Business Marketing Tools, Tips, & Ideas

Direct Marketing On A Shoestring

2009-05-28T11:21:00.003-04:00

Alan Rosenspan gave a presentation at the DMA Annual Conference last year called "Better, Cheaper, Faster."

In his presentation he stressed that the single best way to make something cheaper was to make it better!

Here are some of the "Shoestring Thinking Techniques" he shared:

1. Test a postcard. Although postcards will rarely pull as well as a direct mail package, they are an ideal way to test an idea, as well as measure the effectiveness of your mailing.
I did a campaign for a high-technology telephone answering service called Wildfire. The client decided that the mailing piece was too expensive. So I recommended we split the list and mail half of them a postcard with the same offer. The result was a significant reduction in costs. Plus the postcard won in terms of cost per response. In addition, first class postcards are also an inexpensive way to clean your list.

2. Use card decks. When available to your target market, card decks can be used as a "secret weapon" for direct marketers. They're very cheap to buy and inexpensive to produce. Most card decks also allow you to split run their deck, so you can test 2 or more different offers. Once you measure the comparative results, you can then decide to invest in a more expensive program.

3. Try a "cluster bomb." Here your goal is to get more than one response per mailer. You can do a sophisticated program where you ask people to recommend others in their company. Or you can simply include an additional reply card. I did this for a mailing for Interleaf and increased response by almost 20% -- for pennies.

4. Develop a fulfillment "wrapper." A software company I worked with had high fulfillment costs. Every time they changed their product or their price, received a favorable product review, or gained a big new customer, they had to reprint their brochure. I created a simple "wrapper" folder for them, and a set of independent elements including a price sheet, product specs, and case-histories. When something changed, they merely replaced that single element. Plus they could add new elements as they went along.

5. Be creative about buying and using lists. You don't have to mail to the entire purchased list. You can mail half and then decide if it pays to mail again. You can also negotiate multiple use. For example, many list companies will sell you unlimited use for one year for about double the cost of a one-time use. However, if it's a good list, you will want to mail to it several times over the next 12 months. Swapping lists is also a money-saver. Try to find a company that makes a complimentary product or shares your target market. You might even decide to run a co-promotion. The software and the hardware companies do it all the time.

6. Use clip art or stock photos. There is a lot of free clip art available as well as inexpensive stock photography. Try to negotiate a fee for "testing." You can then agree to pay more if you decide to roll out your program.

7. Lose the brochure. If you have to cut out any part of your direct marketing package, this is it -- particularly in business-to-business. A powerful letter and an effective reply device can sometimes pull just as well, at greatly reduced costs.

8. Think of your customers first. It is 5 times cheaper to get a sale from an existing customer than to find a new one. (It can cost 100 times as much to win them back). One of the most important shoestring techniques is to keep your customers satisfied.

Extend Your Reach with Mail

2009-05-04T09:53:00.001-04:00

Extend Your Reach with Mail

As brands zero in on engagement as a key marketing battleground in 2009, mail remains a potent weapon.

With consumer spending sliding and the economy in a downturn, marketers are more pressed than ever to build relationships with target audiences. They must develop a bond that goes beyond a single sale and into long-term engagement with the brand. This type of interaction isn’t a marketing luxury, either. Engagement is quickly becoming one of the most important and hotly contested industry battlegrounds of 2009. And no channel can engage as potently as direct mail.

Consider that most businesses grow by acquiring new customers or increasing the spending of existing customers. When you create a relationship with a consumer, you increase the likelihood that you will either win that customer’s loyalty or increase their share of wallet.

To this end, mail remains an ideal medium. It is a fundamental, familiar, easy and safe communications pipeline into homes. Moreover, mail stimulates multiple senses at once. And unlike typical Internet marketing — where the consumer has to initiate contact with the company — mail brings your brand to the consumer. In fact, one USPS® study shows that 98 percent of consumers bring their mail in each day, and that 77 percent of customers sort through and organize the mail immediately.

When consumers receive mail, they know they are in complete control of the relationship. They can open the envelope, remove the contents and decide whether or not to keep them. They know it’s a secure, private message, which helps them be open to an ongoing dialogue. There are none of the privacy concerns that in digital marketing frustrate the connection the company is trying to forge.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that the digital realm can’t strengthen engagement.
But mail can target in a way digital just can’t match. In the home, one person is typically responsible for handling the mail. Known in our circles as the CEO of the Mail, this person is also the household’s bill payer and principal shopper in 85 percent of homes. That’s the person most marketers want to reach. There’s no similar connection between a computer user and the manager of home life. E-mail messages may get to the right home, but not the right person.

By the right person, I mean the influencer in the home. For instance, our research shows that, in three-fourths of American households, women are CEOs of the Mail. In these households, women are also overwhelmingly responsible for responding to marketing offers: 95 percent determine which ad materials to keep; 93 percent clip coupons; and 86 percent write the checks.

So not only can mail engage, but it’s much more likely to engage the person most responsible for purchase choices.

Some marketers feel mail is not as effective at brand building as it is at generating response. But mail can be just as effective at building a relationship with a brand.

For instance, large retailers have always used mail to retain and strengthen relationships with existing customers. While some store mailers, like coupons or special promotion notices, aim to get customers in the store, other pieces communicate changes in the relationship with existing customers, such as upcoming merchandise or special events. The retailers differentiate themselves by building a deeper relationship with their consumers, resulting in a definite advantage in the marketplace. Mail can engage customers like no other medium because consumers already trust it and are open to receiving it in a way that makes building marketing routines and relationships around it very easy.

Greg Whiteman is the manager for market research for the [1] United States Postal Service®

Mow the Lawn: Great, Edgy, Schick Advertisement

2009-04-08T11:20:00.004-04:00

Every gardener loves the satisfaction of creating a well-crafted design on his front lawn with just a few pushes of the old John Deere. Wilkinson and JWT are apparently banking on this love-of-gardening frenzy to transfer to other lawns, those more, ahem, south of the border. Innuendo and subtlety do the trick nicely in this ad for the new Wilkinson Sword for women. Too bad this gardening technique will never make it to HGTV.

The US Version is a lot more subtle. Check it out here:

2009-03-08T19:12:00.001-04:00

Werk! Werk! Werk!

2009-03-08T18:36:00.001-04:00

Testing once more, this time through AOL IM on the BlackBerry http://www.ping.fm - sorry Andy

2009-03-08T18:20:00.001-04:00

Testing how this updates through the AOL IM tool across all the social networking sites...

2009-03-08T18:19:00.001-04:00

Trying out Ping.fm to see the posts across the multiple social networking sites for the first time
Will Royall
President
Royall Media, Inc.
cell: 386-747-1964

Oh how advertising has changed....

2009-02-03T08:51:00.007-05:00

Interesting ads from the 1930s

Direct Mail Marketing - Tip of the Week - February 3, 2009

2009-02-03T08:45:00.003-05:00

Ways to improve your response
__________________________________________________
Add value.

Imagine if you opened a Fortune Cookie and the message was “Try our delicious desserts.” You’d feel cheated. It’s supposed to be about you – not them.

The same is true about your direct mail. It should be about your prospect and not just your product or service.
__________________________________________________

Direct Mail Marketing - Tip of the Week - January 26, 2009

2009-01-26T12:07:00.003-05:00

Ways to improve response:
__________________________________________________
Target the right people.

You don’t want to try to sell lawn mowers to people who live in apartments. It’s not only a waste of time, but it’s a waste of your marketing dollars.

- Make sure you are mailing to a list of your “most likely” prospects. One of the rules of direct marketing is that your next customer will look a lot like your last customer.

- Regularly updating and improving your mailing lists helps limit duplication and waste, which is just one way to be green!
__________________________________________________

Direct Mail Marketing - Tip of the Week - 1/20/2009

2009-01-20T19:03:00.002-05:00

Ways to Improve Your Response

The Outer Envelope:
__________________________________________________
Highlight your offer.

If you have a tempting offer, put it right on the outer envelope and include a graphic of it.

Don’t run the risk of your prospect missing it!
__________________________________________________

Why It´s Important to Stay the Course with Direct Mail Marketing

2009-01-16T10:33:00.003-05:00

When Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart was asked what he was going to do about the recession, he answered: "We don´t plan to participate."

What he really meant was that he saw the slowdown as an opportunity to intensify his marketing efforts. Like most successful entrepreneurs, he believed that when times are good, you should market your products and services, and when times are bad, you must market them.

Apparently, he´s not the only one who thinks that way. A classic McGraw Hill Research study of U.S. recessions, which analyzed 600 companies over five-years, concluded that "firms, [which] had maintained or increased advertising during the…recession, could boast an average sales growth of 275 percent over the preceding five years. Those who cut advertising realized a paltry increase of only 19 percent."

Although not always easy to follow as you watch your company´s bottom line shrink, Walton´s advice and the research study´s conclusions are worth considering. This is no time to reduce your marketing efforts; it´s the perfect time to take stock of what really works.

According to "The Cyclical Analysis of the Direct Mail Market," a study conducted by the Winterberry Group, direct mail works. The report concludes that the use of direct mail has increased each year over the past 50 years, underscoring the medium´s position as "the most dynamic part of the overall marketing communications mix."

The study also states that direct mail outperforms other media during periods of weak or moderate economic growth. What´s more, projections show an anticipated growth in the use of direct mail in excess of 7 percent between 2003 and 2005.

Here´s why you should continue your direct mail marketing efforts during uncertain times:

Historically, companies maintaining or increasing their direct mail marketing efforts through economic downturns increase sales and market share during and after the slow period.
Businesses that regard direct mail marketing costs as investments rather than expenses enjoy higher long-term dividends.
Companies that remain aggressive during a downturn seize market share from their more timid competitors.
A downturn is the time to solidify relationships with existing customers so they remember you when times get better.
Continuing to market when times are bad projects an image of corporate confidence, strength and stability during chaotic times.
If a company´s market presence diminishes, so do customers, and it costs much more to regain the lost ground than the amount saved by slashing the marketing budget.
When competitors cut back, marketing efforts by companies that ride the downturn appear even more outstanding.

Although everyone seems focused on price during a down economy, value should be your real concern. Because tough times place restrictions on budgets, you need to explore creative ways to make your direct mail marketing efforts more cost effective.

Here are some tips on how to achieve savings when you use direct mail to market your company:

Spend only productive dollars. Focus on your audience. Sharpen your sights and aim only at prospects with the highest potential. It´s more effective to send smaller mailings to qualified prospects frequently than it is to send one large mailing to unqualified customers.
Sharpen your copy. Distill your message into essential copy points that best convey your product/service and offer. Remember to stress benefits, not features.
Evaluate design. Take a good look at whether or not you really need to send a package or an envelope with an insert. Investigate the possibility of doing a self-mailer or even a classy looking postcard.

Assess printing. Do you really need a 4-color piece? Two-colors, when used creatively, can produce an upscale look. Sometimes, you can even get away with printing an attractive piece that does the job in one color.

Save on lettershop services. By simplifying your mail piece, you can reduce production time and labor costs in the mailhouse.

Investigate the possibility of postage savings. Consult your USPS Account Manager or mailhouse about how to achieve maximum postal discounts.

For smart businesses, the economic downturn is not an obstacle. It is an occasion to increase customer loyalty, solidify market position and even attract new customers.
You can make the tough times work for you by using direct mail—a time-tested marketing approach that could improve your bottom line while your competitors continue to do little but worry about what´s down the pike.

Direct Mail Marketing - Tip of the Week - 1/12/2009

2009-01-12T12:58:00.007-05:00

Ways to Improve Your Response

The Outer Envelope:
__________________________________________________
Ask a provocative question.

One of the world’s best copywriters, Bill Jaymee, created a famous outer envelope for the magazine Psychology Today. He wrote, “Do you close the bathroom door, even if you’re the only one at home?”
__________________________________________________

Recency and Frequency

2008-07-09T17:47:00.002-04:00

Roy Wollen, President of Database Insight LLC and long time database marketing consultant, showed the chart below on a slide at a recent direct marketing conference – highlighting a compilation of several direct mail campaigns his clients did and tying the results to how recently the target has purchased and how often they had purchased in one year.

You can see that the results in % response and sales per piece are pretty amazing! This should give you some good insight into the power that staying in touch with your customers, knowing the right customers to contact and the subtle role that recency and frequency can play in your end results!

So remember…
Stay in touch with your customers & prospects in a manner that REALLY GETS THROUGH!
Take the time to break down your lists by recency and frequency!
Resist reacting to a slow economy by literally ignoring your best customers.

And most important…
Utilize resources like your USPS Account Manager and his Direct Mail Marketing Team!

Postcards, The Untold Truth

2008-07-09T17:46:00.001-04:00

Most people haven’t realized it yet, but postcards can offer many of the same benefits as direct mail and e-mail. Not only are they cheap, but also easier to mail than solo envelope magalogs, catalogs and mailings.

Although, what’s the best way to utilize them? One way that postcards shine as a marketing tool is when they are used as a secondary driver. By sending postcards out a week before an event, you can remind customers about the offer and when it expires.
And nobody’s going to argue with you: Email is certainly cheaper. But you also have to keep in mind that not all your customers may have email addresses, plus there’s a chance that some of the addresses you have are invalid. Besides, inboxes are getting more cluttered each day, making emails less effective.

