Games of Chance

Many of us remember the first time we ever heard the phrase “Quid Pro Quo”. We wondered if it was something political no doubt and with some sort of negative connotation attached to it. The basic definition seems harmless…Something given or received for something else. The idea that you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours has been around for a long time and one could say that it got its start when the world’s oldest profession had its inception. I’ve been in the casino business for the last 20 years and we have been marketing to our customers for years with a strange approach that makes little sense to the non-gambler. You give me your money and I’ll give you a chance to win a jackpot. At this basic level, you can begin to see some parallels with the online business promotion opportunities that are prolific on the Internet today. Many people will look at the promised large sums of money as a gambler would dream about hitting a jackpot. As I’ve watched the Internet marketing business over the years I’ve noticed the correlation with my casino business at the core, but casinos have been doing this for a lot longer and online marketers and those in the business could stand to learn a few things about the casino business that may not be so obvious to the untrained eye.

How do you sell a product without a tangible item for someone to hold in their hands? It is simple to see when you have a book to sell…you give me $12.50 and I hand you a book. When you sell a chance at something it gets tricky. What I have found and train my employees over the years are a few basic concepts that work in a casino and I have found that they work well in the online business opportunity business as well. Keep the talk about “winning” (making a lot of money) to a minimum. If you promote and push this part of your business too much the conversation inevitably comes back to losing money as well. When you over-promote this you risk reminding your customer that losing is factored in also.

Gamblers, as well as prospects, are many times motivated by different things. In the casino we always find out what type of jackpot they are looking to win on their visit. Some would love to win $100 while others want a more substantial payout in the $5,000 to $50,000 range. As you might imagine, each of these gamblers require a different slot or table game to play to satisfy their goals. I always make sure that my gambler is playing the right game for what they are looking for. Your Online business should be no different. Make sure you ask each prospect what they would like to make each month and tailor your program to there needs.

Trust is a big part of what you have to offer in the casino business. People don’t mind taking a risk if you honestly admit that you have an advantage. For instance, the phrase, “Vegas was not build with winners,” is commonplace, yet customers continue to flock to this oasis of risk. We never shy away from the fact that we have an advantage over each and every player. As a online marketer you should be proud that you make money and allow yourself to explain how you make money from your prospects and this in turn will create a sense of trust in you as a person and business opportunity. If the fact that my casino makes money by taking a cut of each dollar wagered scares off my customer, then they are never going to buy into the idea that a casino is a good place to spend their money. The same holds true when marketing online. Never try to imply or hide the fact that you make money directly from your prospects. Be proud of what you do and how you make your money.

Gamblers in general don’t like to talk to others about how much money they have wagered.  If they have won something on their visit, the amount stated is always void of the amount of money they spent to win the money. To keep this illusion in tack a gambler doesn’t want other customers, spouses or even employees in on how much they have spent. This is why ATM’s and other cash advance machines are always placed in corners and slightly off the front of the cashiers cage…Anonymity.  Same holds true to your online business opportunity. Most people don’t want others to know how they are spending their money and they certainly don’t want others to know how much they are spending.  In the casino we make it a point not to know or talk about how much money they take out of an ATM or put into a slot machine or table games. (in actuality, we know these amounts to the penny) We make it easy to remain anonymous when getting or spending money and are only attentive when they win jackpots. Make sure you find ways to help your customers keep their business private from others and at the same time make sure you their recognize successes when achieved. The concept will help make each of your new customers more successful because it keeps them happier for a longer period of time and thus creates a longer time of interest in your business which increases the chances of ultimate profitability for your new customer.

Have fun at the Casino

Gambling in casinos and buying into an online business opportunity are different in many ways though. You can make money over the Internet in today’s business environment.  I have made money and I help people learn how to make money on the Internet  all the time with great success. I have never won money in a casino over time and I have never known a gambler to make money on a consistent bases, its all about entertainment in a casino.  The similarities that I represent in this post are just some of my observations that I’ve made when selling  over the web and observations while on the casino floor.

Contact me anytime with questions or if you have an idea that you think I might like to promote.

Want a Banana?

The biggest form of customer resistance is their privately held belief, “This guy (or gal) is trying to sell me something. Must be a scam.” This is especially true for skeptics like me, so I know a lot about the thought process underlying the resistance. In social psychology, we call this a boomerang effect—when the compliance strategies we use basically backfire and scare the customer off. It is essential to convey sincerity and an absence of deception in order to gain buy in, while making realistic claims that are perceived to be legitimate. One technique for overcoming resistance is called the “disrupt then reframe” method. In this tactic, you identify and speak to the hidden fear or resistance of the customer BEFORE they even voice it. In addition, you add some alternative ways of viewing the situation (the reframe), thus disrupting their resistance-laden belief structure. The goal is for the customer to begin telling themselves, “This is a bargain!” or “What a great opportunity!” One way to guide the customer to this strategy is by sweetening the deal just before they are ready to commit (the “that’s not all” technique). Another method is to use the scarcity principle (act now while supplies last), which helps the customer to see that this opportunity may go away if they delay, or that there is a scarce amount of time or product for them to seize quickly. Another method to gain buy in is the take away (I guess this opportunity just isn’t for you). This shows that you aren’t desperate, and conveys that you have other offers out there, thus making you more attractive to the target. What works better than playing hard to get?

Learn Basic HTML!

When I first started out marketing online there were tons of website builders that did not require any HTML programing knowledge and today they’re even more options to choose from. This type of website design is convenient and can more than take care of most of your website needs. However what I have been doing over the last couple of years is slowly learning the HTML and the newer XHTML programing language to supplement my classified ads and surprisingly many other places like blog post, forums submissions and company owned websites that I use. I’m not talking about getting to know HTML well enough to design websites here…for that job I still rely on my favorite website builder (bluevoda) which I use with VodaHost, I only need enough knowledge to find the different parts of the website inside the HTML code that makes up each page of my website and to make simple additions like placing the Google Analytics codes into my sites for my own site tracking and the Google Webmaster Center which helps Google and other search engines find my site and index it. With basic knowledge of HTML you can learn enough to make your new online ventures profitable.

I have taken and recommend the free HTML course offered by About.com. The 10 week course will give you the basic knowledge that you need and you will be surprised how much you will use your new online degree to improve your efforts. You can sign up at: About.com free HTML Course Trust me on this one… you will thank me later.