What's black and white and read all over? A newsletter of course! And while there are perhaps hundreds of ways to market your business and increase your bottom line, one of the singlemost effective tools in marketing is your own business-building newsletter. The Power of Newsletters: Newsletters show the customer you care - even when you can't be there. Newsletters answer basic wants and needs, which leads to word of mouth referrals and greater loyalty - something your competitors can't buy. More..

Increase Your Response with Multi-Step Marketing

"There is only one way to judge the effectiveness of a marketing piece, and that is by the number of responses you get." - Heidi Richards - Multi-step marketing is a simple yet extremely powerful strategy when you use it to its full potential. Multi-step marketing is selling people who have contacted you and asked for information about your product or service; a great way to build your own mailing list of prospects and customers. You are able to send multiple mailings to those same people from More..

Open Doors by Building Relationships

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get others interested in you." - Dale Carnegie - "The same could be said for increasing your professional network." - Heidi Richards Building your Network is an ongoing process. Increasing your "Circle of Influence" must be constant in order to achieve and maintain success. The relationships we develop become our eyes and ears to what's happening in business, to share new oppo More..

Why Referral Business Is So Valuable

With so much money invested on innefective advertising, it's time to look at some good old fashioned ways of generating new business. One tried and tested way is by referral. Here are three reasons why referrals are so valuable? 1. Customers who refer are more likely to stay with you and as a result, spend more, adding to their lifetime value. 2. Referrals are more likely to become customers. Why? Because they have been recommended to you by someone they trust and who in turn, trusts you. 3. More..

Copy SoapNet and Make Money

Whether you want to admit it or not, soap operas may hold the key to your home business success. This article includes a few home and small business principles I learned while watching SoapNet. Be really, really good looking. I don't know if you've had this experience, but every time I turn on SoapNet I feel overweight, ugly, and hopelessly average. There is no way I could ever compete with the collection of beauties, male and female, that the soap operas have assembled. But before you go out a More..

Preventive Marketing Offers Small-Mid Sized Business Owners An Ideal Way To Maximize Their Results

As the owner of a creative services boutique - I have realized that at least 9 out of 10 prospects/clients have suffered from one or all of the following (very detrimental) symptoms of trying to grow their businesses: Trouble defining their "BIG PICTURE" Little to no understanding of "evolution focus" Overwhelming feelings of "being stuck", "spinning wheels", "not knowing what to do next" Not enough information about options, alternatives and solutions to common strategies Not enough knowle More..

How To Be A First Class Marketer?

Did you now how to follow up a new customer with less phone calls? First thing for you to know that you only have about 5 minutes for first follow up in the phone. The rest of that is a meeting arrangement. So what should I do to follow up my customers as quickly as you can? #1 doesn't waste your time for non related conversations during the calls.Bring your company profile references and don't display all your product details in phone. Just talk about the benefits of your company and your pr More..

Business Card Design - How to Stand out and Get Noticed

One of the most powerful, yet over looked weapons in your marketing arsenal is your business card. If designed properly this little 3 x 2.5 piece of paper will not only let people know how to contact you it will also tell them why they should contact you. In order to be effective and get you more business your Business card must stand out, and get noticed. How a distinctive business card resulted in a $5,000 Sale A friend of mine and his wife recently went furniture shopping. By the end of the More..

Using a Marketing Calendar Template

Owning a small business isn't easy, especially if you are running it alone. Between moving products, taking orders, paying bills, and taking care of family, it is easy to lose track of everything you need to do. Using a calendar template to organize and manage your marketing strategy will ensure you don't drop the ball with one of the most important parts of your business. Developing a Marketing Strategy First, research and identify who your target clientele is, and what characteristics they s More..

You?re In Charge. Now What?

For years now, you have been waiting patiently for that first opportunity to be put in charge of a group and show what you can do. It has finally happened. You are giddy with excitement and your head is full of ideas. You can't wait to implement, create change, and leave your mark. Before you charge up the hill, possibly leaving everybody else behind, there's something that you really need to handle first. Relationships, Relationships, Relationships Business is built on relationships and havin More..

