Hot Marketer Zone

Never Hide From Your Customers

2009-03-04T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Marte Cliff

Years ago I attended a Realtor's convention where one of the booth themes was "Don't be a Secret Agent." The whole idea was that when you're in sales you'd better let everyone in your sphere of influence (and beyond) know, or they'll use someone else and you'll have hurt feelings and an empty bank account.

Lately I've been thinking about how that applies to each and every business in the universe. And the fact that there's more to it than that.

People may know about you, even want to do business with you, but if they can't find you easily, they'll go elsewhere.

You have to make yourself "Easy to Get."

Just the other day I needed to find an acquaintance that has a small side business. I knew the name of the business, but it wasn't listed in the phone book. I knew her first name no help there. Finally her last name popped into my head and then I only had to remember her husband's name to find them in the phone book. I persisted because I knew she was the only person nearby who could provide what I wanted. But if there had been someone else in the Yellow Pages

You get the idea.

So what can you do? First of all, if you have a local service business, hand out your cards all the time. Never assume that since you gave them out once, people still have them. They probably don't. Or if they do have one, they won't remember where they put it when they need you. Give your cards to friends and ask them to pass them along. Give them to every new person you meet. Post them on the bulletin board along with the others at the local café. If you leave a great tip after dinner, leave your card with it. When you pay a bill with a local merchant, include your card.

When you do a mailing to prospective customers, include your card. They might not keep the whole letter, but the business card might go into their card file. At the same time, make darn sure that letter has all your contact information on every page. That includes your phone, fax, e-mail, and mailing address. If you use your cell phone often, include that too.

The same goes for e-mail. Never assume that everyone wants to communicate electronically. Add a signature to all of your email that shows what you do, along with your phone numbers and your postal mailing address, as well as your return email address.

Then there are print ads. Every once in a while I see a newspaper ad that was a complete waste of money. The ad might have gotten my attention, but they forgot the address of the business and/or the contact information.

In short, make it easy for anyone to find you no matter which method they prefer.

Never hide from people who want to give you money.

Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter with many more tips to share. Visit her at http://www.marte-cliff.com/ and sign up for a free monthly advertising ezine. Marte also offers a no-obligation critique of your present advertising.

Marketing Your Service Business

2009-03-03T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Gail Metcalf

Marketing any business is a science professional marketers follow to get results. There are three principles that are most important to the small business owner and should be adopted and used:

1. Benefits - Most people make the mistake of telling everyone the features of their business. This is not what your customers are looking for. They want to know why they should give you the job and not your competition.

2. Business Purpose - Are you sure you understand what your business purpose is? Most people start a business to make money. But your real job is to satisfy your customer needs.

3. Market Testing - Most small business owners run advertising because they've heard that's what you do to get customers. But they fail to track their ads to learn what is working and what is not. The natural response to a failed ad is to decide the ad did not work due to the publication or timing. This may be part of it, but only by tracking and measuring the results of each ad will you discover if it's even worth spending the money.

Benefits After defining your new business, it's only natural to want to tell everyone what your business does and how the service is performed. Not everyone is interested in that, especially in your advertising. Those are the features of your service but real people that need your service want to know how they will benefit. A Pest Control service is just like any other, right? They come to the property and spray the inside on the initial appointment and spray the outside on every appointment. Not much to tell anyone except maybe you get behind, up high and in the corners. But that still doesn'ttell me anything. By getting behind, up high and in the corners, what is the benefit to me, your customer?

- "We sweep down cobwebs so you don't have spiders multiplying in your living area."

- "Your attic is thoroughly inspected for crevices and holes which allow squirrels and mice to live. We'll seal these up to prevent these critters from multiplying and storing food supplies and scaring you in the middle of the night, running down the outside wall."

- "We clear all vaulted roof and ceiling areas of bees and wasps so you're not caught in a swarm while enjoying your nice evening on the patio."

These are all benefits that cause the reader to start thinking they really do need your service. These are people that would have never called you because they were not aware of these problems. Now they're worried because they've never looked for these problems and how many do they have? They can't get to their phone fast enough. You've managed to convey some of the problems people could have on their property and you've stirred them to action with a little fear. Understand how important this is as compared to some of the features you may be inclined to advertise.

Purpose Are you in business to make a profit or to add value for your customers? This is the most effective sales tool you have. How many times have you called a company and have been dissatisfied just with the person answering the phone? They seem indifferent to your needs, shallow, uncaring. People sense this right away and will assume the service you offer is run with the same indifference. People want to know you care about them. And it's really not hard to do. If you are running your business with the joy of providing a service your customers need, people will be attracted to your business and will refer you to their friends and family. Get clear about why you are running your business. If it's only to make a profit, then you need to do something else because you will never succeed at a pace that allows you to have a lifestyle and a business.

Testing Even if you knew to test the results of your ad campaign, would you find the time to do it? Probably not, because you're busy running the details of the business. But what if I told you this could save you a lot of money in useless ads? Most advertising is useless because small business owners don't understand the basic concepts to make it successful. Good ads don't just happen. Even professional marketers make sure they test every aspect of every ad. A minor change to the headline, the body or the call to action could make a major difference in the campaign results; as high as 100-300%.

Gail Metcalf built her cleaning business from the ground up. She currently sells The House Cleaning Pro Turnkey Success System. Permission is granted to reproduce this article but credit must be given to the author. No part of the article content can be modified, and a link must be provided to: http://HouseCleaningPro.com

Portable Trade Show Booths

2009-03-02T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kevin Stith

One good reason for getting a portable display trade show booth is because it can save you a lot of money without compromising on the goal that you plan to achieve with it.

Transporting a conventional booth can be a rather expensive proposition; opting for a portable one can many a times be a sensible option. Shipping costs for big and heavy tradeshow booths can get uncomfortably high, unless the show is taking place somewhere nearby. You can easily overcome this problem with a portable booth.

Most of these booths fit in one box, making them easily manageable by one person. One person is usually enough to set up as well as pack up and store the portable booth. A single person can often easily transport these types of booths, saving financial resources that could be targeted at more productive endeavors.

Another advantage of a portable trade show booth is that its use is not restricted to trade shows alone. The fact is that you can opt to use your portable booths as effective marketing tools inside as well as outside a trade show. A marketing team usually identifies locations where trade show booths can be used for promotions. Your trade show booth can be put up at local festivals, within your office, or, if your product line permits, then even at a mall. You might even consider using it in a rented park space as long as it is proper to do so.

Although the initial costs of getting a portable display booth can appear to be larger than those of a normal booth, any promoter must consider that the maintenance and shipping costs of regular booths is much higher. In effect, if trade show promotions are a marketing strategy you intend to use, then portable booths easily make it a cost-effective step in the long run.

Trade Show Booths provides detailed information on Trade Show Booths, Trade Show Display Booths, Trade Show Booth Design, Portable Trade Show Booths and more. Trade Show Booths is affiliated with Custom Trade Show Displays.

Being Visible On A Budget

2009-03-01T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Claire Cunningham

Once upon a time a company introduced a new product. They didn't want their competition to know, so they didn't advertise or even send out a news release. Sales of the new product were disappointing. The manufacturer was unhappy. What went wrong? Any thoughts?

My answer is that this kind of "stealth marketing" doesn't work. You need to be visible to sell something. When this manufacturer started promoting their new product, sales picked up.

So visibility is good for business. But how do you get visible with limited resources? Here are some programs I recommend.

1) Postcard marketing - Use postcards to ask for referrals, announce events, build website traffic, say thanks, and more. Of course, for best results you need a good list.

2) News release program - Does your company bring new products or services to market? Publish literature? These are great subjects for news releases. Send releases to editors at relevant publications regularly to get more than your fair share of coverage. Public relations activities like this are time-intensive, but cost much less than advertising.

3) Feature coverage - Getting major coverage in the right media outlet can enhance visibility and credibility quickly. Use research and planning to ensure your topic is timely. Then target specific editors.

4) Case history articles - Highlight your company's capabilities with problem/solution articles. Well-written case histories are in demand -- by readers and editors alike. These stories make great website content, too.

5) Internet - Creating and maintaining a website is relatively low cost, especially compared to printed pieces like brochures. If you need to reach young adults, teens or business people, the Internet is where you need to be. E-mail marketing can be a good tool, too, but be sure to get the recipient's permission.

6) Newsletters - Developing a good newsletter takes market intelligence and careful planning. Then you need discipline and skill to crank out something worthwhile on a schedule. But it's worth it! A good newsletter can gain you loyalty, credibility, and oh yeah visibility.

7) Identity - Maintaining a consistent identity is a low-cost way to maximize impact. Consistency and professionalism help any business over time. Consistency means repetition. That's what solidifies ideas in our brains. Professionalism is about looking good. If you want to be taken seriously, present a professional image.

Whatever you do, repeat, repeat, repeat! A single mailing (for example) may get disappointing results. Don't be surprised or discouraged. Keep at it with a consistent look, message and audience, and over time your message will sink in.

About the author

Claire Cunningham, president of Clairvoyant Communications, Inc., helps companies jumpstart their sales with increased visibility. Claire shares her marketing communications expertise at http://www.clairvoyantcommunications.com and through monthly e-newsletters Communiqué and Communiqué-Small Business. Avoid costly errors with Claire's "Top Marketing Communications Mistakes Companies Make." Call 763-479-3499 or e-mail claire@claircomm.com for a copy.

Attendee Walking The Aisles 6 Trade Show Tips For 06

2009-02-28T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Julia O'Connor

Are trade shows in your marketing plans for 2006? There are times when smart exhibitors don't exhibit but visit shows as attendees to gather new ideas, scope out the competion and look for opportunities.

Walk the aisles, see what's new, plan purchases for the coming year? Is this the show when you pull out the order book or checkbook and make a commitment? Trade Show Training, inc. offers these 6 quick tips for those who are not exhibiting but who form the reason for any trade show YOU - the Attendee

1. LOOK FOR THE COMPANY.
While sales people are paid to be persuasive, you want to do business with The Company. Review the pre-show information and read the program about exhibitors. Select those that match your requirements in terms of longevity, products, services and guarantees.

2. LOOK AT THE STAFF.
Are you asking general questions or do you need an expert? Understand your needs or your company's requirements before you step on the floor. Ask around your firm how can you help while you are at the show before the show.

3. PLAN YOUR ROUTE.
Each show has a floor plan. Use it. If you don't have the info you need, contact show management. Map out those exhibitors you want to see. There are two ways to do this by aisle or by product. Review your requirements and hit the main ones first. TSTi suggests you go down every aisle. Because you never know who is a new competitor.

4. BE OPEN TO NEW STUFF.
You will never be able to absorb everything at one show. There will always be a new company, product, service, concept something that will be unexpected. Maybe it is in a small, ugly exhibit stuffed in a corner with the hottest new product to be introduced at the show, and you don't know about it. Or a new #1 competitor that cracked your business and knows everything about your hottest product.

5. LEARN TO S-M-I-L-E, then SMILE.
Whether you are attendee or exhibitor, there should be politeness on both sides of the aisle. Personality, expertise, social graces, appropriate business manners and tenacity are important for everyone at trade shows. Remember to S-M-I-L-E See-Meet-Introduce-Listen-Engage

6. FOLLOW-UP .
If you are interested in an answer, you may need to follow-up yourself with the company. Despite all the fancy lead trackin systems, it is still true that about 80% of leads are not followed-up and it has nothing to do with you personally. Why? Now there are many more opportunities to slice-and-dice your info to oblivion. Not an excuse but today's reality.

On the other hand, it pays to be polite. If you gave your information to an exhibitor RFP, RFD, badge swipe, business card, form for a gift, attendee list, etc. then be gracious about follow-up contact from that company.

Do you know that you gave permission? As an attendee, you are fair game for any exhibitor. Enjoy the show.

Julia O'Connor - Speaker, Author, Consultant - writes about practical aspects of trade shows. As president of Trade Show Training, inc,, now celebrating its 10th year, she works with companies in a variety of industries to improve their bottom line and marketing opportunities at trade shows.

Julia is an expert in the psychology of the trade show environment and uses this expertise in sales training and management seminars. Contact her at 804-355-7800 or check the site http://www.TradeShowTraining.com

Choosing An Exhibition Stand

2009-02-27T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Paul Symonds

There are a variety of different types of exhibition stands and choosing the right stand for a given situation, can thus be difficult. Do you need a modular stand, portable banner stand, portable pop-up stand, panel-and-pole stand or perhaps even a literature stand? The different types of exhibition display stands are discussed below.

Modular exhibition display stands tend to be large stands (as compared to pop-up and portable stands) and the frameworks are often rigid and more traditional. A lot of modular display stands are often custom made, i.e. for large exhibitions such as those you might see at the big exhibition including Earls Court, Olympia and Excel Centre (all in London). These stands can be expensive but dynamic and large.

Pop Up Display stands are quite different from modular stands. Pop up stands are much quicker to set-up, much smaller and thus portable and far cheaper than modular stands. A pop-up stands, such as the 'Apollo' model by Clip Displays, is lightweight and can be put up within one minute.

Panel-and-pole exhibition stands on the other hand, can offer a sizeable exhibition stand yet one that is still affordable and also transportable. These types of stands are put up using panels which are clipped to poles and which can be assembled in a matter of minutes. Banner Stands can be a good option if you are looking for an inexpensive yet professional display. Banner stands are often retractable and lightweight, with some models weighing no more than 4kg. Banner stands usually come with a carry bag with shoulder harness.

Choosing an exhibition stand depends very much on:
- Your budget
- The size of the exhibition
- Whether or not you need to re-use the stand

If you are attending a big exhibition in Earls Court then a modular stand, if your budget permits, could be the way to go. If you are a travelling salesman, looking to exhibit your goods in a quick and simply way, then a retractable roll-up stand can be better.

Paul Symonds MSc & BAHons. Exhibition stands including modular and portable

Niche And Grow Rich

2009-02-26T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Andre Anthony

Unless you've been living under an Internet rock, you've probably heard the buzz about Niche Marketing. Right now it's the hottest marketing topic online.

Is it a new concept?

Well on the Internet maybe, but if like me, you've been involved in direct response marketing in the 'Bricks and Mortar' world then it isn't - that's the way we've done things since time immemorial.

So what's this Niche Marketing thing all about?

If you have ever taken Marketing 101 then you'll have heard of the old marketing adage : "Find a need and fill it" - that's what "Niche Marketing" is all about. Finding a "focussed" group of people, with a specialized interest, eager to buy (The Niche) and promoting a suitable product or service to all those interested in buying it (Marketing).

Let me give you a few examples of these Niches :

Recipes  Golf  Fishing  Health and Fitness  Travel  Collectibles  Dating  Dog Training  Satellite TV  Beauty Tips  Astrology  Cats  Bartending  Alternative Health  Hand-poured Candles  Gourmet Foods  Gambling  Mortgages  Credit Cards  Music  Jewellery

...... the list just goes on and on and these are just the main headings, there are niches within each of these niches ... Think of a subject and there's likely a niche market for it...

But the name of the game is to find a "tightly focussed" niche. The reason for this that if you target a general market the competition is fierce and it's hard, if not impossible, for the little guy to get a foothold.

When you narrow down the size of the market you eradicate most of the heavy hitters with bottomless advertising budgets, because these guys aren't interested in making a few thousand bucks a year from these tiny specialized markets, they're after millions from mass markets...

... And let's face it if you're a little guy you simply can't be everything to everybody, so you must pick a specific focus (Niche) for your business. For example don't target "Fishing", instead target "Fishing Baits" or "Fishing Lures" both of which have a much more specific focus...

...Get the idea?

Once you narrow down the size of the market you have an automatic advantage over larger companies. Here's why :

* You can quickly become an expert in your niche (if you're not already)

* It's easier to keep current with a narrowly focussed market niche

* You can respond faster to changes in the market

* You can build close relationships with key customers that will be hard to compete with

This is something I learned from experience - if you're interested you can read my story here : http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com/articles/andre-anthony- value-of-niche-marketing.htm.

By now you're probably wondering about the mechanics of this niche marketing stuff. In a nutshell here's how it works :

* Find and research profitable niche markets

* Locate or develop suitable products/services to market

* Set up a web site to market the products/services

* Establish a marketing system that works for you

* Repeat the process over and over again with a different niche each time.

Imagine having a niche site producing one sale a day at say $20. That's $7300 a year - how many sites could you set up and run 10, 20 ....?

But before you get too excited, I have a word of caution for you:

Niche marketing is not a magic bullet. It isn't a matter of putting up a web site and then sitting back and waiting for the money to roll in - "build it and they will come" may have worked for Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, but it doesn't work that way on the Internet - if you do that you'll be waiting a long time.

If you want a successful niche business, you have to work at it just like any other business - if you're prepared to put in the effort though the rewards can be significant.

André Anthony owns and operates Niche Market Know-How a resource for beginning Niche Marketers. Visit http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com today to find strategies, tips, tools, products and resources for effective niche product creation and marketing. Get his Niche Market Know-how Mini Course here: http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com/course.htm

20 Power Marketing Tips

2009-02-25T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by George Torok

Use these powerful yet simple tips from the national best-seller, "Secrets of Power Marketing: Promote Brand You" - the first guide to personal marketing for non-marketers.

Create and grant an annual award.

Send hand written congratulations and thank you notes.

Send greeting cards for some occasion other than Christmas.

Send postcards when you travel and even when you are at home.

Give a good book to special clients. Always sign it with a positive message.

Build relationships with the media before you need them.

Associate with winners - attend awards functions.

Build and maintain a database of clients, prospects, and key influencers.

Earn certifications and win awards from your associations - and tell everyone.

Ask happy customers to write testimonial letters for you.

Recruit your suppliers as marketing agents. They work for free.

Join and be active in your chamber of commerce.

Write tips sheets for your customers.

Write and send articles to magazines and newspapers.

Send a news release to the media every three months.

Do something crazy and newsworthy at least once a year.

Send photocopies of your news coverage to your clients.

Build and maintain an informative and interesting web site.

Sponsor a cause, event, charity or community group.

Volunteer for your association, charity or community group.

This article is based on the strategies and techniques described in the national bestseller, "Secrets of Power Marketing: Promote Brand You"

©George Torok is co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing. He delivers motivational keynotes and practical workshops for corporations and associations on communication and thinking skills. He can be reached at 905-335-1997 Register for your free monthly tips at http://www.Torok.com

Real Estate Marketing Online The Power Of Information

2009-02-24T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Brandon Cornett

How to increase your real estate marketing success by offering informational reports through your website...

Do you have a website? Do you have some basic research skills? If you answered yes to both questions, then you have the tools to take your real estate marketing program to an exciting new level.

In fact, by the end of the week you could publish a highly enticing report and offer it through your website (in exchange for a newsletter subscription or some other form of lead capture).

But like anything else in real estate marketing, you get out of it what you put into it. Some real estate agents use the free report method with great results. For others it's a waste of time. The difference is all in the approach.

Here are some keys to success:

1. It all starts with the report itself. You have to put a lot of value into it. Make it something that's not readily available elsewhere, like hard-to-find information about future development around a particular neighborhood. If the information is readily available, include a lot of it and focus on the timesaving benefits (because you've done the research for them).

2. People can't request something they don't know about it. So promote the report through your normal marketing channels -- direct mail, website, newsletter, ads, casual conversation, email signature block...

3. Create multiple reports on different topics related to real estate / buying a home / selling a home. Set them up on a separate page of your website. Let people "shop" for the free report of their choice. The more topics you cover, the more likely people are to find something they really want.

4. Show pictures. People believe in what they see, so feature a picture of the report's cover page, or maybe a sample image / graphic / chart from the body of the report. Use visual enticement, not just words.

5. Try to get a testimonial from somebody who found the information particularly useful. Feature it in a callout box near the headline, near the picture of the report, or near the "sign up" / "download" button.

6. Make sure the report is "king" of the page it's on. In other words, don't have a lot of other items competing with it for the reader's attention. If capturing their contact information is the point of that particular web page, make it the only point.

7. Have some way to capture leads. You're essentially exchanging your valuable item for the right to contact the person receiving it.

Informational reports can improve your real estate marketing program by creating a stream of qualified leads. But you only get out of it what you put into it:

Half-baked reports positioned poorly will flounder. Well-crafted reports marketed properly can become lead-generating machines. The difference is all in the approach.

* You may republish this article in its entirety as long as you include the byline and author's note. If publishing online, please leave the hyperlinks active.

About the Author
Brandon Cornett is the founder of ArmingYourFarming.com, a web-based company that provides marketing guides to real estate agents. For dozens more articles on real estate marketing, visit http://www.armingyourfarming.com.

Small Business Marketing Strategy Where Are You Positioned Right Now

2009-02-23T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Craig Lutz-Priefert

OK, once you are convinced you need to wave your Brand Banner, the next step is to determine where in the mind of the customer you are positioned relative to your competition. Remember, it's the combination of Brand, Package and People marketing elements that lead to small business marketing success. But a strong Brand is the foundation.

First, let's look at the competition. You know your competitorsprobably better than you think you do. Make yourself a very small chart. You can make it as a table in Microsoft Word, or in Excel. You can even rough it out on a piece of notebook paper. Make four columns, with the following column headings:

Competitor
Estimated Market Share
#1 Reason People Buy from Them
#2 Reason People Buy from Them

Underneath the column headings, list your top three competitors, and briefly fill in the relevant information in the column headings for each competitor.

We recommend that you do not go out to your customers with a survey to gather this information. You might ask a few key Achievers for help if you're stuck, but most small business owners know their competition well enough to fill in this simple table in their sleep.

