Infotips » Branding

You Quit Your Job and Started Up Your Own Business. Now, How Do You Make it Work?

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:15:01 +0000

Ok, so you�ve quit your job and started up your own business.

You�ve got passion, you�ve got drive and you have a great concept that you think people will love.

But you say to yourself �Hang on a minute, there�s got to be more to it than that�.

Well, you are right…and the scary thing is that if you don�t learn the ropes fast, there is a high probability of failure.

Depending on which statistics you look at, it has been said that within the first 5 years, 4 out of 5 new businesses go out of business…..and within 10 years, only 1 in 10 businesses will survive.

If you were a betting person, you probably wouldn�t like those odds. And yet every day, many people lay it all on the line and enter the business world with the hope of fulfilling their dream…a dream of freedom, lifestyle and prosperity.

So what can you do to move the odds more in your favour and improve your chances of success?

There are a wide range of strategies and processes for businesses to address and there are a thousand books around to tell you exactly how to do it. The problem is, where do you start?

To help simplify the process, I have made a list of 10 steps that as a minimum, every business owner must follow.

1. Business Plan. A business plan is critical to achieving consistent growth in any business. The benefits of a business plan are realised immediately through the process of just thinking clearly about your business for an extended period of time, and through illuminating the areas of your business that need fixing.

2. Customer Database. At the end of the day, your customers are the most valuable asset you have in your business. You should be taking every opportunity to collect the names and contact details of your customers and communicating with them on a regular basis.

3. Systems. Systems are essential for ensuring that you provide a consistent level of service to your customers and so that you understand the financial performance of your business. They will also enable the business to run without you being there every minute of the day.

4. Staff Incentives. You�ve probably heard the expression �If you pay peanuts you get monkeys�. That expression directly translates into bad people equal a bad company. To attract great people, progressive companies are keenly aware that they need to foster personal responsibility and provide direct reward for measurable results.

5. Staff meetings. Meetings are an opportunity to inspire your people and

thereby your business. They also give your people a sense of belonging through the process of sharing information.

6. Marketing. Marketing is not just about getting more customers, it�s also about retaining the customers you have, generating ongoing sales from existing customers, increasing your profit through value adding, creating a sense of loyalty within your team and creating an image of your business in the minds of the consumer. In fact marketing is the most important of all success strategies in your business, because if you can�t find a buyer for your product or service, nothing else you do will matter!

7. Branding. Branding is about creating and communicating a set of values to the consumer of your product or service. Your aim should be to stamp your logo onto the brains of your customers every time they are in the process of buying your product or service.

8. Business Image. First impressions count for a lot. Addressing your business image is all about paying attention to the little things that will exceed your customers expectations.

9. Guarantee. How does a customer truly believe they are going to receive value from doing business with you? They will only know this if you are prepared to take more risk in the transaction than they are…and this promise is delivered through your guarantee.

10. Customer care. Every business should have a follow up system that extends sincere thanks to every new customer and for their ongoing patronage. When was the last time you received a �thankyou� from someone that you did business with? Probably never…so how do you think your customers will react when they receive a thankyou from you?

If you take action in each of these 10 areas, you will not only be 2 steps in front of your competition, but you may very well be within touching distance of living your dream.

So go ahead, don�t wait a moment longer…take action today because it is only massive action that will bring you massive results!

About the author:
Stephen James specialises in teaching small business owners powerful sales and marketing systems that unlock large amounts of untapped cash within their business for low or zero cost. Be sure to sign up for your FREE access to The Business Club at: http://www.thebusinessresultscentre.com/join_us.htmand utilize the free articles, ebooks and other information that can enhance your marketing!

You Don't Have TIME to Sit and Wonder When The Traffic Will Come!

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:00:02 +0000

There is so incredibly MUCH you can do to successfully promote your website starting in just a few minutes. In fact, the steps I will give you below can be repeated DAILY for 30 days, an hour a day, for 30 hours of hard-core, tested, proven, traffic-nabbing, sales-producing, profit-driving, marketers bliss.

Its work, but by now I am hoping you know that the successful people, including me, have worked VERY hard to get where we are today. Online doesnt mean automatic and there is no software that will promote your business hands-off. Lots of tools that help, but theres no way around having to work to succeed in any online business.

That said, lets get to work.

Links Man!

You could spend all 30 hours and much more this next month just getting reciprocal and, more importantly, NON-reciprocal links to your site.

