The similarities between endurance athletic events like the
Triathlon and Prospecting are almost scary. I had no idea they
were so much a like when I decided that I should run Triathlons.
It just seemed that this old body needed some rejuvenation, and
triathlons aren’t as boring as just running forever, they add
the possibility of drowning or crashing your bike!

Anyway, the only way to train for endurance sports like
swimming, bicycling, and running is to set aside a specific time
5 days a week for training. In my case this is usually Long Slow
Distance (LSD) work. This is how I can build a training base for
endurance. I judge the level of my training by using a heart
rate monitor that tells me how hard I am working. There is a
range within which I should train for at least an hour a day.

My only other responsibility is to be sure that I am using the
form that is most efficient for each of the events, so that
practice really does make perfect. If you practice wrong, then
you develop the skill “perfectly wrong.” I don’t want to do that.

Then, all I need to do it DO IT. If I calculate the correct
heart rate zone, train on a daily basis, and practice the
correct form, then I should be ready to perform in each of the
Triathlons I enter.

The same basic factors apply to Prospecting. First of all
Prospecting is an endurance event. You benefit most by
Prospecting on a regular basis for a long time, long slow
Prospecting - LSP.

Secondly, you need to make sure you are doing it correctly, the
right form. We, of course, suggest our BLITZ CALL® System for
Prospecting, but this works for whatever Prospecting System you
use. Far too many sales professionals use a Prospecting method
that is admittedly poor simply because they don’t know any other
way. This tends to create Prospecting anxiety which means they
don’t like to prospect and usually avoid it.

Thirdly, you need to calculate how many Prospecting calls you
need to make to accomplish your goals.

The development of the system is probably pretty easy for most
people and may even be fun. The problems arise when you actually
have to Prospect on a regular basis.

One of the biggest obstacles for me in training is when I feel
tired or have had a hard day and don’t look forward to spending
two hours or so swimming, biking, or running. Or when the
weather is really hot, when the afternoon temperatures have been
in the mid 90’s with a dew point of 78! It becomes really easy
to rationalize why I don’t need to train that day.

Also, think of all the reasons I should stay in the office and
finish some work which is a good reason to skip today.

Nonsense. If I want to be able to walk away from the finish line
having done my best, I need to prepare to some degree every day.
You can’t develop endurance fast.

All this is exactly the same for Prospecting; you have to do it
on a regular basis, day in and day out, week after week in order
to accomplish you goals. You can’t sprint through the process;
you must build a strong base from which to work.

When you start you will see that LSP is really not that
difficult it just needs to be done on a regular basis. I will
also expect to see more sales people on the circuit since you
know that Training for Triathlons or Prospecting is the same.

Sell Well and Often

Bill Truax

Bill@BlitzCall.com

© Copyright 2006 WJ Truax

If you’re selling a product or service on the Internet, one of
the best ways to increase your sales is by offering a free trial
also known as a teaser, demo or limited version. By enabling
your potential customers to review your product and providing
them with an easy ordering process, you can increase your sales
immensely. Free trials are not exclusive to software programs.
There are many ways you can offer a free trial no matter what
product or service you’re offering. For example, if you’ve
written a book, consider offering it in an electronic version;
better known as an eBook. You can include your entire book
within the eBook and choose to lock out certain chapters. In
order for your potential customer to gain access to these
chapters they will be required to purchase the full version. You
can include an order form and instantly take orders, right
through your free trial Ebook. When you receive an order, you
simply send your customer a predefined user ID and password that
you set up when you create it. The key to using a free trial
version is to offer your product for download from your web site
and allow it to be freely distributed. Provide some valuable
free information, but save your most important information for
the unlocked version. Make your locked chapters sound very
intriguing and create curiosity. Tell your potential customers
what they will receive by purchasing the full version, provide a
complete list of all the benefits, and provide them with an easy
ordering process.

If you’re selling a service on the Internet, you can offer your
potential customers a free trial as well. For example, if you
offer a search engine submission service, you can provide your
customers with a limited free submission to the search engines.
To entice your customers to purchase your full service you can,
not only submit their site to your full list of search engines,
but you can create doorway pages, insure their pages are
optimized for the search engines and provide a resubmission
service every month for a year. In addition, provide your
clients with a free report of each submission process.

Prior to doing your customers last submission, contact them and
inform them that their submission contract will soon be
expiring. Tell them how they can renew their submission process
and offer another enticing freebie such as, “If you renew your
submission contract before (date) we will also submit your site
to over 1000 Free For All Sites.” This type of free trial will
not only increase your current sales but it will promote future
sales as well. In summary free trials build customers confidence
and desire for the fully paid up version. The possibilities are
endless. By offering your potential customers something of value
for free, providing instant gratification, and an easy ordering
process, you can dramatically increase your sales.

StateSide Pages, the combination listings and online gaming
service, is to begin recruiting agents to roll out the listings
across the country. Individuals and companies are currently
being sought to take the service to the businesses in their
region.

StateSide Pages offers visitors the traditional mix of online
games - card, puzzle, slot, word etc, but will combine these
with the comprehensive listings database, both via the prize
fund and through the use of geographic visibility and inclusion
within the game operations (such as clue hunts and themed
activities). By combining the two, the multi-million gaming
community will have a strong incentive to utilise StateSide
Pages’ listings.

Agents will receive a fee of $10 per sign up for new businesses
and professionals. They will collect an additional $5 to $10 for
every additional year that the sign-up remains with StateSide
Pages. There are no minimum terms such as how many sign-ups need
to be made, but there are incentives for individuals that
succeed in securing high numbers of businesses for the service.