This is a mindmap showing how to advertise on communities and social networking sites. I’ll return later with more advise on how to attract more clients using online business social networking sites.
Growing the profits of your small business requires knowing what to do and what not to do. Learn from an experienced small business marketing strategist key insights that will help you get strong ROIs. Learn to make decisions with clarity and confidence, every step of the way. Watch the videos and read below to learn more...
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Future Entrepreneurial Trends
Stewart Borie, a entrepreneurial management consultant and colleague of mine, posed a question on LinkedIn and my answer is below. His question reads:
What is the trend in entreprenership? Will it explode or will it stay level?
I have been an Entrepreneur and Advisor for over two decades, with a passion for Entrepreneurship and an MBA from Wharton in Entrepreneurial Management. I believe there is the potential for a "perfect storm" of Entrepreneurship in the coming decade. The recession, coupled with an aging population with little savings, a new generation of social networking and new generations of technology enhancing the “flattening" of the world and business, emerging economies such as China and India; all point to a new frontier of entrepreneurship, with waves of new entrepreneurs emerging of all ages. Is it coming? Where will it come from? What will it look like?
His original question can be found here:
And here is my answer...
Stewart, I do agree with you that a perfect storm COULD be created. The trends do seem to be going in that direction. And, while the last comment about "consultants drowning people" may be a bit overly pessimistic, the other comment about the percentage of failures and stiff competition is quite accurate.
What I feel we need to remember as we look to the future is the larger cycles that we are experiencing on earth. Check out the DVD called The Great Year, as it talks about the 24,000 year cycles on this planet.
We are, according to the ancient sages and current wise people, on an upward cycle in general. However, what they also say is that we are just out of one of the lower periods.
So, we have a long way to go before our entire planetary consciousness is made up of largely good people helping one another. The entrepreneurial spirit that can and does help people is what I am working to support. Those that see a need and set up a system to fulfill that need can succeed, especially when their deepest motive is to truly be of service, to LOVE others and receive thanks in doing so.
I do believe that you are right, Stewart, there will be an upward growth in entrepreneurial business ATTEMPTS. The main question is, are these entrepreneurs aware of their need to get as much support as possible to beat the odds and approach their market with strength.
And, as we know, there is strength in numbers. As Keith Ferrazzi says, you need a team, a few people who you can trust completely and who "have your back," and you need a network of advisors who you meet with regularly. You don't want to go it alone. In fact, it's almost impossible to succeed by yourself. Micro enterprises do have advantages over big businesses that allow them to change faster.
And, certainly we are experiencing a LOT of changes, faster than ever before, as fewer and fewer people are trusting traditional forms of advertising. Neilsen did a Global Online Consumer Survey in July of 2009 that shows that people are most likely to trust the advice of people they know, and secondarily trust the opinion of consumers who post comments online, especially negative ones.
So, relationship marketing, one-to-one advice, social media, and word of mouth marketing are going to dominate the most successful company's marketing strategy in the next decade no doubt. Any relationship based on loving service will ultimately grow the brand reputation and thus the revenue. Love conquers all... including prospective clients/customers!
I think, on the flipside, there is in general more FEAR dominant in the world consciousness as a result of the financial melting we are seeing at all levels. It is this fear that could freeze the individuals who would normally take risks and invest money and time.
So, if there is going to be an explosion in entrepreneurship that is SUCCESSFULLY creating new business growth, it will be a sign that love and not fear is dominant in the majority of people's consciousness.
And, I feel there will be a growth in social entrepreneurship, where people focus on those activities that are most in harmony with other people and the planet, recognizing the divinity within the human heart as well as in nature. Those businesses that are in line with our upward evolution in consciousness will be those that are led by and have operating principles that are also in harmony.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Best Options for the 11% of Unemployed People in Los Angeles County
Hi Again,
At 11% unemployment, Los Angelenos are finding it hard to keep or find a job. For the unemployed or under-employed people living in Los Angeles County, I've shared below a few of the best options to help you increase your income and perhaps have a life-changing experience, too! Keep up hope! May good fortune, gainful employment, and increased income quickly shine down upon you!
Become a Freelancer:
Most companies are now outsourcing many of their services to vendors instead of hiring people internally. Take your resume and re—write it for a business marketing piece. Ask your local SBDC counselor to write a simple professional profile, and then post it on the freelance job sites. An SBDC counselor will help at no charge. Simply visit http://lasbdcnet.lbcc.edu/locations.html to locate an SBDC near you.
Once you have a final draft of a professional profile, and a professional head and shoulder picture, with various resolutions (as each site will have their photo size requirements), post your photo and profile on the following sites: www.guru.com, www.elance.com, www.allfreelance.com, and www.freelancejobresource.com. These are the largest sites for freelancers, with thousands of projects on which to bid in nearly any area in which you might have an expertise. Projects can be local or from employers in another country.
These sites both make it easy for potential people to hire you, plus, they make it easy to get paid. You can be guaranteed to be paid for your work by using an escrow account. The employers (people who will hire you for temporary contracts) will post a job request, and you'll submit a bid (along with a few others). If they pick your bid, then you'll ask them to put their money in an escrow account. And, only then do you begin working on their project. You are guaranteed to get paid so long as you fulfill your end of the agreement.
Go Back to School:
If you feel like you have enough time outside of work (and the energy), and are willing to take on some student loans, now is the time when literally hundreds of thousands of out of work people are returning back to school. They are motivated either by being forced to switch careers or realize that in order to compete in this tougher economy, another degree can make the difference between getting the job or getting turned down.
Numerous community colleges (http://www.laccd.edu) and state and private colleges (http://www.laalmanac.com/education/ed36.htm) in the Los Angeles region are packed with new students of all ages, but, if you act quickly, you could get a spot in a reasonably-priced university, making your future job prospecting a good bit more hopeful.
If you don't have the time, energy, or are not willing to be burdened by large student loans, the below option of teaching English abroad could be a better choice.
Teach English Overseas:
There are fewer job openings in Los Angeles county than there have been since the Great Depression and many people are looking overseas for both a change in career and lifestyle. Teaching English in another country is a great option for those who don't have children under 18, who have always wanted to travel, are ready for a change, and don't have other employment options.
Recent college graduates with no other job prospects or people in their 40s, 50s, or even 60s who are ready for a career change can, within a few weeks, find themselves happily employed in an exotic country, making good money, and yet still have enough time off to travel.
For Los Angeles County residents, visit www.TESOLTrainingCenter.com to learn about the opportunities for single people (and couples without young kids) to get paid to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in hundreds of other countries. A TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Certificate is required, and courses range from 80 to 100 hours in length, usually on the weekends.
It's best to receive your training from a teacher trainer with a Masters in TESOL. Be sure to ask. Many of the programs who offer a TESOL Certificate don't hire teachers with a Master in TESOL.
In-class tuition ranges from $800 to $1,200. Online certificates are not recommended, simply because teaching is a skill that requires practice. Typically a BA degree is also required by oversea employers.
Most ESL/EFL job boards say that there are more teaching positions than there are teachers to fill them in most countries. Once you have your TESOL Certificate, you can visit the following job boards to apply to get a job teaching English in the country of your choice: www.eslemployment.com, www.eslcafe.com/jobs, www.esljobs.com, www.esljob.org, www.eslteachersboard.com.
Join the Peace Corps:
You may have thought to yourself: “Some day I'll join the Peace Corps and make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.” Well, perhaps that day has come if you're one of the 11% in Los Angeles County who are unemployed.
Visit www.PeaceCorps.gov to learn more about the benefits of joining the Peace Corps. You won't return home with any savings, as this gig is a volunteer assignment., but, there are big benefits attached making it an attractive option.
In addition to a significant life-changing experience in a foreign country, with all of your travel, living expenses, and health insurance covered, you'll return home after 2 years with additional educational benefits. Over 40 universities will give you a discount on their tuition for Masters level degrees as part of the Peace Corps Fellows program. You can even earn your MBA at a fraction of the cost! Then, you can start a business, perhaps at first part time, as described below.
With the addition of a tour of duty in the Peace Corps, your resume will be given a significant boost. Plus, after 2 or 3 years, our US economy could be significantly on the rebound, making landing the job of your choice perhaps a bit more probable.
Develop a Weekend Business:
If you can't get another part-time job on the weekends, you can start a simple cash business, requiring little investment, simple inventory, and easy accounting. Be sure to take advantage of the free business counseling offered by local non-profits like the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) at www.score.org and the Los Angeles Network of Small Business Development Centers at http://lasbdcnet.lbcc.edu/locations.html. You can also sign up at www.TrainingInLA.org to be notified of either free or low-cost small business training provided by the Los Angeles Economic Development Institute (LAEDI).
