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Monthly Archives: February 2010
5 ways to Grow your Business
If you are not growing, you’re shrinking. It doesn’t matter what the “economy” is doing. What matters is what YOU are doing.
Here are lessons for all of us to learn from E-Myths.com:
Surefire Ways to Generate Leads
Almost every business owner wants more leads for their business. In fact, for many owners the need for a constant inflow of qualified leads often dominates their thinking. There are, however, many challenges to ensuring and maintaining that supply. And, in addition to the needs of today, growth objectives and profit goals will require increased revenue which must come from increased sales—which means more leads. So are there really “sure-fire” methods of lead generation? And, if so, what are they?
Start With Your Plan
Truly successful lead generation must always be an integrated part of your marketing strategy. And this rests on having a comprehensive plan that takes into account the demographics and psychographics of your target market, as well as your positioning—the perception of your business and your product/services held by that target market. In other words, your lead generation efforts must be guided by who it is you are ideally trying to attract to your business and what it is you’re promising them.
A mistake many business owners make with lead generation activities is to simply try different things with no real thought about who their ideal customers are, where they are, and how to best reach them. Random acts of lead generation produce random results—and a very questionable ROI.
Assuming you have effectively put together a strategic marketing plan and you know your ideal target market customer, what can you do right now to generate some solid, qualified leads?
5 Ways to Get Them to Bite
Here are some tried-and-true methods for getting good leads quickly:
- Team up: Many businesses can find ways to share resources with other non-competing businesses that targets similar customers. One of our clients who specialize in dent removal teamed up with an auto detailing facility to exchange customer lists and trade discount coupons to promote each other’s services. Clients who had a dent removed from their car received a coupon for detailing and the detailer did the same for our client. Not only did each of them enlarge their potential customer database by sharing information, they also opened the doors for co-branding opportunities, to boot!
- Referrals: Time, experience and much research has concluded that nothing brings a qualified lead to your door better than the recommendation of a friend or colleague. Having a structured and intentional system, or program, in place to elicit referrals is not only a sure-fire way to generate qualified leads, but it is highly cost-effective as well.
- Word-of-Mouth: According to Wikipedia, word-of-mouth marketing “encompasses a variety of subcategories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, cause influencers and social media marketing.” People tend to act on what they hear in this way because of the added layer of integrity perceived in it. In other words, getting people to talk about your company, your products or services, who you are and what you do, is an effective means of moving people to come to your business. We often say that your best salespeople are satisfied customers.
- Give it away: Give your product or service for free on a limited or one-time basis. This is especially effective if you’re a restaurant, a spa, or any service-oriented business. Make it a random weekday for just one hour, for example. The restaurant chain Macaroni Grill did this when they first opened with the idea of building mid-week traffic and it was incredibly effective. The old saying that “samples sell” holds a great deal of truth. And lead potential!
- Surprise them: Never underestimate the power of surprise, of the unexpected. Reach out and “touch base” with your pool of past or current customers, but do something spontaneous or out of the ordinary when contacting them. If you can find ways to surprise and delight current or past customers you can then leverage the power of that moment to generate a new sale. Although you may not always think of them as potential leads, these folks are almost always a great source of qualified leads and can be a far more cost-effective source. The added bonus is that your lead conversion, or sales process is often shorter and easier with repeat business.
Where There’s a Way There’s a Lead
The real key to generating more leads is how well you know your most probable customers—your target market. This is why making lead generation a systemic part of your marketing is so important. However, even though continual research and quantification of data on your target market is essential, it’s also critical to avoid getting stalled by too much analysis and not enough action! It was the American General and military strategist George S. Patton, who said: “A good plan, violently executed today, is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” A good strategy supported by some effective tactics will result in the leads you need.
Is Momma Happy?
Hope so…..
from Mediapost:
Who’s Making Big-Ticket Buying Decisions?
Savvy consumers are no longer passively watching commercials or looking at ads; they want brands to listen and understand what is important to them. These traditional marketing tactics are being replaced with “engagement marketing” strategies, creating a two-way, interactive exchange.
Recently, eMarketer published an article, “Facebook Moms Are Marketing-Savvy,” with a finding that moms are receptive to marketing when done on their terms and not through ads.
