3 Ways to Keep Your Business from Dying | Affinity Agency

3 WAYS
DYING
TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS FROM
A F F I N I T Y A G E N C Y

3 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS FROM DYING
2
Affinity Agency was created in 2020 after we came upon the
realization that so many businesses were inadequately
equipped for the new era of marketing.
Our mission is to help businesses create a long-lasting
marketing strategy that drives objective results while keeping
them from being left behind by their competition.
We do this by tailoring our strategy to the individual company’s
objectives and working backwards.
We also do the work for you so you can focus on actually
running your business rather than working in your business.
ABOUT US

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INTRODUCTION
If there’s one thing 2020 has taught us, it’s that all things
change inevitably. COVID-19 struck hard and hit everyone
square in their jaws.
Yes, it was painful.
Yes, it was unexpected.
Yes, some of us did not get back up before the bell.
We’ve seen it all over the news and in our neighborhoods. The
words Bankruptcy and Unemployment have become some of
the most common words uttered this year. Quite frankly, it's
heartbreaking.
However, there’s a small secret that many people constantly
overlook. Insights into this secret could’ve saved so many
businesses and employees.
While it probably felt as though the entire world around you
was crumbling and the economy was up in flames, there were
some sole survivors of this traumatizing year. In fact, there
were quite a few businesses that performed quite well.
Companies like the infamous Amazon, Fitbody Boot Camp,
GrubHub, DoorDash, and Zoom, to name just a few, were able
to stay afloat during COVID-19.

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Many of these businesses thrived even during this pandemic in
which millions of people were losing their jobs.
So, what exactly gives?
How can these businesses still be doing so well when people
don’t have money to spend and can’t go outside. By now, I’m
sure you’ve heard of some major performers going bankrupt
like Chuck E. Cheese, J.Crew, JCPenney, Gold’s Gym, Pier 1
Imports, and Brooks Brothers.
The list is insane, right? Who would have guessed that those
companies could have been hit so hard in such a short amount
of time? But what if I told you that people have plenty of money
to spend? And what if I also told you that there was a common
variable between the companies that performed well and the
companies that are heading into the corporate graveyard?
Before I get to that, I want to point out a bitter truth that might
prove controversial. Do you mind if I share this with you?
According to various sources, at the time of me writing this
Ebook, Amazon plans on hiring almost 200,000 workers while
allegedly paying them double the federal minimum wage.
Meanwhile their stock value has been climbing immensely and
currently sits above $3000/share. I don’t want to get too deep
into any statistics and bore you with that kind of stuff. The point
I’m trying to make is that Amazon is doing quite well for itself.

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Okay, I’ll get to it. I’m sure you’re done reading about Amazon
and you’re ready to learn more about this secret. What allows
a company like amazon to thrive while other familiar and
likable companies like Chuck E. Cheese are failing. Two
words: Digital Marketing.
This is really what it comes down to. Many of the companies
that focused and continue to focus heavily on physical, face to
face interactions are being hit tremendously. Meanwhile, the
companies that had a lot of digital skin in the game or had
almost all of it’s skin in the digital landscape are booming.
I mean, we’ve seen this before, right? Once upon a time there
was a fun store called Toys “R” Us. They didn’t make a shift to
digital ecommerce when Amazon did. Yet, Amazon exists still
and they don’t. Taxis and cabs used to be a travelers staple. It
was one of the best ways to get around when you didn’t have
your car or didn’t want to drive. They’re being beat by
companies like Lyft and Uber. And I’m sorry to do this to you,
but who could forget the nostalgic Blockbuster that missed out
on an opportunity to be a forerunner in the streaming service.
They missed out, and essentially lost the baton to Netflix and
other streaming platforms like Hulu, Netflix, Disney+,
YouTube….you get the idea.
COVID-19 accelerated what was inevitable--the shift of
businesses from in-person to digital.

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Now, why am I mentioning all of this? My warning to you is that
if you have a business that isn’t ready to play the digital game,
so to speak, expect to be like Blockbuster or Toys “R” Us very
soon. You might be thinking to yourself, “Well, I already have a
website and a Facebook Business Page. I’m safe, right”?
Nope! Think again! Keep in mind, basically EVERY business
still around has a Facebook Business page and Website. This
is economics 101 all over again. If everyone has it, the
demand is low and therefore the product is less valuable. You
need to take your digital presence and marketing strategy up
15 notches and keep it at least that many levels above your
competitors.
This new era will require a different version of most
businesses. It will require a new and improved version of
businesses.
Okay, so now you know you need to level up your digital
marketing strategy. But what’s the next step? In this Ebook,
we’ll walk you through 3 tools that you can implement into your
business and digital marketing strategy today that will keep
you competitive. Please, after you read this book, refer back to
the sections up ahead. I think you’ll find them extremely
valuable.