I see so many people just spinning their wheels wondering where to start with their promotion. You dont have TIME to sit and wonder! I am telling you right now that the only promotion tactic that will never EVER change on the internet, no matter what, is getting traffic through links.

There are tens of thousands of places on the web to get good, traffic-driving links.

Go to forums in your niche and get involved. In a years time you are going to have so many links from just being moderately involved with people in your industry through forums that you will wonder why you didnt sign up as a member of several forums sooner!

You will find so many free resources around the net just by surfing around the sites that your BEST customers are most likely to visit. You dont have TIME to sit and wonder! Get surfing and find out where your customers are and GET YOUR LINK THERE!

I have said a thousand times by now in forums, books, teleseminars, and conferences: If you are going to outlast and outwit your competition and really SUCCEED online, you must show up everywhere your best customers surf. You HAVE to, and thats it.

Given that fact, you have a LOT you can do, really, to get in front of your audience.

Articles

I dont care if you hate writing and have a hard time spelling your name. You have to write informative articles (like this one) to get yourself in front of tens of thousands of people every week or every month, depending on your niche.

If you absolutely refuse to write, hire a ghost writer. You can get an article “ten pack” here: http://webfoxmedia.com

Just dont let this treasure trove of traffic go to someone else when you simply have NOTHING holding you back in this promotion technique. It is one of the most important tools in the small online business owners arsenal – USE IT!

Get free writing tools and article syndication tools and software here: http://equipmint.com

Blogging

Professional blog software, like Expression Engine, comes with the ability to “ping” the blog search engines. (Getting into those engines is a whole new way to brand your site and products/services and most people are totally clueless to this fact.)

After the presidential race got started, bloggers became very famous. If you dont know what a blog is or how to set one up, or even why it is beneficial to HAVE a weblog, check out this resource: http://expressionengine.com

See my blog here as example (and for way more traffic tools and

resources than I can outline here):

http://www.webmastertraffictools.com/weblog/index.php

RSS

Want to learn how to get Yahoo to run your website content via RSS? (RSS is a relatively new trend picking up a huge amount of steam among lay-marketers as a killer tool to increase traffic through syndication of their content.)

Check out this report on how to turn content into RSS and having Yahoo run it for free!

http://webmastertraffictools.com/rssreport/yahoorss.pdf

Forums

Find your forum. Every interest online has one by now, unless you are really into something no one has ever heard about. Sign up today and start participating. Make sure you set up your signature file with your site link.

So many people skip the easy stuff because they think since its easy it cant be effective. Dont be one of those fools. Take the time to do this right now, today.

There are 10,000 other reasons to get involved in your market arena than just getting a link back to your site by participating, but that set of reasons you will have to discover yourself. Like today! I mean it!

Participate in Blog Discussions

Most blogs have comment areas with lively debates and discussions going on. Another source of branding and “getting to know” people who could turn out to be joint venture partners.

Joint Venture Partners

Getting joint ventures with key people in related industries who have a large reach to YOUR perfect audience is about the easiest traffic in the world to get. If you know how. Here is a free guide to joint ventures you should sign up for:

http://www.jvAlert.com/jvcourse.aspx?id=13

Key-In On What Top Marketers Are Doing NOW

One of the best series of teleseminars which runs weekly is the Perpetual Learning Series by JVAlert. The people they attract to speak to members are nothing less than the best of the best in internet marketing. Learning from them is easy with recorded calls or live events they have for you to choose from with nothing but marketing tactics!

You can even find me there for one of the teleseminars on linking!

http://www.jvAlert.com/LearningSeries.aspx?id=13

Finally…

Get yourself pumped up and STAY pumped up for 30 days. In one month you could be seeing a huge turnaround in your marketing and the results of your efforts. I am pointing you in the right direction. YOU have to take this advice and either do something with it or not. That I cannot help you with.

But as of now, you have no excuse to sit around feeling bad about your marketing and lack of traffic. There are zillions of ways to get noticed. Hopefully the above wets your appetite. Come back to my blog for more every week!

http://www.webmastertraffictools.com/weblog/index.php

Jack Humphrey is the author of Power Linking and Power Linking 2: Evolution and is currently working on Power Linking 2005, due for release in December. For more information: http://power-linking-profits.com

Your Website on My Forehead

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:30:00 +0000

People are so focused on promoting their websites on the web these days that many are overlooking the original marketing medium — the offline world! Many tried and true methods of advertising exist for brick and mortar businesses that could just as easily be applied to online businesses. These methods have been developed over hundreds if not thousands of years — what cavemen used to sell I have no idea — but the point is still valid. Business promotion existed long before the internet. So what methods of marketing in the “real” world can an online business owner apply to the cyber world?