Many brands and industries are leading the way in listening and engaging with moms, yet there are some industries that still prefer to engage primarily with men. I think it’s easier for some industries to market to men as they don’t require the same level of social engagement as women do. However, in case you missed the memo, moms control over $4 billion in annual spend.
Case in point — the auto industry. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I think they’re trying to engage with the mom market by offering test drives to get “mom blogger” reviews as part of a marketing tactic; but how are cars really marketed? How are they sold? If you ask my neighbor, an auto mechanic and dad, he’ll tell you it’s to men but who makes the buying decision? As he’ll tell you, it’s his wife.
Recently, another mom told me about her car shopping adventure in Los Angeles. She was at a dealership and wanted some financial information about some cars, and the salesperson told her to “come back with her husband.” You’re not surprised are you? I’ve had this happen to me in the past. It’s no fun being a single (woman) mom, standing in a showroom filled with salespeople wanting to make deals with men but not with you. No wonder the auto industry needed a bailout.
As many brands have figured out, you need a strategy for brand-building, and understanding your target audience is part of it. People are talking in 140-character bites and igniting a flurry of engagements from support to condemnation. Many brands have even created high level “social media / marketing” positions, while others still look at it as a fad or a part-time gig they can outsource to a few people to blog or tweet about. You can’t improvise your social marketing strategy on the fly.
Engaging with moms requires a high level of social interaction to establish trust and loyalty, which means the art of listening is at the root of successfully reaching and keeping us engaged. Oh, and in the words of Aretha Franklin “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me” — you gotta respect us. Having children did not take away our buying power, it only increased it.
Finally, if you’re a brand that is still sitting on the fence and not taking social marketing seriously, conversations are taking place without you. Good, bad or indifferent. Wouldn’t you rather be there for them?
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Stephanie Piche is a work-at-home mother with over 20 years of sales and marketing experience in start-up technology for media and consumer clients. She has initiated and led over 30 product launches including mobile and social networking communities with world-wide responsibility for sales, marketing and support. Stephanie has been on the Internet since 1994 and has successfully pioneered product engagements using the right mix of technology from new media, digital publishing and Web 2.0 tools. Her latest endeavor is a social TV community, Mingle Media TV, where she and other hosts start live streaming video conversations daily from parenting to special causes. Reach her here. |
Random Tidbits From Art
Not art as in artist, but Art Sobczak, whom I feature regularly for his sales tips on Collective Wisdom.
This is from a recent email:
This Week:
Observations, Humor, Maybe a Sales Tip
Greetings!
This week I’m dumping out my file of tidbits
that I always collect…and I see these aren’t
necessarily all sales tips as much as rants,
humor, stories…oh well, here goes…
Life’s Little Annoyances
There are many of life’s little annoyances we
encounter daily. Opinion Research Corp. of
Princeton, NJ, surveyed people and asked about
21 common annoyances. Coming in second place
was “Not getting a human on the phone.”
We all can relate as salespeople.
(Also, if you hear complaints about that
from your prospects and customers about your
company you might want to have someone who
can affect that fix it.)
Oh, the top annoyance? Hidden fees added to
bills. Again, do your invoices contain any
of those?
Learning Just a Bit From a Cheesy, Hard Sell
Sales Rep
Speaking of annoyances, the Do-Not-Call List has
thankfully almost eliminated what was typically
voted the top one: telemarketing calls at home.
However, hard-sell telephone pitchmen are still
out there, ignoring laws and trying to squeeze
money out of people.
While driving to a college football game last
Fall in Oxford, MS to see Ole Miss play, a buddy
and I were listening to a sports radio show that
predicted the point spreads of football games.
It was quite cheesy and was essentially a
commercial for various subscription services
that promised to pick the point-spread winners
of top games. By calling their 800 number you
could supposedly hear one of those picks for free.
Curious about their sales techniques, and looking
for some entertainment I called the number from my
cell. I put the recording on speakerphone as we heard the
screaming used-car-salesman-sounding guy pitch
his service. We got a good laugh.
Then the next day, my cell rings, showing the
call coming from an unidentified 800 number.
