Marketing Copy Brand Identity Guru

Writen by Scott D. White

Tips on writing great copy for your marketing efforts.

It's just four steps that I call the Writing Path

1. I create a deadline for something to be produced. This creates pressure that I think is very important. Because I write this e-newsletter-BIGNews every other week, I must find an idea and the time to write. If I didn't have a deadline looming, I think procrastination would be a lot easier.

- Do you have a specific goal and a deadline? If not, just make one up. If you don't, you'll have no focus to keep you on track.

2. I define a problem, predicament or challenge I believe my audience is facing. And since I've faced most of these problems myself, they are very familiar to me. It might be the problem of creating a marketing message, writing an e-newsletter or putting together a proposal. I only spend a little time thinking about a problem and one usually pops into my head in a few minutes.

- Can you identify several problems your prospects and clients have experienced in the past? What are they currently struggling with? What's missing for them? Then pick just one.

3. I think about my solutions to this problem. Since I've solved many of these marketing problems in the past, I usually have a good idea of what will work and what won't work. I just reflect for a few minutes about various solutions and approaches to the problem until I feel confident I have something valuable to communicate that will make a difference to those who read what I write.

- Do you have solutions, techniques and strategies you can apply to the problems of your clients and prospects? Can you express these solutions in a way that is easy to understand and apply?

4. Then I just start writing. I don't worry about doing it perfectly the first draft. I just follow the Writing Path as I've outlined above. I try to avoid theory and stay very practical, giving very detailed how-to information. If I can make things clearer with a story or example, I'll use those too. My main concern is: Can my readers use this information to improve their current situation? If they can, I've succeeded.

- Are you ready to start writing using this basic Writing Path? Are you willing to do it imperfectly and then go back and edit and rewrite until it makes sense and flows well? And that's my simple Writing Path.

If you are stuck, I believe it's all you need to get started. And the more you write using this formula, the easier it gets. Not only that, the more you write, the more all your other marketing activities improve because your thinking gets more focused and your communication becomes more persuasive. So take a shot at it and see what you come up with! What will you write about today?

Recap:

* Deadlines - You'll have better results if you have a regular deadline for writing. Interestingly, I found that a bi-weekly deadline was more powerful than a monthly deadline. Set it up so that the consequences of missing the deadline are worse than doing the writing!

* Problems - A good way to prime the pump is to list every problem you can think of that your clients and prospects have faced. Then trim down and prioritize the list until you have several good topics you can write about.

* Solutions - Beside the list of problems, write the main solution that will be the foundation of the article. For instance, beside "Writer's Block" I'd put "Writing Path." These sets of problems and solutions will be the foundation for several articles.

* Just Write - The writing that gets the highest readership is writing that is conversational. Throw out most of what you learned in English class and just write like you talk. And then read what you've written out loud until it flows naturally.

* Stay Present - Don't worry about what people are going to think of what you've written. Just focus on your ideas and communicate them with clarity. If your ideas make sense, people will read what you've written and get the value you intended.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Franklin Sports and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

What Is A Marketing Plan Anyway

Writen by Charlie Cook

Building a business that grows steadily in size and profits is like building your dream house. First, you identify what kind of home you want, then you and your architect plan and create blueprints for your house, then you'd build it, move in and enjoy it.

Now imagine that you didn't have the time to plan your home but went ahead and hired a builder to get started. How would he know what to build? Without a plan, the result would be unlikely to meet your needs and you'd have wasted a lot of time and money.

Everyday I get calls from frustrated owners of small businesses. Their marketing isn't helping them generate a steady stream of new clients or bring in the revenue that they think they should be making.

My conversation with Ken, from Toronto, was typical. I asked Ken to describe his business and his business goals. I asked him to tell me about his target market and what he is doing to market his business.

He easily described his technological and design expertise, his Web services and the ads and mailings he was using to promote his business. Then I asked the question that stumps almost everyone who calls me for advice: I asked Ken if he had a marketing plan and what it was. He didn't have one.

Do you?

You know what your goals are and where you want to take your business. You also know that marketing involves activities such as building a web site, mailings, advertising and phone calls to prospects. But without a plan tying these efforts together, these activities by themselves may do little to help you achieve your goals.

You need a well thought out blueprint for your marketing, just as you would for your dream home.

Here's how to start putting your marketing plan together.

1. Identify Your Marketing Goals

What specifically does your marketing need to achieve for your business to grow? You can state this in terms of the number of qualified leads generated each week, the percentage of leads converted to s.ales, total revenue, and profit.

What are your marketing goals?

2. Define Your Marketing Strategy

This is your overall approach and positioning relative to your goals and your competition. My marketing strategy is an educational one. It is based on giving people ideas and information they can use as a means of getting their attention and demonstrating the value I provide.

What is your marketing strategy?

3. Set Up Your Marketing System

Develop a plan of action. To increase sales, your marketing activities and the media you use need to reflect your marketing strategy and work together as one.

I use articles and pay-per-click ads to get people to my web site, a free marketing guide to generate contacts, forms to generate leads, and follow up with autoresponders, my ezine and phone calls. Each individual activity supports and works in harmony with the others to bring me a lot of business.

What is your marketing system?

4. Map Out Your Marketing Activities

Now flesh out the details. You've decided what your marketing activities will be; now for each marketing activity you'll need to determine who will create and implement it and when.

Who will be responsible for developing, implementing and maintaining your marketing?

5. Sharpen Your Marketing Tools

Each marketing activity involves using one or more marketing tools. These include everything from your web site to your phone scripts to your marketing messages. To cut through the information clutter and get your prospect's attention you'll want finely honed tools.

Could you sharpen your marketing tools?

Plan your marketing like you would your dream home. The time you spend developing a marketing plan - your blueprints - based on your business goals, a clear strategy, and a coordinated system will pay off.

Use your marketing plan in conjunction with a set of sharp marketing tools. You'll be building your client base and profits in no time at all.

2005 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals, small business owners and marketing professionals attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Strategy eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business' at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com

The Marketing Recipe Money Marketing And Me 3 Keys For Success

Writen by Ana Greco

You have a great product or service… Now, how should you market it?

You have to make others know about what you have to offer. There is no good in having a great idea if you don't know how to sell it, right?

Your motivation is financial independence (MONEY); you establish a quality product (your service), and you go out into the harsh competitive world and sell it (MARKETING) while you also sell yourself (ME)!

Here are a few tips and a real example which you should keep in mind in order to prospect.

MONEY:

• Let's admit it: Money makes business and business makes money!
• If you are looking for venture capital, try to get investors interested in your product/service by attending venture capital forums such as "Keiretsu" or "Angel".
• Do your homework: look for the best bank loans and compare them all before you finally choose one.
• Procurement sessions (one-to-one meetings with big Corporations) could also be beneficial for your business.
• Take advantage of the fact that you are a woman and that you own a business; find procurement contracts for women and minority owned business.
• Find a strategic partner who you can do business with: together you will be stronger.

MOTIVATION / ME:

• It's not what you know that counts… but WHO you know!
• Always update yourself and your knowledge, so that your Competitors don't win the race.
• Be part of Committees with which you may feel identified with (e.g. National Latina Business Women Association) and learn from other people's experiences.
• Get connected to your community and gain exposure.
• Be detail oriented, show your customers that you care. Do a good job with follow ups and remember people's names when you first meet them.
• Remember that all leads count; be there for your clients 24/7… don't make them play telephone tag with you. Always take care of their calls and needs.
• Feedback: listen to what your customers suggest.
• Never imprison yourself at your office and never forget that there are no physical limits: internet!

MARKETING:

• Take great care and time in building your webpage.
• Make attractive business cards and brochures.
• Display your brochures on a display-table from where people can pick up some literature regarding your Company.
• Attend all the networking sessions that you can, and try to be the speaker in some of them.
• Attend expos and shows where you can get to talk personally about your product/service with your customers.
• Try to get business mentoring.

After taking in mind these tips, a cheap and effective way to market your business could be to organize an educative seminar related to your business where you could get to speak to an audience of potential customers (e.g. a financial planner who gets to talk about retirement). Your motivation and attitude will be crucial to your seminar's success, make them trust you. After all, you want to make business with them, but you also want to help their own business grow thanks to your product/service.

Get the most out of your seminars by having all the data of the people who are going to attend, so that you will have quality leads. In order to prospect some more, you will need a web-based appointment scheduling tool. You could advertise your current phone number to which potential clients could call to and book into a seminar reservation on a given day to come and listen to you speak on how you could for example, plan a retirement if you were a financial planner.

To sum up, Money, Marketing & Me is real easy:

Be Motivated

Be prepared, and always

Be hands on.

About The Author

Hi! My name is Ana Greco and I'm with Almond Hill Enterprises. We are a web-based appointment scheduling and answering service all in one. I have come all the way from Spain to California for this three month internship. I am currently a business management and marketing student who still has 2 years to finish College. I am trying to make my best out of my stay here in USA, and I am trying my best to prospect and learn sales techniques before I return back to my home in Spain. I am 23 years old and I love this country...!

anagreco@turboschedule.com

Marketing Strategies Onsite Auto Service Businesses

Writen by Lance Winslow

When considering marketing strategies for onsite auto service businesses it is so important not to box yourself in to one methodology or focus. A multiplicity approach is far greater and wiser. Let's discuss some theory here, which perhaps you may not as of yet considered or felt worthy of your time to put into your small auto service business strategic marketing plan.