One extremely effective method is brand marketing through merchandise. Think about it…before the web existed, how did businesses like real estate companies market their brands? One way they did it was to give stuff away — a marketing trick that is still being applied effectively today. How many pens, pencils, and magnets do you have lying around the house, stuck to the refrigerator, placed behind your ear — wherever — that bear some company's logo or name? If you have ever worked in an office environment doubtless you would have noticed several different slogans on a hodgepodge collection of pens (some that might even still work) and pencils collected over time from seminars, informational fairs, trade events, etc. Brick and mortar businesses are doing it, so why aren't you?

If you don't want to market your website on writing utensils or magnets you have several alternatives. Other products that work well

for marketing include coffee mugs, travel-and-go cups, mouse pads, bumper stickers, key tags, and stress balls. Let's not forget another great place to show off your website — on your body! No, I'm not talking about taking drastic measures like tattooing your company URL on your forehead. Clothing advertisements are the name of the game. Clothing is a wonderful way to advertise your website, especially if you have a funny slogan or eye-catching logo. You can have your website address printed on hats, shirts, umbrellas, tote bags, and all sorts of wearable accessories. The best thing about advertising on clothing is that the advertisement is mobile — it goes wherever you go. The next time you get dressed to go out why not wear something that promotes your business? Don't forget that you can give away things as well — imagine a hundred walking billboards for your website!

There are plenty of companies that will apply your brands to products. The cost is cheap and the rewards can be high, so what are you waiting for? Look through your local phonebook or do an internet search for companies that print to merchandise and then go get branding!

Your Knowledge Could Be Earning You A Fortune

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:45:01 +0000

Your Knowledge Could Be Earning You A Fortune

Are you a frustrated entrepreneur? You have the desire,
enthusiasm, business skills and passion you will need to be
a huge success, but there is one major obstacle blocking
your way — what do you sell?

You are not alone. The top concern of most budding
entrepreneurs is finding high-profit, easy-to-ship products
they can market for fast profits. You will be amazed to
know that you can have your own hot selling product in
days by packaging information you already have. Want
to know how?

Here are three powerful techniques you can use right away
to develop your own hot selling product ideas, whether they
lead to books, reports, newsletters, audios, videos,
workshops, courses or subscription-based web sites.
Successful entrepreneurs such as Yanik Silver, Marlon
Sanders and Corey Rudl have used these techniques,
now you can use them too.

Success Tip #1: Package information about your hobby.
Hobbies are rich sources of hot selling information products.
Why?

Your Assumptions About Job Descriptions Can Harm You

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:15:02 +0000

One of the worst things you can do is get in a “box” and this applies to job descriptions-or rather, what you assume someone else is capable of doing because of your misconceptions about their job description. Compounding this is the current thrust toward “niches.”

BROADEN YOUR THINKING: YOU MIGHT MISS SOMETHING

When I’m marketing for clients, I work in a quality network. The person I turn to for web design is Nancy Fenn (http://www.geocities.com/idesignwebpages). She is also an Intuition Coach (www.bemyguide.net). She refers clients to me for the overall marketing strategy and management, and I do the ezines. I refer my marketing clients back to her for web design because I don’t know anyone who does better work.

Recently, in working with one of Nancy’s referrals, we talked about how excellent Nancy was at web design, and the client, who had initially gone to Nancy for personal life coaching, said to me, “Nancy has many hidden talents.”

Nails on the blackboard here!

IS THIS A HIDDEN TALENT: YOU BE THE JUDGE

Here’s an example of Nancy’s work: http://www.thecoachingmuse.com. I don’t see anything “hidden” about Nancy’s web design talents, do you?

If you can’t see the thread that would make someone both an excellent coach and an excellent web designer, I can supply it, but I want you to realize it’s always there.

Most people who are entrepreneurs are multi-talented. Be willing to accept this and make use of it. Corporations and businesses ‘pigeonhole’ people. A person working on their own is free to soar, and most do!

THE THREAD, THE CONNECTION

The thread is Nancy’s intuition. This allows her to coach well, and also to ‘get’ the person and put this across on the Internet which is, after all, the essence of branding.