You can also drive traffic to your store/website with postcards and let your customers know about your promotions. Also, encourage the customers to bring the postcard with them to the store, for this will give you better tracking than normal retail mailings. It’s advised to mail to consumers within a reasonable distance of the store.
It’s also beneficial to send individualized postcards to customers; postcards with a focus on a particular item that appeals to a customer. This type of customized offer can come across very pleasing.

So what’s the lesson of the day? Postcards can offer an inexpensive form of direct mail, and when combined with other promotions can notably help boost your sales.

The grass is greener…

2008-05-15T12:58:00.003-04:00

Our environment is saturated with advertising, which makes it increasingly difficult for companies to differentiate themselves from the pack. For the most part, the strategy of advertising is to inundate the world with branded imagery so that everyone is familiar with the company and their product. This form of advertising will probably be the staple of advertising for generations to come.

While familiarity and brand trust is extremely important, it isn’t always the most engaging way to reach an audience. It is far more effective to engage the audience and really stimulate their mind. This is why guerrilla marketing is so effective at the moment.

In an effort to promote their commitment to the environment, Sony turned to Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney to create “a living grass car for a Sony corporate image campaign. The car was parked around Sydney with tags announcing Sony Australia's initiative to offset carbon emissions caused by corporate travel.”

http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=1e1f0205

Not only does an ad like this create a lot of attention where it is displayed but also creates a lot of buzz online and through word of mouth. By doing something that’s intriguing and out of context, people will naturally pay more attention to it. This grass car is a fantastic example of engaging alternative advertising.

Guerilla Marketing Ideas and Techniques for Business

2008-03-18T17:41:00.000-04:00

Guerilla Marketing is nothing new, but new approaches have caught the eyes of major companies due to the works of a firm in Madrid Spain. Here at Royall Media, we've been trying to get our clients to do work like this in the states - but it's hard to get individuals to think outside the "marketing box." If you're interested - we'd like to be on your team and help you to accomplish something like this with our creativity!

Philips Luma Live Light Textures - New Light Advertising - Advertising Methods - Advertising Mediums

2008-02-06T11:36:00.000-05:00

A new medium for advertising, just about anywhere... and boy does it look cool.

Jeans Advertisement, Unique Advertisement - Creative Marketing

2007-12-14T11:24:00.000-05:00

Copy States: At this moment, your bum is completely exposed. If it were in a sexy pair of jeans, it would attract attention all the time!

The Real Orlando Addy's Website

2007-12-14T07:55:00.000-05:00

The Orlando Addy's event is an awards show every year which recognizes the most creative agencies for their creativity in marketing and advertising campaigns. What better place to show off creative talents than to a group of creative individuals? That's just what we did when we created http://royallmedia.com/orlandoaddys/ - the original Addy's website.

Unfortunately, by some un-popular opinions, the site was deemed to risqué and not suitable for a "creative" audience. Censorship on creativity... ironic, no? It is being replaced with one such as this one... http://www.addysgallerynight.com/ . Creative?

The Addy's have been known for sites and opening shows that push the envelope due to the strict corporate environments Ad Agencies normally have to adhere to. This is part of the fun that agencies get to have with a night that's "just for them!"

Take the Atlanta Addy's website from last year for example (no link to show as this year's site is up) - each video contained 6-7 curse words and poked fun at the intellegence of advertising professionals. Another great example is the Seattle Addy's opening from a few years back. - This one may truley be overboard, but that would be a matter of opinion! http://youtube.com/watch?v=XGnYskaFn5A&feature=related

Television Advertisement Commercial for LA Animal Services

2007-12-07T14:25:00.000-05:00

Another Great Marketing Campaign - Billboard

2007-11-10T08:24:00.000-05:00

Eskom's Latest Marketing Campaign - another great billboard.

Subtle But Genius...

2007-10-21T09:44:00.000-04:00

Subtle but genius billboard advertisement! Keep the creativity flowing!

Royall Media - Unique Brochure - Different Brochure - Marketing Brochure Ideas

2007-08-01T21:46:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share the creative process with you on our new brochure. From the get-go as a creative company, we knew our next brochure couldn't be the "standard" that everyone else has. We had to have a different, creative brochure, to show we were a different, creative company.

If you take a look, it's two sided. The final product flat will be 12.5" X 12.5". Once folded however, it will look like an 8.5" X 11" normal brochure. The standard cliché, "You can't judge a book by it's cover" fits well here...

Side 1:

Side 2:

Picture of "Mock Up" before final print run, Front:

Back:

Inside:

Inside Flap "Marketing & Advertising" is Opened to Reveal Marketing & Advertising Portfolio:

Inside Flap "Web Development" is Opened to Reveal Web Development Portfolio

Another Inside Flap Example:

Keep those creative juices flowing! Strive to be different! That's what separates you from your competition!

Great Advertisements - Unique Advertisements - Great Advertising

2007-07-31T10:10:00.000-04:00

I hope these advertisements can provide you and your business some inspiration...

Direct Mail:

2007-05-22T17:25:00.000-04:00

Let me start by saying… It’s not paper-spam like you get everyday in mailbox! The kind of direct mail you’re used to is like carpet-bombing every mail box in a 10 zip code area. We’ve had a lot of success with postal surgical strike postcards that go to small groups of very specific demographics. We sent out a postcard last month to every business in the Metro Orlando area that makes more then a million dollars in profits annually. The response rate was about 4%, which is higher then the 1% response rate direct mail campaigns typically generate.

Consider Imagery:

2007-05-22T16:50:00.000-04:00

I really hate old clichés and I really hate to admit that they become clichés because they represent a time-tested truth. When putting together a design it’s really important to decide what you want your image to say. Anyone can open PhotoShop, slap some images together + the cool font of the day but the designs that last are the ones that come from a fully flushed out concept. “Good design goes to heaven, Bad design goes everywhere!” is a much newer adage that I saw on a bumper sticker a few years back. As you’d expect, super-cool pink background (that particular years new black) and written in a trendy cool ultra-hip font. Not sure the layout will stand the test of time, but I hope the words will.

"Ten Trends to Drive Traffic and Sales in 2007"

2007-03-07T14:10:00.000-05:00

Bravo to Heidi Cohen. She has compiled a great list of trends that will drive sales and marketing in 2007. Personally, Royall Media has seen triple digit growth in the interest our clients have shown in internet marketing and interactive media.

The main trends she outlines are:

2007 Trends

Online video advertising keeps growing.
Social media evolves.
User-generated content continues deepening engagement and giving users a voice.
Search marketing keeps expanding.
Improved e-mail execution builds customer relationships.
Online content continues evolving.
Alternative content distribution channels such as RSS and tagging expand.
Second Life continues to live while gathering competitors.
Increased real-time testing and analytics sophistication drive bottom-line improvements.
Integration with other channels improves.

Check out the full article here: http://www.optimost.com/press/20061221.phtml

Focusing Your Marketing Efforts

2007-03-02T12:37:00.001-05:00

A few simple things to think about...

• It's better to send 5 direct mail pieces in a year to 1,000 people, than to send 1 direct mail piece to 5,000 people.

• It's better to purchase 100 commercial TV spots that will air on 1 channel in a small geographic area, than 100 commercial spots spread out over 10 channels and a large area.

• It's better to visit the same networking groups over and over, and build relationships with those involved, rather than "group hop" to as many as possible to get your name out there.

• It's better to do an awesome job for a few clients, than to do a mediocre job for a lot of clients.

Focusing your efforts can really pay off. The idea is that you want your company to be top of mind, which means getting your message in front of the same people multiple times consistently. If you spread yourself too thin, you'll see a drop in your marketing dollar's ROI.

The numbers above are representational only, and are not recommendations. Most marketing plans would reach out to a much larger number of prospects to generate a real return on investment.

Social Networks - Part of Web 2.0

2007-02-05T08:47:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard of Social Networks, or Web 2.0, chances are you're still a part of it, or have heard of it before not knowing what it was. It's literally changing the way people communicate with friends, family, and business associates. In fact, for marketers, Web 2.0, and more particularly, social networks - open up entirely new opportunities. (For this article, we will not go into detail about the other facets of Web 2.0, for more on Web 2.0, click here.)

So what exactly is a social network you ask? It's your little black book online, but with more detail about your life, photos from your every day activities, and a list of your friends... friends... friends - so that you can see the connections that you are literally able to make through knowing a friend of a friend. Myspace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, are all examples of businesses who have set up social networks as their business model.

So how can a marketer take advantage of these great social opportunities presented before us? The obvious answer would be to create your own social networking website, which could prove difficult, seeing as though you would have to compete with the already established giants above. Although, there is still room I believe for niche networks, such as one just for skateboarders, take ShredLife.com for example. You could create a social network for your preferred niche market. Or, think of an idea that establishes one of the above networks as the base for your product / service / or website. A great example of this is PimpMySpace.org

For the non-entrepreneur, or entrepreneur who already has a business going with great products to be sold, leveraging the power of social networks to spread a message or idea can be entirely too easy. If you have a product that sticks, that makes people talk, what better way to spread the word than word of mouth? Social networks are all about online word of mouth. In fact - that's the point of a social network! People making connections and sharing (communicating) what really matters to them - their favorite music, videos, foods, business associates, friends, activities, cool new gadgets they just bought, etc.

To be fair, social networks have really existed for quite some time in a more simple form called the bulletin board. On bulletin board communities, users can post text, pictures, and sometimes videos to discuss a topic or idea. Chances are, you've been to a bulletin board about a favorite subject of yours, or to get help for that pesky gadget that messes up every once in a while. The difference between the bulletin board and the social networks of today is that today's networks are much more personal. We show the "person" behind the post and aren't just an online "user name" anymore.

Who knows what the future will bring, but there is one thing you can be sure of: that social networks will do nothing but progress, and that user driven content and information, not a corporate marketing giant's, will eventually rule the web with a more personal, social feel.

"Define Advertising"

2006-12-06T07:39:00.000-05:00

A quick search on Google gives you "Definitions of advertising on the Web," and boy, are there many. How can there be so many definitions of one word?

One of the definitions say, "Ad: a public promotion of some product or service" - but couldn't I advertise in a private setting? Or couldn't I advertise the birth of my new baby boy? I would not think of a child as a product or service.

Another definition, just a short while down the list says, "Making known; calling public attention to a product, service, or company by means of paid announcements...." wait, I can't even finish this one because I know I've gotten free, non-paid advertising before. In fact, every time I send an email my signature at the bottom acts as a little free advertising for my websites.

I have to say, the definition that is somewhat ambiguous, but that I agree with the most, comes from www.marketconscious.com/dict.htm where they say, "There are a variety of definitions, with subtle but important distinctions. While the general public frequently views advertising as encompassing all forms of promotional communication, most advertising practitioners limit it to paid communications conveyed by a mass medium. The latter definition distinguishes advertising from other forms of marketing communication, such as Sales Promotion, Public Relations, and Direct Marketing."

I like that! They admit that there are many definitions. They admit although normally it is paid, it can mean any form of promotional communication. Most importantly, I think they further understand when "advertising" is not paid, then it can be considered part of your other business sectors such as your Direct Marketing, Public Relations, Sales, and the like.

What do you think the definition of Advertising is? Leave me a comment!

Royall Media, Inc. Launches NEW Website!

2006-11-29T08:35:00.000-05:00

Check out the NEW website for Royall Media, Inc.! The website is Flash based and contains video and animated graphics. Be sure to contact RMI for your username and password for the casestudies section.

http://www.royallmedia.com

"Hal Becker's Simple Sales Questionnaire"

2006-11-27T11:01:00.000-05:00

Here's a pretty useful tool (to be used as a guideline) for anyone who has to "sell" their product or service. Hal Becker is a salesman, plain and simple - recently, I heard him speak in Orlando and he had some great tips.

One tool of his can be found here on his website. It's his Simple Sales Questionnaire.

Although its not going to function for every product or service, you could easily adapt it to your specific situation with a little alteration; not to mention it's great to have an outline to cover the basics.

Don't forget however, sales should be a relationship building process and you should focus on really helping people and companies out! If there is no real value to what you are doing for someone, the relationship wont last for long. I'm not a fan of the "hard sale."

"Customer Lifecycle Management"

2006-11-08T15:09:00.000-05:00

An important facet in marketing is understanding your customer's lifecyle.

A business that employs customer lifecyle management will reap the benefits of long lasting, increasing revenue from repeat clients as time progresses.

Here's an outline to follow:

1. Target - Identify your target market
2. Attract - Attract customers through marketing your brand.
3. Engage - Engage and acquire clients by defining and refining the sales process.
4. Service - Give customers what they want in a timely manner, and make it the best of quality.
5. Time - Learn the yearly, quarterly, or monthly purchasing habits of your customer and adjust marketing programs 30-60 days before their purchase. (Look easily at when your customers purchased what last year.)
6. Retain - Keep your clients by providing great customer service, and by continuing to find Win/Wins.
7. Deepen - Provide new products and services to build revenue and deepen the relationship.