Much of the marketing strategy taught in school is an either or, yet the real value and opportunity is the multiplicity of chess moves. It looks like chaos to those that watch, some may think you do not have a strategy, yet that is the beauty of it. It does not look like marketing, yet you win the market. Some think it is luck? Do you really believe that is all luck? Sure some is luck but it is surprising how lucky you get when you work it from all sides.

You see to be on the right track. Are you concentrating on customer service and are you finding yourself booked up? This is an issue and travel time and clusters is the key to the mobile service business. Consider the flows;

http://worldthinktank.net/wttbbs/index.php?
s=587715e3cec5b96d36fd74303d0492b5&showtopic=692

Some of this is theory, but the theory works very good for me. I would advise those who are in the mobile auto business sector to think philosophically a bit more and consider the reality of the game and then proceed from there. Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Creating A Trade Show Budget

Writen by Rick Hendershot

Setting up a display at a trade show is expensive business. You have to rent the space, create a display, promote it, stock it, and staff it. Before you decide to get involved, take a serious look at the costs of all of these components.

Start planning well ahead. You already know this, right? Keep yourself as organized as possible right from the beginning -- even before you book your space. You know how carefully today's brides plan their weddings. Months, even years ahead, they start thinking about the church, the reception, the dresses, the flowers, the cake. And of course, the cost. Well, you're the bride. Grab your planning book and start writing down everything you must do to get yourself ready for a successful trade show season -- next year's.

Even before you decide to go into a show or two you should have a hard look at the costs and expected returns. This is why you create a trade show budget. Whether you admit it or not, everything has a cost, and trade shows are no exception. Remember that your objective is to make sales, or at least generate opportunities to make sales. So you have to view your costs in that light. Everything should be done with an eye on its potential return.

The Trade Show Budget Preamble

The normal starting point for your campaign is the trade show budget. If you work from a budget you have an outside chance of keeping your costs under control. Of course there is a certain amount of hocus pocus involved in budgeting for things like trade show marketing -- especially if you've never seriously done it before and have no track record to go on. Still, you should give it your best shot. This is not rocket science, and any research or analysis you do will be better than just "winging it". Try using a "brainstorming" process similar to the following.

First, ask yourself some BIG questions:

Question 1. Do I really believe I can recover my costs within a short enough period of time to make it "profitable" (make more than it costs)?

Answer 1. Like most promotion and advertising, until you've done it, you have little idea how successful it will be. First you will have to summarize all the costs, and then try to figure out how many sales you're likely to get from this sort of exposure.

Question 2. Do I have any idea which trade shows are more likely to be "profitable".

Answer 2. There are trade show directories and reports that can tell you about industry-specific shows. Usually they will tell you the number of attendees, and hopefully something about their buying habits. Find the relevant directories, and figure out some method of choosing between shows.

Question 3. Are there obvious ways to enhance my "Conversion Rate" -- the number of attendees who buy from me?

Answer 3. Yes, of course. Having an attractive, eye-catching display is a good start. Getting a good location on the floor will help. Setting up your booth properly will help you "process" the attendees more efficiently. Having a lead-gathering system will help you do more profitable follow up. Giving out memorable hand-outs will enhance your chances of being recognized later on. Training your booth staff could make an important difference.

Ask yourself a few more questions like this to get yourself in the right frame of mind. Then you'll be ready to start preparing your trade show budget.

Let the Planning Begin - Selecting Appropriate Shows

Begin by assembling the following information (and anything else that seems relevant as you go along):

Find a trade show directory for your industry (online is the best source), or check out the major trade show venues or exhibition companies. They will put you on the right track very quickly.

Select the 10 most promising looking shows — based on your "gut feeling" about their potential for your campaign.

Make a chart and list the five or six most relevant bits of information for each of your most promising venues:

• Location
• Date
• Number of attendees
• Geographic area served
• Target market (who will be attending)

Calculate Your Costs for Each Show

Now add some columns to your chart where you can list the costs that are specific to each show:

• Booth space cost
• Other space-related costs
• Travel costs to and from the show
• Additional things to rent or buy at the show (tables, power, etc.)
• Accommodation costs for booth staff
• Shipping costs for booth display(s) and materials
• Vehicle rentals required

Campaign Costs - Materials used in a Number of Shows

Now think about the actual "sales process" and make a list of what you will need in order to have a successful trade show experience. These will usually be things that will be used for several shows, so think of them as "campaign costs" that will be amortized over a number shows:

• Display booth design and production
• Product literature
• Hand outs
• Staff training
• Show promotion (free passes to clients, etc.)

If you estimate that your campaign costs will service 4 shows, then take these costs and add 25% of the total campaign costs to the cost of each show. That should give you a realistic estimate of the total cost of each show:

Cost to to Attend Show = Specific Show Costs + pro-rated Campaign Costs

Calculating Your Break Even Point

Now that you have a fairly clear idea of your costs, it should be possible to arrive at an accurate estimate of your Break Even Point for each show -- the number of sales you have to make to cover your costs.

For instance, let's say you calculate that your costs for Show A are $3,000 (including a pro-rated amount for the one-time costs such as the booth). And let's say you can relatively easily calculate your "gross profit" on each sale (gross sale amount minus out-of-pocket). For example, in the case of the wedding photographer let's say his gross profit margin is 50%, and the average sale is $1,000. That would give him a Gross Profit of $500 per sale.

In order to recover his $3,000 he will have to get 6 sales (6 x $500 Gross Profit on each sale.)

Factors Affecting Conversion Rate

What are his chances of getting 6 sales from a specific show?

Well that depends. If our photographer goes to a wedding show with 1000 warm and willing blushing-brides-to-be battering down the doors of the show, then perhaps 6 is a conservative estimate. However, if the show has only 200 attendees, it might be much more difficult to get 6 sales.

But that also depends. A smaller show may have fewer exhibitors (less competition), will have a more intimate feel about it, will give you more time with each prospective client. And, of course it will cost considerably less than a bigger show -- so his break even sales point may be considerably less.

The same goes for much larger shows: more attendees (prospective sales), but higher costs, and much more (and more intense) competition. So the "conversion rate" (number of sales per 1000 attendees) will be lower. There will be more people, but they may be harder to sell.

Once you have a feeling for the idea of "conversion rate" you can start to see how other factors have an important bearing on it: the price of your service, the attractiveness of your presentation, the quality of your samples and handouts, and so on.

Every show and every product will have its "conversion rates", and the only way you can establish the numbers for your own business is to research, experiment, and constantly "tweak" your presentation.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to talk to friends and acquaintances who have trade show experience. Ask them about their own success rates. Ask them how many actual sales they get from a good show. Ask them which shows have been most successful for them, and how often they have broken even.

Putting it together...

The only way you can arrive at hard conclusions is by trying. That will allow you to establish a track record. If you think the numbers for a particular show almost add up, then take a stab. Go to a show or two, and when it is over do a careful analysis of your costs and returns. Then you can establish a reliable "Target Conversion Rate" -- a number you can seriously shoot for and expect to reach -- and then you're in business. Preparing a trade show budget for next year will be a piece of cake.

And of course, once you do commit to a show or two, your focus has to immediately shift to hitting (and smashing through) that Target Conversion Rate. Design a better display, have more impressive samples and portfolio books, fine tune your product, get some memorable handouts, memorize your sales pitch, take voice lessons, get a hair cut...

Rick Hendershot is a marketing consultant, writer, and internet publisher, specializing in Trade Show Displays. This article was orignally published in Trade Show Buzz. For Trade Show Displays and Trade Show Graphics

How To Get Your Real Estate Website Ranked Higher In Search Engines

Writen by Brett Miller

Search engine optimization is a great tool to ensure that your website reaches the largest number of viewers. Simply put, search engine optimization for real estate would involve choosing a keyword or words and using them frequently on your website.

Choosing the Right Keywords - Be Specific!

It is important to choose a keyword that your clients would be likely to type in to a search engine, and narrowing down your target audience is quite important. If, for example, you work in the Denver area, choosing "Denver Real Estate" as your search engine optimization phrase would probably be too general. Many agents are probably using the same technique. You might want to narrow your key phrase to a particular neighborhood or even street. Find a specialized area within your work area that you have a special connection to. Maybe you sell a lot of lakefront property, particularly in the Edgewater area, so selecting a key phrase such as "Edgewater Lakefront Home" would help narrow your target audience.

Using Search Engine Optimization to Target Leads

Once you've analyzed your target market, it's time to get that copy up on your website. Use your key phrase as often as you can!

Example: Buying your new Edgewater lakefront home is easy with Sally Smith! Sally sells more Edgewater lakefront homes than any other agent in town. See why buying an Edgewater lakefront home is a great investment, as well as a wonderful way of life! Call Sally today to see which Edgewater lakefront home would be the best fit for your family. Edgewater lakefront homes are selling quickly, so don't wait!