Second, let's look at the invisible competition. If a customer doesn't choose you or the competition, then where does that customer go? Where does she spend her money? For example, restaurants' competitors often aren't each other, but "Dinner and a DVD" at home. Your visible competitors are usually easy to find: you just go to the yellow pages, and there they are. But it's those substitute products or services that we want you to take notice of, right now.

Write down your two top invisible competitors underneath the little competitor analysis table.

Third, let's uncover where your company is positioned in the mind of your customers or prospects, right now. Are you in the middle of that pack of competitors, or do you fill a really unique spot? Just jot down one or two sentences comparing your position in relation to your visible and invisible competition.

So you've written down three different categories relating to your customers: your top three competitors, your invisible competition, and your company.

Fourth, it's time to Brainstorm just how you can improve your marketing message to take advantage of your current position. You will want to clearly appeal to your customers, but stay in line with where you are already positioned. Remember in an earlier article the analogy of Brand as a sailboat on a lake.

This is one time you'll want to use your employees to help you discover creative and unique ideas. Involve those Achievers in a creative planning session. Solitude can and will bring you insight, but you need the eyes and especially ears of your best staff. Achievers listen to customers; your current customers will often make a little, off-hand comment that can clue you in to exactly where you are positioned, relative to your competition.

Note that we aren't trying to establish "features and benefits" here. This exercise isn't designed to be a training course for your salespeople on how to answer specific objections. That may be a secondary benefit you gain from this exercise, but it isn't our main purpose.

Instead, we are trying to help plant your Brand Banner in the mind of your prospects. It's very tough to go head-to-head with any of your competition; it is so easy to end up as a "middle-of-the-pack" brand in the mind of your prospects. And, when you are herded into the middle of the pack you are much more vulnerable to price attacks and other competitive moves by your competitors. It is much better to pick a weakness in several competitors' armor, and find a strength you can use to exploit against their weakness. You can then build your marketing around this and differentiate yourself from your competition. It is just this technique that is strongly advocated in the marketing classic by Ries and Trout, Positioning.

For example: let's say you know from earlier research into your customer base that your customers perceive you as a quality, on-time provider. You can use these brand attributes to fight against a competitor that solely markets itself as a price leader. Don't try and go head to head on price unless you are seriously ready to cut your margins and are ready for a war fought down in the attrition trenches. It is better to stress what sets you apart from the competition and use your promotions to emphasize that over and over to your customers and prospects.

Building a brand is not an overnight job. For most small business, the brand is already built--there is a customer base that chooses to buy from your company already. The job isn't so much to build a brand but build on the brand; discovering where you are positioned relative to actual and invisible competitors is a critical first step in the process.

Craig Lutz-Priefert is President of Marketing Hawks, a firm providing essential marketing vision for small business. Marketing Hawks also sponsors the ongoing small business adventures of entrepreneur Crystal Trino at the JourneyToday website.

Real Estate Marketing The Talkability Factor

2009-02-22T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Brandon Cornett

You won't find "talkability" in any dictionary. But it has everything to do with your personal marketing program. This article explains what it is and how it can help you grow your business.

Let's start with a definition:

Talkability (noun) 1. The ease with which a product or service can be talked about. 2. The likelihood that a product or service will be talked about.

Ever experience a product or service so incredible, so above and beyond the norm, that you couldn't wait to tell someone about it? That's talkability. Talkability is more powerful than "noteworthy" and more interesting than "interesting." It lives in the "remarkable" neighborhood.

So what does it have to do with real estate? Well, if you realize that most real estate business comes from referrals, you'll begin to see the true power of talkability in helping you grow your business.

Increasing Your Talkability Factor
To increase the talkability of your services, you must offer something so unique it's virtually impossible for people to keep to themselves, something they cannot resist talking about. A first step is to ask yourself the question, "If I were my own client, what would be remarkable to me?"

This is the fun part. It's called the "What if" game. First, turn off your internal critic, that little nagging voice that says things like "That's silly" or "That will never work." Next, make a list of "What if" statements about your services:

What if I found a way to offer free interior design consultations to buyers, redeemable for 30 days within move-in?

What if I offered "around the town" tours to relocation clients, showing them local schools, shopping and recreation?

What if I offered sellers a free "Curb Appeal" consultation from a local landscaper?

What if started a monthly home-buying seminar and promoted it on the news?

What if I took a photography course and offered clients professional home photos for their listing?

What if ... what if ... what if.

The point is to keep going until you exhaust your imagination. If you produce nine ideas and keep only one, you haven't lost anything. You've gained a great idea that will create talkability.

When you're screening ideas and deciding which to keep and which to cut, imagine somebody telling their friends about each item. Does it seem like something they would want to share? Can you imagine them saying, "Tom, you won't believe what my agent did for me..."?

If so, you've achieved talkability.

Marketing Alone is Not Enough
A remarkable service with average marketing will outsell an average service with great marketing. Remarkable products and services have talkability, so even with average marketing their messages will reach farther and wider than the average product with great marketing.

Talkability Success Stories
If a product or service has extremely high talkability, it hardly needs any marketing at all. Red Bull and Starbucks had high talkability when they launched (still do).

As a result, they grew to epic proportions with virtually no initial advertising. Red Bull only started advertising a couple years ago, and Starbucks still does virtually no advertising. Yet people couldn't resist talking about these products. These products surfed on waves of talkability.

Those are products. Now let's look at a service with talkability. Here in Austin, Texas, there's a barbershop called Sexy Scissors. Their name says it all, and their motto drives it home: "Hot stylists. Cold beer. Great haircuts." They have sports on all the TVs and a beer keg built right into the receptionist's desk!

See what I'm doing right now? I've succumbed to the talkability of this service. As a result, I'm giving them free publicity. Whether or not you agree with their "angle," you have to acknowledge the talkability of it. Can you imagine the number of men who've said, "Hey, Joe, have you heard about that place called Sexy Scissors?"

Has it worked? Well, as of this writing, they're building a new location in Houston and putting out the call for additional franchisees. I predict their growth will continue for years to come.

I'm not suggesting you start a sexy real estate service. (Although, if you're in Los Angeles...) I'm suggesting you find a way to put more talkability into your service. Think of it as a way to recruit an army of marketers for your service. The higher the talkability, the more people there are to spread your message.

Brandon Cornett has worked as a writer and advertising manager within the direct mail industry. He now dedicates his time to helping agents and brokers improve their real estate marketing programs. His free newsletter is available at: http://www.ArmingYourFarming.com.

Gift Cards Is It Time To Use Them For My Business

2009-02-21T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Steven Schneidman

You're probably thinking, here we go again somebody is trying to sell me something that I really don't need. I'm sure it will benefit them, but will it benefit me? Firstly let me say that my company, Solutions Ink does sell gift and loyalty cards. The market out there while huge is certainly not for anyone. Who then are these cards good for?

These cards are great for chain stores with multiple locations and for stores with very loyal repeat customers. Why are these stores prime candidates? First let's examine the large chain stores. Today more than ever people's disposable time is very limited. Buying a gift for someone takes time and effort in researching a product the person might enjoy , and then finding the right size and color. Today everybody is looking for convenience. It takes 2 minutes at a cash register to get a gift card. Firstly the price you want to pay is exactly the amount on the card. If the recipient wants something more expensive, they can simply add onto it. The recepient can spend his time finding the right size and color and shop when he or she wants the item.

As far as the store goes, they know that once they've sold you the gift card, the sale is coming. Their cash flow is improved because the cash sits in their bank account t'ill you use it. More importantly a growing percent of people who receive these cards never use them. Lastly, most people end up spending more then thier gift card in the store. The question really isn't why should I invest in gift cards but rather why I am I not running out to purchase them?

Another great reason is dut to the technological revolution. With bar codes and mag stripes affixed on the back of the cards, the stores are now able to capture important information about the end user. They can see who uses them, what they use them for and create new marketing campaigns targetted to these people and uses to get an even larger percent of these people's discretionary income.

The second type of person is a smaller business store who is trying to direct more traffic to their store. A new twist on these gift cards is actually selling the cards at a discount or partnering up with some loyalty card company to offer them as rewards. What ever discount they give either to the purchaser or to the loyalty card program is easily made up on the benefits of the cards, whether it be directed new sales, never used cards or getting their customer to spend more than the gift card amount.

Does this sound interesting to you, then run to either give me a call at 514-337-2238 or email me at info@solutionsink4u.com, to see how we can help your company make more money? Why are we letting just the big guys make the easy money? Let Walmart, The Gap, Macy's, Chapters, Barnes and Nobles, Starbucks, and Sear's know that we're all going to get a piece of this lucrative market.

Steven Schneidman

www.solutionsink4u.com

Steven Schneidman has a B.A. in Psychology and an MBA, was a professor in finance at a Montreal University, worked for the secong largest bank in Canada and has and does own 2 printing and promotional product companies. He does work with many Fortune 500 companies as well as a slew of smaller companies all over Canada and the United States.

Message Modules How To Use Your Elevator Pitch As The Building Block For Stronger Content

2009-02-20T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Nancy E. Schwartz

I've frequently written about your elevator pitch, the 30-second opportunity you have to tell and sell your nonprofit's or foundation's story in the course of an elevator ride. These key points can also serve as the building blocks of longer presentations or copy. Milo O. Frank, expert on the elevator pitch and author of "How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less," suggests looking at each of the points in an extended presentation or copy as individual 30-second messages.

"During the two, three, five, or ten minutes that your presentation lasts or a reader scans your copy, you'll have an opportunity to ask and answer several provocative questions, paint more than one picture, use more than one personal anecdote or experience. The strategies that kept your listener alert and interested in your 30-second message will achieve the same effect in a longer speech," advises Frank.

Frank's idea is simple but innovative. I'm in the midst of experimenting with this technique for a current client. I've nicknamed this approach "message modules" and promise to keep you posted.

Want to know more about message modules? Take a look at Frank's book, "How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less."

Business communications consultant Frank has created the ideal guide to perfecting your organization's message in our era of information inundation. According to Frank, you can get your point across in 30 seconds. Media research proves it. Television commercials capitalize on it (sadly). People are only able to give their full, undivided attention in 30 second "bites" that equal the typical attention span.

Working within this timeframe, Frank's handbook guides you through getting your audiences' attention, engaging them and motivating them to take the desired action. Putting the techniques Frank outlines into play will challenge you to strengthen your nonprofit's or foundation's core messages. And a laser-sharp pitch is an absolute necessity in these challenging times.

You'll find Frank's guide equally useful as a training tool or resource for your colleagues -- writers, fundraisers and public speakers.

Nancy E. Schwartz helps nonprofits succeed through effective marketing and communications.

Subscribe to her free e-newsletter "Getting Attention," at http://www.nancyschwartz.com/getting_attention.html and read her blog at http://www.gettingattention.org for more insights, ideas and great tips on attracting the attention your organization deserves.

Small Business Marketing Tip 6 How To Build Your Image For Free

2009-02-19T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jimmy Vee

Every small business owner, entrepreneur and independent sales person needs to think about their marketing in terms of direct response.

What is direct response?

Well, direct response marketing is marketing that delivers a trackable and measurable return on the dollars spent.

Seems pretty simple, straight forward and logical - don't you think?

Then, why do some many small businesses consistently toss tons of time, energy and money down to the tidy bowl man?

Why do they constantly talk about and spend dollars on "getting their name out there?"

It's a complete waste of limited cash and resources and it doesn't work.

You can not build brand as a small business with a limited marketing and advertising budget. If you don't have a Cola Giant budget you can't copy the Cola Giant's ad strategy i.e. spending money to "get your name out there" and hope you get customers in return.

That is leaving your business success up to chance and that's not a smart strategy.

But you want to build image and brand awarenessRight?

Listen, you can't deposit brand awareness in the bank and if your marketing efforts don't yield something you can deposit in the bank then you shouldn't be doing it.

That is why you need to study, learn and practice Gravitational Marketing SM .

You have to stop thinking about your role in your company as a maker or seller of widgets. You are not in the business of making or selling widgets.

You must be in the business of marketing widgets. Your role has to become chief marketer of widgets.

For examplelet's say you own a pest control company.

What business are you in?

The obvious answer is the pest control business.

But in this case the obvious answer is the wrong answer. And as in most things in life the common thinking only leads to common results.

Common Results = Common Life.

The correct answer is that you are a marketer of pest control.

The marketing function is what brings in the business. It's what generates the leads that turn into sales which bring in the dollars that you can deposit into your bank account.

Your thinking has to completely change if you want to be successful.

This total reengineering of you role has to occur if you want your business and your life enjoyable, simple and prosperous.

Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller are the authors of "The Ten Tall Tales Of Traditional Advertising That Cost You Tons" and their newest release, "The Small Business Owner's Guide To The Galaxy: Jim & Travis's Super-Stellar, Out Of This World, Step-By-Step Guide To Generating Leads, Attracting Customers and Making Sales." Get FREE small business marketing tips, shortcuts and secrets - RIGHT NOW - at http://www.GravitationalMarketing.com

Color Part 2 Formats And Systems

2009-02-18T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Erin Ferree

There are several color formats and systems available for mixing and specifying colors. Here, we explain three of the most common systems: RGB, CMYK, and Pantone colors.

RGB color

"RGB" refers to the colors of light that mix to create colors. There are three basic colors of light - red, green and blue. When combined, they create an entire rainbow of colors, either by reflecting off, surfaces or by shining onto surfaces.

In design, RGB color is only used in website design and other designs that are only meant to be seen on your screen (software user interfaces, HTML email, PowerPoint presentations, and TV or movie graphics).

If you send a design to be printed, or print a design that has been created in the RGB color space on your home printer, the printout may not match what you see on the screen - RGB colors on the screen tend to be brighter than what is printed on paper. This is because the colors onscreen are created with light, which adds brightness of its own to the colors. When printing on paper, the light is taken out of the equation. The other reason for this is that an RGB color can be "out of gamut" for CMYK printing, meaning that some of the colors cannot be replicated with printing inks.

CMYK color

CMYK color is also known as four-color printing, full-color printing, or process color printing.

CMYK color refers to a certain type of printing process. In CMYK printing, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (the "K") inks are printed on the paper as tiny dots (referred to as a "screen" or "line screen"). These dots are so tiny that when they combine visually, they create a rainbow of colors.

This process is used in projects where printing the full range of color is required - in projects with full-color photography or when more than three colors overall are used in the design.

For the production of CMYK printing, digital printing is a more economical choice than full-color press printing. However, in digital printing, the types, colors, and thicknesses of paper available are often limited, based on the printing machine's specifications and capabilities.

The accuracy limitations of CMYK printing are that the results between different printing methods - digital printing versus press printing - can vary, sometimes greatly, depending on the printer's range, how it is calibrated, and the particular color you are trying to print. Even the results from different digital printers or presses can vary, so color accuracy may be an issue, particularly if you're printing items at different times or with different printers.

There are also colors that cannot be reproduced using the CMYK process - such as metallics, and very bright colors. To expand the color range, additional colors can be added to the mix to increase the range, for six- or seven-color printing. Alternatively, Pantone colors can be used to increase the range - going to five-color (or more) printing to get the color accuracy you need.

Pantone color

Pantone color is also known as the Pantone Matching System, PMS color, or Spot color.

This color system is based on a set of inks that are mixed to create solid colors, which are then used to print your materials. These colors fall in a prespecified range, found in several swatch books produced by the Pantone company. An analogy for this system is the colored paint chips found at the hardware store - you can preview the colors exactly as they will appear in the final print job. Also, since the colors are mixed before printing, instead of being created visually out of tiny dots on the page, they're much more accurate and consistent from print job to print job, as well as to the colors initially intended in the art, than CMYK color.

Pantone colors can be "screened" - a process in which fewer dots of color are used per inch, which makes the color appear lighter. Thus, more colors appear to be being used in a project, without increasing the printing costs or number of colors.

Pantone colors are often used on logos or stationery packages (business cards, letterhead, and envelopes), to enable those pieces to be printed on a press using one, two or three colors, which is less expensive than four-color printing (see CMYK color, above). Using Pantone colors on your logo also ensures accurate color representation for your logo in all applications - so that your carefully chosen corporate color will always be the same, regardless of the printing firm you choose to print a particular piece of collateral.

Using the right color format throughout your job will save you money and make your marketing materials look their best.

About the Author

Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a brand identity and graphic design expert. She has been helping small businesses grow with bold, clean and effective logo and marketing material designs for over a decade. elf design offers the comprehensive graphic and web design services of a large agency, with the one- on-one, personalized attention of an independent design specialist. Erin works closely in partnership with her clients to create designs that are visible, credible and memorable and that tell their unique business stories in a clear and consistent way. For more information about elf design, please visit:

Logo design at http://www.elf-design.com

Demographics For The Masses

2009-02-17T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Wendy Cobrda

Information is the lifeblood of the economy. That's especially true for businesses, because the ability to identify current customers and locate new customers makes the difference between boom and bust. So how do successful companies do it? Through targeted market research, which usually means arcane computer systems, large staffs, and six-figure budgets.

That situation is ripe for change, according to the CEO of Catosphere, Wendy Cobrda. "Many companies use the U.S. Census Bureau data, because of its low cost, but last year's data often isn't good enough for today's marketplace". And what if you need a finer-grained solution than the 10,000 foot view that the Census demographics offer? That's where Catosphere's epononymous web application enters the picture. Catosphere leverages databases covering U.S. Census data (updated with between-Census models and methods), vehicle traffic, shopping centers, market potential, consumer expenditure, and several others. Then the company carves out a subset of that data that applies to a user-specified geographical region. What results is a geodemographical study that captures the statistical "vital signs" of the target region. Surprisingly, the process of choosing a target region and obtaining the survey runs less than five minutes from start to finish. Once the customer chooses the target area and the type of study, Catosphere dynamically generates the study in either PDF or Excel format.

Although refreshingly usable (the "1-2-3" type instruction lists show up more than once), Catosphere also provides substantial flexibility. Reports can selected from ten categories, including aerial photographs. Target regions can be selected via Dbase databases, predefined geographic units, address intersections, a Mapquest-style map selector, or latitude and longitude. Reports may also be automatically branded with a business logo. In that way, Catosphere can help you convince the next level of management that you're on the ball.

The company provides two avenues to obtain geodemographic reports a la carte reports or subscriptions. Subscriptions range from one to three years, and across two detail levels, Basic and Premium. Per-report prices fall in the sub-$100 range; subscriptions range from $995 (Basic) to $2500 (Premium), but allow for an unlimited reports within the chosen target region. Subscriptions provide the most value to companies that need to keep abreast of volatile markets or require a great deal of detail on their target region.

In the age of micromarketing, businesses need tools to ensure that their marketing campaigns strike gold. Catosphere provides an intriguing tool that may help small to medium-sized businesses do exactly that.

Catosphere, LLC
http://www.catosphere.com
Wendy Cobrda, CEO

Small Business Marketing Secrets Focus Your Efforts For Better Roi

2009-02-16T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kevin Stirtz

The more you focus and concentrate your marketing, the greater impact your message has on your intended market.

Remember, your goal is to deliver your message as many times to your target market as your budget will allow. You are buying exposure to a certain audience.

The more we are exposed to a message, the more of it we retain. You need to be exposed to a new idea 8 to 15 times (or more) to remember it. Repetition enhances retention.

And, the more channels the message is delivered through, the more believable it is. Diversity delivers credibility.

So, focus and concentrate your advertising by using several media to deliver your message to the same audience. You'll get a better return than if you spend the same amount of money delivering your message fewer times to a larger audience. Lay it on nice and thick rather than spreading it too thin.

I have talked with many people who have complained their advertising is not worth the money it costs. After some discussion I usually learn they bought ads that deliver their message to a large audience once or twice. A typical example might be a direct mail piece that goes to 50,000 households in an area with a 10 mile radius around their business.

For the same money they could buy different media that delivers their message 10 to 15 times to a smaller audience, maybe in a two mile radius. The smaller market gets more repetition of the message and they see or hear the message from multiple media. It's more likely they remember and believe it.

So, as you plan your marketing, remember to focus. You'll be glad you did.

Kevin Stirtz has developed a unique concept called "Blow Up Your Business." He speaks to groups of professionals and business owners who want to attract more customers and put more money in their pocket. Kevin can be reached at http://www.KevinStirtz.com or 952-212-4681.

How Architecture Rendering Is Part Of The Impact

2009-02-15T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Stephanie Hetu

Cartoons have gone from celluloid to digital. Movies have gone from cinematography to computer graphics imaging. And architecture rendering has gone from pastels and paint pigments to fractals and figments.

The many benefits of architecture rendering in two-dimensions were enough to sell the simplest or grandest of homes. But the limitations were frustrating, too. Real blueprints had a limit to what they could do to provide accurate representation of the nuances of spatial arrangement, of the versatility of uses and applications of spatial visions, if you will. Real architecture renderings took time. Real renderings were not easily transported, exchanged, reviewed, and revisedconsidering, for example, how snail mail alone took days.

Architecture rendering by virtual design is used by virtual solutions agents, architects, real estate developers and brokers, and reaches the end user the client in a matter of hours (during the design and rendering period) even a matter of seconds (during the transmission by email session).

Computer architecture rendering is becoming more and more cost-effective, more user-friendly, and more common in every stage of not only the building but the buying and selling process replacing the drive-by and walk-through in real time with the fly-through in virtual (but almost as real) time.

And the newly adopted techniques of virtual solutions, computer graphics, and virtual reality, 3-d illustration have re-invented the architecture rendering style for not only those involved in home building processes but those in constructing milieus as disparate in character and personality as the one-floor community center, the massive train station with the vaulted ceilings that was turned into a world renowned museum, and the White House.