Creating Customer Value

The purpose of business is to create and retain a customer. Much has been written about customer orientation, customer relationship management (CRM), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) metrics, Customer Centric organization models, customer retention, customer care?add any high sounding word with 'customer' preceding or succeeding that word and you have a new model, a new theory. Headline hitting books, celebrity author seminars and training till another theory comes along. And we see the poor cust More..

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10 Steps to a Great Newsletter

A newsletter can be a wonderful, economical way to communicate with prospects, customers, employees or distributors. Just follow these ten easy steps for newsletter success. 1) Define Your Audience -- Who are you publishing for? Clients (customers) - present, past and prospective? Employees? Your audience will define your content. 2) Set Objectives -- Create a solid foundation for your newsletter by writing down what you want to achieve. 3) Plan Content -- What interests your audience? Build More..

Sage Advice from a Marketing Expert!

An international hair-cutting chain opened a new store directly across the street from the small town's only barbershop owned and operated by a man affectionately known to the locals as 'ol'Joe'. Joe and his barbershop were fixtures on Main Street for over twenty-eight years where he had enjoyed the privilege of trimming the hair on every man and boy in the community. Life was good for ol'Joe back then, but the new 'Haircuts-R-Us' across the street was intent on changing all that. The new stor More..

SMS for the Estate Agent - Targeted Marketing Tool, or Legal Minefield?

Imagine having at your disposal a means to immediately inform house buyers that you have just the property they are looking for. Potential buyers have given their details and their preferences - imagine that you can send them this information no matter where they are or what they are doing, they can read it at a time that's convenient and can act accordingly in their own time. Imagine that you can do this quickly and easily, in a matter of minutes, regardless of the number of recipients. Sounds More..

How to Brief a Marketing Agency

A new client recently emailed us a brief here at Mano Design. It was very brief brief indeed. All it said was, "Can you write me some copy for a postcard?" Resisting the urge to write, "Dear Customers. Having a wonderful time - wish you were here. Love, The Client," we asked him for a more detailed brief and explained why it was necessary. Why Write a Brief? Even with something as simple as a small piece of copy, a proper brief will save you time and money. The agency will also have a better More..

Common Exhibit Marketing Mistakes: Ten Tips on How to Avoid Them

The key to great exhibiting is marketing. But marketing is a very inexact science that leaves room for a multitude of errors to occur. The following are 10 of the most common marketing mistakes that exhibitors often make. Learn to avoid them and you will increase your chances for a successful tradeshow. 1. Have A Proper Exhibit Marketing Plan Having both a strategic exhibit marketing and tactical plan of action is a critical starting point. In order to make tradeshows a powerful dimension your More..

Reasons Why People Usually Dont Buy Again

There are many psychological reasons why people will buy from the first time and why they do not buy from you again. There are books on many of these reasons. Many of these reasons are totally out of your control. But what about the ones that you are in control of? What about the legit reasons that you or your staff cause? Here are the ten top reasons why people do not buy a second time around. 1. Follow up after the sale was poor perceived quality, nonexistent, or too far after the sale. 2 More..

Marketing on the Cheap: Write? Right!!

We all know the value of writing articles for promoting your website or online store. However, writing articles to promote your old-fashioned, traditional brick and mortar business has been around forever. Contact your local newspapers, and chances are, depending on what business you are in, they may be interested in giving you your own column. Most small or medium-sized media markets will have at least one daily serving the communities and probably at least one weekly newspaper. Offer to suppl More..

Time for A Marketing Tune-up

If you have been in business any length of time, I can assure you that habits, not conscious thought, are guiding your marketing actions. Many business people are great optimists, or they probably wouldn't have gotten into the game to begin with. They keep doing everything they've ever done in the hope that one day it will produce results. STOP! It's time to get the brain back in the game! If you are like most people, each time you come across a new marketing idea you add it to your existing ap More..

Effective Tips For Telemarketers

I had a telemarketer call me recently. Here's a rough transcript of the conversation. Think about it? (Telemarketer) Hello, Mr. Yuille? (Me) Yes? Mr. Yuille, it's Tracy from XYZ marketing (names changed to protect the innocent). Yes, Tracy, Mr. Yuille, I'm calling to update our mailing list. Yes, Can I just take a minute to check some details? Yes, but let me ask you; what do you want to send to me? Ah, well, I'm just new here and all I'm supposed to do is check the database information is More..