Makes Sure Your Website is Informative - Content is King

Don't be afraid to use your keyword or words multiple times. It may seem too repetitive, but your goal is to capture the attention of potential clients. Make the rest of your website interestingly written and informative and your new clients will never know that you used search engine optimization to bring them to your site! Don't be afraid to create different pages for each neighborhood or area that you service. Your new buyers and sellers will simply assume that you knew exactly what they were looking for!

Brett Miller is the founder of HoopJumper.com and has created the best lead generating Real Estate Websites in the industry for hundreds of Real Estate Professionals. Visit http://www.HoopJumper.com to learn how to make your first impression your best impression with HoopJumper. Call 888-Hoop-Jumper for a free web analysis today!

Marketing On One Foot

Writen by Lorraine Ball

There is a story about an impatient young man who went to visit an old scholar. He demanded the the old man tell him everything he needed to know about the bible standing on one foot.

The old man smiled, stood on one foot and said, "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you! All the rest is commentary"

Say Less ... Listen More

What Would You Say?

If that same impatient young man came to your business, could you meet his challenge? Could you boil down the description of your business to a simple message, deliverable standing on one foot?

Try This Next Time

The next time someone at a networking event asks "What do you do?" Treat the listener like an impatient young man. Avoid a long, detailed description of your products and services.

Instead, give a brief, but compelling description that leaves the listener wanting more ... and watch what happens!

Refine your sound bite by refining your target ...

What to Say?

If you have caught their attention, the listener will ask a follow up question. Keep your response short as well. The goal is not to be vague, but to provide information in manageable bites for the listener.

Think of a networking conversation like a tennis match. Your goal is to make contact with the ball and knock it back over the net. Remember to ask questions about their business as well.

More about brief intros and other marketing tips...

A twenty year veteran of corporate America, today Lorraine Ball helps small business owners use planning and creative thinking as a starting point for growth and change. Active in the local business community, Lorraine is the recipient of 2005 Rainmaker of the Year Award. She serves on the boards of Rainmakers and the Network of Women in Business.

Spice It Up Rib Festival Teaches Us About Product Value

Writen by Scott Ginsberg

The Rib America Festival is a fun filled family event featuring award winning BBQ and live entertainment from national, regional and local talent. Each rib cooker features their very own special cooking strategy and recipes that make for a truly unique food festival experience.

My Dad and I attend every year. And it's our tradition to sample a few ribs from each of the cookers and ultimately choose our favorite; after which we return home and pass out from meat overload.

Now, amazing sauce, tender meat and spicy rib-rub notwithstanding, I noticed a few environmental elements that altered the perception of certain cookers' value.

Lines
Like my Dad always says, "Just because there's a long line, it doesn't mean the ribs are good; and just because there's nobody in line, it doesn't mean the ribs are bad." Case in Point: our personal award for the past two years went to Dave's Good Ol' Boys BBQ from New York. And for the last two years, those guys have had NO LINE. Hmmm. Interesting.

SPICE THIS UP: Popular doesn't mean better.

Credibility
A lot of the cookers had trophies from various cook-offs over the years - but most of those awards were from the 90's. To me, that didn't seem all that impressive. But while waiting in line for some ribs from a South Carolina cooker, the judges from this year's festival walked over and presented the 2005 1st Place Trophy to their booth! And you better believe their line doubled instantly!

SPICE THIS UP: Credibility is most effective when it's recent.

Promotion
One cooker from Chicago - who makes amazing ribs every year - passes out free stickers with a picture of their mascot, Paulie the Pig. And here's the cool part: every customer gets one. And they HAVE to wear it! According to one of the cooks I spoke with, at least one third of the people in line were drawn in by others who were wearing those stickers.

SPICE THIS UP: It's not who you know, it's who knows you.

At the end of a long afternoon, all of the ribs were great. And rightly so - only a select group of cookers are chosen to show at this festival. But "great" isn't that special when everyone else is great. You need something else if you want to stand out and be unforgettable.

© 2005 All Rights Reserved.

Scott Ginsberg is a professional speaker, "The World's Foremost Expert on Nametags" and the author of HELLO my name is Scott and The Power of Approachability. He helps people MAXIMIZE their approachability and become UNFORGETTABLE communicators - one conversation at a time. For more information contact Front Porch Productions at http://www.hellomynameisscott.com.

Helping Your Prospects Overcome Quotbuying Fearsquot By Using Testimonials

Writen by Joe Farinaccio

You DO use direct marketing for your small business… right? If so, you're taking advantage of the most cost-effective means of advertising available. (Yes… I'm biased… I admit it!)

Let's talk for a minute about how you can make your sales copy and direct marketing more effective.

One of the simplest yet most powerful ways to strengthen your sales copy is to include testimonials. The purpose of having testimonials is to add "objective" credibility to your promises. And when used correctly - - testimonials can do just that.

Good Testimonials Will Separate You from the Crowd

I read a great sales letter this morning. It came from a local heating/cooling service contractor in my area. His headline was perfect. His pitch was superb. His "reasons-why" advertising justified both his offer and his price.

His sales letter lacked only one thing…

… "proof" that he can deliver on his promises by demonstrating he has already delivered on his promises to others.

People want to know who they can trust. Testimonials will do that for you. This is even MORE important if you have a business on the web.

Buying from an unfamiliar seller on the web can be a scary thing. But once you've delivered on your promises to a satisfied customer the trust factor goes up for them exponentially. Your next sale is much easier to make.

Do What Ebay and Amazon Do in Order to Foster Trust

Both of these monster sellers provide a constant stream of customer feedback and testimonials. The testimonials cover both the sellers as individuals and the products themselves. It's all to satisfy the "proof" factor in selling. You've got to prove you can deliver the goods.

Testimonials provide you with a track record. They make the claims in your sales letter or direct mail package down-to-earth and believable.

The Most Effective Testimonials are:

1) Believable. Good testimonials talk about real benefits experienced by real people.

2) To the point. Each one should highlight one main benefit. If your customer has mentioned 3 really good benefits in their testimonial try to break up their 1 testimony into 3 testimonies. Use an ellipsis in the copy …. like this … to start and close the testimony where appropriate.

3) Natural. Keep the testimonials as unedited as possible. Clean up the spelling, of course, but for the most part keep things just as your customer has written (or spoken) them.

4) Detailed. The best testimonials aren't vague… they include details… specifics… processed data… juicy numbers… facts… etc.

5) Include the customer's name and where they live. The more information the better… "K. Smith, Pennsville, NJ" is better than "K.S. from N.J." But "Karen Smith (Owner, Styles Dress Shop), Pennsville, NJ" is best of all.

6) Placed next to relevant points in your sales letter. If you have a testimonial raving about the reliability of your product try to place it near any sales copy you have that addresses how reliable your product is. If the testimonial raves about how good your service is then place it near sales copy that compares your service performance with others.'

Final Words on Gathering Testimonials Effectively

Always ask your satisfied customers for testimonials. Create a standard form and at the top of it type in big letters, "Customer Feedback Form."

Then give them out to your customers and ask for comments … "Did you like our product/service?" … "Was there anything you didn't like about it?" … "What was it you liked BEST about doing business with me?"… "Any additional Comments you'd like to make?"

And then, the final important question and request… "May we use your comments for promotional purposes?… please sign it and send back to me at…"

There you have it. Now - - gather some testimonials. Use them in all your sales copy. Watch your sales rise along with your credibility.

Joe Farinaccio is a copywriter and direct marketer. In addition to writing sales letters for online clients Joe specializes in creating successful direct mail packages for small and medium sized businesses. You can learn more about how to market your business successfully and sign up to receive his free monthly Ezine at http://www.sales-letters-and-marketing.com

Marketing A Mobile Car Wash Business

Writen by Lance Winslow

One of the most simple businesses you can start is a mobile car wash business. Of course starting a business is not so difficult an endeavor, especially one like this as it requires no real inventory and you can run a one-man operation with no labor and you do not even need a location.

The key is finding customers. I know what you are thinking finding customers for a mobile car wash business is not worthy of an article on the subject, because everyone owns a car and the world is full of dirt. In fact aren't you saying right now;

"Heck my car is dirty, I'll be your first customer, come on over, it is in the drive way and it is filthy, oh and vacuum it to while you are at it!"

Indeed finding car wash customers for a mobile car cleaning and washing service or even a mobile auto detailing business is relatively easy. But finding those very high-paying, loyal and consistent customers, who are constantly giving you referrals is quite another thing entirely.

To properly market a mobile car wash company you will need some business cards and flyers and you will have to carefully target who you give those flyers to, because other wise you will find yourself driving all over town doing ones and twos, when you should be at office parks doing 10-20 cars in a row every week at the same time.

You must target your direct marketing sales programs carefully and cluster your customers at upscale office parks. Trust me on this, as I happen to know a thing or two about the business, you might say. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Business Cards Dont Be Shy Your Business Depends On It

Writen by Frank Owen

There are thousands of business cards on the market. Millions and billions even. What you need is a business card that creates value for your customer and sets you apart from the crowd. Your business card has to shout without being over the top or considered unprofessional. How do you do that?