Create strategic plans for each part of the customer lifecycle seperately so you can remain focused. Where are your current customers in their lifecycle now? Are you taking care of their current needs?

Another great article (more in depth) on Customer Lifecycles:
Marketing.org
http://www.marketing.org/ArticleDetails.asp?AId=699

"Tom Hopkins' The Champion Creed"

2006-11-01T20:30:00.000-05:00

Words of Encouragement

"I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed.

And the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep trying."

Just remember this in your ventures and continue to be a success in all you do!

Find this and other usefull free resources on his website here: http://tomhopkins.com/free_resources.htm

"Give it Away, Viral Marketing, Build Your Business"

2006-10-27T09:26:00.000-04:00

In my quest to try and help a computer repair technition build sales, we've come up with a very simple solution. Give it away for FREE.

What?!...

That's right. Give it away. Obviously I'm not talking about the core products or services that pay your bills and are the bread and butter of your company, but if you're looking for new clients, one of the easiest ways to pick up new ones is to give your services away!

In the case of the computer repair technition - his problem was finding new business. He mentioned that once a client became a client of his, if they ever had problems in the future, they usually called him back. In otherwords, he didn't have a problem keeping them - he had a problem getting them to buy in the first place.

Little business card sized coupons were the answer. They read, "Call this number and receive 1 hour of on-site computer repair services for FREE." Next line, "Absolutely no strings attached, Guaranteed." Last line, phone number. On the back - "The name of the person who gave me this card is: ______________"

Viral Marketing - Pass not one, but 4 cards out to everyone you know. Tell them to keep one for themselves and pass the other 3 onto friends. For every "friend" that calls you and mentions the person's name on the back you gave the original 4 cards to - give that original person another free hour as well. They'll be sure to keep passing your cards along to others if their getting something for it.

Now, the computer repair technition charges for any hour past the first, upcharges on parts needed to replace, and will custom quote a job if he needs to take the machine back to his office to repair it. There are still plenty of ways for him to make money, but the marketing efforts here are minimal, and it works on its own, building him a huge database of new clients.

Give it away, have others give it away for you, and build your business quick with just a little sweat equity.

Do you have a situation that needs some marketing advice? Post a comment here, and I'll reply.

"Apply the Age Old 80/20 Rule and Win"

2006-10-23T19:45:00.000-04:00

The old rule goes, "80% of your profits come from 20% of your work, while 80% of the work you do, only accounts for 20% of your profits."

If we could find more of those Top 20% Clients, you'd agree I'm sure, that your profits would shoot through the roof - without increasing your workload by a tangible amount.

Furthermore, would it be possible then to do less of the tedious 80% work that doesn't give you much at the end of the day? I think so.

This is the perfect business world - what every business strives to accomplish - a client list of their perfect clients.

How can we accomplish this?

First, it really starts by knowing your perfect client. This is basic marketing stuff, I know you've heard it before, your "target market." But keep in mind, up until this point, your target market has also consisted of the other 80% clients who aren't "perfect." They too need your product or service, and your marketing strategies have been bringing them in. What you really must do is find out what your target TOP market is. How do they differ from the other 80%? Why do you like them better? Why do they like you? Why do they do business with you rather than your competition? Ask them! Find out as much as you can. The more you know about your perfect client, the easier it will be to spot them out in a crowd of 80 percenters.

Then, I say, apply the 80/20 rule to everything you do.

1. Do you give Thank You Gifts? Stop. Give 80/20 Gifts.

Your Top 20% Clients provide you with 4 times as much profit as the other 80%, and they should be thanked as such. Treat them with nicer gifts, and tell them why you appreciate their business 4 times as much. These are the ones you never want to loose.

2. Do you write and use a To Do List? Stop. Start using an 80/20 List.

Write out your to do list tomorrow, and then separate the top 20% most important things in a separate column and do those first. Tackle each day like this and you will get the tougher, more important things done, earlier and easier each day.

3. Do you do a Quarterly Marketing Review? Keep doing it. But now, apply the 80/20 Marketing Budget.

Do your review and focus on what is working. What initiatives are driving the 20% of your clients that you want? Put 80% of your marketing dollars on what is working, give the boot to the other not-so-hot initiatives, and use the other 20% of your funds to try something new and experimental.

These are just a couple off the top of my head examples, as to how you can apply the 80/20 strategy. There are many other facets of your business that would help you to achieve better results with less work. Find them, focus on improving them, and win.

All in all, if you want top results - focus on the activities that generate top results! It sounds simple, but day to day interruptions, and not so important "To Do" things always seem to get in our way. Don't let them, and apply the 80/20 rule to everything you do.

"The Best Way to Grow Sales"

2006-10-21T13:40:00.000-04:00

Most people think the best way to grow sales is to build loyalty from your current customer base. This could help to secure long term cashflows, as well as help to increase the average purchase price per customer over the long term, as they build trust with your company.

Although it is very important to build loyalty with your client base, many companies spend too much on marketing to their current clients, and forget that true growth comes from the number of new clients you have - not from the average purchase price of your current clients.

Once clients become accustomed to your pricing structure, it can be difficult to raise prices. The only way you can raise your price point is to find new customers.

Furthermore, most clients have a need for roughly the same amount of products or services as they did in prior years.

For example: One man who might purchase business cards from a company for his small independent organization might need these new cards every six months.

The company might be able to get him to increase his sales by getting him to order post cards for a direct mail campaign as well. That would bring in a few hundred dollars more over the course of the year, and maybe a couple thousand if he had a big enough organization.

However, if the company were to find a completely new client who had 100 people in their office that needed business cards every six months, sales would be increased by several thousand that year.

The effort expended trying to increase that which your clients are already spending with your company is better spent looking for your next client.

I recently was working at a Fiserv convention and staging (helping with the Audio/Video) and their guest speaker, Doug Hall, founder of Eureka! Ranch - an ideas, marketing and consulting firm - had these statistics:

Out of 9,804 brands, the number of customers each brand had was 2.8 times more important than amount bought per customer.

The best way to grow your sales revenue is to find new customers.

With this in mind, do you spend your marketing dollars where it counts? Make sure you are reaching out to as many new people as you can. Build a giant database of happy clients, continuously add new clients to it, and the volume of their sales will help carry you and your business to the next level.

"Online Networking Groups"

2006-07-27T23:36:00.000-04:00

Like to go to networking events? If not, your missing out on one of the best ways to have fun, meet new clients, build new relationships, and generate referrals.

Check out these great sites for doing it online!

Build Your Network: (And work through your friend's networks!)
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/227/309

Generate Targeted Leads:
http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com

Survey Says: "Consider a more Creative Approach" - Video and Multimedia is a Better Solution than Powerpoint.

2006-07-22T19:13:00.000-04:00

Business Presentations are a bore says Survey (Copyright PTP Training & Marketing Ltd)

A nationwide survey among more than 300 managers has revealed that a massive 97% of them find it difficult to stay attentive during business presentations. In addition two thirds say that any presentation, which goes on for more than 30 minutes is too long with the majority opting for an ideal duration of between 10 and 20 minutes!

These are among the results of a survey undertaken by one of the UK’s leading training companies – PTP Training & Marketing Ltd, which has a Leicester head office and 50+ training centres across the country.

The key reasons for business presentations being seen as a bore are more to do with the lack of skill of the presenter than the content of the presentation. The main reasons for poor performance include ‘lack of confidence in presenting material’, ‘reading word for word what is written on visuals’, ‘using too much information on the slides’ and ‘addressing the slide rather than the audience’.

It also appears that many on the receiving end of an uninspiring presentation don’t have a huge amount of sympathy towards the presenter. Just over half say the presenter should prove they are worth listening to and that it is not their job to make them feel at ease. However 40% acknowledge that it’s a tough job being the presenter and will always try to give them support and encouragement.

And despite the claimed importance attached to appearance and body language, this isn’t reflected among the results where only 8% of people believe the way people look and act is as important as what they say. While just over a fifth claim to be persuaded by facts alone, 70% are after the all-round performance of appearance and body language combined with good presentation content.

Commenting on the results, Marc Holland, managing director of PTP says:

“’Death by PowerPoint’ is a common phenomenon where many presenters see their role as simply reading the slide contents. This is a sure fire way to lose your audience within the first few minutes and it is easy to see why 30 minutes of this is the maximum people can stand.

“Presentations should be about using visuals to support and add pace and variety to getting across your key messages. Until people learn not to hide behind visuals and rely more on other aspects which make up a good presentation such as preparation and understanding the needs of the audience the majority of business people will be switching off very early on in the presentation.”

"The Integrated Approach to Marketing"

2005-11-16T20:22:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard the term "integrated approach?" It means that all parts to the system (any system, but in your case your business) work together to get across the same message.

When I start branding a company - I always take an integrated approach. We look at their target client first. We create an image and brand that reflects the values and styles of those clients, and then we promote the product's benefit throughout all the marketing materials we do.

It also works when trying to get across an educational message to a large group of people.

For example, I'm currently working on a project that is trying to inform the public about the serious issues regarding the commercial fishing industry.

Did you know that the "big fish" market has depleted its resources in our oceans by 90% since the 1980s? Staggering isn't it? Did you know that for every 1 pound of shrimp caught, 5 pounds of other sea life and other fish are caught, killed, and thrown out as waste?

The project I'm working on is striving to educate the public on these sensitive issues. Soon there will be serious ecological problems (within the next 5 years) if something is not done about it.

But how do we reach such a large society with such an important message?

You guessed it, with an integrated approach.

Our plan is to release a documentary (30 min) in the highschools' biology classes as well as on PBS, National Geographic, or the Discovery Channel. This way when kids come home from school to talk at dinner time about the Tuna they are eating with their parents, their parents will also have seen/heard about the serious issues on the table.

The next step is to get restaurants such as Bone Fish and/or Red Lobster to use the "Fish Safe List" as a marketing tool on their menus and marketing materials... advertising that they serve and purchase from their suppliers, only fish on the "safe list."

There are many other venues that will be necessary to take a fully integrated approach in getting the message across to the general public. But without an integrated approach, the message would not take hold.

The same goes with your business's message. Integrate it into all your business systems and watch it grow from your idea into your reality.

"Join Your Target's Trade Association"

2005-11-09T13:45:00.000-05:00

In marketing, we must define who our target market is so we can be the most effective with our marketing campaign. For most people, this step is fairly easy; it's just a matter of defining who would use your type of product/service. However, reaching your target market, after you have all your marketing materials geared towards them, can prove more difficult.

One of the best ways to put people around you (that are already qualified as your target market) is to join a trade association outside of your own profession.

For example, if I own a computer repair company, and I'm looking to target law firms or individual lawyers (who have critical information on computers and can't afford to lose it) then I would join their trade association. This way you have placed tons of people around you that are your target clients and your competition is limited because you'll probably be the only computer repair guy in their association. At the networking events then you can begin to develop personal relationships with the lawyers in your group.

This has proved very valuable for many of my customers. Once we define who their target market is, they join the respective trade associations, network within the group, and become the "association's specialist." You can even offer a discount on your services to these associations as well, as an incentive to do business with you.

Until next time...

WR

"The Marketing Playbook"

2005-10-26T10:42:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been extremely busy lately with two new clients and a Sysco sales presentation. I should get back to more regular posts by next week.

I received a new book yesterday. Its called "The Marketing Playbook" by John Zagula, who used to work in Microsoft's marketing department. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

The author's theory is that there are only 5 marketing plays each and every business utilizes. The key is to find and identify which play works for your company and have at it - full speed ahead. If you select the wrong play, your business is likely to fail, or at the least not deliver the results you desire.

"Sometimes Marketing is Just About Making Friends"

2005-10-18T10:13:00.000-04:00

Although this site has covered several standard marketing techniques in the past, sometimes the solution is the most overlooked, simple idea, that can be the easiest to implement.

Some of your best projects, biggest business deals, and successes in life will come from your friends. (I don't mean your weekend drinking buddies, but other business associates with whom you have a more personal relationship with.)

It really is all about the relationship. Seek out as many people as you can that are willing to devote time to building a long lasting friendship with you. When they, or someone they know needs you services, you can be sure that they'll think of their friend first (you), just as you will for them. People do business with people they know. Period.

So many businesses fail because of this simple principle. They have great products. They have great services. They even have great marketing materials. But if their product or service is not something that benefits the general public, in other words is specifically business to business - making friends in your business community could be the quickest, cheapest, and easiest way to guarantee your business's success.

The only way to meet people is to get out around the town. Join organizations. Get involved on the committees. Interact with your local trade associations. These are where the movers and shakers of your community are, and where you want to be. Meet with them, sincerely be their friend by finding something you have in common outside the business world. As a small business owner, you probably need more friends anyways. Stay in touch with them, and eventually it will be natural for business to come to you. People do business with people they know.

How many of your clients do you know, personally? Solidifying these relationships now could mean the difference between losing those clients to your competition in the future, or keeping them forever.

So what are you waiting for?

Get out there and make some new friends!

"Discovering Keyword Discovery"

2005-10-14T10:24:00.000-04:00

"Keyword research is a vital first step in any search engine marketing campaign. There are basically 2 types of keyword research software: keyword suggestion tools and keyword analytical tools. Many search engines have their own keyword suggestion tools which provide a list of related keywords but usually don't indicate much more than the number of times that particular keyword was entered."