And architecture rendering has impacted the architect, the architecture student, and the artist by evolving into a practice that was once a solitary, two-dimensional craft and is now a versatile technique applied in a range of environsfrom high-tech labs to interactive studios.

Whether in the high tech lab or as part of an interactive and dynamic network, architecture rendering has advanced to the point where building computer-generated models and environments has not replaced but enhanced the art of architecture.

Stephanie Hetu
Want more tips and techniques before you buy your dream log house? Visit http://www.log-home-enthusiast.com

How To Get Customers To Beg For Your Business Card

2009-02-14T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Sean D'Souza

When someone asks you what you do, what is your first reaction? Most of us say something like, 'I am a lawyer'. We all know what lawyers do, so the conversation stops and goes nowhere. However, if you tailor your answer within these parameters, you'll suddenly find a very interested audience.

For example: Conversation With A Cartoonist

Q: Hi Sean, what do you do? Sean: Business communication is often very flat. I help to make it exciting.

There are 3 operatives in that statement.
Operative 1: Your target audience -- in this case it's business people.
Operative 2: The problem -- this is very important. Always have a problem.
Operative 3: The solution -- how you fix the problem.

Q:How do you do that? Sean: I use cartoons to help businesses get their message across. (This is the process.)

Now they're interested. They're nodding, and want to know more. So, keep talking.

Cartoons are likeable, and memorable (Your Positioning Statement). Because cartoons are a visual medium and capable of great exaggeration, people tend to relate to them quickly and retain the information much longer. (Further information about your product/service.)

Finally give them a case study.

For example, DHL Express was having a conference. (This was their situation.) This is how we solved the problem, and as a result they had a fantastic seminar!

End every conversation with your business card.

This is vital because it prompts others to give you theirs. If they don't automatically reach for theirs, don't be shy. Just ask for it!

Now let's look at a normal conversation

Q: Hi Sean, what do you do?
Sean: I am a cartoonist.
Q:Ooh, that's cool. Which newspapers and magazines do you draw for?

It's now too late to steer the discussion because it's already taken a different track. In the first conversation, I could actually control the line of questioning. It ensured that my message got through undiluted.

Why this positioning is so vital.

More often than not, people have no need for your product or service, but they will invariably run into someone who does. The clarity of your audio logo, will help the listener totally understand what you have said. And they might even be able to replay it word for word.

Going in for the kill.

Whip out your business card, and don't forget to ask them for theirs. Get them in your database. Keep in touch with them. If you have a website, you can direct them to the website. (For more information about this, read the article: Getting repeat visitors to your website;http://www.psychotactics.com/artrepeatvisitors.htm).

You have now done everything a sane business person can do. The results will definitely follow.

Steps for your audio logo.

1) Determine your target audience.
2) Insert the problem.
3) Provide the solution.
4) Explain the process.
5) Get across your positioning statement.
6) Give them additional information and a case study.
7) Give them your business card and ask for theirs.

Going through the steps of an audio logo might seem tedious, but once you develop it, you will find it quite easy and natural. So write it down, and practise saying it today!

P.S. If you like this article, feel free to share it with your own list, post it on your site, post it on your blog, or add it to your autoresponder. As long as you leave it intact and do not alter it in anyway. All links must remain in the article.

And include this at the end of the article.

©Psychotactics Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Wouldn't you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas, on copywriting, public speaking, sales conversion, marketing strategy,psychological tactics and branding. Head down to http://www.psychotactics.com today and judge for yourself.

Successful Marketing Through Seminars

2009-02-13T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Joe Love

One of the best ways for potential clients to find out about you and your company is through public speaking. Free seminars attract potential clients. It is a chance for them to get information straight from you. You are the best marketing tool for your business. Speaking to groups is nothing more than a large conversation. It is powerful and efficient marketing.

By making the seminar free, you engender goodwill from your audience. By addressing issues of concern to them, you are validating their perceptions that the topic you are speaking about, is an important one. By offering good, sound, and thorough advice, you establish yourself as an expert.

A number of dynamics take place when you are in front of a group of people. First, you are the center of attention. Each member of the audience feels as if your are speaking directly to him or her. You're not an envelope that goes unopened. Your are not a telemarketing call that comes at dinnertime. You're not a television commercial that gets clicked off in favor of another channel. Speaking to a group puts you at the forefront of message delivery and effective communication. You are having a conversation with an audience. Sure, members of the audience can walk out of the room, but of those present, you have their undivided attention.

As you speak, you are also establishing credibility with the audience. Hopefully, this audience has potential paying clients. If they don't, you shouldn't be speaking to them. You establish yourself as an expert in whatever you are talking about. People like buying from experts. They feel comfortable buying from people they know and trust.

Give complete information in conjunction with your self-promotion. Don't hold back, don't offer just enough information to peak their interest. Elaborate on each topic you choose, supplementing theoretical information with case studies or anecdotes. Establish the depth of your knowledge along with your expertise.

It's important to understand, that speaking to a group is marketing, not selling. Your speaking should offer something of value, not a direct pitch. Potential speaking topics that are marketing and value oriented are things that are solutions to problems, such as weight loss or money management.

You won't get 100% of the attendees to become clients. Some people attend such events out of general interest rather than a particular need. But if you dedicate two or three hours of your time one of two evenings a month to addressing subjects with which you are already very familiar, you will see an increase in your client base that will repay your minimal expense and effort.

There are many types of potential audiences. These include community organizations, professional groups, trade associations, and civic groups. Your current prospects and existing customers are also excellent target audiences as well. Here's an example of how you could promote your free seminar.

Create an ad or mailing piece announcing a free 90 or 120 minute seminar on a subject of wide general interest. Relate the presentation to your specialty. For example, a medical doctor could talk about breakthrough techniques for overcoming, eliminating, or avoiding cancer or arthritis. Another topic could be ten medically safe methods of losing weight. A financial planner or tax accountant could present a seminar on sheltering income.

After a headline announcing the topic, the copy should talk about your credentials, accomplishments, achievements, and any articles that have been written about your practice or specialty. Here's an example of how your copy might read: "Dr. Wells is a specialist in this subject. He's conducted research and he's perfected techniques. He will present a seminar for people interested in the topic but who do not know the facts. This seminar will be held from______ to ______on_______.

Admission must be free but people need to have a reserved ticket in advance for admission. To do this simply give them a number to call or a Web address where they can pre-register. By doing this you can capture their names and addresses for future mailings. You could simply collect names at the door, but by having them reserve a ticket in advance it makes it more professional and easier the day of the event to have your attendees just present a ticket to get in.

Another way to create an audience for a seminar is to contact business and professional organizations, such as the Rotary Club or the local Chamber of Commerce. Offer to speak on subjects of importance to the group. For example, a medical doctor might speak about stress reduction to businessmen and women. A CPA might offer to speak on loopholes still available to corporations after recent tax changes. A lawyer might talk about how to write non-compete clauses, or how to write contracts, or how to patent or license concepts or ideas. In order for the group to invite its members and to get a good turnout, your topic needs to be of major interest to them.

Your seminar should be split into two parts. In the first half, peak their interest with anecdotal information. Then have a short 15 minute break During this break mingle with the audience, distribute your business cards, brochure, or any other information you've put together about your business.

In the second half of the seminar, offer some service that's free but designed to capture valuable information. For example, conduct a quick survey of your audience. This survey should be on something of interest to them, such as a personality profile or something else that ties in with the topic you're speaking about. Have them respond to 25 basic questions providing their name, address, telephone, and e-mail on the questionnaire. Then when you get back to your office, tabulate the results and send a brief summary back to them.

At the end of the seminar, you will have to establish initial contact for an on-going dialogue. Let them know that you'll be following up with mailing, or a phone call to get their feedback on the seminar. Let them know that because of their attendance they will receive a free subscription to your newsletter. You've captured their names and addresses to add to your prospect list. Don't let the seminar be a one-shot deal.

Whether your seminar is successful or unsuccessful, it has residual value if you record or transcribe the text. You can and should make a transcript or recording of your seminar and then make it available to both your prospects and current customers.

Send a tape or transcript of your seminar to prospective clients, along with a cover letter telling them that many people who attended your seminar told you that they learned a lot from the presentation. Indicate that you've taken the liberty of sending them the transcript or tape recording of the seminar in it's entirety, in hopes that they will benefit as well. Encourage them to read or listen to it and stress that you hope they'll find it useful and informative. If they have any questions, invite them the contact you with no obligation on their part.

If they are interested in your services, offer to talk to them in person or by phone to explain your expertise and how your services could benefit them. Provide some case studies. Tell them, since they were unable to attend your seminar, this tape or transcript is the next best thing. And always encourage them to feel free to call or e-mail you with questions.

You can use the tape or transcript in several ways. You can use it as a promotional piece to give to other groups who hire speakers. You can use it as part of selected marketing materials. You can use it to generate word-of-mouth marketing and referrals. Offer it prominently on your Web site. Always remember, the more your prospects and customers see your name, the more likely they are to think of you when they need your professional services.

The cost of speaking is free. When members of your audience receive something of value from you, even if it's information, they are grateful. When someone is grateful, you have the beginning of a great relationship. So, the more you can speak to groups about your services, the more audiences you can touch and start relationships with. And this means more potential business for you.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many of America's largest corporations, on the subjects of leadership, self-esteem, goals, achievement, and success psychology.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

Thank God For Competitors And Market Research

2009-02-12T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Don Doman

I learned to live with the fact a long time ago that I couldn't think of everything. I can't predict what is the best approach to take with customers. I don't always know what products are best to sell. So, whenever I am in doubt about business direction, I look to my competitors.

"Sometimes I think my competitors do more for me than my friends do: my friends are too polite to point out my weaknesses, but my competitors go to great expense to advertise them.
My competitors are efficient, diligent, and attentive: they make me search for ways to improve my product and my service. If I had no competitors, I might be lazy, incompetent, inattentive: I need the discipline they enforce on me.
I salute my competitors; they have been good to me. God bless them all!"
- Paul Lee Tan

In today's world the best way to check up on your competitors is the internet. As I point out in my book, Market Research Made Easy, you can use the internet:

to locate your competitors

to see what advertising they are using

to see what services or product innovations they have created

to see who endorses their product

to see what key words they are using for internet search engines

to see who links to them.

The internet is a invaluable tool for market research, which can keep you up to date on your competitors.

Competitors keep us on our toes and push the envelope, but I have learned to not follow them too closely. One of our competitors was advertising that I didn't think would work. Instead of running out and paying money to join my competitor, I stood by and watched for a few months. Eventually, they learned that they were wasting money. I saved mine.

Competitors like customers aren't always right, but they are my competitors, so I am capable of learning from them. When they are right, I'll follow as well as lead. When they're wrong, I will not gloat . . . too much.

Don Doman is a published author, video producer, and corporate trainer. He owns the business training site Ideas and Training (http://www.ideasandtraining.com), which he says is the home of the no-hassle "free preview" for business training videos. He also owns Human Resources Radio (http://www.humanresourcesradio.com), which broadcasts HR and business training information, program previews, and training samples from some of the world's great training speakers twenty-four hours a day. You can listen and learn on Human Resources Radio.

Small Business Marketing Secrets Low Cost Sign Strategy Produces Big Returns

2009-02-11T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kevin Stirtz

Often when we think of an effective marketing campaign we think of big companies or ad agencies with a lot of marketing firepower.

But, that's not always the case.

Recently, I got to see well designed and implemented marketing campaign that was tiny but extremely effective.

The marketing genius behind this success story is a neighbor of ours. She held a garage sale this weekend and despite the weather being cold and windy (lousy weather even by Minnesota's standards) they had a steady flow of shoppers that would make any retail store owner jump for joy.

The sale was held on Saturday and people lined up before they opened and they were still showing up after they were closed. And most people we saw were leaving with their arms full.

What was the magic behind this residential retail success?

Signs.

Very good signs in good locations. And a lot of them.

Her signs were well done. They were easy to read with the words "Garage Sale" in big black letters on a white background. And the letters were done with a computer, not hand written, so they were clear and easy to read.

They had big red arrows on them that always pointed the right direction.

Our neighborhood is in a secluded, heavily wooded area. So, getting people here is always difficult. But her garage sale signs were so well placed they drew people right in to the neighborhood.

In short, this garage sale guru did a good job in delivering her message ("Garage Sale") to a lot of people and then made it easy for them to get to the sale.

She used a of lot high-quality, professional looking signs that gave people a positive impression so they could assume this was a quality sale. And since all the signs were the same and they were well placed, there was no confusion about how to get to the sale.

She used the principles of Smart Marketing and it worked very well.

How Not To Get Suckered In The Information Age

2009-02-10T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Susan Scharfman

Like showman P.T. Barnum, my grandpa used to say, "a sucker is born every minute." Today, as we grope our way through cyberspace, there's one born every second. And the hucksters are so brilliant at what they do.

Subtlety went out the window with Windows. Even with your trusty iPod earplugs in place, you can't read a magazine, go on line, pick up a telephone, walk down a street, ride a public conveyance without being accosted, shouted at; invaded by screaming aliens from the planet Madison Avenue. Like a bombardment of artillery rockets coming at you from every direction, so are the flashing signs, blinking neon, talking heads, blabbering blogs, news releases that aren't news, how-to ads that serve the server when you buy the book.

Every earthling has something to say about everything, and everything to say about nothing. Experts appear from nowhere with scholarly judgments on how you should live your life. Remember actor Peter Finch's character Howard Beale in the movie, "Network?" How many times have you told yourself, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore?" Well, I'll tell you how NOT to be a victim. Log on to my website and BUY MY BOOK.

I trust you've noticed the distinction between a how-to, and a how-not-to pitch? Right. There isn't any difference.

We've all been snookered at one time or another. I was standing on a Ft. Lauderdale Beach corner with a friend, when a young woman approached us with an offer for a free lunch and a boat ride if we would meet her at a hotel. All we had to do was give her ten dollars each and she would meet us in an hour with our tickets. Believe it or not, these "sophisticated" city folk fell for it. When we met the woman at the appointed time and place, we were herded into the hotel and seated in a room with dozens of other innocents. The lunch and boat tickets were withheld until we sat through six hours of unmitigated hard sell hell on the virtues of buying into the hotel's time-share in beautiful Ft. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. The "free lunch," for which we'd already paid $10 on the street corner, was lousy. By the time we left, the pitchmen almost had us convinced. Don't laugh. My smart, savvy lawyer cousin fell for the same come-on with a smart con just as savvy.

Like my wise old grandpa used to say, "Whether or not you have your druthers, there ain't no free lunch sisters and brothers."

How Effective Customer Surveys Will Help Innovate Your Business

2009-02-08T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Marc Gamble

Have you ever wondered why the phones aren't ringing the way they should? Or maybe sales are flat and you're not achieving the revenue and profit targets you set for your business. There's one sure-fire way to uncover the problems to get your company back on track. The answers are right in front of your nose.

b>Why Your Ads May Say Nothing & Everything About Your Business!

Many business owners rely on platitudes and ego gratification when promoting their businesses. They think customers will flock to their establishments to buy products and services just because they're there or just because they're "nice folks". Their ads extol the same drearily predictable phrases: "We've been in business umpteen years!", or "We're family owned and operated!", or "We sell the best for less!". Trite and commonplace position statements such as these have been used so much, by so many advertisers, they simply have no meaning and no impact.

Your Customers Are A Goldmine Of Information

When it comes to your industry, your customers represent a wealth of experience. Why not tap into that knowledge-base to see how you can increase your bottom line profits?

Have you ever taken an extensive customer survey and asked why people buy from you? If you haven't, you're missing vital feedback that can tell you exactly how to craft your marketing message for maximum impact. Try it and you'll learn the best way to speak to your target audience. Their responses will guide you in developing your irresistible marketing message. You'll uncover all the customer "Hot Buttons", the problems, frustrations, and annoying situations your target audienceexperiences before and when doing business in your industry.

When you know what "makes your target market tick" and what "ticks them off", your approach will be more confident and informed. This will cause people to be more receptive, because prospects can now see that you completely understand them and their situation.

In addition, you can learn just as much from prospects who decided not to buy from you as you can from those who do. Why? When prospects fail to buy from you, there's a good chance that the issue was not "price". Knowing why allows you to look at ways of innovating your company, products, or your services. You know precisely how to make your business more attractive.

Customer Survey Types

Conduct your surveys and direct them toward:

1) Current Prospects

2) Prospects who are still stuck in the buying process

3) Current Customers

4) Former Customers

5) Unhappy Customers

According to Jim Rohn, renowned business philosopher, the key components to powerful communication are: first having something good to say, then saying it well, and finally saying it often, using the appropriate mediums. Your customer surveys will give you plenty of good things to say. Pay attention, because your customers may even say it for you, in the form of testimonials!

Good luck with your marketing efforts.

___________________________________________________________
Get a FREE Customer Survey Template entitled, "Everything You Should Ask Your Customers And How!" Simply email your request to SurveyTemplate and learn how to get your customers to tell you everything you need to know about what makes them "tick" and what "ticks them off".

About The Author:
Marc Gamble, the author, teaches business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals how to acheive bigger, bottom line results from their advertising & marketing efforts without spending more time, effort, or money. Learn marketing strategies and tactics to separate yourself from your competition and become the obvious choice to do business with. To learn more about how to improve your own Marketing Efforts and Achieve Better Results: CLICK HERE

Email: MYM Hot-Tips eZine

Introduction To Trade Show Booths

2009-02-07T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Rob Dougan

Trade show booths come in an array of styles and designs that will show off your products, your services or your company in an unforgettable manner that offers a unique appeal, which is intelligent, chic and contemporary. Most trade show booths are very easy to assemble and transport to make your experience a more enjoyable one.

Choosing the perfect trade show booth to accommodate the products that you wish to display will be very easy once you know just how much room you will have at the trade show and how much material you will be presenting.

A bit of flash and sophistication never hurt a presentation. You only have a few minutes to grab the attention of a potential customer, client, or buyer. As they walk past your trade show booth, you must have something that will draw their attention, whether it is your personality, the products themselves or a very unique design displayed to entice.

To begin with, you should choose a trade show booth that will fit properly with the allotted space you have been assigned. You can choose from 10 feet by 10 feet, 10 feet by 20 feet or 20 feet by 20 feet Truss trade show booths. Each one has a compelling appeal that with the right graphics will draw a crowd to your booth. Be sure to get a trade show booth that will hold everything you wish to present without your visitors feeling claustrophobic, clutter will definitely turn them away. They should be able to walk around and through your display without bumping into items and knocking items off counters and shelves.

Remember most people will notice items that are eye level. This is where the main attraction should be. You want the area to be well lit, colorful, and maybe even add some music. You must attract attention just before they get to your booth. If they notice a pleasant, stylish, elegant trade show booth, they will at least stop and look around.

Now, you should start to think about what trade show booth you should purchase. In the 10 feet by 10 feet style, you can choose from the Carina, the Pluto, the Mars, Mercury, Cygnus, Lyra, Castor, and Sirius. All of these styles offer durable steel construction, 2 or 3 tabletops in either lightwood or silver in color, 2 or 3 silver spotlights, and the tools for assembly.

If you believe a 10 foot by 20 foot trade show booth will present your products better then you can decide on some quality and professional looking booths such as the Andromeda which comes complete with 4 tabletops and 5 silver spotlights, the Hydrus with 2 tabletops and 5 silver spotlights, the Venus with 5 tabletops and 4 silver spotlights, the Saturn with 2 tabletops and 5 silver spotlights, the Polaris with 4 tabletops and 5 silver spotlights, and the Arcturus with 4 tabletops and 7 silver spotlights. Each one of these trade show booths will have potential customers clamoring to your display to see what you are offering.

Next, in line to consider are the 20 foot by 20-foot trade show booths. You may believe these are just too big for your company. Nevertheless, remember you do not want any clutter and you want your guests to be able to walk around and feel comfortable while they are eyeing your products. This size may be the perfect size to display everything you wish without any worries about missing something you believe is an important selling feature. You can choose from Truss trade booths in this size and style that include the Cassiopeia, the Centaurus, the Neptune, the Jupiter, the Vega and the Orion. All have wonderful features that you desire with steel construction and easy to assemble.

Prices for trade show booths may seem a bit expensive, especially if this is your first time being involved in a trade show. But, you must remember trade show booths are an investment. You can use them time and time again and with the quality steel construction, they can last for years to come. Spending the money now to make a statement for your company is a wise decision that can lead to more money and loyal customers in the years to come.

There are also many different accessories that you can add with your trade show booth that will give your company many more options when presenting your services or products to the world. Enjoy setting up your booth and bring in more customers with the perfect trade show booth with a style of elegance, innovation, and style.

Everything Displays is an online retailer offering a full selection of trade show displays, booths, exhibits, and display accessories. Their website is http://www.everythingdisplays.com

Whats A Value Prop

2009-02-06T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lauren Hobson

Many of us have heard of a "Value Proposition" (or value prop), but may not know exactly what it is. And even if you know what it is, do you have one for your business?

A value proposition is simply the "thing" that makes you better than your competition. It's the basic reason customers choose your product, or why they may be willing to pay more for your product than a competitor's. However, a value proposition is NOT a list of product benefits, and that's where many small businesses often get stuck.

Highlighting your product benefits is important, of course, but chances are that your competitors already assert many of the same benefits about their products. A value proposition identifies the differentiator, the unique core value that your company offers.

To develop a value proposition for your business:

1. Think about the core competencies of your company. Take note of what makes your product unlike any others, and what your product offers that only your company provides.