I answer, and immediately recognize the voice
from the betting service. He jumps into an
animated, yelling sales pitch. I am certain
it is a recording. That is, until after two
minutes or so he goes for the close. I remain
silent. Then the voice says, “So what credit
card do you want that on buddy?”
I said, “I don’t.”
Then, he/the recording pretty much ignored
my response, and continued pitching the service.
Then he closed again: “Let’s start making you
money my friend. Which credit card?”
I continued, and so did he. Now, I’m wondering
if it is a recording, or the guy himself, live.
To test him, I threw out a nonsense response:
“I’ll put it on my Costco card.”
Without missing a beat he replied, “I know that
some people can see humor in losing but we take
winning seriously and that’s why we will give
you the point spread winners…” Finally, he
wore me down and I just hung up, shaking my
head that this kind of approach was still
going on.
I thought that was the end of things. I was
wrong. He called again Monday, same approach.
I told the voice–or recording to take me off
of his list. He continued pitching as if I had
said nothing. I hung up.
He called again the next day. Same thing! I
still couldn’t tell if it was a recording and
a voice recognition program that was trained
to give responses to certain replies. I was
so annoyed I began using rather colorful
language to describe him, his lineage, and
something to do with his mother. He replied,
“No need to use profanity my friend. So when
you get your picks from us each week…”
Unbelievable.
I thought it would never end. Calls came the
next two days. Finally, they stopped by the
weekend, when I imagine they generated a fresh
batch of leads.
So, any usable sales lessons here? Well, I
did observe that the recording–or guy–was
undaunted by resistance, essentially ignoring
it and continuing. Granted, he was over the
top with it, but too often legitimate salespeople
are too quick to give up when faced with the
slightest resistance. Instead, in many cases
we can reply with, “I understand,” or “That’s
OK,” and continue questioning.
Be Careful About What You Habitually Say
We really need to be careful about the speaking
habits we possess and when they might pop up.
In the local Omaha daily paper an article on
holiday etiquette shared a humorous phone
mishap: a woman was wrapping up a an internal
phone conversation with her company’s IT director.
Before hanging up she said, “I love you Larry.”
She said she did it out of habit, “You know how
you tell your family you love them on the phone…”
He was not family. Doh! She immediately called
back and apologized. Luckily, he saw the humor
in it and nothing more.
____________________________________________________
Continue Having Your Best Week Ever!
Art
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“ If we all did the things we are capable of,
we would astound ourselves.”
Thomas Edison
Contact: Art Sobczak, President, Business By Phone Inc. 13254 Stevens St.,
Omaha, NE 68137, (402) 895-9399. Or, email:arts@businessbyphone.com
Career Switching?
This evening, our Fort Wayne Advertising Federation is having our 48th Addy Awards.
But I’m not there. Instead I’m at the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Cirque de la Symphonie.
So, since I’m switching things up tonight in person, I thought I’d switch things up for you on Collective Wisdom.
Perhaps you’ve wondered about what those writers do. Maybe you have thought about becoming one yourself. Check out this from the AOM Blog:
So You Want My Job: Freelance Writer
Posted: 24 Feb 2010 03:50 PM PST
Once again we return to our So You Want My Job series, in which we interview men who are employed in desirable jobs and ask them about the reality of their work and for advice on how men can live their dream.
Today we have an awesome interview with Edward Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell’s job has two incredibly desirable elements-1) He’s a freelance writer, and 2) He writes about guitars and rock n’ roll. Edward writes for Total Guitar Magazine and runs the blog, Fix Your Own Damn Guitar. In this thoroughly enjoyable interview, Edward shares interesting anecdotes on how he got to where he is and some excellent tips for other aspiring writers. Thanks, Edward!
1. Tell us a little about yourself (Where are you from? How old are you? Where did you go to school? Describe your job and how long you’ve been at it, etc).
I live in a small town in Scotland called Linlithgow. It’s located about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. If you’re already imagining a Mel Gibson look-a-like cowering on a windswept hillside, wrapped in a sheep carcass… you’ve seen Braveheart one too many times. I’m 39, married to Julie and I don’t look anything like Mel Gibson.