The counselors at both your local SCORE chapter and your local SBDC can help you do all your research, legal requirements, and successfully launch your first business. Keep in mind that, like any non-profit, you may be assigned to a person who fits your needs perfectly or who doesn't quite make the best impression. So, if you don't get paired up with someone you'd rate as “5 Star,” don't give up. Simply ask for a reassignment and keep trying until you find someone who you feel is best suited to help you.
Start with a simple business model. Buy products at wholesale and sell them at a profit. Or make something fast enough to produce a substantial profit when you sell it. Simple, right? Now you just need to know where to sell your product to make the most for your investment of time and money in inventory.
Consider high-traffic areas, whether permanent or temporary. Around Los Angeles County, there are numerous swap meets, farmer's markets, carnivals, and festivals nearly every month, where you pay a small fee to gain entrance. (See the below links to local events). Some of the best areas for small operations are considered “tourist traps” - these are essentially where you can sell low-cost items at a premium. A goofy tee-shirt that you paid $3 for can go for $14.95 all day long to tourists who are not as cost-conscious while on vacation.
Sell something that you know is in demand, for example, a food item you made the day before, or on the spot if possible, and in which there is a substantial profit margin. Consider something as simple as a popcorn maker on a cart, as the cost is low and the smell percolates the surrounding, bringing in customers.
Get access to several events for a small daily fee. Arrive early and leave late. Stand in front of your booth and engage passer buys with free samples or special offers. Most people need to be persuaded to buy.
Learn how to sell: learn what to say and what not to say, and when to just listen.
Most people don't know how to sell and end up annoying their prospects by sounding pushy or desperate. Take a course at your local Small Business Development Center on sales techniques. Take the time to learn sales techniques that don't come off as techniques. Usually, a sale is made after a conversation, not a monologue. First ask questions about their needs and then only later make a pitch of how your products can solve their problem. This process is called “consultative sales.”
An extra few hundred dollars every Saturday or Sunday can go a long way to help pay your household bills. You may have to test the market to see what sells. Once you find a niche product, see if the event producers will guarantee that they won't let another similar product seller in the event.
LA Farmer's Markets:
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-farmersmarketlist,1,5715921.htmlstory
LA Swap Meets:
http://www.insiderpages.com/s/CA/LosAngeles/FleaMarketsSwapMeets
LA Festivals:
http://www.at-la.com/@la-fest.htm
Finally, be sure to develop a professional profile (more than a resume) on LinkedIn.com. You'll want to start developing a large network quickly. Feel free to invite me to connect with you and I'll give you access to my network of 5,700 and growing direct connections: http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbarden.
Keep up hope! May good fortune, gainful employment, and increased income quickly shine down upon you!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Andrew Barden - Inspiring Entrepreneurship Trainer & Marketing Coach
Click above to play this 9 minute promotional video, highlighting the group training services I provide. To hire me to train your group, for an evening, a day, or multiple days, call me to learn the wide variety of entrepreneurship training topics I can offer you: 1-866-339-4619
Some of the training events I do are free to qualified business owners, paid for by government agencies, chambers of commerce, foundations, non-profits, or banks. Individual business owners may also call me to set up a 30 minute complimentary small business marketing diagnostic. You'll know immediately what you may be doing wrong as well as how to fix your marketing to improve your ROI. 1-866-339-4619 or email me at andrew@andrewbarden.com and connect with me at http://andrewbarden.trustedteam.com and http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbarden
Friday, May 15, 2009
10 Proven B2B Marketing Communication Strategies
- Know the decision making process of your targets.
If you are a business marketing to other businesses (B2B), there are a few steps you’ll need to address. Unfortunately, 9 out of 10 small businesses, when surveyed, don’t do sufficient planning of their marketing strategy. If you are a start up, your failure to plan means that you are planning to fail. To avoid the most common pitfalls, do your homework. The below steps will help you get started. It’s all about your research, your strategy, and your careful execution of marketing campaigns that are first tested and then refined and then launched.
If you need help with developing your B2B marketing strategy and execution, find a business coach / consultant / counselor with experience guiding small business owners through the process. The investment will pay off with a much higher ROI.
Before you start on your B2B marketing communications plan, there are some important things you need to consider:
The purpose of your marketing communications – Any marketing / communications effort has only two purposes: create a positive, larger-than- life image of your company, and create and facilitate sales opportunities. It’s all about creating a funnel of qualified leads for your sales team to close. And, if you are the only sales person (“solopreneur”), you need to leverage your time with effective marketing: you waste less time and end up making more money in less time.
Your budget – Most businesses fail because they run out of seed capital or have a dip in cash flow at some point. All factors must be taken into account. Obviously, a key new product or service introduction will require more money than an established product or service that “sells itself.” When a business owner makes marketing mistakes, the average cost is around $15,000. It’s better to invest in getting help developing your strategy than to waste your budget on failed marketing campaigns.
Your strategic plan – Are there new products to be introduced? Problems to be solved?
Images/perceptions to be altered? Interest/sales opportunities to be created? What do you expect to achieve through your marketing efforts? Develop a SWOT analysis (identifying your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) that helps you see problems before they arise.
Your tactical plan – Never forget that the desirability of the product or service itself is by far the greatest single factor in any marketing/selling effort. How you plan to create demand depends on just how much in demand your product or service is already in the market place. The more demand, the more competition, right? But, competition is good! Why? Because, as you read above, most small business owners don’t take the time to develop effective marketing strategies. When you do just a few simple things to correct the most common mistakes in your industry, you’ll soon see yourself dominating your market.
10 Proven Revenue-Growing Strategies for Small Business Marketing Communications
It’s just as important to execute the various components of your marketing communications campaign in proper sequence as it is to execute them well. For most small business owners the order should be as follows:
1. Corporate Identity – Logo, branding, letterhead, business cards, tagline, signage, etc. Follow through on all communications projects/materials. Look up the ebook called The Branding Bible. I’ve used it and recommend it highly. Branding is more than you’re your logo, or the colors and pictures you choose on your website. When you position yourself in the market correctly, you differentiate yourself from other businesses offering similar products / services. Your brand needs to show your Unique Selling Proposition within each marketing message. Not familiar with a USP? Simply “Google it” and you’ll know enough to improve your current slogan or elevator pitch. In fact, you’ll want to do the “poor man’s background check” and Google your brand or your first and last name to see how others see you. I’ve been working on this one myself. Google “Andrew Barden” and you’ll see that I dominate the first page, usually 9/10 or 10/10. Your online reputation can make or break your business reputation. Protect it.
2. Product photography/illustration – You need good photos or illustrations before you can do anything. This seemingly basic requirement is often overlooked. A picture says 1,000 words. The right picture can grab the readers’ attention enough to get them to read. Pictures of human faces or animals can also create a desired emotional reaction, even before reading a single word of copy in the promotion.
3. Web site – All of your leads / interested parties will go here, so make sure your web site is ready for them! Your site must make it easy to locate products/info and download quickly and easily. You need to be able to answer your prospect’s first question upon arrival “What is the ONE THING they want me to do?” And your answer needs to be “Give us your information in exchange for X.”
You need good copywriting and professional navigation, but you don’t need fancy graphics – web sites in the B2B world are for information, not showing off. No Flash is necessary. Your web site exists to help sell your products or to generate leads to sell your service. Make sure the information is current. Above all, develop a video with testimonials from satisfied clients. Adding a video introduction from you, the business owner, goes a long way in building rapport, too.
4. Web Traffic Generation – How to generate targeted traffic to your site. There are two approaches, short term and long term. An example of a short term approach is designing a landing page with Google Analytics embedded in it, then design a pay-per-click campaign, assign a daily budget, and test to see if within a week or so you have made more money than you spent.
A long term approach is to set up well written professional profiles on all the social networks, grow your network to many thousands, and ask and answer questions within groups of which your ideal client is likely to be a member.
Don’t dismiss the efficacy of growing your business with a well written social network profile. I’ve personally had prospective clients read my answers to questions posed on social networking sites, read my profile, check out my verifiable testimonials, and then pick up the phone and call me to sign up for business coaching. Plus, I’ve been fortunate to have both the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire writers contact me as a small business expert—all based on my well written professional profile on sites like LinkedIn.com and Biznik.com. Just imagine if you had your industry news organizations calling you or clients calling you, simply because you had a compelling profile!
5. Literature – Provide first-class brochures that your salespeople are proud to present. Your literature is a reflection of the professionalism, or lack thereof, of your company. You need as much to capture the mind share of your salespeople as you do the attention of your potential customers.
6. Follow-up system – Use telemarketing to follow up on leads. Your telemarketing people must be capable of connecting with prospects and getting the information you need to close sales.
7. Ads – Target any ads to a very small niche. You’ll need to do your psychological profile of your Ideal Client first, to know where their “eyeballs” are going to be through the day. For B2B, industry journal advertising gets your company and products in front of a huge audience. It’s very cost effective in that sense. Advertising will not, typically, generate hot leads, but it will get people to your web site.
