By Glenn Mosser
The facts show that Network marketing has a 90% rate of failure. Newbie's do not realize that coming into this business should not be taken lightly. There has to be a serious intention and desire to make Network marketing a success.
Do you know of many every day businesses that started out selling to friends and family that were successful? The old system of approaching your family, friends as your "warm market" is out. You and others know that it did not work before and it will not work in the future! Would you want to have products, service or an opportunity pushed on upon you? They did not like it either. The new approach and reality is you need to start selling to people who actually want to purchase your product, service or opportunity. What is the public demanding, what are the demographics? Have your researched your prospective business? In addition, is it a product that you will promote?
By using suitable, authentic, established marketing values, you can reach targeted clients who are actually interested in your opportunity. The technology of today, the Internet is a valuable tool in generating leads. Using the internet, you can create systems that can be duplicated.
Getting traffic to your homepage or site is your main objective. There are blogs, forums that can help get your circulating. You want to sell to people who are like of mind, who have already expressed in interest in your opportunity. Make friends, be honest and have an honest product, service or opportunity. Do not make a failure of all of your efforts trying to sell to people who are simply not interested.
The growth of your network marketing business can grow only with solid marketing values and make your dreams come true. Do not become one of the statistics in the 90% failure.
Glenn Mosser is an expert Online Marketer, known as "The Meetings Millionaire". He and his team have produced in the excess of $10,000,000 in revenue in the home-business industry combined. Glenn is a very sought after speaker and trainer to some of the biggest earners in the Home Business and Online Industry. To see what Glenn is up to visit http://www.ActualSuccess.biz
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Use Your Graphics to Convince Your Readers to Buy
By Kaye Marks
Catalog printing is like brochure printing as it also has more pages to write your products' descriptions in one marketing tool. Cheap catalog printing for one not only allows you to include multiple items in the collateral but helps you work within your budget as well.
This only proves that not all of the cheap catalog printing is well, cheap. With the multiple pages that you have in your catalog printing, even the not-so salable items get a chance to be promoted. Grouping them with the more popular products might provide them opportunities for your target clients to notice them.
More than your design and content, catalog printing is well known for the graphics and photos that visually represent what you have to offer. Your photos in fact, play a big role in the whole marketing scheme of your marketing campaign. This is the reason why consumers are attracted to full color catalogs - because of the pictures and graphics that accompany the products and services.
So how do you make your graphics work for your marketing campaign? Try these suggestions:
Make it simple - No matter that your design has been created by the most popular specialist in the world of graphic designing, a simple design always gets more positive response than the complex ones.
As the basic KISS principle states, keeping it simple and sweet is the best way to ensure that your target clients understand your message. If your graphics and photos do not serve any purpose in your cheap catalog printing, then do not force it. I'd rather see a custom catalog that has fewer photos than one which is so full of graphics that I don't even understand which is which from the list.
Furthermore, do not complicate things just so you would come off as a business that is informed and skilled. The more complex your illustrations, the more confused your readers would be that they get distracted from the real story of your collateral.
Make it informative and relevant - Not only should your marketing collaterals be visually appealing, but they should contain enough relevant information to make it easier for your target clients to decide on your favor.
Do not try to include so many graphics that you forget to provide your readers with the proper and up-to-date description of your products and services. What you have as your content is half as important as your photos to convince your readers of ordering from your print catalogs.
Make it consistent - If your graphics do not emphasize your overall look, and then drop them. Generally, this particular principle should not only apply to your photos but to all elements as well. Everything you include in your collaterals should always have one purpose - to complement your overall appearance so your message is highlighted.
The bottom line to your catalog printing is to have an effective design with all your elements in place. You would not want your target clients to be confused in the middle of reading your catalog, would you? A well thought of and planned catalog will always have clients every time.
Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of the developments in catalog printing and cheap catalog printing industry.
Catalog printing is like brochure printing as it also has more pages to write your products' descriptions in one marketing tool. Cheap catalog printing for one not only allows you to include multiple items in the collateral but helps you work within your budget as well.
This only proves that not all of the cheap catalog printing is well, cheap. With the multiple pages that you have in your catalog printing, even the not-so salable items get a chance to be promoted. Grouping them with the more popular products might provide them opportunities for your target clients to notice them.
More than your design and content, catalog printing is well known for the graphics and photos that visually represent what you have to offer. Your photos in fact, play a big role in the whole marketing scheme of your marketing campaign. This is the reason why consumers are attracted to full color catalogs - because of the pictures and graphics that accompany the products and services.
So how do you make your graphics work for your marketing campaign? Try these suggestions:
Make it simple - No matter that your design has been created by the most popular specialist in the world of graphic designing, a simple design always gets more positive response than the complex ones.
As the basic KISS principle states, keeping it simple and sweet is the best way to ensure that your target clients understand your message. If your graphics and photos do not serve any purpose in your cheap catalog printing, then do not force it. I'd rather see a custom catalog that has fewer photos than one which is so full of graphics that I don't even understand which is which from the list.
Furthermore, do not complicate things just so you would come off as a business that is informed and skilled. The more complex your illustrations, the more confused your readers would be that they get distracted from the real story of your collateral.
Make it informative and relevant - Not only should your marketing collaterals be visually appealing, but they should contain enough relevant information to make it easier for your target clients to decide on your favor.
Do not try to include so many graphics that you forget to provide your readers with the proper and up-to-date description of your products and services. What you have as your content is half as important as your photos to convince your readers of ordering from your print catalogs.
Make it consistent - If your graphics do not emphasize your overall look, and then drop them. Generally, this particular principle should not only apply to your photos but to all elements as well. Everything you include in your collaterals should always have one purpose - to complement your overall appearance so your message is highlighted.
The bottom line to your catalog printing is to have an effective design with all your elements in place. You would not want your target clients to be confused in the middle of reading your catalog, would you? A well thought of and planned catalog will always have clients every time.
Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of the developments in catalog printing and cheap catalog printing industry.
Social Networking Landing Pages - How to Turn Your Social Networking Friends Into Customers
By Michele Pariza Wacek
Isn't social networking fun? You get to meet all these people and connect with them and spend hours looking at their profiles and videos and photos and...
Okay, so clearly social networking can take an awful lot of time. The question is, is it worth it? Will spending all that time doing social networking lead to an increase in sales?
And the answer is, yes it can. But you need to be strategic about it -- just like you need to be strategic with all your marketing. And one way you can do that is to have a social networking landing page.
So what the heck is a social networking landing page? Well, it's a special page on your web site or blog designed specifically for your social networking folks. This special page continues the conversation you started on other social networking sites. (This is very important, you should always design landing pages as continuing the conversation started elsewhere, whether it's your prospects clicking on a Google ad or followers intrigued by something you tweeted about on Twitter.)
You see, many people send their social networking friends to the home page of their web site or their blog. And while that's not a terrible thing to do, you could definitely do better. You see, the home page of your web site or the first page of your blog is more general. It has to be. You don't know how people are finding your site. They could be on it because they just heard you on a teleclass or read an article by you or someone referred you. You don't know so you have to keep it pretty generic about the problems you solve and the solutions you provide (and of course, push them to give you their email address).
So by creating a landing page specifically for your social network buddies that continues the conversation already started in the social networking scene, you'll be that much closer to transforming them into eventual customers.
Okay, so what do you put on this social networking landing page? Do you try and sell them there?
In a word -- NO! Remember, social networking is all about building relationships and making connections. And, through those relationships people will naturally want to support you and become your customer. The last thing you want to do is send your social networking buds to a page and try to sell them.
(Now, that doesn't mean your page can't include a couple of links to some products so they can read more and buy, but no hard core selling.)
Instead, share more about yourself, your family, your interests and your business. Then invite them to give you their email address in exchange for a free gift from you.
By getting on your email list, you are now in a position to deepen the relationship. Along with getting your regular newsletter (you HAVE one, don't you?) which contains great information and content, you can also invite them to your free teleclasses, which also contain fantastic content but also includes an invitation for them to become a customer, or you send emails to them also inviting them to become a customer.
See how this works?
So take a few moments to put together a social networking landing page and see how it can start transforming your social networking activities.
Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting, marketing communications and creativity agency. She helps people become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site http://www.michelepw.com Copyright 2009 Michele Pariza Wacek.
Isn't social networking fun? You get to meet all these people and connect with them and spend hours looking at their profiles and videos and photos and...
Okay, so clearly social networking can take an awful lot of time. The question is, is it worth it? Will spending all that time doing social networking lead to an increase in sales?
And the answer is, yes it can. But you need to be strategic about it -- just like you need to be strategic with all your marketing. And one way you can do that is to have a social networking landing page.
So what the heck is a social networking landing page? Well, it's a special page on your web site or blog designed specifically for your social networking folks. This special page continues the conversation you started on other social networking sites. (This is very important, you should always design landing pages as continuing the conversation started elsewhere, whether it's your prospects clicking on a Google ad or followers intrigued by something you tweeted about on Twitter.)
You see, many people send their social networking friends to the home page of their web site or their blog. And while that's not a terrible thing to do, you could definitely do better. You see, the home page of your web site or the first page of your blog is more general. It has to be. You don't know how people are finding your site. They could be on it because they just heard you on a teleclass or read an article by you or someone referred you. You don't know so you have to keep it pretty generic about the problems you solve and the solutions you provide (and of course, push them to give you their email address).
So by creating a landing page specifically for your social network buddies that continues the conversation already started in the social networking scene, you'll be that much closer to transforming them into eventual customers.
Okay, so what do you put on this social networking landing page? Do you try and sell them there?
In a word -- NO! Remember, social networking is all about building relationships and making connections. And, through those relationships people will naturally want to support you and become your customer. The last thing you want to do is send your social networking buds to a page and try to sell them.
(Now, that doesn't mean your page can't include a couple of links to some products so they can read more and buy, but no hard core selling.)
Instead, share more about yourself, your family, your interests and your business. Then invite them to give you their email address in exchange for a free gift from you.
By getting on your email list, you are now in a position to deepen the relationship. Along with getting your regular newsletter (you HAVE one, don't you?) which contains great information and content, you can also invite them to your free teleclasses, which also contain fantastic content but also includes an invitation for them to become a customer, or you send emails to them also inviting them to become a customer.
See how this works?
So take a few moments to put together a social networking landing page and see how it can start transforming your social networking activities.
Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting, marketing communications and creativity agency. She helps people become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site http://www.michelepw.com Copyright 2009 Michele Pariza Wacek.
Build a Successful Marketing Plan - 15 Key Business Success Factors
By Kris Bovay
Every marketing plan needs to include an industry analysis. Why? Because it is of critical importance to understand the industry you operate in, and to identify and track your performance to key business success factors (KSFs) for your organization.
