How To Know A Good Marketing Expert From A Bad One

I often get asked by massage therapists, "Hey Jeff, I noticed that there is a ton of marketing information out there. Which books or courses do you recommend that will help my massage therapy business? How do I know who has good information and who doesn't? I'm new to this stuff and I'm not familiar with these people yet like you are. Who do you recommend?"

These are very good questions. There is a glutton of marketing "experts" out there. Some of them are fantastic, some so-so, and some are all fluff. So how do you know which ones have solid information that's worth your while investing in?

I subscribe to a lot of mailing lists and also purchase many marketing newsletters, books and courses. Here's what I look for when I come across a web site that offers a free information:

1. When I subscribe to a free online mailing list, what do they say in their subject line? What they have in their subject line says a lot about them. Let me give you an example of what I mean. The most critical piece of real estate in any email that's going out to a mailing list is the subject line. Why? Because if the subject line isn't compelling, people will just glance right over it.

Now, a marketing expert that knows what they're doing should know this, right? I mean, it should be common sense to them. But you'd be surprised at how many emails I receive from marketers who have very weak body copy in their subject line. Many times it's nothing more than, "Business Marketing Tip #54". Next month it'll be "Business Marketing Tip #55", and so on.

That's the first red flag for me. I think to myself, "If they don't even know how to get that right, then how good can the rest of their information be?" And sure enough, their information is usually very watered down. It's kind of like a math expert who doesn't know their times tables, you know?

The ones who have compelling headlines in their subject lines usually have good stuff. So that's a little tip to help you out.

2. Here's another indication if someone's information is really worthwhile - do they only try to pitch you something every single time you get an email from them? This really ticks me off. If their emails always try to sell me a product, I just tune it out. However, if they give me solid, useable information without trying to sell me something, then occasionally pitch me a product, I'm much more likely to read what they have to say.

By the way, this is what you should be doing when marketing to your massage clients. You see, whenever contact them - not matter how you contact them - if you're always trying to promote a massage, they'll just tune your message out after a while. But if you give them solid health tips with no pitch, a fun to read newsletter, or anything else that's interesting with no strings attached - you'll end up making more appointments.

Remember this little mantra - "The More You Tell, The More You Sell"

If you notice, I rarely pitch anything in my email broadcasts or blogs. I want to give massage therapists some solid information that they can use right now. As a result, I get a lot of nice comments back whenever I send something out. And many times I get asked, "How can I get more of your stuff?" See, the more you tell, the more you sell!

And this is what you should be looking out for when you get a pitch from marketers to sign up to their mailing lists. After you sign up, notice if A) They have compelling headlines in their subject line and B) Are they always trying to sell you something and not giving you useable information.

After years of study, I have always found material from Dan Kennedy and anyone associated with him to have the best information that really, really does work! (Just in case you're wondering, I get NO residuals from him if you click the above link)

Jeff Sauers
"The King Of Creative Marketing For Independent Massage Therapists"
info@ultimatemassagesuccess.com
http://www.ultimatemassagesuccess.com
http://www.ultimatemassagesuccess.blogspot.com