Establish a campaign or “look” unique to your company. Carry this through on all ads for at least a year. This is key for any branding strategy. And remember this: You only get one shot, so you have to stop them! Make them want to take action, and help them get in touch with you. Frequency is important, and so is impact. Take advantage of editorial calendars in journals and map out your schedule accordingly.
8. Public relations/publicity – Once you have your list of journal editors (which you need to update faithfully), send out press releases on a regular basis. You can use services like PRWeb.com and similar companies, most of whom charge around $400 per press release. If you are not a writer, be sure to have a professional write your press release or it won’t be distributed. Provide photos. Some online PR companies even allow you to embed video.
Establish relationships with the editors. You can use the press release’s cover letter to set up the initial pitch for technical articles. Technical articles are one of the most important yet most under-appreciated activities you can perform. They can generate huge exposure and position your company as the expert in your field.
With your article, you will want to showcase 2 main qualities. First, your humanity and only secondarily your expertise. Your humanity is showcased when you tell a painful story, showing the reader that you understand their pain. Then the reader believes that if you understand their pain so well, you’ll undoubtedly know how to solve their problems and make the pain go away. Only later do they need to confirm your competence. Start with a story and you’ll get them hooked to read all the way to the end where your contact information is located.
Most editors will run them, especially (whether they want to admit it or not) if you’re running ads with them. You can also write what is called an “advertorial.” Advertorials look like articles but you paid for their placement. It is one of the best forms of publicity out there.
Press tours to introduce new products or services are a very wise investment if you can afford them. You’ll need to hire a professional PR firm for this.
9. Direct marketing – It’s expensive to mail a printed piece to a huge audience. That’s what the wide circulation of a trade publication is for. But direct marketing is very easy to manage. You can target your recipients, check the leads yourself, and follow up easily. Success is easy to quantify. You’ll want to hire a professional copy writer for your sales letter, post card, or brochure. Write the first draft, focus on success stories and the benefits (the emotional release of solving the problem) and then turn it over to the copywriter to make it sing.
With any direct marketing effort, always make an offer. Without “something in it for me,” people will not respond. It’s called a “Call to Action.” But don’t just give stuff away. Make them respond to receive the offer.
Creative execution is critical. It must stand out. Newsletters, both print and electronic, offer another excellent way to communicate current information and generate exposure. There are often services within an industry (real estate, for example) that provide a weekly newsletter that they send to your list on your behalf, with your branding and photo and personal letter. Then they add plenty of news and stimulating articles that will be salient to your ideal clients. They can be either printed/mailed or electronic. Just look at your average client acquisition cost to see if postage and printing is a relatively small expense compared to the lifetime value of a new client.
Newsletters should be sent on a regular basis to key customers/prospects, sales channels, even editors. Most people want to receive personalized information. This means that you could have a different newsletter for a different product or service category. Let your browser choose which information will best suit their interests. They are far more likely to both subscribe as well as open and read the newsletter when it comes. You’ll also wan to utilize the service of an auto-responder service, like VerticalResponse.com or others, making the capture of contact information and regular sending of newsletters that don’t go into spam folders a much easier task. These services typically run at a very cost-effective $20 monthly fee.
Opt-in email is a very cost-effective, contemporary method of direct marketing and should not be underestimated. I recommend the work of the late Cory Rudl of MarketingTips.com His group, continuing on after his passing, is among the best trainers for email marketing and web site design that I’ve come across.
10. Trade shows – Pick the key trade shows in your industry and use a modest, well-organized booth. Get a hospitality suite, sponsor a press breakfast, host a seminar. Do something unique – focus on a key new product or product family. Focus on shows that will allow you to personally speak to enough qualified buyers to make it worth the cost. One little secret of how to write business at trade shows: do a major phone campaign to all the registered attendees prior to the show. Find out if they are willing to set up an appointment for a presentation. If you can present before the show, you can even close the deal at the show.
Remember, business is about relationships. Money comes from people making decisions. All of your communications, write, audio, video, or in person, needs to communicate the benefits of doing business with you. Apply the Law of Reciprocity and “show up giving” when first talking to your prospects. You’ll be amazed at how many prospects respond.
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Andrew Barden is a small business marketing strategist, trainer, author, consultant, and one-on-one coach, based in Los Angeles.
He can be reached at Andrew@AndrewBarden.com or 1-866-339-4619. Sign up for his free monthly “Small Business Marketing Strategies” newsletter and receive a 30 minute complimentary small business diagnostic: http://eggurl.com/dV
You can also view his professional profile, read testimonials, and connect with his 5,300+ global professional network on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbarden
Optimizing Your Small Business Marketing Campaigns
As a copy writer for web/print, I know that the most effective campaigns are guided by thoroughly planned out marketing strategies. I've written the following brief article to help you grow your revenue faster with less risk.
Optimal marketing campaigns—those that result in the highest net profit return on your investment of time and money—are the result of sufficient research, strategy, planning, and careful decision making, weighing all the factors. As a seasoned marketing strategist with experience in a wide variety of industries, I can help guide you every step of the way, preventing you from wasting your precious time and money. Then, when it comes time to design the format and write your copy for web sites, sales letters, post cards, flyers, and promotional audio or video, I can either write it for you or write it with you, teaching you how to do it yourself in the future.
Without the necessary research, strategy, and planning, the likelihood that you’ll have a strong ROI, or even have ANY profit from a marketing campaign, is much lower. If you take the time to develop a strategy that answers the following questions, you’re like to find much more success in all of your campaigns:
Which strategy is most likely to produce the greatest net profit in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of risk?
So, let’s break that down. Which strategy (or optional promotional opportunity) is 1) most likely (probability expressed as a percentage, e.g. 50% probability of success) to produce the greatest 2) net profit (a $100 net profit versus a $1000 net profit) in the shortest amount of 3) time (recorded in days, weeks, months, or years) with the least amount of 4) risk (the subjective emotional as well as financial component of the company’s decision makers).
Risk assessment is probably one of the most challenging of the 4 factors. If you had $1 million in your company’s accounts, you probably wouldn’t mind investing $50,000 in a marketing campaign. But, if you only had a total of $50,000 in your company's "war chest," you would be far less comfortable investing your entire amount of capital. So, for our purposes, we will express this risk factor as a percentage of total capital available.
This single question, involving several variables, will guide all of your marketing and sales process decision-making. It can be graphically illustrated in the following table, where the Options are the various marketing channels or promotional opportunities available to most small businesses. Then, you give a numeric value to each of the factors according to how important it is to YOU relative to each other.
| Options | Probability | Net Profit | Time Frame | Level of Risk/ % of total budget |
| Option A | 90% | $100 | 1 week | 5% |
| Option B | 40% | $2,000 | 3 weeks | 30% |
| Option C | 20% | $50,000 | 8 weeks | 60% |
Based on this matrix of marketing campaign decision making, which type of decision is easier, faster to make, and one that you’d be willing to go ahead with time and time again. Let’s look at Option A: Is it a “no-brainer” to make a decision that is 90% likely to work, only involves a 1 week time span, and requires only 5% of your overall marketing budget at risk? So, even though the net profit of $100 is not a lot, you could make this “bet” several times a week, couldn’t you? And you’d still be able to feel very comfortable with the level of risk, wouldn’t you?
Whereas, Option C, with it’s high net profit potential, is less of an attractive option, since it is only 20% likely to work and requires both a longer wait time of 8 weeks and a much larger risk factor, taking 60% of your marketing budget to execute.
Now, are you starting to see how analyzing every marketing opportunity available to you is a crucial step to making sure you don’t waste time and money? In fact, this one formula for comparing marketing channels can guide your every decision, making sure you are comfortable with the risk, and can improve your chances of a successful campaign many times over.
For testimonials from clients, enjoy reviewing my LinkedIn professional profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbarden
Sample copy writing sites:
Saturday, May 2, 2009
My answer to a start up landscaping business owner - how to handle competition
Date: 4/28/2009 8:32:57 PM
Andrew,
I'm a young guy (26) who just recently moved back home, a small county in Va. I opened up a landscape/hardscape business and have a wonderful skills aquired in this area, that were developed in a rather ritzy city in the midwest. I'm very proud of what I know and can do.. But here's the scoop, when I moved back and opened the business, a "good ole' boy" down the road saw what I was doing and started the same type of business and has really got a corner (literally) on the market for advertizing.. more and more people are starting to use him and he has never planted a plant in his life much less designed anything! I know I have him by light years in regards to knowledge, work quality, and the such.. but he has the whole "being local" thing going for him. How do I get the corner market in this case besides just doing great work??
And my answer to him:
Hi,
In order for any small business to succeed (whether landscaping or carpentry or chiropractic), you first need to plan. Researching and writing a business plan is so crucial that those who fail to plan essentially plan to fail, so the saying goes.
