With The Sales Call
Don’t be a “me too” company. Differentiate yourself from the copycats, starting with your sales calls. When you introduce yourself to potential clients, don’t lead with the standard line, “Show me your statement, and I’ll show you how much money I can save you.”

Instead, take a softer approach. Say something like, “I heard about your business, and I just thought I’d stop by and see if we’re a good fit for each other. Maybe we could be partners.”

If the merchant hands you his statement automatically out of habit, fend it off and take control of the situation.

Say something like: “Don’t show me that just yet. We don’t really know each other, and I’m not sure we should even do business together yet.”

Do you see how that approach is different? You’re doing something unexpected, and this puts you in complete control of the sales call. And because you’re doing something that your competition doesn’t do, you’ll be memorable, too.

Few sales managers teach this approach, mostly because we’re creatures of habit. We do things the same way over and over, and eventually we forget that another way even exists.

Because you’ve been approaching sales calls the same way for a long time, it may be hard to adopt this new approach. The easiest way is to keep in mind that no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to sign every merchant. You can only explain your services and take them through the sales process step by step.

If you can do that, you’ll see that it stops many merchants short–but not in a bad way. They’ll see that you’re not the same old merchant card services salesperson that they always deal with, so they’ll open up to you. This will make everything easier.

Do you have other ways of separating yourself from the pack in the merchant credit card processing business?

Most people have heard a thing or two about the home based business industry but in reality they don’t know anything. It is very important for you to gather as much home based business information as you can before deciding to venture into this kind of business. The crucial information that you need to know will be revealed in this article and it will definitely be beneficial for you to know.

The home based business industry has been around for decades and people all over the world have tried it and have found success with it. Now many people go head and tell you that it is easy to start a business and become successful with it. The truth is that it is not going to be easy and this is information that will be crucial for you to know and write down.

Having a business takes hard work and dedication, most people are not willing to take the responsibility and be patient to wait out the results. For this reason is why you see that when people do succeed with this industry they are rewarded big time. Basically you earn what you deserve based on your own efforts. A lot of people are not willing to give out this home based business information because they are afraid of not being able to recruit you.

I am a firm believer that you must let someone know how it is going to be because this way they will be prepared for what is to come. This is the important information that you needed to know and now is up to you to see if you have what it takes.

I’m always surprised by the people that fail to work with a business or marketing plan. The idea seems to be intimidating to many otherwise fearless entrepreneurs. The plan doesn’t have to be a long drawn-out process to be effective. You can take a few minutes and sketch out something quickly that helps you to formalize your goals, establish a budget and evaluate your expected returns on investment.

It will also serve as a roadmap to help you maintain consistent sales throughout the year. Savvy marketers often develop the entire project around a sales and marketing proposal in order to bring in joint venture partners.

There are many ways to develop a marketing plan. The approach taken here is a simple six step process. If you are really creative you can accomplish all six steps on the back of a napkin.

1. State your purpose – Dr. Stephen R. Covey is famous for coining the phrase; “Begin with the and in mind.” This simply means to have an idea of what your results should look like before you begin your journey.
2. Quantify the result – if you are selling glass figurines online, you should know how many units you’ll need to sell in order to make the kind of income that will make the project worthwhile. You must identify what success looks like even before you begin.
3. Situational Analysis – this simply means you are acknowledging where you are in the process at the moment. You will also want to look back in the past to evaluate the decisions and actions that lead you to the present situation.
4. Marketing Focus – take a close look at consumers to whom you wish to sell your services or products. Get a clear understanding of your ideal prospect; get to know and relate to the problems they face and recognize how your solutions can benefit them.
5. Tactical – now we brainstorm to find the various methods to get our message to its intended target. Don’t be afraid to get wild, crazy and creative during brainstorming. There are often a few really good ideas hidden among the off-the-wall stuff. Write them all down and review them later.
6. Budgets Analysis and Performance Milestones – I saved the bean counting for last because it is usually the part that entrepreneurs don’t like to do. Once you have roughed out your marketing plan of attack, you will want to create a budget for which to work your plan. You will also need to set realistic milestones to monitor your progress along the way.

In the end, a marketing plan is just a road map for your objectives. You can create a formal marketing plan with spreadsheets, graphs and even PowerPoint presentations. You might simply look at your worn out napkin one or twice a year. Whichever technique you choose will be perfect as long as you get it done. When it comes to marketing your business, you need to know where you’re going so that you know when you’ve arrived.