We have been trained to make fun of “the bait shop and beauty shop” approach. Why, I don’t know, but it’s time to let it go and move on.

For many years here in San Antonio there was a store that sold firearms and liquor-scary thought, isn’t it? However it’s a natural connection and the store did well. Furthermore, it sat in our premier shopping center, right beside the designer clothing store. (Now where might you park your husband while you buy your $500 dress?)

You see the “bait shop and beauty parlor” in small towns. Small towns are close to the people who live in them. Our big chains are finally getting in to this concept – why should you NOT be able to do the family

grocery shopping when you’re out looking for a new set of sheets or a dress for your daughter? What took so long?

Why should your personal life coach NOT be able to design a web site for you? Why shouldn’t your attorney also design and sell needlepoint? Why shouldn’t your cosmetic surgeon be an artist as well? More importantly, why would you consider something else a person does well “a hidden talent.”

Many of us who are in search of a balanced and meaningful life enjoy developing multiple talents.

KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN

Don’t automatically ’shut down’ when the man who comes to paint your house tells you you need a product to make your practice grow and then tells you what it is. It happened to me because I was willing to listen. Tony the Painter gave me the idea for my Don’t Die at 50 Weekly Organizational Calendar

Writing a basic web design proposal

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:00:02 +0000

When competing for web design/implementation contracts; a professionally presented web design proposal more often than not decides whether you win or lose the project. A web design proposal also decreases the incidences of misunderstandings between yourself and your clients when the project is under way and acts as a basis for a formal contract.

When putting together a basic web site proposal, you should include the following elements:

Your Information: Your background or company history, qualifications, skills, past achievements and contact details.

Project Overview: The company you are submitting the proposal for, your understanding of their products and services, the target market, the goals of the web site and a rough outline of how you will acheive them.

Theme: A description of style of site you are proposing. Elements from the clients current branding you will utilise or new elements you will develop.

Special Considerations: such as language, security or other issues pertaining to the company, site or target market that will need to be addressed.

Flowchart: A diagram showing the different pages of the site how navigation will occur.

Flowchart Description: A detailed description of each page.

Development Timeline: This should be a description of each stage of development, the estimated completion date and notes regarding client consultation and supply of information/feedback from the client. This may also include milestone payments for involved projects and site promotion activities. Make it clear that traffic takes time to build up after implementation and promotion should only occur after the site has been tested thoroughly. Improper implementation can cost months of traffic.

Costing: A descriptive breakdown of costing and total of quote including an end date before the price will need to be re-calculated. This will include items such as domain name registration, hosting fees and outsourcing for sections of the site you will not be able to develop yourself. Ensure you take into account items including travel time, electricity,telephone amd consumables. Factor in the cost of the proposal as well; a good proposal will take hours of your time and you should be compensated for that. In your eagerness to gain the contract, you may lose money if you quote too close to the bone. Bear in mind that things rarely go strictly to plan in web design and delays can be expected. Time is money. The going rate for web design services seems to be between US$25-$75 per labour hour at present; dependent upon the complexity of the task and the competency of the designer.

Terms and conditions: Expectations and commitments. It is not unusual for web projects to be delayed due to clients not supplying feedback or content necessary to complete sections. It is just as important to

be clear in what you expect from your clients as well as explaining your commitment to them. Conflict resolution issues and feedback mechanisms should be described. Your clients will need to know what will occur if they do not supply information when requested, or request changes mid-stream and the action that you will take if you are running behind in the project yourself. You need to be clear on payment details and consequences of failure to pay for the services that you provide.

Mock-ups (samples). Be careful not to give too much away, just enough to give the client a good idea of what the site will look like. Ensure copyright notices and intellectual property statements are in place.

Maintenance. Summarise an offer of ongoing site maintenance or the implications of the client deciding to update or maintain the site themselves after it has been established.

The above points are usually sufficient to put together a professional web design proposal for a small to medium project. If drafting a proposal based on criteria given to you by the prospective client; be sure to address all the points. If the client suggests the proposal documentation be a certain format, respect that. In the culling process, the first proposals to be binned will be the ones that do not address all the criteria the client has laid down.

Bear in mind that not all the web design proposals you submit will be accepted. Be prepared to do some heavy revisions to satisfy your clients and to find a middle ground where all parties feel comfortable. A prospective client asking for revisions is a good sign – they are genuinely interested. Also remember that some companies will ask you for proposals purely to use as a comparison against another designer that they are interested in utilising; so try and limit the amount of time you spend on the draft until the client gives indication of serious interest.