2. Research your competitors. How do they market themselves? What do they say about their products and services? How do they present their value proposition? After you identify these, list the competition's core competencies along side of yours. Look for the differences, and take note of the areas where consumers might think your competition excels. You can then level the playing field by highlighting your excellence in these areas as well.

3. Narrow in on one core value. Prioritize your core competencies, then select the one that best represents your company's core value. Use that in your marketing materials and build your identity around that value. No company can be all things to all people, so stick to only one core value if possible.

4. Put your value proposition into words. Use it as a starting point for building marketing materials, communicating with the press, training your sales staff, and creating a marketing message. Back it up with examples of how you help customers save money, save time, solve problems, etc.

If you don't have an official value proposition for your business, you may want to create one. A concise, distinctive value proposition helps define your company and set you apart from the competition. Once you have it on paper, make sure that everyone in your company knows what it is and can uphold your company's core value each day.

Lauren Hobson is the Editor of Biz Talk Newsletter, a free monthly publication designed to provide small businesses and non-profits with tips and techniques to help them make the most of their web sites and marketing efforts without spending a lot of money. Biz Talk is published by Five Sparrows, LLC.

Why A Three Level Price Menu Makes More Profits

2009-02-05T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Daniel Wadleigh

There is a phenomenon that is available to you that helps sell your preferred and more profitable product/service more frequently. If it is possible, and it usually is, when positioning your pricing structure, it has been found effective at producing a higher level of profits to have a three-choice menu.

Choice #1 - is the "no frills" product/service with minimum but acceptable profit margins. 25% care only for price, no matter what the added values and how wonderful they are described.

Choice #2 - This should be the "deluxe" model with extra values and very tasty profit margins. This is the one you want to sell as much as possible Remember, most people will spend more to get more.

Choice #3 - This puppy has to be almost ridiculous in price, (not stupidly ridiculous) and with added features only suited for the rich and famous, the "worksburger"! You are not really looking to sell hardly any of these widgets.

Plan #3 has two real big advantages for you. One, it makes plan #2 look a lot more appealing by price comparison. They really want plan three but weren't expecting to spend that much, so, plan #2 is a lot more appealing than plan #1, now that they have seen Plan #3 and don't want to spend that much. Two, every once in a while, some image conscious spender with deep pockets will actually buy a plan #3! You can go to Aruba on a couple of Plan #3's!

Daniel Wadleigh is a nationally published marketing consultant and has programs for start-up and existing businesses including effective web sites, e-mail/database, other non-internet ways to drive them to your website, and low cost ways to get more new customers.

Go to: http://www.more-new-customers.com to get free copy of "Marketing to Men vs. Women- the 8 different responses" and a Free copy of "Market Research- 7 Questions to Ask to Start-up and 7 to Ask to Improve Any Business."

Carwash Consultants And Analysts Case Study

2009-02-04T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Recently in the car wash industry we have seen carwash industry analysts and consultants fall on their butts. One recently filed bankruptcy, while another just wrote another new book and still another has failed miserably and he is going to go back and teach school. Interesting. These gurus and know-it-alls had all the best data, sold that data and even charged others for this data and their studies.

Many analysts in the industry help larger carwash consolidators with surveys, data, site selection and reports to help raise money for their clients with investment bankers and/or investors. The carwash companies hire out these firms and in case something goes wrong they can always fall back on their data as an excuse? So many industry consultants and marketing companies make me wonder; "Are you sure you are not justifying the norm of the industry, where everyone copies everyone else and they all do the same thing, make little money and are pissing off customers, so they go for higher per car up-selling, rather than concentrate on volumes?"

Most of these customers butts are sore from coming in for a basic wash and leaving with a $45.00 charge on their credit cards, look what is happening to Jiffy Lube? Same scenario. You know, someone needs to shake this industry and wake these people up. But nothing in your questions leads me to believe that your clients have the balls to make that happen? These are standard questions, typical industry crap. May I ask; "Who cares?"

So much of the data in the carwash industry, which is collected for industry surveys for the four major industry rags or trade journals is irrelevant. Information that only a professor who has never achieved would ask in class project questions. Information that only a consultant, who wants to prove themselves right without looking outside the box and really looking at the industry from a reality based perspective.

Only someone who is interested in attaining Investment Banks and venture capital asks this stuff, no one who is intent on winning the market thinks like that or would even bother with such questions, they are irrelevant. Only a person designing a business plan with fluff asks this stuff. In fact I would NEVER invest in a company putting such irrelevant data into a business plan. But I would have them taken out back and shot for wasting my time and money. For the car wash industry analysts, I have a question for you now; "What would you say?" Think on it.

Lance Winslow

Marketing Through Mobile Marketing

2009-02-03T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Sandy Baker

What can mobile marketing do for your business? Really what you should say is what can it not do for you? This high tech, amazingly simple marketing plan can transform virtually any business. Without marketing, what does your company have? As any business owner knows, telling your market that you are there is the most important thing to do in the first place. Secondly, you need to tell them that you have just what they need to better their lives. Third, you need to tell them about it when they are going to take action.

You want to take your business to the next level. You know that there are hundreds of ways to market it. But, finding the right way with the most potential and driving home the sales is far from hard to find. In fact, mobile marketing is taking the nation by storm. That is due to the fact that more and more people are finding that life without their phone is next to impossible. With that said you know then that there is no limit to what can come across through screens and provide for them a wealth of all things that they need.

Mobile marketing offers many advantages. It allows companies and brands to connect with their market easily and affordably. You have what they want and by putting that in front of them, your business will reap the rewards. One of the advantages of this type of marketing is that it is quite targeted to the audience that it is planned for. Why waste time and resources on the objectives that are not going to reach the right consumers when you have targeted marketing in front of you? That is the logic behind much of mobile marketing. Truly, it can benefit anyone's business.

Sandy Baker is a well respected writer and recommends using mobile marketing , which creates and delivers the most innovative, consumer-friendly, useful and profitable mobile phone data applications to the market.

Whats Your Marketing Weak Link

2009-02-02T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Greg Roworth

Your marketing weak link could be undermining the rest of your marketing. It is vital that each link in your marketing system supports and builds upon the previous link. Each link must bring your customer closer to the next sale. Any link that takes the customer further away from the sale, makes your marketing program inefficient and causes you to lose money.

There are many areas where the system can break down and cause expensive waste of potential. For example, I see many retailers who invest enormous amounts on advertising to bring customers into their store, only to lose potential sales through poorly trained sales people who don't know how to help people buy what they want. There are many examples of businesses advertising discount prices to attract customers because they haven't worked out how to be different from the competition. As a consequence, they only attract price sensitive shoppers who squeeze down prices and margins as low as possible. I frequently experience poor service in restaurants and cafes which puts me, and others, off returning to those establishments. All these weak links undermine the marketing effort and reduce sales and profits.

These examples of weak links in marketing are not only evident in small businesses. As an example, I recently experienced the results of some weak link marketing at the hands of a large international telecommunications company. Late last year I had taken up an offer from this company to use them for toll calls at a capped rate of a maximum of one dollar per call anytime to anywhere in New Zealand. This offer was due to end on 28th February. At the time, the telemarketing person did not know what would happen then, but as I make quite a few toll calls I took advantage of the offer. What happened on 28th February? Did I hear from the telecommunications company? No, nothing. If I just left things my toll calls would be charged at the full rate. What did I do? I opted to change back to the national company where I could have capped calls and pay a fixed monthly fee for favourite place calls to Auckland. About two weeks later, I had a call from the other company's telemarketing person, concerned that I had recently left them and to get me back, offered me the same deal as before. When I said that I would have preferred them to call me about this before I left them, I got an argument instead of a listening ear. In the end, I was so angered by the rudeness of this person that I will never use that company again, whatever type of deal they offer. I am sure I was not the only one who was in this position. This weak link is undermining the whole marketing strategy.

Is there a weak link in your marketing system? Have you developed clear and effective strategies at each phase of your marketing system. Is there a defined method which moves customers through each phase? What do you do to ensure that each stage builds on the previous stage as you:

· Generate leads,

· Convert leads to contacts,

· Conduct the selling process,

· Confirm the sale,

· Serve the customer and ensure they get what they want,

· Create customer delight by going beyond expectations,

· Follow up to ensure that customer comes back, again and again,

· Develop the relationship to make that customer an advocate who refers others to you.

If you fall down in any of these areas, that weak link will drastically undermine your potential for achieving the sales results and profits you could achieve. On the positive side, think about the potential results you could achieve by improving the way you approach all of these marketing links.

Greg Roworth is the Managing Director of Progressive Business Solutions Limited, a business development consultancy firm with branches in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand. Greg has created a unique business development program that assists business owners transform their business from a state of total dependency on them to a state where the business works so well they don't have to.

Greg is also the author of "The 7 Keys to Unlock Your Business Profit Potential," which descibes the fundamental keys a business needs to achieve this transformation. Find out more, get 2 free chapters, or buy the book online at http://www.small-business-success.ws

Biz 101 How To Save Money

2009-02-01T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Keith Londrie

Ever feel like you're short on cash? How would you like to learn how to save what you earn? Today's average consumer is way too focused on spending, and not focused enough on saving. In Money to Be Made Online, you'll learn some of the ways you can save money while doing business. If you fit into the category of "not rich," before you can go on that wonderful vacation, or buy a new house, you need to save up some cold hard cash. Nothing is better than money well spent some say. Well I think nothing is better than money well saved. Before you can spend wisely, you have to have some good savings.

So what's the secret to saving money? I'm going to outline a few simple tricks that if followed, will leave some extra cash each and every month. Why is it that people are always spending more than they earn? Because they're in the business of helping other people save money. That's right, they're providing the retirement funds for the debt collecter, or credit card executive. First, I want to let you know where some of your money goes, besides when it goes down the drain.

Most people forget completely about their money after it leaves their pocket. Money isn't just a piece of paper or numbers on a screen. For the purpose of this article imagine that money is a type of energy, like electricity. Like electricity, most people don't think or care where it comes from, or where it goes, and how it's transferred from place to place. Each time you use electricity, or transfer it to another place, you lose some of it's potential. Most appliances don't use 100% of the potential energy available, maybe in the future but not currently. When you buy something, taxes are taken out, plus the middle men's fees, and then profit for the top of the pyramid.

The first thing you should do is become aware of WHERE your money goes. By thinking of where money comes from, and ends up will open your mind into new avenues of perception. You have to fight your way out of the "consumer" box and create a new box, with a new label, that you're comfortable. It's good to think "outside the box," for people who live in boxes they didn't create themselves. But when you create your own box, when you design your own life and are finally free from all debt, worry, and create your own experiences, then I suggest you think inside that box instead!

So now practice thinking this in everyday life. Where is my money going? Imagine all the little middle men in between, and then maybe you'll respect money a little more. You'll realize how big and industrious the world actually is. After you've reached this stage of awareness you should be more motivated, and ready to seriously save some money. By saving money in this state, you might realize how important that one little dollar of profit is. When multiplied by a good product and millions of consumers, you've just made a million dollars.

If you're ready to start saving some money, be ready to follow these simple tasks, and expect some extra cash! First, you need to be organized. Saving money is not just about being cheap, but it's also about management. You must organize well! Most successful people are great at saving because they're natural organizers, and when they make it big they get a secretary. After a while these tasks become natural, and don't feel like a bother at all, so keep it up and after a while you'll get a hang of it.

Organizing your cash flow is essential. Everywhere you go, carry a note book, small note pad, or a PDA if you have one. Most PDA's are compatible with finance software, so buy some or find a free version. DO IT NOW! This is the most important aspect of saving money, you first need to know where it's going! So for the first week, I want you to do two simple things. Every single thing you spend money on, write down the date, the cost, where, and how you felt. At the end of the day create another separate sheet with a total of amount spent, and list all the things you can do without. Now try to think of where your money went, and imagine the process it took to make the products you bough. Did you purchase gas? There are lots of things needed to get gas into the country, so imagine the process and your mind will open!

After one week, take a look at all the data you've collected. Don't do this review until a full week's data has been collected! Determine what was essential and what you can do without. Take your daily essential and total them up. Look where you can eliminate needless expenses! One of the things you can do, are follow the guidelines in Money to Be Made Online. Follow the experience of seasoned veterans, and save money for your business today!

Keith Londrie II is a successful Webmaster and the owner and publisher of moneytobemadeonline.com A website that specializes in providing tips on how to REALLY make money online that you can research on the internet in your pajamas from the comfort of your own home. Visit http://moneytobemadeonline.com/ today!

Marketing Fleet Washing Services To Corporations

2009-01-31T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Most large corporations have fleets of vehicles to wash. They have corporate aviation departments with expensive jet aircraft and they have pool cars for transportation. If they are in or near the transportation or products business they may have fleets of vehicles delivering their products or someone else's.

Indeed many small businesses have delivery vehicles, service vehicles, rental equipment or company cars. Then there are rental car agencies, bus companies and even armored car services? And guess what; all these vehicles have their company names on them and they must be washed on a regular basis you see.

Now then if you own a pressure washing business, mobile truck or mobile car washing business you might like to have some of those accounts right? But how do you go about marketing and securing such contracts to wash those types of vehicles?

Well it is simple really you need to design customer letters for several types of customers and explain what types of services that you can offer and explain your billing criteria, waste water reclamation and your insurance policies. Next you hand deliver these sales letters with a business card stapled to the letter and then call back sometime in the next week to schedule a free demo you see? Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Just A Click Away Using The Internet To Facilitate Your Market Research

2009-01-30T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Susan Friedmann

Market research is one of the most valuable selling tools a show organizer has. Up to the minute, accurate market data arms you with the type of valuable information you need to 'sell' your show to potential exhibitors, including who is attending your show, how well your exhibitors did at last year's show, and what type of sales numbers resulted from participating in the event. Savvy exhibitors -- those that can contribute meaningfully to the success of your show -- will want to know this type of information.

Any information you provide to potential exhibitors must be both timely and accurately. Unfortunately, hiring a market research team, especially on an annual basis, can be an expensive proposition. Doing the market research yourself can be time consuming and frustrating. What if there was a way to streamline the process, making it effortless and efficient for both you and your customers?

Enter the internet. Trade show organizers have been woefully behind the curve when it comes to exploiting the internet's potential for market research. As the Online Expo becomes more and more of an industry presence, it is imperative that show organizers incorporate web-based elements into traditional shows to accommodate exhibitor needs, especially as they pertain to market research. The transition to a more virtual society has creating an expectation of instantaneous, accurate information -- an expectation that we need to meet if we are going to survive.

Here are five techniques you can use to meet this expectation:

- Constantly Gather Information: Market research is not a once-a-year phenemeon. The dynamic nature of the marketplace means that new exhibitors are constantly setting up shop, while other companies that have exhibited with you for years may run into financial difficulty. Use Google or other new-alert programs to e-mail you when any of your exhibitors make news -- their prosperity (or lack thereof!) may affect your show. At the same time, monitor news related to your show's location, the demographics related to likely attendees, and other items of interest.

Make a commitment to reach out to your exhibitors at least quarterly via your website or targeted e-mails. Invite recipients to participate in a poll, answer a survey, or give feedback. Many will, especially if the poll, survey, or feedback form is quick and easy to navigate. This gives you a steady stream of data throughout the year.

- Invite Open Communication: Exhibitors and potential exhibitors should always know how to reach you. An easily navigable website is a must for all businesses, but imperative for show organizers. Consider having direct links to frequently asked questions, easily found contact options, and even 'live help' via e-mail chat for the crunch time just before the show.

- Create Discussion Forums: Discussion forums, whether they're constructed as a bulletin board or group format, offer a great opportunity to invite feedback, ask your exhibitors questions, and brainstorm new show features. Any group should be constructed with an RSS and XML feed so that it can be easily picked up by news aggregators, ensuring the widest possible audience is invited to participate in the discussion. You'll need an employee to monitor the group on a regular basis, which includes filtering out spam and inappropriate messages, but the data gathered will be well worth the result.

- Explore Other Communities: You're in the exhibiting business, but your customer's aren't. Take the time to visit their internet hangouts -- industry specific bulliten boards, discussion groups, and e-mail lists. You can either actively participate or simply passively read what's going on -- this is known as 'lurking', and is frowned upon in some communities, accepted in others. Either way, you'll be presented with a front row seat of what's going on in your customer's industry, and gain a deeper understanding of their needs. Occassionally the talk will turn to industry conventions and shows, and that can be a very valuable learning experience.

- Provide Content Rich Incentives: Attendees will only visit your website or participate in polls if you offer them something of value in exchange for their time. This could be educational -- content rich articles outlining some of the how-to's of effective exhibiting, for example -- or social. The new generation of exhibitors fully expects there to be a social element to their web interactions, be it a busy discussion list or a forum always filled with heated debate. It will cost you little, if anything, to provide these items, yet will help you keep exhibitors engaged with and committed to your show.

Of course, these techniques work best when they augment traditional market research methods. Nothing can replace actually getting out on the show floor and talking face to face with your exhibitors. People may divulge a great deal of information over the net, but often don't feel like they know someone until they meet them IRL - In Real Life.

Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY, author: "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies," working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. For a free copy of "10 Common Mistakes Exhibitors Make", e-mail: article4@thetradeshowcoach.com; website: http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com

5 Ways To Upgrade Your Existing Marketing Materials For Practically Nothing

2009-01-29T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Stephanie Ward

In addition to direct marketing strategies you want to be sure your existing passive, or indirect, marketing activities are as effective as possible. When is the last time you took a good look at your existing marketing activities?

Here are some fast, easy (and free to inexpensive) ways to update and upgrade your existing marketing activities.

YOUR VOICE MAIL MESSAGE

Does your voice mail message give additional information about your business? Use this opportunity (you have a captive audience) to provide some additional information. You can mention your website or newsletter, promote an upcoming event, or offer a free report.

YOUR E-MAIL SIGNATURE

This is a chance to send a marketing message along with every e-mail that you send. Remember, e-mails are often forwarded. Think viral marketing (if this term is new to you, check out Seth Godin. It's a good thing). Do you have an upcoming event? Do you offer a free article or report? Are you having a sale? At a minimum put a link to your website in your e-mail signature. In addition to interesting content, think about the color and font of your e-mail signature and create something that is attractive and fits with your brand.

YOUR BUSINESS CARD

Use the back of your business card. Don't leave this valuable space blank. Make an offer for something like a free report, your newsletter, a sample of your services, a discount, etc. Get your business cards out into the world so people can hear about your offer. Ask for permission to leave a few cards at places your clients frequent like stores, restaurants, gyms, waiting rooms, etc.

YOUR EXISTING PROFILES

I hope you have profiles on networking websites, directories, clubs, industry associations, and the like out there. Has your marketing message, your offer, and/or your products/services changed since you first created your profiles? I am betting that is a yes! Review all your profiles to make sure they are up to date. This is a great chance to take inventory of all of the places where you have profiles and create a list you can refer to later. If you have a photograph of yourself to add to your profiles, please do so. Add your photo to your own website if it isn't already there. Connecting your face with your company makes your company more human and personal. Remember, people buy from people they know, like, and trust. It will also help people recognize you at events.

YOUR COMPANY LETTERHEAD

This may seem like a no-brainer but I have seen business owners who don't have their contact information on their letterhead. Your letterhead needs to include your phone number, e-mail address, and website. This goes for your printed hardcopy letterhead as well as the electronic version.

The only way to know which marketing strategies are working for you is to keep track. This includes the activates above as well as all of your other strategies (networking, referrals, direct marketing campaigns, etc.)

Always, I mean always, ask people who contact you how they heard about your business and record this valuable information. It is easy to do, simply create a list of all of your marketing strategies and how many people respond to each one. It is easiest to do this electronically using a spreadsheet so you can easily calculate percentages and totals. You can also use old-fashioned pen and paper if you must. Whatever method you prefer, just make sure you do it!

It's time to get into action. Take some time and go through all of your marketing materials. What marketing tools do you have laying around that could be dusted off and upgraded up to work even harder for you?

Life & Business Coach Stephanie Ward helps business owners set their profits on fire! Get your free monthly profit tips plus bonus report at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com

Top 7 Ways To Get Your Products In The Hands Of Celebrities

2009-01-28T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Thomas King

Celebrities are the tastemakers that drive brand awareness and usage. Celebrities drive the direction of trends. For example there has been a huge resurgence in the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand. They are the second fastest growing beer in the US and they have not spent a dime on advertising. How did they resurrect this brand without spending a fortune on re-branding efforts? Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer has risen to the top through celebrities using the brand. Rock musician "Kid Rock" was seen wearing a PBR belt buckle and T-shirt and from there it's history. Here are 7 solid ways you can build your brand through celebrity and tastemaker usage without breaking the bank.

1.) Sponsor local or national high profile events. Sometime you can do this on a product donation basis.

2.) Underwrite bands or artists in your market that you believe have a chance to make it big. Sometimes your investment will be as small as printing posters or placing ads for them that always contain your logo.

3.) Create and produce your own signature event and invite the press and local celebrities and tastemakers. Remember, if you give somebody and experience they will never forget you.

4.) Find out where your local tastemakers are hanging out and get your products there.

5.) Send care packages with your products to local tastemakers, celebrities and news personalities. Make sure your contact information is enclosed.

6.) Create a loyal street team or crew of individuals that can sample your products where tastemakers are hanging out.

7.) Build a relationship with one tastemaker and make them your brand surrogate.

With these efforts and good timing your products will be in the hands of tastemakers and from there... it's history.

Thom King is the president of Multimediary Entertainment Marketing. Multimediary builds brands through making them part of the entertainment experience. Visit the web site at http://www.multimediary.com.