I’ve been writing professionally for eight years. File me under ‘late starter.’ I mainly freelance for guitar magazines, writing features on artists and instrument manufacturers. I also have a monthly guitar maintenance column called Ed’s Shed in UK magazine, Total Guitar.
As for education, my family moved around a lot when I was a kid thanks to my father’s job as a soldier in the British Army. As a result I attended a bunch of different schools in Germany, England and Scotland. The only subject I was good at was English. I loved to write from an early age. If there was a project that involved writing a story or poem on behalf of the whole class, it always fell to me to do the job.
I eventually left school without any formal qualifications. I suppose I would be more embarrassed about that if things hadn’t worked out so well. I’d never enjoyed school life but I lost interest completely when I discovered music in my early teens. I was just biding my time until I could leave. When my father spotted a job for an apprentice at a music store in Glasgow, I aced the interview and school was history for this laddie.
2. Why did you want to become a freelance writer? When did you know it was what you wanted to do?
I got married. Not only was tying the knot the best day of my life, it forced me to take a long hard look at myself. I’d been working in the music store for 17 years. I had worked my way up from tea boy and general dogsbody to the big cheese’s second in command. I was earning damn good money, but I wasn’t happy. My better half, Julie, was building a great career in marketing, and I felt like I was letting the side down a bit. Did I really want to be stuck behind a shop counter for the rest of my working life? It was a rhetorical question, easily answered…
While walking one Sunday afternoon with Julie, I told her how unhappy at work I had become. I felt I was wasting my potential and if I was going to make a career change, I had to do it soon. I’d wanted to be a rock star but got realistic about that when I hit my 30s. She asked me what I wanted to do. I said I’d always wanted to be a writer. Julie said ‘go for it.’ She would support any decision I made. She always has, bless her.
I saw a position advertised in a music trade magazine. The job was for a staff writer in that same magazine. Taking it would mean giving up a steady job, moving 500 miles to England and taking a big cut in pay. It would also mean living apart from Julie for three months while she organised the sale of our house in Scotland. We talked it through. It was a great opportunity to learn my craft. I would be a professional writer. More importantly, I would be surrounded by seasoned journalists. These guys would soon let me know if I had what it took to cut it in their world. It was a bold move.
The job was a baptism of fire. Expecting a plush office, I instead found myself crammed into a tiny attic space with two other journalists, both heavy smokers. Great… I don’t smoke. There was also no air conditioning. The heat in the summer was unbearable. I went home each night drenched in sweat, reeking of cigarettes.
I was beginning to think that I’d made a big mistake when something interesting happened. The magazine’s editor liked my work. Without any prior experience or training, I was cutting it. I learned to write copy fast; to chase down juicy news stories; I nailed the art of turning a two paragraph press release into an 800 word feature. I became part of a team that often had to put an issue together in nine days. I regularly worked from 8am to 4am the following day… and would have to turn up for work at 8am that same day. Fun. But I learned from the best in the most intense six months of my life.
After those first six months I got an opportunity to work as a reviews editor on Total Guitar magazine. It was, and remains, the biggest selling guitar title in the UK and Europe. It sells well in the US too. I took over the reviews section and set about improving it. I got rid of some existing freelance reviewers, some because they didn’t ‘get’ the magazine’s demographic, others simply because their writing wasn’t up to scratch. I took on some new contributors, great writers that raised the bar for musical instrument reviews. I became part of a great team. Total Guitar is about to celebrate its 200th issue. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve contributed to the last 85 of those issues.
It was while at Total Guitar that I began the Ed’s Shed guitar maintenance column to teach novices how to maintain, service and repair their own equipment. I wanted to save them money and allow them to fix problems fast instead of relying on someone else. The column has been a huge success. I also write cover features and ‘how to’ guides for the magazine.
3. If a man wishes to become a freelance writer, how should he best prepare? Is getting a degree in journalism or writing worthwhile? How do you go about breaking into the business and getting your work published?