Michael Bloch
michael@tamingthebeast.net
http://www.tamingthebeast.net
Tutorials, web content and tools, software and community.
Web Marketing, eCommerce & Development solutions.
_____________________________________________

Copyright information….If you wish to reproduce this article, please acknowledge “Taming the Beast” by including a hyperlink or reference to the website (www.tamingthebeast.net) & send me an email letting me know. The article must be reproduced in its entirety & this copyright statement must be included. Thanks. Visit www.tamingthebeast.net to view other great articles FREE for reproduction!

About the Author

Michael is an Australian Information Technologies trainer and web developer. Many other free web design, ecommerce development and Internet articles, tutorials, tools and resources are available from his award winning site; Taming the Beast.net (http://www.tamingthebeast.net)

Why You Need To Have Your Prices Upfront

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:15:00 +0000

How much do you charge? I don’t know. I’ll have to check with my brain.

Huh?

In nine out of ten sites, customers will not be told upfront, how much the customer is expected to pay for a product or a service.

The website/brochure will hem and haw, and not tell you what you really need to know: How much does the damned thing cost?

In the earlier, more foolish days, we tried to keep our prices a mystery. As a result, we’d have dozens of inquiries. All the inquiries turned to custard. Once people found out how much we charged, they just went elsewhere. So why not get those customers to go elsewhere, in the first place?

Why not get rid of the tyre-kickers?

Why not display your prices upfront?

Yes, I know; You probably don’t want to do the price upfront thing, because you don’t know what to quote. I mean a print quote depends on paper, binding, and so many other variables. So make it easy for me. Show me

three different quotes for a book, for instance. Show me three different books and tell me how each book had different specifications, and what each book cost. Then, cunningly, put the testimonial of the customer that placed the order.

It’s a waste of your time, not to put prices upfront. Putting prices upfront, saves your time, effort and gets you qualified customers.

Ask me. I just got off the call where the customer paid his hourly consulting fee (which was upfront on the site).

To read more: http://www.5000bc.com

About The Author

Sean DSouza

Wouldnt you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas onmarketing strategy,psychological tactics and branding. Head down to http://www.psychotactics.com today and judge for yourself.

Why Santas Marketing Works Better Than Yours!

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:00:19 +0000

Santa Claus Inc. is well and profitable, right through recessions, depressions and just about any economic scenario. The reason why his marketing strategies work better than yours, is because he uses solid, dyed-in-the-wool psychology. He knows he doesnt have to use new fangled techniques, when his simple marketing has stood the test of time.

If you dont believe in Santa, youd better change your mind, because the fat man from the north pole rocks on and you too can do the same if you stick to the basics. Find out if your product or service matches up by reading the article below.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way…

If you go to the heart of Santas marketing, the one word you come away with is consistency. Generation after generation have been exposed to one brand, one message, and the same powerful imagery. Just like Mercedes own the term luxury and Volvo owns the term safety, Santa owns the word hope. Every kid worth his Nintendo, hopes hes got enough points on the goodness scale to justify a mountain of gifts.

Yet, most companies get tired of their own brand. They chop, change and pour thousands (if not millions) of dollars into a bottomless pit of mindless change. Take a look at McDonalds advertising, for instance. McDonalds own the word family outing yet their ads have been straying down the teenager path.

Does it make sense to consistently occupy one niche? You bet it does! Families go out with their kids to McDonalds. These kids sprout into budget-conscious teenagers that hang out at McDonalds. They have kids and grandkids and guess where they all end up. At the big yellow M, thats where!

Santa doesnt waver. His customers are kids. Like several marketers, he might have been sorely tempted to enter the gift market. With bad advice, he would have tried to get to teenagers, adults and everyone. Can you see the magic still working? Even the tiniest of niches is huge and niches have a way of expanding by themselves.

At the end of the day, its the consistency that takes the jingle all the way to the bank. Too many companies lose focus and give you seven reasons why you should buy from them. Santa sticks to one: Be a good kid or you can keep hoping!

You Can Spot Him in the Middle of a Crowded Sky

Do you know anyone who comes to visit on a sleigh in the middle of the night? With reindeer and gifts? The reason why Santa stands out so vividly in our memories is because hes different. The postman does the same thing, but leaves without the flourish.

