Recently Mark Joyner shot all of his affiliates (which I’m one) an email that he’s launching a thing similar to simpleology … but to teach integration marketing to help people grow their businesses.  If you used Simpleology… you know that Mark provides huge value (especially since most of Simpleology and this new Integration Marketing thing are free!). 

Anyhow, I was watching Mark’s videos for the Integration Marketing re-realized just how important it is to use integration marketing in today’s business (both online and offline)… but too many people still don’t do it!

If you have an online (or offline for that matter) business… and are looking for the quickest way to instantly add new revenues to your business in less time than it takes to make a PB & J sandwich (maybe a bit longer than this… but not much)… you need to learn about “integration marketing”. 

I’ve heard the term integration marketing a few times but really didn’t understand it fully until I met Mike Filsaime and heard him speak in Orlando at Rich Schefren’s event this past February.  When you hear about integration marketing you’ll be wondering why you hadn’t been doing it already… and be counting up the bucks you could have earned if you had implemented it just even a bit.

What Is Integration Marketing?

In simple terms, integration marketing is simply where you take your current business and integrate other products/services/offers, etc. (yours or someone elses) into your current sales and marketing funnels. 

Here’s an example:

Let’s say that you own an online dog toy store and your current sales process looks like this.

1. Person lands on website and browses through products
2. Person finds a product they like, add it to their cart, and click “check out” to purchase
3. Person fills out the purchase form, clicks submit, and are taken to a nice thank you page where you say how much you appreciate their business and hope to see them again

That’s a pretty standard online sales process for most businesses… don’t you think?  Let’s say your average sale in this process is $25. 

Now, how about a little bit of integration marketing infused in the process:

You have the same dog toy store. Here’s the new and improved sales process.

1. Person lands on your website and you offer a newsletter to get discounts, free products, and an informational package on “how to train your dog to be smarter than Lassie”. 
2. Person opts into the newsletter and gets a thank you page that says something like, “Thank you for subscribing!  To show our appreciation, we’d like to give you a one-time coupon for $10 off of a purchase of $40 or more… but this coupon expires in 24 hours.”  Then give them a link to browse the popular products.
3. Person browses the products (w/ this coupon in hand) and finds the products they want… but it only adds up to $25.  So, naturally… they realize that for only $5 more they can get $40 worth of stuff.  No brainer.
4. Person goes to check out with their $40 in products (of course they have the $10 off coupon), enters their coupon code, and completes the purchase.
5. Person is taken to a one time offer page (thank you + another offer) for an in-depth ebook and 60 minute DVD that normally sells for $37… but is on sale “this one time only” for $19… on “How To Train Your Dog To Do Tricks In 3 Days Or Less” (not your product… it’s someone elses!)
6. Person sees how great of a deal it is… and with one click… they upgrade their order to include the training product.
7. Persons order is now complete and they are taken to a thank you page with a message that says, “Thank you for your order!  It will be in your hands in no time flat.  Since you love dogs, we thought you’d also like these websites and products.  Check them out!”.

Okay, that was actually a pretty simple integration marketing strategy.  Did you see what happened?

Here it is…

Right off the bat the prospect was funneled to your newsletter (so you can keep in touch with them more easily) and given an incentive to order today… and to increase the overall order over your average order.

Then, the prospect did end up increasing their order a bit because “it’s a no brainer”… which gives them more value and gives you a higher average sale.

Then, the customer isn’t just taken to a plain ol’ thank you page… but instead to a “one time offer” that let’s them grab a highly related product (not your product… it’s an affiliate product) for a big discount. 

Last, they are taken to a thank you page that nicely shows them more resources that they would probably be interested in anyway… and of course… you have found a way to monetize these resources by joining the affiliate programs for each company in case your customer goes through to purchase a product from their site.

The Integration Marketing Results…

In this case… of course this is an example… but you added several new revenue streams to your sales process… without hardly any extra effort or cost.

1. You made an extra $5 (of course you have product costs involved) on the initial purchase and gained goodwill
2. You made a 50% commission on the ebook and DVD sale, so that’s another $9.95.
3. Then, let’s say 1 out of every 25 customers clicks through the thank you page and buys something generating an average revenue for you of $5.

Following this example, you would have increased your average revenue per order from just $25 to between $35 and $45.  That’s an increase of about 40% to 75% in revenues with no extra costs involved other than the cost to pay someone to add in that extra page or two (which shouldn’t be more than $100 in total). 

Can You Use An Increase Of Revenues Of Mid To High Double Digits??

That’s kind of a stupid question isn’t it? 

