Small Business Marketing

Promotional mouse mats are a great marketing tool, however like all marketing items they may not be right for every business; so deciding if mouse mats are the right marketing tool for your business is the absolute first step you must take before deciding on any designs.

Clearly some companies are more suited to using mouse mats for marketing purposes then others, and surprisingly it makes more of a difference who your customers are rather then what product your company produces; although this is not always the case. So use common sense and a little bit of discretion when making the decision about whether or not to add mouse mats to your marketing campaign.

As stated before your current customers are really one of the more important indicators of whether or not you should be using promotional mouse mats in your marketing campaign. For instance if your customers never touch a computer in their work environment providing them with mouse mats would be a bit of a waste, and probably be seen as useless or foolish by the customer. In the end this could end up generating your company bad PR rather than a good PR.

If however you know for a fact that many of your customers do use computers then giving them mouse mats may be a good idea. Of course not all of your customers are the same, so you will probably want to decide whether or not to use mouse mats based upon whichever number is larger; the number of customers who do use computers, or the number of customers who do not use computers.

The exception to the above rule is if your company is in the computer or technology business. If this is the case it stands to reason that all of your customers use computers, however even if they don’t it is still expected that you will pass out promotional mouse mats because of the fact that you are a technology or computer company. Because of this you do not have to worry about collecting customer information as to whether or not they use computers before making a decision about whether or not to use mouse mats as part of your advertising strategy. Instead you are free to make whatever decision fits within your company’s advertising strategy and vision.

If you do decide that mouse mats are a good fit with your company and your companies customers you will then need to start the design phase and come up with a mouse mat that fits your company’s corporate image, as well as the image you wish to project with this new tool in your advertising campaign.

This is not an easy task, but it is also not a very difficult task. Rather it requires a little bit of time, some effort, and a good relationship with your manufacturer so that you can see your design fully realized in materials that are both robust and durable, as well as affordable. A good manufacturer will help you take the design of your mouse mat to the next level.

By: Imogen Brown

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The main purpose of Real Estate Marketing whether by using mail-outs, thank you cards, or birthday cards is to sell more homes. Many Realtors are searching and searching for a Golden Goose of Real Estate Marketing. What they have failed to see is if they would turn around and show appreciation to their past customers they would find their customers are the Golden Goose they have been searching for. The key is to learn how to feed the goose to get golden eggs.

Most home buyers after the first year can not even remember if their Realtor was a male or female much less remember their name. This is going to make it extremely difficult for them to refer you business. Most Real Estate Marketing tools don’t allow you to stay in front of your clients on a personal level. It would be fair to say that 98% of mail is junk, bills, or self-promoting blast mail outs. When a client receives a personal handwritten card it stands out like a thousand dollar bill. Consistent personal cards will guarantee you to be on the top of your customers mind which will lead to referrals and those lead to sales.

One might say “this all sounds good to stay in front of your customers on a personal level but I have 400 or 500 or even a 1000 past clients and I can’t write a card every 45 days to stay in front of them.”

There are many online card company which prints, stuffs, and mails your cards with your Signature with a real stamp. They even can add gifts to your card such as brownies, cookies, chocolates, gift cards and book! There are over 10,000 cards to choose from and you can even create your own cards. If you have any picture you would like to send someone, just load it on the system, type a message on the front, and they will send it for you. You can send just one card or thousands with the click of the mouse. With the internet available to anyone it is easy to find a company to meet your Real Estate Marketing needs.

By: Eric R Anderson

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I spend a lot of my time reading books and listening to tapes about business and marketing. I guess that’s understandable.

Many of the authors of these materials are known as experts, gurus or marketing geniuses. However, a few weeks ago I was listening to a discussion about marketing and one of the participants made a point that struck me like a ton of bricks.

He said: “The only true marketing genius is the customer”.

What a succinct and powerful statement!

The truth of the matter is that no matter how much good advice or information or training we get in marketing, the only person’s opinion that really matters is the customers. No matter how good the idea seems to be, if the customer doesn’t respond then nothing else matters.

What’s the moral?

Simple. You need to constantly stay in tune with your customers interests and desires and give them what they want, how they want it, when they want it. If they don’t respond to a particular offer, you need to do your best to find out why (through follow-up surveys or any other method at your disposal).

If they do respond to an offer it’s still a good idea to find out why. It may be for a different reason than you think.

We should all certainly continue to study marketing and listen to what the “experts” say, but we need to give just as much (or more) attention to what our customers are saying as well.

By: Shawn Meldrum

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One of the most common mistakes agents make when marketing to home buyers is marketing only to the “aware”.