This competitor of yours is leveraging his network against you. In normal business planning, you would develop what is called a SWOT analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. You would write up a description of your own strengths, the opportunities in the local marketplace to service clients who are not already being serviced by others, your own weaknesses, and any threats against your businesses, whether those threats are direct competitors, indirect competitors, bad weather, economic decline, etc.
And, you would also do a SWOT from all of your competitors positions. You would determine what weaknesses of each of your competitors (in this case, the good ol' boy who is opportunistic but incompetent) you could leverage against them.
In this case, based on the little that you've already told me, you would recognize that this competitor's clients will soon realize that he is not very good (assuming that they have a point of reference to compare his work to). If he charges the same that you do, and he does inferior work, his clients will quickly notice this and, if you are in front of them as an option, either in person or through marketing collateral (brochures, fliers, post cards, business cards, ads, etc) they know that you could be a better option and will contact you.
So, if his weakness is incompetence, and if he may even have a character flaw of a lack of integrity (knowing he is not qualified but still selling his friends his services), then your marketing message must leverage this against him, without specifically mentioning his company. How would you do this?
First, you'd tell a story of a very satisfied client. Marketing messages that actually capture people's attention are often story driven. You explain someone's problem and show how you solved it, thus directly showing how you'd solve your prospective client's problem. You'd tell the story that SHOWCASES your education, training, certification, and how landscapers without this background would not have solved it. You could even explain the story with your client describing the "MESS" created by "the other guy in town" who truly didn't know what they were doing. You explain to the prospective client the "DANGERS" of hiring someone who doesn't have integrity, essentially teaching them HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT LANDSCAPER.
I am a small business marketing specialist, having helped over 1,600 small business owners from around the world identify what is stopping them from making more money in their particular business, in their particular market, and in their particular economy. The principles and "best practices" are the same, but, the application of them is unique to each situation.
You see, becoming a successful landscaper has only partly to do with being good at your craft. You are not really in the business of landscaping. Sounds funny, doesn't it?! You are in the business of marketing landscaping services. So, you'll need to first become a good marketer and sales person and then you'll never have a problem growing your business... Your clients will see that you deliver on your promised (unlike your competition) and you'll dominate your local market.
Essentially, I can help you avoid the wasted time, wasted money, intense frustration, & hopeless confusion you experience when you ineffectively market your small business. For many years I have been helping over 1,600 small business owners understand the psychology of their ideal client: why your ideal client will buy what you are offering
I can review your current business plan (if you have one) and/or help you research and write your plan. With a thorough & accurate profile of your ideal client guiding your strategy, all of your marketing campaigns will produce a significantly higher ROI. After working with me, you'll be able to make marketing & sales process decisions with confidence and clarity, knowing exactly how to send the right message to the right people in the right way. Marketing is simple, it's just not that easy. Why is it not easy?
Simply put, most people don't take the time to do their homework, thus they feel confused and start guessing as to how to advertise and grow their client base. They try everything, and very little works. So, frustration is inevitable. If you spend your initial time and money instead on a marketing consultant/coach, you'll then start thinking like a marketer and eventually you'll become the expert at marketing landscaping services and you would only need someone like me for more advanced strategies.
I’m is also a professional copy writer. I can help you develop your marketing campaigns to make sure your overall design, images, and words will motivate your prospects to take the action you request.
There are proven formats that consistently yield the highest ROI, and I can show you how to implement those principles. I take the time to stay on top of all the latest traditional marketing & internet marketing strategies that are producing the best results for small businesses. When you partner with me, you get results. Period.
My specialties are:
Start ups, business model feasibility studies, target marketing, sales process strategy, psychological profile of ideal customer/client & catering the marketing message & sales process to fit that customer's natural tendencies. Focusing your marketing campaign only to ideal clients results in a decrease in marketing costs and an increase in ROI. I am quite adept at understanding "why people buy" and I have a history of successfully developing marketing strategies that allow those who are most likely to buy hear your messages—and converting more prospect with follow up sales strategies that are most effective at closing the sale.
How I Can Help You Grow Your Profits:
I can SAVE YOU TIME & MONEY:
There are numerous common marketing mistakes that I can help you avoid. The average marketing mistake costs a small business owner $15,000. I will work with you, one-on-one, developing both an initial diagnostic and later, if you choose, a thorough review of your marketing history and current strategies. You will know what is wrong and why it has been stopping you from attracting your ideal clients. You will know with certainty which marketing strategies for your particular business are most likely to produce the greatest net profit in the shortest amount of time. No more guess work. No more wasted time and money on marketing efforts.
I can help you Master the Psychology of Consumer Behavior:
I am adept at helping business owners understand why their ideal client will buy. I will guide you through a step-by-step process to get inside the mind of your ideal client and reach them with a message that is so appealing that they choose to start a relationship with you.
I deliver STRONG ROI for marketing campaigns:
After working with me, you'll be able to make marketing and sales process decisions with confidence & clarity, knowing exactly how to send the right message to the right people in the right way.
My Ad Copy Writing Converts Readers to Buyers:
As I’ve said before, I’m a professional ad copy writer. Copy is simply an industry term for the all the words in your marketing materials, including your sales letters, your advertisements, your website, post cards, business cards, and your elevator pitch when you introduce yourself. There are proven formats that consistently yield the highest ROI, and I can show you how to implement those principles, working with you to write effective copy.
I study the LATEST TRENDS in EFFECTIVE MARKETING:
I take the time to stay on top of all the latest innovative marketing and cost-effective internet marketing strategies that are producing the best results for small business owners. My clients leave my office with confident smiles & deeper pockets.
I can help you make more money in your small business for a lot less investment than most small business coaches. Again, I've helped literally thousands small business owners from around the world make more money through improving their marketing strategies and execution of their marketing campaigns.
The greatest resource of the entrepreneur that is also his or her most scarce resource is not money. The scarcest resource you have is your time. If you are willing to invest and hour or two of your time I will be willing to do the same. Then, we can agree to either continue on a regular basis or not.
Often it takes an objective third party to diagnose what's really going on in your business.
Given our tough economic times, as a start up, you'll have to overcome a lot of resistance from clients as to price. There is a method to make price a lot less important, even during a recession, to your clients. You need to attract your ideal clients to you, which is something I specialize in helping you do.
During your diagnostic session, I don't hold anything back. I give you my best, with the hopes that you and I might eventually develop a relationship in which I work with you regularly on a contingency contract.
There are typically two areas that most small business owners neglect.
First, most small business owners neglect optimizing their own mindset. Developing prosperity consciousness is the first and foremost responsibility of the business owner. I will make available to you for free hundreds of files, including pdfs, audio, and video, that can help you develop a mindset for business success.
Second, most small business owners, and I mean 99 out of 100, never take the time to develop a psychological profile of their business' IDEAL client. Without knowing how your ideal client makes decisions you will not know how to most effectively market and sell to your ideal clients. Not knowing who your ideal client is will make its much more difficult to grow your net profits as you will service clients who are not ideal.
In general an ideal client is one who is easy to find, easy to reach with a message, responds to that message, takes action, is easy to sell to, buys more than your average clients, does business regularly would you, and refers all of his or her family, friends, and associates to you.
Applying the 80/20 principle, we know that 20% of your revenue comes from 80% of your clients and 80% of the revenue comes from 20% of your clients. Wouldn't you like to replace the 80% of your less than ideal clients with the 20% of ideal clients less quadrupling your income, basically making more money in less time. This is the power of developing an ideal client psychological profile otherwise known as psychographics.
Demographics are the first step and also the easiest step in developing a marketing campaign. Too often small business owners stop at a demographic profile, then buy a list from a list broker, and send off thousands of postcard or flyer or brochure. They then sit and wait for the phone to ring, and unfortunately, little to nothing happens. Have you ever found yourself in that situation?
There's a simple solution that unfortunately most small business owners don't know. In order for even an ideal client to respond to a marketing message they need to hear a similar message in various formats from 10 to 12 times before they will take action and contact you. This means that if you send out 5000 postcards you don't send them to 5000 people once.
Instead, you send to 500 people 10 postcards with a similar branding theme, similar marketing message, yet different stories or themes. You'll have a similar cost, as postage is by far the greatest expense in such a campaign. And you will have a far greater response rate and a much greater return on your investment in the end. In fact, I seen up to 400% ROIs in direct mail campaigns.
The other crucial principle most small business owners neglect to apply correctly is generically termed relationship marketing. Roughly 85% of all small businesses in the United States are service based. Even if you are also selling products they're typically is a decision-making process that requires a live person to interact with the buyer. The sales process typically looks like this:
awareness --> like --> trust --> buy --> repeat buy --> refer
So, in the beginning of the relationship you are simply making your prospect aware of your offer. Your next step is essentially to get them to like you. People do business with those that they like, just like people choose to associate with friends for which they have some affinity.
Once you begin to like someone, notice that they care about your welfare, and notice that they are competence in their particular industry, you can begin to trust them and consider doing business with them.