Its really important to work out how your marketing message differs. Santas core marketing term is not built solely on consistent branding but also on a very hard-nosed differentiation. Too much communication out there fits in with whats safe. Customers have just one slot in their mind. You have to enter that slot at such an obtuse angle that they remember you for life.

Rose Richards runs Office Doctor. The term that set her apart from all the rest of the administration crowd is the term, Small business pain relief. Can you imagine your reaction when you hear something like that? The human mind is intensely curious and a marketing statement like that is pure bait. You want to know what pain relief she brings and how she goes about it-specially if youre the one in pain. Thats only half the story. The construction of the message elevates her from simple number crunching to brain surgery and makes her unique.

If you want differentiation you need look no further than the guiding light of Santas sleigh– Rudolph, with his shiny nose. Can you even remember the names of the rest of the eight reindeer?

One very important point, however, is that the marketing message isnt just different, but also customer-oriented. Rose takes the clutter out of administration and Rudolph provides a beacon for clearer navigation.

If you dont have a benefit for the customer, just being different is going to get you nowhere.

Give and You Shall Receive

How many of you are out there networking like crazy? Trying desperately to fill in your steadily depleting bank reserves? You want, want, want! Take a look at Santas style.

Hes into giving first. If you probe deep into your mind, youll find the people you like best are those who have given you their time, their money or their knowledge. You trust them, and its very hard to say no when they ask you for a favour in return.

The deepest core of human emotions is fear. Every single product or service, without exception, is sold on the basis of turgid fear. The only known antidote to fear is TRUST. When trusts struts upwards, fear banishes itself to penguin land. The more you pile up the trust, the more you can do business.

Wouldnt Santa be able to sell you just about anything? Would he be able to cross-sell and up-sell product? Santa could knock on your door next summer and youd be more than happy to have him join your barbeque.

Its up to you to build up the trust one Lego block at a time. Identify your clients and see what you can give them. It could be information, time or even a chocolate covered scrumptious cookie. Its the old Whats in it for me? theory. If you cant find something calorie-ridden for their minds or bodies, they wont want to see you.

Play Santa. It works.

He Knows if Youve Been Bad or Good…

Heck Santa knows his customers. He even knows when you are sleeping, or awake.

Then, theres you. Look at your biggest customer. Whats her name? When is her birthday? Does she like Indian curries or

sushi? In curries can she handle hot or medium? What does she think about you? What doesnt she like?

Youre guessing for sure. You cant be dead certain because youve been so busy looking at dollar signs that youve missed the plot completely.

The reason why Santas marketing works is because he intimately knows your individual needs. If you want a drum kit, you get one. If you want a Barbie, you dont end up sulking with a xylophone.

Santa knows because hes interested in giving. To give, you have to know exactly what the receiver wants or your gift is not worth the packaging its wrapped in.

Some people worry about invading personal privacy. Hogwash! When was the last time you got upset because a supplier turned up with a big chocolate cake (your favourite) for your birthday? or with rare stamps for your son (because he loves collecting stamps)?

Santas invades our privacy gently and uses it to give, not to take. Thats why we dont mind it. The tax department on the other hand, uses our information to take and therein lies the principal difference.

Once a Customer, Always a Customer

Santa Doesnt Lose Customers. Period.

One of the primary reasons why hes able to achieve this amazing feat is because he thinks of his customers customer. His customer is the kid, who in a few years gets a little wiser about Santa and his customers customer is the parent who has the amazing power to get their children to be nice not naughty, if only for a short while.

Since the concept works in their favour, they do all the advertising. Without TV, radio or the internet, Santas message gets a grip on millions of kids around the planet. These kids grow up and the marvel of Santa is handed down through the generations.

While Its OK For Santa, How Would This Work In The Real World? Say, If You Sold Jeans.

Jeans West, a jean retailer, has several of the answers. I needed one pair, but Stephanie (the sales girl) sold me two–not by hassling me, but by gently reminding me I would get $20 off the second pair. Then, with my purchase, she gave me a gift voucher of $10, for my use or to pass on. They, also signed me up for a loyalty program that offered to give me a 10% discount if I purchased over $250 worth of product in the next 6 months.

This Is Effectively What Jeans West Did to Make Me a Permanent Customer.

Step 1: The sales person asked the right questions to find out my need.
Step 2: She up-sold the product giving me good value for money.
Step 3: A gift voucher with a validity date, ensured an additional purchase. Or even better, the chance for me to pass it on to another person thus creating a customer for Jeans West.
Step 4: Tying my fickle consumer head into a loyalty scheme. They wanted me to stay with them forever.