Understanding your industry and identifying your KSFs will help in building a successful marketing plan; one that is based on measurable progress and results. A key success factor is an element of a whole that affects your business' ability to do well in your market.
Most businesses focus on between three and five of the most important (to their business) success factors. From time to time, or year to year, these key success factors may change, as the industry or the market changes.
15 Examples of Key Business Success Factors (and this is not a comprehensive list) are:
For example, if retaining your existing customers is a key success factor, your business objective must be to grow sales with your existing customers. How do you do that? First, do a customer satisfaction survey to assess how satisfied your existing customers are (or aren't). Then determine what needs to be changed and what you need to focus on. Make sure that you understand how your customers chose between competitors: is it price, service, quality, knowledge, reliability, relationships, or all of these factors? What product or service attributes are most important to your customers? What is the unique difference between your product or service and your competition's product or service (from your customer's perspective)?
Once you have identified your key success factors; built measurement devices to track them; assessed and compared your competitors' KSFs - and the industry's; built your strategies and objectives into your marketing and business plans(phew!); you need to act! Build your business on these key success factors.
Strategy and analysis is a key part of any marketing plan. Check out a sample swot analysis to see how to do your own swot analysis for your business. Kris Bovay is the owner of Voice Marketing Inc, a business and marketing services company. Kris has 25 years of experience in leading large, medium and small businesses. For more pricing strategies and other small business resources and services go to http://www.more-for-small-business.com/Copyright 2008 - 2009 Voice Marketing Inc.
Every marketing plan needs to include an industry analysis. Why? Because it is of critical importance to understand the industry you operate in, and to identify and track your performance to key business success factors (KSFs) for your organization.
Understanding your industry and identifying your KSFs will help in building a successful marketing plan; one that is based on measurable progress and results. A key success factor is an element of a whole that affects your business' ability to do well in your market.
Most businesses focus on between three and five of the most important (to their business) success factors. From time to time, or year to year, these key success factors may change, as the industry or the market changes.
15 Examples of Key Business Success Factors (and this is not a comprehensive list) are:
- Number of new customers per year;
- Number of lost customers per year OR the number of customers retained (it is important to understand and measure the potential customer lifetime value for each customer on a regular basis);
- Hire and retain excellent employees (measured by employee turn-over, job vacancies, customer satisfaction);
- Successful new product introductions (measured by sales and costs);
- Successful promotional programs (measured by sales and costs);
- Good/healthy financial indicators: for example, working capital, acceptable ratios (in particular debt to equity ratios), profit margins, cash flow, receivables and more;
- If in the manufacturing industry, high operating capacity utilization;
- Strong supplier network;
- Strong distribution network or channel;
- Successful product positioning;
- Low cost structure;
- Niche product/service - track the number of competitors entering and/or leaving the niche. Is the cost of entry into the market high or low?
- Market leader or follower or challenger, and is your relative market position and why? Are you able to support that position if under 'attack'?
- Product differentiation: Do you have technology or service advantages that others can't easily copy? How unique and differentiated is your product or service?
- Time to market: is your product or service able to be delivered quickly and easily; from the first point of contact to the time shipped and subsequently invoiced?
For example, if retaining your existing customers is a key success factor, your business objective must be to grow sales with your existing customers. How do you do that? First, do a customer satisfaction survey to assess how satisfied your existing customers are (or aren't). Then determine what needs to be changed and what you need to focus on. Make sure that you understand how your customers chose between competitors: is it price, service, quality, knowledge, reliability, relationships, or all of these factors? What product or service attributes are most important to your customers? What is the unique difference between your product or service and your competition's product or service (from your customer's perspective)?
Once you have identified your key success factors; built measurement devices to track them; assessed and compared your competitors' KSFs - and the industry's; built your strategies and objectives into your marketing and business plans(phew!); you need to act! Build your business on these key success factors.
Strategy and analysis is a key part of any marketing plan. Check out a sample swot analysis to see how to do your own swot analysis for your business. Kris Bovay is the owner of Voice Marketing Inc, a business and marketing services company. Kris has 25 years of experience in leading large, medium and small businesses. For more pricing strategies and other small business resources and services go to http://www.more-for-small-business.com/Copyright 2008 - 2009 Voice Marketing Inc.
Three Critical Strategies For Every Web Marketing Campaign
By Corte Swearingen
Every business owner with a website has some particular goal for visitors. It can be as simple as signing up for a newsletter or as complicated as completing a large purchase.
Whatever the conversion goal is for your website, there are three basic strategies you should follow.
Strategy #1: Find Out What Your Visitors Want
As a business owner, it can be easy to convince yourself you know what your customer wants. But that assumption can prove false many times over.
The only way to really find out your customers wants and needs is to simply ask them. If you already have an electronic newsletter, then send out a link to an external survey in your next issue. Ask questions that will help uncover the need for your product or service idea, and be sure to offer an incentive for your customers and prospects to complete the survey.
If you don't have the ability to create online surveys within your website, than try a 3rd party service like Survey Monkey.
Another great way to uncover potential demand for a product or service is to see how many people are searching for that particular topic. This involves investing in a good keyword research tool. Yes, there are free keyword tools out there, but if you own a business and are serious about utilizing Internet marketing, than you really must subscribe to a good keyword research tool. I recommend wither Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery or Wordze.
Researching keywords will allow you to identify high demand keywords with low competition, giving you the ability to rank high for these keywords in the major search engines. Without knowing the best keywords to target, you will have to rely on luck to carry the day. And you may have already heard, luck has a peculiar habit of favoring those who don't depend on it!
Strategy #2: Create a Compelling Landing Page
Your product can be a hard good, a service or a downloadable report. Whatever it is, you need to find a way to convey the benefits of this item in a direct and simple way. I recommend you create a focused landing page for each of your products or services.
An effective landing page:
- Concentrates on a single compelling message
- Has a clear call-to-action
- Captures contact information
- Avoids distractions
- Contains bonus offers
- Contains testimonials
Today, it is quite common to see landing pages existing by themselves with no real content-based website wrapped around them. This strategy forces you to rely heavily on pay-per-click to drive traffic to the landing page. I recommend you leverage your own free organic traffic and only use pay-per-click as a supplement, if at all
Strategy #3: Test Your Landing Page
How do you determine the best price for your product? How do you decide the best photos and images to use in order to increase conversion rates? What's the best headline to grab your visitor's attention?
The answer is - I have no idea. But there's one way to find out - test, test and test again!
The easiest way to test multiple parameters within your landing page is to use the Google Website Optimizer. This free service allows you to perform A/B split testing. An A/B split test allows you to test one page parameter against another in order to determine which yields a higher conversion rate.
For example, suppose you're unsure about how to price your product. One way to zero in on a price that yields the greatest profits is to test. To test three different pricing levels, you would simply upload three versions of your landing page. Each page would contain a price you wish to test. The Google Website Optimizer would then randomly serve up one of the three landing pages to each unique visitor on your site. These pages would be served evenly and conversion measurements calculated for each one. At the end of the testing session, you would get a summary of conversion results to determine which pricing structure brought in the highest profits.
The Google Website Optimizer is free and one of the most powerful tools you can have in your marketing arsenal. Use it to test headlines, pictures, captions, bonus offers and anything else that affects conversions.
Taken together, these three tips will help maximize your website landing page conversion rates.
Corte Swearingen is the creator of the Integral Marketing System and CEO of SmallBiz Marketing Tips. For additional information on landing page strategies, visit Website Marketing Campaign Tips.
Every business owner with a website has some particular goal for visitors. It can be as simple as signing up for a newsletter or as complicated as completing a large purchase.
Whatever the conversion goal is for your website, there are three basic strategies you should follow.
Strategy #1: Find Out What Your Visitors Want
As a business owner, it can be easy to convince yourself you know what your customer wants. But that assumption can prove false many times over.
The only way to really find out your customers wants and needs is to simply ask them. If you already have an electronic newsletter, then send out a link to an external survey in your next issue. Ask questions that will help uncover the need for your product or service idea, and be sure to offer an incentive for your customers and prospects to complete the survey.
If you don't have the ability to create online surveys within your website, than try a 3rd party service like Survey Monkey.
Another great way to uncover potential demand for a product or service is to see how many people are searching for that particular topic. This involves investing in a good keyword research tool. Yes, there are free keyword tools out there, but if you own a business and are serious about utilizing Internet marketing, than you really must subscribe to a good keyword research tool. I recommend wither Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery or Wordze.
Researching keywords will allow you to identify high demand keywords with low competition, giving you the ability to rank high for these keywords in the major search engines. Without knowing the best keywords to target, you will have to rely on luck to carry the day. And you may have already heard, luck has a peculiar habit of favoring those who don't depend on it!
Strategy #2: Create a Compelling Landing Page
Your product can be a hard good, a service or a downloadable report. Whatever it is, you need to find a way to convey the benefits of this item in a direct and simple way. I recommend you create a focused landing page for each of your products or services.
An effective landing page:
- Concentrates on a single compelling message
- Has a clear call-to-action
- Captures contact information
- Avoids distractions
- Contains bonus offers
- Contains testimonials
Today, it is quite common to see landing pages existing by themselves with no real content-based website wrapped around them. This strategy forces you to rely heavily on pay-per-click to drive traffic to the landing page. I recommend you leverage your own free organic traffic and only use pay-per-click as a supplement, if at all
Strategy #3: Test Your Landing Page
How do you determine the best price for your product? How do you decide the best photos and images to use in order to increase conversion rates? What's the best headline to grab your visitor's attention?
The answer is - I have no idea. But there's one way to find out - test, test and test again!
The easiest way to test multiple parameters within your landing page is to use the Google Website Optimizer. This free service allows you to perform A/B split testing. An A/B split test allows you to test one page parameter against another in order to determine which yields a higher conversion rate.
For example, suppose you're unsure about how to price your product. One way to zero in on a price that yields the greatest profits is to test. To test three different pricing levels, you would simply upload three versions of your landing page. Each page would contain a price you wish to test. The Google Website Optimizer would then randomly serve up one of the three landing pages to each unique visitor on your site. These pages would be served evenly and conversion measurements calculated for each one. At the end of the testing session, you would get a summary of conversion results to determine which pricing structure brought in the highest profits.
The Google Website Optimizer is free and one of the most powerful tools you can have in your marketing arsenal. Use it to test headlines, pictures, captions, bonus offers and anything else that affects conversions.
Taken together, these three tips will help maximize your website landing page conversion rates.
Corte Swearingen is the creator of the Integral Marketing System and CEO of SmallBiz Marketing Tips. For additional information on landing page strategies, visit Website Marketing Campaign Tips.