This is where the Philanthropic Entrepreneur concept comes into play. A philanthropist is literally a lover of people, like a philosopher is a lover of wisdom. If you treat your prospective clients like a brother or sister, literally focusing on truly helping them, truly being of service, they will choose to do business with you, because they see your transparency, your honesty, your integrity, and that you truly care about them. Only once they feel your truly care will your prospecting success increase dramatically. And, you can’t fake this. You truly need to be a philanthropist. Then, at the point you’ve developed this trust, then and only then do you as the seller of your services begin to talk about the benefits of doing business with you versus other people, and the various advantages and features of your product or service.
Most sales processes (or marketing messages) start out backwards, neglecting the emotions of the prospective client. And, it is the emotions that govern decision making processes. People buy from you because it feels right, because they like you and trust you. They trust that the benefits you promise you will deliver. It has little to do with price or the features of your product or service. Remember, benefits sell, features and advantages seldom do.
Unfortunately, most people sell in face-to-face interactions or create written or video recorded promotions that focus on price, discounts, features, and forgot to establish an awareness, affinity, and trust in the relationship. This is why many advertisements and other direct mail or e-mail campaigns simply do not produce a significant return and often even no return... in fact it is often poor marketing strategy and field campaigns that is the direct cause of small businesses going out of business.
You may have heard from the Small Business Administration how well over two thirds of all small businesses failed in the first four years. And even greater numbers fail in subsequent years. Without effective marketing producing strong returns on your investment of money and time and the sales process that is engineered specifically to cater to your ideal clients preferences, wants, and hot buttons, you're more likely to fail than to succeed in building your small business.
As I said earlier, growing your landscaping business can be simple, but, it's simply not that easy. If you work with a business coach who can help you develop prosperity consciousness as well as the psychological profile of your ideal clients your likelihood of succeeding in your business venture increases exponentially.
I you are looking for clarity and confidence in your marketing strategy and campaign execution, your best strategy is to find a business coach who will act like a partner. They will grow with you over the next few years, helping you make key decisions and review everything with you every step of the way.
When you hire a business coach who works with you on marketing and sales process strategies, you'll avoid all the common mistakes, saving you a lot of wasted time and money. And, most importantly, you start making a strong RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT of time and money.
Sometimes he can happen quickly. Sometimes it may take a few months.
In uncertain economic times business owners who will survive will take much more calculated risks. They will do their homework in order to make decisions with clarity and confidence. A business coach who can walk you through a proven small business marketing system that has enabled literally thousands of small business owners to achieve strong ROIs in various industries in numerous cultures and economic conditions around the world is hands down one of the best partners a business owner would want to have.
We can do a full diagnostic of your business, for one hour or until you feel we've addressed everything. At the end of the conversation you and I will both make a decision to move onto the next step or not.
Once we are talking on the phone, I can tell you about website profiles where clients have written testimonials about how I've helped them (http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbarden). And, you can even contact those clients directly to verify. I'm a legit marketing specialist, as you'll learn when we first talk. I'm looking for long term relationships and lots of referrals. Once I help you make more money in your landscaping business, it is natural for you to refer your contacts to me, right?
I hope this helps.
Andrew Barden
AndrewBarden.com
866-339-4619
Andrew,
I'm a young guy (26) who just recently moved back home, a small county in Va. I opened up a landscape/hardscape business and have a wonderful skills aquired in this area, that were developed in a rather ritzy city in the midwest. I'm very proud of what I know and can do.. But here's the scoop, when I moved back and opened the business, a "good ole' boy" down the road saw what I was doing and started the same type of business and has really got a corner (literally) on the market for advertizing.. more and more people are starting to use him and he has never planted a plant in his life much less designed anything! I know I have him by light years in regards to knowledge, work quality, and the such.. but he has the whole "being local" thing going for him. How do I get the corner market in this case besides just doing great work??
And my answer to him:
Hi,
In order for any small business to succeed (whether landscaping or carpentry or chiropractic), you first need to plan. Researching and writing a business plan is so crucial that those who fail to plan essentially plan to fail, so the saying goes.
This competitor of yours is leveraging his network against you. In normal business planning, you would develop what is called a SWOT analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. You would write up a description of your own strengths, the opportunities in the local marketplace to service clients who are not already being serviced by others, your own weaknesses, and any threats against your businesses, whether those threats are direct competitors, indirect competitors, bad weather, economic decline, etc.
And, you would also do a SWOT from all of your competitors positions. You would determine what weaknesses of each of your competitors (in this case, the good ol' boy who is opportunistic but incompetent) you could leverage against them.
In this case, based on the little that you've already told me, you would recognize that this competitor's clients will soon realize that he is not very good (assuming that they have a point of reference to compare his work to). If he charges the same that you do, and he does inferior work, his clients will quickly notice this and, if you are in front of them as an option, either in person or through marketing collateral (brochures, fliers, post cards, business cards, ads, etc) they know that you could be a better option and will contact you.
So, if his weakness is incompetence, and if he may even have a character flaw of a lack of integrity (knowing he is not qualified but still selling his friends his services), then your marketing message must leverage this against him, without specifically mentioning his company. How would you do this?
First, you'd tell a story of a very satisfied client. Marketing messages that actually capture people's attention are often story driven. You explain someone's problem and show how you solved it, thus directly showing how you'd solve your prospective client's problem. You'd tell the story that SHOWCASES your education, training, certification, and how landscapers without this background would not have solved it. You could even explain the story with your client describing the "MESS" created by "the other guy in town" who truly didn't know what they were doing. You explain to the prospective client the "DANGERS" of hiring someone who doesn't have integrity, essentially teaching them HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT LANDSCAPER.
I am a small business marketing specialist, having helped over 1,600 small business owners from around the world identify what is stopping them from making more money in their particular business, in their particular market, and in their particular economy. The principles and "best practices" are the same, but, the application of them is unique to each situation.
You see, becoming a successful landscaper has only partly to do with being good at your craft. You are not really in the business of landscaping. Sounds funny, doesn't it?! You are in the business of marketing landscaping services. So, you'll need to first become a good marketer and sales person and then you'll never have a problem growing your business... Your clients will see that you deliver on your promised (unlike your competition) and you'll dominate your local market.
Essentially, I can help you avoid the wasted time, wasted money, intense frustration, & hopeless confusion you experience when you ineffectively market your small business. For many years I have been helping over 1,600 small business owners understand the psychology of their ideal client: why your ideal client will buy what you are offering
I can review your current business plan (if you have one) and/or help you research and write your plan. With a thorough & accurate profile of your ideal client guiding your strategy, all of your marketing campaigns will produce a significantly higher ROI. After working with me, you'll be able to make marketing & sales process decisions with confidence and clarity, knowing exactly how to send the right message to the right people in the right way. Marketing is simple, it's just not that easy. Why is it not easy?
Simply put, most people don't take the time to do their homework, thus they feel confused and start guessing as to how to advertise and grow their client base. They try everything, and very little works. So, frustration is inevitable. If you spend your initial time and money instead on a marketing consultant/coach, you'll then start thinking like a marketer and eventually you'll become the expert at marketing landscaping services and you would only need someone like me for more advanced strategies.
I’m is also a professional copy writer. I can help you develop your marketing campaigns to make sure your overall design, images, and words will motivate your prospects to take the action you request.
There are proven formats that consistently yield the highest ROI, and I can show you how to implement those principles. I take the time to stay on top of all the latest traditional marketing & internet marketing strategies that are producing the best results for small businesses. When you partner with me, you get results. Period.
My specialties are:
Start ups, business model feasibility studies, target marketing, sales process strategy, psychological profile of ideal customer/client & catering the marketing message & sales process to fit that customer's natural tendencies. Focusing your marketing campaign only to ideal clients results in a decrease in marketing costs and an increase in ROI. I am quite adept at understanding "why people buy" and I have a history of successfully developing marketing strategies that allow those who are most likely to buy hear your messages—and converting more prospect with follow up sales strategies that are most effective at closing the sale.
How I Can Help You Grow Your Profits:
I can SAVE YOU TIME & MONEY:
There are numerous common marketing mistakes that I can help you avoid. The average marketing mistake costs a small business owner $15,000. I will work with you, one-on-one, developing both an initial diagnostic and later, if you choose, a thorough review of your marketing history and current strategies. You will know what is wrong and why it has been stopping you from attracting your ideal clients. You will know with certainty which marketing strategies for your particular business are most likely to produce the greatest net profit in the shortest amount of time. No more guess work. No more wasted time and money on marketing efforts.
I can help you Master the Psychology of Consumer Behavior:
I am adept at helping business owners understand why their ideal client will buy. I will guide you through a step-by-step process to get inside the mind of your ideal client and reach them with a message that is so appealing that they choose to start a relationship with you.