Marketing 101 Give Clients What They Want

2009-01-27T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kevin P. Dervin

Are your giving your clients what they want? Do you know what your clients want from a business like yours more than anything else in the world? If you knew the answer to this question would you market your small business differently?

Most small businesses seem to fall in to one of two camps on this issue. A small number create a product or service based on something that they really want to do, but they really have no idea if anyone would ever want it. A much larger majority tends to have some general knowledge in a particular area, but what they communicate is so broad and vague that they end up reactively taking whatever business they can get through the door.

I'm blown away when I ask someone what it is that their clients value most from their services and they don't know. If you don't know what your clients want, then how can you ever hope to provide great services to them?

Take some steps to position your business for success that others in your field just can't generate.

First of all, I do think you should determine what it is that you do best.

* What are you committed to and totally passionate about?

* What are you out to cause?

* Who do you want to help and what do you want to help them get done?

If you love what you're doing it makes the game of business a whole lot more enjoyable.

Figure out what it is that your target market would love to have more than anything in the world from a business like yours.

* What are their greatest challenges and issues that your company could get involved in helping them overcome?

* What is the greatest result or outcome you could ever hope to deliver to your ideal clients?

* If time and money weren't an issue, what service would you offer that would consistently produce the greatest possible outcomes?

Take some time to carefully consider and write out your answers to these steps and questions offered above. You may not know all the answers, but do the best you can. Then call up a handful of your best clients and a couple of your most trusted business contacts. Offer to buy them lunch and then sit down to talk through what you've come up with to get their input.

Sometimes if you want to know what people want, you just gotta ask. But, your conversation will go deeper and you'll get better results when you do it with your thoughts already outlined.

Once you know what your clients want, you can begin aligning your service offerings and developing your core marketing messages around that. And suddenly marketing becomes easier.

About the Author:

Kevin Dervin is the owner of KPD Marketing and creator of the ABCD Growth System. If you find this article useful, you'd probably enjoy Kevin's FREE eZine called ABCD Grow. To subscribe, just go to http://www.ABCDgrowth.com and follow one of the links to the FREE Stuff page!

Eyeing The Competition

2009-01-26T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Deborah Henken

"Never underestimate your competition." Today, that old business adage holds more meaning than ever, but many companies do not take time to objectively assess their company or products and compare them to their adversaries in the marketplace. Worse yet, some companies even feel that their products have no competition. Though it can be daunting to look at the realities of your market, understanding your competitive business environment is critical when planning for your company's future profitability.

Hammers Vs. Crowbars
First, let's clarify: everyone has competition, though it may not always seem obvious. Marketing experts cite two categories of competition: indirect and direct. Every company has indirect competition, no matter how unique or high-tech their product or service.

Indirect competition provides the same benefit the customer obtains from your product, only in a different form. Take, for example, the Acme Hammer Company. Acme's indirect competition comes from whatever customers use instead of hammers. Those more creative in the craft of carpentry might use a crowbar to drive a nail into a board or pry it out of wooden siding. That makes a crowbar manufacturer an indirect competitor.

Looking at it this way, the possible indirect competition seems almost limitless, but it is critical to acknowledge all the options your customers have to meet their needs. You can use information about indirect competition to realistically target your markets, create your positioning and messaging or creatively and efficiently developing new products and marketing strategies. Remember, even though the indirect competitive product is not at all like your product, you can still lose an order because of it.

Hammers Vs. Hammers
Acme's direct competition might come from other tool manufacturers such as Stanley, Husky and Craftsman. Because direct competitors are easier to identify and research, you may want to start your analysis here.

Gather as much information as possible including the competition's sales materials. Have your employees keep their ears open for anecdotal data they obtain from discussions with industry experts, manufacturers' representatives or trade show participants. Ask your customers about the quality of the competition's products, services and management.

You should also gather quantitative data such as information about the competition's gross revenues, ownership, number of employees, legal issues, new products, industry awards and relevant trade articles. Libraries, databases, trade literature and Internet web sites can help you fill any gaps in your knowledge.

Orders are won or lost over small advantages or disadvantages. Knowing your competitors' strengths and weaknesses allows you to tailor your products and services to get that critical advantage. More specifically, you use this information to strengthen relationships with your customers, stay informed about your competitors' activities, remain knowledgeable about industry trends or acquisition prospects and identify potential product problems.

What's an example of using competitive information? Let's say your new competition has recently lowered their pricing, leading you to pricing pressure. However, the competitor is having legal problems due to inferior product quality. In this case, you can emphasize the high quality of your product in your sales materials to take advantage of the weakness of your competition, rather than meeting the price point of your competitor.

Knowing your competition leads to new products or product improvements, sales tools positioning your product positively against your competition's weaknesses, finding new distribution strategies and many other business decisions.

Deborah Henken served as VP of Marketing at several Silicon Valley start-ups, quadrupling revenues in 18 months, and in senior marketing and channel positions at Hewlett Packard, Informix and BEA Systems. As Founder of Highland Team, she and her team brings strategic marketing thinking and rapid implementation to assure increased sales revenues and optimal ROI to both large and small companies. She earned her MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Susan Henken has directed marketing at consumer and health care companies for more than 15 years. She provided marketing consulting to manufacturing companies at Minnesota Project Innovation through a grant from the SBA and Department of Commerce and ran her own consulting business. She is currently Director of Marketing for Consumer Products at Compex Technologies. She earned her MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

4 Methods To Master The 1 Success Secret Of Infopreneuring 2 Of 3

2009-01-25T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Stu McLaren

If you don't have good fresh content to use for new products, your momentum comes to a crashing halt and so does your business. So the question begs itself, how do you consistently create new content?

Here are your four basic options:

1) You can continually write your own materials...and you should.

2) You can record your thoughts and get them transcribed... and you should.

3) You can hire a ghostwriter to write materials for you... and you should.

4) You can purchase the rights to content that you can resell... and you should do this as well.

Each option has its own positives and negatives but in my opinion you should be doing a little bit of each.

Let me explain...

3) You can hire a ghostwriter to write materials for you

Hiring a ghost writer has some major advantages and disadvantages. First and foremost it takes a HUGE burden off your shoulders to create original content. Secondly it frees up a lot of your time. Third, it feels great when you get an email from your ghostwriter and the ebook/book/manual/article(s) are all complete and ready to go - it truly is the magic pill.

There are some downsides however. The first one is the cost.

Depending on your project, it can cost anywhere between $400-$3,000 to get an ebook, book or manual created.

This is relatively cheap when you think about the fact that you can now sell that content and profit from it as long as you sell it, but it still costs quite a bit.

The second major downside is the time it takes to communicate with the ghostwriter. If you are anything like me, you don't want to be sending out crappy information. So that means YOU DO have to involve yourself in the process.

Forget what all the "gurus" try to tell you about how easy it is to just hire a ghostwriter and wake up with a finished product.

You tell me if this process is as easy as slapping down a check and receiving a perfect book a few days later:

First you send your initial thoughts and plans for what you want. Then they send back their outline, you make adjustments to the outline, and a few days later they send back the proof for the outline.

Once the outline is completed you give the go-ahead and they write the rough draft. Obviously this takes some time (usually between 1 week and 2 months depending on your project) but once they have completed the rough draft its up to you to read the rough draft and suggest any changes.

You'll want to go over the rough draft with a fine tooth comb to prevent the writer from going in a direction you didn't want. This isn't any small task but its well worth the effort because you are ensuring that the product you are creating is of a high standard.

When you finish the edit of the rough draft the ghostwriter makes the adjustments and then sends you a final draft. You read the final draft and give the final ok. Phew!! That's a lot more than just placing a bid on eLance and having a book show up on your doorstep ready to sell.

Now, if you care about the quality of the products you create please pay close attention to this next sentence.

You need to actually READ what the ghostwriter has created for you.

It will almost always require you to make some final changes. Make sure you get EXACTLY what you are looking for otherwise it's a product that you yourself haven't even completely read.

Would that make you comfortable selling something with your name on it and you don't know everything contained inside?

I can't tell you how many products I have purchased only to find it was the same old stuff just rehashed. Read what they write for you. Create quality content!!

So although a ghostwriter does save you a TREMENDOUS amount of time, please don't be fooled into thinking that once you hand over the assignment your work is done. It's not... unless you want to create a crappy product.

It still takes work but it's A LOT easier and takes WAY less time once you have the raw materials to work with. Your job is to polish that collection of raw ideas into the high quality product that would make even your Mom proud :)

If you enjoyed this article make sure to look up the other two articles in the series dealing with the other 3 methods of creating content: Part 1 - Writing your own materials and Recording Your Thoughts and coming soon, Part 3 - Purchasing The Rights Of Content You Can Resell!

Don't let your brainchild go to waste! Discover how to start making money with your ideas by grabbing a special report entitled 11 Creative Methods To Make More Money With Your Ideas In Less Time And With Less Effort at http://www.myideaguy.com.

Get Rid Of Your Lead Generation Problems Once And For All

2009-01-24T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Neal McCrea

Every business needs a good lead generation plan. No matter how well you retain customers, some of them will leave you. Customers no longer need your products, go out of business or change location. Sometimes, even if you're the best, you'll lose them to competitors.

So it's important you keep filling that sales funnel. Don't expect to achieve high enquiry and conversion rates right away. As long as you're creating enough new ways for customers to learn about your value proposition, you'll get plenty of quality leads filtering through.

Here are the first five of my top ten methods of lead generation:

1. Risk removal - new business can be a scary area for some people because it's outside their normal comfort zone. However, you must keep adding new customers in your business. It's almost certain you'll lose existing customers for a variety of reasons, so you must keep replacing them (and more) to move your business forward. One way to achieve this is to lower or remove any perceived barriers to doing business with you. Offer a risk-free guarantee or a free trial to get new customers on board.

2. Mailing lists - somewhere out there is a mailing list that would be perfect for your business. It will contain the right type of target customers for your products and services. You can often determine this from the characteristics of your current customers.

3. Telemarketing - we all hate those cold calls, don't we? Your telemarketing needs to be smart to overcome the perception that all cold calls are intrusive. You need some degree of certainty that the prospect already is, or will be, interested in what you have to offer.

4. Public relations - often the cheapest, but most overlooked, method to get your messages out there. A good, targeted press release or news article can out-perform even the most effective advertising.

5. Directory ads - most businesses advertise in the local Yellow Pages or trade directories. How effective is it? Do you do it just because everyone else in your industry does?

I'll give you the other five (plus maybe a bonus one) next time. Then look out for a more detailed article on each of the top ten.

Neal McCrea has generated over $20 million in business over the past 15 years. His website http://www.newmarketingplan.com contains hundreds of ideas, tips and templates to help with your lead generation.

Calculating Trade Show Roi

2009-01-23T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Ron Adler

"If you're not keeping score, it's just practice" Vince Lombardi

Calculating your trade show ROI (return on investment) can be difficult for most businesses. Unless you take orders at a trade show, you must rely on accurate tracking throughout the year in order to figure out how valuable the show was for you. And because clients tend to need several different "touch points" before buying (seeing a magazine ad, hearing a colleague speak of your product or service, receiving a sales call, etc.), it's tough to tell where the sale actually came from. You can, however, estimate your trade show ROI here's how:

Meet with your sales team to determine a few things first

1. The average number of qualified leads it takes to get an appointment

2. The average percentage of appointments that turn into sales (your close ratio)

3. The average dollar amount of each sale

Now, here's the calculation

Multiply the total number of qualified leads by the percentage of leads it takes to get an appointment. (Example: 200 x 25% = 50)

Multiply that number by the average percentage that turn into sales. (Example: 50 x 30% = 15)

Multiply that number by the average dollar amount of each sale. (Example: 15 x $2,500 = $37,500)

Divide the gross sales by total cost of show to get your ROI ratio. (Example: $37,500 divided by $17,000 = 2.2 Your ROI ratio: 1:2.2 for every $1 you spent, you got $2.20 back)

Warning! This calculation is black & white, and will only show you the dollar value of your show investment. When reporting your overall trade show ROI to management, you must also assign value to more non-tangible things like brand awareness, relationship building, total lifetime value of a client, or whatever other items of value your clients bring you. For instance, if your business does 50% of its sales through referrals, each new client you obtain may be equal to 2 new clients over the course of year.

Ron Adler has been working in the exhibit industry with Adler Display (http://www.adlerdisplay.com) for over 30 years. Ron has designed and created some of the most unique and creative displays in the mid-Atlantic region including several Visitor Centers in Maryland as well as dozens of exhibits for museums and hospitals throughout the United States.

Good Vibes Bad Vibes

2009-01-22T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Maggie Jean Wahls

Have you ever walked into a store or business and felt uncomfortable there for no apparent reason? Have you ever walked into a store all happy and left quite frustrated? Have you ever wished your house could feel happier? The process called energetic clearing can make a significant improvement to any location.

There are many kinds of energy all around us. They effect where we live and are present where we work, where we go to school, in our homes and businesses. It is amazing how much these energies influence our days, our emotions, our relationships with those around us and our businesses.

Martha owned a souvenir shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since September 11 she had lost 40% of her revenue. She could only blame it on the fear of people to spend money but the loss of business was catastrophic to her livelihood. She called for an energetic clearing of her business. The Energetic Clearer went into the store and spent about one half hour actually moving the energies around, throwing out the negative influences such as fear, force fields, false beliefs and bringing into alignment the positive energies that naturally occur there. It was quite a show with the Energetic Clearer swinging her arms and throwing invisible frisbees around the store! But the next day Martha had twice as many visitors to her store as the day before. Within the first week she had increased her business by 40%. The Energetic Clearer had also given her some ideas on how to maintain the positive flow of energies and Martha shared those tips with her employees. Everyone felt happier, calmer and more positive and actually looked forward to coming to work. What a significant change!

A young fellow named Drew called an Energetic Clearer in to help with his advertising business. His company had been doing ads for small to midsize companies but were unable to land those big accounts. The Energetic Clearer found that the building was sitting on an old railroad station where thousands of strangers had started or finished their journeys at the turn of the century. People leave the energy of their presence in places like these so Drew's customers were feeling this "travelling" energy. The Energetic Clearer moved that energy back to it's source and brought into alignment the actual energies of Drew and his coworkers. Drew picked up four major accounts in 3 months as the clients could then feel the sense of permanence, trust and reliability in Drew's building.

An energetic clearing can remove any blockages of positive energy, clear any obstacle and allow the natural state of harmony, prosperity and balance to again be felt clearly. Obstacles can come from a variety of sources including but not limited to astral influences, network gridding, telepathic pathways and negative beliefs. The clearing process is a spiritual technique using the assistance of highly evolved spiritual beings that guide the healer to manipulate the energy vortexes. It is based on shamanistic practices and teachings.

Energetic clearing can remove undesirable energy from homes and businesses. Clearing real estate can speed up the time it takes to sell a property. Cleared businesses always benefit from higher sales and more traffic. Employees and customers alike become more positive and joyful emotionally. Public places can be energetically cleared allowing tourism and public community events to flourish. Often, amazing results will happen within just hours of a clearing bringing significant increases of positive attraction to the location. Dentists, business owners, realtors, physicians, lawyers and property owners can all benefit from an energetic clearing. Anyplace where there is a high traffic pattern, a high level of emotion, strangers interacting, any risk of crime, even prisons and hospitals can see a significant increase of calm and prosperity.

Michael and Chris had their house cleared energetically. They had just moved into a historic 4 bedroom Tudor and felt some kind of strangeness in it. The feeling had worn off a bit as they lived there but it was still present and Chris felt it would not go away by itself. They also noticed that they were arguing with each other more than they had been before the move. The Energetic Clearer found that some discarnate souls were still present in the house and were bringing their own unhappiness into the lives of Michael and Chris. By cutting those cords of energy and manipulating the energies of the house, the Energetic Clearer was able to release those entities and restore the natural positive energy back into the home and lives of Michael and Chris. Three months later, Chris was pregnant with their first child and they both were extremely happy that they had taken care of the house before the baby was born.

An energetic clearing can do no harm and has proven to always bring an increase of harmony, peace and abundance on the location. Energetic clearings can also be done for individuals. This is a spiritual way to release feelings of despair and frustration and bring back the balance into our lives and businesses.

About The Author

Rev. Maggie Jean Wahls has been offering Energetic Clearings for seven years. She is new to the California area and is available for a free consultation by calling 805-550-6953 or emailing magnoliaz@usa.net. Her website is www.angelfire.com/enpire/freeflight/energeticclearings.html

magnoliaz101@yahoo.com

How To Market And Protect Your New Ideas

2009-01-21T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Neil Armand

The intellectual property transfer market is now estimated to be worth over $100 billion. If you have a new idea, a patent or an invention, you may be able to license it or sell it for millions of dollars. Many Fortune 500 companies are now making their intellectual property available for sale or licensing at new online intellectual-property exchanges. These companies are trying to maximize their return on research and development investment and generate a new source of revenue by licensing their unused and underutilized inventions to others.

A number of online forums, including Minnesota-based NewIdeaTrade.com (http://www.newideatrade.com), California-based Pl-x.com (http://www.pl-x.com), and Connecticut-based PatentTriage.com (http://www.patenttriage.com) now link buyers and sellers of intellectual property. The traditional transfer of intellectual property is complicated, costly, and can take up to one year. However, these online forums simplify and speed up the process for transfer of new ideas.

The Internet currently reaches more than 560 million users around the world. This makes innovators' potential for exposure much higher than with traditional forms of media. The worldwide online commerce has reached $2.2 trillion in 2002 and is expected to reach $6.8 trillion by 2004. The innovators today can leverage the massive reach of the Internet and promote their new ideas to the global market without substantial marketing costs.

Official copyright registration and patent rights can be obtained from appropriate authorities. A directory of Patent and Copyright Offices around the world is available at http://www.newideatrade.com/government_patent_copyright_offices.htm. When a potential buyer contacts the seller for more information about the intellectual property, the seller should require the buyer to sign a non-disclosure agreement before revealing the details.

Additional information on how to market new ideas and inventions is available at http://www.newideatrade.com.

Neil Armand
Intellectual Property Professional
Global Commerce & Communication, Inc.
Telephone: 320-253-3139
URL: http://www.gcchq.com

The Secret Of Getting Your Customer To Say Quotyesquot

2009-01-20T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Kenneth Ajoku

Have you ever been at the point when your customer is just about to buy something and they decide not to, or simply say no?

If you are like me then this would have happened to you more than once.

Today I will show you a way to encourage your customer to say yes and actually make that purchase.

My wife and I went to a fish market very early one morning a couple of weeks ago, to buy a large quantity of fish. If you have not been to a place like this before, allow me to set the scene for you:

Picture a large indoor warehouse with several market stalls with market traders selling every type of fish you can imagine, you can also imagine the smell, not the kind of place that you would like to spend too much time in!

The funny thing is that quite a few of the stall owners are selling pretty much the same thing, at more or less the same price.

My wife and I are never quite sure which stall owner to purchase from. So we go around each stall comparing prices and receiving sales pitches from each of the stall owners.

One particular sales pitch till this very day comes to the front of my mind after my wife asked this particular fellow, "how much is this box of fish?" After a few moments of giving us the price he literally started packing the box into a bag and then concluded by saying "would you like one box or two?" You see, this sharp fishmonger worked on the assumption that we were definitely buying from him, and it was just a matter of us deciding on how many boxes of fish we wanted. Guess what? We bought two boxes!

So don't say "would you like it or not?" say "which one would you like?" or "how many would you like". This powerful sales marketing statement was used very well at the point of sale.

You see you do not leave room for the customer to say no. It's either one sale or another. On the other hand if you ask them, "would you like to buy this or not", then they can easily say no.

As a business owner which would you prefer?

Give this a try, it really does work.

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!

Also check out http://www.kajoku.biz/internet-marketing-tools/ for all your Internet marketing Tools.

This is an excerpt from my marketing book "45 Powerful Marketing Strategies That Will Not Only Make Your Business GROW! But Will Also Make You More Profits! Keep a look out for more of my Powerful Strategies coming soon.

Determine The Viability Of Your Target Audience Before You Begin Marketing

2009-01-19T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Fabienne Fredrickson

You've heard a hundred times before how important it is to have a plan for who to market to, an ideal client profile or target audience. In my book, it's one of the most crucial things to put in place for attracting clients like crazy, because if you don't know who you're talking to, you won't know what to say.

The question you now have to ask yourself is, "Have I chosen a viable target audience?" meaning, is it actually worthwhile to market to these people?

You can have all the focus, drive, good intentions to market to a group of people, but if they're not easily reached in large numbers and inexpensively, if they don't congregate often or they're too difficult to locate, it's going to make your Client Attraction attempts much more difficult.

Here are some questions to ask yourself (be a hard grader):

Can you find them easily?
Is there a "list" of these people somewherean association of them, support groups, alliances, for example?
Are there enough of them? Even if your target audience is small in the grand scheme of the population, there still needs to be a massive number of these people for you to stay in business.
Do they have a problem worth solving?
Does this problem hurt enough?
Do they have the ability to pay for your services?

Your Assignment:

Once you've gotten clear on a target audience or a niche, it's important to ask yourself the hard questions listed above. Take out a sheet of paper and really answer these. If the answers are repeatedly "no," then consider looking for another niche. It'll make the whole Client Attraction process much easier in the long run.