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CHAPTER 1
Every business needs leads. Leads are the driving force of a
business or company. It is the fuel that keeps the jet flying high
and fast. Now, if you’re reading this book, my expectation is
that you’re either in a business, you’re an owner/manager of a
business, or you’re interested in starting a business. Believe it
or not, I’ve met people in all three of those categories who
were unfamiliar with the concept of a Lead Magnet, so allow
me to get into the weeds a bit.
A lead magnet is literally any item that can be given away to an
interested person or party in exchange for some form of
contact information, usually in the form of an email. When I say
a lead magnet can be any item, I mean it could be literally any
item as long as it has one core trait.
What separates a good lead magnet from a bad lead magnet
is it’s value.
What do I mean by that? Many businesses, brands,
companies, and so on that do have lead magnets have terrible
lead magnets. Most restaurants I’ve seen don’t even have a
lead magnet but the few that do will offer 10% off a potential
customer’s next purchase or something along those lines. How
unappealing! You expect someone to walk into a restaurant for
only 10% off of a purchase?

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Let me ask you a quick question. Have you ever been
compelled to go into a restaurant you didn’t already plan on
eating at once you found out it was offering 10% off?
No? Me neither.
How about this instead. Instead of 10% off, what if the
restaurant offered you a free meal? Would you be willing to
give up your email for that? For many people, absolutely! The
risk relative to the reward is high, which is part of what makes
an offer like this so valuable.
The lead magnet needs to be valuable in the eyes of the
potential customer or client. I’ve seen countless lead magnets
ranging from Quizzes and Keychains to housing reports or a
free audiobook. As I mentioned, the item itself isn’t very
important. It just needs to be valuable to the potential client or
customer. By the way, in order to come up with the best kind of
lead magnet, you’ll need to think like your customer and get
into their head.
Using the earlier free meal example. Let’s imagine you own a
restaurant that serves the juiciest steak in the city. You come
across a vegan and offer him or her a free meal at your
restaurant. How likely is it that the vegan will want a free meal
at a steakhouse? Exactly, there’s probably a better chance that
a vegetarian will take it.

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Let me ask you a quick question. Have you ever been
compelled to go into a restaurant you didn’t already plan on
eating at once you found out it was offering 10% off?
No? Me neither.
How about this instead. Instead of 10% off, what if the
restaurant offered you a free meal? Would you be willing to
give up your email for that? For many people, absolutely! The
risk relative to the reward is high, which is part of what makes
an offer like this so valuable.
The lead magnet needs to be valuable in the eyes of the
potential customer or client. I’ve seen countless lead magnets
ranging from Quizzes and Keychains to housing reports or a
free audiobook. As I mentioned, the item itself isn’t very
important. It just needs to be valuable to the potential client or
customer. By the way, in order to come up with the best kind of
lead magnet, you’ll need to think like your customer and get
into their head.
Using the earlier free meal example. Let’s imagine you own a
restaurant that serves the juiciest steak in the city. You come
across a vegan and offer him or her a free meal at your
restaurant. How likely is it that the vegan will want a free meal
at a steakhouse? Exactly, there’s probably a better chance that
a vegetarian will take it.

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A common issue when it comes to leads is that they are
undervalued. A lead is someone that shows interest. Marketing
at its core is creating attention and getting someone interested
in your product or service. Any lead you get can or will be a
potential customer at some point. It could be in the next 5
seconds. It could be in the next 5 weeks. It could be in the next
5 years. No matter when it is, you should be marketing to them
and trying to get their attention. Don’t be too short sighted.
Think about the long-term game.
Now, you might be wondering what you could possibly do to
attract a customer or client that wants to buy 5 years from now
and if it’s even worth it. Yes, it’s worth it! And we’ll dive into
what you should be doing to any and all leads you get in the
next chapter.
For now, it’s important to note that any and all contacts you get
should be filtered into a database that you can use to follow up
with them.
The concept of a lead itself is relatively simple but if you have
any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at:
contact@affinityagency.co

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CHAPTER 2
Arguably, one of the most powerful tools in a business’s
toolbox is it’s database. Your database will store every single
lead you get and organize them so you can contact those
leads as you please.
Your database, also often referred to as a CRM (Customer-
Relationship Management System), will have different features
and functions based on which software you choose. There are
countless CRMs out there. We recommend exploring different
options and choosing one based on the size of your business,
what you hope to accomplish, and how your workflow tends to
run.
Keep in mind that some CRMs are free while others typically
require a subscription service. One note to keep in mind before
we go any further: be diligent when it comes to maintaining a
backup of your contacts and leads. Once upon a time, Lenny,
one of the co-founders, was a Real Estate Advisor. He had a
useful CRM that he believed to be free. Long story short--it
wasn’t. One day, as he went to check his CRM to plan out a
marketing campaign, he noticed that he couldn’t log in. He lost
almost every contact in that CRM because he neglected to
backup his contacts and also due to ignorance on his part
when it came to the software’s subscription.