The problem is this: anyone who knows they want to buy a house and is serious enough to go to a home-buyer’s seminar probably already has an agent. Let’s face it, everyone in the united states has a dog’s-former-owner’s roomate’s neighbor who practices real estate on the side. By marketing to the unaware, people who have not yet taken any steps toward actually buy a home you stand to gather a far larger pool. While these leads take longer to incubate into closings, this can be tracked in your CRM program (Top Producer, ACT, etc.). Pre-sale leads who are sold on working with you should be “milked for referrals” simply by keeping in touch once every 21 days (three week contacts statistically produced the highest number of referral leads).

A more appealing seminar title to “fish upstream” in your marketing to home buyers by marketing a “Credit Score Seminar”.

As a professional marketer, we’ve done several tests for marketing to home buyers. When offering a “First time home buyer seminar” or even just a “Home buyer seminar”, we had about 15 attendees, out of which only 2-3 leads on average were produced. When we ran the same advertising for a “Credit Score Seminar” we had over 20 attendees, out of which, on average sixteen people took the next step to get preapproved for a mortgage or start looking at property.

This is, of course, an excellent reason to partner with a car dealer, who may represent a great source of referrals.

Another common problem we see with agents or brokers marketing to home buyers is delivery of the message. All marketing comes down to message, media, and call to action. Generally, direct mail is too expensive to realize a positive ROI, while small classifieds in the rental section (tip: the rental section reaches the “unaware” with headlines like “$2k/mo 2bed foreclosure to own”). Another great option is flyers posted in apartment buildings.

The simple fact is almost everyone wants a new home, smaller home, or larger home than what they have. Our job as professionals in a less active market is to make these people realize how affordable it can be, or in the case of moving down, how much they can save.

The National Association of Realtors did a study in which they looked at the top 10 reasons men and women buy homes. They were:

(Men)

10. They want an investment that’s likely to increase in value.

9. They want a tax write-off to put their family financially ahead.

8. They want as short a commute to work as possible.

7. They want a garage for toys and tools.

6. They want space that can work as a home office/den.

5. They want a “safe” neighborhood for their family to live in.

4. They want to make their partner or spouse happy.

3. They want a yard that requires minimal upkeep.

2. They want other men to be envious and/or convey status.

1. They want a place to call their own.

…and for women…

10. They want to live in a “good” school district.

9. They want a safe neighborhood with similar-aged children

8. They want a certain number of bedrooms and square feet.

7. They want a home with a functional, modern kitchen.

6. They want as much closet space as possible.

5. Proximity to stores, entertainment, restaurants, and a park

4. They want a large yard for a growing family and a garden.

3. They want to redecorate to express their own personal style

2. They want a home that their mother will approve of.

1. They want a place to call their own.

As you develop your marketing to home buyers, remember you have the power position: The perception that you provide a path to what the home-buyer wants. As you “set the bait” on the internet, via your flyers, via referral marketing and via rental-section advertising you then want to setup some filtering systems so that the “cream rises to the top”. This means the most qualified, most interested buyers are the only ones who actually get any of your real time, while the others stay in a “holding pattern” until they are ready to write an offer and close.

Easy ways to produce this are with automatic sequential followup autoresponders such as our kits have, use of call-capture systems, and having your mortgage lender pre-qualify the leads. He or she will appreciate the stream of leads, while allowing him or her to filter them will have you writing offers instead of answering basic questions.

Marketing to Home Buyers should be one of the pillars of any real estate business. These days, a solid buyer is a greater guarantee than a listing, and can lead to double-ended transactions. Even the most seasoned agents who focus on listings can use marketing to home buyers as a means to increase market visibility, listings, while delegating incoming leads to a buyer’s agent o their team.

If you’ve found this useful, be sure to check out http://www.MarketingToHomeBuyers.INFO for free resources and downloads, and information about our complete turn-key system including customizable videos, articles, e-books, followup email campaigns, flyers with print graphics, and more, all branded to make you look great.

By: Roger V

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The wedding planner life is the only one I’d like to lead. I love to see couples find the ways to have their perfect day, and I absolutely love being able to help them do it on their own budget. Solving problems, working with people, and just being around weddings is a great career, so I love what I do. The only problem wedding planners have is marketing. There aren’t too many wedding planner marketing tips that are just floating around there. But there are a lot of wedding planners, and it can be hard to make myself stand out in the crowd. If I was going to give advice about wedding planner marketing tips, there are a couple of things that I would be sure to say.