Educating Your Customers

One of the biggest marketing mistakes businesses make today is failing to educate their prospects and customers about the unique advantages that are being offered to them. The cornerstone of any marketing plan should be to educate your customers. You should first educate them about your product or service, and your company. Then you need to educate them about your industry in a way that is useful to them. The more you educate the stronger the business and the human bond will become. This will b More..

Laws of Marketing - The 10 Immutable

Most marketers believe that anything is achievable if you are energetic, creative or determined enough. But laws of marketing follow laws of business, and if you violate them, you risk your marketing dollars. The conventional answer to all marketing questions is money, which is not true. 1. Law of Leadership - it's better to be the first than it is to be better. People tend to stick with what they've got - e.g. girlfriend and spouse. 2. Law of Category - if you can't be first in a category, se More..

Market Your Identity

One of the most critical but overlooked parts of business success is using your identity. If you want to build a successful business you have to strike the word image from your vocabulary right from the start. Webster's Dictionary defines image as an imitation or representation of a person or thing. On the other hand, identity is defined as, the condition or fact of being the same in all qualities. Identity is based on truth and honesty. Image is often false and misleading. It something you are More..

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8 Proven Ways to Get Referrals

Do you find it hard to ask for referrals? I know I do! Your heart starts racing, you stumble for words, and sometimes you break out in a sweat just thinking of asking for a referral. But the secret to getting referrals without having to ask is to develop a system that does the asking for you. 8 Strategies to Get Referrals Get referrals #1 Think in reverse. Instead of asking for one, earn one. If you're not getting referrals, maybe you're not providing the service your customers want and you More..

Make More Money with Marketing Metrics

Do you know how effective each of your individual marketing tactics is? Many small business owners market in a vacuum. They spend money on brochures, advertisements and web sites with no real way to tie specific results to specific endeavors. If you are unable to associate leads and sales with the specific marketing efforts that generate them you have no way of knowing what is working as an effective marketing mechanism and what is not. The money you invest in marketing your company is preciou More..

6 Things I Know About Postcards That You Don?t

In my plethora of experience tucked away between these ears, I have managed to cull out for you what I consider the "best of the best" - in other words, I took the most proven details about postcards that were significant to you starting a postcard campaign and really winning at it. So here goes the most incisive higlights about postcards. 1) I know that a postcard is better than something in an envelope. For many reasons, the main one being, in an envelope you can't make your potential custom More..

Business Marketing Strategy

The term business marketing strategy might sound like it is esoteric or stratospheric, so let's take the mystery out of it so you can devise and implement your own business marketing strategy that fits in to your small business plan. Strategy comes from a Greek word "stratagein" meaning "to be a general". Think of a strategy as an overall plan of action needed to win a war. The smaller, detailed actions are called tactics. You can have tactical plans which help you achieve your strategic market More..

Self Promotion Brings Business Success

Your business success depends on your ability to promote your services, your products, and yourself. Fortunately, promotion is simple. I know...you hate selling. "But, I'm not a born salesperson," you say. "I don't want to hustle people." And, images of high-pressure, arm-twisting solicitors come to mind. But, that doesn't have to be you. You're not pushing your services/products onto others; people will buy them because they need them and because they have a relationship with you. It's the pers More..

Writing A Marketing Strategy

It is my belief that if anyone is to suceed in any type of business then the business needs to be marketed to it's target consumers in an effective manner. In order to do this effectively rather than in an ad hoc, probably expensive, manner I propose the construction of a marketing plan. This is something you can do yourself quite simply, but it will need some time for research and thought if it is to be worthwhile and achieve results. So, have read this far and not run away yet you will be won More..

Getting The Big Picture Series: Part 2-Whats Beneath The Surface?

When you take a piece of gold to a pawn shop sometimes they will take a small saw-like tool to scrape the jewelry to find out for sure "What's Beneath The Surface". Sometimes they find pure gold, silver, or tarnished metal. Well it's the same story when it comes to conducting business on the Internet. Some Opportunities fall far from the mark. Some "Get Rich Quick" schemes will read, "Earn $10,000 Every Month" or "Make A Million Dollars and Retire Early". "Big earnings with minimum effort" not More..