Check out the full post on Lee Odden's Online Marketing Blog, "Discovering Keyword Discovery", to better understand the importance of keywords and search engine optimization.

"Apple Unveils Video iPod"

2005-10-13T09:04:00.000-04:00

I spoke briefly of this (broadcatching video via iPods) in my article on September 20th (only a month ago), unaware that it might come along so soon. What could this mean for marketers?

See my article here.

"True to previous AppleInsider reports and expectations, Apple today officially introduced a new iPod, featuring a 2.5-inch color screen which can display album artwork and photos, and play video including music videos, video Podcasts, home movies and television shows.

The new iPod holds up to 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos or over 150 hours of video and is available in a 30GB model for $299 and a 60GB model for $399, with both models available in stunning white or black designs."

Check out the full AppleInsider article here.

"Generate New Business Marketing Ideas & Create a Bang!"

2005-10-12T10:10:00.000-04:00

Generating new ideas is essential in business for success. In a world where your marketing messages may be drowned out by the noise of other companies' marketing messages, you have to do something different to stand out from your competition.

The traditional marketing tactics may no longer work for you, or drive you the business they once did. Developing the explosion, that stands well above the rest and gets you noticed, is your key to success.

To do this you need a competent team. A team you can bounce ideas off of. One you can work closely with to build something new. Here are some tips for creating a BANG! for your advertising materials:

• Be willing to be BOLD. Its a risk you have to be willing to take to get noticed. For example the new Direct TV commercials advertise: "Does your TV SUCK?" or better yet, the Herbal Essence Commercials with the "Orgasmic shower experience."

• Timing is everything... For example the Red Cross runs commercials throughout the year, but they really increase the amount of advertising they do when they feel it will touch people the most, during times of need or disasters. (which brings me to my next point)

• Touch on emotions. Make people feel something. Regardless what you think, even if you make people HATE your annoying commercials (ie. GEICO) your brand will stick in their minds. Others will like them. People will talk about them. There will be controversy. Your brand will be the center of attention, and when they eventually need your product or service, you'll be the first person they remember to call.

Get some other great tips on how to create a BANG! with your marketing materials with Linda Kaplan Thaler's book:

"Online Directories for Site Submission"

2005-10-10T10:25:00.000-04:00

Internet Marketing requires your website to be found online. Increase your web presence by submitting your site to the following directories:

• All The Websites
• Data Recovery
• All-Directory
• All-List Directory
• Application Web Directory
• Company-List Business Directory
• Web Directory by EZList
• Online Directory by Guide-Pro
• List-Direct.Com Directory
• Yellow Pages by List-Nation
• ListNation Web Directory
• ListSite.Net Directory
• Web Directory by MegaCatalog
• Premium Online Directory
• Web Search
• Computer Repair
• SEO Book
• Directory World
• Frequently Asked Info
• Wiki D Web
• Clasi One
• AbiLogic Web Directory

Hope this helps!

"Marketing Results Must Be Tracked"

2005-10-04T09:30:00.000-04:00

If you're currently running some marketing initiatives, and aren't tracking your results, just how do you know if your marketing is working?

...Yes, you may have seen a slight increase in sales, or increase in inbound phone calls, or online orders, but if you aren't specifically tracking each marketing initiative separately, you'll never know what's working and what's not. This information is important because you want to maximize your return on investment. (ROI)

You should devote more marketing funds from your budget to what's working, and less to those initiatives which don't prove very valuable - but you have to test, to find out which initiatives those are.

The easiest way to test your marketing is to run one initiative at a time, and test the results by comparing the increase to that which the business was doing before the campaign was started. However, for most businesses who begin a marketing campaign, or change their current campaign, sometimes we start more than one new marketing initiative at a time. When this happens, we must study the end results to justify the means.

There are several ways to track your results. Lets say you have decided to run both a television ad, and a news paper ad, at the same time.

On your web page, you may set up two different "landing pages" that each of the ads will send your customer to. (Even though the pages might look exactly the same!) For example, your television ad might send your customers to "www.mybusiness.com/tv" where as your newspaper ad might send them to, "www.mybusinesss.com/newspaper" or you might have a different domain name all together; for example the newspaper could send them to "www.mybusiness.com" and the T.V. to "www.mybusiness.tv". Regardless, the point is to send them to different pages so you will know where they came from when you check your traffic reports. (Ask your web host provider for access to these, if you do not know what I'm talking about.)

If you are having the customer call a number, have them call different toll free numbers per each ad. You can get toll free numbers from several companies, for around $10 / month.

If they are coming into your store, make sure you don't forget to ASK how they heard about you.

The point is, you must track your marketing results to know whether what you are doing is beneficial to your business. This way you can stop wasting money on what doesn't work, and start allocating more funds to what does.

"New Media & Video Testimonials"

2005-09-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

Television still provides us with the most impact when it comes to fast paced motion graphics, video, and audio, which can attract potential clients to a product or service. However, video on the web has more recently become a part of most online entrepreneur's marketing campaigns.

Although there are several ways for using video on the web, including product showcasing, demonstration, and general advertising like your standard TV commercials, by far the most common use for online video is for testimonial purposes.

By now, you probably know that testimonials can be an effective way for you to gain a potential client's trust, and you have probably included text forms in some of your marketing materials. (If you haven't, I suggest you start!) But there are some benefits to taking the extra time and effort to record, edit, and place on the web (or sales DVD) some video testimonials as well. Just remember to always ask permission before using a testimonial, if you are given a compliment by one of your clients.

Unlike your standard text testimonials, video testimonials are more effective for the following reasons:

• They allow the client to associate a real person with your product or service.
• They allow the client to read the person's facial expressions and body language to judge if they are really telling the truth or not.
• They eliminate any doubt in the prospect's mind that you made up the testimonial.
• They are more interesting because they stimulate your eyes AND ears, and you don't have to read them.
• You can generally include more of the testimonial on video than you can in a text format, allowing your prospective client more time to "warm up" to you and your product or service.

As I mentioned above, there are several mediums for showcasing your video testimonials once they are produced. You can have them on your website. You can have them on sales DVDs or CDs. And you can even play them on a monitor at your trade show booth. All in all, more people will be exposed to, and believe in, your testimonials (and product!) when they are captured on video, rather than in a plain text format. And although video testimonials do not replace text testimonials for marketing pieces such as your brochures, they will add yet another valuable weapon in your arsenal of marketing tactics.

Learn more about marketing with video testimonials here.

"Three Ways to Generate Business..."

2005-09-23T15:29:00.000-04:00

And probably the ONLY ways to generate business:

1. Referrals

2. Previous Customers (Upgrading, Selling New Products)

3. Cold-Calling New Contacts (Advertising ie. TV, Newspapers, Telemarketing, Direct-Mail)

"Marketing is an Anticipation Game"

2005-09-20T12:21:00.000-04:00

In marketing, we essentially invest dollars for the future cash flow return it is expected to provide us. The problem arises sometimes, that once the initiatives are enacted, the information, method, or system has fallen out of popularity.

For example, brochures that quote pricing are dated by nature, and by the time you get them designed, printed, and effectively being passed around from client to client, your pricing structure is probably ready for a review.

Trends die, and new trends are born, anticipate the next hit and be first.

• Digital New Media will be the wave of the future. Instead of watching the tube, you'll be watching the computer screen, so start planning for it. (The new RMI website will feature some high-impact video, to be released towards the end of October.)

• iPods are already big, podcasting popularity is growing, and "broadcatching" (of video) will be the next major hit, delivered to devices like your cell phone for example. Plan for it.

• Digital business cards are growing in popularity. One product we at RMI develop are Mini DVD rom discs (don't confuse this with the MiniDV video format - these are actual DVDs that are small), some of which are even shaped like business cards. As these make sense for tech companies, giving out previews or examples of their products, they are not yet cost effective for everyone - but they will be.

• Digital memory cards - like those memory USB chips we're now familiar with, will contain games, ads, and other information, and will be available for purchase, or possibly as promotions to get you to plug them into your cell phones or PDAs.

The point is, you have to do more than keep up with the technology, you have to stay ahead of it.

Bill Gates is a prime example of practicing this, as he always has Microsoft developing software which needs more computing power than currently available on the market; but he knows that computers will continue to get faster, and memory cheaper, so that it only makes sense to stay ahead of the game and be first to market with new and innovative products.

This is the future of advertising!

"Search Engine Optimization and Back Link Building"

2005-09-17T17:34:00.000-04:00

By now, if you've been attempting to raise the position of your website in Google, Yahoo, or MSN, you know that one of the ways to do so is through "back links." (There are others too, like fresh content and updates, meta tags, and more.)

If you're not sure what back links are, back links are links to your site from someone else's. Each back link acts as a vote for your site. In other words, the search engines think that if others are willing to link to your website, you must have relevant worthwhile information on it. However, there are a few points to remember:

1. The quality of the pages linking to you matter.

2. The higher their ranking, the more their vote weighs for your site.

3. Be careful not to get banned from the search engines by creating many different junk sites that link to your site.

4. Don't SPAM all over the web, linking your site however and whenever you can. You should only be leaving your link on other relevant sites when you have something to contribute!

Check out this great article at Entrepreneur's Journey on back links, and this article at Charlie Cook's Marketing Blog

"Meet Five New People Per Day"

2005-09-16T12:42:00.000-04:00

One of the easiest ways to insure that you are marketing yourself and/or your business on a regular basis is to meet five new people per day.

If you met five new people per day, you'd have met 150 people per month on average, for a total of 1,825 people by the end of the year.

How many potential clients, out of 1,825 people, could you find?

"10 Rules for Successful Peer to Peer Networking"

2005-09-15T13:33:00.000-04:00

10. Expand your network and continuously find new events, new faces, new groups to belong to, and new areas to make your presence known.

9. Find out more about your peers - WHO ARE THEY? Ask questions, find out how their business works, who their clients are, how you can help them. Shut up and turn your ears on.

8. Give and you shall receive. Don't expect people to help you if you aren't helping them. No one wants a dead beet's business card in their pocket. PROVE YOUR WORTH. Help them out and you'll see them go out of their way to help you out.

7. Go where people know you and you already have a presence. These people are already willing to help you.

6. What will you do to motivate your new sales team members? What's in it for them?

5. Give and you shall receive.

4. Know who you're looking for. Clearly define it. Avoid asking for referrals for "anybody who..." or "everybody who..."

3. Network everywhere. Network at the mall, grocery store, online, at the gas station, everywhere.

2. Did I forget to say give first? You'll build relationships this way and people will want to thank you.

And the number 1 way to network successfully...

1. Be a real, sincere, friend to you business partners. Talk about OTHER THINGS besides business. Have meetings OUTSIDE your scheduled business meetings. Have a BBQ. Go to the beach together. Do something, but stop looking at people like a simple source of revenue. They are people too - treat them like it!

"Have Another Business Gladly Cover Some of Your Marketing Costs"

2005-09-12T15:31:00.000-04:00

If you have been reading past posts on this blog, you know that I am a fan of partnering up with another business that targets the same client base you do, but is not in competition with you. For example, a Printing company could partner with a Design company, etc.

As a general rule, you should strive to partner with 2-5 businesses that are willing to help with your marketing efforts. (Of course, you should be willing to help with theirs too.)

One way this helps is by doubling the amount of leads and research each business generates. You share your leads with me, since our customers need the both of us, and I share my leads with you.

Another way to help each other is by cost sharing in your advertising. This works for the both of you because a larger ad is usually cheaper, per inch, than a smaller ad. To effectively share costs, buy the larger ad space and divide it up amongst the two of you. Have your designer create two separate ads that fit in the larger ad space.

For example:

A half page ad in a small newsletter sent to your target audience might cost $500.

A full page ad in that same newsletter might cost $750.

Therefore, each business saves a total of 125$ per ad!

Little ways of teaming up together can help reduce your costs, and marketing efforts!

Marketer's Advantage . NET

2005-09-11T08:56:00.000-04:00

A great resource for anyone involved in marketing, this site contains other marketing articles and a directory of many other helpful marketing sites.

http://www.marketersadvantage.net

"Growing Your Business with Referrals"

2005-09-07T08:07:00.000-04:00

In previous posts, I've discussed many ways to grow your business through referrals; some of them include offering incentive programs for customers, teaming up with other business owners in your field - however not in competition with you, and even joining your local Chamber of Commerce.

I've come across another, and I think it's well worth the small yearly investment to become a member!

Business Network Int'l (or BNI) is an internationally based organization that helps small business owners build their business through a referral network of other business owners. Most major metropolitan areas have local chapters, and some such as Orlando, have several. (We have 7!)

The premise is built on the fact that if you know, and hang out with, a select group of business owners every couple of weeks, you'll be able to refer people you come across to them, who need their services. (And, of course, in return they'll do the same for you.)

Unlike your local Chamber of Commerce, these chapters only allow one representative per field. This way there is no competition within the group! For example, Royall Media creates influential marketing media - we create videos, print materials, and web sites. No one else in my chapter does this, and no one else will be allowed to join my chapter that does, so long as I am a member.