I deliver STRONG ROI for marketing campaigns:
After working with me, you'll be able to make marketing and sales process decisions with confidence & clarity, knowing exactly how to send the right message to the right people in the right way.
My Ad Copy Writing Converts Readers to Buyers:
As I’ve said before, I’m a professional ad copy writer. Copy is simply an industry term for the all the words in your marketing materials, including your sales letters, your advertisements, your website, post cards, business cards, and your elevator pitch when you introduce yourself. There are proven formats that consistently yield the highest ROI, and I can show you how to implement those principles, working with you to write effective copy.
I study the LATEST TRENDS in EFFECTIVE MARKETING:
I take the time to stay on top of all the latest innovative marketing and cost-effective internet marketing strategies that are producing the best results for small business owners. My clients leave my office with confident smiles & deeper pockets.
I can help you make more money in your small business for a lot less investment than most small business coaches. Again, I've helped literally thousands small business owners from around the world make more money through improving their marketing strategies and execution of their marketing campaigns.
The greatest resource of the entrepreneur that is also his or her most scarce resource is not money. The scarcest resource you have is your time. If you are willing to invest and hour or two of your time I will be willing to do the same. Then, we can agree to either continue on a regular basis or not.
Often it takes an objective third party to diagnose what's really going on in your business.
Given our tough economic times, as a start up, you'll have to overcome a lot of resistance from clients as to price. There is a method to make price a lot less important, even during a recession, to your clients. You need to attract your ideal clients to you, which is something I specialize in helping you do.
During your diagnostic session, I don't hold anything back. I give you my best, with the hopes that you and I might eventually develop a relationship in which I work with you regularly on a contingency contract.
There are typically two areas that most small business owners neglect.
First, most small business owners neglect optimizing their own mindset. Developing prosperity consciousness is the first and foremost responsibility of the business owner. I will make available to you for free hundreds of files, including pdfs, audio, and video, that can help you develop a mindset for business success.
Second, most small business owners, and I mean 99 out of 100, never take the time to develop a psychological profile of their business' IDEAL client. Without knowing how your ideal client makes decisions you will not know how to most effectively market and sell to your ideal clients. Not knowing who your ideal client is will make its much more difficult to grow your net profits as you will service clients who are not ideal.
In general an ideal client is one who is easy to find, easy to reach with a message, responds to that message, takes action, is easy to sell to, buys more than your average clients, does business regularly would you, and refers all of his or her family, friends, and associates to you.
Applying the 80/20 principle, we know that 20% of your revenue comes from 80% of your clients and 80% of the revenue comes from 20% of your clients. Wouldn't you like to replace the 80% of your less than ideal clients with the 20% of ideal clients less quadrupling your income, basically making more money in less time. This is the power of developing an ideal client psychological profile otherwise known as psychographics.
Demographics are the first step and also the easiest step in developing a marketing campaign. Too often small business owners stop at a demographic profile, then buy a list from a list broker, and send off thousands of postcard or flyer or brochure. They then sit and wait for the phone to ring, and unfortunately, little to nothing happens. Have you ever found yourself in that situation?
There's a simple solution that unfortunately most small business owners don't know. In order for even an ideal client to respond to a marketing message they need to hear a similar message in various formats from 10 to 12 times before they will take action and contact you. This means that if you send out 5000 postcards you don't send them to 5000 people once.
Instead, you send to 500 people 10 postcards with a similar branding theme, similar marketing message, yet different stories or themes. You'll have a similar cost, as postage is by far the greatest expense in such a campaign. And you will have a far greater response rate and a much greater return on your investment in the end. In fact, I seen up to 400% ROIs in direct mail campaigns.
The other crucial principle most small business owners neglect to apply correctly is generically termed relationship marketing. Roughly 85% of all small businesses in the United States are service based. Even if you are also selling products they're typically is a decision-making process that requires a live person to interact with the buyer. The sales process typically looks like this:
awareness --> like --> trust --> buy --> repeat buy --> refer
So, in the beginning of the relationship you are simply making your prospect aware of your offer. Your next step is essentially to get them to like you. People do business with those that they like, just like people choose to associate with friends for which they have some affinity.
Once you begin to like someone, notice that they care about your welfare, and notice that they are competence in their particular industry, you can begin to trust them and consider doing business with them.
This is where the Philanthropic Entrepreneur concept comes into play. A philanthropist is literally a lover of people, like a philosopher is a lover of wisdom. If you treat your prospective clients like a brother or sister, literally focusing on truly helping them, truly being of service, they will choose to do business with you, because they see your transparency, your honesty, your integrity, and that you truly care about them. Only once they feel your truly care will your prospecting success increase dramatically. And, you can’t fake this. You truly need to be a philanthropist. Then, at the point you’ve developed this trust, then and only then do you as the seller of your services begin to talk about the benefits of doing business with you versus other people, and the various advantages and features of your product or service.
Most sales processes (or marketing messages) start out backwards, neglecting the emotions of the prospective client. And, it is the emotions that govern decision making processes. People buy from you because it feels right, because they like you and trust you. They trust that the benefits you promise you will deliver. It has little to do with price or the features of your product or service. Remember, benefits sell, features and advantages seldom do.
Unfortunately, most people sell in face-to-face interactions or create written or video recorded promotions that focus on price, discounts, features, and forgot to establish an awareness, affinity, and trust in the relationship. This is why many advertisements and other direct mail or e-mail campaigns simply do not produce a significant return and often even no return... in fact it is often poor marketing strategy and field campaigns that is the direct cause of small businesses going out of business.
You may have heard from the Small Business Administration how well over two thirds of all small businesses failed in the first four years. And even greater numbers fail in subsequent years. Without effective marketing producing strong returns on your investment of money and time and the sales process that is engineered specifically to cater to your ideal clients preferences, wants, and hot buttons, you're more likely to fail than to succeed in building your small business.
As I said earlier, growing your landscaping business can be simple, but, it's simply not that easy. If you work with a business coach who can help you develop prosperity consciousness as well as the psychological profile of your ideal clients your likelihood of succeeding in your business venture increases exponentially.
I you are looking for clarity and confidence in your marketing strategy and campaign execution, your best strategy is to find a business coach who will act like a partner. They will grow with you over the next few years, helping you make key decisions and review everything with you every step of the way.
When you hire a business coach who works with you on marketing and sales process strategies, you'll avoid all the common mistakes, saving you a lot of wasted time and money. And, most importantly, you start making a strong RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT of time and money.
Sometimes he can happen quickly. Sometimes it may take a few months.
In uncertain economic times business owners who will survive will take much more calculated risks. They will do their homework in order to make decisions with clarity and confidence. A business coach who can walk you through a proven small business marketing system that has enabled literally thousands of small business owners to achieve strong ROIs in various industries in numerous cultures and economic conditions around the world is hands down one of the best partners a business owner would want to have.
We can do a full diagnostic of your business, for one hour or until you feel we've addressed everything. At the end of the conversation you and I will both make a decision to move onto the next step or not.
Once we are talking on the phone, I can tell you about website profiles where clients have written testimonials about how I've helped them (http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbarden). And, you can even contact those clients directly to verify. I'm a legit marketing specialist, as you'll learn when we first talk. I'm looking for long term relationships and lots of referrals. Once I help you make more money in your landscaping business, it is natural for you to refer your contacts to me, right?
I hope this helps.
Andrew Barden
AndrewBarden.com
866-339-4619
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Andrew Barden - Inspiring Entrepreneurship Trainer
Hi. I'm Andrew Barden, Philanthropic Entrepreneur. Enjoy watching my 9 minute promotional video!
I can help you make more money in your small business at no risk to you. I've helped literally thousands small business owners from around the world make more money through improving their marketing strategies and execution of their marketing campaigns.
I don't charged upfront fees. I work on a contingency contract. Simply put you only pay me a small portion of your increase in net profits. There is never any risk for you when working with me. To learn more about my philosophy and why I call myself a philanthropic entrepreneur, visit www.AndrewBarden.com.
The greatest resource of the entrepreneur that is also his or her most scarce resource is not money. The scarcest resource you have is your time. If you are willing to invest 30 minutes of your time I will be willing to do the same. Sign-up for a 30 minute complementary no-obligation consultation and I'll help you assess what might be stopping you from making more money in your particular business. Often it takes an objective third party to diagnose what's really going on in your business.
Given our tough economic times, it is likelythat your sales have already been slipping for quite some time. Isn't now the best time to take action? Isn't now the best time to consult with experts who have helped thousands of small business owners apply proven principles and strategies in their small business?
I invite you to connect with me on Linkin.com. Go to http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbarden and invite me to connect. You will see there my professional profile that includes testimonials from small business owners and colleagues, other experts who have witnessed the results I can get for small business owners.
I also invite you to follow me on my blog. Visit http://andrewbarden.blogspot.com, read the posts, and sign up to be alerted to new posts.