Well… it really is a no brainer… and the process of integration marketing is pretty simple.

1. Instead of having a plain ol’ thank you page for your purchases and email list opt ins… make the thank you page a “one time offer” or something that provides something to your customer that is very high value for the price… and that they can only get that ONE TIME (there has to be scarcity involved or it won’t work very well).
2. Look for products and services that are complimentary to yours.  Talk to the product/service owners and strike up a deal with them where you show their product on your thank you pages… and you split the revenues.  Who would say no to that?
3. Always give your customer/prospect a chance to “upgrade” to something a bit better... for small price difference.  If you offer a service that costs $500 a month… create an extra bonus or two (30 minutes of time w/ you, etc.) and create a platinum version of the service for just $699… then give them the option of upgrading for that small price difference. 

Really, it doesn’t matter how you choose to integrate your other products… or products from other people… into your sales process.  But, the important thing is that you DO IT. 

Here’s Your Action Plan

1. Look at your current sales process and find out where you can offer people something complimentary (or an upgrade).
2. Find products that people would be likely to use before or after purchasing your product… and see if you can strike a deal with them where you show their product on your thank you page (preferably for a small discount or w/ an extra bonus involved)… and have them show your product on their thank you page (or offline equivalent such as an insert into the shipping package, etc.).
3. Rinse and repeat

Enjoy!

I’ll go over some more specific examples of how integration marketing is used on some real world websites here in the next few weeks. 

——————-

One quick note… Mark Joyner (one of the top online and offline entrepreneurs I know) just put out a great free “Integration Marketing” tutorial and business package for you to use in your business.  I’ve signed up for a free account and love the info in there including the free Integration Marketing ebook he has in the free members portal.

Check it out… it’s well worth it!

"Mr. Mauch, now please click the ‘upgrade account’ button on the left side of your account page ", the polite gal says in a slight Indian accent.

"Well… I truly wish I could but it’s not there… but I do know where it is. Let me go there and click it ", I said in a mildly perturbed tone.

"Okay Mr. Mauch, please do. Then, click the ‘upgrade my account to a business account’ link on the right side and complete the short form and click ’submit ‘", explained Remzi who is very good at doing exactly what she was trained to do as a Paypal customer service rep.

"Alrighty, I’ve done this same thing about 16 times in the last 24 hours and it takes me to an error page (actually a ‘Page Not Found’ page) every time… I’ve followed the 4 responses from email support with no success… changed computers… changed internet networks… but I’ll try it again for one last college try ", I said in a quasi-sarcastic way that I tend to do.

As I filled out the form once again as I had already done 16 times, I got to the bottom of the page and that corny movie suspense filled music crept into my mind as I hovered my mouse pointer over the "submit" button praying that this ordeal would finally be over.

Click…

"Yep, same thing. Big fat error. Is there anyway you can upgrade me over the phone rather than me wasting another 2 hours of my time trying to do a 5 minute task on your website? ", I pleaded to Remzi.

"No Mr. Mauch, that is ALL I can do for you from here… that sounds like a technical problem to me. Here’s the technical support number… they SHOULD be able to help you. "

And the saga continues…

Customer Service Isn’t Customer Service… It’s Marketing In Disguise

As I type this, the ordeal I just played out (by the way, that is a real situation) is still in mid plot.

• My problem hasn’t been solved
• I’ve already wasted more than 2 hours on this stupid little task hoping the solution would be one click away
• I’ve now worked with no less than 4 different customer service people
• Now instead of "putting up" with this company’s lackluster customer service in the past… I’m actively searching for another option that isn’t such a pain in the ass

I’m not going to spend a ton more time on this issue… but in the time I’ve spent with these very nice and polite… and well scripted outsourced customer "service" reps from Paypal… I’ve really been reminded of a very important fact that many companies completely forget about.

Customer service = Marketing

Customer service isn’t a task that should be put off as merely a "support" task. Customer service truly plays an active role in retaining current customers… and attracting new ones.

Sounds like marketing to me… how about you?

Take my situation for instance, I’ve never really regarded Paypal as a company who has award winning customer service… but the products/services Paypal offers are pretty darn good and really the best option for many situations. So, I’ve happily used them.

However, this is the first time I’ve had an issue with Paypal… and it’s not even a very complicated or all that important issue when you really get down to it. It’s an issue with a link not taking me to the page I need to go to… should be simple huh?

So, Here’s My Question…

What would be easier (for me and them), save more time (for me and them), save more money (for me and them), and result in an all around positive experience for both me and Paypal?

Simple really.