First of all, as a wedding planner, one of the biggest wedding planner marketing tips that I can come up with is making sure that you’ve got a solid business plan and you are professional. You’ve got to know what you are doing right off the bat so that you’ll be able to do it well. You also have to always present yourself in a professional way. Remember that part of wedding planner marketing is making sure that you can work with all kinds of people, from couples getting married to in laws, to florists and DJs. You are going to have to plan this whole thing out, so be sure that your people skills are up to date. One of the biggest wedding planner marketing tips you can have is to always, always be friendly and polite. You have no idea how far a good word can go. If one couple likes you, they’ll recommend you to a friend. Business is easy, that way.

But you’ve got to get your name out there. I learned that the hard way, having no work for quite some time. Finally I realized that a web site is a great idea, because couples who are getting married like to see what I’ve done before. I put up photographs from weddings I’ve planned, and testimonials from couples who like me. I’ve also put up lists of what I do and what I charge for those services. With this information online, it is super easy for couples to decide that they’d like me. The hardest part is making sure that they know my address. I got an easy to remember website address, and started plastering it all over town. I took out ads in magazines that catered to brides and grooms, and made sure that I stuck it at all sorts of places. I even got some florists and DJs to say that they’d keep some of my cars and recommend me. In turn, I usually use them when I need those services for a wedding. That kind of networking can be the best of the wedding planner marketing tips because not only does it help you get business, it also helps you during your own business. No matter what, I always remember that if I want to be a successful wedding planner, I’ve just got to get out there and do it.

By: David Ledoux

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Most businesses have both a strategic marketing plan and a tactical marketing plan, and it is important to keep these two platforms separate. People often mistakenly assume that when you talk about marketing, you’re speaking of “tactical” marketing, which consists of placing ads, generating leads, sending out mailers and brochures, etc. However, strategic marketing focuses on the message and communication of the message. Simply put, tactical marketing is the execution of your marketing plan – the medium by which your message is delivered, and strategic marketing focuses on the content of your message-what you say and to whom you say it.

The key difference is the focus on making sure overall customer situations mesh with your overall company direction. Not to get distracted, or veer off course of your overall company direction, but at every step of development for your strategic plan, and execution of your plan, that you are indeed on course of what the overall vision and goals of the company are.

Content vs. Execution

Many companies try to figure out how to sell more before they find out how to provide a solution to their consumers’ needs. The procedure for accomplishing this is exactly the same every single time, for every kind of business. It is the advertiser’s job to pay attention to human nature, to research human nature, and to have some insight into how people make their purchasing decisions. Strategically, marketing programs and advertising should get the attention of target market prospects and facilitate their decision-making. This lowers their risk for taking the next step in the buying process. By understanding what’s important to your target market, you can then put together a strategy that gets more qualified prospects to call, reduces your sales cycle, and increases your conversion ratios. After the strategy is in place, the tactical execution simply consists of testing and implementing your strategic plan. Business-to-business Strategic Marketing

There is a business-to-business aspect to many companies, in which case these business-to-business transactions count as customer situation. For marketing to businesses who are your clients and customers, this means combining industry sector segmentation and product use with other factors related to purchasing decisions. For example, this would include purchase criteria and decision motivations that effect larger, enterprise sized purchases. In this case, part of your strategic marketing plan is to build strong, personal relationships with these larger businesses, and focus on providing customized service, products and even anticipate the needs of your business clients. Although a business is obviously a larger entity than a single customer, many of the same principles prevail; the most important being a keen sense of service, and making them feel they are important and that you pay special attention to them.

A strategic marketing plan encompasses developing a message, and developing the best way to communicate this message-and contemplates the best strategy to deal with communicating this message. Tactical marketing is important as it executes the strategic plan, but it is important to keep these two subjects divided as you develop a successful marketing plan for your company.

By: Christian Fea

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Last time, we talked about the emotional appeal of advertising on TV. This time, we’ll talk about a great way to educate your customers on your products or services: Radio Marketing.

In the recent SIMM 11 study conducted by BIGresearch, it was shown that 44.2 percent of consumers who
hear information that interests them on the radio go online to look into the product or service further. Further studies showed that 22 percent to 28 percent (depending on the industry) of consumers go on to
buy the product that caught their attention.

A recent recession marketing survey by BtoB Magazine shows that companies who normally invest in radio
advertising are estimated to cut back in 2008 by 10 percent. So what does that mean for the clever
business owner?

It means you can acquire one of the most powerful marketing tools for influencing buying decisions at a
significant discount this year.

When radio stations experience a 10 percent loss in revenue, slots that are normally extremely competitive or pricey become available at discounted rates. So how do you take advantage of this?

Negotiate with your radio stations. Radio stations may claim that their prices are fixed, but any
good salesperson will adjust their pricing in order to close the deal, especially when their revenues are down.