If you're not sure where to start with fine tuning your target audience in the first place, check out The Client Attraction Home Study System. Step by step, I take you through everything you need to do to stand out in the marketplace, pull clients in easily and consistently, and exactly what to say to turn them into paying clients. Go to www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com. You'll also get hundreds of other ideas and resources to help YOU become a Client Attraction machine like thousands of my previous clients.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Expert, is founder of the Client Attraction System, the proven step-by-step program to help you attract more clients, in record time and consistently. To learn more about Fabienne's Client Attraction Home Study System, sign up for her FREE client attraction tips and no-charge teleclasses on attracting more clients, visit http://www.ClientAttraction.com.

Should We Use Brochures For Marketing

2009-01-18T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Paul Cris

Yes, brochures are good marketing materials. The brochures should be designed very well. It should be eye catchy. An experienced graphic designer and marketing professional can provide great ideas for designing an attractive brochure. A brochure is usually printed in both the sides and folded. Most of the companies use brochures to market their products and services.

If you go to any event you get lots of brochures. These brochures are printed in normal or glossy paper. Brochures are used to promote products and services, so the text and graphics should attract the people. A brochure creates an identity so the design should be very good. The front page of the brochure should be simple and the corporate logo should be incorporated.

Some useful tips for brochure designing:

1) The headlines should be short and catchy.
2) The headlines should attract the target audience. Suppose if you are targeting children, include "Favorite cartoon characters".
3) The text should be easy to read with a proper flow.
4) Paragraphs should be short.
5) There should be no typing mistakes or errors.
6) The photos should match the content. If the brochure content is about chocolates and the photograph is of an old man, it does not add meaning to it.
7) There should be no more than 3 fonts in the whole brochure.
8) Use creative captions, it attracts people.

Paul has been providing answers to lots of queries through his website on a wide variety of subjects ranging from satellite phones to acne. To learn more visithttp://www.askaquery.com/Answers/qn1608.html

You are welcome to republish the above article only if you add our hyperlinked URL.

Private Practice Marketing Is It Wrong To Let Others Know What You Do

2009-01-17T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jeff Herring

When I first started my marriage and family therapy private practice in 1986, it was considered bad form to advertise your services. It was not considered unethical, just something a "professional" did not do.

That never really made a whole lot of sense to me.

I think it came from the never was true notion that all you had to do was hang up your shingle and the clients would flock to your door.

Breaking the rules

So when one of my colleagues and I put an ad in the paper for a teen therapy group we were running, you would have thought we had shot someone. The reaction varied from stunned silence to comments such as "What are you guys, ambulance chasers?"

Well, what made all the flack easier to take, besides the fact I have a fairly thick skin, is that it worked. We tapped into an underserved niche (teens and their parents), the practice took off, and I've been busy ever since.

Unexpected results

Because I had run a few adds in the local paper, when it came time to interview an expert, the reporters came to me. For years I had everything from one line quotes to full feature interviews in the paper. This was nice, as it upped my perceived "expert-ability" and brought in many clients.

And then came the mother lode. I was asked to write a weekly mental health column for the local paper. This brought in a flood of clients. That would have been great enough in and of itself. Then the parent company of the local paper picked up the column for syndication and began to run it all over the country and then all over the world.

Almost 20 years later

Here it is almost 20 years later, and at the last local marriage and family therapy association party, I had people following me out to my car asking questions about how I do what I do. The funny thing is that some of these folks asking for tips are some of the same ones that gave me flack years ago.

I don't tell you this to impress you. I tell you this to impress upon you the answer to the question in the title of this article - "Is it wrong to let others know what you do?"

The answer is a resounding NO! Not only is it acceptable to let others know what you do, when you have something inside you that can help others, you not only have the right to let others know what you offer.

I believe you have the obligation to let others know what you have to offer.

Visit BuildingYourIdealPractice.com for more tips and tools for creating your ideal practice and filling it with great clients. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e Getting Clients Newsletter.

Trigger Button Marketing

2009-01-16T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Ronny Berglund

Sometimes, experiencing bleak sales is a matter of failing to find your prospective customers' trigger buttons.

By trigger buttons, we mean anything that the customer would find of peculiar value. It may be the quality of the product, the promptness of the delivery, the added perks in the offer, the after-sales service involved, or any combination of these factors. There is no doubt that discovering, and complying with, these trigger buttons would greatly increase our number of successful sales.

The problem is that our consumers' behavioral patterns are quite irregular. Predictions on how a client would react in a given situation can never be conclusive, as each individual has his own quirks and idiosyncrasies. One client may prefer post-delivery confirmations, for example, while another would find it irritating.

This fickleness in consumers' behavioral patterns have been a bane for marketing ever since. Campaigns can never be universally applied without adapting some of their components to conform to the wishes of a particular segment of potential clientele. Market analyses produce many variables that are dependent on the shifting tastes of customers.

But you could find a method to this seeming madness. You could use the unpredictable nature of this vital market component to your advantage. You only have to discover their trigger buttons.

By pushing your prospect's trigger button, you would be able to win him to your side. This would make sales a whole lot easier, and the client's loyalty to your business is almost a given.

Here are some techniques you could use to find those beneficial trigger buttons:

ESTABLISH A CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION. Knowing what your customers need is vital to knowing how to please them. You have to encourage them to speak up, so that you may learn some of the things they expect from you. This way, your business can address to their needs in a more efficient manner. This is easier said than done, but with a proper feedback system, you would be able to garner their thoughts on a frequent basis.

BE DIRECT IN YOUR DEALINGS. Ask them straight what they want, but to it politely of course. Clients would appreciate your honesty and willingness to please their wishes, however eccentric they may be.

DO YOUR FOLLOW UPS. Once you have found what they want, do something about it and inform them in writing about the steps you're taking to remedy their concerns. This would make you look more reliable in their eyes, and they would start treating their communication with you as an investment that should be tended until the very end.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS. This is essential, more so if you're operating a small business. The advantage of small businesses over their larger competitors is that they can deal with clients in a more personal level. Building relationships and establishing goodwill with your clients would go a long way. They will be able to trust you more, which would eventually lead to brand loyalty and a symbiotic affair that would only bring great things for both parties.

ALWAYS PROVIDE SOMETHING EXTRA. Whether it is through a simple giveaway, or an additional remark that you wish to add to their feedbacks (i.e. "I thank you for voicing out your concerns, and I wish to add something to your list"), giving them something that they did not ask for would make them happy to have considered your business.

Employing these steps would guarantee that your clients would warm up to your service, and eventually reveal the things that make them tick. From there, you would know how to convert them into successful sales, over and over again.

Ronny Berglund is a marketing professional, which owns and operate http://www.traffic-plus.com that can help you to instantly get website visitors, do popup advertising or any type of instant website traffic increase. He also owns and operates http://www.marketingpatch.com where you find strategic marketing tips. And you can learn the marketing tips and tricks that pro's use! MarketingPatch.com also have a great forum where you can talk about everything marketing related, he even let you post your in a Buy / Sell forum.

How Well Do You Know Your Clients

2009-01-15T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Mike Yates

How Well do You Know Your Clients? Many people new to business often make the classic mistake of creating a product or service out of their personal passion (or talent) then try to sell their product or service into the marketplace without fully understanding the intended customers needs and desires.

In other words - they make 'guesstimate' assumptions and then jump into business. Their belief being (more often than not) 'I like it so you will like it as well'. This then leaves them confused when the business they are running is just not working at all after repeated different attempts to get it to fly (or there simply isn't enough business coming through the door to support their dream).

The danger then is to fall into the trap of working harder and harder (longer and longer hours) whilst also finding fault with everything that doesn't work. This ultimately leads to a serious work / life imbalance, and ultimately stress and illness.

So what's a solution? Focus your thoughts on becoming a hyper-critical thinker. Allow time out every day to ask yourself what you are doing, how you are doing it, who you are doing it for and also (probably most importantly), why they will care.

Many people think of the 'How' before they think 'Who', 'Why', 'Where' and 'What'...

If you are not seeing consistent growth within your business, then take a look at the level of attention you are paying to one (or all) of the following:

Gaining increased sales from your existing clients and database
Maximising the profitability from your existing sales (upselling)
Getting new clients through the door

Understanding precisely who your customers are is critical to building any business. Try asking yourself the following questions... If you don't know the answers yet, make a commitment with yourself to find the resources to get them - maybe via a library, through other business owners (even researching what your competition does well - you may be surprised what you'll learn), or employ a professional business coach. Ask yourself these questions: Get Critical!

Who are my clients? What's their age? Where do they shop? Learn as much as you can about them
Why do they need my product / service?
How will they know when they need it?
How will they find out where to obtain it?
What experience will they have when they discover it?
What will the experience be like when they purchase?

To Your Success, Mike Yates

Business Coaching gives you: Training-InspirationMotivationEducation 121 Business Ltd, Unit 33 Stephenson Road, St Ives, Cambs, PE27 3WJ T: 0870 16 24 121 F: 0870 16 24 122 E: info@121business.co.uk W: www.121business.co.uk ©MikeYates121BusinessLtd 2006

Mike Yates is a Business Growth Specialist, trainer, speaker and author who inspires and motivates business owners to create and attain their business and lifestyle goals and to accelerate business growth and success. Utilising the most advanced business tools and business strategies, Mike practices the belief that running a business should be a fun and rewarding experience which encourages a life / work balance that enables business owners to work 'on' their business rather than 'in' it and to attain their life dreams

Improve Your Business Marketing With Great Headlines

2009-01-14T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Sharon Jacobsen

Picture the scene. You're sitting in a doctor's waiting room, flicking through the pages of a magazine when you suddenly start reading an ad. Why? What drew your attention to that particular ad? An attention grabbing headline, that's what.

Think about how you 'read' magazines. What do you look at first? My bet is it's the headlines. If the headline grabs you, you'll scan the rest of the text to see if there's anything more that grabs you. If there is, you'll read the whole thing. Those who know about good business marketing know about writing great headlines.

Your job, if you really want to sell your products or services, is to make sure whoever picks up the magazine containing your ad will actually stop and read what you have to say. The day you went into business, marketing became a number one priority - without it you'll never sell a thing.

So let's see what you can do to make sure your business marketing is up to scratch when it comes to writing great headlines that will grab the reader and compel her to read on. We want her to want to know more.

First of all, to create a great headline there are three things that need to be fulfilled.

1. Hook your reader quickly
2. Give them a personal benefit
3. Give them a reason to continue reading

The following takes a closer look at how you can achieve the above.

Use A Headline

As obvious as this may sound, far too many businesses omit the use of a headline when compiling their ads in a bid to get as much information into as little space as possible. Unfortunately, this is bad economy.

If there's no headline, there's nothing to grab the reader's attention so it's far better to cut out some of the waffle in your text and make room for a great headline that'll reach out from the page and entice potential clients to read your text. When it comes to writing ads, there's no such thing as good business marketing without the use of headlines.

Know Your Market

An ad placed in "The Lady" will be targeted at a completely different audience to one placed in "Mother and Baby". Both groups could well be potential clients but when it comes to business marketing, it's important that each ad is individually directed at the audience in question. Give plenty of thought to the type of headline that's most likely to be compelling to the groups of women that read each of the magazines.

Give the Reader A Reason to Stop

People lead busy lives and even while browsing magazines, they'll only be willing to offer you a certain amount of time in which to grab their attention, with three seconds being the average. Not long is it?

It's been proven time and time again that great headlines are those that offer the reader something. By that, I don't mean "Read This and Get A Free Dinner", but you do have to let them know there's something in it for them.

"Clear Skin Can Be Yours Today" and "Take The Dream Holiday You Didn't Think You Could Afford" are examples of good business marketing through the use of ads that promise personal improvement.

Again, consider your target market and tailor your headline so that it offers the reader something that she considers valuable to her lifestyle.

Create Urgency

In business marketing, it's important that your headline compels the reader to act quickly. The more time that passes between reading the ad and acting on it, the greater the likelihood that they'll never actually place an order.

Words and phrases such as "now", "ending soon", "don't delay", "today" and "final offer" all tell the reader that this is an opportunity they'll lose out on if they don't act now.

Use Facts

People like facts - they trust them.

A headline that says "Ten Thousand Satisfied Mothers Can't Be Wrong" will be more compelling than "The Whole World Is Using Our Nappies". Nobody is going to believe that everybody in the whole world is using your product are they? But they are likely to believe 10,000 mothers have been satisfied.

Notice that we haven't actually mentioned what the product is? By leaving this out of the headline, if the reader wants to know exactly what it is 10,000 mothers are satisfied with, she'll have to read on. That's good business marketing.

Follow the headline up with information to support the fact. Something like "More than 10,000 customers return to place a second order - why not join those mums and put your baby in the nappies he'll love best?" will give them a sense of buying a tried and tested product. They may even feel they're not doing what's best for baby if they don't use your products, which is an extra bonus.

Don't Bore The Reader

It's a fact that too many headlines are just plain boring. Clichés and churned out statements we've all seen time and time again just don't provide the hook you need if your business marketing is going to have any chance of success. Look for something fresh.

Use Words That Attract

Certain words attract the reader more than others. Those involved in business marketing know which ones are winners and by using them they have the edge of amateurs who are writing their first business ads.

The following words will attract the reader to your ad:

* Today
* New
* Reveal
* Improve
* Quick
* Discover
* Important
* Be the first
* Discover

Now that you know what kind of ad works, it's time to learn how to actually write them.

* Start by writing a few headlines that tell the reader what you want them to know.

* Re-write a few times so that you have several alternatives of each.

* Without adding any text, ask friends what the headlines tell them and find out how they'd react. Try to find friends from different backgrounds and who have different lifestyles.

* Ask yourself which type of people did your ad work best for and which magazine they'd be likely to read.

Now that you know the secrets of improving your business marketing by writing great headlines, all that remains is for you to place your ad and start reaping the benefits.

Sharon Jacobsen is a full-time freelance writing living in South Cheshire, England. For a competitive fee she'll happily write entertaining, well-researched articles on any subject from business to baby care. Sharon also writes compelling sales copy and other marketing material.

To contact Sharon, or to learn more about her work, please visit her website at: http://www.sharon-jacobsen.co.uk

How Rural Businesses Can Gain Hundreds Of Long Lasting Leads

2009-01-13T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Andrew Pearson

Latest research pinpoints the problems facing rural business owners who have been forced to diversify and how to harness the latest marketing methods to achieve enduring growth.

Recent research carried out by specialist marketing firm GB Solutions showed that 93% of rural business owners and managers felt that their biggest problem is finding new leads for their businesses.

What is also evident is that some 74% of these are using traditional marketing methods; direct mail, advertising and telesales. The reality is that little is achieved partly because everybody is following the same commodity-based tactics and in part because few have the skills to get the basics right!

Achieving enduring growth
The survey consistently highlighted the key challenge as the need for simple, effective methods to obtain more and more qualified prospects, month after month, build long term customer relationships with the right clients and even better turn this income stream into additional sales opportunities!

Simon, a manager of a produce business, told me that when he started his business he depended on word of mouth contacts but then as the business grew he began to spend fortunes on advertising, leaflet drops and telesales - none of which seemed to work.

The problem is exacerbated since much marketing fails to differentiate between lead generation and lead conversion. A further problem is an almost casual approach to relationship building - if buyers do not immediately buy sellers tend to move on to the next one. Sound familiar? You are not alone.

Harnessing the power of innovative marketing
Bluntly stated, the significance of this is that we should separate out the merits of list building and relationship building and find novel ways to achieve success in both fields.

There are four things that contribute to overall profits that add to the overall success of our marketing;

1. Identify the niche and a compelling promotable message that creates an "I've got to have that!" response.

2. The list. When it comes to marketing the most important thing is the list of contacts and warm leads without this pool of potential clients, you're unlikely to create a business strong enough to stand the test of time.

3. The offer - by this I mean the package that demonstrates the overall value of the offer is worth the cost of paying for it.

4. Marketing materials. These need to speak to the niche and tackle its needs and wants convincingly.

The net should be harnessed to attract leads through on-line advertising, PR, articles and partnerships based on specific, targeted, stand-alone web pages carrying compelling offers for designated niches. Sequenced mailings may then be carried out in a process of patient communications and relationship building, in pursuit of advocacy.

The power of your contacts
This brings me back to the beginning of this paper. Work on building your list. You might have the best product in the world but if you're not reaching your target audience you'll be doomed to failure so it's absolutely vital to build your database of hungry buyers clamouring for your product.

(The above article is submitted on the basis that the following attribution is printed with it, using the exact wording below.) © Andrew Pearson, May 2006

ANDREW PEARSON works with forward thinking rural business owners and managers helping them to find more customers, revenue and fulfilment - in less time. For a no-obligation discussion on how to build your contacts, email andrew@realmarketingresults.org and for a complementary copy of 'How to Achieve Real Results for Your Rural Business' contact andrew@realmarketingresults.org

Gaining Business Intelligence

2009-01-12T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jerome Bergerou

A white paper on how companies should analyse customer data to gain better business intelligence and how they can use that knowledge.

In an increasingly competitive world, using your client database smartly, to gain a better understanding of your number one asset your customers can make or break the success of your company.

Most companies use databases to store information about their current customers, previous customers, business partners, and potential customers. The challenge lies in finding a way to harness the useful information contained within these high volume databases in order to produce intelligent business solutions.

Business intelligence (BI) refers to the process for increasing the competitive advantage of a company by intelligent use of available data in decision-making. Business intelligence consists of sourcing the data, filtering out unimportant information, analysing the data, assessing the situation, developing solutions, analysing risks and then supporting the decisions made. This white paper describes the business intelligence process, some elementary methods of data mining, and how you can use business intelligence in your company.

Database Enhancement

The first step towards gaining business intelligence is to start with a 'clean' database. Incomplete and inaccurate data invariably translate into incorrect management decisions. Duplicate data is also a problem as it can wrongly weigh management decisions to one side. Whilst a good quality database does not automatically lead to intelligent management decision-making, it is a pre-requisite for all types of analysis that attempt to elicit intelligent management. We could draw an analogy with cooking, where starting with the right ingredients does not guarantee you will bake a good cake, but there is very little chance you will bake a good cake if you start with the wrong set of ingredients.

One of the primary reasons companies do not fully realise the potential competitive advantages they can gain from their own databases is the lack of proper integration of datasets across departments. Even though all the information might reside within the company, it may remain elusive due to a fragmentation of the data across incompatible databases. Regrouping all internal data into a single dataset or a series of interconnected datasets could be the single most useful step a company might take towards providing a solid foundation on which quality business intelligence can be developped.

In some cases, data entry errors and/or missing data can also severely impair the quality of information that can be derived from corporate databases. Sorting these issues can range from very straightforward fixes (e.g. matching one list against another) to more time consuming processes (e.g. contacting all client companies to update contact details of individuals working there). Ideally, all inaccuracies should be weeded out of the databases. However limited time and monetary constraints dictate that you should bear in mind how this database will be used. The level of accuracy required will vary greatly depending on the expected use for that data.

Data cleansing and database integration can provide significant advantages for a company over the medium to long term. However, they are both extremely time-consuming activities and can create a significant strain on internal resources, making them difficult for a company to justify. Hiring a third-party to do this job is often the best solution, allowing valuable information to be gained, without disrupting day-to-day business activities.

Data Mining

Analysing the information that your company stores in connection with all customer interactions can reveal a lot of remarkable facts about the buying behaviour of your customers, what motivates them and what might make them stop buying from you. It also provides a scientific method to monitor your business performance.

When deciding to mine information from a database, one is faced with a wide number of available techniques. Some of the more popular data mining methods are described below:

Statistical models
Basic statistical measurements such as means, variances, and correlation coefficients are useful in the early stages of data analysis to gain an overall view of the structure of the data. By revealing simple inter-relations within the data, statistical modelling can show which in-depth technique is likely to bring further information relevant to your interests.

Clustering
Clustering is a technique that aggregates data according to a pre-determined set of characteristics. It can be used to differentiate groups of customers that behave similarly on certain factors, for example it can classify customer behaviours according to credit worthiness, income, age or any other factor of interest.

CHAID Analysis
CHAID, which stands for Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detection, can be seen as the opposite of clustering, in the sense that the CHAID analysis starts with the overall database, and then splits it according to the most important variable until it achieves homogeneous sub-groups that cannot be split any further. A major advantage of this technique is that the results can be presented as an easy-to-read classification tree; each split in the tree being accredited to a single variable (e.g. credit worthiness, income, age, etc).

Propensity models
Propensity models also known as predictive models have proven to be very valuable in predicting which customers are most likely to purchase a certain product based on a set of current customers. The results of such a model can be directly used to develop more appropriately targeted marketing campaigns.

Other recognised techniques to extract information from datasets are database segmentation, neural networking, and wavelet analysis among others. It can be intimidating to choose which method will provide the best results. As shown above, analysis tools can differ greatly in their approach of the problem. It is therefore very important for a company to consult someone with extensive experience in data mining processes before going ahead with a business intelligence project. The best method to use will vary greatly depending on the time available to do the analysis, what the results will be used for, and the type of data that is available for the analysis.

An important point to consider is whether your analysis is guided by pre-defined questions or not. Predefined points of analysis are aimed at understanding certain types of behaviours by analysing relationships between various pre-decided influencing factors. For example, a predefined analysis of customer service Vs sales would illustrate the effect of good and bad customer service on sales, and would answer questions such as how important customer service is to customers and how much it influences future sales. On the contrary, the objective of an open-ended analysis is to discover trends that are not anticipated by ordinary immersion in the day-to-day business. Performing an open-ended analysis internally is often impaired by the expectations brought on by individuals working within the company.