When a current customer calls in to support after dealing with email support (multiple times) with no avail… why can’t customer support act like a marketer and take care of the problem FOR ME over the phone… instead of walking me through the SAME steps I’ve already taken (that didn’t work)… then asking me to call another department (not even forwarding the call for me)??

Not sure. Pretty simple business answer to me… and I’m sure Ebay’s(owns Paypal) shareholders would be asking the same question.

Customer Service = Marketing

Bad customer service (this company had great reps, responded quickly, but has never solved the problem) can harm your business… and provide negative PR like this article.

Why not turn that into a positive experience and create a raving fan… which can actually attract new clients?

Last Thought…

Too many companies out there focus so much on getting customer service reps technically proficient and polished rather than empowering them to solve the customers problem at all reasonable cost .

What’s reasonable? That’s for the company to decide.

But, I’m pretty sure Paypal (Ebay) can agree that allowing a customer service rep to upgrade my personal account to a business account (when their website isn’t working) on the phone for me is not unreasonable… therefore making that an excellent opportunity to further "market" their great company to me to solidify it’s already strong position in my mind.

I’ve heard the term “lifestyle entrepreneurship” chatted about quite a bit recently. Namely, from great entrepreneurs and bloggers like:

• Tim Ferris
• AnyWired
• Yanik Silver
• etc.

To me, “lifestyle entrepreneurship” is all about creating a business (or businesses) that allows you to truly lead the life you want to live.

For me, that life is one where I’m able to make enough income to make it so I don’t HAVE to work everyday (although, us entrepreneurs tend to love what we do… so it’s not work), where I can spend more time traveling with my wife and family, where I can technically not work for a week and still have that income coming in whether I work or not, where I’m able to golf during the week anytime I want, and where I’m truly making a difference in other people’s lives.

That’s me. That’s why I am an entrepreneur and do what I do.

Am I In My Ideal “Lifestyle Entrepreneur” Position Yet?

Right now… probably not. I DO believe that I’m on my way and will be there pretty damn soon… but I’m still trying to work my way out of my previous mindset of what it is to be an “entrepreneur”.

I graduated from college with degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship (yes… that’s a real degree). In college we were taught what it is like to run a traditional company… with the “entrepreneur” working tirelessly for the rest of his/her life to have that “freedom” we all look for as entrepreneurs.

After college I carried that mindset forward… and even worse… I carried the mindset that “If I can do it… I’ll just do it myself… heck, it’ll save me a ton of money”. After 2 years of “entrepreneurship” doing it “myself”… I began to look at what I had created.

Here’s what my “entrepreneurial” efforts created me:

• 15 hour+ days (no biggie… I love what I do so it’s not USUALLY work)
• A decent income… but not all that much
• Trading time for dollars
• Burn out just around the corner… I was doing EVERYTHING myself… EVERYTHING
• A devalued impression of what my time was worth to myself and my clients
• Lack of clarity on what I really wanted out of life

Wow… sounds like quite the “entrepreneurs lifestyle” huh?

We As Entrepreneurs Need To Do One Thing…

I’m trying to keep this post on the shorter side… so I’ll sum up what the heck I’m getting at.

We as entrepreneurs need to figure out why we are entrepreneurs… and what we really want out of our businesses deep down in our core beings. More work, less free time, and less value on your time isn’t what I wanted out of entrepreneurship. That’s a load of crap that I for some reason let take over my brain.

So, to get what we really want… we need to go after “lifestyle entrepreneurship” rather than the “entrepreneur lifestyle”. To me, the “entrepreneur lifestyle” almost has a bad connotation to it right off the bat. When I think of that term, I picture what I had been doing for the last 2 years… not much of a lifestyle.

However, “lifestyle entrepreneurship” on the other hand is just that… you form your entrepreneurship efforts based off of the lifestyle you want. Your lifestyle isn’t directed by your entrepreneurship efforts. Thin line… but in my mind it’s quite a big difference.

For me, I’m not quite where I want to be yet… but I know I’m on the verge. One of my favorite things to do is hear fellow entrepreneurs tell their stories of when they finally created their reality “lifestyle entrepreneurship” goal.

Let’s hear it… are you after “lifestyle entrepreneurship”? If so, have you reached it… when did you finally realize that you reached it?

One Last Thought…

Money is cool… but lifestyle is better. My goal in life is to use entrepreneurship to help me live the best lifestyle possible in this one life we get here on Earth… and to meet the most amazing people I can. That’s it. Pretty simple really…

A Collection of Great Articles on The Subject…

• Check out the article over at AnyWired … excellent collection of articles and resources on the topic.