You have to provide the right imagery and the right word choices. Word choices are vital when creating a business card. A customer wants to look at a business card that tells them what they need and why they need it. They don't simply need to know you provide a service. They need to know why your service is over the top. They also need you to convince them to come see you.

The Business Card Call To Action

The simplest way to attract attention is to place a call to action on your business card. Tell your customers to present the card for a discount, or to call (insert your name) and they'll get X for free. Such offers not only encourage someone to pick up the phone but they let a customer know that their efforts will be rewarded.

Your business card should also contain factual and helpful information. Never contain information or promises on a business card you can't fulfill. These will ultimately come back to haunt you and hurt you in the end. Customers treasure honestly and value above all else when engaging in business interactions.

Article by Frank Owen, visit his web site on business cards for more on how to use business cards effectively to help grow your business http://www.businesscardswork.com

The Secrets Of

Writen by Lil Waldner

A lot of advertising and mailings promise to reveal the secrets of something. Most of this kind of mailings deal with search engine optimization. They promise to know how to achieve a high ranking at Google. They tell the readers that they have a special access to Google or that they have cracked the algorithm how Google ranks websites.

Secrets are always exciting!

People are attracted easily by secrets. There is something special with them. Cracking the secrets of the Google algorithm seems to be a mystery like finding the Holy Grail. It is the Holy Grail of the internet community indeed! No wonder that a lot of e-books are offered that promise to find the grail that leads to a ranking among the top ten at Google search engine!

Why do merchants sell the knowledge about a secret?

Have you ever asked yourself why these Gurus and authors sell the secret how to get ranked on the top for a few dozens of dollars? Why do these people not keep and exploit the secret for themselves? They could become incredibly rich be keeping silent, because there is no advantage, if everybody knows and uses the same secret.

Or is it similar with the systems that promise high winnings in lotteries or Roulette? Some people make also a lot of money by selling such systems. If their systems were waterproof, they would monopolize and exploit it and not sell books about it.

Otherwise: Firms usually protect their secrets about their produces with patents and licenses. They only sell the right to use their patents for a fortune, not for dozens of dollars.

Selling the secret as good business

Selling the secret methods to success and wealth is a business of it's own. There is a lot of literature about how people can find their way to a lucky and wealthy life. Thousands and thousands of people try to get rich in the online business. They are eager to learn how it works and how they can expose their websites in the best way. And a lot of skills are needed, indeed, to move a website to the top. It's obvious that all these tips and tricks – enwrapped in the mysteries of secrets – sell themselves.

If everybody does the same!

Have you ever thought what happens, if everybody does the same, if thousands use the same methods in order to get a top ranking in a certain category? Only a few of thousands will make it to the top, even if everybody uses the same tricks. It's by random to get to the top, apart from the right methods, dedicated work and persistence.

Open hints

The internet is full of free accessible hints about search engine optimization. A lot of stuff is spread out what has to be done in order to get high link popularity, high Page Rank and traffic to the website. Let's have a look to some credible sources! The Member Area of Srub The Web offers an Optimization Overview and a downloadable Search Engine Secrets Report. A link at the website of linkpopularity.com leads to a free link pop guide that shows how to increase the link popularity. At last, but not at least: The google page www.google.com/webmasters let's peep through the curtain.

A world without secrets?

If there were no secrets, people would figure out secrets. People need the excitement about secrets. Readers who enjoy hunting the secrets may dive in the thriller "The Da Vinci Code" by the famous author Dan Brown. Enjoy the secrets of…

Lil Waldner is a business economist. She is experienced in project management and marketing. She has worked for public entities as well as for private companies. She has worked as editor of newspapers and she has written booklets and essays with economic and public issues. Visit her web site: http://www.store-owner.com/owner/lwmall

Five Deadly Small Business Marketing Mistakes

Writen by Rick Weaver

Here are some marketing mistakes that take a heavy toll on small businesses. They have been very harmful to businesses at any stage, but especially harmful for new businesses.

1. Not having a marketing plan.

Studies show that having a marketing plan equates to a 24 to 30% improvement in sales over those without a marketing plan. Writing a comprehensive marketing plan takes time, thought, and rethought, they help a business owner to focus on new products and services. A marketing plan will help someone to determine if the product or service will take too much time, energy, or resources to make it a proper addition to the existing array of products and services.

2. Executing "Hit or Miss" marketing techniques.

Many entrepreneurs and small business owners buy advertising without exploring whether or not the venue is appropriate for them, or if it will appear in a place or manner that potential customers will respond to - or even see. Marketing dollars spent correctly will bring you sales. Marketing dollars spent incorrectly will not only cost you money, but will cost you your business-esteem. All marketing needs to have a "fit" with an overall initiative. They must convey a consistent message. Using advertising for name recognition is felt to be a good move by inexperienced business people. Experience dictates that success is best when even your "name recognition advertising" relates to a common theme.

3. Negative networking.

Networking is one of the most important parts of marketing for the small business person. Many entrepreneurs look to groups such as Chamber of Commerces, Business Network International, and Local Business Network to build business through networking. They attend networking functions and seem to feel that the more business cards they give out, the more business they will get. They are generally disappointed and reject networking as a false prophet. Positive networking takes a different approach. Networking events are an opportunity to find synergies upon which relationships can be built. Successful networking is not how many business cards you give out, it is how many quality business cards you gather. Opportunities such as Catapult allow individuals a networking opportunity to find those synergies while learning business skills.

4. Not seeking appropriate support.

Most entrepreneurs are people that have decided to leave corporate America in search of a better lifestyle with less stress. They find a great product or service and think they have it made. Unfortunately they do not have the focus and motivation they need to survive. In the corporate world they had a boss to continually set deadlines and goals, and to hold them accountable for hitting the deadlines and goals. They also had a boss to mentor and coach them. In the small business and entrepreneurial world, this important need is overlooked. People need accountability partners and/or mentors to keep them on track.

5. Inability to distinguish between being talented and being business savvy.

Too many small business owners and entrepreneurs feel that having talent is sufficient to attain success. They feel that if they are good at what they do, word of mouth advertising will supply a constant stream of customers. Talent may help you find excellent investments, glean out the best mortgage rate, repair the most difficult automotive challenge, or any of numerous other potential examples. However without business savvy in the form of a marketing system, the endless stream of customers will never materialize. You must wrap a marketing program around it to encourage or solicit additional referrals.

To be a success in your business, it is essential to focus on preventing these marketing mistakes. Be sure to make a plan and get the support to validate the plan and help you bring it to fruition.

Rick Weaver is President of Max Impact, a national leadership and organization development company based in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Rick is an accomplished business executive with experience in retail, market analysis, supply chain and project management, team building, and process improvement. He has worked with hundreds of companies to improve sales, processes, and bottom-line results. MaxImpact offers leadership and organizational development services along with employee assessments and background checks. Contact Rick at 248-802-6138 or via email, rick@getmaximpact.com. MaxImpact is on the web at http://www.getmaximpact.com.

Effective Use Of Promotional Products And Ad Specialties

Writen by Dan Safkow

1. Determine the goals of your promotional products program. Do you want to create awareness? To attract new customers? To reward or provide incentives to existing customers? Remember to determine a means for measuring the results.

2. Plan ahead. At minimum, you'll need two to four weeks for production and delivery of standard products. If you wait until the last minute, your choices will be limited and you may pay more. When creating custom items, it can take 12 weeks or more shipping from overseas sources.

3. Involve your target audience. Be creative in how you distribute your promotional products and make it a memorable experience for the recipient. Also create an "out of box" experience whenever possible by creatively packaging your gifts and awards.

4. Choose promotional products that have "legs." Put your logo on products that your target customer will see often. For instance, products that are kept on the desk, in the car, or on the refrigerator can create dozens of impressions per day.

5. Get free ideas. Don't always ask your promotional products specialist for the standards such as mugs and pens. Instead, tell your promotional products specialist your budget and target audience, and let them make creative recommendations from their database of over half a million products.

Dan Safkow is a 20-year veteran of promotional marketing and the owner of Promo Ideation http://www.promoideation.com, a promotion products distributorship and marketing consultancy.

What Marketers Can Learn From The Ipod Phenomenon

Writen by Bill Fritsch

I finally bought an iPod. It took some strong arm twisting. Endorsements like "It has changed my life" and "Your life won't be the same again" were a little over the top, so I resisted. It wasn't until I started looking into the marketing phenomena of iPod that my interest was piqued.

There is much talk in the advertising industry about the need for tighter integration of creative work across all media. With thousands of avenues for connecting with consumers, no one or two mediums dominate. Advertisers face the very real possibility that their integrated messages simply disappear into this complex environment. Having a fabulous TV commercial is still powerful, yet backing it up with superb product design, retail presentation, e-mail support, product packaging, and an informative Web site are essential ingredients for achieving results. Creating top of mind awareness for a brand now requires a branded experience at all points of consumer contact.

No company understands this better than Apple. The iPod phenomenon is no accident. Piper Jaffray analyst Dean Munster predicts that Apple will ship more than 35 million iPods this year alone. Apple over the last two years has wiped out their competitors and has reinvented the entire digital music industry. The invention of iTunes as a companion to iPod is resurrecting the music recording industry and serving as a very clever way to rapidly expand the demand for iPods. In July of this year, iTunes sold its 500,000th song, much of that occurring in the last few months.