Santas steps may vary, but in essence he ties you into a solid loyalty program that is near impossible to get off. Its customer get customer, rather than advertising get customer. Its cheaper and it works!

In conclusion here are the main points why Santas customers keeps coming back. These concepts may sound old, even trite, but have been proven time after time to work well. Test them against your company and brand to see where you can learn from the man from the North Pole.

1) Solid branding:
Were not talking lease here. Consistency is the key. This applies everywhere from networking meetings, advertising to any sort of communication that goes out. Keep hammering home the same unique message and put it up front. The weather changes all the time which is why we cant trust it.

If you must change, its because your old message isnt doing a complete job. I changed our first baseline from Recession proof business principles to Reactivating dormant business clients.
The proposition was the same but the second line got 10 times the response.

2) Differentiation:
Santa knows he can be a courier with a difference. You, too, can create your own legend. Nike used Just Do It. Coke threw in the concept, Rum and Coke, indelibly burning the word classic into our consciousness. Sameness is in your mind. No matter how many brands exist on the market, your product has a fingerprint of its own. You just have to dig deep to find out.

3) Build trust by giving first.
Life is all about sowing, then reaping-but sowing comes first. If you dont give first, you will only get limited results. The more you stop thinking of yourself and focus on what the customer needs instead, the more you are trusted. Business is all about trust. If you dont have it, youre yesterdays soup.

4) Know your customer…
Like you know the hair on your head. Data collection and its optimum usage will get you right into their minds and keep you permanently rooted in. Every time they see you, they should think you are Santa coming to town.

5) Reactivate dormant clients
They are all volcanoes. Sitting there with the power to erupt mightily. Figure out who they are and how you can work in tandem with them. Forget your product or service. Thats a given– It has to be good. Find out the everything else factor and you will keep them for life.

Like Santa does…

About the author:
Wouldnt you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas onmarketing strategy,psychological tactics and branding. Head down to http://www.psychotactics.comtoday and judge for yourself.

Why Radio Advertising Could Be The Best Thing You Ever Did For Your Business

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:45:05 +0000

In the marketing world, radio has earned the reputation of being the odd step-cousin. You know the one. No one knows quite what to do with him. Especially at family gatherings when everyone tries hard to avoid sitting with him. (After all, who knows WHAT hell start talking about.)

Much of that reputation comes from radio being tough to track. On one hand, radio does work. Businesses do notice an increase in sales when they add radio to the mix. However, radio doesnt test well. In surveys and other tracking methods, radio tends to be the one with the dismal scores.

A good friend of mine, whos also a marketing consultant but before that she sold radio for many years, has a theory about that. She says radio works on a subconscious or unconscious level. People remember the ad, but not that they heard it on the radio. So, they tend to credit a different medium for the ad, like the yellow pages. Yellow pages gets a boost while radio drops a few points.

Regardless, radio should not be ignored because it does work. And many marketing consultants will probably tell you radio is an excellent medium to reach a local market.

However, I feel there are possibilities beyond merely reaching local customers.

Internet radio shows are starting to take off in a big way. That means advertising and sponsorship opportunities are also taking off. In addition, “offline” methods have been shown to be pretty effective at driving traffic online. If increasing Web traffic is your goal, using traditional media outlets to increase traffic should be a part of your mix.

If people already know you (which they might in your local market) theyre more likely to be loyal. And theyre more likely to send other customers to your site. Depending on the costs of radio in your community, radio may be a very affordable way to get a good viral campaign going. (A viral campaign is what happens when other people pass around your business e-mails to their friends and family, or send them to your Web site.)

Below are some other positive reasons to use radio:

* Affordable — when you compare spot to spot, radio tends to be one of the least expensive media out there. However, one spot aint going to do it. To reach your target market, you need to purchase several spots. Thats why radio can also turn into one of the more expensive media. However, there are ways to keep your costs in line yet still reap the benefits of radio — for instance, buying less spots but running them all in one or two weeks, so your customers are more likely to hear your message.

* Psychological, if you voice the commercials yourself — hearing your voice makes people feel like they “know” you. (Hence the popularity of audio on Web sites. In fact, marketing gurus claim just by adding audio to a site substantially increases how many people buy.)

People tend to buy from people and businesses they know and trust. Hearing your voice helps them feel as if they know you. These psychological aspects may be another reason to consider running a few radio ads in your local market even if you have an Internet business.