Another Side of Marketing
By John Parks
Many people feel hard times during wars, economic distress or plain losses that create feelings of inadequacy and depression. Many companies are extending their hands towards providing a small amount of assistance during these times in a form of advertising that acknowledges the fact that they are in periods of suffering or distress. Many examples of this can be found around various cities that have begun installing advertising benches with warmed seating, or providing simple luxuries that most people could not afford during such periods of hardship. This in turn offers many people comfort, and in return they offer loyalty and will continue to use products or services associated with the companies that helped them get through adversity.
Aspects of Sympvertising
The main purpose of this type of advertising is to create a publicity awareness of what you are doing to help better people in times of hardship. Offering amenities that are usually reserved for those with a higher class of living to those who cannot afford, or were once able to afford such luxuries encourages others to increase in sympathetic gestures towards those less fortunate. This creates a good view on such companies providing these services which will channel more consumers towards them through their good actions. Whether the good intentions were genuine or not, we will not know, but it sure does help as a way of advertising.
Sympvertising is an evolutionary concept that provides services and products in a similar fashion to promotional giveaway items. You offer these services for free, and in turn the sympathy factor allows people who justify those actions towards good tidings will assume that the company has a reputation for great customer service and cares about their consumers. While this may be true, some companies will take advantage of the good nature and trusting willingness that others will gladly give for realizing that the company is good in nature and intentions as well.
Another aspect of sympathy advertising is through commercialization of the fact that people could feel safe in your hands. If they can believe that there is a company out there that is willing to care for you, then they eat up the bait and are hooked through sympathy gestures. Many people will not feel like they are receiving assistance, rather they feel like they can count on a company to keep up their end of the trust they are perceived to have.
True Sympathy
Even though many companies take advantage of their consumers, it is possible for there to be genuine charity and other forms of care giving to be provided. This type of sympathy creates awareness about a certain cause that needs to be addressed to genuinely create change in a community towards bettering the people. This type of assistance creates publicity in a positive manner that will eventually help increase the popularity of the certain companies involved. They will do better to offer their assistance in various matters without calling attention to themselves, letting others promote the business through news and interviews will often encourage more people to use products or services by a certain company, as well as creating awareness about the struggles of other people in these situations.
For more information on sympathy advertising, visit http://sympvertiser.com and http://sympathyadvertising.com
Many people feel hard times during wars, economic distress or plain losses that create feelings of inadequacy and depression. Many companies are extending their hands towards providing a small amount of assistance during these times in a form of advertising that acknowledges the fact that they are in periods of suffering or distress. Many examples of this can be found around various cities that have begun installing advertising benches with warmed seating, or providing simple luxuries that most people could not afford during such periods of hardship. This in turn offers many people comfort, and in return they offer loyalty and will continue to use products or services associated with the companies that helped them get through adversity.
Aspects of Sympvertising
The main purpose of this type of advertising is to create a publicity awareness of what you are doing to help better people in times of hardship. Offering amenities that are usually reserved for those with a higher class of living to those who cannot afford, or were once able to afford such luxuries encourages others to increase in sympathetic gestures towards those less fortunate. This creates a good view on such companies providing these services which will channel more consumers towards them through their good actions. Whether the good intentions were genuine or not, we will not know, but it sure does help as a way of advertising.
Sympvertising is an evolutionary concept that provides services and products in a similar fashion to promotional giveaway items. You offer these services for free, and in turn the sympathy factor allows people who justify those actions towards good tidings will assume that the company has a reputation for great customer service and cares about their consumers. While this may be true, some companies will take advantage of the good nature and trusting willingness that others will gladly give for realizing that the company is good in nature and intentions as well.
Another aspect of sympathy advertising is through commercialization of the fact that people could feel safe in your hands. If they can believe that there is a company out there that is willing to care for you, then they eat up the bait and are hooked through sympathy gestures. Many people will not feel like they are receiving assistance, rather they feel like they can count on a company to keep up their end of the trust they are perceived to have.
True Sympathy
Even though many companies take advantage of their consumers, it is possible for there to be genuine charity and other forms of care giving to be provided. This type of sympathy creates awareness about a certain cause that needs to be addressed to genuinely create change in a community towards bettering the people. This type of assistance creates publicity in a positive manner that will eventually help increase the popularity of the certain companies involved. They will do better to offer their assistance in various matters without calling attention to themselves, letting others promote the business through news and interviews will often encourage more people to use products or services by a certain company, as well as creating awareness about the struggles of other people in these situations.
For more information on sympathy advertising, visit http://sympvertiser.com and http://sympathyadvertising.com
Monday, January 12, 2009
Powerful Marketing For Free - Strategies
By Leonardo Wood
Marketing doesn't have to be expensive, in fact some of the greatest and most powerful forms of marketing cost no money to implement. If you are willing to spend some time working on your marketing it will make a real difference to your business.
When times are hard the phone stops ringing, so what are you going to do about it? Give marketing for free a try before you start sacking people.
Here's a list of ways you can market your business for free:
Call your previous customers - They are the easiest people to sell your products and services to.
Networking - Get out there, meet people and spread the word, if you are quiet you may feel deflated, but you just need to get out there and promote yourself.
Stop Advertising - I don't mean stop advertising altogether I just mean stop advertising in the places where you are not sure if its working or not and spend the money you save on testing other forms of marketing and advertising.
PR - Get in the media talking about what you know best, your trade or business etc. You are an expert on what you do and the media will feature you if you have something of interest to say.
Check out the stories already in the papers etc to see if you can piggy back any of the stories that are already in the news.
The Papers need stories and there is no reason why you can't get your business some free publicity.
Upselling - This is a great FREE way of getting more from your sales, at the exact point that someone buys from you they need to be offered something else which will increase the amount of money they spend with you.
You could offer a more expensive version of the original product or maybe an extra service that compliments the original purchase.
What else can you offer your customers at the point of purchase?
Emails - Are you regularly emailing your previous customers and potential customers? It will help you get more work and it costs nothing to implement.
Testing - You need to test and measure your existing marketing and advertising to see if its working or not, it costs nothing to test and it helps to eliminate ineffective advertising and marketing.
You need to keep track of where your calls come from, how many leads are generated from a particular ad, how many sales are converted and how much profit was made as a direct result of each ad.
If you do not have the answers to these questions how are you going to know whether or not you are throwing your money in the bin.
There is no excuse for not implementing the strategies above. Go for it!
Discover very easy to implement marketing and internet marketing strategies to recession proof your business with this free E-Book from Marketing Man. Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Marketing Man has hundreds of Marketing Tips to help you recession proof your business. If you run a small business visit his website today to get instant free marketing tips to help you fight the credit crunch. Marketing Man
Marketing doesn't have to be expensive, in fact some of the greatest and most powerful forms of marketing cost no money to implement. If you are willing to spend some time working on your marketing it will make a real difference to your business.
When times are hard the phone stops ringing, so what are you going to do about it? Give marketing for free a try before you start sacking people.
Here's a list of ways you can market your business for free:
Call your previous customers - They are the easiest people to sell your products and services to.
Networking - Get out there, meet people and spread the word, if you are quiet you may feel deflated, but you just need to get out there and promote yourself.
Stop Advertising - I don't mean stop advertising altogether I just mean stop advertising in the places where you are not sure if its working or not and spend the money you save on testing other forms of marketing and advertising.
PR - Get in the media talking about what you know best, your trade or business etc. You are an expert on what you do and the media will feature you if you have something of interest to say.
Check out the stories already in the papers etc to see if you can piggy back any of the stories that are already in the news.
The Papers need stories and there is no reason why you can't get your business some free publicity.
Upselling - This is a great FREE way of getting more from your sales, at the exact point that someone buys from you they need to be offered something else which will increase the amount of money they spend with you.
You could offer a more expensive version of the original product or maybe an extra service that compliments the original purchase.
What else can you offer your customers at the point of purchase?
Emails - Are you regularly emailing your previous customers and potential customers? It will help you get more work and it costs nothing to implement.
Testing - You need to test and measure your existing marketing and advertising to see if its working or not, it costs nothing to test and it helps to eliminate ineffective advertising and marketing.
You need to keep track of where your calls come from, how many leads are generated from a particular ad, how many sales are converted and how much profit was made as a direct result of each ad.
If you do not have the answers to these questions how are you going to know whether or not you are throwing your money in the bin.
There is no excuse for not implementing the strategies above. Go for it!
Discover very easy to implement marketing and internet marketing strategies to recession proof your business with this free E-Book from Marketing Man. Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Marketing Man has hundreds of Marketing Tips to help you recession proof your business. If you run a small business visit his website today to get instant free marketing tips to help you fight the credit crunch. Marketing Man
Promotional Marketing Tips For Tech Companies - Custom Branded Products
By Rob Foglia
Promotional items, intended to present a company's logo to potential customers or current clients in a useful or novel fashion, are one of the largest growing sectors that marketing budgets are being dedicated to since 2000. While some critics argue that promotional items are a waste of precious marketing dollar, due to there often cheap quality and worthless nature, others will tell you spectacular success stories about how their custom branded water spraying fan had people lining up for miles to get one at a tanning convention in Las Vegas. With tech companies attempting to make the most of their own marketing budgets, how is it possible to decide between the myriad custom branded promo products that are offered on and off the web?
While many tech companies at the next big convention or tradeshow will be scorned for giving away pens that bleed or useless keychains, your company could attract the attention of new clients by offering a promotional item that not only fits with your company's image, but also serves a purpose for the recipient.
- Stay away from items that have nothing to do with your brand or that detract from the purpose your company serves. Nobody wants a slinky from a computer chip manufacturer.
- Aim to present your promotional items as an extension of your brand, attempting to enhance company image. Tech companies should be going after cutting-edge custom logo items.
- Try colors commonly associated with technology and the digital age for your custom promo products. Metallic silvers, lustrous blues, and hues of white seem to work well.
- Cheap plastic is out. Make sure anything you want to brand with your logo for giveaways at tradeshows is high-quality and durable. Spend a little extra in order to get the quality and results you want from distributing these items.
Take these tips into consideration next time your tech company is considering ordering promotional products for the big convention. By partnering with right distributor, such as ifoxtechnologies.com, companies can save time and money when purchasing custom branded promo items. The next part in the series will outline some specific items to consider when considering branded items for corporate promotional giveaways.
Robbie Foglia writes for Ciniva Systems, an award winning Virginia web design company and internet marketing agency. Robbie Foglia is an SEO Specialist with Ciniva. Ciniva Systems is in charge of SEO for iFox Technologies.
Promotional items, intended to present a company's logo to potential customers or current clients in a useful or novel fashion, are one of the largest growing sectors that marketing budgets are being dedicated to since 2000. While some critics argue that promotional items are a waste of precious marketing dollar, due to there often cheap quality and worthless nature, others will tell you spectacular success stories about how their custom branded water spraying fan had people lining up for miles to get one at a tanning convention in Las Vegas. With tech companies attempting to make the most of their own marketing budgets, how is it possible to decide between the myriad custom branded promo products that are offered on and off the web?