Yearly dues are $295.00, and the group meets about once a month. Depending on your type of business, one referral can easily help you to recoup the yearly investment.

Check out the international BNI website, and find your local chapter. When I joined, they even let me come to a few meetings without paying dues, just to check it out. With the free trial, what do you have to loose?

"Generating Qualified Leads From Your Website"

2005-08-31T14:20:00.000-04:00

Generating qualified leads can be one of the most difficult challenges businesses face in their marketing efforts. The key is to set up an automatic system that delivers leads to you. This can be accomplished through direct mail, and more recently online.

The internet has streamlined the process of gathering qualified leads for businesses automatically and at minimal cost, quicker and more efficiently than it's direct mail predecessor.

Most businesses today own and maintain a website. Most consumers now days also use the internet to research or find the products they are looking to purchase now or in the near future.

The opportunity for business owners to leverage this to their advantage exists then, and if your website is not generating qualified leads for you, here are some helpful tips.

1. Make it automatic. Your website must acquire and deliver the customer's information directly to the person who is to make the contact and eventually make the sale.

2. Give an incentive for your customers to contact you. Offer free reports, or free information regarding the products you offer. These reports should be non-biased and statistically based, informing the consumer of the benefits the products provide them.

3. Offer the option to be contacted. Make sure you ask, after gathering their contact information, and before your release their free report, for their permission to contact them with more detailed information.

4. Promise not to share their information. With our mailboxes filling daily with SPAM, no one wants to do business with a company that resells or releases their information to third-parties. State boldly that their information will never be sold or shared with anyone other than your business, without their prior permission.

Finally

5. Keep it short. No one wants to fill out their life story when researching a product, they simply want more information. Only ask for the contact information necessary to provide them with the solutions they are asking for.

Forms can be created on websites with relative ease. You can advertise your information via Google Adwords or other online advertising programs, directing people to the online form which will eventually send you their contact information. If you would like more information on creating an automatic lead generation system for your website, Royall Media provides these services. Of course, we will never share your email address or any other personal information with any third parties unless by your request.

Great book for generating leads online and off:

"Local Networking Through Your Chamber of Commerce"

2005-08-31T11:45:00.000-04:00

One of the most overlooked resources for new business owners, or current business owners looking to take their company to the next level, is their local Chamber of Commerce.

Many business owners I know don't belong to the Chamber of Commerce. When I ask them why, many don't really have an answer, or simply say their business wouldn't benefit from the organization. I think the real issue at hand is the fact that these business owners have no idea what the Chamber of Commerce actually has to offer them. If they knew, they'd probably join in a heart beat.

Although the Chamber of Commerce probably benefits businesses that deal B2B (business to business) more so than a business that deals with the average consumer, the connections with other business owners and relationships you can make with other members in the Chamber of Commerce, can prove quite valuable. A realtor, for example, is not always considered to be in a B2B type of business, but even other business owners need to buy personal residences at times.

Networking lunches and weekend get-togethers are usually how most organizations provide a relaxed atmosphere where business owners can really get to know other business owners within their local community.

Networking aside, the Chamber of Commerce can provide other benefits as well. Many offer discount "clubs" for services to be traded within the Chamber of Commerce organization. For example, any service from any business who is a member is 10% off for any business who is also a member.

The monthly meetings can help one recognize change, and other opportunities within the local community.

Volunteering to help run the organization, or be on the board, can establish you as a local community leader, often leading to other opportunities.

Free listings and advertising in the directories can prove valuable, since many people look to their local Chamber of Commerce as a resource for having the information of businesses who provide the products they need.

Counseling services are sometimes offered to new businesses and start-ups.

My local Chamber of Commerce even has a meeting room available upon request for members to use whenever they please. Facsimile machines are also available for use, and there is a message board where many business owners post businesses for sale, partnering opportunities, or advertise their services.

As you can see the Chamber of Commerce can provide you with many marketing outlets to help your business succeed. You might meet someone along the way who has been looking for exactly that which you provide. You might make new friends, or meet new suppliers who can help make your business more profitable. Use the Networking lunches as a chance to get out of the office, and not fall into the trap of sitting in isolation scouring the internet for articles like this one.

You can usually find your local Chamber of Commerce by searching for "Chamber of Commerce" + your CITY and STATE on Google. Yearly dues are usually just a couple hundred dollars, but with just a few connections, you can easily re-coup the cost and turn a profit out of joining a fun local organization.

"Work Your Contact's Contacts"

2005-08-29T10:08:00.000-04:00

One of my neighbors is a mortgage broker. He has been in the business just six months, and has seen explosive growth, so much so that this month he was complaining that he is bogged down with "too many" loans to process. What has happened for him is an exponential flood of referrals, due to his referral incentive.

He only has two marketing tactics. They are simple, and the latter is very effective.

The first thing he does is hand out a flyer and business card, explaining to his friends on the golf course (yes, that's what he does all day) that he is a mortgage broker, can find them the best rate, will push for a fast close, and help them to understand the process every step of the way.

The second thing he does is give his client an incentive to bring him another client.

His incentive is a free vacation. They range from trips for two to Hawaii, to Vegas, and even 4 day Carnival cruises for up to 6 people to the Bahamas. All his client has to do to receive the free vacation is to find him another client. That's it!

How does he do it you ask? To tell you the truth, the vacations are only costing him about $375.00 each, which is about 7-8% of his average commission check, a very small price to pay for another sale. Next month, he plans to buy 25 of these vacations in bulk, lowering his price of each to about $150.00, about 3% of his commission.

This is the only marketing he does. He hands out business cards stapled to a flyer, and he offers a referral incentive. The power of the referral incentive, if what you're offering is good, can bring you exponential growth in no time flat. Its a way to reach your contact's contacts, and if those new clients reach their contacts, be prepared to hire some help.

If you're interested in finding out how you can purchase these vacation packages to give away to your clients as well, I'll send you the details in an email. Email me at will@royallmedia.com.

"Marketing Videos Work Wonders, Distribute Them FREE"

2005-08-22T14:57:00.000-04:00

We've all heard it before, a picture's worth 1000 words; but if ONE picture is worth ONE thousand words, how many words is a video worth? Well, to really do the math, there are 30 frames (or pictures) in every ONE second of video, multiply that by 60 seconds per minute, and a 5 minute video should be worth 9 million words.

Now that might be a slight exaggeration, but take this into consideration: you can really demonstrate your product or service in real time, add motion graphics, audio, and even request user interactivity when it comes to DVDs, and still send out the final product via direct mail, such as an old postcard mailing campaign. You can begin to see how a video can really boost your marketing return.

The exciting thing is, it's getting cheaper too.

Would you be interested if I said you could save on the production costs of creating the DVDs and mailing them out to people too? You can, by distributing your video via the World Wide Web. Then again, you could always double up, and create two venues to have your video seen by using direct mail AND the web.

Most households in America are now connected to the internet with a high-speed connection, either cable or DSL, and can view streaming videos online. You can add the interactivity of a DVD with a little Flash, a program by Macromedia.

Although sending out a DVD video gives the user an un-matched experience in their living room's home entertainment center, we can now add all the interactivity of a DVD and drama of a video to the web, embedded in a website, and "mail" them it via email. This could save thousands in DVD material costs and postage.

If you'd like to know more about getting a video produced for your company, or taking the video you already have to the web for cheaper distribution - email me at will@royallmedia.com.

"Objectivity Wins in Marketing"

2005-08-16T09:50:00.000-04:00

It would be difficult to say what the single most important marketing rule is, for there are so many one should follow. However, if we had to make a decision, I would say that being objective to the product or service in which you are trying to market, would rank near the very top.

Objectivity means not having any biased opinion about the product or service. That means even marketing agencies violate this rule often. Can you guess why? To make the sale. They tell the client, "This product is great! Everyone will love it! Give us $100,000 and we'll get our best advertisers on it right away."

True objectivity begins with the future consumer. To establish a position in the market place, you must know what the customer already believes is true.

The correct approach for the above marketing company to take would be to do research with the future consumer first, before beginning to advertise the product - as not to miss the mark. What if it isn't the greatest product? What if the idea is great, but the implementation still isn't right? What if it could be changed just slightly, but enough to significantly effect the sales (and maybe future success) of the product indefinitely?

Seek the opinions of others who have absolutely nothing to gain by siding with you. (This doesn't mean you can't pay them for their time, just be sure to compensate them equally regardless of their response.)

Seek out criticism and be open to change.

Then, and only then, should you begin and maintain a long-term advertising and sales strategy that appeals to the position or need that the customer already holds in their mind.

Financial gain, personal and emotional involvement, relationships, friendships, and a variety of other spikes in the road can cloud one's judgment and hide the obvious answer when it comes to successfully taking a product and distributing it to the market place.

Always be objective by listening to the end consumer, and valuing their responses the most.

Do the research for your product, find the right position, and market it successfully.

"Cash Flow Survival"

2005-08-12T16:48:00.000-04:00

A company must create cash flow to survive. Many business owners don't realize that even a profitable company can go bankrupt with out cash flow. Profit is simply an accounting principle, don't get too enamered with it. You don't pay your bills or employees with profit.

Cash must be flowing in at the right time as well. You pay your employees each week, and your bills each month yet your customers pay you every 60 days. This will create a cash flow lapse that must be planned for. This is where cash flow forecasting comes in.

Cash forecasting is a record of known expenses in future months. This record helps business owners avoid overspending when a big check arrives and being left for broke when the annual insurance bill is due. This planning allows companies to catch profit oppurtuinties, and avoid hurting its credit rating and going bankrupt.

Here are some great tips for developing your business's sales forecast:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,321257,00.html

"Position Yourself in Your Customer's Mind"

2005-08-11T08:56:00.000-04:00

When sitting down with clients, we focus on trying to find their (real) problematic issue. Much of the time they'll tell us something is bothering them, and we'll later find out that it's simply the effect of a much greater problematic cause. It's then up to us to make the customer see the solution that will be more than a temporary fix to their problem.

Take the job of the interior designer, for example. Their clients know they do not like the current design of the room, so they call in an expert to help them create the look they want.

However, if they knew what they really wanted, why would they need the designer? Couldn't they just tell a laborer to get to work?

So the designer's job is to take what is already in their client's mind and alter it, showing the customer what they really want, and letting them take credit for the idea. (By the time the space is complete, even if the customer's original idea is used in some fashion, it's most likely the designer who knew what would work within the space, and actually came up with the most practical idea.)

The example above can be applied to any sort of consulting business. Many times the client knows the have a problem, and thinks they have a solution. Go in, alter their solution so it actually works, and give them credit for it. Now they've got the real solution in their mind, one they've collaborated on and contributed something of value to, and of course, one that involves you.

"Starting-up, Reevaluating? Step Into a New Customer's Shoes."

2005-08-03T14:02:00.000-04:00

A successful business must focus on what clients want rather than what the owner thinks they should have. When starting or reevaluating your business step back and put yourself in the customer's shoes. Look at the complete company as a new customer does. This allows you to see the glaring mistakes and keeps you moving in the direction of positive change.

The reason for taking a new customer's views is that existing customers are more like friends. They know more about your company than is apparent. They're more forgiving because you've done a good job for them. They are so familiar with you that they hardly notice if your company is declining. New customers presume that what they see is who you are.

Allow yourself into the mindset of a preverbial customer. Develop an idea of how they would view the business and assess and correct noticible weaknesses. Make changes logically and slowly. Make sure that all affected employees know what the change is, why it is necessary, and how it changes their jobs.

With evolution comes a transformation, and you want your business to evolve into a success therefore you cannot resist change!

"It May Be Time to Take Out the Trash"

2005-08-03T10:10:00.000-04:00

Any business that's been in business for any significant time period has probably had to fire one of their problematic, or non-performing, employees. You might give them a chance to "shape up or ship out" first, but if they don't come around, its completely counter-productive to keep them.

Unfortunately, the same thing goes for a business's customers.

Although every business can profit from customer complaints by providing unprecedented service in handling the problem, and turn even the most distressed customers into life-long sources of future revenue, sometimes a problematic customer can cost your business more than its worth. The cost to fix their constant problems and keep them as satisfied customers hinders their ability to provide future profits over the long run.

Although it might not seem apparent, firing your worst customers could actually help your business, if they cost you more than their worth.

This reminds me of a joke I heard on a Mike's Hard Lemonade commercial that I saw on TV yesterday.

"Why is divorce so expensive? Because its worth it!"

Here are a few questions to ask before firing your worst customers:

1. Will the customer spend more money with me in the future if I help to solve their problem?

2. Will that future stream of income provide a profit for the business?

3. Will this customer refer more potential customers to me?

4. Will this customer tell potential customers of their dissatisfaction? (When something goes wrong, you can bet they'll tell ten other people.)

5. How much money have I lost trying to help this customer in the past?

6. Is it worth it?

"Mass-Marketing is Dying, Here's How Your Business Can Survive"

2005-08-02T09:49:00.000-04:00

Isn't it true that we all love to have new things? However, most people, wouldn't you agree, dislike the idea of being sold by a salesman?

Derived from the obvious answers to the questions above, I've come up with this theory:

No one likes to be sold, but everyone loves to buy.