Finally, I invite you to invest 30 minutes in your small business marketing strategy development. There is no risk to you, as these 30 minutes will be a true conversation and focus on showing you immediate ways to improve your marketing strategy, both online and off-line.
During these 30 minutes I don't hold anything back. I give you my best, with the hopes that you and I might eventually develop a relationship in which I work with you regularly on a contingency contract. I would normally charge $150 for such a diagnostic. But, to start out any business relationship I practice applying the Law of Reciprocity, I "show up giving." There are numerous Universal Laws that we will together ensure you are successfully applying.
There are typically two areas that most small business owners neglect.
1. The business owner's own mindset: developing prosperity consciousness is the first and foremost responsibility of the business owner. Visits my website at http://www.andrewbarden.com where, as part of my philanthropic entrepreneurial mission, I have made available hundreds of files, including pdfs, audio, and video, under the page called "free prosperity downloads."
2. The psychological profile of the business' IDEAL client. Without knowing how your ideal client makes decisions you will not know how to most effectively market and sell to your ideal clients. Not knowing who your ideal client is will make its much more difficult to grow your net profits as you will service clients who are not ideal.
In general and ideal client is one who is easy to find easy to reach with a message, response to that message, takes action, is easy to sell to, buys more than your average clients, does business regularly would you, and refers all of his or her family and friends and associates to you.
Applying the 80/20 principle, we know that 20% of your revenue comes from 80% of your clients and 80% of the revenue comes from 20% of your clients. Wouldn't you like to replace the 80% of your less than ideal clients with the 20% of ideal clients less quadrupling your income, basically making more money in less time. This is the power of developing an ideal clients psychological profile otherwise known as psychographics.
Demographics are the first step and also the easiest step in developing a marketing campaign. Too often small business owners stop at a demographic profile by a list and send off a postcard or flyer or brochure. They then sit and wait for the phone to ring, and unfortunately, little to nothing happens. Have you ever found yourself in that situation?
There's a simple solution that unfortunately most small business owners don't know. In order for even an ideal client to respond to a marketing message they need to hear the message in veriest formats from 10 to 12 times before they will take action and contact you. This means that if you send out 5000 postcards you don't send them to 5000 people once.
Instead, you send to 500 people 10 postcards with a similar branding theme yet different messages. You'll have a similar cost as postage is by far the greatest expense. And you will have a far greater response rate and a much greater return on your investment in the end I seen 400% ROIs in direct mail campaigns.
The other crucial principle most small business owners neglect to apply correctly is generically termed relationship marketing. Roughly 85% of all small businesses in the United States are service based. Even if you are also selling products they're typically is a decision-making process that requires a live person to interact with the buyer. The sales process typically looks like this:
awareness --> like --> trust --> buy --> repeat buy --> refer
So, in the beginning of the relationship you are simply making your prospect aware of your offer. Your next step is essentially to get them to like you. People do business with those that they like, just like people choose to associate with friends for which they have some affinity.
Once you begin to like someone, notice that they care about your welfare, and notice that they are competence in their particular industry, you can begin to trust them and consider doing business with them. At that point you as the seller of your services would begin to talk about the benefits of doing business with you versus other people, and the various advantages and features of your product or service.
Unfortunately, most people sell or create promotions that focus on price, discounts, features, and forgot to establish an awareness, affinity, and trust in the relationship. This is why many advertisements and other direct mail or e-mail campaigns simply do not produce a significant return and often even no return... in fact it is often poor marketing strategy and field campaigns that is the direct cause of small businesses going out of business.
You may have heard from the Small Business Administration how well over two thirds of all small businesses failed in the first four years. And even greater numbers fail in subsequent years. Without effective marketing producing strong returns on your investment of money and time and the sales process that is engineered specifically to cater to your ideal clients preferences, wants, and hot buttons, you're more likely to fail than to succeed in building your small business.
Growing your business is simple, but, it's simply not that easy. Why is it not that easy? It is not that easy because most small business owners neglect to understand their own mindset and the mindset of their ideal client. If you work with a business coach who can help you develop prosperity consciousness as well as the psychological profile of your ideal clients your likelihood of succeeding in your business venture increases exponentially.
There are well over a dozen small business coaching companies whose fees range from $3000 upwards to $25,000 or more. Their sales pitch essentially reads like give us your money and maybe will be able to help you. Does that sound like an inviting offer? Of course not.
The most irresistible offer for small business owner who is looking for clarity and confidence in their marketing strategy and campaign execution is to find a business coach who will instead of acting like a vendor will act like a partner. A partner in your business would, like you, be willing to invest their time or what we call sweat equity, at their own risk. Your partner, would then sharer in the net profits with you.
When you hire a business coach who works on a contingency contract you are essentially securing a partner who makes a small portion of your net profits that they help you to create. Sometimes he can happen quickly. Sometimes it may take a few months. But in the end there is an equal investment of time. Doesn't that sound like an irresistible offer? Doesn't that sound like the kind of relationship you want to have with your business coach?
In uncertain economic times business owners who will survive will take much more calculated risks. They will do their homework in order to make decisions with clarity and confidence. A business coach who can walk you through a proven system that has enabled literally thousands of small business owners to achieve strong ROIs in various industries in numerous cultures and economic conditions around the world is hands down one of the best partners a business owner would want to have.
Invite me to start that relationship by signing up for an initial complementary 30 minute business diagnostic session. At the end of the conversation you and I will both make a decision to move onto the next step or not. I serve over 70 clients every month as of March 2009, most of them in Los Angeles County. However I'm willing to add a few more. So long as you are fluent in English, and are passionate about growing your small business revenues and willing to commit time and resources to achieve your business goals and we might be a good fit.
I look forward to speaking with you soon. If you are eager to start a relationship feel free to contact me via e-mail at Andrew@AndrewBarden.com or call my toll-free cell phone at 1 - 866-339-4619. This number, again, rings directly to my personal cell phone, so please only call during business hours Pacific Standard Time, from 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday.
To your success,
Andrew Barden
Founder, Philanthropic Entrepreneur
www.AndrewBarden.com
1-866-339-4619
I can help you make more money in your small business at no risk to you. I've helped literally thousands small business owners from around the world make more money through improving their marketing strategies and execution of their marketing campaigns.
I don't charged upfront fees. I work on a contingency contract. Simply put you only pay me a small portion of your increase in net profits. There is never any risk for you when working with me. To learn more about my philosophy and why I call myself a philanthropic entrepreneur, visit www.AndrewBarden.com.
The greatest resource of the entrepreneur that is also his or her most scarce resource is not money. The scarcest resource you have is your time. If you are willing to invest 30 minutes of your time I will be willing to do the same. Sign-up for a 30 minute complementary no-obligation consultation and I'll help you assess what might be stopping you from making more money in your particular business. Often it takes an objective third party to diagnose what's really going on in your business.
Given our tough economic times, it is likelythat your sales have already been slipping for quite some time. Isn't now the best time to take action? Isn't now the best time to consult with experts who have helped thousands of small business owners apply proven principles and strategies in their small business?
I invite you to connect with me on Linkin.com. Go to http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbarden and invite me to connect. You will see there my professional profile that includes testimonials from small business owners and colleagues, other experts who have witnessed the results I can get for small business owners.
I also invite you to follow me on my blog. Visit http://andrewbarden.blogspot.com, read the posts, and sign up to be alerted to new posts.
Finally, I invite you to invest 30 minutes in your small business marketing strategy development. There is no risk to you, as these 30 minutes will be a true conversation and focus on showing you immediate ways to improve your marketing strategy, both online and off-line.
During these 30 minutes I don't hold anything back. I give you my best, with the hopes that you and I might eventually develop a relationship in which I work with you regularly on a contingency contract. I would normally charge $150 for such a diagnostic. But, to start out any business relationship I practice applying the Law of Reciprocity, I "show up giving." There are numerous Universal Laws that we will together ensure you are successfully applying.
There are typically two areas that most small business owners neglect.
1. The business owner's own mindset: developing prosperity consciousness is the first and foremost responsibility of the business owner. Visits my website at http://www.andrewbarden.com where, as part of my philanthropic entrepreneurial mission, I have made available hundreds of files, including pdfs, audio, and video, under the page called "free prosperity downloads."
2. The psychological profile of the business' IDEAL client. Without knowing how your ideal client makes decisions you will not know how to most effectively market and sell to your ideal clients. Not knowing who your ideal client is will make its much more difficult to grow your net profits as you will service clients who are not ideal.
In general and ideal client is one who is easy to find easy to reach with a message, response to that message, takes action, is easy to sell to, buys more than your average clients, does business regularly would you, and refers all of his or her family and friends and associates to you.
Applying the 80/20 principle, we know that 20% of your revenue comes from 80% of your clients and 80% of the revenue comes from 20% of your clients. Wouldn't you like to replace the 80% of your less than ideal clients with the 20% of ideal clients less quadrupling your income, basically making more money in less time. This is the power of developing an ideal clients psychological profile otherwise known as psychographics.