While many tech companies at the next big convention or tradeshow will be scorned for giving away pens that bleed or useless keychains, your company could attract the attention of new clients by offering a promotional item that not only fits with your company's image, but also serves a purpose for the recipient.
- Stay away from items that have nothing to do with your brand or that detract from the purpose your company serves. Nobody wants a slinky from a computer chip manufacturer.
- Aim to present your promotional items as an extension of your brand, attempting to enhance company image. Tech companies should be going after cutting-edge custom logo items.
- Try colors commonly associated with technology and the digital age for your custom promo products. Metallic silvers, lustrous blues, and hues of white seem to work well.
- Cheap plastic is out. Make sure anything you want to brand with your logo for giveaways at tradeshows is high-quality and durable. Spend a little extra in order to get the quality and results you want from distributing these items.
Take these tips into consideration next time your tech company is considering ordering promotional products for the big convention. By partnering with right distributor, such as ifoxtechnologies.com, companies can save time and money when purchasing custom branded promo items. The next part in the series will outline some specific items to consider when considering branded items for corporate promotional giveaways.
Robbie Foglia writes for Ciniva Systems, an award winning Virginia web design company and internet marketing agency. Robbie Foglia is an SEO Specialist with Ciniva. Ciniva Systems is in charge of SEO for iFox Technologies.
The 3 Major Secrets to Successful Internet Marketing
By Phil Pieraldi
There are thousands of opportunities to make money on the Internet. The legitimate Opportunities are in the business of coaching you and working with you to help you to understand how to make money on the Internet. And it all boils down to Marketing.
But what is "Marketing"? Is it Developing Products and Services, Promoting Products and Services, Affiliate Programs, Researching, Website Development, Networking, Creating Videos, Writing Blogs,?
The correct answer is Yes, It's all of these and much more. For now though I will focus in on the three most important secrets of successful Online Marketing. I believe that these are the most critical to your success.
#1 Be Impressive
Whichever medium you choose to promote and get your point across; you must impress your consumer. I used to pitch my own songs in person to A&R Folks in New York. If they were not immediately impressed by the first 19 seconds of the Track they would move on to the next Track.
Your Consumer will not give you much longer than that. The first minute of your presentation or first couple of lines must be powerful. I recently saw an affiliate's Video where the on screen presenter paused 3 times within the first minute of the presentation and said "Ahhh", "Ahhh". That told me that the person wasn't sure of his product or what to say. I'll address this in more depth in a future article.
#2. Use Psychology
Study and Research the behavior of your potential Consumers. Learn what sector of the population you should target, What will your Consumer expect from your Product/Service and which medium should you use to reach out to your consumers.
For Example; Do your consumers frequent Video Sites or maybe your target audience is more likely to be found on specific subject Websites and placing ads such as Google ad words or PPC will work best.
You will want to understand a. Who Your Consumer is b. Where to Find your Consumer c. How to Promote to your Consumer These points may be easier than you think. A couple of hours of research will give you these answers .
#3. Separate Your Campaign From The Pack
This could be the most important secret to promoting on and off the Internet. Most Product/Services promoted on the Internet have to compete with hundreds and possibly thousands of similar Products/Services.
You must be creative in promoting your Product/Service and in the offer that you deliver to the Consumer. If you can find ways to narrow your pitch to a very specific population such as Geographical area, you will find less competition.
For Example; If you are offering Audio & Video Services predominantly in your Home City; choose keywords that are Geographically specific such as Orange County NJ Video Services.
This restricts your competition greatly and could put you on page one of most Search Engines. Remember that your strategies in Marketing will ultimately determine your success.
Did you find this article to be helpful, If you did then take a look at some more money making strategies plus step by step Video tutorials here. http://www.StepUpToTheMoney.com
There are thousands of opportunities to make money on the Internet. The legitimate Opportunities are in the business of coaching you and working with you to help you to understand how to make money on the Internet. And it all boils down to Marketing.
But what is "Marketing"? Is it Developing Products and Services, Promoting Products and Services, Affiliate Programs, Researching, Website Development, Networking, Creating Videos, Writing Blogs,?
The correct answer is Yes, It's all of these and much more. For now though I will focus in on the three most important secrets of successful Online Marketing. I believe that these are the most critical to your success.
#1 Be Impressive
Whichever medium you choose to promote and get your point across; you must impress your consumer. I used to pitch my own songs in person to A&R Folks in New York. If they were not immediately impressed by the first 19 seconds of the Track they would move on to the next Track.
Your Consumer will not give you much longer than that. The first minute of your presentation or first couple of lines must be powerful. I recently saw an affiliate's Video where the on screen presenter paused 3 times within the first minute of the presentation and said "Ahhh", "Ahhh". That told me that the person wasn't sure of his product or what to say. I'll address this in more depth in a future article.
#2. Use Psychology
Study and Research the behavior of your potential Consumers. Learn what sector of the population you should target, What will your Consumer expect from your Product/Service and which medium should you use to reach out to your consumers.
For Example; Do your consumers frequent Video Sites or maybe your target audience is more likely to be found on specific subject Websites and placing ads such as Google ad words or PPC will work best.
You will want to understand a. Who Your Consumer is b. Where to Find your Consumer c. How to Promote to your Consumer These points may be easier than you think. A couple of hours of research will give you these answers .
#3. Separate Your Campaign From The Pack
This could be the most important secret to promoting on and off the Internet. Most Product/Services promoted on the Internet have to compete with hundreds and possibly thousands of similar Products/Services.
You must be creative in promoting your Product/Service and in the offer that you deliver to the Consumer. If you can find ways to narrow your pitch to a very specific population such as Geographical area, you will find less competition.
For Example; If you are offering Audio & Video Services predominantly in your Home City; choose keywords that are Geographically specific such as Orange County NJ Video Services.
This restricts your competition greatly and could put you on page one of most Search Engines. Remember that your strategies in Marketing will ultimately determine your success.
Did you find this article to be helpful, If you did then take a look at some more money making strategies plus step by step Video tutorials here. http://www.StepUpToTheMoney.com
Effective Marketing For Your Business
By Charen Smith
Each year, businesses spend much for ad campaigns to make them appealing to their target clients. Big budgets and so much time are dedicated to marketing to generate new leads and solidify old ones. For the holiday season, I'm very sure that many companies made printing greeting cards a staple in their ads and good wishes.
But how come you do this every year but still you lack the return you expect from your investment? You've spent so much but you've barely touched on the results you've set for your marketing campaign?
You need an effective marketing campaign then to change the outcome of your custom greeting cards, for example. Here are a few suggestions to make your ad stick to the minds of your clients, even when the season for printing greeting cards is over and done with.
Irresistible message- If you want to be remembered, you should provide your target clients with a message that is valuable to them. And what kind of message is that? A message in your custom greeting cards that gives them the answer to an issue or a particular concern. Remember that when you give value to your clients, you get something valuable in return. And that is their loyalty to your product or service. Start with your headline and end with a compelling call-to-action. When you give your elements worth, your clients will know that you value them, so much so that you would want to give them only the best of what you have to offer.
Irresistible benefits- Whether you're marketing or selling your product or service in your custom greeting cards, your purpose is to get your target clients to spend time with your ads. The more time to spend, the better it is for your target clients to remember your message. And what better way to make them interested is by offering benefits. Who doesn't want benefits? Provide them when printing greeting cards and you'll surely get your target clients wanting to stick to your ad and read more.
Irresistible color and contrast- Apply brilliant colors and contrast to your custom greeting cards and see how well it works as an attractive strategy to gain new clients for your business.
Irresistible size- Bigger ads often get more attention than small ones. Bigger is generally better. Your clients would have a hard time ignoring you if you create bold and overwhelming designs when printing greeting cards. Even in such as limited space, you can always appear larger than life with designs that are daring.
So for an effective marketing campaign, you need to provide an ad that would be hard for your target clients to resist. Irresistible ads bring forth one thing- more clients you can ever imagine.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit Printing Greeting Cards and Custom Greeting Cards
Charen Smith writes articles about Internet Marketing. She has an extensive knowledge and experience when it comes to business strategies, techniques and business solutions.
Each year, businesses spend much for ad campaigns to make them appealing to their target clients. Big budgets and so much time are dedicated to marketing to generate new leads and solidify old ones. For the holiday season, I'm very sure that many companies made printing greeting cards a staple in their ads and good wishes.
But how come you do this every year but still you lack the return you expect from your investment? You've spent so much but you've barely touched on the results you've set for your marketing campaign?
You need an effective marketing campaign then to change the outcome of your custom greeting cards, for example. Here are a few suggestions to make your ad stick to the minds of your clients, even when the season for printing greeting cards is over and done with.
Irresistible message- If you want to be remembered, you should provide your target clients with a message that is valuable to them. And what kind of message is that? A message in your custom greeting cards that gives them the answer to an issue or a particular concern. Remember that when you give value to your clients, you get something valuable in return. And that is their loyalty to your product or service. Start with your headline and end with a compelling call-to-action. When you give your elements worth, your clients will know that you value them, so much so that you would want to give them only the best of what you have to offer.
Irresistible benefits- Whether you're marketing or selling your product or service in your custom greeting cards, your purpose is to get your target clients to spend time with your ads. The more time to spend, the better it is for your target clients to remember your message. And what better way to make them interested is by offering benefits. Who doesn't want benefits? Provide them when printing greeting cards and you'll surely get your target clients wanting to stick to your ad and read more.
Irresistible color and contrast- Apply brilliant colors and contrast to your custom greeting cards and see how well it works as an attractive strategy to gain new clients for your business.
Irresistible size- Bigger ads often get more attention than small ones. Bigger is generally better. Your clients would have a hard time ignoring you if you create bold and overwhelming designs when printing greeting cards. Even in such as limited space, you can always appear larger than life with designs that are daring.
So for an effective marketing campaign, you need to provide an ad that would be hard for your target clients to resist. Irresistible ads bring forth one thing- more clients you can ever imagine.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit Printing Greeting Cards and Custom Greeting Cards
Charen Smith writes articles about Internet Marketing. She has an extensive knowledge and experience when it comes to business strategies, techniques and business solutions.
Small Business Marketing Ideas - Profile the Customer
By Perry Webbing
One of the most important small business marketing ideas is to profile the customer. You don't know what the heck you're doing until you do this because you don't know who you are selling to otherwise.
It is true that you want to target your market, but there is this misconception about targeting and that is the fact that people feel that will bring in the right people rather than trying to go to the right people.
So here's the deal. You need to find out about your customers. Do an online survey, send out postcards that can double as questionnaires, and simply flat out ask them. Go to forums and online groups and ask people, "What is it that you want in a business like mine?" Let them know that you want to know what it is they want. You might be quite surprised at the replies you get, but you will find that what you find out will help your bottom line.