Profits lie in helping your customers buy what they want, not in shoving your products down their throats. The easiest way to help your customers to buy, is to develop products around your customer's individualized needs.

This requires a one-on-one approach which defies the laws of mass-marketing. (Where a product is developed and then promoted to thousands of people to reach the few who will purchase it.) Wouldn't it make sense then, to look at the customers first, manage them (before we manage the product), find out what they want to buy, and help them buy it? Essentially, we could find something for everybody.

In previous times, it was not cost-effective to gather detailed information about individual customers and develop products around individual needs in big business. This would have taken billions of sheets of paper, and hundreds of dedicated researchers. There would be other people required to search through the billions of names and preferences of their customers, all making millions of recommendations about what a company should do next. A market-share approach of finding a generalized geographic or demographic pattern and providing whatever products sold well in that area was the most cost-effective way to market something. However now with the computer, a world of individual customer information can be stored, sorted, and even gathered automatically into an easily manageable database.

Could we not set up a system then that would recommend certain products to certain customers, helping them to buy what they really want to buy? Or a system that individualized products for customers based on preferences, such as color or style?

With technology, we can now set up a more efficient product recommendation system individualized per customer, rather than by a geograhic area. For example, with the old mass-marketing approach, one might develop 10 products and run a direct mail campaign within the neighborhood promoting the store brand name, or general product line. They would try to reach as many people as possible, hoping that 2% come in and eventually purchase a product.

Now however, with the advancement in computers and technology, one can now look into their customer database, which can be purchased if they haven't set one up, and find that product #6 fits customer #567 better than any other product they have, based on the customer's preferences. One could then make a recommendation to that customer about that specific product, available in their favorite color.

Instead of sending out a mass-marketing direct mail campaign, the business owner could send out an individualized post card or letter with the customer's name on it, promoting the product which best suits them. (We could apply this to several other mediums as well, such as sending the customer to a specific web page on the internet, or certain telemarketing script over the phone, etc.)

This might cost a bit more to set up in the beginning, designing several different post cards, letters, web pages, scripts, setting up the computer system to automatically gather information and match specific products with specific customers, printing their personal names on each letter, etc., but it can be done, and in the end you will have a more qualified, more personalized, cost-effective marketing tool which will generate more business than the old mass-marketing strategy, for the following reasons:

1. It is personalized to the customer.

2. It promotes a product which satisfies their specific need, and eliminates the fluff.

3. You found the product for them, so you're helping the customer to buy, which they love to do.

4. You're not trying to sell someone something they don't want.

All-in-all, the theory remains the same; find a need and satisfy it. The more targeted your target market is (down to each customer's personal preferences), the better your results will be. The point is, technology is making it easier and easier (and cheaper and cheaper) to take a one-on-one customer oriented approach to developing, promoting, and selling your products. The crazy noise in today's society makes it almost impossible for a mass-marketing campaign to achieve the same results as a fine-tuned and targeted, personalized, customer specific approach. Begin to manage your customers before you manage your products, and you could see your business taking a new direction, with new product developments - one that will prove more profitable on your bottom line.

"Provide Value, Be Unique, & Win Customer Loyalty"

2005-07-28T13:24:00.000-04:00

Working with new inexperienced business owners, I find at times the expectation of their success rests all to high on the simple idea that if they can just get their doors open, and have products on their shelves, the customers will come. They believe that with a little advertising, they wont be able to keep the shelves stocked fast enough.

And unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.

You can advertise all you want, but if the customer doesn't see a unique difference from where they're already shopping, you've wasted your time and money.

In today's consumer driven society, one must do something unique and provide value to the customer. Many stores sell the same types of products. All pet stores sell dog treats. All hardware stores sell hammers. All sporting goods stores sell fishing poles. Get my point?

To stand out from the competition, you must provide some sort of customer perceived value.

The easiest way to provide your customer with value is to be unique in some fashion. In fact - this is sometimes the ONLY way to become the leader in a commodity type business.

To give you an example, when I go to buy a bag of ice, I buy a bag of ice from whatever store is closest. Its very hard to perceive an extra amount of value from one bag of ice to another, worth driving out of the way for. If there is two brands of ice when I get there, I then go for the cheapest bag. After all, Ice is Ice. Right? This is the problem with commodities.

One way to add value to the commodity would be to offer a 10-20% larger bag of ice than the competition for the same price, and boldly state it on the bag's label. Another might be to set up a give-away for tickets to a ball game when you type in the UPC label on their website.

Those are just a few examples that would lead me to buy that bag of ice EVERY TIME over the other bag. You might even be able to charge a bit more (eliminating you from the price-wars) for your bag than your competitors if the label really draws in the customer. Who would you rather be, the business selling your bags of ice, or the business being passed up because you sell no extra perceived value?

Commodities aside, as I said before, all businesses now-days must provide something unique or some extra amount of value somehow.

We, at RMI, provide value in the following manor.

A) We offer an un-heard-of guarantee. "We guarantee we'll surpass your expectations or we will continue to work for free until we have. Period."

B) We provide person to person service, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

C) We never outsource production work like many other marketing firms. This way we aren't acting as "the middle man", and it helps keep our prices low and profit margins up.

D) We offer free services and counseling by speaking at non-profit organization run seminars (like those by SCORE), and by writing articles for columns and blogs like this one.

Find a way you can set yourself apart from the competition and tell everyone about it in your marketing materials. Remember it doesn't help a soul if no one knows about the unique value your company provides!

"If You've Never Done it Before, Find a Mentor!"

2005-07-26T16:26:00.000-04:00

Have you ever noticed kids ask a lot of questions? It really has nothing to do with their age, but more to do with the fact that they know less than the average adult. They're curious. They want answers. They crave knowledge.

As we age in life, many people tend to ask less and less questions, because their independence has taught them "all they need to know." They begin teaching others, practicing their knowledge in their field, working hard, and get caught up in the day to day activities of life. The few things they do need to learn at times, they usually can find by researching on their own. This is fine if what you need to know is not very in depth, or you have the time to do a lot of research and / or the resources to make many mistakes in which you can learn from.

There is a short cut out there, but we all seem to forget it once we hit puberty. Just ask someone who's "been there, done that."

If you've never owned your own business, if you've never put together a marketing plan, if you've never put together a business plan, why not find someone who has and ask them?

Believe it or not, there are many FREE resources out there. You do not have to pay a consultant to come in and set your business up for you.

I'll be happy to answer any marketing questions I can via email or you can find another business owner / counselor in your area.

SCORE, a national based organization offers counseling services free of charge, and they have offices all over the country! Even if you don't live near their offices, or you don't feel like going in, they'll match you up with a counselor via email to answer any questions you might have.

Check them out on the web at: http://www.score.org

"50 Successful Selling Habits"

2005-07-24T13:52:00.000-04:00

Marketing is supposed to do one thing, lead a prospect to a purchase. A basic understanding of sales is necessary then to produce good marketing results. It takes more than just bringing the customer in, you still have to make the sale.

Here are 50 selling habits that when practiced often will create win/win situations for your clients and your wallet.

1. Be Enthusiastic
2. Keep Records of your contacts, calls, presentations, and sales
3. See 4 to 5 people per day - Make the call!
4. Practice Public Speaking (Join a club or take a class)
5. Have an organization day and plan the week ahead
6. Join the 6 O'clock club, get up early, and get more done during the day
7. Find out what your customer wants and help them get it
8. Ask questions to lead the interview... then ask more questions... and later more questions
9. Put YOU in the interview
10. Set Appointments and work by them (it shows you value your customer's time)
11. Assume the close before the sale
12. Prepare and do your due diligence before the interview
13. Express your opinion with "Dont you think..." or "Don't you feel..." (so its their idea)
14. Find the Basic Need, or main point of interest and stick to the point
15. When coming across an objection - ASK WHY!
16. After their answer, ask is there anything in addition to that? (this might reveal the real objection)
17. Be an Active Listener
18. Stop Talking if no one is listening and wait out the silence (let them talk first)
19. Look into their eyes and deserve confidence if you want them to be confident in you
20. Keep Learning, read, listen to audio tapes, and go to seminars
21. Praise your Competitors
22. Tell the Truth
23. Call a Witness for a direct testimony
24. Look your Best
25. Convince them sincerely you are their friend
26. Get them to Confide their greatest ambition
27. Ask how they got started in their business
28. Use their Name
29. Smile!
30. Take an Impression of their face and name, Repeat the name, and Associate it with a picture so not to forget it
31. Don't talk to much - your ears learn about their needs, not your tongue
32. When you are scared or nervous admit it!
33. Take a Natural, Sincere, Honest Approach
34. Sell the Interview before you sell the product
35. Build Raport and talk about their hobbies
36. Develop a Questionnaire and keep them from each of your sales interviews
37. Love the Secretary - she is the key to your appointment
38. Write Out the Presentation and read it until you know it - welcome criticism
39. Have the customer do the math
40. Dramatize! and Demonstrate (better yet, let them demonstrate it for you)
41. Never Forget a customer and never let them forget you
42. Ask for Referrals
43. Appreciate any referrals by calling back the person who gave it to you regardless of the referral's outcome
44. Save Closing Points for the close
45. Summarize the Benefits before you close (better yet, let them summarize the benefits)
46. Make Sure you Follow the Sequence: Get Attention, Interest, Desire, then Close
47. Ask How they like it
48. Close: Sign Here X ___________________________
49. Get a Deposit - even a few dollars will instill ownership for the product
50. Get the Next Appointment or permission for the next appointment

I urge you to take a few from the list, your weakest points or something you've never tried before, and practice them one at a time. Every week rotate into a new initiative until you reach the beginning of your list and then repeat. If you're afraid always remember:

When someone has courage it doesn't mean that they're not afraid, it simply means they know how to conquer their fears.

"Define Advertising Objectives"

2005-07-22T15:13:00.000-04:00

Every ad and every adverstising campaign should have clearly defined objectives. It isn't enough for the marketing manager to just say "promote the product," they must decide exactly what advertising should do. Advertising objectives must be more specific than personal selling; each ad must be effective for not just one, but thousands of customers.

Here are 7 specific advertising objectives:

1) Help position the company's brand or marketing mix by informing and persuading target customers or middlemen about its benefits.
2) Help introduce new products to specific target markets.
3) Help obtain desirable outlets and tell customers where they can buy a product.
4) Providing ongoing contact with target customers, even when a salesperson is not available.
5) Prepare the way for salespeople by presenting the company's name and it's merits.
6) Get immediate buy action.
7) Help maintain relationships with satisfied customers, confirm their purchase decisions, and encourage more purchases.

Think about the best way to accomplish these objectives when you are designing your next advertising campaign.

Free Trade Magazine Subscriptions

2005-07-21T09:54:00.000-04:00

Here's a great site that provides tons of trade magazine subscriptions, for FREE. There are several on sales and marketing - and plenty of others in a variety of fields.

http://www.freetrademagazinesource.com

"A Very Cheap Way to Insure Future Profits"

2005-07-18T12:01:00.000-04:00

As you probably already know, marketing extends from trying to attract new customers to your business, to keeping good relations with the old ones. In fact, most people realize that it costs far less to get an existing customer to spend more money with you than it does to acquire a new one. Yet even though most people realize this, they are constantly spending more and more marketing dollars on attracting new customers, while they neglect the old. Don't neglect your current customers.

Customers who have purchased something from you in the past, can be your most guaranteed source of future income.

They already know you do good work and you've already established credibility. Here are some ideas to help keep your business name in the mind of your current customers.

• Send them a thank you note with a special discount for their next purchase.
• Send Christmas cards.
• Send Birthday cards.
• Keep a mailing list and send out a newsletter every so often letting them know of your company's new products or updates.
• Send out copies of newspaper articles or other PR you were recognized for.

Of course, you must brand these things with your company's logo so that brand recognition is burned into your customer's head, but try to hand - sign the letters, add personal touches with post scripts, etc.

It will cost far less in postage to send out a few things to your existing clients than it will in advertising dollars to acquire new ones. As long as you never let them go, you will slowly build and build your business one customer at a time, until eventually it snowballs your profits.

"Specialize, Don't Generalize"

2005-07-13T16:15:00.000-04:00

Many business owners make the mistake of taking on a large and diverse workload of anything that comes their way. While this may help you make profits in the short-term the long-term implications can be disastrous. You must understand that the world is not your target market. Too often do businesses not focus on a niche for fear of losing a sale and waste time trying to sell everything to everyone. This will result in one of two things, burnout or bankruptcy.

You don't want your business to be good in many services, you want it to be great in one. If a client is looking at perspective companies to do business with which do you think looks better, the one that does the job among others, or the one who does nothing but that job. Specialization portrays you as an expert in the field and that gives customers confidence in you. Specialists command a higher pay rate and tend to have less competition.

Find your niche and ask yourself these five questions to determine your target market:
1) Who is your customer?
2) What does this customer need and want?
3) Where will the customer expect to find you?
4) Why will the customer choose you?
5) When is the customer likely to have this need?

Answer these and you can take your business to the next level.