One of the best ways to increase your buying power is to offer to increase the duration of your marketing campaign in exchange for a lower rate. For example, rather than buying a 13 week campaign at
$1,500 a week, offer to commit to a 26 week campaign at $1,200 a week. You’ll save $7,800, which is like getting five weeks of valuable advertising for free, and the station gets the extra revenue they need.

Another powerful buying method is to negotiate to buy filler inventory. Radio stations often have 10 to
15 seconds where they have to push filler in order to start a show on time. Those 10 to 15 seconds could
easily be your ad at a significant discount.

Try AM radio. News, sports, and talk radio have amazing followings, and unlike FM or music radio
stations, their listeners are much less likely to surf stations and are much more likely to be attentive
to ads they hear.

So now that you’ve landed a sweet deal for your marketing campaign, how do you maximize returns on your investment?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Keep your ads simple. Don’t try to cram too much information
into your ad space. I say that for two reasons. First, you don’t want to confuse your listeners. Second,
curiosity is one of the most powerful tools in marketing. You want to grab their attention. Pique their
curiosity to the point that they’ll call the number or visit the website you mention in your ad.

For example, if you sell pizza, you might structure the last few seconds of your ad like this: “Free BOBBY’S Pizza today! Find out more at 918-555-1212. Call now! Tulsa’s best pizza…guaranteed. That’s 918-555-1212.” Now, don’t you want to find out how to get a free pizza?

If you sell a service or information, hook their attention by offering a free report or a free “how to”
article on your website. If you sell retail, offer free coupons or a sales calendar online.

And remember to mention your contact information twice. They won’t be ready to take it down the first
time, and odds are, they’ll be scrambling for a pen. The second time you mention your contact information, they’ll be ready.

Most importantly, avoid confusing domain names or names that are difficult to spell. It’s better to buy an expensive domain name than to spend $15,000 on radio advertising for a website no one can spell. Be
creative with your domain names and avoid domains with the word “and,” confusing symbols like dashes or underscores, and the number 4.

At Xeal every commercial ends with “Visit Xeal online at X E A L dot com…that’s Zeal with an X, and X E A L dot com.” In this case we actually spell it out for the listeners.

Also, a great way to track your ad response is ask your radio station for permission to use their name
in your tracking URLs. Using our pizza example earlier, you could use “KFAQ LOVES PIZZA dot com.” Saying that in a commercial would be much easier than saying “BOBBY’S Italian Eatery dot com.”

If they say no, then try something like “TULSA LOVES PIZZA dot com,” or make it campaign specific:
“TULSA FREE PIZZA dot com” or “5 BUCK PIZZA NOW dot com.” Notice I say “buck” instead of “dollar” so

That’s it for today. Keep an eye out for our next article on our blog [http://www.xeal.com/blog]. We’ll talk about the state of the market, projected spending, and how to come out of the recession stronger than ever before. You’re going to love it.

By: Tony Baker

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Nearly every town in the world has a newspaper. Simple ads will get notice from the customers that you need. These ads work great if you are offering a special or package deal. If you want to move some of the hair-care products on your shelves then run an ad offering a percentage off of these items. Yellow page ads in your local phone book are a great way to list some of the products and services you offer. The biggest benefit to this type of salon marketing is that it will be in print for a year. Newspaper ads will last for around a week and then you will have to pay again. The yellow pages fit a tight budget nicely. For those few who are technologically advanced, a website is another option. The cost and time required for a website puts off many salon owners. You should carefully consider the pros and cons of having a website.

The most helpful, or damaging, marketing tool for a salon is word of mouth. If you please a customer once they will tell a few friends. If their hair looks great every time they leave your salon, they will tell everyone that asks exactly where they got their hair done. Mess up once and clients will tell everyone they see what happened and where it happened. It may be a double-edged sword, but word of mouth is a very powerful tool. Do quality work and you will be able to rest easy about your reputation. It will also make your salon marketing that much easier.

Why not let your products and services help your salon marketing plan? Some clients will travel to a new shop if it offers the products that they prefer. Shop around at your competitors. That will give you an idea as to what products are common in the area and which ones are unusual. You might have a service that is unique in your area. Be sure to advertise it. Talk to all of the people you meet. Let it be known that you own a salon. If they are looking for a product or service they will ask about it. Research can be that easy.

When all of these methods are put together, you will have a solid salon marketing scheme. Sit down and write out your ideas. Follow your plan to the goals that you have and your salon will become widely known and respected.

By: Greg Milner

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Understanding that there is a distinct difference between strategic marketing and tactical marketing will aid any marketer in their development of a solid marketing plan. If you are like me and used to be a good Direct Mail or traditional Brick-and-Mortar marketing professional than you may be offended by what I am about to tell you. If you read this introduction with an open mind, you may just find that what I am about to say is true and has been for years.