You may see all of these fancy terms about customer profiling, but the truth is that it doesn't have to be that hard. You can feed your data into a database to see what it is most people want. You can even appeal to those who are not with the majority. By putting things into perspective, you're making a world of difference in your business.
So if this is something that you haven't already done, you need to do it. You might be quite surprised at how much better this helps your business in the performance area. Your customers will be a lot happier as well.
If you need money now, like I mean in the next hour, try what I did. I am making more money now than in my old business and you can too, read the amazing, true story, in the link below. When I joined I was skeptical for just ten seconds before I realized what this was. I was smiling from ear to ear and you will too.
Imagine doubling your money every week with no or little risk! To discover a verified list of Million Dollar Corporations offering you their products at 75% commission to you. Click the link below to learn HOW you will begin compounding your capital towards your first Million Dollars at the easy corporate money program.
Quickest-way-to-make-money-on-earth.com
One of the most important small business marketing ideas is to profile the customer. You don't know what the heck you're doing until you do this because you don't know who you are selling to otherwise.
It is true that you want to target your market, but there is this misconception about targeting and that is the fact that people feel that will bring in the right people rather than trying to go to the right people.
So here's the deal. You need to find out about your customers. Do an online survey, send out postcards that can double as questionnaires, and simply flat out ask them. Go to forums and online groups and ask people, "What is it that you want in a business like mine?" Let them know that you want to know what it is they want. You might be quite surprised at the replies you get, but you will find that what you find out will help your bottom line.
You may see all of these fancy terms about customer profiling, but the truth is that it doesn't have to be that hard. You can feed your data into a database to see what it is most people want. You can even appeal to those who are not with the majority. By putting things into perspective, you're making a world of difference in your business.
So if this is something that you haven't already done, you need to do it. You might be quite surprised at how much better this helps your business in the performance area. Your customers will be a lot happier as well.
If you need money now, like I mean in the next hour, try what I did. I am making more money now than in my old business and you can too, read the amazing, true story, in the link below. When I joined I was skeptical for just ten seconds before I realized what this was. I was smiling from ear to ear and you will too.
Imagine doubling your money every week with no or little risk! To discover a verified list of Million Dollar Corporations offering you their products at 75% commission to you. Click the link below to learn HOW you will begin compounding your capital towards your first Million Dollars at the easy corporate money program.
Quickest-way-to-make-money-on-earth.com
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Differences Between Marketing Your Business Online Vs Offline
By Chris Simpson
There are several differences between marketing your business online vs. offline. The first thing that you should do in order to effectively understand the differences between these two modes of advertising is to make certain that you have a sound understanding of what each is.
Offline media sources operate a tad differently than online sources. In many instances, individuals use a fine mix of marketing that is offline, as well as online in an effort to maximize their exposure to potential prospects. Here, you will learn the differences between marketing your business online versus marketing your business offline.
What is Offline Advertising?
There are many different forms of offline advertising that are very effective to many different companies. As a matter of fact, three of these advertising venues are quite popular among individuals who are looking to promote a certain good or service. These include television, radio, and even in print.
Many individuals have commercials created for radio and television, and others may have advertisements listed in classified advertisements. The whole idea behind offline advertising is to acquire the attention of leads that may not know your website is out there. Then, once the potential customers are alerted to your website, they are drawn to visit it.
What is Online Advertising?
Most of the time, when it comes to internet marketing, online advertising is the process in which a particular banner, flash animation, article, or video catches the attention of the potential consumer. The marketing endeavors, or messages, are intended as an attractive lure to the customer in which a particular website wants to attract. These messages typically place a visitor on a "landing page" or a "squeeze page" of a website. There are many different ways in which this can be done:
* Blog Marketing
* Video Blogging
* Social Networking Websites
* Online Classifieds
* Article Marketing
* Email * Rich Media
Online advertising is not just effective in attracting individuals to websites. There are many different businesses that are offline that work to attract individuals from the internet to their business in a certain community.
The Differences?
When it comes to similarities, the goal of both online and offline advertising are much the same - to simply attract business. However, when it comes to differences, there are quite a few. Advertisements online, for example, must be more visual as rich media holds a stiff competition. In addition to this, the process of search engine optimization and other techniques must be considered. In offline advertising methods, one must be creative, but not to the extent of online venues of marketing.
Conclusion
If you are working to ensure that you have a well rounded target audience, it is important to utilize both online marketing and offline marketing in order to optimize your potential for success. By ensuring that you have both components to your marketing strategy, it is much more likely that you will experience a higher ratio of profits to overall losses.
All it takes is a little creativity and a little bit of time, soon, you will have a whole pile of prospects that are seeking out what goods and services that you have to offer!
Chris Simpson is dedicated to helping people find honest and legitimate work at home jobs and home based business ideas. Find legitimate work from home jobs and many other great opportunities to make money online today at: http://www.HomeNetPro.com
There are several differences between marketing your business online vs. offline. The first thing that you should do in order to effectively understand the differences between these two modes of advertising is to make certain that you have a sound understanding of what each is.
Offline media sources operate a tad differently than online sources. In many instances, individuals use a fine mix of marketing that is offline, as well as online in an effort to maximize their exposure to potential prospects. Here, you will learn the differences between marketing your business online versus marketing your business offline.
What is Offline Advertising?
There are many different forms of offline advertising that are very effective to many different companies. As a matter of fact, three of these advertising venues are quite popular among individuals who are looking to promote a certain good or service. These include television, radio, and even in print.
Many individuals have commercials created for radio and television, and others may have advertisements listed in classified advertisements. The whole idea behind offline advertising is to acquire the attention of leads that may not know your website is out there. Then, once the potential customers are alerted to your website, they are drawn to visit it.
What is Online Advertising?
Most of the time, when it comes to internet marketing, online advertising is the process in which a particular banner, flash animation, article, or video catches the attention of the potential consumer. The marketing endeavors, or messages, are intended as an attractive lure to the customer in which a particular website wants to attract. These messages typically place a visitor on a "landing page" or a "squeeze page" of a website. There are many different ways in which this can be done:
* Blog Marketing
* Video Blogging
* Social Networking Websites
* Online Classifieds
* Article Marketing
* Email * Rich Media
Online advertising is not just effective in attracting individuals to websites. There are many different businesses that are offline that work to attract individuals from the internet to their business in a certain community.
The Differences?
When it comes to similarities, the goal of both online and offline advertising are much the same - to simply attract business. However, when it comes to differences, there are quite a few. Advertisements online, for example, must be more visual as rich media holds a stiff competition. In addition to this, the process of search engine optimization and other techniques must be considered. In offline advertising methods, one must be creative, but not to the extent of online venues of marketing.
Conclusion
If you are working to ensure that you have a well rounded target audience, it is important to utilize both online marketing and offline marketing in order to optimize your potential for success. By ensuring that you have both components to your marketing strategy, it is much more likely that you will experience a higher ratio of profits to overall losses.
All it takes is a little creativity and a little bit of time, soon, you will have a whole pile of prospects that are seeking out what goods and services that you have to offer!
Chris Simpson is dedicated to helping people find honest and legitimate work at home jobs and home based business ideas. Find legitimate work from home jobs and many other great opportunities to make money online today at: http://www.HomeNetPro.com
Marketing Automation and Business to Consumer Strategies
By Paddu Govindaraj
Marketing automation is a popular method of using modern information technology tools and internet to automate the marketing process. Marketing planning, budgeting, interaction and management can all be automated to a great degree. Automating the marketing processes can boost productivity by making routine processes out of an otherwise long and tedious manual process, and add more possibilities to the mix, as well. Automating your consumer marketing strategies can have a serious positive impact on your customer base, and help you manage your time much more efficiently.
Effectively marketing to new customers and existing clients are both crucial to the longevity of your business. Consumers are more interested in finding the information they need quickly and efficiently, and aren't willing to waste time waiting for a response. Effective marketing automation tools can respond to consumers immediately, giving them exactly what they're looking for to pique their interest until they can get to a live person.
Perhaps the most appealing aspect of marketing automation is that it can deliver personalized answers instantaneously, something not even a marketing expert can do. Automated marketing can be customized to your company's specific needs, and be used to give certain responses to certain inquiries. Used correctly, consumers may not even be aware that they aren't dealing with an actual service representative.
Automated marketing can also help you maintain and manage your leads and prospects much more effectively. This affords you the opportunity to track and respond to the sales inquiries quickly and efficiently, and flag important leads for further review. This can save you time and money in the process, by saving you from wasting effort on weak leads. Marketing automation can help you weed out leads that aren't worth pursuing, or that don't need you to focus as much attention.
With an automated marketing software system, you can keep your entire team of employees on the same level with regards to your marketing leads. The chances of leads being accidentally ignored, or contacted multiple times, will be drastically reduced by using a good software system. Employees will be able to manage all of your company's leads from one central place on the web, and reduce the amount of time they waste, which will boost your marketing efficiency and save you money at the same time.
Marketing automation solutions are available with a wide variety of features to meet your company's specific needs. It has also become increasingly affordable within the past few years, making it an excellent investment and a great way to improve your current consumer strategies without making a big change to your marketing practices. Marketing automation will allow you to maintain continuous contact with your leads, help you better retain your current customers, and show you where you can make improvements in your marketing techniques. Even the most seasoned marketing expert can benefit from the features that marketing automation has to offer. For the best results, just remember that marketing automation software is by no means a replacement for your current consumer marketing (also referred as B2C) strategies, but rather, a way to increase your efficiency and ease the current struggles that many businesses deal with in regards to sales and marketing operations every day.
Paddu Govindaraj, architect of LeadPro, specializes in Email Marketing, Auto-responder, Lead Management and Marketing Automation Software solutions, tools and resources for Small and Medium Businesses to embrace online marketing. He provides design, consulting, customization and implementation services in Email Marketing and Lead Management areas. He blogs on Sales Lead Management Best Practices, Web Analytics and Email Marketing subjects.
Please take a look at the features of LeadPro to see how it will help you grow your business by visiting the LeadPro Lead Management and Email Marketing services website. Request a free consultation and find out how to use LeadPro marketing automation tool for capturing leads, nurturing prospects using email marketing, and automate lead tracking processes for your business.
Marketing automation is a popular method of using modern information technology tools and internet to automate the marketing process. Marketing planning, budgeting, interaction and management can all be automated to a great degree. Automating the marketing processes can boost productivity by making routine processes out of an otherwise long and tedious manual process, and add more possibilities to the mix, as well. Automating your consumer marketing strategies can have a serious positive impact on your customer base, and help you manage your time much more efficiently.
Effectively marketing to new customers and existing clients are both crucial to the longevity of your business. Consumers are more interested in finding the information they need quickly and efficiently, and aren't willing to waste time waiting for a response. Effective marketing automation tools can respond to consumers immediately, giving them exactly what they're looking for to pique their interest until they can get to a live person.