Embroidered Polo Shirts & T-Shirts Starting at $8.50

2005-07-06T08:33:00.000-04:00

What better way to market the fact that your company is professional. Create a uniform for your store-front employees, or for that up coming trade show. I can testify that their shirts are quality. We (RMI) use them for all our embroidered products. The Queensboro Shirt Company even offers a 10 year guarantee. Get great deals on the shirts starting as low as $8.50 through the link below:

New Business Blog Directory

2005-07-05T10:31:00.000-04:00

Here's a fairly new directory for small business blogs. If you have a blog pertaining to small business advice of any sort, add your site! http://blogsforsmallbusiness.com/directory

"Ten Marketing Truths You Must Never Forget"

2005-06-29T09:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's blog post reminded me of a book I read a while back. It motivated me to pick up an old marketing book off the bookshelf last night; sometimes I like to re-read the highlighter marks I made when I first read it. The book was printed around 1984, and is called "Guerrilla Marketing - Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business" by Jay Conrad Levinson. I stumbled across some relevant points that are fairly basic, but that one should never forget. Sometimes we could use a refresher...

1. The Market is constantly changing.
2. People forget fast.
3. Your competition isn't quitting.
4. Marketing strengthens your identity.
5. Marketing is essential to survival and growth.
6. Marketing enables you to hold on to your old customers.
7. Marketing maintains morale.
8. Marketing gives you an advantage over competitors who have ceased marketing.
9. Marketing allows your business to continue operating.
10. You have invested money that you stand to lose.

Here's another Guerrilla Marketing Book by Jay Levinson:

Orlando, FL Student Internship Opportunity in Marketing with RMI

2005-06-28T15:21:00.000-04:00

The Internship Opportunity

We are looking for a self-motivated, creative, up-beat sales representative to help in acquiring new customers while having fun during their school internship in Orlando, Fl. We work as a team. We are a business to business based company, open to your improvement and suggestions. This job has: Unlimited income potential, Flexible hours, A fun work environment, & Possibility for advancement and placement out of school. Your requirements are simple: Creative, Energetic, Willingness to learn, Willingness to have fun, Must have own transportation, Business attire, & 3 Personal references. We would prefer someone with: Some marketing experience (school courses / education OK), & Some type of previous employment history. Do you have pep? Do you want to help build something that offers room for advancement? Would you like to set your own income (via commission), get school credit, and a future reference for your resume? What are you waiting for? Apply, and come work with RMI today.

About Royall Media, Inc.

Royall Media is a creative ideas company. We have fun with what we do. We hire people who can balance fun with personal success in the business world. We promote the advancement of the hard-working individuals whom we employ. We provide complete marketing solutions for small businesses by researching their products and respective markets, formulate plans based on the information gathered, and then create advertising materials for distribution through the web, radio, television, and other print mediums. If you don't have pep or energy and are not willing to help build a company, you need not apply! Otherwise, what are you waiting for?

"Don't Buy That Mailing List Yet... Here's One for Free."

2005-06-28T13:01:00.000-04:00

Two marketing tools often utilized by small businesses are direct mail and telemarketing.

If you aren't using either of these two guerilla marketing techniques in your small business - you're missing out on some big profits.

Contrary to popular belief, there are people who do buy things over the phone. (Or at least take free-trials.) The great telemarketers with their customized scripts will make 1 sale every 12 minutes. I used to work at a telemarketing job in high school and earned about 20-22$ per hour on commission, while my friends were stuck with minimum wage in the $4 range. This lead me to believe that sales is something trainable, perfectable, and profitable! - when scripted and practiced. (duh!)

Both methods cost very little to implement, and only require a little time and effort to make happen. You can expect about a 3-5% response rate for your direct mail and telemarketing calls on average, and maybe up to 15% or more if you have your postcards professionally designed, or telemarketing scripts professionally written.

Having your marketing materials created by someone who professionally practices marketing for a living, usually pays for itself, and then some. I mean, really - would you perform a surgical procedure on yourself, or leave the job to a medical surgeon? Chances are you'd come out with less scaring, opting for the professional, and the same is true in marketing.

However you decide to create your postcards, direct mail letters, or telemarketing scripts, there is a business to business source of mailing lists that most people tend to over look - and best of all, it probably won't cost you a dime because it's sitting in your drawer right now.

When looking to start a direct mail or telemarketing campaign, it seems that all businesses rush out to buy a list of names, numbers, addresses, and whatever other contact info they can get their hands on. Most people forget about The Yellow Pages as a source for hundreds of businesses' phone numbers and addresses in their areas. What's more is that The Yellow Pages are categorized for you so you can easily find your target businesses if your product is industry specific.

If your a business that caters to individuals, although its not as targeted as purchased lists are, as long as you have a product that would benefit no one person in particular, there's a book out there called The White Pages for you!

If you don't have a version of the book in print, or want to extend outside your local community - try The Online Yellow Pages.

You have hundreds of leads in your drawer right now, and millions more on the internet. - use them up and save some money before buying a list!

"Create Synergy -Team Up With Someone In Your Field"

2005-06-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

Everyone knows its easier to do things when you have qualified help. The more people you have working towards a common goal, the easier it seems to reach it. Its the laws of synergy. Why not team up then with someone in your field as long as they are not a direct competitor?

For example, recently RMI was hired to help create a marketing plan for a local wedding videography company. One of the core ideas we decided would be most beneficial to the company in its early stages, that was most cost-effective, was the partnership between this video company and several bridal shops around the city. It didn't stop there though, as they can repeat the solution we produced with others in the wedding field such as caterers, wedding planers, photographers, and more.

Here's what we did:

First, we created 20% discount coupons for the company. Of course, the marketing and branding of the coupon reflected the company's brand and quality.

Second, we created $50.00 referral reward on the back of the coupon. Again, the same quality and brand was represented. (Notice a theme here? - Brand everything you do with your company's logo and quality standards.)

Third, we partnered them with several wedding bridal shops in the area who share the same target market the video production company was looking for - BRIDES + GROOMS!

Here's how we set up the Win / Win / Win situation:

The bridal shop owner gets the added benefit of:
A) Giving her customer some added value by being able to discount another service her customer might need.
B) Receiving $50.00 for handing out a coupon! (Believe me they will hand out a lot of coupons.)

The bride herself gets:
A) Added value of a 20% discount off her videography services.
B) Contact information for a video production company. (If she didn't already have one.)
C) The ability to refer her friends for $50.00 in cash!

The production company gets:
A) An automatic marketing / advertising / referral program that works itself.
B) The ability to give their customers value by honoring the 20% discount
C) The chance that they are "first" amongst other video company's to get in contact with the bride. (Bridal shops are usually the first place a bride stops when she finds out she's getting married. - How did we find this out? Market research!)

Of course, you must make sure you can still turn a profit. The company adjusted their prices slightly to insure that between paying out $50.00 per referred customer and honoring the %20 discount that they are happy with the ROI. (Return on Investment)

You may also negotiate with the bridal shop owner, maybe sending your customers to their shop, or handing out their coupons as well for a commission based fee. Maybe you will decide no one needs fees and that trading coupons is incentive enough... (However in my past experience you never know then if the other person will be motivated to hand out your coupon even though you're handing out theirs.) Plus, in this case the bride will want a $ incentive as she probably has no coupons to trade you.

All in all - teaming up with someone is a great way to insure that more people are reaching out to your target market for you. Trade customers with people and watch your sales soar!

PS - Don't forget to check out our new Daily Business Cartoon located on the blog!

"Create a System of Selling to Produce Results"

2005-06-22T09:30:00.000-04:00

There are five main steps you should include in your selling system. Practice and rehearse your sales presentations before you leave your office, and you'll increase your sales 400%. The best sales people practice. Period. They find what works and use the same lines over and over. They script what they will say, what order they will say it in, what objections they might come across and how to handle them, and even how they'll posture themselves in front of perspective clients.

To sell successfully you should:

1. Identify customer decision points in your sales presentation, such as a Yes or an Objection.

2. Follow a written script (like that from a theatrical play) that will lead the customer to a "yes" decision, to and from every other Yes or Objection in the conversation.

3. Memorize of the scripts.

4. Produce physical marketing materials that accompany the written script.

5. Train your salesmen to be attentive and communicate effectively by watching, listening, and acknowledging the personal needs of your customers, while leading them to the solutions.

Finally, none of this works if you don't have anyone to sell to. Get on the phone and set some appointments. Your goal on the phone should be to build rapport and get a commitment for a personal meeting where you can show off your selling system. If you've perfected it, once you set the appointment - your product should be as good as sold.

Remember, you're solving customer's personal needs and problems, even if they don't realize they have them! Make them aware of the issues, and then allow them to proceed to tell you that they are experiencing the same frustrations or have the same personal needs.

If the customer says it, its true. If you say it, its just an opinion.

"Increase Your Product's Chance for Success"

2005-06-17T11:41:00.000-04:00

Its not what you say, but how you say it that gets your customers to buy.

Customers purchase benefits. They rarely are looking to buy the product itself; they are looking to purchase that which your product can provide for them. Doesn't it only make sense then to present it to them in this manor?

Here are the rules you must follow when marketing a product to your target market:

1. Focus on Detailed Benefits
2. Give Yourself Credibility
3. Define a Dramatic Difference

Most people list their product's features when trying to sell something to someone. However, if your customer isn't directly told how that feature will benefit them, it is very unlikely they will buy the product.

Remember, its OK for a customer to say no if what you offer does not apply to them, but never let a customer say no because they don't understand how your product will benefit them.

Here's an activity to turn your product's features into Detailed Benefits:

1. Start with a list of your product's features.
(At this point the customer sees your product like every one else's.)

ie. If you are selling cars:

*AC
*CD Player
*V8 Engine

2. Transform them into benefits.

*Cooling AC
*CD Sound System
*Powerful V8 Engine

3. Transform the benefits into Detailed Benefits.
(At this point the customer should feel an emotional connection with your product and imagine themselves experiencing it.)

*Cooling AC for those hot summer days.
*Play your favorite CDs on the incredible sound system.
*Drive and feel the powerful V8 engine and leave others behind in the dust.

It also helps to associate your marketing images with the same idea in mind. People usually buy products with an image already in their mind of what it will be like when they own your product. Capture this image correctly on your marketing materials, and it could mean the difference between having a winner or a loser.

Now take the detailed benefits and apply the credibility and a dramatic difference. (The dramatic difference should be 10 times greater than you think to really draw peoples attention.)

ie.

"Feel the Power of This V8 Engine" (title that describes a detailed benefit)

Come on down to "Cars-R-Us" this weekend and we'll give you "Tires for Life" (dramatic difference) when you invest in our new model ___________. Drive and Feel the powerful difference a V8 engine can make and leave others behind in the dust. Crank your ice cold AC on those hot summer days and listen to your favorite tunes on our incredible CD sound system. (detailed benefits) At "Cars-R-Us" we've been helping people like you own the cars they want for less, for over 20 years. We guarantee you'll be happy with your purchase or we'll buy it back from you. (credibility) Come see us this weekend and get "Tires for Life!" (call to action / dramatic difference)

Test it on yourself before you try it:

1. Go through the news paper and highlight the ads that capture your attention.
2. Evaluate them for the benefit they provide you.
3. Compare them to the ads that didn't grab your attention.

The ads that didn't grab your attention at first should contain no benefit at all or not apply to you. Remember its OK if it doesn't apply, but not if you can't understand how the product would benefit you.

Until next time...

250 FREE Business Cards

2005-06-11T12:02:00.000-04:00

I'm sure most people know that its absolutely necessary to have a business card stating who they are, what they do, and how they can be reached. If you don't have a business card yet - or you simply need new ones, check out Vista Print.

They have a great quality stock for a professional look, and offer 250 matt finished business cards FREE. You only pay shipping and handling. You may change the quantity, upgrade to a glossy finish, or even upload your own design for a few dollars more.

They also offer post cards, magnets, calendars, and a ton of other promotional items for your business.

Get 25% off their products now through this link only!

"16 Ways to Promote Your Business"

2005-06-10T14:40:00.000-04:00

Here's a FREE eBook provided by Paypal, written by Jim Caroll and Rick Broadhead. You have to fill out a short survey (4-5 questions), but I figured it would be beneficial to some of my readers. The content is fairly general speaking, but would be great for someone just starting out in ecommerce. If you've been around a while though, you're probably already using most of these techniques. RMI creates a lot of the same marketing materials, and coding for ecommerce websites they speak about, including cross-selling code, featured items, opt-in permission marketing + list building, target market research, etc. If you see a good idea in the ebook, and would like to find out how your business can implement the tool - I can help. will@royallmedia.com

Here's the table of contents:

(1) Know your audience
(2) Your brand name
(3) Offline marketing
(4) Your retail store
(5) Gift certificates
(6) Cross-selling
(7) Product referral services
(8) Affiliate programs
(9) Permission marketing
(10) Search engines and Web directories
(11) Search engine optimization
(12) Online shopping directories
(13) Online advertising and sponsorships
(14) Keyword-based advertising
(15) Links from other Web sites
(16) Monitor activity on your Web site

16 Ways to Promote Your Business

Entry Chance for the Free Website Drawing

2005-06-10T12:50:00.000-04:00

For those not familiar with the contest, we will be giving away 2 custom designed business websites with domain name registration and a year's worth of hosting each. This is over $5,000 worth of professional services! We have been offering two entries into the drawing by posting to our new forum.