Serious marketers should look closely at iPod and Apple. There are many lessons for us about how to take advantage of new marketplace realities. For example:

•"Think Different" is more than an ad slogan at Apple. The Apple brand message serves as a rallying cry for all company employees. This many-year mantra has become the filter by which Apple corporate decisions are made. It also happens to be a brand idea that is compelling to Apple's core enthusiasts. Really strong brand ideas can rally employees, and this led to a group of people at Apple who thought differently. This led directly to iPod and iTunes.

•The genius of iPod started with superb technology that made this very complex device exceedingly simple and intuitive to use. It is so cool looking. Great marketing doesn't start with brand messaging. It starts with product design that looks differently at consumer needs. Apple was bold in design. And the company created a device that consumers are proud to carry.

•The advertising for iPod does not put the product front and center. It focuses on the consumer experience. The colors are bold. There is no discussion of features or how the product works. It just creates strong and favorable emotional reactions. And it is rigorously consistent. Great advertising creates affinity.

•The Web site does a superb job of selling the iPod and iTunes experience to a target audience that is clearly Internet savvy.

•The purchase of an iPod is rewarded by fabulous packaging. It is elegant, special, and the experience of unwrapping the box is reminiscent of opening a present.

•Word of mouth is the best seller of the iPod product. I put my new iPod on my belt and was proud to walk into coffee shop with it. I sent at least two people to the iPod store to buy their own. People simply feel cool to own and enjoy their iPods, and Apple has done everything in their power to encourage that feeling of independence and sophistication.

Apple has changed the rules of the way that people purchase and enjoy music. Every hour spent listening to iPod is time that is not spent listening to commercial radio. To a lesser extent, TIVO is having an impact on the efficacy of television. Today the amount of time consumers are spending in front of some sort of screen or device is increasing, yet in many cases consumers can limit the intrusiveness of commercial messages.

The companies that win in the future will deploy much more effective advertising arsenals. This will require replacing specialty discipline silos (like direct marketing and interactive) with structures where the entire mix is team based. And it will require a broader concept of marketing in most organizations that embraces product design and marketplace innovation.

If iPod can offer convenience, control, cachet, access, quality, legitimacy, and absolute genius in the simplicity and impact of its brand experience – all within the palm of your hand -- what might be possible for the rest of us who seek to answer the call to go Apple one better? Savvy marketers will be inspired by the lessons this marketplace phenomenon demonstrates to create advertising and communications programs that resonate in this brave new world. That means staying up to date about advancing technologies, realizing that effectiveness of advertising is not driven by tonnage, but by the cohesiveness of the brand experience, and revising communications programs continually with the best creative thinking we can offer.

What new strategies and methods are you and your best people exploring to explore, celebrate, and win in today's complex media environment? Let's talk about it!

Bill Fritsch is president of Hydrogen Advertising, an award-winning, Seattle-based advertising agency emphasizing superb ideas efficiently produced. Reach him at 206-389-950o, ext. 24 or email bill@hydrogenadvertising.com. For more information, visit http://www.hydrogenadvertising.com.

Business And Market Overview On Singapore

Writen by Khal Mastan

ECONOMY. Singapore is the most advanced economy among the Southeast Asian countries with a GDP per capita of US$25,207 in 2004 which is comparable to many advanced economies in the European Union. Singapore lacks natural resources but is a regional hub for international trade, shipping and air transport. Many US, European and Japanese multinational companies have established Singapore as a regional office for their business operations.

Singapore's GDP grew at an average of 2.7% annually from 2000 to 2004 to reach US$106.9 billion by 2004 while inflation remaining below 2.0%. Though Singapore's economy is the most advanced among the Southeast Asian countries, unemployment increased from 1.8% during the Asian economic crisis of 1997 to 5.3% in 2004. To diversify and expand the country's economy, the government is developing Singapore into a regional hub for finance and high technology.

The service sector accounted for 66.2% of Singapore's GDP in 2004 while the manufacturing sector accounted for 33.7%. Agriculture plays a minimal role in Singapore's economy and accounted only 0.1% of the country's GDP. Major industries in Singapore include electronics, chemicals, financial services, petroleum refining, food processing, ship repair, offshore platform construction, biotechnology and entrepot trade.

DEMOGRAPHY. Singapore's population of 4.2 million in 2004 is predominantly Chinese accounting for 77% of the population. Other ethnic communities include Malays (14%) and Indians (8%). Major religions practiced include Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. The Chinese are generally agnostic, Buddhist, Tao or follow the Christian faith while Malays are mostly Muslims and Indians generally Hindus, Christian or Muslims. Main languages used are English (widely spoken and used in business and by the government), Chinese (mainly Mandarin and Hokkien), Malay and Tamil. Singapore is a city-state and therefore nearly all its population live in an urban community. Most Singaporeans live in high-rise apartments or flats accounting for nearly 90% of the households while the remaining 10% live on landed property.

Singaporean consumers have the high level of disposable income compared to consumers in other Southeast Asian countries. High-income households account for nearly 27% of the total households while middle-income households account for 32%. Low-income households i.e. those earning than US$1,900 per month account for 41% of the total households.

INFRASTRUCTURE. Domestic and international telecommunication services are excellent and one of the best in the region. Internet broadband services are efficient and widely available. Singapore's road system is efficiently managed and the city-state is well served by a public transport system. Singapore has efficiently managed seaports and airport which are used as regional hubs by many sea and air carriers.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE. Singapore has one of the busiest ports in the world and a regional hub for entrepot trade. Singapore's major trading partners are Malaysia, US, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea. Many of the goods imported from and exported to Malaysia and Indonesia are re-exports from other countries. Major exports from the Singapore include electrical and electronic products, machineries and equipments, processed foods, consumer goods, chemicals and mineral fuels. Major imports include machineries and equipments, mineral fuels, chemicals and foods.

CONSUMER USAGE OF TECHNOLOGY. More than 90% of all homes have mobile phones putting the country on par with Sweden, Norway, Austria and Norway. Nearly all homes have at least a fixed-line telephone, television and refrigerator. The penetration of computers is also high with 70% of all homes having a computer and there are nearly 2.5 million internet users for a population of 4.3 million. Furthermore, there are more than 2.5 million credit cards in the county and online payments are well established. However, only 35% of all homes own a car due to the extremely high cost to own a car in Singapore.

RETAIL MARKET. Singapore has one of the highest standards of living in Asia after Japan and Singaporeans are keen shoppers. Estimated retail sales in Singapore in 2004 were US$11 billion. Unlike other countries in Southeast Asia, retail chains dominate over the industry by sales value. These include shopping malls, hypermarkets, supermarkets, department stores, convenience stores and speciality stores. Singapore has many established international retailers and brands attracting tourists from Southeast and Northeast Asia. Many shopping malls have also sprouted in the suburban areas existing side-by-side with the "mom and pop" establishments.

FOOD CULTURE. Singapore's multi-ethnic communities has had influenced on Singapore's food culture. Furthermore, Singaporeans are accustomed and often frequent various western and Japanese food service establishments including fast food outlets. Eating out is popular among Singaporeans and the current trend is to eat out rather than at home. Thus, Singaporeans spent 9% of their income on foods for cooking at home and 12% for eating out.

Khal Mastan is a Senior Consultant with Pegasus Business and Market Advisory (http://bma.pegasus-asia.com) based in Malaysia. He involves himself in business and marketing research and provides consulting services on markets in Southeast Asia namely Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Brunei. He has more than 20 years experience in the region and work experience in various industries. He holds a bachelors degree in Biochemistry and an MBA. He can be contacted at khalzuri@pegasus-asia.com or +6 (03) 7726 5373 in Malaysia.

Mortgage Broker Marketing How To Get Realtors To Support Your Fees

Writen by Jeffrey Nelson

The store sign blares, "Divorce Today…$199," another trumpets, "Rolex Watches – Cheap," and the next one shouts, "4 tires, $120." Discounting is everywhere, advertising a common message – low price and cheap service.

Discounters wreak havoc on the rest of us who charge for a premium service. With so many businesses advertising low price, it makes customers ultra price sensitive. In your case, the customer is a real estate agent, and more of them are becoming price sensitive to fees charged by you.

What's Your Fee?

The agent asks, "How much do you charge the client?" The loan officer replies, "I charge a point on the front and one on the back." The Agent appearing stunned says, "That seems unfair, why are you charging so much?" The perturbed loan officer utters, "That's what I've always charged." The agent leaves, never to return again.

Hopefully this has never happened to you. Instead, you should expect the opposite when you understand how to get agents to support your fees. Rather than agents questioning how much you charge, they're explaining to the client why your service commands a premium.

Marketing is your opportunity to shape their perception of your service, before appealing to them about a relationship. It should educate an Agent, ahead of you meeting them, about the quality of your service, which is in direct proportion to the size of your fees.

It's like luxury automobiles. Seldom does someone walk into a Lexus dealership and haggle over price. Marketing has shaped their buyer's perception of quality, prior to walking into the showroom, to defend the price.