Perhaps the most appealing aspect of marketing automation is that it can deliver personalized answers instantaneously, something not even a marketing expert can do. Automated marketing can be customized to your company's specific needs, and be used to give certain responses to certain inquiries. Used correctly, consumers may not even be aware that they aren't dealing with an actual service representative.
Automated marketing can also help you maintain and manage your leads and prospects much more effectively. This affords you the opportunity to track and respond to the sales inquiries quickly and efficiently, and flag important leads for further review. This can save you time and money in the process, by saving you from wasting effort on weak leads. Marketing automation can help you weed out leads that aren't worth pursuing, or that don't need you to focus as much attention.
With an automated marketing software system, you can keep your entire team of employees on the same level with regards to your marketing leads. The chances of leads being accidentally ignored, or contacted multiple times, will be drastically reduced by using a good software system. Employees will be able to manage all of your company's leads from one central place on the web, and reduce the amount of time they waste, which will boost your marketing efficiency and save you money at the same time.
Marketing automation solutions are available with a wide variety of features to meet your company's specific needs. It has also become increasingly affordable within the past few years, making it an excellent investment and a great way to improve your current consumer strategies without making a big change to your marketing practices. Marketing automation will allow you to maintain continuous contact with your leads, help you better retain your current customers, and show you where you can make improvements in your marketing techniques. Even the most seasoned marketing expert can benefit from the features that marketing automation has to offer. For the best results, just remember that marketing automation software is by no means a replacement for your current consumer marketing (also referred as B2C) strategies, but rather, a way to increase your efficiency and ease the current struggles that many businesses deal with in regards to sales and marketing operations every day.
Paddu Govindaraj, architect of LeadPro, specializes in Email Marketing, Auto-responder, Lead Management and Marketing Automation Software solutions, tools and resources for Small and Medium Businesses to embrace online marketing. He provides design, consulting, customization and implementation services in Email Marketing and Lead Management areas. He blogs on Sales Lead Management Best Practices, Web Analytics and Email Marketing subjects.
Please take a look at the features of LeadPro to see how it will help you grow your business by visiting the LeadPro Lead Management and Email Marketing services website. Request a free consultation and find out how to use LeadPro marketing automation tool for capturing leads, nurturing prospects using email marketing, and automate lead tracking processes for your business.
Top Ten Opportunities to Use Testimonials to Power Up Your Marketing
By Kathleen Ann
When it comes to marketing, testimonials are as important to your business as your list. There is no substitute for authentic verification from a third party of what you offer. We all know people do business with people they know, like and trust and testimonials provide the perfect vehicle to deliver these essential ingredients in a truly authentic way.
Without testimonials you will have a tough time getting people to sign up for what you are offering or to part with their money.
Treat testimonials like gold. Seek them, collect them and use them at every opportunity.
Here's the top ten opportunities to use testimonials.
# 1 is on your website. Either on a particular page dedicated to testimonials or use the left and/or right margin and fill that with testimonials. Use pictures, audio or video for variety and impact.
# 2 is in a sales letter. Use throughout your sales letter, highlight them in boxes or filter into body copy to demonstrate or emphasise important aspects or benefits.
# 3 is in your newsletter. You could feature a testimonial to support your article or special promotion or simply have a little testimonial snippet. It might just be two sentences or part of a testimonial. Mix it up for variety.
# 4 is on the front and back cover of your information product. This is extremely valuable space as it will support the sale as well as re-enforce the product after the sale because whether shippable or downloadable it will be in the clients hands and read many times.
# 5 is woven into your articles. This is a subtle way to maximize the use of testimonials that will gently resonate with the reader. Weave them into your articles and quote clients to support a particular benefit or point you want to make or as part of a story you are telling.
# 6 is on a postcard or direct mail piece. Whether a solo mailing or part of a campaign, testimonials bring that third party endorsement right into the letter box . Keep it short and relevant and capitalize on this tangible, personal communication.
# 7 is in an email promotion. When you send out a promotional email for your preview call or sales page, you can use a testimonial one of two ways. Either use an outright quote or even better, as part of a before and after story to demonstrate your point.
# 8 is on your free articles page. If you have a dedicated page for free articles or resources, load it with testimonials to encourage people to sign-up to your list.
# 9 is on flyers, brochures or leave behinds. Whether mailing or handing out at networking opportunities a tangible item is a great place to feature testimonials.
# 10 is on the back of your business card. This is prime real-estate and will be read by everyone you hand your card to and most likely will be referred to more than once. Especially powerful place to use a celebrity endorsement.
In a nutshell, you want a testimonial on everything. Every product or service that you offer. Use them whenever and wherever possible and utilize every medium to exploit them to their full potential. You always need them and can never have too many.
Direct response marketing expert Kathleen Ann is the "Marketing Champion for Small Business and entrepreneurs". Delivering simple techniques and tools you can use to increase sales and profits. Sign up for her free audio workshop "7 Steps to Advertising Success" http://www.PowerUpYourMarketing.com
When it comes to marketing, testimonials are as important to your business as your list. There is no substitute for authentic verification from a third party of what you offer. We all know people do business with people they know, like and trust and testimonials provide the perfect vehicle to deliver these essential ingredients in a truly authentic way.
Without testimonials you will have a tough time getting people to sign up for what you are offering or to part with their money.
Treat testimonials like gold. Seek them, collect them and use them at every opportunity.
Here's the top ten opportunities to use testimonials.
# 1 is on your website. Either on a particular page dedicated to testimonials or use the left and/or right margin and fill that with testimonials. Use pictures, audio or video for variety and impact.
# 2 is in a sales letter. Use throughout your sales letter, highlight them in boxes or filter into body copy to demonstrate or emphasise important aspects or benefits.
# 3 is in your newsletter. You could feature a testimonial to support your article or special promotion or simply have a little testimonial snippet. It might just be two sentences or part of a testimonial. Mix it up for variety.
# 4 is on the front and back cover of your information product. This is extremely valuable space as it will support the sale as well as re-enforce the product after the sale because whether shippable or downloadable it will be in the clients hands and read many times.
# 5 is woven into your articles. This is a subtle way to maximize the use of testimonials that will gently resonate with the reader. Weave them into your articles and quote clients to support a particular benefit or point you want to make or as part of a story you are telling.
# 6 is on a postcard or direct mail piece. Whether a solo mailing or part of a campaign, testimonials bring that third party endorsement right into the letter box . Keep it short and relevant and capitalize on this tangible, personal communication.
# 7 is in an email promotion. When you send out a promotional email for your preview call or sales page, you can use a testimonial one of two ways. Either use an outright quote or even better, as part of a before and after story to demonstrate your point.
# 8 is on your free articles page. If you have a dedicated page for free articles or resources, load it with testimonials to encourage people to sign-up to your list.
# 9 is on flyers, brochures or leave behinds. Whether mailing or handing out at networking opportunities a tangible item is a great place to feature testimonials.
# 10 is on the back of your business card. This is prime real-estate and will be read by everyone you hand your card to and most likely will be referred to more than once. Especially powerful place to use a celebrity endorsement.
In a nutshell, you want a testimonial on everything. Every product or service that you offer. Use them whenever and wherever possible and utilize every medium to exploit them to their full potential. You always need them and can never have too many.
Direct response marketing expert Kathleen Ann is the "Marketing Champion for Small Business and entrepreneurs". Delivering simple techniques and tools you can use to increase sales and profits. Sign up for her free audio workshop "7 Steps to Advertising Success" http://www.PowerUpYourMarketing.com
The Sales and Marketing Relationship
By Rivers Corbett
Sales and marketing, two parts of business that are so different yet need to be connected to each other and some point or end. Sales people and marketing people are always in different worlds, it's like the jocks and the nerds (I wont say which is which, that's up to you). The school isn't going to be complete without either one missing and your business won't be either.
The job of the marketing people is seen as serious and analytical, they are the people always talking amongst each other, planning and playing with statistics and campaigns. Marketing is the path taken to get to the customers. There are many activities involved in marketing; cold canvassing, brand or corporate advertising, or more targeted types of marketing like direct response advertising and referrals. This is where the particular benefits of the product is explained to the customers. So all these different kinds of marketing are what get to the people, and these people are your leads. Leads are the connection between sales and marketing. Without leads, there is no connection, sales and marketing will never meet and business won't work out.
The sales people now are always on the run, going here and there, on the phone with customers or meeting them somewhere, always trying to grab some big deal that's going to bring the company to greater heights. What get's them moving is the leads they acquire from marketing. Now this doesn't mean sales is under marketing and is less important or is the department that needs a smaller budget. Marketing has no purpose with sales and sales can't occur without marketing. Both need to work together in order to reach maximum advantage.
This all looks so simple, but the bumps occur at the same place where sales and marketing meet. Leads are not all the same, you have good and bad leads. Depending on the leads, sometimes the marketing or the sales approach needs to be different. That's why sales and marketing departments or people always need to be in constant contact with each other. The more you understand the way the other team is working, the more you can use the knowledge to your advantage when getting to the lead.
Following up is an essential part of sales and marketing as well. It can be following up on a potential lead or following up on a previous customer, the communication should not stop after one transaction, it's a continuous process that requires sales and marketing to always be working hand in hand. Here's to your Success!
PS...Award Winning Global Entrepreneur, Rivers Corbett offers entrepreneurs an insight into what prevents most entrepreneurs from experiencing success. Rivers series 13 Fears of an Entrepreneur is must knowledge for any entrepreneur wanting to succeed at any level in business. Click on http://www.DiscoverTheKnowledge.com for more information and also receive his FREE gift of what started him on his global entrepreneurial journey.
Sales and marketing, two parts of business that are so different yet need to be connected to each other and some point or end. Sales people and marketing people are always in different worlds, it's like the jocks and the nerds (I wont say which is which, that's up to you). The school isn't going to be complete without either one missing and your business won't be either.
The job of the marketing people is seen as serious and analytical, they are the people always talking amongst each other, planning and playing with statistics and campaigns. Marketing is the path taken to get to the customers. There are many activities involved in marketing; cold canvassing, brand or corporate advertising, or more targeted types of marketing like direct response advertising and referrals. This is where the particular benefits of the product is explained to the customers. So all these different kinds of marketing are what get to the people, and these people are your leads. Leads are the connection between sales and marketing. Without leads, there is no connection, sales and marketing will never meet and business won't work out.
The sales people now are always on the run, going here and there, on the phone with customers or meeting them somewhere, always trying to grab some big deal that's going to bring the company to greater heights. What get's them moving is the leads they acquire from marketing. Now this doesn't mean sales is under marketing and is less important or is the department that needs a smaller budget. Marketing has no purpose with sales and sales can't occur without marketing. Both need to work together in order to reach maximum advantage.