Although I haven’t gone down that road myself, I think a degree in writing or journalism is absolutely worthwhile. I doubted my own abilities for so long because I had no formal training or qualifications to back up my work. Perhaps I’ll look at getting a degree in the future. Even now, I torture myself a little when I’m putting some copy together. I’ll write a feature a few times over before I’ll admit to being happy with it. Sometimes I think about it for days, then write through the night when the inspiration finally hits. Some stories are easier to write than others. That’s part of the deal with this job. You have to put the work in to produce something you can be proud of. If I’m honest, I still doubt my abilities these days. I temper that with this golden rule: If no one says that you’re messing things up… then you’re not messing things up.
Breaking into the business is the tough part. There are a lot of writers out there. That said, if you’re good at what you do, you’ll make it. Target those publications that deal with subjects that you are interested in; subjects that you actually know something about. Don’t try to fake it. A good editor will spot a bogus writer straight away. My main expertise is in the history of rock ‘n’ roll and guitars. I’m also good on vintage cars. I’ll leave landscape gardening tips and motorcycle maintenance to writers that know about that stuff.
4. How do you market yourself? Do you have any tips on consistently getting your writing published?
Inspired by the positive response from readers to my monthly Ed’s Shed column in Total Guitar, I’ve just started my own blog. Called Fix Your Own Damn Guitar, it’s a showcase for my magazine work and a journal of the development of my guitar maintenance website. It will also have some stories about my life as a music store worker, some of which are quite bizarre. Ed’s Shed is about to run in US magazine Guitar World which has a monthly readership of about 250,000. I’m hoping the blog will lead to a successful website and more writing opportunities.
Aspiring writers should consider writing some copy for free. You have to get your name out there. A few years ago I emailed the editor at an American publication called Rockabilly Magazine. The guy was interested in my work but couldn’t pay for any copy. I decided the exposure was worth my time and effort, and I began submitting articles. Rockabilly music is a passion of mine so I enjoyed putting the features together. Writing for fun keeps your work fresh… and you’ll be exposed to a whole new set of readers. It doesn’t always have to be about the Benjamin’s…
If you give the magazine what they want, if your copy is consistently good, they will keep giving you work. Simple as that. Once you’re in, don’t be afraid to suggest feature ideas. Most editors will appreciate your enthusiasm.
5. How difficult is it to make a living as a freelance writer? Do many writers have other jobs or sources of income on the side?
It can be a tough way to make a living. Some people do get enough work to make it their only job, but most of the freelance writers I know have other sources of income. I run a business importing electric guitars, now that I am back living in Scotland. I still call myself a writer because in my heart that is what I am. With a bit more hustling, I hope to be a full-time freelancer, writing interesting articles for magazines like Esquire. I’m also working on some ideas for television with a writing partner. That’s the dream.
The great thing about freelance writing is that you can do it even if you have a day job. That way you can learn your craft without compromising your living standards. If that sounds like a cop out, it’s not. It’s called being smart.
6. What is the best part of your job?
I still get excited when I see my name in print! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that. I’ve also ‘met’ most of my heroes. My job often involves chatting with rock stars, sometimes face to face, sometimes on the phone. I’ve interviewed over 70 guitarists over the past five years from the likes of Joe Perry of Aerosmith to pioneers like the late, great Les Paul.
I’ve downed a few Budweisers with the Dropkick Murphys, tried (and failed) to get a word in edgewise with George Thorogood and chatted to Sonny Curtis of The Crickets about the day he wrote “I Fought The Law.” I’ve had a laugh with Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora (his definition of the word ‘wanking’ was very different from the British interpretation). I’ll also never forget my conversation with Bob Wootton, the man who played guitar for Johnny Cash. That was a real career highlight… for me I mean. Perhaps not so much for Bob!
The job can also involve a bit of travel. On one occasion I was asked to fly to LA to interview Ozzy Osbourne and his guitarist Zakk Wylde. A two-day visit turned into six when Ozzy missed his flight. While I waited for confirmation of the time and location of the interview I blasted round Hollywood in a rented Dodge Charger and ran up a bill at the Beverly Hilton. My wife and I vacation in the States twice a year so I wasn’t too put out by Ozzy’s tardiness. When the interview finally happened the first thing Zakk Wylde said to me was ‘Hey man, have you still got that 14-inch cock?’ I’d never met him before. I just nodded my head and said ‘ah, my reputation precedes me’. What was I supposed to say? No? I knew the feature was going to be great from that point on. It practically wrote itself.