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Increase the Number of Customers
Increase the Order Size
Increase the Number of Repeat Purchases
After you’ve chosen your CRM, one thing that’s crucial is
creating an email marketing campaign in order to follow up
with contacts. Much like with the CRM, the options are
endless. We encourage you to scout around and see what
works best for your business.
In our opinion, the strategy behind the Email Marketing
Campaign matters more than the software itself. Many
businesses underestimate both email marketing and the value
of a contact list. However, businesses that utilize email
marketing effectively can see great returns over time and long-
term increases in their yearly revenue.
Let me break it down. In order for your business to make
money and grow each year, there are three things your
business needs to do:
1.
2.
3.
Most businesses that don’t utilize a list make a major mistake
in all three of these categories simultaneously.
The number of customers potentially won’t increase
dramatically if you’re focusing on organic traffic or local
campaigns. In situations like this, you’re likely to go flat or
possibly have fewer than average customers come in since
you’re relying on someone that simply enjoys your product or
service so much over the competition.

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You’re also banking on them not getting distracted, never
moving (if your business is dependent upon its location), and
never changing their preference. That’s a gamble you
shouldn’t be willing to make.
When it comes to order size, you might have someone
purchase more over time. Also, you can try to increase the
price but you walk a fine line of getting angry customers,
especially if they’ve been loyal for years.
Email marketing is the remedy for all of these ailments! Trying
to increase customers? Email leads that didn’t buy from you
and give them new offers or simply remind them to come into
your store, gym, restaurant, etc.
Want to increase the order size? You don’t necessarily need to
increase current prices but you can offer a brand new item
that’s slightly (or massively) more expensive than your other
products. Of course, once this new product or service has
been created, you can market it to build awareness.
Want more repeat purchases? Create more campaigns that
keep previous customers coming back. Loyalty programs,
coupons, or private offers are all great options for this.
The scope of email marketing as a whole is massive. It goes
beyond simply emailing your list and asking them to come into
your business or buy from you.

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Catches a reader’s eyes as they scroll down their inbox.
Causes them to actually want to open the email.
Actually be willing to buy from you due to the email’s ad,
copy, etc.
Consider that you’re competing with hundreds if not thousands
of emails daily. You need to be able to write the email in a way
that fulfills the following:
1.
2.
3.
When it comes down to it, each campaign you run (and you’ll
likely have different campaigns for different leads, repeat
customers, etc.) will require its own strategy as you’ll need to
follow up in a certain manner that leads to more revenue. If
you’re interested in a free strategy session in which we take a
look at your current marketing plan and re-tool it, schedule a
short 1-hour call with us using this link.

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CHAPTER 3
So we’ve covered how to get leads and we’ve covered where
to store your leads. Now, here’s the final piece of the puzzle:
How to Get the leads to give you money.
At the end of the day, that’s what your business is around for,
right? Besides creating an impact and delivering value, most
businesses need to make money and produce revenue to stay
alive. The most simple solution to doing this is to follow up.
Now, there are tons of ways to follow up with your contact list.
You can use Facebook Messenger, SMS marketing, email
marketing (as we recommended above), and phone calls. Hell,
if you want, you can even drive to someone's house and follow
up with them in person (although we don’t necessarily
recommend it). The point being made is that the method of
following up should ultimately align with your strategy and what
your business hopes to accomplish.
Believe it or not, so many businesses do not follow up, which
causes them to leave so much money on the table. According
to various sources, about 80% of sales require 5 follow up
contacts. Many businesses only follow up once. You might
think to yourself, I don’t want to harass someone or What if
they don’t want what I’m offering? The overall solution: Most of
your follow ups will likely go unnoticed due to your lead being
bombarded by other content. They’ll notice it when they’re
looking for it and once they’re looking for it, you want to be
there for them. Trust me, they’ll appreciate it.

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Also, if they’re a true lead and have expressed initial interest,
it’s likely that they’ll want your product or service now or in the
future. If not, you should include in your campaigns an opt-out
feature to allow people to unsubscribe.