The techniques used to analyse data are complex. In order for your company to be able to use the results of the data analysis, it is crucial that the results should not be clouded by the complexity of the calculations but are delivered in a straightforward manner.
Intelligent Marketing

It is important for a company to recognise that a good understanding of its customers is useful only to the extent to which this knowledge can be translated into real business practices. Business intelligence refers not only to the data analysis in itself, but also to how you relate the results from the data analysis to every day business decisions and how you translate the recommended actions stemming from the analysis into live campaigns.

It is therefore important for you to ensure that the marketing department in your company interacts with the data analysts constantly throughout the process. That way, when the data analysis is complete, the marketing personnel will already be in tune with the issues the company is facing, and will be able to develop campaigns to capitalise on opportunities and strategies to mend weaknesses quickly and effectively.

Detailed analysis of your customer data will provide you insight into their needs and wants. The exercise will analyse and segment customers' buying patterns and identify potential services that are in demand. You can use this information to shorten response times to market changes, which then allows for better alignment of your products and services with your customers' needs.

An in-depth understanding of your customers, provided through comprehensive data-analysis, will also allow you to pick and target better prospects, achieve a higher response rate from marketing programs, and at the same time identify reasons for customer attrition and create or alter programs and services accordingly.

Understanding how external market conditions affect your business will enable you to react quickly to future changes in the market. Finally, understanding customer behaviour and the way they use your products and services will enable your company to improve its service to its current client base as well as to target new business more effectively.

Visit http://www.accuracast-marketing-agency.co.uk/business-intelligence.shtml to learn more about gaining business intelligence.

About AccuraCast

AccuraCast is an integrated marketing, business intelligence and data analysis agency, providing small and medium sized companies in the UK a more accurate picture of their business environment via comprehensive data analysis, business intelligence, and marketing consultancy services.

AccuraCast helps companies gain a better understanding of their customers and market their products and services more effectively. The company uses high-tech data analysis methodologies to investigate client databases smartly, and proven sales and marketing methods to reach the target markets. AccuraCast delivers costumer specific marketing solutions and information based on tailor-made analysis of the databases, allowing companies to gain the necessary edge over the competition.

For more information contact:

Jerome Bergerou
AccuraCast
Tel: 0870 240 7847
Fax: 0871 277 1371
Web: www.accuracast.com
Email: j.bergerou@accuracast.com

Marking Your Territory

2009-01-11T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Bonnie Jo Davis

We all know the familiar adage "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck..." it's nearly always a duck. The same is true with image, particularly when it comes to the images we portray of ourselves as writers.

My e-book "Articles That Sell", teaches the how-to's of effectively marketing your business by writing and publishing articles. These ideas will help you literally take your marketing act to the street by presenting yourself as a professional writer.

A professional writer? Of course...the last image that you want to convey is that you're an amateur. If you want to brand yourself and your business professionally, then you've got to conduct all your marketing efforts with the perspective of a skilled and accomplished pro.

First, you'll need to erase any stereotypical images of writers. They aren't all philosophical types in glasses and black turtlenecks. Writers are real people, just like you. They come from all walks of life and have their own mortgages to pay. Very few writers are able to boast successful careers based only upon the words they have authored. In fact, most of the prominent writers we read today all have certain elements in common.

What are the marks of a professional Writer?

Business Cards - Does yours make any mention of the fact that you're a writer? If it doesn't, then you're sending an alarming signal that you write as a hobby.

Resume - Does yours note the names and dates of the publications that have featured your work? No listed works, no credibility.

Portfolio - Do you have a beyond-your-hard-drive collection of the articles you have written? All writers should have a hands-on cd or floppy portfolio. If possible, you should also have a physical portfolio containing your work, particularly any work that has been published in print.

Current Contact List or Database - Can you put your hands on a complete list of contact information? We're not talking sticky-notes here. This should include the names, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web site addresses of any publications to which you have submitted an article. Ideally, you should also include the contact information for any new publications about which you learn. Make certain to include the name of the article you have submitted and whether it was published. If you sold an article, list the price for which you sold it. Review your information regularly and follow-up with each publication periodically.

Letterhead and Envelopes - Think it's too expensive? If it's a business expense then it's tax deductible. While it's true that editors are primarily interested in the content of your work, unprofessional correspondence sends up a red flag that you're trying to break-in to writing. You probably have a software program on your computer that you can use to create an impressive letterhead for yourself. Visit your local office supply store to find a quality paper to print it.

Editor - Now, we're talking some real money, aren't we? As I've said before in a previous ATSU Newsletter, there are affordable editors out there. You can even find one at a local college who might be willing to work for a nominal fee. If using a "for-pay" editor isn't an option, you should at least have all your work proofed for grammar, spelling, and flow of content by someone who is qualified and is objective. It's important that you be open-minded to constructive criticism.

Library Card - Who has time to read? The best way to learn to better express our own thoughts and further develop our writing is through reading the thoughts of others. Ask anyone whom you consider to be a professional writer. That person will always tell you that they have either always been or have become an avid reader. In the area of reading, venture out and read beyond your normal scope of preferences. You'll be amazed at how expanding your horizons can truly fine-tune your own writing skills.

Success in marketing with articles is a reciprocating enterprise. The more you write and publish articles to market your business, the more exposure you will gain as an author. Presenting yourself as an across-the-board professional in your area of writing will propel your success even further. Maximize the mileage you can earn through your writing!

Article marketing guru Bonnie Jo Davis offers free and paid article marketing resources on her Squidoo Lens and at her membership site Article Submission Sites.com.

Loan Officer Training A First Step To Realtor Marketing

2009-01-10T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Chad Weber

Today's article will be short and to the point. Don't let the length of the message fool you though. Some very strong points will be made in this article. We will be discussing an effective way to get the attention of your target agents.

Many times I have heard the complaint that realtors just don't seem to pay attention to loan officers anymore. They are either already using a loan officer that they are happy with, or they just don't seem to have the time to be bothered by just one more loan officer. Have you experienced this?

My suggestion to those of you who are shaking your heads yes, is to set a little bit of time aside each week for some education. What I want you to do, is jump onto your favorite browser (Google, MSN, Yahoo etc.) and do a search for your local association of Realtors. You can search by state, or you can search by city if you are in a larger area.

Once you have found the nearest association, I want you to save it to your favorites, and visit it once each week. I also want you to subscribe to the free newsletter if one is offered. Why do I want you to do this? Simple. I want you to keep up to date on what is going on within your local realty community. If you are up top date on the current hot topics, and points of interest, you will be better prepared to hold a great conversation with those you come in contact with.

This information will allow you to demonstrate the truth behind your words when you explain to agents why you are different. Most loan officers cruise along oblivious to what is going on within their real estate community. Do you want to be lumped in with every other loan officer? Of course not.

Not to mention, this strategy also allows for great conversation starters when you are the one to bring up current issues and concerns. Why not print out a newsletter, cut out an article and send it to your target agents? These are just 2 ways you can use this information. There are many more great ways to use the information gleaned from these sites. Before you go, I just want to reiterate that if you are serious about earning realtor business, there is no excuse not to make yourself familiar with the community. The information is free, easily accessible and even archived for your convenience. Why not visit your local Association of Realtors site right now? You'll be glad you did.

Average Joe L.O. provides truly unique, and hype-free marketing solutions to loan officers. If your goal is to close more purchase loans in a shorter period of time, then you need to visit http://www.averagejoelo.com today. Enjoy our free articles and training resources.

Slogans Creating And Using Them In Life Career And Business

2009-01-09T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Catherine Franz

Information is coming at us from all directions nowadays. This pace requires us to demand that we receive it fast and predigested in order to inch ahead of the game. This also requires a new filing system method for storing the bites and bytes.

In this article, we will go into greater details on:

* Why slogans are important in today's society fast-pace information systems.

* What is a slogan?

* Learn the six major types of slogans.

* The many uses for slogans.

* Seven ways to make slogans memorable.

First, lets create a clear definition for a slogan. A slogan is a noun, usually repeated and persuasive that creates a memorable catch phrase, motto, or jingle, that expresses a particular aim or concept. A concept that you want to stick in your audience's mind like glue to paper.

Second, what makes a slogan memorable? Brevity is first in line -- normally 10 words or less. Rhythm is the only exception to brevity. Rhythm is easier to create if there is an association to the receiver's past -- like a particular jingle on TV during their teen years for those now in their 50s. I still hold one from a TV ad long ago, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." And I never smoked.

An additional method is through repetition or language vividness. More on this later.

Third, what are the benefits for using slogans? Brevity, as mentioned earlier, meets the requirements of today's fast pace. Slogans also influence decisions, persuade, and add credibility. Our brains are like filing cabinets. A slogan makes it easier to file and pull when needed. For NLPers, neuro-linguistic programming, slogans create anchors. When people repeat the slogan, then consider it filed.

There are five major slogan types:

(1) A feature -- a uniqueness or difference between a substance, product or object. Ex: "Write an ebook in 7 days."

(2) A benefit -- a result that someone receives. Remember, this saves you [time or money].

(3) A question -- thought-provoking methods. "How would you like to be a millionaire in three years?"

(4) A challenge -- a dare. Ex: The Marines, "We are only looking for a few good men."

(5) A structure -- a design or collection put together for a single purpose. Ex: "The Abundance Center holds all the information you will ever need to know on abundance."

There are seven ways to make a slogan memorable:

(1) Make it exciting

(2) Be boastful or exaggerated

(3) Self-referencing

(4) Metaphorical, playful or humorous

(5) Inspirational or uplifting

(6) To trigger painful memories or possibilities

(7) Use of vivid or freshful language

Okay, the basics are out of the way. Yet to come: How to use slogans in your personal life, career, and business. Including examples for re-enforcement.

Create Life Slogans

Life slogans help energize goals, dreams, and even change beliefs. One of my favorite slogans gets me jumping out of bed every morning (benefit, self-referencing): "Everyday begins as a clean new slate, I am free to choose what gets written there." Is there a slogan that swirls around in your head in the morning? Share it with others -- write a poem or create a story about it.

Playtime: Create a life slogan, two or three, that get you hopping. Try them out for a day or two. Measure their energy from 1-10 (10 being highest). Share and ask for feedback.

Do you have children? Create positive slogans that rhythm and trigger action. I don't recommend negative slogans like, "Last one in, is a rotten egg." Create positive slogans, "First one in, gets a hug (rhythm and action). This slogan is a little too cute, yet it makes my point.

Create Career Slogans

Do you belong to Toastmasters or give presentations? Use slogans for the title, then repeat it in your content along with its meaning, and as the last line. Watch how many mention its affects afterwards. Create a new one for each speech.

Create interview slogans. Ones that help them remember you. Know the company's slogan. Create a slogan that builds on you're your features and benefits of why they need to hire you. Use it during the interview. You can create one that can use one or two of the different types: self- referencing, metaphorical or inspirational.

Slogans are powerful enough that people, like comedians and actors, have developed entire careers around them. You don't need to be famous to start. Slogans can even become book titles later on.

Business Slogans

In business, slogans are usable for self-introductions, prospective presentations, on web sites, in e-mail signatures, and even speaking engagements.

Example: You are a coach giving a presentation for a contract with a company for life coaching or business coaching. Create a slogan for a process or concept on what applications you will be using. Or give the process an acronym, like S.T.O.P. [something]. Let the acronym be the start of the slogan. Create one for your complimentary sessions. You can also create a slogan to share each week with your clients.

Be creative, use a slogan in each of your sales and marketing processes, change them frequently if you need to. Sold a contract a year ago with one slogan, create another, and sell them another contract this year.

Use slogans in article titles, ebooks or books. Sometimes a slogan takes off and becomes so memorable it becomes the brand for a company. Coke Cola with the slogan, "The real thing," took themselves to first place in the marketplace with these three words. Everything afterwards just wasn't the real thing.

Creating a Slogan

Where do you start to build slogan's? Re-read any of your notes or material. Highlight phrases that contain high energy. Do you lead teleclasses, like I do? Ask participants at the end of each call for two or three words of what they are taking away. Whatever they provide was memorable for them. Hear it multiple times, those are sure slogans. This also applies to pilot programs you might give. Ask for feedback, they are usually built in slogans.

Ask, "What do I want people to remember about [me][my company]?" KISS it -- keep it simple and short. That is possibly a slogan.

Next, ask, "What do I want them to do?" This is another type of slogan. Yellow pages had a great one for years, "Let your fingers do the walking."

Another way to create a slogan is to take two phrases that have parallel construction and place them together with a comma. Ex: Prizefighter Ali, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Rhyme helps create memorable. Read poetry for triggers or language that influences or inspires.

Ask friends for help. Make it a game at a meal event. Ask clients too on feedback as to what makes you memorable to them. They always keep it short.

Be playful when creating slogans. Keep take of them too in your business journal or in a slogan file on your computer. Add and use them frequently. Encourage others to do the same. Success attracts success. Share it and it will, "Always attract back everything you need."

Catherine Franz is a Marketing & Writing Coach, niches, product development, Internet marketing, nonfiction writing and training. Additional Articles: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

Large One

2009-01-08T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Craig Garber

Here's a proven, and truly easy way to start increasing your sales, immediately.

All you need to do is add these 2 words to your selling system, and you're good to go.

In fact, this trick's so good, I wish I could take credit for coming up with it, but the truth is, it comes from a little-known marketing legend.

Here's the deal:

In 1947, Elmer Wheeler was one of the best-known salesmen of his time. His "Wheeler Institute of Words" developed a "best practices" of selling, by testing a variety of words in over 19 million selling situations.

I'm right in the middle of reading one of Elmer's most famous books, "Tested Sentences That Sell".

And here's a great little selling trick that comes straight out of this book:

Ever go into a restaurant and order a drink?

Of course you have.

And what does your server usually ask you, right after you place your order?

They usually say "Small or large?", right?

Well, imagine for a moment... you're the owner of this restaurant.

Do you have any idea how much your sales would increase over time, if... instead of saying "Small or large?" after your customers ordered their drinks ... you told your servers to instead, say...

"Large one?"

Let me take the guess-work out of this and make your job easier for you.

Elmer Wheeler tested this experiment out in five-thousand separate selling situations. And the results showed, when your server asked "Large one?"...

7 out of every 10 people, answered "Yes!"

So, let's say a large soda costs you 35¢ more than a small soda -- are you with me on this? This means, by saying "Large one?"... 7 out of every 10 customers that walk through your door, end up giving you an extra 35 cents!

Now you may be thinking, "So what?... It's only 35 cents."

A-h-h-h, but remember....

Little Hinges Swing Big Doors Open!

Follow me here for a minute: If you've got 5 servers... and each of them does this with 100 customers a day, this means each of them will be serving large sodas to an extra 70 people a day.

That's an extra 350 large soda sales a day. (5 servers x 70 large sodas each).

350 extra sales, at 35¢ each, is $122.50 a day in extra gross sales for you... which translates into $857.50 extra a week, and over 52 weeks, this turns into...

$44,590 Dollars A Year... With ZERO Extra Marketing Costs Involved!

Not bad, hey?

And if your large sodas cost 50¢ more than your small sodas, in that case, your annual bump in gross sales would be $63,700 Dollars!

70¢ more? O.K., that one's easy -- just double the 35¢ figure -- now you're selling $89,180 Dollars more!

See how easy this stuff is?

It's insane, isn't it?

But what if you don't have a restaurant?

How can you use this trick in your business?

Well, let's say you own a photography store. When people are filling out their forms to get their pictures developed, instead of saying "Singles or doubles?", you can say "Doubles?".

If you own a landscaping company, instead of asking "Shrubs and lawn?", you'd say "Whole yard?"

And if you're a hairdresser, instead of asking "Cut and shampoo?", you just say "Shampoo?"

Make sense?

When it comes down to it, the basic premise of this selling trick, is...

If You Don't Ask... You Don't Get!

But polishing your request up so it's "benefit-oriented" to your prospect... makes this work smoothly... effectively... and without looking like you're trying to "sell more".

Notice how you're not asking "Do you want a large soda?" -- you're just saying "Large one?"

See, you'll have to experiment a little bit to find out what works best in your situation, but not you've at least got one helluva head start on things, no?

And can you think of any easier way to make this kind of extra money?

Elmer Wheeler really was a "selling genius" and you'll pick up quite a bit from him.

And, from the excitement and enthusiasm he comes across with, you know he enjoyed his work.

Here are a few of Elmer's famous quotes:

"Your first 10 words are more important than your next 10,000."

"People seldom want to walk over you until you lie down." And...

"Don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle."

Unfortunately, Wheeler's books are all out of print. You'll find them showing up pretty consistently on e-bay though, and, you can also find some of them on www.abebooks.com or www.alibris.com.

P.S. Remember, little hinges really DO swing big doors open -- and success lies in the margins, not in the vast open spaces. KSo keep your mind open to finding the small things that others let slip... through the cracks.

"Craig Garber is America's Top Direct-Response Copywriter. You'll find hundreds of marketing tips to increase your sales, and his insanely popular FREE Direct-Response Marketing Tip Of The Week, on his website, www.kingofcopy.com. Copyright © Craig Garber. All rights reserved."

5 Ways To Give Your Web Site A Bigcompany Look And Feel

2009-01-07T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Alexandria K. Brown

We all DO judge a book by its cover, and the same saying goes for Web sites. I've seen many entrepreneurs offer great information on their Web pages, but compromise their image dramatically with a few amateur mistakes that can be VERY unforgiving.

If you want to attract high quality clients and customers, and convey that you're a legitimate, credible, and sought-after business, these five points are a great launching pad to give your site that "big company" look and feel.

1. Start with a high-quality LOGO.

The one your kid created for you doesn't count! I'm talking about paying a designer to do one for you, and it doesn't have to cost in the thousands. If you don't have much of a budget, consider the following options:

For my E-zine Queen site, I used an online logo service called "1800MyLogo" (http://www.mylogo.com). At the time they charged only $199 to design a professional logo based on my business, style, and personal preferences. The whole process only took about two weeks and was conducted entirely over the Web. (To see the final result, take a quick peek at Ezine Queen (http://www.ezinequeen.com.)

I've also heard good things about GotLogos.com, where you can get a quick Web site logo for only $25!

2. Get your own business DOMAIN NAME.

It's just a fact that folks will feel safer shopping at a site with its own domain name.

For example, if you were shopping online for a circular saw, would you be more likely to purchase from a hardware site called "...bobshardware.com" or the one whose URL is "...geocities.com/3339/bobshardware'? (This is a fictional example, by the way.)

Having your own domain name implies you're a "real" company, and not Uncle Bob working in his kitchen at night (even though you my very well be ; )).

There are several places to buy domain names at good prices, but one of my favorites is WebLaunching.net (http://www.weblaunching.net). (Only $12 per year.)

3. Get (and use) a business E-MAIL ADDRESS.

Nothing screams "amateur" like sending out professional e-mail from a handle like "fuzzybear4u@hotmail.com." Once you get a domain name for your Web site, have your hosting company set up a professional e-mail *alias* for you.

Let's go back to Bob, for example. Suppose Bob's e-mail has always been "BobSmith000002@earthlink.net." Now that he has his own domain name, he can instead use "bob@bobshardware.com". He still KEEPS his Earthlink address, because that's where he'll actually receive his mail. But he should only GIVE OUT the new one on his Web site, business cards, etc.

If you use Outlook or a similar e-mail program, you can set it up so that your e-mails ONLY show your e-mail alias and your personal e-mail address. (To do this in Outlook, go under the "Tools" menu. Then choose "Accounts." Then select the account you use, and click "Properties." Enter your e-mail alias in both the "e-mail" and "reply address" fields.)

4. Get a professional-looking Web site DESIGN.

This can mean either hiring a designer to do a custom site for you, OR designing it yourself. Unless you're both trained extensively in HTML and have a background in design, it's well worth the money to hire someone.

Find prospective designers who work with small businesses, ask to see samples of their work, and be upfront about your budget. If their rates are higher than you can afford, ask them if they have any pre-designed Web site templates they can just insert your information in, cutting down tremendously on design time and cost.

Whatever design you choose, make it CONSISTENT on every page of your site, by using the same design elements such as borders, fonts, and colors.

If your budget is next to nil and you'd like to choose from a variety of templates that you can customize, check out Ken Evoy's new "Site Build It"! This innovative tool lets you create your own site very easily, and it has some of the most professional-looking templates I've seen. The affordable package (less than $350 USD) also includes hosting, a list service, and more. (http://www.sitesell.com/websellsecrets.html)

5. Tell us WHO YOU ARE and HOW TO REACH YOU.

Most of us (and rightfully so) are leery of purchasing online from a company we've never heard of before. To alleviate our fears, put contact information on every page if you can, with a physical mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address.

If you're uncomfortable posting your home address, lease a box around the corner and use that address. Avoid using "P.O. box" in your address if possible, which can appear suspicious. Real companies have real addresses!

Also, get a *Toll-free* number if you can it says "big company" and "customer service." I got mine from my long distance provider, 1Com (http://www.1cominc.com), because they charge no setup fee or monthly fees I only pay for the incoming calls at my usual great long distance rates.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is author of the award-winning manual, "Boost Business With Your Own E-zine." To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/

How To Get A Government Contract Part 01

2009-01-05T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jim Hart

Does your business qualify for a government contract? Many business owners avoid government contracting for a number of reasons including, but not limited to, excessive documentation, stringent financial reviews and the general complexities associated with federal and state contracts. As a result, many business owners (about 80% of the nations small businesses) do not participate in this trillion dollar industry.

Anybody who has ever attempted to investigate government contracting at the federal level is keenly aware of the myriad details and bureaucratic nightmare and the volume of information that must be absorbed before an individual can even begin to make sense of how the system works. Frankly, it is bizarre. The people who work for the governments (local, state and federal) simply have too much time on their hands to develop rules, regulations, policies and procedures and a document for everything. Who has the time or inclination to muddle through all this complexity to bid on a highly competitive contracting process, which you will probably not win anyway? That’s a good question and here are some answers.