This all looks so simple, but the bumps occur at the same place where sales and marketing meet. Leads are not all the same, you have good and bad leads. Depending on the leads, sometimes the marketing or the sales approach needs to be different. That's why sales and marketing departments or people always need to be in constant contact with each other. The more you understand the way the other team is working, the more you can use the knowledge to your advantage when getting to the lead.
Following up is an essential part of sales and marketing as well. It can be following up on a potential lead or following up on a previous customer, the communication should not stop after one transaction, it's a continuous process that requires sales and marketing to always be working hand in hand. Here's to your Success!
PS...Award Winning Global Entrepreneur, Rivers Corbett offers entrepreneurs an insight into what prevents most entrepreneurs from experiencing success. Rivers series 13 Fears of an Entrepreneur is must knowledge for any entrepreneur wanting to succeed at any level in business. Click on http://www.DiscoverTheKnowledge.com for more information and also receive his FREE gift of what started him on his global entrepreneurial journey.
Grabbing the Eye is Not All You Need to Do
By Janice Jenkins
What are print posters supposed to do? Color posters are large; they are often colorful with big lettering and large titles and quickly get a person's attention. They have to be, because unlike most other forms of marketing, if you are going with poster printing you are accepting that people cannot take your advertisement home with them.
This is the main drawback to color posters, and the reason why they have to get a person's attention quickly or else your advertising will not have much of an impact on people. But the thing of it is getting a person's attention is far from the only thing you have to do, and you need to consider what message you are sending, and what a person is going to walk away with.
In the quest to form an interesting poster companies have walked down all sorts of different paths. Some go for risqué images that might invoke a certain mood or feeling and will instantly get a persons interested. Others go for very unique images and colors that make a person wonder what that poster is all about. Still others use giant wording to get right to the point so people will be intrigued by what the poster has to say.
All of these things can lead to effective posters, but only if they then follow up with the proper amount of information, or if they give the right message. For some of those risqué posters you might have their attention, but are you attracting the right audience, are you delivering your message in the best way possible? Are you substituting solid information for flashy images instead?
I have seen plenty of posters before that made me look over, but once I was looking I did not know what the poster was trying to say or do. The images did not really convey any kind of specific message, and I was left scratching my head as to why this company paid for poster printing if they did not have something of significance to say with their poster.
Posters need to accomplish two goals, and only the first one is getting a person's attention. It is true that if no one bothers to look over no one will ever read your message, but do not allow that to confuse you into thinking that you need to substitute a solid advertising theme for a catchy image instead.
You might simply run your posters by a group of people to see what they take away from them. Do they understand the message you are trying to push, or are they just seeing the image without understanding why the image is there?
Be sure that both image and message work well together and that both are delivering what you want them to. This is what the best kind of advertisements is always going to do.
Janice Jenkins is a writer for a marketing company in Chicago, IL. Mostly into marketing research, Janice started writing articles early 2007 to impart her knowledge to individuals new to the marketing industry.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Print Posters, Color Posters.
What are print posters supposed to do? Color posters are large; they are often colorful with big lettering and large titles and quickly get a person's attention. They have to be, because unlike most other forms of marketing, if you are going with poster printing you are accepting that people cannot take your advertisement home with them.
This is the main drawback to color posters, and the reason why they have to get a person's attention quickly or else your advertising will not have much of an impact on people. But the thing of it is getting a person's attention is far from the only thing you have to do, and you need to consider what message you are sending, and what a person is going to walk away with.
In the quest to form an interesting poster companies have walked down all sorts of different paths. Some go for risqué images that might invoke a certain mood or feeling and will instantly get a persons interested. Others go for very unique images and colors that make a person wonder what that poster is all about. Still others use giant wording to get right to the point so people will be intrigued by what the poster has to say.
All of these things can lead to effective posters, but only if they then follow up with the proper amount of information, or if they give the right message. For some of those risqué posters you might have their attention, but are you attracting the right audience, are you delivering your message in the best way possible? Are you substituting solid information for flashy images instead?
I have seen plenty of posters before that made me look over, but once I was looking I did not know what the poster was trying to say or do. The images did not really convey any kind of specific message, and I was left scratching my head as to why this company paid for poster printing if they did not have something of significance to say with their poster.
Posters need to accomplish two goals, and only the first one is getting a person's attention. It is true that if no one bothers to look over no one will ever read your message, but do not allow that to confuse you into thinking that you need to substitute a solid advertising theme for a catchy image instead.
You might simply run your posters by a group of people to see what they take away from them. Do they understand the message you are trying to push, or are they just seeing the image without understanding why the image is there?
Be sure that both image and message work well together and that both are delivering what you want them to. This is what the best kind of advertisements is always going to do.
Janice Jenkins is a writer for a marketing company in Chicago, IL. Mostly into marketing research, Janice started writing articles early 2007 to impart her knowledge to individuals new to the marketing industry.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Print Posters, Color Posters.
Business Gifts - Perfect For a Raft of Scenarios
By Imogen Brown
There are various reasons why company executives utilise promotional products. The major one, though, is to enhance or solidify a customer relationship. If you have business dealings with a client that extends over many years, you gift corporate branded business gifts to say thanks to that customer for their loyalty to your business. You might also want to give a business gift when a brand new customer begins to spend money with you. You might also want to distribute a promotional business gift to show your appreciation. In fact, you may even think about passing out promotional business gifts to your staff.
Informing people, including your colleagues, know that you value them and their custom is a major part of the relationship process. It is human nature to want to feel appreciated and it is not really that tough to make someone a long standing customer or employee, just by handing them a token of your appreciation.
So when do you decide to hand out these corporate business gifts? Is there a rule of thumb to help you to determine when you purchase corporate business gifts and distribute them? The answer to these questions is yes, there are some key times when corporate gifting is appropriate. Set out below is a good guide you can use. Promotional gifts are a good idea when:
1. You need to kick off some competition and challenge employees to stretch to make a quarterly or monthly target so you arrange what is universally known as an Incentive Program. Incentive Programs, when perfectly put together create a healthy sense of competition and frequently improve moral. If you peek into Incentive Programs you will find there are in effect two types:
1) you purchase a business promotional gift or reward and it is won by the first employee who meets the target you put before them, and
2) you start a program where each and every employee who meets the target is rewarded the business gift.
The choice of promotional gift(s) you buy depends on how many you are intending on distribute. If you are gifting only a single product you can purchase a proportionally more costly corporate gift; for instance a three - day excursion somewhere or tickets to a concert etc. If you are intending to provide numerous people with the corporate gift, you may need to go for those that are not as costly.
2. An alternative time, when promotional gifts might be appropriate, is during various holidays. You need to do this carefully as it would be culturally insane to offer Xmas promotional business gifts if you have members of staff or clients who are not Christian.
3. Thanking clients and employee birthdays is another time when business gifts can be handed out. If you are handing out a business gift for a birthday to a member of staff, you must make sure that you do the same for all employees. Nothing will lower moral faster than treating one member of staff different than the others. If you are handing out client's corporate gifts on their birthdays, you could consider vouchers for a reduction off of their next purchase.
4. We all like to thank members of staff who are retiring and a corporate retirement product is an excellent way to say goodbye and thanks. If you have a sizable company, you may start up a variety of different types of retirement promotional for various numbers of years served. It would be unprofessional to give someone who had been with the company for 25 years the same keychain that the retiree who has been with the organisation 2 years receives.
Without a shadow of a doubt, there really are no absolute, written in stone, times when promotional gifts should be distributed. It is a matter of what suits what organisation best.
Imogen Brown is the marketing manager for Clickpromogifts one of the UK's premier suppliers of promotional keyrings and promotional keyrings.
There are various reasons why company executives utilise promotional products. The major one, though, is to enhance or solidify a customer relationship. If you have business dealings with a client that extends over many years, you gift corporate branded business gifts to say thanks to that customer for their loyalty to your business. You might also want to give a business gift when a brand new customer begins to spend money with you. You might also want to distribute a promotional business gift to show your appreciation. In fact, you may even think about passing out promotional business gifts to your staff.
Informing people, including your colleagues, know that you value them and their custom is a major part of the relationship process. It is human nature to want to feel appreciated and it is not really that tough to make someone a long standing customer or employee, just by handing them a token of your appreciation.
So when do you decide to hand out these corporate business gifts? Is there a rule of thumb to help you to determine when you purchase corporate business gifts and distribute them? The answer to these questions is yes, there are some key times when corporate gifting is appropriate. Set out below is a good guide you can use. Promotional gifts are a good idea when:
1. You need to kick off some competition and challenge employees to stretch to make a quarterly or monthly target so you arrange what is universally known as an Incentive Program. Incentive Programs, when perfectly put together create a healthy sense of competition and frequently improve moral. If you peek into Incentive Programs you will find there are in effect two types:
1) you purchase a business promotional gift or reward and it is won by the first employee who meets the target you put before them, and
2) you start a program where each and every employee who meets the target is rewarded the business gift.
The choice of promotional gift(s) you buy depends on how many you are intending on distribute. If you are gifting only a single product you can purchase a proportionally more costly corporate gift; for instance a three - day excursion somewhere or tickets to a concert etc. If you are intending to provide numerous people with the corporate gift, you may need to go for those that are not as costly.
2. An alternative time, when promotional gifts might be appropriate, is during various holidays. You need to do this carefully as it would be culturally insane to offer Xmas promotional business gifts if you have members of staff or clients who are not Christian.
3. Thanking clients and employee birthdays is another time when business gifts can be handed out. If you are handing out a business gift for a birthday to a member of staff, you must make sure that you do the same for all employees. Nothing will lower moral faster than treating one member of staff different than the others. If you are handing out client's corporate gifts on their birthdays, you could consider vouchers for a reduction off of their next purchase.
4. We all like to thank members of staff who are retiring and a corporate retirement product is an excellent way to say goodbye and thanks. If you have a sizable company, you may start up a variety of different types of retirement promotional for various numbers of years served. It would be unprofessional to give someone who had been with the company for 25 years the same keychain that the retiree who has been with the organisation 2 years receives.
Without a shadow of a doubt, there really are no absolute, written in stone, times when promotional gifts should be distributed. It is a matter of what suits what organisation best.
Imogen Brown is the marketing manager for Clickpromogifts one of the UK's premier suppliers of promotional keyrings and promotional keyrings.
Maximize Marketing Tools For Business Growth
By Joan Marcus
In today's difficult economy, you need to find the most cost-effective ways to grow your business if you want to succeed. When you develop marketing tools, from websites to brochures, electronic newsletters to direct mail, maximize their value. Here's how:
Develop a hard-hitting message. Your prospects and clients need to know three things about your products and services to make a purchase: what need or pain point you address, your solution to their problem or need and what makes your solution better than other options. Summarize these thoughts in a memorable statement of 25 words or less. Use this message in all of your marketing tools as well as in networking situations.