I still get a tingle of excitement before I do an interview. If you ever get complacent about picking up a phone and hearing a voice say, ‘Hi, this is Jimmy Page,’ well, this job isn’t for you…
7. What is the worst part of your job?
Writer’s block is a bitch. Most writers experience it at some point. I’ve had my fair share. There’s nothing more terrifying to a writer on a deadline than staring at a blank computer screen waiting for inspiration to strike. It’s mental constipation. In my experience there are two ways to deal with it: write down anything you can think of relating to your subject, then look for that killer first or last line. The rest of the piece will follow. The second method is to simply walk away and come back to it later. That does help. A looming deadline is also a good motivator.
The other worst part of the job is that, in a sense, real rock ‘n’ roll journalism is dead. There’s so much money tied up in the music industry these days that record companies and PR people won’t risk their artist’s public image. Positive spin is the name of the game. The days when rock writers like Lester Bangs and Steven Rosen would go on the road with a band, and live the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle themselves, are pretty much over. These days you’re more likely to get a 30 minute ‘phoner’ with an artist. I’ve had anything from a 13-minute chat with Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx – I had to turn that into a 1,400 word feature – to an hour and a half with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. The time you’re alloted can vary a lot.
8. What’s the work/family/life balance like?
Unless you’re doing a lot of travelling, freelance writing shouldn’t negatively affect your family life. If you’re on a tight deadline you might find yourself typing through a few late nights but that’s about it. I find that I need total peace and quiet to write, so late nights work best.
My wife Julie encourages my writing. I read most of my work to her to make sure that it flows well and makes sense. Writing doesn’t have to be a lonely profession!
9. What is the biggest misconception people have about your job?
That it’s highly paid! Unless you’re a big name columnist or a novelist living off a fat advance, freelance writing is not a get rich quick scheme. Do it because you love it. There are easier ways to make money, but few are so satisfying.
10. Any other advice, tips, or anecdotes you’d like to share?
Develop your own voice and learn how to make it work on the page. There are rules that you must follow: good grammar is essential; your spelling better be spot on. Allowing your personality to shine through in a written piece is important too. We can’t all be Hunter S. Thompson or James Ellroy, but you can try to make your writing recognisably yours. That’s the element that makes people want to read what you’ve written… and look forward to reading your work again.
Know your subject inside out. Do your research. If you’re not sure about something, look it up. There’s no excuse for silly mistakes like misspelling someone’s name or getting an album title wrong.
When you approach an editor looking for work, don’t send any unsolicited material. Only send examples of your work when specifically requested to do so. Consider setting up a blog or website to showcase your work. It’s then ok to direct an editor to your site through an introductory email. If you are asked to submit copy, study the publication in detail. You want your work to fit the ‘style’ of the magazine. Every magazine is different so don’t assume that the way you write will work for every publisher. Put the time in and get it right.
Finally, and in many ways most importantly, there are a couple of things that I always consider when I write. I keep it simple and I always think about the reader.
In my opinion, bad writers try to show off with big words. If you don’t use a word in everyday life, don’t write it down. It’s that simple. Letting your ego get in the way of a good story will get you canned from any decent magazine. I’ve seen too many CD reviews where the writer had spent so much time showing off that it was impossible to tell whether they had actually enjoyed the music or not. That’s unforgivable. Simplify your work. Go through it and take out unnecessary words or whole sentences. The final draft will flow better.
Remember that someone is going to be reading your work. Think about them. Who are they? What knowledge will they have of your subject matter? If you’re writing about The Beatles, The Munsters or 50s ‘Lead Sleds’ and your readership is predominantly young, don’t assume they know everything that you do. You have a responsibility to guide them through the story. If you don’t, they’ll lose interest in what you’re trying to say. Speaking of which, I hope I’ve done my job well here… and you’ve made it to the end of this interview!
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Customers or Crusaders?
From my email archives is this piece from Seth Godin:
The fan chasm
How big is the gap between customer and die-hard fan? In other words, between engaging and loving, between attending and craving?