Michael Jackson, Classic Marketing Blunders And Your Wallet!

You couldn't help but be captivated by the unbelievably cute kid with the amazingly controlled falsetto voice and electric dance moves. He was only 10 years old, when he exploded onto the music scene, along with his brothers as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, but he had the stage presence of a twenty year veteran. Before or since, I haven't seen a child that talented, that gifted, that dynamic, that charismatic! I'm talking about Michael Jackson, of course. The whole world fell in love with M More..

The Process of Change in Marketing Approaches

In a world economy that is in constant flux and undergoing turbulence, more companies are realizing that their most precious asset is their customer base. An even more important realization is the need to satisfy the whims and fancies of these customers in order to survive in these increasingly competitive markets. Organizations that do not act on this dictum have suffered the loss of market share or worse, total annihilation. Such dire consequences have awakened many organizations to rethink th More..

Send Postcards To Save Money and Cut Through E-mail Clutter

Use your computer to send personalized color postcards in quantities of 1 to 1,000. Print on demand postcards are here. You can quickly, easily, and economically use your computer to prepare and address color postcards that will arrive in your prospect's morning mail! Postal mail is growing in importance as the volume of e-mail steadily increases. A four-color postcard in the morning mail will attract far more attention than the same message sent via e-mail. What you can do Here are some of More..

Stretch Your Marketing Reach

One of the most cost effective marketing strategies you can utilize is an online newsletter, also referred to as an E-Zine. You can provide valuable content to your customers and potential customers with an E-Zine. The beauty of utilizing the Internet to distribute your information is often people will forward your information to others who have similar interest. The key to success with an E-Zine is consistency in distribution. It won't be beneficial to have a sporadic schedule. Distribution o More..

Marketing as a Spiritual Practice II: Unearthing Your Potential

Marketing as we know it is over. Done. Finito. People the world over are bored and spammed to the brink of tears. But there is good news: There's a better way to connect with precisely those you wish to reach - and it works far better than traditional, expensive, gimmick-driven marketing. We call this method "Marketing as a Spiritual Practice." Why? Because marketing is actually a process, just like any real spiritual quest. It takes time. There are countless "monsters" (or at the very least, More..

The Truth About The Fallacy Of 7

Ted Nicholas is a marketer with a proven track record. He has started, operated and sold 21 profitable businesses, and is responsible for the direct or indirect publishing of hundreds of books and publications. Ted Nicholas is a well- known and respected leader in the information marketing business. Ted Nicholas has mastered the art of selling. His million dollar best selling books and other successful ventures will show you how you can use the power of the written and spoken word to grow your More..

The Most Powerful Marketing Weapon Ever Invented

It was probably first discovered out there in the caves or wherever else the history of mankind begun. And yet this weapon has been used so sparingly over the centuries. It is so powerful that those surprisingly few who have stumbled on to it and appreciated and respected its power have ended up making untold fortunes. Even the greatest mail order marketer of them all, Joe Karbo, created a selling system that showed he fully understood the power of this weapon. (More on that at the end of this More..

Walking Talking Advertisements

So you've made a sale. Great! Now what? You're not just going to sell your new customer a product and let them walk away, are you? Not when you're marketing on tight budget! You now have to use the customer in front of you to build your business, and you do that with a successful referral program. Referrals work. Word of mouth advertising is still the most powerful form of advertising available, and it's getting ever MORE powerful in 2004. The largest companies in this country have cut their More..

Using Demographic Data For Your Direct Mail Marketing Campaign

Targeting high potential markets with a direct mail marketing campaign can be a very affordable and efficient way to get new customers for most companies and entrepreneurs but how can you find a way to reach those high potential markets? Using demographic data could be your solution. In the United States, demographic data is easy to get through the US Census Bureau website. Although, understanding how to extract data from a database and segment markets in a way to identify which market would be More..

Are You Ready To Research Your Market?

Picture this. You develop some product or service, spend countless hours making sure everything is just right, set up a beautiful web site, make sure the ecommerce end is secure, and then release what you know will be of utmost benefit to others. Do you really know this? How do you know it? Gut feeling? Someone else told you so? In the world of online ventures, researching the currently defined marketplace can be even more important than in the offline world. Why? Things change so incredibly f More..