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CONCLUSION
Hopefully, by this point you’re able to realize the importance of
taking your digital marketing strategy to the next level if you
already have one and the absolute necessity of developing a
strategy if you don’t already have one. The landscape of digital
marketing is vast and there’s no one size fits all solution.
However, we hope that these three steps provided above will
give you a good foundation or trigger some new ideas.
To recap everything that’s been provided in this Ebook, there
are three basic things your business should have right now for
you to stand a chance against your competitors.
You need a lead magnet to get interested prospects into the
doors.
You need a database to store the information of your
interested leads.
Finally, you need a system in place to ask for the sale of those
leads over time so you’ll be present when they’re ready to
purchase.

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BONUS
I understand that for some of you reading this, the concepts I
covered are probably foreign or difficult to grasp. We’ve found
that one of the best ways to illustrate a concept isn’t to present
people with information, facts, or figures.
Instead it’s best to tell a story.
In the following chapter that we decided to offer last minute as
a bonus, we’ll walk you through a scenario that uses all three
of the previously mentioned concepts to hopefully give you a
better understanding of how they all work.
In this story, we’ll use Affinity Agency co-founder Lenny’s
father. Lenny’s father is a diehard musician to the extent that
it’s easier to ask what instrument he doesn’t play rather than
ask what he does play. However, one instrument always
shines through as a favorite in his father’s eyes.
Lenny’s father loves bass guitars.
One day, while scrolling Facebook, an ad from a local guitar
store catches his eye. The ad reads, Free Strings with the
Purchase of a Bag of Picks (any type). In order to use this
offer, input your email and show the coupon to the cashier
upon checkout. Lenny’s father, who realized he could use
some new picks and wouldn’t mind some new strings, enters
his email address, downloads the coupon, and takes a trip
over to the local guitar store in his free time.

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That was an example of a simple lead magnet and it was a
success!
Understand that the guitar store isn’t generating a ton of
revenue and keeping the lights on solely due to selling picks
and guitar strings. The store’s overall objective is to get people
in the store with the offer of picks and strings (a necessity for
most guitarists), have them try out the instruments, and
hopefully sell them the instruments if they’re satisfied with the
sound and quality.
After Lenny’s father gets to the store and purchases some new
strings and picks, he sees a bright, cherry red fretless bass. He
plays it and the sound, weight, and feel of the instrument is
perfect. Lenny’s father is tempted but decides against
purchasing it once he sees the $500 price tag. It’s not that he
doesn’t want the bass guitar. It’s just that he doesn’t want or
need it right now.
Lenny’s father is very practical with money and has a budget
set aside for non-essential purchases like this. For the next few
weeks Lenny’s father continues to think about that bass guitar.
He fantasizes about playing it to some songs he’s been
learning. However, his discipline is unshakeable. Eventually,
after a month, Lenny’s father forgets about the guitar. He
scrolls through his emails and occasionally sees emails from
the music store but doesn’t click on any of them. They just
don’t appeal to him and barely get his attention. It’s fine
though, because the guitar store has an email campaign that’s
constantly running and automated.

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2 months go by and, after a practice session in his music
studio, Lenny’s father checks his email to see the following
subject line: “You Play a Hard Game but Fine, You Win”.
Curious, and slightly amused, Lenny’s father opens the email
to see that he’s been given an exclusive discount for 40% off
any item in the store. The email also explains that the offer
ends in 2 days. Lenny’s father thinks back to that bass guitar
that he played a while back. Suddenly, he remembered the
feel and sound of the guitar and realized that he should
purchase the guitar soon since he’s getting 40% off, has spare
money to spend, and has a time limit.
It took about 2+ months but the email campaign worked and
Lenny’s father now has a new bass guitar. It’s a win-win for
everyone. On top of that, Lenny’s father loved the quality of the
guitar and the service of the store so much, he frequently
comes to buy all of his music-related products from this store.
This local music shop successfully found a long-term customer
that started from the 3-step process we went over in this
Ebook.
See how this works out and why these techniques are so
powerful?
We, at Affinity Agency, understand that while the concepts
presented here in this Ebook might seem simple, the execution
is truly what’s important overall. An idea without proper
execution is as useful as no idea at all.

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With that being said, we invite you to contact us using the link
below for a free strategy session where we walk you through
how you can implement the following techniques into your
business. To schedule an appointment, feel free to use this link
below to find a time that’s most convenient for you.
If you can’t find a time that works from the presented options or
if you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to
contact either Lenny Richardson or Sam Verma, the Co-
Founders of Affinity Agency using their emails below. Also, for
general digital marketing tips, feel free to follow Affinity
Agency’s Instagram and Facebook page below or check out
Affinity Agency’s blog where new strategies and tips are
frequently being posted.
Contact Lenny: len@affinityagency.co
Contact Sam: sam@affinityagency.co
Website: www.affinityagency.co
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AffinityAgencyCo/
Instagram Page: instagram.com/affinityagencyco

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