For World of Warcraft, it’s huge. It’s very difficult to spend just an hour or two. There’s a chasm between encounter and enjoyable experience. Tetris was oriented in precisely the other way–everyone who tried it instantly became almost as smart as an expert.
If you want to be an insider at the Four Seasons restaurant, you might have to go thirty times and spend $3,000 over time. There’s a barrier to becoming an insider.
For Star Trek, not so much. After one TV episode, you might not know a Tribble from a Romulan, but you’ve probably figured out the whole Vulcan thing. Much more approachable, much easier to fake your fanhood.
There are very few products, services or organizations that are simultaneously easily approachable and quite deep. That’s an opportunity for you if you can figure out how to be both, but choosing just one is a more likely scenario. So, which are you?
Raise Your Prices
from my email:
Hi Scott,
As you know, there are only three ways to make more money in
your business.
One of them is to increase your prices, and frankly, with a
few exceptions, it’s actually the easiest way. And here’s
why: see, most people see themselves inside a vacuum.
They think “If I increase my prices, I’ll lose customers and
people won’t want to do business with me.”
But that’s not correct.
Basically, it all depends on the kinds of customers you want
and the kinds of customers and clients you have right now.
If you fill your pipeline with customers who are loyal to
low pricing, then yes, you will lose customers when you try
and charge them more.
But if you want customers who are motivated by things other
than price, then high prices won’t cost you anything. In
fact, it will make you a LOT more money.
Pricing is only one of the many things people consider when
making a purchase. And it’s usually several notches down
the list. If it wasn’t, BMW and Mercedes would be in
trouble, and candidly, so would I.
The truth is, the lion’s share of consumers are far more
“value” oriented than “price” oriented. So what you want
to focus on is creating massive value, and then your
pricing becomes a non-issue.
The other thing you need to know, is that with one exception
(selling a commodity item), it is JUST as difficult to sell
something for $50 dollars, as it is to sell something for
$250 or $500 dollars.
Don’t kid yourself — in spite of what sales gurus would
like you to believe — getting someone to buy something
from you, isn’t easy. So if you’ve gotta work hard anyway…
then you might as well get paid as much as possible for it,
right?
Or not. Either way, it’s your call.
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Friday Night Marketing News from Mediapost
Click and read, you know how it works…
by David Goetzl Starz won’t order a third season of “Crash,” the TV drama. The decision comes as the pay-TV operator is trying to add original series to its traditional movie line-up. Parent company Liberty said it had a strong fourth quarter and ended 2009 slightly ahead. …Read the whole story
by Wayne Friedman
Cablevision Systems Corp.’s cable networks showed a big 20% gain in advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009. The chief reason was more pricey advertising commercial time sold at its AMC channel, which features top shows “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” …Read the whole story
by David Goetzl Univision’s TV segment posted growth in 2009’s October-December period as revenues were up 7% to $420 million. Univision has high expectations for this year’s second and third quarters, due to its coverage of the World Cup. …Read the whole story
by Erik Sass
In a first for digital magazines, Zinio’s new Publisher Advertising Network is executing its first network advertising campaign, with ads for carmaker Kia Motors America’s new 2011 Sorento CUV appearing in multiple magazines from different publishers. …Read the whole story
by Wayne Friedman Nielsen says ratings for the Olympics are indexing the highest among older viewers — 82% more than the total viewership average of the Olympics. The same trends are seen in prime time. …Read the whole story
by David Goetzl
ESPN promises to launch a 3D network in time to carry World Cup games this summer. The company said it will use a Florida facility for 3D research going forward. …Read the whole story
Teens Text
A marketing prediction I made at the end of 2008 is becoming a reality. That prediction was that Smart Marketers will use text messaging to send offers to the teens and young adults to build their brand and become the next “Cool” item. Click here to read what I originally wrote.
This week Mediapost had this update on my prediction:
What’s In It For Me?
Have you ever run into a teen without a phone or, better yet, one who isn’t asking, “What’s in it for me?” Rarely, right? So, when looking at marketing strategies targeting teens, you can’t ignore mobile. You should even consider it as a primary media channel.