There are two types of marketing:

1. Strategic Marketing and

2. Tactical Marketing

Strategic marketing has to do with What you Say, How you Say it and Who you Say it To. In other words, it’s the content of your marketing message.

Tactical marketing is the execution of your strategic marketing plan as far as generating leads, placing media, creating marketing tools and implementing a follow-up system. In other words, it’s the medium your message is delivered in.

How Big Is The Distinction Between Strategic and Tactical Marketing?

The distinction between strategic and tactical marketing is huge. Most people mistakenly assume that when you talk about marketing that you’re automatically talking about Tactical Marketing such as:

* Placing ads

* Lead generation

* Creating brochures

* Sending out mailers

* Attending trade shows

* implementing a follow-up system

They fail to realize that the strategic side of the equation:

What you Say

How you Say it

Who you Say it To

- is almost always more important than the marketing medium where you say it. To succeed as an Internet Marketer, a thorough understanding of this difference is crucial.

The basic definition of good communication is:

* Have something good to say

* Say it well

* Say it often

The best marketing and advertising in the world can not make a bad company good. Oh it may generate some attention and make some advertising agency a lot of money or win them an award (Pets.com), but saying something good about a company that can not execute what it claims is a recipe for failure.

A traditional advertising agency will use the C&R method of marketing Creativity and Repetition tries to capitalize on some creative ad using something that is unusual or exciting and then blast it all over the world using TV, Bill boards, newspapers, magazines, etc. in an attempt to build “Brand” awareness.

It is my hope that by reviewing this website and some of the articles you find here, you will begin to realize that there is a very specific strategic approach to internet marketing and begin to use some new methods in the way you approach internet marketing After all, where else can you create a headline, and ad or an offer and get feedback on its effectiveness within hours?

By: Joe Cavell

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Chocolate is unquestionably the number one comfort food. Worldwide, no other word excites our hearts and minds, yes, even our palates to action. It can be obtained in many forms. There is hot chocolate, cold chocolate, and spicy chocolate. If your passion is rich, dark, bittersweet, or milky sweet it can be easily satisfied. There is even white chocolate for those who fancy a light, creamy taste without the flavor that the alternatives deliver. What is it about chocolate that so permeates our subconscious until we ultimately indulge our craving?

If you look at all the characteristics that this confection is noted for you will undeniably find the list lacking nothing. The very first few that come to my mind are:

Sweet or bittersweet taste Rich, creamy indulgence Warm, inviting, comfort food Nothing quite smells like chocolate

And that is just for starters. However, its features are not what we crave. We crave it for what it does for us. As I ponder this subject, to better focus on the answers to these questions, I can think of no other chocolaty indulgence that I would rather have than My Little Taste of Italy’s sinfully, sensual, rich and luscious cappuccino brownies. They are so well known, on both coasts of America and in between, that they have been dubbed, “Orgasmic!”

Mama Gloria and Liz have discovered the key to satisfy the most discerning palate. Their tasty treats include chocolate biscotti that are to die for fabulous. Did I tell you their treats are known all across America? Well, that isn’t quite accurate. They are also ship their goodies overseas to our armed forces, but this is another tale for another time.

So, what is it that Mama Gloria and Liz have discovered that has enthralled the world? They have figured out that we cannot live without chocolate and have used that knowledge to capture our appetites and our hearts. When we look at what chocolate does for us, and what makes the desire so strong that we cannot ignore it, we discover the essence of true marketing potential. What is it that My Little Taste of Italy’s Cappuccino Brownies do for the lucky soul Let’s uncover their secret.

What chocolate does for the consumer is summed up in how it makes them feel. Some of these benefits are:

Satisfies our senses Soothes our nerves Makes us feel good about ourselves Provides health benefits

It is a well known fact that chocolate increases our endorphins, actively producing a sense of well being, and serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant. Recently I discovered that it is also beneficial to smokers. “It has shown promise in that it may reverse some of their smoking-related impairment in blood vessel function,” according to a study in the Oct. 4, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

But what does all of this have to do with marketing? The answer is simple, EVERYTHING! Think of it, if you could harness the benefits of chocolate in your advertising you would ensure your business’ success. If you simply find a way to make your product or service compelling to your consumer you will seldom loose a sale. Sit down right now and create a list of all of your product or service’s features. Then from that you will be able to build the list that will clearly define the benefits to your customers. With that knowledge firmly in hand you will have the key to the best marketing plan that you have ever prepared.

By: Ginger Marks

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