How to Describe Your Service

Is your brochure shaping perceptions of your service? In many cases, brochures brag about service with unproven statements like, "We deliver great service." And when a loan officer is questioned about fees, they struggle to prove the worth of it.

If you want agents to truly understand the quality of your service, your marketing has to express it. Begin by making your service tangible. If an Agent can't see, hear, or touch it, they'll create their own perceptions, one that won't support your fees. It's not good enough to just say, "We deliver excellent customer service."

Here's how to make it tangible:

• See it – Many agents are visual processors. Use pictures, graphics and flow charts.
• Hear it – Client testimonials recorded on CD or as an audio file loaded on your website.
• Touch it – Use the finest, highest quality of materials and a variety of packaging.

Make It Trivial

For instance, develop an outline of the loan application process and describe it in steps, i.e. "Our Exclusive 12 Step Process." Better yet, develop an outline of the communication between your office, the agent, and the borrower during the loan application process. Let the focal point be a flow chart with graphics, since it's excellent for agents to visualize.

Be More Descriptive in the Details

When you describe your staff, mention the number of combined years of experience, "Our seasoned staff combines over 150 years of mortgage experience." Use pictures and biographies to make an emotional connection. And as a personal favorite, use details to describe what's involved, "Over the course of a loan, a production assistant, two processors, a manager, two underwriters, myself and 20 sets of hands will touch your file."

The FAQ

You can create a supplement brochure that answers the most frequently asked questions. Questions should be answered in sequential order from easiest to toughest. About half way down the list, include questions that address your fees. A tool like this can help an Agent defend your fees when the client questions them about it particularly.

The Three Amigos

So why should any Agent care about doing business with you? Because of what you can do for the Three Amigos. Who are they? The same three people you care about – me, myself and I. Agents are people too, aren't they? Well, maybe not…?

For example, if you're consistent at producing referrals, isn't this a reflection of quality service? And if the referral benefits the Agent, isn't this a powerful reason that explains why your fees are a premium?

The exciting news is, the more an Agent understands how they directly benefit from your service, the higher a fee can be incurred. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Exactly! How can you describe servicing clients after the loan closes, so you produce referrals for the Agent (and yourself)? Since many agents have this gap in their marketing, they'll appreciate you more.

By making your details trivial, being more descriptive, and educating how they directly benefit, you're helping an Agent rationalize emotionally and logically why your service commands a premium. By doing this, they'll be less likely to question your fees and help clients understand the value of your service and why it's a premium.

Jeff Nelson helps loan officers increase loan originations by attracting quality relationships with real estate agents from the development of customized relationship-building strategies.

Click here to get a free copy of the Marketing Planning Guide, a 20-page workbook designed to help you outline a strategy to become an Agent Magnet.

Visit us at http://www.loan-officer-marketing.com

Let Your Words Speak For You Increasing Expert Credibility In Your Industry Or Profession

Writen by Laura Orsini

One of the quickest ways to increase credibility in your industry or profession is by writing about it. Yes, writing.

Writing is inordinately undervalued by professionals in virtually every industry and profession. People who rely exclusively on the truism, "a picture is worth a thousand words," are missing out on vast amounts of business and credibility opportunities, because words are the things that really sell. Whether it's Web copy or an article, the details are contained in the words. Pictures are nice; words motivate. Words give your customers — and your potential customers — reasons to relate to you. Words describe the features and benefits that move your clients to buy from you or use your services.

Words sell. Period.

Using writing to enhance and increase your visibility should not be limited to your Web copy or articles. Other ways and places to use words to promote your ideas, vision, expertise, and products or services include:

E-mail

Media releases

E-zines and newsletters

Blogs

Books and e-books

Info products

ARE YOU USING YOUR WORDS TO THEIR FULLEST POTENTIAL?

Chances are, you're not.

Internet marketing guru Joe Vitale says there are three essential components that go into the success of any sales copy:

1. A high-quality product or service

2. Hypnotic writing

3. A great list

The exact same ingredients are necessary if you intend to use your words to increase your credibility in your industry or profession. How so? Let's examine the components again.

A high-quality product or service. In the case of your writing, your unique product is your expertise around your industry or profession. Your goal is to share your unique knowledge about your area of specialization to help people solve problems, earn more, feel better, look better, change their attitudes, or otherwise improve their lives.

Hypnotic writing. Joe Vitale defines hypnotic writing as "intentionally using words to guide people into a focused mental state where they are inclined to buy your product or service." Any words you use that cause your readers to react because of the mental images you plant in their minds qualify as hypnotic writing. Telling stories is one of the quickest and easiest ways to do this. If your writing is going to build credibility, it must be hypnotic!

A great list. In Internet marketing, nothing happens without the list — that is, the potential customers with whom you will share your product or service. In the case of your writing, your list is equivalent to your audience. It doesn't matter how dynamic, thought-provoking, or hypnotic your writing is if the only person who ever reads it is your mother. You must widely distribute your writing for it to help you build credibility!

WHAT ARE YOUR STORIES?

Some people are born storytellers, but every person has stories to tell. As a matter of fact, we tell stories all the time — it's our primary way of communicating. Think about the funny incident you witnessed in line at the grocery store last week. The clumsy coworker in the cubicle next to yours. The humorous things your kids do and say, all the time. Or how impossible it is to get one iota of emotion out of a US Postal employee, particularly when you are hysterical because a vital letter or parcel is MIA.

What are the incidents that stand out for you with regard to your business? They don't have to be funny. What are your success stories? Failures? Painful lessons? Amazingly close calls? Times when you didn't think you were going to be able to hang in there, but did?

Stories abound. Practice telling them — and writing them — and you will master the art of hypnotic writing. Use those stories to promote yourself and build credibility in your industry or profession.

"WHAT IF I'M JUST NOT A WRITER?"

All writing has two aspects: content and appearance. While they are both important, the content is the more important of the two, by far. Beautifully formatted writing that is grammatically correct but says nothing accomplishes nothing. Focus on the content.

Sure, there are tricks to help you write better (check the Internet or your public library for fantastic resources) — and it would be a lie to suggest that proper grammar, syntax, style, and word choices do not matter. But those things are simple enough to learn — and it's easy to get someone to help you with them. Without a unique and original message, though, correctness doesn't really make any difference. Mumbo jumbo is mumbo jumbo. Garbled ideas are garbled ideas. Rehashing the same old stuff is just . . . you get the picture.

Since content is the most important piece of your writing, the essential thing is to get it down! Use bullet points. Create an audio recording of your ideas and have someone transcribe it for you. Write it all in one gigantic three-page paragraph. Just get it into words — on a page.

Once you've done that much, you can find someone to help you clean it up. Maybe your Aunt Myrtle is a retired English teacher — she'd probably be delighted to be called on for her skills. A creative writing or journalism major at the local college or university can be a great resource. Consider a trade with someone in your network who has great editing skills. Or hire a professional editor. The most important thing is that you commit to the process and find someone to help you, if you're not confident in your own writing/editing abilities. Build it into your budget and spend what you can afford, knowing that quite often you do get what you pay for.

People will believe the words you write — and accept you as an expert — far more quickly than they will be convinced by any advertising campaign, no matter what the budget or extreme tactics you resort to. If you want to quickly establish credibility, differentiate yourself from the others in your industry or profession, and broaden your customer base . . . you must get started on that article, e-zine, or book today!

Laura Orsini is an editorial consultant, helping small business owners use words to build credibility and enlarge their client bases. For further information regarding a viable alternative to the credibility-building methods mentioned in this article, join Laura and fellow credibility expert Allan Sabo, of Alti Success Strategies, for their next teleclass, "Credibility-Building Secrets Revealed."

Visit http://www.credibilityexpertspublishing.com/telsem-landing.html for dates and times of the next teleclass.

How To Keep Your Customers Coming Back

Writen by Kenneth Ajoku

What I want to show you today is how remembering conversations with your customers will keep them coming back to you over and over again.

You can start by keeping a mental note of your last conversation with your top 10 customers - just to show how effective this strategy is. Try and remember specific things about the conversation.

Remember the key is to bring up the topics the next time you speak with your customer. Here is an examples to get you started,

I was speaking with my bank manager (one of my customers) the other day about some business matters. Before we discussed business I asked him about his son who I know has just started college and is an excellent footballer and his daughter who is already in University and has just started piano lessons. He added that his son now has two jobs, because he wants to save up for a car and that his daughter was about to play her first piano piece in a play. I could tell from his voice that he was pleasantly surprised that I remembered these details.

By carrying out this type of interaction with your customer gives you and them an excellent business relationship and gives them the feel of continuation.

You have remembered what you last discussed giving them a reference point with you. Your customer will feel that they have a personal connection with you and this will also show that you are actually interested in them.

You may get comments like "I feel that I have known you all my life, I like coming here and will definitely come back."

If you do this properly you will most certainly have your customers coming back to you.

Ken Ajoku is the author of "45 Powerful Marketing Strategies". To receive for FREE "The Secrets of Powerful Marketing", a seven part course by email worth £199.99 visit http://www.kajoku.biz now!

Earning The Right To Sell With Stats 10 Steps To Greatness

Writen by Debbie LaChusa

We could learn a thing or two from pro sports.