Right now the forum is being upgraded. When it is finished, you will receive two entries for posting a question or starting a topic on marketing. Find the forum at http://royallmedia.proboards42.com

For now, get an entry to the website drawing by joining our mailing list by the 20th of June:
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Be on the look out for another chance to enter and win in an upcoming post.

Free Google Style Advertising for Your Website

2005-06-10T12:40:00.000-04:00

Promote your blog for free.

*** Step 3. MP - "Don't Bet the Farm!"

2005-06-09T10:50:00.000-04:00

This is step three of the Marketing Plan series of posts. First, read steps one and two if you haven't done so already.

An explosion occurred in my office today. The ideas were billowing out of my head like that of a fire from a burning building.

I now have a new product in mind, and I'll be testing it within a new market shortly. Dealing with new territory or new products in your marketing efforts can be, well... "risky business."

That's why I say you limit all your experimentation to only 30% of your marketing budget. This means if you have two new products and want to venture into two new territories, you should only be allocating 7.5% to each. 30/(2X2)=7.5 If you're unsure about a new product you have (as I am currently), and what the response will be... test it, but don't bet the farm.

Face it. We're in the business to make money, and you can't make money without taking some risk, however I don't think risking everything which you've worked so hard for is a smart thing to do. Yes, if things begin to work you may allocate more money to these parts of your marketing plan (see "Embelishing Your 70% for Growth.") but doing so in the beginning is like putting your house on the line at the black jack table in Vegas.

Ideas are good. Explosions of creativity are good. New markets mean new customers. Hand in hand, new products mean new profits. It is necessary to develop and change with the world around us, but it also makes sense to try new things slowly and patiently, and in the meantime stick with what you know has created explosive growth for your bottom line in the past.

Free Website Drawing UPDATE

2005-06-07T20:21:00.000-04:00

In an effort to further promote our online marketing community, we have decided to give away TWO custom designed business websites to our readers. Originally stated as one website, we have upped the anti. Two lucky business owners will receive more than $5,000 dollars in internet marketing services.

For now, business owners are able to receive two entries in the drawing by signing up and posting to our marketing forum.

Look for a third chance to enter in an upcoming post.

"Use the Resources You Have to Your Advantage"

2005-06-06T22:49:00.000-04:00

Marketing is one of many aspects needed in order to succeed in a business. The strategy by which a person develops the marketing plan, should be derived from the actual product they are trying to profit from. Like my colleagues have said, only utilize what resources you need. If you do not need a Web page, then why have one?

However, I'd like you to consider this:

Billions of people surf the web every day. If you own your own business and are having trouble thinking of products to create, why not create something that is computer-based? This way, production costs are low, and potential buyers include everyone that surfs the net.

Many people do not take advantage of what the Internet has to offer: information. That is all that Web pages, the Internet, and even computers are about. All from the comfort of your own home, you can look up almost anything; from different napkin folding techniques to creating atomic bombs. Within this research lies the beauty of the Internet. Having information readily available like this cries for attention. You, the entrepreneur, need to learn how to harness this information - for profit.

Only recently has something such as open source become a wide-spread notion. The idea of someone writing a program or creating something in demand, usually for non-profit where everyone has access to it and is able to edit it, is really being taken for granted.

Take blogs for example. It is the exchange of information which is user-driven by people like you and I. Now, you read it, take the information and move on. But, what about the people who created the actual blog? For simple blogs, the creators who take credit for the generation of traffic did not create the actual code or underlying structure for how blogs run, but have used prepackaged ideas which come with manuals on how to implement them. Then, the same person can approach companies whose motif are similar to the theme of the blog and see if they are interested in advertising some of their information, for a price of course. Now, other than effort, what monies, excluding the computer, did the person invest? Nothing. Blogging is a great marketing technique.

Ideas like this are all out there, free, for the taking.

What about something more in-depth? For the more advanced user, who actually creates their own Web site, or is interested in something more complex, there are plenty of tools out there such as message boards, and other Web and non-Web related products that can be implemented within the site's design. Learn them, just by doing the research and reading documentation on how the items and products work.

Just by reading, one can learn, and more than likely make money from, the comfort of their own home without investing anything other than their time.

"Positioning Your Company for Success"

2005-06-06T19:36:00.000-04:00

Positioning is the art of putting your business and its products where they need to be at the exact time they need to be there. It's the age old saying, "Being in the right place, at the right time." It's about claiming a territory so that a prospect who enters that territory has no choice but to buy your product because they need it. It's about having a clear vision of who you are, who your employees and co-workers are, and what service your company can clearly provide to the market place.

A lot of companies have a "positioning statement", yet most of their employees could never tell you what it said. The positioning statement should work side by side with your business plan. To achieve success in marketing your products you, and your employees, must first make an appeal to the customer with your business and its brand. Unless you developed a mind-blowing new invention that stands attention all on its own (good luck in doing this), everyone from the janitor to the CEO must know what the goals of the company are (your plan), and why it will stand to succeed and reach those goals. (your positioning statement)

If everyone knows where they are headed - through the synergy created by working together, great things can be accomplished.

If your company has yet to develop its positioning statement. I have one cliche for you. "Get-R-Done." It may not be an easy task to accomplish (writing out the company's stance within a given market in just a few sentences), but you can start by answering the questions below.

1. How is the company unique?

2. What makes your company valuable to others?

3. What is your competitive advantage?

4. What do you do that creates a lasting experience?

Don't hesitate to shout if you have any questions. will@royallmedia.com

NEW Marketing Forum & Community!

2005-06-06T10:19:00.000-04:00

We've added a forum to our blog. Readers can now post their own ideas or questions regarding their specific marketing issues and needs.

To get people to sign up and start posting, we're giving away TWO entries in the FREE website give-away drawing to be held later next month!

Get your questions answered! Get fresh ideas! Brag to the world what worked for you and your business! Network with, and meet other marketers!

http://royallmedia.proboards42.com

Royall Media, Inc. Announces a FREE WEBSITE GIVE-AWAY

2005-06-03T11:51:00.000-04:00

Are we crazy?

Maybe.

Royall Media, Inc. will be giving away two FREE custom designed business website (no strings attached), domain name registration, as well as a year's worth of hosting.

Look for the upcoming post to this blog for your chance to enter and win!

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
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"Your Marketing Plan is More Than a Component of Your Business Plan"

2005-06-02T19:16:00.000-04:00

All to often when developing a business plan the marketing aspect plays a minor role giving way to other areas such as management or finances. You can't develop a business plan until you identify someone who wants to buy what you have to sell; therefore I say that the marketing plan should be written first and foremost. This should be set as priority number one. A new marketing plan should be made every time your business develops a new product, offers a new service, or enters a new market. It doesn't have to be a long, drawn out, formal plan each time, but it should give you a strategy to reach your desired market.

The best marketing plan will specify what is distinct and unique about your product or service; it focuses on what will make your company stand out from the rest. It should identify the size of your expected market and the share which you can reasonably expect to capture. It should describe who your typical customer is, why they will buy from you, and how you plan on attaining them. It should identify competitors and highlight advantages and disadvantages your business has in the market. And of course, no plan is complete without a time table, budget, and means for measuring results.

Without a strong marketing plan a company simply cannot grow. Unless you have developed a cure for aging, a time machine, or car that runs on water, people are not going to run to you. You must run to them. The marketing plan will provide a strategy to efficiently and effectively find, reach, and attract your customers.

Never forget profits come directly from customers; they don't come from managers, and they don't come from accountants. When the accountant starts paying you, then they can receive your primary focus. Until then the only way your business can flourish is with a steady market base, and that can only be achieved with a strong marketing plan.

FREE - Auto Surfing Web Traffic Generators

2005-05-31T19:28:00.000-04:00

Here they are:

Hitzup

TrafficRacer

Hope they bring your website lots of traffic!

"Don't Let Your Small Business Become a Statistic"

2005-05-31T01:07:00.000-04:00

Everybody knows that most small businesses fail. It’s a simple but harsh reality. Reasons include lofty overhead, substandard management or poor production. But the one that I often hear and really get frustrated by is “not enough customers.” The truth is, if lack of customers is your downfall, then you deserve to fail, because you never should have opened shop.

How can you avoid such a fate?

The answer is simple, market research.

Through market research you can gain insight on incredibly useful information about the market for your business. Data can be collected on who potential target markets are, where they are located and even their preferences and opinions on subject matter relevant to your business. This information will directly result in the best possible decisions for your business.

And you can aquire all this information before the grand opening!

When taking on such a huge risk it only makes sense to do your homework. Would you invest in a stock without researching the company? Would you invest in real estate without seeing the land? Of course not and you can't invest in a business without researching the market.

All too often small business owners overlook market research and learn this information after they have invested their time and money. Don't make the mistake of thinking you know the market better than you do, or that market research does not make the budget cut. You will pay in the end.

If you have any questions about market research and how it can serve your business, please contact me at mnassick@royallmedia.com and I will be happy to assist you in developing a plan.

"The Marketing Death Trap"

2005-05-30T14:46:00.000-04:00

Watch Out!

There's a death trap out there just waiting for your business to fall in.

I've learned over the years that when businesses aren't doing so well, the budget gets tight, and people start looking for places to cut costs - they always see marketing materials as dispensable. I mean, you didn't hand out all of those fliers last time you had them printed anyways, right? And everything else is necessary, right? You have to pay your wholesalers so you'll have your product when people order it. You have to pay rent. You have to pay utilities. You have to pay your employees. And the list goes on.

I'm here to tell you my friends that every one of those should be cut first, before you cut your marketing budget and materials. You can down-size your office. Heck, you can even run your business from home. You can get credit to stock your products. You can down size the number of employees you have. You can do all of this - but don't cut back on your marketing when business gets slow.

Doesn't it only make sense to increase your marketing budget when business gets slow? I hope you see it that way.

Marketing is what drives your business. It's what brings new customers to your front door. Cut back on your marketing materials, and your cutting your own life-line.

Have you ever thought that your marketing plan just needs adjusting? If you want to do better, don't cut back on the budget - change where your money gets spent. If it's not working, stop doing the same old thing. I'll help you review your marketing plan, if you'd like, at no cost.

Just make sure you see marketing as an investment. Everything else is an expense. Cut your expenses, and invest in your business.

FREE Traffic to Your Website

2005-05-30T12:24:00.000-04:00

This company offers a link exchange program. Very nice indeed.

FREE Marketing Tips Mailing List

2005-05-29T22:14:00.000-04:00

Get tips on marketing! Ideas, Tools, and Resources for the entrepreneur who wants to sell or distribute a product or service to a target market group.

• Learn how to formulate customized business plans and marketing plans based on customer research.

• Learn where to find marketing resources that can help create all the necessary materials for your marketing campaign.

• Learn how to formulate custom presentations of your products to your clients based on their needs and requests.

Get people asking you for your services today!

Just send a blank email to: targetmarket-subscribe@royallmedia.com

*** Step 2. MP - "Embellishing Your 70% for Growth"

2005-05-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

This is step two for small business owners in the MP (Marketing Plan) series of posts. If you haven't already read step one, please do so here before you move onto step two. The previous post described how we can improve the return on our marketing investment by concentrating most of our marketing dollars in what we know is already working for us. 70% should be spent on what we already know works, while only 30% should be left up to experimentation and / or speculation. The left-overs should be allocated to what you know didn't work. ;-)

It kills me to see people who spend more money the following year on something that didn't do diddily-squat for their company the year before - in hopes that by spending more money, "they will come." Face it. If your business isn't cut for advertising on the web, don't invest more money into your website. If your business doesn't do well through television advertising, don't buy another commercial!

It is true however, that sometimes these areas could be explored and presented in a different manor or demeanor, resulting in a change in customer response - but this should be limited to part of your 30% speculative marketing expense budget.

Now that you have decided which part of your marketing plan worked the best for you last year, you can see where to allocate more funds this year.

If you haven't decided on an amount of money you will be putting towards marketing this year, do so now. You will need to know this information to follow through with the next steps.

Remember, we only want to spend 70% of our total budget on what we know works.

Lets break up our 70% into smaller categories. We'll call this the 40-20-10 strategy. (Add the numbers up and they should equal 70%) The idea here is to diversify your marketing budget to insure growth (by concentrating on what works), while reducing risk (by not placing all your eggs in one basket.)

First, list what worked and with what percentage increase did it bring your business in customer response or sales growth. If you don't have this information because you didn't keep track and follow up with your customers - don't make that mistake again. More about tracking results in a later post.

Second, Starting with the marketing technique that contributed your largest area of growth, allocate 40% of your total marketing budget to this area. For example, If you saw explosive growth through your website last year, you may want to continue funding the website with the most of your marketing budget. Then take the next technique that provided the second largest amount of growth (in either customers or sales) and allocate 20% of your overall budget in this area for this years marketing campaign. Continue with your final 10% in deciding which technique provided the third largest amount of growth.

Now what's left over is 30% of your total original budget marketing budget. This is what we will use to explore new target market areas, groups, or methods that we aren't sure work for our business yet.

Read Step 3 now.