Welcome to

“Selling the Complex, New & Invisible”Presented by Rob Laporte,

CEO of DISC413-584-6500 | www.2disc.com | rob@2disc.com

Overview (1 minute) Two Topics in this Class: Selling the Invisible

and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) My Background Your Background An Introductory Anecdote What DISC Sells – and What You Will Sell

Today! You Craft a Selling Strategy My Selling Strategies Abstracting the Lessons Concluding Remarks

My Background (4 Minutes)

Education, Ad Agency, Survey Research, Salesman

Grad School: marketing mistake, some achievements, smelled coffee, began DISC

Good success considering no venture capital: Various customers, good PR, helped people; old economy hard work.

I’m not a great salesman, and I hope to learn from you as much as you do from me.

Your Background (4 minutes)

Pop vocabulary quiz: server statistics, conversion rate, SEO, viral marketing

What have you learned about selling the invisible?

A note about learning vocabulary: Business Week, etc.

Introductory Anecdote (3 minutes)

Selling a 1947 Hoover Vacuum Cleaner

Selling an invisible statistical-linguistic grid woven into code and text

What DISC Sells (5 minutes)

I’ll describe, not sell DISC services we won’t

discuss today Anyone familiar with SEO? Anyone not used a top

search engine, like Yahoo or Google or AltaVista?

What DISC Sells (cont.)

LISTEN! DISC sells good positioning

in the major search engines. I will simplify the process for

the sake of brevity.

The SEO Process (10 minutes)

Learn the vocabulary of the customer’s business Analyze the web’s linguistic competition for that

vocabulary Prioritize the keywords and phrases for each page of

the site to be optimized Weave the key phrases into the text and html of the

text Examples: www.gbimarketing.com, www.hardigg.com, www.hannoush.com,

www.candletoppers.com

The SEO Process (cont.)

Managing Post-Purchase Dissonance Using Proof WebPosition Reports Server Logs Email and Sales Increases

Craft a Selling Strategy (5 Minutes)

Choose one of Three Scenarios Art Jacobson of

www.AnytimeMaineLobster.com Norman Hannoush of www.hannoush.com The committee at Hardigg Industries,

www.hardigg.com

Volunteers, Open Discussion (15 minutes)

We Won’t Role Play, Just Discuss Your Strategy and Sales Materials.

My Selling Strategies (5 Minutes)

First, listen to the prospect, getting him to reveal wants and needs

In initial conversation, I focus on ROI (Return On Investment) Then I focus on Proof: WebPosition Reports, Server Logs,

HAPPY CUSTOMERS, and the expert witness of professional organizations.

Throughout future conversations, I frequently return to ROI and Proof, while speaking of all features in terms of the prospect’s benefits and his or her customers’ benefits.

As always, good rapport, good salesmanship helps A note on the natural vs. the learned technique.

Write a One or Two Sentence Abstract of . . . (3 minutes)

What you learned today about selling the complex, new, and invisible

Volunteers, open discussion

Write a One Word Abstract of . . . (2 minutes)

What you learned today about selling the complex, new, and invisible

Volunteers, open discussion

Closing Remarks (7 minutes)

Increasingly, you will be asked to sell the complex, new and invisible. Can you think of examples?

This presentation will be posted on the web, with your abstracts.

Email your one or two sentence and your one word abstracts to rob@2disc.com (Rob Laporte) and CC to dorong@som.umass.edu (Professor Goldman)

Be sure to type “Selling the Invisible” in the subject line.

The value of general and humanities education in the digital world

If you can come to understand great literary, philosophical and scientific works, you will be much better prepared than a lot of your competition to see, master, and sell the often invisible productions of our brave new digital world.

Future Connections I will be available for one-on-one consultations

in mid May. Please email me (rob@2disc.com) for an appointment.

A sales opportunity for you: DISC awards a finder's fee of 7.5% for any successful referral. That's 7.5% of the fee agreed upon between DISC and the referred customer, payable DISC's final payment. In other words, if you refer business that does an average $10,000 with DISC, you get $750!

A Few Good Links www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu -- user surveys - excellent, non-

partisan statistics www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/Statisti

cs_and_Demographics -- more stats

www.iab.net -- the Internet Advertising Bureau; promotes the web, but good information.

www.wilsonweb.com -- about e-commerce, extensive lists of articles from various top sources.

www.webpromote.com

A Few Good Links

www.searchenginewatch.com - THE best page on search engines.

www.nua.ie/surveys/ -- EXCELLENT web marketing source, esp. for international issues.

Thank You for Attending“Selling the Complex, New & Invisible”

Presented by Rob Laporte,CEO of DISC

413-584-6500 | www.2disc.com | rob@2disc.com