Baseball players use stats to tell the story of their season and their career. Scorekeepers keep track of every at bat, every hit, every strike out, every run scored and every base stolen.

Those stats are cited by commentators during the game, sports reporters after the game and they are featured on the backs of baseball cards to they tell the story of the player's career.

Those of us in business could learn a thing or two from baseball players about using stats to size-up our careers and experience.

Give your prospects a reason to listen to what you have to say.

I was attending a conference last month and the topic of using business stats to "earn the right" among prospects was brought up. "Earning the right" was explained as giving your audience a reason to listen to what you have to say.

Before you can sell anything you must establish credibility.

Before you can sell anyone anything, you must first convince them you or your product or service are worthy. And one way to do that is with stats.

At the conference, we were tasked with compiling a list of our own stats (what we've achieved in our business or career, or what qualifies us to be doing what we're doing) and I was amazed at how few of my own I could recall on a moment's notice.

Can you easily list all your "stats" — I couldn't!

It was easy to come up with the obvious - I've been helping clients successfully market for 20 years.

And I could also recall two recent marketing successes: gaining free exposure for my business to 100,000+ of my ideal customers and tripling my web site traffic in a three-month period.

But beyond that I was stumped. My 20 years of marketing experience and seven years of entrepreneurial experience were boiled down to three stats that did not do a very good job of representing my career or my expertise.

I came home from the conference determined to compile my list of stats and to start using them. And, to inspire you, my readers and clients, to do the same.

Use my 10 questions to create your own list of "stats"

To make it easy, I've compiled a list of 10 questions you can ask yourself to come up with your own list of stats. This list is just a jumping off point.

Feel free to brainstorm further to come up with your own list of compelling stats that you believe will help you "earn the right" to be seen as an expert in your field by your prospects.

I call this list your "10 Steps to Greatness" Why? Because when you are able to list stats in 10 different areas, you will be able to convince your prospects you are great at what you do AND that your product or service can help them.

I've included my own stats as examples, NOT to brag about them, but for several reasons: First, to show you I DID come home from that conference and compile my own stats; Second, to give you examples to follow; and Third, to inspire you (if I can do it, you can, too!).

Not all of my stats are earth-shattering. But by having a full list to choose from, you can be sure to have a handful of compelling stats available at any time.

10 Steps to Greatness

(1) How many years have you been in your current line of business (or a related field)?

For example, I've been in the marketing field for over 20 years.

(2) How many clients or students or customers have your served (in your current business or your total years in this industry)?

For example, I've taught over 600 small business owners how to create and implement their own marketing plans using the 10stepmarketing System.

(3) What results have you generated with your business, products or services?

For example, I increased my subscriber base by 590% in four months and I tripled my web site traffic in three months.

(4) What results have your clients or customers gotten with the help of your products or services?

For example, when I worked with the American Council on Exercise, I helped them generate over 340.8 million media impressions in three years, through public relations and public service ads. I have also secured nearly $1 million in free media exposure for my clients.

(5) How many awards or recognitions have you or your business, products or services received?

For example, I've earned three national and two local marketing awards, plus a small business top achievement award.

(6) Have you spoken, taught or done presentations?

For example, I have spoken on marketing at conferences across the United States and in Canada, and I've taught hundreds of small business owners via teleseminar.

(7) Have your articles been published or have you been quoted or interviewed or written up in the media?

For example, my marketing advice is featured in Entrepreneur Magazine's Start-Up Series publication "How To Start A Personal Training Business." Additionally I am an Expert Author on EzineArticles.com and my marketing how-to articles are featured on numerous web sites.

(8) How can you quantify your business (e.g. how many business deals or transactions have you made, or how many articles have you written)?

For example, I've written and published 40 articles in the past six months.

(9) How many products have you sold?

For example, I made 20 sales my first two weeks in business.

(10) What experts in your industry have you studied or learned from?

For example, I have taken courses from such marketing and business experts as T. Harv Eker, Jay Abraham, Brian Tracy, Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen.

I challenge you to spend some time this week, compiling your own list of stats. Start with these 10 questions and see what you can come up with. Draw on your personal or professional experience.

What makes you great at what you do? What experience and knowledge to you have to offer? What are you passionate about and how can you translate that passion into credibility? Why should others pay attention when you talk? Be creative. Brainstorm.

Then select a few of the strongest, most compelling stats and start using them in your marketing.

Remember, you are not using these stats to brag about your accomplishments. You're using them to get your prospects to pay attention to you and to establish credibility.

(C) Copyright 2005 Debbie LaChusa

Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free 10-week Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com

Event Planning Marketing Local Food

Writen by Joan Tobin

Sponsoring a local food event in your community can not only show your commitment to local growers and food producers, it can be a profitable way to bring together the public and provide needed publicity for your business, charity or municipality. With summer turning to fall, there are many opportunities for event planning such as harvest dinners, farmers markets and late summer festivals. Seasonal events such as these offer many ideas for local food marketing.

A well planned local food event has 3 key elements for success:

1. Know your event's theme and stick to it!
2. Fully promote your event
3. Stay within Your budget

Know your event's theme and stick to it!

A consistent presentation of your event's theme is the key to success. Your theme should be represented by the food served, the décor, the music and the atmosphere. For example, an Autumn Harvest celebration could showcase locally pumpkins, pears and apples in traditional pies and butters. Remembering your purpose is to sell local food, locally grown potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, and onions should all be displayed as key ingredients in traditional autumn harvest dinners. Having the recipes on hand for customers will encourage them to buy the ingredients and make the dishes at home. Visually appeal to your customers with traditional harvest themed décor with cornstalks, pumpkins, and gourds. High spirited music will round out the event and provide a fun and lively atmosphere.

While this example may seem straightforward, I have been to several events where the presentation was inconsistent and the theme was lost. For example, a hoedown event should not offer music by the local church choir. While the choir may be excellent and the lead singer may be your wife, the tone set by the music is inconsistent with the theme. Your message will be lost in the contradictory presentation and customers may lose interest. By comparison, a well themed event will have your customers talking positively! Word will spread about your event and your local food retail business.

Fully Promote Your Event

A well attended event is a properly promoted event. While a local food event is focused on your community, a properly promoted local food event can bring in new customers from neighboring communities. You should promote your event early, and promote it often! The first promotional decisions to be made are the name of your local food event, the date and the theme. Once you have made these decisions, go with them and don't look back! Use this information on every piece of promotional literature printed, on your web site and in your press releases. Also consider selling event merchandise such as t-shirts and tote bags and contact your vendor. Four to six weeks before the event, start your in-store promotions. Have attractive banners or posters made and prominently display them in key locations around your neighborhood, business district and community centers. If you own a retail business, printing up flyers can be an inexpensive promotional tool that you can slip into every customer's shopping bag. Clearly state your event information on your flyers or invitations! Here are some avoidable pitfalls which can be taken care of by good planning and proofreading:

• Your invitation should represent the event. If it's a party, make sure your invitation or flyer is fun, welcoming and eye-catching!An invitation for one event was mailed to 200+ potential guests in a business envelope. Our guess is that for many, it resembled just another piece of junk mail and it was ignored. Only 30+ people were in attendance.

• Make it easy for guests to locate your event! An attractive flyer advertising your event is great, but ineffective if it does not include the address where your event is to be held. Including a map on the face of the flyer is an added bonus for your guests. One recently attended event had sub-par attendance because although the many sponsors were noted on the event flyer, the host location was not!

• If you are sponsoring a benefit event, clearly state the recipient charity or organization on your promotional materials. Even unintentionally misleading your guests can lead to bad press and a poor reputation in your community. At a harvest dinner hosted by an organic farm, a banner clearly stated, "Support your local farmers at [this dinner]" yet proceeds actually went to an international food movement.

• If you will be selling merchandise at your event, make sure that information is also included in promotional flyers and press releases! Some harvest dinners have a considerable ticket price just to attend. Not realizing there would be merchandise to purchase, many guests did not bring extra cash or credit cards and sales were lost.
  

Ask neighboring local businesses to put up posters advertising your event. Remember that business your event draws into the community benefits them, too! They will be happy to accommodate your request.

Two to three weeks prior to the event, issue a press release to your local newspaper, and to those in surrounding communities. Ask the newspaper to run this announcement two weeks and one week prior to the event date. Newspapers often have a special Thursday section highlighting upcoming weekend events. This is the best tool to reach those individuals who may never have been in your retail store or your community!

Stay within your Budget

Always remember the purpose of sponsoring a local food event is to make money and to promote your company or organization. While the side benefits of fostering goodwill and encouraging community spirit definitely exist, those elements alone do not keep your doors open!

Costs: The first financial decision to be made is your budget. Your budget should be as detailed as possible, considering the cost of food, entertainment, décor, promotional materials and municipality licenses. Brainstorm with co-workers to capture all the possible costs related to your event, then commit them to paper.