Getting a government contract, while highly competitive, will probably not create a windfall stream of revenue for your business but it will produce a steady stream which you can be assured of timely payment and, this revenue can be directly applied to cover your overhead. This will allow you to achieve economies of scale that will enable you to win more profitable commercial contracts in the private sector. It also adds market credibility with your customers when they know you are substantial enough to service a government contract whether it is a local, state or federal contract.

Most people think of the fed when they think of government contracting. But there are many purchases made by local and state governments, which your small business may be very well qualified to compete. Your local government purchases many things not normally considered: everything from bathroom supplies to car leases, audiovisual equipment and janitorial services. The local government should be your first target for winning a contract less than $25,000.00

And that is the key to success: One thing the various levels of government look for is a track record with commercial customers. They want to know that they are contracting with a business that can indeed deliver the contracted goods and services. And the best way you can gain credibility with the government is to start small and build a track record. How? Sell to townships and small cities or county governments within your state and be successful at servicing your customers well with emphasis on customer service. Their testimonials will carry a lot of weight with each successive small government you bid to contract with. You build this reputation layer by layer from the ground up. You can’t get the big things done until you get the little things done first right? So start small and contact your county to find out how the bidding process works in your area.

If you would like more information on this topic, visit our site and check out the Government Link section for high quality links related to government contracting. Our links are highly qualified targets that will show you where to go within the federal and state governments.

This article is one of a mini series of articles related to government contracting that will be presented in the next few weeks so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

Jim Hart

Be Smart, Visit SBS. click this link http://www.smart67.com

SBS is an online information resource for people. Our focus is real estate and business and we have a number of important link categories to help you get information fast. We also have books, kits and Ebooks including free downloads to help you get smart fast.

Marketing The Government For Profit

2009-01-04T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Melanie Corbett

Steps and tips on marketing your business to the government.

Fact: Federal, state and local governments buy over $450 billion combined in goods and services each year.

Part of that can be yours if you know how to get it.

Fact: Federal procurements under $25,000 never go through the bid/RFP process.

The only way to earn these government procurements is to market your business wisely.

You probably know there are huge opportunities for any business to earn government contracts. But how will YOU win them?

It's easy to think of the government as a thing, an entity of inanimate form, but actually, the government is made up of people, hard-working business minded people just like you. With that in mind, marketing to the government is actually branding your name in the minds of the many thousands of government people who buy what you sell.

If you will be doing business with the Federal government, the first step is to become registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR). The CCR is a vendor database that collects and distributes data about potential contractors to government buyers. It helps Government Buyers know who you are and that you're a valid contractor. You can find it on the internet at: www.ccr.gov.

Your next step is to find the right people. Numerous government buyers purchase different things. Some buyers only purchase supplies, while others are responsible for everything needed in their division - from property to paper clips. Do some research to find out who buys what you are selling. It really is all about who you know.

Once you find the name and contact information of the right person, its all a matter of getting to know them and giving them an opportunity to know you and your business. This is when you educate buyers about your wonderful products and services.

Get in touch through mailing advertisements, e mails, and telephone calls. But be careful, you don't want to risk being blacklisted as a spammer or be fined for unreasonable fax usage. Call buyers to inform them about your services, then ask if you can send them a fax or e mail. Also, call to schedule a meeting to discuss business opportunities with their agency.

Don't forget to do your homework. Regularly check resources like fedbizopps.gov to find current federal procurements. The Small Business Administration website (www.sba.gov) also lists valuable information like prime contractors who are looking to subcontract with small businesses. Visit procurement fairs and conferences if your calendar and budget permits. Many resources are available to you including local SBA offices, Small Business Development Centers and Procurement Technical Assistance Centers. Thousands of Small Business Representatives and Liaisons from every government agency are available to assist you. Find the Small Business resource in the agency you want to work with and let them point you in the right direction.

Stay in touch! Maintain the relationships you begin with people in the government. Call and e mail regularly. You want to be in the front of their minds when they think about purchasing in your industry. Let them know when you introduce new products or services. Also, find out what their needs are, you may have just what they are looking for.

Remember! Government employees are under strict ethical rules and are not permitted to take gratuities. However, nominally-valued samples available to the public are permitted.

Finally, don't get discouraged. The government feels like a maze of organizations, agencies and divisions. It can be a challenge to find the right people. Take advantage of the resources that are available to you and learn as much as you can about the procurement process. Be confident in your products, your systems, and in yourself. The government buyers are like any other buyers; they want to work with people who offer value for the money. Your persistence and dedication to customer satisfaction is the best way to show government buyers that you mean business.

About The Author

Melanie Corbett works at TargetGov, helping businesses do business with the government. She can be reached at 410-579-1346 or mcorbett@targetgov.com

How To Successfully Promote Your Business To An International Audience

2009-01-03T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Marie-Claire Ross

Breaking into the international marketplace can catapult a company into increased profitability and growth more rapidly than when selling to a domestic market.

But how do you market your company successfully to overseas buyers? What can you do to provide the right information to prospective clients that is informative and engaging? How can you stand out from the crowd?

The most common promotional approach is to provide brochures. While brochures do play an important role, they can be uninspiring and ill equipped to convey a real feeling for what an organisation does and how they operate.

Furthermore, when brochures are translated into other languages it is commonly agreed that even the best translations are cumbersome and not reflective of how that particular language is used. This often means that international prospects feel less inclined to read brochures in depth.

So how do you show prospective clients how your product is made? What can you do to highlight your product range and its associated benefits?

A proven promotional method is corporate video production. The combination of moving vision with sound, allows complex messages to be communicated in a far superior way to that of any written information.

Research has found that video can be up to four times more effective than a printed brochure. Given that 80% of the information we recall is visual, it is understandable why audiovisual materials are so successful in getting messages across to viewers.

The best investment companies can make is by providing prospective clients with their corporate video on a VHS tape or a menu driven DVD disk or CDROM disk (which is like the menu option on a movie DVD).

CDROMs are particularly flexible as they can include video, brochures, documents and website links. They can even be produced as CD business cards which is perfect for travellers who wish to reduce the amount of marketing materials they need to carry.

Corporate videos can be downloaded from websites, which not only saves money in distribution costs, but provides 24 hour worldwide access.

A further advantage of corporate video is that it allows for voiceovers to be translated into a variety of languages. As visual cues are used in conjunction with the voiceover, the language sounds natural and appealing.

The winner of the 2002 Regional Exporter of the Year Awards, the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory, strongly agrees with the use of corporate video production to boost export sales.

John Williams, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory's marketing manager, says "We are very proud of our Factory and our picturesque location. It makes a lot of sense to show our best attributes to their advantage and the way to do that is through a corporate video."

"We've found corporate video to be extremely flexible. I can travel overseas and show a DVD quality video to potential clients on my notebook computer".

"We had a short promotional video created that was slotted into our Powerpoint presentation which we presented to a large Japanese dairy importer. It really gave us the competitive edge and helped us win a large multi-million dollar contract".

Justin Howden, an International Marketing specialist from Marketing and Investment Partners, also advocates using corporate videos when marketing overseas.

"For companies that are undertaking trade marketing, corporate video is critical. It is vital to get trade onside when marketing overseas and corporate video is irreplaceable when trying to get distributors involved," he says.

"A successful corporate video is created by finding out what are the most important pieces of information that your target market wants to know. You need to unearth what 20% of information will give you an 80% kick in marketing terms. Once you've done this, you then need to focus on these important points in the promotional video".

Corporate video production is a powerful, convenient and cost effective way for overseas buyers to see what you have to offer. It is an innovative method that can encompass video, brochures, documents and website/email links into one small CD business card.

By using a combination of the right promotional tools and a creative approach, the time-consuming and often difficult road to breaking into the global marketplace, can be made much easier.

Marie-Claire Ross is from Digicast Television Production. Digicast Television Production has helped many businesses win big contracts and projects by increasing more awareness and knowledge of their products and services. To get the FREE Digicast Ezine with marketing tips and the latest information on technology to help busy business professionals visit http://www.digicast.com.au to subscribe or contact 0500 800 234 (Australia wide).

Leveraging Promotional Software Techniques

2009-01-02T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by John Dir

In recent consulting work for a number of large corporations, I conducted an experiment using software to distinguish the level and value of my services to the companies I worked with on a number of assignments. The objective was to test the response, continued use, and perceived value of the services provided to my customers. As part of each assignment, the companies requested that I provide procedural information to document my positions in a way that would orient their own personnel, or subsequent contractors to the resources, information, and procedures used to accomplish various tasks involved with the work. What they did not specify was the means I was expected to use in accomplishing this task.

Since I had already developed a number of tools for increasing individual productivity, I decided to use the licensed software from my own company to accomplish the assignments. For all the tasks, I packaged the information in a software bundle that included connections to web sites, documents, personal notations, graphics, program start ups, and other media within the context of a single focused application, then added information about licensing, my business contact information, and web site location for purposes of supporting the presentations. In anticipation of the clients' requests, I had built each package from the beginning of each assignment, so by the time my work was completed, I had detailed information regarding how the assignments had evolved, contacts, procedures used, and tools employed in accomplishing the work.

As the assignments drew to a close, the companies anticipated they would need me to spend a week or two with subsequent personnel to orient and train them in my work. When I showed them the information I had already packaged for them, and demonstrated how it was accessed, they were very surprised to see how thoroughly the task had been completed, and accepted the work immediately. Rather than spending weeks in orienting new people to the tasks, I simply turned over the software information package, and made myself available for questions after briefly orienting my replacements to how the software worked. The subsequent "training" required no more than two days worth of being available for what few questions were raised. Though I did allow the customers the ability to change the contents of documents and certain information gathered by the tool, the licensing and functions of the software package itself did not allow users to alter what was included, or how the software itself worked. I also incorporated each company's logo information into the displays of the packages, so they appeared to be managed by the companies themselves.

The techniques resulted in subsequent calls from the clients asking for me by name to return for more consulting work, and led to calls from others within the company to my business over a year later, asking questions related to my expertise on the content of their information. This experience proved helpful in establishing techniques and practices in leveraging software for business promotional purposes, and providing outstanding tools for distinguishing my services from those competitors who are not using similar practices.

John Dir Director of Software Concepts BHO Technologists - LittleTek Center Teaching computers to work with people. We make software more fun for everyone. Stop by for a visit to our web site, and see what a difference ITL technology makes! HTTP://home.earthlink.net/~jdir

5 Copywriting Secrets For Knowing Your Market

2009-01-01T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Joe Farinaccio

If you'd like to know 5 copywriting secrets for truly knowing your niche customer then you're in for a treat. The most important element in good sales copy is appealing to your reader -- by writing about something that interests them. In other words, you have to give them what they want.

This means appealing to their self-interest. Their personal desires. Getting to know their feelings etc. So how do you do this? By intimately knowing your audience which is what these copywriting secrets are all about.

Here are a few copywriting secrets the pros use on a regular basis:

1) Read all the best-selling books relating to your subject / target market. Note the book's title, then any sales copy or reviews on its back cover. Open it up and review the table of contents and index. Finally, read the first and last chapters. Makes notes on all the details / benefits readers are promised to find inside. These will give you a heads up on what your market currently desires.

2) Find all the magazines relating to your subject / target market. If you're at the library get as many back issues as you can. Leaf through these and note any recurring themes or subjects. These will be the popular ones the ones your target is hungry for.

3) Even more importantly carefully read all the ads in these magazines. Find the ads appearing over and over in each magazine from issue to issue. These ads are probably money-makers. What do they sell? What are the emotions they appeal to? What are the key benefits they promise? The key words used? Etc.

4) Hold on you're not done with the magazines yet. One of the most overlooked of all copywriting secrets is reading letters to the editor. They're filled with strong feelings and emotions. Emotions powerful enough to motivate a reader to sit down and write ... then go through the hassle of addressing an envelope ... stamping it ... and then mailing it.

5) Now you're ready to confirm all the research you've done up to this point. By using the biggest secret of all - - which is getting the industry "controls" already being mailed to your subject / target market.

Direct mail packages that keep mailing over and over again are surely profitable and a winning standard for whoever is mailing them. These are referred to as "controls" in the direct mail industry. And the following resources are relatively inexpensive ones you can use to find such controls:

a) Who's Mailing What! found at http://www.whosmailingwhat.com/

You have to pay for a one-year membership. This basic subscription allows you to get information about direct mailers. Paying extra fees gives you access to industry controls. They even identify the "grand controls," which refer to direct mail packages mailed many, many times over a lengthy period.

b) Inside Direct Mail found at http://www.insidedirectmail.com/

This excellent resource also tells you what's currently mailing to your market. Get a hold of these controls. Read them very carefully. Note every benefit promised. Every emotional hot button. These mailings can be worth more to you than gold if you've got a great mailing list and a great offer.

Alright. That's enough for now. Use these copywriting secrets to your advantage, and enjoy success with your direct mail!

Joe Farinaccio helps businesses and entrepreneurs make money using direct response advertising. To discover how to prosper from copywriting and direct response marketing in your business ... visit his website at ... http://www.sales-letters-and-marketing.com

Marketing Copy Brand Identity Guru

2008-12-31T03:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-30T03:00:00.001-08:00

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.

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

2008-12-29T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-28T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-27T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-26T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-25T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-24T03:00:00.001-08:00

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.

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

2008-12-23T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-22T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-21T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-20T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-19T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-18T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-17T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-16T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-15T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-14T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-13T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-12T03:00:00.001-08:00

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.

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

2008-12-11T03:00:00.001-08:00

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:

Know your event's theme and stick to it!
Fully promote your event
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

2008-12-10T03:00:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-09T03:00:00.001-08:00

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.

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

Getting New Clients When Only A Few Is More Than Enough

2008-12-08T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Stuart Ayling

Many of the business owners I speak with are looking for a relatively small number of new clients. It isn't that they're not ambitious, it's just the size of their businesses doesn't warrant a larger objective. Typically they own service-based businesses with an annual turnover counted in the millions of dollars, not hundreds of millions.

These business owners are successful in what they do but need to jump up to the next level. To do this they need another 5, 12 or even 20 customers. In the big picture, this isn't a lot of new clients.

Fortunately these firms already have many satisfied clients, so they have the opportunity to understand the type of client they best service and get a head-start on attracting new ones.

When working with clients in this situation I often find they have tried a few marketing activities (maybe some advertising or direct mail) and found they haven't worked very well. So we often need a fresh start - to look at what the current marketing tactics should be, rather than just re-hashing what has been done in the past.

OK. So here's a brief run-down on how to get a few good clients.

1. Firstly, take a closer look at the good clients you currently have. Is there a pattern? Are they similar in some way? Try and create a profile.

2. Make sure you understand why your current clients are using your services. What are the real benefits you provide? Be careful not to assume too much, even if you're sure you know.

3. Identify how you can contact more potential clients of the same type. You'll need to be as specific as possible to enable your prospecting work to produce results.

4. Approach your prospects with a carefully created message that will encourage them to talk with you. Expecting a "sale" on the first contact is usually unrealistic.

5. Follow up in person to customise the message for each particular prospect.

6. Where possible get referrals from your existing clients to prospects who are similar to them. Then follow them up in person as well.

7. When you get to meet with your prospects, use a 'sales process' that will ensure you:

a) Present a professional appearance

b) Get all the information you need

c) Answer all the key questions your prospect will have

d) Confirm with your prospect what you will do next. Don't let the sales process stall after this first meeting.

8. Get your prospect to sign up for your services.

Congratulations you have a new client.

Do this a few times and you have reached your objective - a few good clients.

Stuart Ayling runs Marketing Nous, an Australasian marketing consultancy that specialises in marketing for service businesses. He helps clients to improve their marketing tactics, attract more clients, and increase revenue. Stuart also offers telephone consultations and runs regular marketing seminars. For additional marketing resources, including Stuart's popular monthly newsletter, visit his web site at http://www.marketingnous.com.au.

8 Secrets To Marketing Success

2008-12-07T03:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Bill Dueease

The profits of a business are totally dependent on marketing. Otherwise few, if any, sales will be generated. But what is marketing anyway?

Marketing is doing what it takes to convince enough customers to pay the necessary price for your products and/or services to produce the desired profits for the business.

Let's discuss the 8 Secrets business owners can use to greatly improve their marketing success.

Secret #1: Give marketing top priority. The primary reason any customer chooses to buy your products or services is because of effective marketing. The marketing process starts at the very beginning and continues forever! Marketing consists of four separate functions, known as the four P's:

1. Product - Develop your products and/or services to ensure they fill the needs of your potential customers, so they will want to buy from your business. You have full control over this marketing function.

2. Pricing - Set your price structure to ensure that the business will achieve the desired profits and that customers will perceive the value of the benefits they receive to be greater than the prices they pay. You have full control over this marketing function.

3. Positioning - Position your products and/or services to allow potential customers easy interaction with the business to evaluate and purchase your products or services. You have full control over this marketing function.

4. Promotion - The final step is promotion, where you communicate with your potential customers (normally through a communications medium) about the existence and benefits of your products or services to attract them to contact your business to learn more. You will have only partial control over this marketing function.

Marketing is culminated in sales when your customers' perception of the value of their benefits exceeds the price they pay for products or services. You generate successful sales only when you complete positive Product Development, Price, Positioning, and Promotion. In fact, you will want your business to be a marketing machine.

The sales process is frequently part of the promotions function, however it can incorporate all four of the marketing functions, depending upon the type of products or services offered and the make-up of your targeted customers. Secret #2: Do not confuse advertising with marketing. Advertising is only part of the last marketing step (Promotion) and it occurs late in the game. Many people think advertising is all there is to marketing, and they overlook the other three very important earlier marketing steps. Yet, they have total control over the other three marketing steps, which are far more important than advertising. Consequently, you will want to develop the other three functions that you control first, to allow advertising to succeed.

Secret #3: Base your marketing on customer perspectives. Owners believe their power and freedom of choice, as the boss, means that they don't have to deal with the opinions of others. "I am now my own boss" is only partly true. You are in virtual control of either succeeding or failing to convince - The Customer- to buy your products or services. You want to avoid IMPOSING your opinion on your potential customers. Focus on fulfilling the perceived wants and needs of your customers, from Their Perspective.

Secret #4: Research your potential customers. When you have determined who your target customers are, learn everything about:

- What your target customers THINK they want to buy

- Why your target customers THINK they buy

- How your target customers THINK they buy

- When your target customers THINK they buy

Secret #5: Screen out undesirable customers. You have the right and obligation to determine which potential customers you will agree to serve. You should screen out undesirable customers early so you can focus more attention on customers you want to serve. Sadly, owners often may not know how to select desirable customers from the pool of potential customers they encounter. As a result, they often spend too much time, money and energy trying to deal with a handful of hard-to-please customers who frequently demand lower prices at the expense of better customers, who go elsewhere because they were ignored.

Determine the key criteria to decide which potential customers are desirable. You will want to encourage undesirable customers to visit your competitors, so they will expend their time, money and energy instead of you.

Secret #6: Give existing customers full attention. Owners frequently become so focused on getting new customers that they ignore their existing repeat customers. Your business will probably not survive without repeat business. Repeat customers present a wealth of opportunities to you.

- They frequently provide you excellent feedback

- They provide an excellent reference and referral service (read free advertising)

- They are the least expensive to service

- They provide the most likely source of additional business

- Their unnecessary departure causes substantial damage (upset customers will complain to 5 to 9 other people)

Stay close to your existing customers and learn as much as you can from them.

Secret #7: Create a positive identity that is distinct from your competitors. Most customers compare. They need good reasons to choose your product or service over others. You complete more sales when you understand your competitors extremely well and position your products or services for positive customer comparison.

Secret #8: Consider the overwhelming power emotion has on the buying process. Human emotions govern the buying process (some say over 80% of the entire process is emotional). Yet owners frequently focus their energies on price and avoid the real emotional reasons customers will buy. You will want to know and feel the emotional connection your potential customers will connect to your business, your products and/or services, and the way customers interact with your business. Design your marketing program to address the emotional issues to attract and keep the right customers.

The normal human thinking process of deciding to buy almost always starts with an emotional need. The emotional need causes the customer to consider buying something to fill it. The search and evaluation of the possible choices of products and or services is also frequently emotional, and additional emotional forces are often added. The price issue usually comes in near the end. Normally, customers ask about prices to help justify the emotional decisions they have already made. In fact, the request for the price from normal customers is a very strong buying signal (does the cost allow them to buy what they want and is it fair for what they decided to get?).

Encourage customers to enjoy their emotional buying choices

Once the purchase is made, far too many businesses can't wait to shuffle the customers off and almost treat the customers like they have some disease. This frequently causes customers to experience buyer's remorse. Yet, this is the time to finalize the sale once and for all and begin the process of future sales. Congratulate your customers on their buying choices and encourage them to enjoy the emotional benefits they sought from the purchase.

Business owners succeed when they know how to deal with this emotional process and permit the customer to complete this process through final payment.

What a wonderful opportunity! You can take charge of your entire marketing effort and attract the customers you desire with much less effort and less cost.

Provided as an educational service by Bill Dueease of The Coach Connection, where "connecting great people with great coaches" is their goal. You may receive a free copy of the article "10 Insider Secrets Most Business Owners Never Learn" by contacting The Coach Connection at 800-887-7214 or 239-415-1777 or coaches@findyourcoach.com, or at http://www.findyourcoach.com/0o-business-coach.htm