* Speed — you can get your spot up and running in no time.

* Loyalty — listeners choose stations based on the music or shows they like and they tend to be quite loyal to that station. If you know what your customers enjoy listening to, its an excellent way to reach them. (I include both music and talk shows in this.)

* Good support medium — radio works really well when paired with other marketing mediums (like print, direct mail or

television).

But for every positive, theres a negative. In the spirit of being objective, here are a few for radio:

* Background medium — radio tends to be on in the background, which means it tends to be ignored. Generally, your target market needs to be exposed to your ad more times than other marketing media before theyll act upon your message.

* Little staying power — the lack of visuals again keeps radio from “sticking” with people. At least, thats what some of the marketing gurus say. But, here again my marketing consultant friend differs. She thinks its that subconscious thing again.

And if you can write a spot that creates pictures in your customers heads, you can actually work this to your advantage. In fact, according to my friend, if the picture is defined enough, not only will people remember it better, but theyll also think it was a print ad instead of a radio ad. (More on the art of creating pictures using words in later issues.)

* Hard to track – its impossible to know exactly how many people are tuning in at any given time.

A final note: Because radio is subconscious, keep that in mind when crafting your ad. Repeat your business name a lot and any other branding info, so it gets into your customers heads. Dont put in phone numbers. Instead, purchase a memorable Web site domain name and repeat that. And remember to create “pictures” whenever possible.

Creativity Exercise — How can you use radio in your business?

Would radio work for your business? Lets find out.

Take out a sheet of paper and a fun pen. (Im partial to gel pens.) Draw a line down the center.

On one side, put the header: Why advertising on radio is a good idea for my business. On the other side, put the header: Why advertising is a bad idea for my business.

Now pick a side and start writing down reasons.

You might be more comfortable starting with the side thats easiest for you. Then when you work on the other side, you can simply turn the reasons around.

For instance, lets say you started with the bad idea. One of your reasons was: My product is completely visual. You could turn it around by saying “Because my product is so visual, Ill have to work harder to create pictures in my customers minds. And because the customers create their own pictures, theyre more likely to remember them.”

Or what if you started with a good idea, and one of the reasons was: “Because my business is local.” You could turn it around and say “Because radio is holding me back — Im only reaching this local market.” (Ah, now Im even going against what I said earlier. Maybe with this statement you could look for ways to get your customers to spread the word outside the area about your business.)

As you saw by my last example, youll be amazed at what comes out when you do this exercise. Even if you dont change your views on radio advertising, you may come up with new and powerful insights to your business.

Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at www.writingusa.com.

michele@writingusa.comk

Why is My Restaurant Not Full Every Monday Night?

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:30:09 +0000

In a quest for customers and to keep those customers, restaurants are now compelled to develop a marketing plan. Marketing plans are a crucial component for anyone who has the desire to make their restaurant a success.

Marketing plans are a crucial component for anyone who has the desire to make their restaurant a success. In a quest for customers and to keep those customers, restaurant are now compelled to develop a marketing plan. However, many restaurant owners are not comfortable with marketing, or dont know how to write a proper marketing plan – after all the thing they know best is the restaurant business. If you want to be a better restaurant marketer, attract customers, and have an ongoing direction to follow for your business, then it is important that you follow a strategic marketing plan.

Having a solid marketing plan for your restaurant enables you to clearly articulate your message so that customers and prospects are interested in and listen to what you have to say. You marketing plan should deliver such a strong message that it compels these customers and prospects to take action and vote with their feet by coming into your restaurant.

Standard marketing plans contain most or all of the following sections: market

research, description of your target markets, description of your products or services, your competition, budget, strategy and goals, and action items to complete. They should also include your pricing, and positioning and branding statements. In order for your plan to work, it must be a living document, so make changes as you implement the plan according to what works and what doesnt.

If you are not a marketing expert then help is only a step away. Marketing plan software is available to help you outline and develop a solid marketing plan yourself or you can hire an external marketing consultant who specializes in restaurant marketing to write the plan for you.

Learn more about bringing new customers to your restaurant / new marketing ideas:

http://www.hjventures.com/restaurant-marketing-ideas.html

About the Author

Howard Schwartz is a partner in several business strategy groups, including HJ Ventures International, Inc. Howard has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs worldwide with a focus on writing business plans for companies interested in raising capital from Venture Funds and Angel Investors. Howard’s business plans have secured several million dollars in funding.For more information: http://www.hjventures.com