Marketing On The Cheap: Speak Out!

No matter what business you are in, you probably have something to sell. Furthermore, if you have something to sell, you have something to say. So say it to as many people as possible, and don't wait for them to come to you. You need to go to them. Take your business, your product and yourself, either directly or indirectly, out of the office or store and onto the local speakers' circuit. Don't have one in your area? Think again. In another article (See "Marketing On The Cheap: Become a Joiner" More..

Business Cards That do the Business

A business card makes a statement about who you are and what your business is about. It needs to convey the quality of your business and an insight into your personality. I have been handed business cards and the first thought to go through my mind was - "Cheap" A tacky design - low quality paper - doesn't feel good in the hand and looks cheap to the eye. That then becomes my overall impression of the business. Here are some ideas: *Use colour - black and white is too boring but don't use "day More..

Winning At Business With Your Marketing Game Plan

Stuart from Colorado had talked to a number of marketing firms and gotten estimates for designing and printing his marketing materials and building a web site for his business producing promotional cds. One firm quoted $100,000 to build his web site alone. He sensed something was missing or wrong, but couldn't put his finger on it, so he called me. I asked Stuart how the various marketing pieces and activities were going to work together to help him generate leads. I asked him what his marketin More..

Attract Your Dream Customer

Have you clearly defined your target audience? These are the prime buyers of your products or services. It is the people or organizations you are pursuing actively as customers. You don't need every customer in the world! You need the ones who are a good match for YOU. The more specific you are, the more effective your marketing campaign will be. But, let's take this concept one step further. You can develop specific strategies that will attract your DREAM customers. These are the people who ar More..

What Does Marketing Mean?

You can have the best little business ever with wonderful potential, but if you can't market it, you don't have a business at all. Learn how to market yourself, because you are your business. Don't confuse the terms "marketing," "advertising," and "promotion." These terms carry a different tune. Marketing means informing your potential clients about your products or service, and finding ways to establish and keep a customer base. Your target market is the specific group of people that consume More..

Who Is Your Market and Where Are They?

An important part of planning your business is to know who will use your products/services. The vast majority of small businesses will rely on their communities for sales. It is in your best interest to get to know everything you can about your community, or the people who will use yor business. Please don't spend advertising dollars on people who don't want or need your products/services. First, find out who are your potential consumers. Find out by answering the following questions: * Are m More..

Postcard Marketing Done Right

Say it with a post card. A well designed, colorful, high impact postcard in the mail box of your prospect is your best ticket to a new customer. For your existing customer, a marketing campaign which includes frequent post cards is the perfect start to new sales - this is one of the key small business marketing strategies. For the recipient: ? You don't have to open a post card! ? You see it right away, the bright picture is not hidden from view by an envelope. ? The message leaps right out More..

Postcards - Picture Perfect Promotion

There is a simple but almost mystical law which governs promotion and marketing and their relationship to the amount of business generated: business will come in to the degree that you get your message out, promote, let people know you are there, advertise, write to people, call people, e-mail people and generally communicate to existing or potential clients. It isn't a fact that registers easily and it almost takes faith to follow this dictum until you have seen it work over and over in all so More..

Direct Mail Marketing Done Correctly, Cannot Fail

So how do you do it? Direct mail marketing. When it comes to marketing your product or services there are two basic challenges: 1. How do you obtain new customers or clients? 2. How do you get your existing customers to come back for more? Direct mail/direct response marketing answers both these challenges admirably (it's not the only way to do it but it is a proven method that always works). You can ALWAYS rely on DIRECT MAIL MARKETING. The postcard-direct marketing's secret weapon? One o More..

Starting Small Business Promotional Campaigns

So you're starting a small business. You figured out what you wanted to sell or do and went out and got it all set up, had your DBA framed and on the wall and now all you need is for someone to buy your product or use your service. Right? How are you going to go about getting your public to know you even exist? Promote! Promote! Promote! Well that all sounds simple, but say you're a financial specialist, a boat builder or llama farmer. They probably didn't teach the basic principles of starti More..

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