Last week I attended Infusionsoft’s annual users conference, InfusionCon 2010 at an absolutely beautiful resort just outside of Phoenix, Arizona.

You can read my other blog post on the conference here InfusionCon 2010: Why Infusionsoft is the Ultimate Marketing Software.

Even if you are not an Infusionsoft user, there were a tremendous amount of great resources and tips to learn from the vendors and speakers about marketing your business online.

One of the key concepts that Infusionsoft and their presenting affiliates preached was the importance of following up with your prospects throughout the sales and marketing process.

One speaker presented a study done about sales and marketing and the “gap” between follow up efforts and actually closing a sale.

The first sales figures that were presented showed the average sales contacts made and the related close rate.

Number of Contacts Made 1 2 3 4 5

Sales Close Rate 1-2% 3% 4% 10% 81%

The second figures that were presented showed the average number of contacts made by marketers and salespeople before quitting or giving up on the sale.

Number of Contacts Done 1 2 3 4 5

Quit Rate 48% 24% 12% 6% 10%

Now I am not a mathematician, but a simple analysis says to me that 10% or less of the people selling are closing 81% or more of the sales, just because they have a better follow up system and are making the contacts to build relationships.

People want to buy from people, not faceless companies. Using automated marketing tools like Infusionsoft can help with the follow up process, but ultimately you must focus on your prospects and build relationships with them.

Fix your follow up, make the contacts, and you will close more sales.

Trust me, it works.

The good news is that there is something you can do reach your target audience, get their attention, and convert those qualified prospects into buyers. Almost every marketing professional will tell you the same thing: People do business with people they know, like and, trust. In fact, I have heard this said over and over and several conferences and workshops.

To cut through the marketing clutter and speak to your ideal client, there are three things that you can do right now to build upon the know, like, and trust factor to get more clients and grow your list.

1. Build the “Know” Factor

Your audience needs to know you and know about you before they can join your list or do business with you. Focus on putting yourself out in the universe so people can get to know you. You can do this through social networking, blogging, commenting on others’ posts, video marketing, teleseminars, article marketing, press release marketing, live networking meetings and events and more.

2. Build the “Like” Factor

Your audience needs to like you before they will interact with you, refer you, and talk about you. There are two ways that you can accelerate the “Like” factor. The first is to share some personal information along with your business information. This will help your audience connect with you even further and build a more personal relationship. The second way to accelerate the “Like” factor is to give away valuable, helpful information for free. This will also help position you as an expert and a go to resource.

3. Build the “Trust” Factor

You can talk about how great you are until you’re blue in the face, but some people just won’t be convinced, and some people will just get irritated. The key to building trust is referrals and testimonials. The level of trust your audience has in you will drastically increase when you have other people talking positively about you and your business to their friends and networks, writing about you on social networking sites, providing testimonials, introducing you to prospects and more.

Remember, people do business with people they know, like, and trust. To get more clients and build your list, you must not only build relationships with your prospects and ideal clients, but you must stay active in the conversation and continually nurture the relationship for long-term success.

How do you build the Know, Like, Trust Factor with your prospects and clients? If you’ve got any tips, I’d love to hear them!

I wholeheartedly agree with Andrea, which is why I have put a lot of mileage on my car this past week. My schedule has been completely jam-packed with normal business meetings, several awesome networking events, and a fun family night out (see my hubby, kids, and father-in-law in the picture)! Check out what my week looked like:

• eWomenNetwork Reno Chapter dinner event on Wednesday night
• SacTweetUp event at Mix on Thursday night
• River Cats baseball season finale game with the family Friday night
• Simplie Indie Writers’ Workshop all day on Saturday
• eWomenNetwork South Placer County Think Big Summit all day Tuesday
• BNI Roseville Visitor’s luncheon yesterday

I met so many fantastic entrepreneurs, business owners, writers, mompreneurs, and social networking addicts and have had so much fun! Needless to say, I am now up to my eyeballs in follow up emails, phone calls, and thank you notes!

While social networking is all the rage right now, it is important to remember that meeting face-to-face is one of the fastest ways to start new relationships, build on existing relationships, and reconnect with old relationships.

Networking in person at events, meetings, conferences, meetups, and seminars is also a great way to build your “Know, like, and trust” factor, which is what tomorrow’s post will be all about!

These are questions I get asked all the time and my answer is always the same. There are three main marketing pieces that every solopreneur, entrepreneur and small business owners needs. They are: 1) A business card, 2) A website, and 3) A marketing piece.

Your Business Card

Your business card is typically the first thing a new prospect will see. Their first impression of your business is often based on your business card. It is a key way to connect with others and give them your contact information. Your business card should clearly communicate not only who you are and what you do, but it should capture their attention and make them want to learn more.

Your business card should contain the following:

• Your logo
• Your brand color palette and typefaces
• Your contact information, including a mailing address. Providing a mailing address on your cards immediately adds stability and credibility to you and your business.
• Support information. This may be a tagline, call to action, sales pitch, or a list of services.

Your Website

If you are in business, you absolutely must have a website. Not having a website could be driving your prospects to your competition’s door! Not only does a professional, easy to navigate website give you an online presence, it adds credibility and instantly makes your business feel more established. It also is a great tool for marketing your business, educating your prospects and clients, and automating repetitive tasks.

Things to remember when developing your website:

• The images should be crisp and clear and load quickly.
• The content should be written at the fifth or sixth grade level, making is clear and easy to understand. Be cautious of using too much technical jargon. Remember, a confused shopper usually doesn’t purchase.
• The design (the look and feel) should blend cohesively into your brand, reinforcing your message and supporting your brand positioning.
• The site should be easy to use, allowing visitors to quickly find the information they need.
• Scalability is key in the development of your site, making sure it is able to grow and expand with your business.
• The site should be easy to update by building in templates or a content management system.
• The website should include basic search engine optimization, including title tags, keyword and description meta tags, HTML heading tags and ALT tags.

Your Marketing Piece

To further build your brand and connect with your customers and prospects, you will also need some sort of follow up item. This could be a brochure, a rack card, a postcard, a note card, or an HTML email. The specific type of item will be different for each business. You may use an HTML email newsletter template to keep your target market updated on your business, or your may use a note card to write a quick personal follow up note after a networking event.

However you decide to keep in touch with your target market and stay top-of-mind, the key is to actually do it and be consistent. Have a system in place with a clear follow up process for each aspect of your business – for example, your follow up process for someone you met at a networking event, may be different from someone who just purchased one of your products or services.

Here are some quick tips on choosing and creating your follow up items:

• Examine the ways in which you come in contact with your target market and what type of follow up would be the most appropriate and the most preferred in each case. Would a postcard be more appropriate or maybe a thank you note, or maybe an HTML email?
• Examine the amount of time you have available for follow up. Do you have time to handwrite or customize each follow up message? Or would it be better for you to develop a printed piece that could be used over and over? Also, look at how often you are going to do follow up and schedule the time into your calendar. Will it be once a week or twice a month, etc.
• Examine what part of the follow up process can be delegated to an employee or virtual assistant. Will you make all of the phone calls yourself, but outsource the mailing of postcards? Or, if your target market prefers email communications, will you use auto responders and schedule out a series of messages?
• Make sure any marketing materials you match your brand and consistently communicate your message and reinforce your identity. The content should be valuable and timely, it should give them a way to join or leave your list and it should always include a call to action.

Together, these three marketing pieces your business card, your website, and your follow up item are a combination your business can’t live without. Separately, each is important, but when used together, they are a powerhouse trio that will help you build your brand, generate leads and increase your bottom line.