We’ve all heard the phrase “the medium is the message.” In the case of teens, this is even more relevant. Teens will judge your brand in an instant. But by communicating in a first-person voice in channels in which they “live,” you put your brand on a level playing field. You can grab their attention more easily than with a TV ad or other traditional medium and effectively drive them to take action.
SMS is just one of the many dimensions of the mobile channel that creates results. To harness its power, you have to grab young consumers’ attention with a simple, yet strong call-to-action. An SMS program’s rate of participation — regardless of its targeted demographic — is the result of media exposure coupled with a compelling call-to-action and offer. The equation looks something like this:
SMS Call-to-Action Response = Media Exposure x Call-to-Action Strength x The Offer Value
If you follow the five rules below while keeping this in mind, you’ll be on the way to creating a powerful SMS call-to-action and offer.
1. Your shortcode is your new URL. For teens, mobile is the first place they want to go. Be bold, and make the shortcode BIG. It is part of the primary message. A simple SMS call-to-action will work with any advertisement and, while their parents may not, your teen consumers know what to do with those five numbers and keyword. Put it in every piece of printed and outdoor material you have. Your Website is the only possible exception; see point 5 to learn why. When looking at the specific call-to-action, focus on making the keyword and shortcode the strong elements, as these are the keys to open the door. For example: “Text the keyword DUNK to 777483.”
2. Don’t forget about the value proposition! Your young consumers are not going to join just because you are a brand they know. Offer something fun, engaging, useful and valuable. What teen wouldn’t love a PlayStation or a retail voucher? People love the chance to win something. We’ve had clients build mobile databases three times faster than other clients simply by adding a sweepstakes element.
3. Out with vanity codes. Smartphones are here to stay. Vanity codes worked well, just like those catchy customer support phone numbers that spell out the company’s name (SPRITE=777483), when all phones came equipped only with the standard 12 buttons. But what teen remembers that? BlackBerries, Palms and even iPhones now have full QWERTY keyboards. If you have a vanity code, then always include the digits; it’s very hard to work out the numbers from the letters on a smartphone.
4. When in-venue, remember the rule of three. The call-to-action must be announced three times and supported with a visual reminder like video on a JumboTron. Ideally, have the announcer also do a shout-out asking people to grab their phones and TXT in. Announce the keyword and short code at the beginning, middle and end of the event. You are trying to get an entire venue’s attention, to borrow some of their memory, and get them to act. Also, be sure you’re advertising where they can get mobile reception.
5. If online, stay online. Asking people to grab their phone to send you an SMS when they are on their computer is a fail. Instead, offer them a field to enter their mobile phone number. Time and again, we see higher response rates to this mechanic than asking them to TXT in.
Remember, mobile is a teen’s remote control for their world. It holds the key to their friends, family, social networks, and it goes with them everywhere. So respect the unique perspective and needs of teens, and you’ll get them engaged in your mobile program.
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Steen Andersson is co-founder and Vice President of 5th Finger (www.5thfinger.com), a progressive mobile agency that designs and implements engaging brand interactions for on-the-go consumers. 5th Finger has produced 5,000+ campaigns and 300 million interactions for such brands as Microsoft, LG and the U.S. Army. To find out more about 5th Finger and Steen’s thoughts on the industry, go to http://blog.5thfinger.com. |
Marketing YOUR Niche
From my other blog:
Pleasing Everybody
Every once in awhile, I come across a business owner and the conversation begins with this:
Me, “So, who are your customers?”
Them, “Everyone.”
To which I mutter under my breath, “Uh, Oh”.
Please, Please, Please understand that you can’t get everyone to your store, shop, or website.
And don’t fool yourself into thinking that you need to reach everyone with your marketing efforts either.
A couple of the biggest companies, Walmart & McDonalds do not do business with everyone.
When Walmart comes to a new town, the natives used to tremble in their boots, thinking they would soon be out of business because Walmart would beat them up on price.
Yes, you can get a giant jar of pickles for a couple of bucks, but not everyone cares about price over value.
And just as there are some people who never set foot in a Walmart, there are some people who have never tasted a McDonalds french fry.
Focus on what you do best.
Focus on what you can offer that others can’t or won’t.
It’s not the lowest price.
And the lowest price won’t please everybody anyway.
sclohoreally 