Use Shoestring101 Techniques to 10X Your Business
So, as ya might know, one of the businesses that I document here on Shoestring101 is a come-to-you window screen repair service. I started it as part of a 30 Day Challenge to go from 0 to $1,000 per month.
$1,000+ profit (we took $1195) in the first month is a good proof-of-concept. Of course, the low four figures per month isn’t how you quit your job; but 10X your business and now we’re talking. You can read about this side hustle’s inception here, and its first five figure month here.
One of the reasons we were able to grow this little side hustle into a full-time income was using the Shoestring101 principles and techniques. Today’s post is about a recent application in the screen repair biz of the Shotgun/Laser technique.
Today’s the day I drop off my marketing message. I’ll let you know how it goes in the weeks to come.
(Whaaa? You say you DON’T KNOW the Shotgun/Laser technique? Do you hate puppies?
Go to this blog post immediately after reading this email and learn to easily 10X your business)
So here’s how the story goes:
A recent client that called me was a Realtor; the sale of his client’s home was being held up.
The home inspector wouldn’t pass it until the screen door got fixed.
What would a normal businessperson do?
- Show up; do an excellent job, charge a fair price.
- Give the client a stack of biz cards, say, “Thanks, and please refer me to your friends”
- Rely on chance and that guy’s good will to promote their business for them
What does a Shoestring101 kind of guy do instead?
He employs a variation of Shotgun/Laser technique:
- Show up; do an excellent job, charge a fair price.
- Get a biz card from the client, find out what you can about him…
- …and use that intelligence to reach every single one of his buddies, on purpose.
Hey which one of these approaches do you think will get you more paying customers?
Um…
Duh.
😉
So here’s what happened.
- Showed up, did a great job.
- Got the Realtor’s card.
- He works for “The Platinum Group” Real Estate Agency.
- “Liked” The Platinum Group on Facebook.
- Now I can message whoever is in charge of their sosh media!
Here was the message I sent:
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Chat Conversation Start
MAY 3RD, 4:59PM
Hello! Message for admin: Are you the appropriate person to contact about getting this message to the rest of your agents? One of your agents, (NAME) recently used my service, which is on-site window screen and screen door repair. Often a home inspection turns up this problem. Let the sale move forward by handling this detail in one call. 719-360-9559
MAY 5TH, 11;37AM, 4:59PM
Hello. Thank you for your message. If you would like to bring brochures to our office we would be happy to distribute them to our agents. We have 45 mailboxes. Thank you and have a good day.
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…PA-ZHOW!!
Whaddya think, Stepper?
You know that most bizzes grow their base by repeat and referrals.
But it’s okay to build your business on purpose, too… eh, whaaaat?
In the first few sentences of this blog post I promised the Shotgun/Laser technique could 10X your business… and that’s by no means an exaggeration.
Let’s see how I justify claiming that you can multiply your business by TEN, just by employing the Shotgun/Laser technique:
SO I showed up, solved my client’s problem by fixing the screen door. That’s $49 in my pocket, took $3 worth of material, and about 15 minutes to finish the job.
Imagine if I had handed my Realtor client five business cards. Assuming that the stars align and he does remember to give them out to others in his office, that’s still only four or five potential clients I’m reaching.
But you just saw my invitation ^ to put my marketing message directly into the mailboxes of 45 agents.
And each of those agents stands to have at least one sale this year… that’s being held up at inspection… because of a stupid screen door or window that needs repairing.
The minimum service call that we do is $49. Two weeks ago my son and I did screens at a house totaling $505, but let’s use the minimum numbers here:
Say that of the 45 Realtors that get my letter, only one in four give me a call, ever.
And each of those eleven Realtors only needs me for the $49 service, and they never call me again.
That’s $49 X 11 = $539 worth of business.
All this for sending one text…
…making 45 copies of my sales letter…
…and hand-delivering it to The Platinum Group when I’m in the neighborhood.
How’s THAT stack up next to “Here’s some cards… will you please hand them out to your friends?”
Snicker, snicker.
Now I know that printing up some business cards is one of the first things most folks THINK they need to be in business. I say it’s one of the last.
Truth be told… I actually didn’t even have cards made for my screen repair business until after we were doing $500 profit days.
No joke.
Kurt, this is only one out of piles of variations on the theme of Shotgun/Laser.
If you haven’t read my book or any of the articles I’ve done on it, you and your business deserve to know how you could be doing 10X as much business, with very little or no advertising expense.
D’ya think it might be worth your while to explore that teeny tiny detail?
😉
If you think chasing your tail and spending piles of money to get just a few paying customers is for the birds, and want a silly-simple fix to 80% of your marketing problems, go to this blog post immediately to learn more about the history and application of the Shotgun/Laser technique.
Oh… and take a jacket. You’re about to learn how to “make it rain!”
Keep Stepping,
Kurt
Hi Kurt, I am your daily reader! Brilliant Writing.Thanks for sharing your genius with us
Twitter: NTPInfo
says:
Hi Kurt,
99.9% of success in business in simply doing something out of the ordinary…something no one would ordinarily bother about…
Thanks for sharing your genius with us and more importantly, giving us the power to replicate this success on a grand scale.
Be certain to make the day great.
Always,
Akaahan Terungwa
Akaahan Terungwa recently posted…How To Make Money Online In Nigeria Legally, Honestly & Legitimately
Twitter: musatov_alex
says:
Great idea Kurt) You are a genius
Alex recently posted…Короткое или длинные содержания текстов? Что лучше?
Twitter: shoestring101
says:
Alex,
How do I NOT respond to your accusation that I’m a genius?!? Haha. No, not really but to say that this idea has 10X’ed my own businesses would actually be an understatement. It’s a heck of a principle.