Sales: Next, determine the immediate sales resulting from your event. Will you charge a fee for the entertainment? Are you selling prepared food? Will t-shirts, tote bags or note cards be sold? Tally the expected sales for each resale item and compare it to your costs. Be realistic with your projections – an easy way to forecast sales is to calculate the number of hours the event will take place multiplied by an average number of products you expect to sell in an hour. For example, a four hour event x one t-shirt sold every 10 minutes = 24 t-shirts sold. If your gross margin (sales price less t-shirt cost) is $4.00 per t-shirt, you will earn $96.00 from t-shirt sales to cover other event expenses.

Are your sales covering your costs? If not, don't start eliminating essentials of your event. Get creative and consider funding options. Contact other local businesses and offer them promotional space at your event in exchange for them helping to supplement entertainment costs. Ask your local printer for free event flyers in exchange for a free advertisement in your store newsletter. Promote a local restaurant in trade for a free on-site chef demonstration. Cross selling is an excellent way to stay within your budget but still offer a fully themed, well sponsored event.

Managing these three elements will provide a proven, successful framework to plan your event. Once the day arrives, have fun and enjoy your own local food event. You worked hard for it!

Joan Tobin is owner of Eat Local Food LLC, a marketing and promotional merchandise firm that specializes in local, organic, and natural food promotions for food retailers, farmers markets and restaurants. At Eat Local Food, "It's art, it's advertising, it's a values statement all in one colorful image". http://www.eatlocalfood.com/

Marketing Discipline And The Joy Of Success

Writen by Wendy Maynard

Discipline Is Important.

I recently read an article about why discipline is important to a marketer. The author said that undisciplined people only live for today. He added that disciplined people use a little of their time for pleasure, and then invest the rest of their time in the future. Disciplined people get out of their armchair and do something. This takes effort and willpower. On the other hand, undisciplined people squander their time and their money. It takes discipline to be a successful at business and in life.

While I fundamentally agree with this premise, there is something about the concept of discipline that sounded tough...agonizing, even. I had to take some time to think this through. As a person who believes free time and relaxation, how can this still apply? Can a person be both a pleasure seeker and disciplined?

Are You A Grasshopper or An Ant?

Does a person have to make a choice between being the fabled lazy grasshopper or the hardworking ant? You know the story. The ant slaves away all summer creating shelter and storing seeds for the winter while the grasshopper laughs and dances and sings, thinking the ant is a fool. Come winter, the ant is cozy and well fed. The grasshopper perishes from hunger and the cold. Both of those guys were flawed, in my opinion. One had no sense of community and the other, no joy or humor.

And it made me start thinking. I'm a marketing expert. I spend my days developing marketing strategies for my clients and I work to market my own business. Does it take discipline? Well, the answer, of course, is a big "Yes!" Does that mean that in order to be successful, I have to be like the ant? Am I relegated to the role of schlepping my days away carrying seeds back to the nest for the winter? Well...no, I think not.

All work and no play makes for a dull girl. As a creative person, I know taking that route would be a sure path to stagnation. Plus, I don't like to think of myself as stodgy. Do you know what the thesaurus has next to stodgy? Try blah, boring, humdrum, plebeian, trite, uninteresting, and wearisome. Ugh!

Discipline is a Practice

But, I'm not like the frivolous grasshopper, either. Because I AM disciplined. I do invest ongoing time in various endeavors that will have a payoff in the future. Yet, none of my day-to-day activities are agonizing for me. I love working on my business, my clients are wonderful, and I feel completely fulfilled by my outside interests, my home, and my friendships. And, these things each take ongoing care, nurturing, and attention.

What I realized is that everything I do in my life involves embracing a practice. Discipline is defined as "training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior." I think the best example of this is my yoga. Yes, it is a routine, but it is by no means agonizing. (Well...okay, there are some crazy poses that are a little over the top!) My yoga practice brings me joy and I feel more centered.

In the same way, building a business and a regular marketing routine is about a practice. It requires discipline, but this in no way detracts from being creative or enjoying today, right now, in this moment. Marketing is about building stronger relationships. It takes a continuous effort to relate to customers, vendors, referral sources, and leads. Invest in your business through an ongoing commitment to promoting it with both enthusiasm and creativity.

Successful Marketing Requires Discipline

For marketing to succeed, it is crucial to take the approach of a disciplined practice. And, the more time you invest in each activity, the more you will prosper at all levels of your business. Ultimately, I realize that the author of the article was correct. But, I believe it requires a combined approach of the grasshopper AND the ant.

Have discipline and build relationships, like the ant. But, also be sure to take time for relaxation and activities you enjoy, like the grasshopper. Work in a business that is fulfilling to you. And that is the biggest key. Discipline does not make you stodgy if you are investing your time in an endeavor that you feel passionate toward.

Success is an ongoing journey. Each time you return to your disciplined practice, whatever it is, you prosper from the moment-to-moment experience of doing it. As time goes on, your discipline pays off. So, take time to examine your practice of marketing. Is it a disciplined approach? Is it a practice you follow rigorously? Begin to move forward purposefully with an intention to expand your business and invest in your marketing activities every day. By committing to consistent and persistent marketing efforts, you WILL get amazing results.

Wendy Maynard, your friendly marketing maven, is the owner of Kinesis. Kinesis specializes in marketing, graphic and website design, and business writing.

Visit http://www.kinesisinc.com/resources/articles.html for more articles and free marketing wisdom. You can visit her marketing blog, Kinetic Ideas at: http://www.wendy.kinesisinc.com

Want to harness the power of kinetic marketing? Sign up for Kinesis Quickies, a free bi-monthly marketing e-newsletter: http://www.news.kinesisinc.com

Focus Groups Marketings Secret Weapon

Writen by Leni Chauvin

So how's it going?

Is all the time, effort, and m.on.e.y you've put into marketing your business panning out?

Are you getting all the clients you want?

And are they the right clients? If not, it may be time to convene a focus group to make sure you are marketing the right part of your business to the right people and that your marketing message is clear to prospective customers and clients.

Focus groups have long been used in advertising and marketing to determine the public's likes and dislikes around the client's products and services. You've probably seen focus groups depicted on TV or in movies. A random group of people is shown a product, a TV pilot, new packaging, etc., and are asked to offer critiques.

What are the strengths and what are the weaknesses? What works and what does not? Where are they confused? What would they rather see? Would they buy it? If not, why not? If yes, what do they expect to receive for their m.o.n.e.y? Would they prefer it in a different color?

The results of focus groups help the powers that be understand the public's perception of their offering and help them uncover what refinements need to be made before they can begin their marketing campaign in earnest.

If you are an entrepreneur, small business owner, or service professional, there's no reason at all why you can't take a cue from Madison Avenue and hold your own focus group to help you market your products and services more effectively. I have done it myself and I encourage my clients to do it, too.

The results can help you gain enormous clarity on what message you really want to get across in your marketing materials. Often one exits a focus group meeting with outcomes that are totally different (and far better) than anything that had been envisioned going in.

The how of holding a focus group is very simple. The most important step is to decide beforehand what you want the group to concentrate on. Is it a new company name? A slogan or tagline? Identifying a niche market? A compelling title for a seminar? The name of a new product?

Once you're clear on the purpose of your focus group, determine the best mix of people to invite. Narrow it down to five to eight people who know you both professionally and personally and whom you think really understand your business. You'll discover once you are into your focus group meeting whether or not they really do! :-)

In fact, that can be a very important first question to ask your group: "what is your understanding of what I do?" This can be a real eye-opener.

Your home can make a comfortable backdrop for such a meeting. Be sure to set the tone in advance, though, by telling your group the purpose of the get together when you invite them. You'll be pleasantly surprised to see how willing people will be to help you out.

Have some nibblies available for the group, but remember this is not a social event; the focus is business-your business.

Ask someone in advance to facilitate the meeting and have a flip chart, markers, and masking tape set up before people arrive. This will reinforce that you are all there to tackle a serious task. (Don't worry if you don't have access to a flip chart; you can purchase table top versions or Post-It pages the same size as flip chart paper at Office Depot, Staples, etc.)

Please do not attempt to facilitate the meeting yourself as you really need to be in the observer's seat and you'll want someone who is completely objective to run the session.

Because it is easy to drift off topic when focus groups convene in someone's home, speak with your designated facilitator beforehand to make sure s/he understands s/he must guide the discussion and bring everyone back on topic if they wander off.

Have the facilitator introduce the topic and what outcomes you are hoping for. Brainstorm like crazy, with the facilitator writing down every idea that comes up, no matter how crazy they may seem at the time.

Speak up when necessary, clarify, question, observe, and probe. But most of all listen and think.

By the end of a few hours, you will have many answers about the what and the how of your marketing efforts. Some of your marketing ideas will be reinforced; some will be discarded, and some will require a bit of fine-tuning before you can move ahead. Most assuredly, though, you will have new ideas for marketing your product or service that will be so much better than anything you had ever imagined.

Bottom Line: If you want to make sure you're marketing the right thing to the right people, you can...with a little help from your friends.

© Copyright 2006 Leni Chauvin, The Client Attraction Coach™

Leni Chauvin, The Client Attraction Coach,™ helps small business owners and solo professionals move mountains. If you're ready to attract more clients, make more money, and have more fun while you're doing it, you'll find TONS of f.r.e.e resources to help you at http://www.AttractClientsGalore.com