Amplify your story. Your marketing message is the core of what you do and why you believe customers should do business with you. Your message should elicit questions and spark a desire on the part of customers and prospects to learn more. Amplify your story by answering these questions. Use this copy in a variety of ways, such as on your website and in brochures, newsletters, email campaigns, proposals and presentations.
Develop a professional look. At the very minimum, every company should have a professionally designed logo with standardized colors. You should have your logo saved in an electronic format that allows you to use it in email and other programs that you use on a regular basis. Your marketing tools - print and website - should complement one another, in message, style and color. Use the "cringe" test to honestly evaluate your marketing tools. If you cringe every time you need to use your logo, hand out a brochure or send someone to your website, your marketing tools need an overhaul.
Be open to new perspectives. Change is the only constant in life. If you are marketing your company the same way you were ten years ago, you are probably missing out on a lot of opportunities. While your core product or service may be the same, find new ways to tell your story. You will be glad that you did.
Copyright 2008. Joan B. Marcus Communications LLC
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Joan B. Marcus, president of Joan B. Marcus Communications LLC, is a pro in all forms of writing -- from website copy to grant proposals, brochures to electronic newsletters. She helps small businesses and nonprofit organizations achieve their goals by developing and delivering their marketing message with impact. Sign up for a free newsletter and learn more about Joan B. Marcus Communications at http://joanbmarcuscommunications.com
In today's difficult economy, you need to find the most cost-effective ways to grow your business if you want to succeed. When you develop marketing tools, from websites to brochures, electronic newsletters to direct mail, maximize their value. Here's how:
Develop a hard-hitting message. Your prospects and clients need to know three things about your products and services to make a purchase: what need or pain point you address, your solution to their problem or need and what makes your solution better than other options. Summarize these thoughts in a memorable statement of 25 words or less. Use this message in all of your marketing tools as well as in networking situations.
Amplify your story. Your marketing message is the core of what you do and why you believe customers should do business with you. Your message should elicit questions and spark a desire on the part of customers and prospects to learn more. Amplify your story by answering these questions. Use this copy in a variety of ways, such as on your website and in brochures, newsletters, email campaigns, proposals and presentations.
Develop a professional look. At the very minimum, every company should have a professionally designed logo with standardized colors. You should have your logo saved in an electronic format that allows you to use it in email and other programs that you use on a regular basis. Your marketing tools - print and website - should complement one another, in message, style and color. Use the "cringe" test to honestly evaluate your marketing tools. If you cringe every time you need to use your logo, hand out a brochure or send someone to your website, your marketing tools need an overhaul.
Be open to new perspectives. Change is the only constant in life. If you are marketing your company the same way you were ten years ago, you are probably missing out on a lot of opportunities. While your core product or service may be the same, find new ways to tell your story. You will be glad that you did.
Copyright 2008. Joan B. Marcus Communications LLC
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Joan B. Marcus, president of Joan B. Marcus Communications LLC, is a pro in all forms of writing -- from website copy to grant proposals, brochures to electronic newsletters. She helps small businesses and nonprofit organizations achieve their goals by developing and delivering their marketing message with impact. Sign up for a free newsletter and learn more about Joan B. Marcus Communications at http://joanbmarcuscommunications.com
How to Keep an in Sync - Marketing and Product Development
By Kaye Marks
In any company communication can be a difficult thing to achieve, and different departments regularly seem to avoid talking to each other if at all possible. Often this can work just fine, because most departments do not have anything to do with each other, but for marketing, you might be facing some very painful results if you are not careful.
Just to skim the surface, a loosely knitted communication network in the office might cause problems if you promote a new product and send out a huge postcard printing campaign that you start getting inquiries for which you get confused looks from your employees. Do you get the picture?
Nowhere is this more prevalent than when you are introducing a new product, and I have seen so many blunders based on bad communication before and it is rather sad each time it happens. The results can hurt a company a lot and waste them plenty of cash.
The problems almost always come from the development and release of the product being out of sync with the marketing for it. For any new product release, you want to have your marketing out in the public ahead of the actual release, and then another prominent marketing push on the day of the release. You might get a large number of color postcards out to people a month before the product release, and all of those postcards are going to mention the date of the release.
But then the product gets pushed back. The development team needed more time and did not bother to tell the marketing department, so suddenly you have a lot of marketing material that says the wrong thing, and all of your planned marketing pushes for the day of the release need to quickly be scrapped or moved back. You have been boosting up support for a while and you have to turn around and tell your customers they have to suddenly wait.
All it takes to avoid this is to have regular, maybe even weekly, updates between the two sides. Be sure the development team is constantly aware of what kind of marketing pushes are going on, and that the marketing team knows of any potential delays before they send out those color postcards.
This also requires both sides to be completely up front with their progress, and that no one is making assumptions or overestimating the chance of a specific release date.
Really, communication should be a strong part of any kind of department and everyone should be well aware of what is going on in the other departments. I have found that sometimes the reason why a product gets delayed is because one subdivision of the development process is not properly communicating with everyone else.
Sit down before everything starts, get every single person working close to the project together, and make sure all of them have a strong system set up for communicating. Yes, it might take longer to do this, but in the end, you will avoid a lot of nasty pitfalls and have a smooth product release. All it takes is a little communication.
Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of the developments in postcard printing or color postcard industry.
In any company communication can be a difficult thing to achieve, and different departments regularly seem to avoid talking to each other if at all possible. Often this can work just fine, because most departments do not have anything to do with each other, but for marketing, you might be facing some very painful results if you are not careful.
Just to skim the surface, a loosely knitted communication network in the office might cause problems if you promote a new product and send out a huge postcard printing campaign that you start getting inquiries for which you get confused looks from your employees. Do you get the picture?
Nowhere is this more prevalent than when you are introducing a new product, and I have seen so many blunders based on bad communication before and it is rather sad each time it happens. The results can hurt a company a lot and waste them plenty of cash.
The problems almost always come from the development and release of the product being out of sync with the marketing for it. For any new product release, you want to have your marketing out in the public ahead of the actual release, and then another prominent marketing push on the day of the release. You might get a large number of color postcards out to people a month before the product release, and all of those postcards are going to mention the date of the release.
But then the product gets pushed back. The development team needed more time and did not bother to tell the marketing department, so suddenly you have a lot of marketing material that says the wrong thing, and all of your planned marketing pushes for the day of the release need to quickly be scrapped or moved back. You have been boosting up support for a while and you have to turn around and tell your customers they have to suddenly wait.
All it takes to avoid this is to have regular, maybe even weekly, updates between the two sides. Be sure the development team is constantly aware of what kind of marketing pushes are going on, and that the marketing team knows of any potential delays before they send out those color postcards.
This also requires both sides to be completely up front with their progress, and that no one is making assumptions or overestimating the chance of a specific release date.
Really, communication should be a strong part of any kind of department and everyone should be well aware of what is going on in the other departments. I have found that sometimes the reason why a product gets delayed is because one subdivision of the development process is not properly communicating with everyone else.
Sit down before everything starts, get every single person working close to the project together, and make sure all of them have a strong system set up for communicating. Yes, it might take longer to do this, but in the end, you will avoid a lot of nasty pitfalls and have a smooth product release. All it takes is a little communication.
Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of the developments in postcard printing or color postcard industry.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Business Marketing - The Top 10 "Game-Changers" to Boost Sales in Any Economy
By Taylor Hunt
Need the inside scoop on "exactly" how to market your business? Tap into the professional resource for insider game-changers to market your business, product or service on ANY budget. Join the A-List and other smart marketers -- grab the edge over your competition >>> http://GoldCircleInsider.com
- Over deliver -- In a world filled with businesses who have a "whatever" attitude, if you deliver more than you promise you will stand out. Give a little unexpected bonus or gift with their purchase. You will attract loyal customers like teenagers to an iPod sale.
- Increase customer service -- After purchase follow-up with your customer. Think of your customer service department as a marketing center. How many businesses even send a follow-up email or note to their new customers or check in with them? Do it. Your customers will love you for it. How do customers show their love? The buy, stay and refer other customers.
- Move your marketing budget to measurable methods -- Online marketing can be laser targeted, trackable and provides more bang for your buck. The Direct Marketing Association reports email marketing returns $50.45 for every $1 spent. This means if you only have $100/month to market, you could see sales of $5,045 if you spend it on email marketing.
- Re-contact previous customers -- Failure to follow-up with contacts and customers is the number two reason businesses fail. The average business loses 50% of their customer base every year. It costs 5 times more to sell to a new customer than an existing one.
- Build relationships with your contacts and customers -- When someone contacts your business for information or makes a purchase -- be sure to keep in contact with them. Sign them up for your newsletter, collect their email address and continue to provide them with valuable information to position yourself as the one they talk about when they say "I got a great person for that".
- Ask current customers for referrals -- You do not have to rely on organic referrals. Ask for referrals. Make it easy. Put a "forward to a friend" link on your website. Put up a sign all your customers see that says: "Know someone else who needs a great _________? Let them know about it and you both get a $50 Best Buy card when they become a customer." This is just an example, you can tweak it. The key is to make it so great your customers start thinking hard about all the people they could refer to get a bunch of those great gifts.
- Joint venture with other businesses to create offers to customers no competitor can match -- What businesses could you team up with who offer products or services that complement yours? If you are a plumber or a home service business how great would your customer feel if you left a wrapped sample brownie from a local baker or a single flower and card from a local florist on the counter when you are done? You could arrange with one of these kind of local providers to get these free or at cost in exchange for leaving their card with the little gift. Might cost you $2 at most per customer. What might that generate in goodwill, future business and referrals?
- Run a contest for customers and contacts -- You can run a contest to draw in customers. Use the joint venture idea above in #7 to get a bundle of prizes from other local merchants and create a win-win all the way around. Build the contest around your business. Own a small retail store or restaurant? Build the contest around your "solutions". Have your customers and contacts interact with what your products and services: a simple quiz about the products you offer, or a recipe contest to create a brand new desert you name after them.
- Write articles to establish you as a expert in the solution your contacts care about -- Use your articles to distribute them on your website, the Internet and in your print newsletters. Over time you build up a reputation, and a bank of quality content you can reuse to create booklets and helpful tip sheets your customers refer to again and again (don't forget to put your business information on them!)
- Give your marketing copy a makeover - Great copy increases sales, period. You cannot go wrong studying copywriting or hiring a professional copywriter.
Need the inside scoop on "exactly" how to market your business? Tap into the professional resource for insider game-changers to market your business, product or service on ANY budget. Join the A-List and other smart marketers -- grab the edge over your competition >>> http://GoldCircleInsider.com
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