Demographics are the first step and also the easiest step in developing a marketing campaign. Too often small business owners stop at a demographic profile by a list and send off a postcard or flyer or brochure. They then sit and wait for the phone to ring, and unfortunately, little to nothing happens. Have you ever found yourself in that situation?
There's a simple solution that unfortunately most small business owners don't know. In order for even an ideal client to respond to a marketing message they need to hear the message in veriest formats from 10 to 12 times before they will take action and contact you. This means that if you send out 5000 postcards you don't send them to 5000 people once.
Instead, you send to 500 people 10 postcards with a similar branding theme yet different messages. You'll have a similar cost as postage is by far the greatest expense. And you will have a far greater response rate and a much greater return on your investment in the end I seen 400% ROIs in direct mail campaigns.
The other crucial principle most small business owners neglect to apply correctly is generically termed relationship marketing. Roughly 85% of all small businesses in the United States are service based. Even if you are also selling products they're typically is a decision-making process that requires a live person to interact with the buyer. The sales process typically looks like this:
awareness --> like --> trust --> buy --> repeat buy --> refer
So, in the beginning of the relationship you are simply making your prospect aware of your offer. Your next step is essentially to get them to like you. People do business with those that they like, just like people choose to associate with friends for which they have some affinity.
Once you begin to like someone, notice that they care about your welfare, and notice that they are competence in their particular industry, you can begin to trust them and consider doing business with them. At that point you as the seller of your services would begin to talk about the benefits of doing business with you versus other people, and the various advantages and features of your product or service.
Unfortunately, most people sell or create promotions that focus on price, discounts, features, and forgot to establish an awareness, affinity, and trust in the relationship. This is why many advertisements and other direct mail or e-mail campaigns simply do not produce a significant return and often even no return... in fact it is often poor marketing strategy and field campaigns that is the direct cause of small businesses going out of business.
You may have heard from the Small Business Administration how well over two thirds of all small businesses failed in the first four years. And even greater numbers fail in subsequent years. Without effective marketing producing strong returns on your investment of money and time and the sales process that is engineered specifically to cater to your ideal clients preferences, wants, and hot buttons, you're more likely to fail than to succeed in building your small business.
Growing your business is simple, but, it's simply not that easy. Why is it not that easy? It is not that easy because most small business owners neglect to understand their own mindset and the mindset of their ideal client. If you work with a business coach who can help you develop prosperity consciousness as well as the psychological profile of your ideal clients your likelihood of succeeding in your business venture increases exponentially.
There are well over a dozen small business coaching companies whose fees range from $3000 upwards to $25,000 or more. Their sales pitch essentially reads like give us your money and maybe will be able to help you. Does that sound like an inviting offer? Of course not.
The most irresistible offer for small business owner who is looking for clarity and confidence in their marketing strategy and campaign execution is to find a business coach who will instead of acting like a vendor will act like a partner. A partner in your business would, like you, be willing to invest their time or what we call sweat equity, at their own risk. Your partner, would then sharer in the net profits with you.
When you hire a business coach who works on a contingency contract you are essentially securing a partner who makes a small portion of your net profits that they help you to create. Sometimes he can happen quickly. Sometimes it may take a few months. But in the end there is an equal investment of time. Doesn't that sound like an irresistible offer? Doesn't that sound like the kind of relationship you want to have with your business coach?
In uncertain economic times business owners who will survive will take much more calculated risks. They will do their homework in order to make decisions with clarity and confidence. A business coach who can walk you through a proven system that has enabled literally thousands of small business owners to achieve strong ROIs in various industries in numerous cultures and economic conditions around the world is hands down one of the best partners a business owner would want to have.
Invite me to start that relationship by signing up for an initial complementary 30 minute business diagnostic session. At the end of the conversation you and I will both make a decision to move onto the next step or not. I serve over 70 clients every month as of March 2009, most of them in Los Angeles County. However I'm willing to add a few more. So long as you are fluent in English, and are passionate about growing your small business revenues and willing to commit time and resources to achieve your business goals and we might be a good fit.
I look forward to speaking with you soon. If you are eager to start a relationship feel free to contact me via e-mail at Andrew@AndrewBarden.com or call my toll-free cell phone at 1 - 866-339-4619. This number, again, rings directly to my personal cell phone, so please only call during business hours Pacific Standard Time, from 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday.
To your success,
Andrew Barden
Founder, Philanthropic Entrepreneur
www.AndrewBarden.com
1-866-339-4619
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Hello again. I'm once again going to copy some wise words from Robert Imbraile regarding social networking versus email marketing for your education...
Robert says:
For years, e-mail has been the "killer-app" of the web. It was the one thing that was going to kill direct mail and change our world. Well, it has done a lot to move us in that direction, and as you can tell, the US Postal Service is in financial ruin because of mail volume that has dropped by some 23 Billion pieces in the last 24 months alone. But e-
mail is also in big trouble now with more than 9 out of every 10 messages being purely spam.
Smart marketers are on the hunt for where the market has gone to communicate. If you'll look, you'll see that e-mail is today incredibly unreliable. Most "good" e-mail is being picked off by the spam filters, and marketers are suffering.
To stay on top of this, I've been hard at work over the past few years looking at ways to make e-mail more reliable. I've not found anything of real value in that area.
So I began to look for alternatives to e-mail, and I've now found many places, all free, where a smart marketer can build a successful business on the Internet.
Obviously, I've shifted much of my marketing energy away from e-mail and into this new area.
I'm now playing in places that are filled to the brim with the "perfect prospects.". And you can reach out these very same people in new and creative ways and it will result in new sales, more income, and being able to live the way you've always wanted.
But don't just take my word for it. Look around at all the new books, seminars, training programs, etc., that have come out on the topic of marketing with social media.
This is NOT a fad, it's where the Internet is headed, and if you're not paying attention to this trend, and more importantly, getting involved now, you'll surely miss the boat.
Have a look here: http://www.UnlimitedLeads.com for information that may be of interest to you.
And, if you've already jumped into the social media scene, let me know what you've been doing and how it's all been working for you.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
What Happened to My E-mail? ... How Direct Mail is Making a Comeback
Hi there... once again I'm copying an article by one of the best direct marketing consultants in the world, Robert Imbraile... I'm sure you'll benefit from his guidance below...
What Happened to My E-mail?
By Robert Imbriale, 'The Motivational Marketer'
Have you noticed that your e-mail just isn't as reliable as it once was? Do you wonder what happened? Aren't these technical things supposed to improve with time, and not degrade instead?You're not alone. More and more people are coming to realize that the once dominant e-mail application, the one we've relied upon for years is no longer reliable.
Our e-mail system is broken, and right now, there's not a single fix out there that's showing any sign of making things better anytime soon. Now you might not think that a broken e-mail system is not all that important, but consider the fact that are large numbers of people who actually WANT to get e-mail from individuals and companies and many of those messages just aren't getting delivered. Worse, you no longer get a reply letting you know that your messages were not delivered. They are simply deleted so you have no idea whether or not your message was even received.
So what's the big deal, right? So you miss a few e-mail messages, who gets hurt?
The truth is that many legitimate, honest, hard-working business owners who rely on e-mail to market and promote their businesses are getting hurt, and many have already gone out of business because they can no longer reach their customers with e-mail.
Personally, I've been using e-mail to market my business since 1995. In those days, most every message I sent was delivered. Not only that, having as many as 9 out of 10 these messages opened was considered normal in those days. Contrast that with today's numbers and you'll see what I mean. Right now, the average e-mail message is opened by LESS than 1% of the people it's sent to.
If you're a business owner, this is certainly not good news. For the people who use unsolicited e-mail (or spam) as their primary marketing tool, as opposed to legitimate permission-based e-mail, their solution to the problem has been to put more e-mail servers online and send out tens of millions more e-mail messages in order to get the same results they were getting just a few short years ago.
In response, the developers of e-mail spam filters have tightened up the noose to catch more of these illegal messages. While that has had an effect on the number of spam messages you see in your inbox, it's also had a devastating effect on businesses that send legitimate e-mail. Think of it as a side effect of combating the spam problem.
And so the story goes. As more spam is sent out, the spam filters get more aggressive and block more and more e-mail. As more and more e-mail is blocked, it becomes a less and less viable marketing channel, a more unreliable communications channel, and in many respects, it will soon become an obsolete technology as more and more people simply stop using and relying on e-mail.
Smart marketers, however, are not going to sit back and watch their businesses crumble because new legislation and technology have totally failed to fix the e- mail mess. The ones that will ultimately survive are taking action, and that action is in the form of finding new ways to reach their customers.
While there is a lot of buzz these days about "social media" there are yet only a few scant success stories, and ultimately this new media can't come close to the marketing power e-mail once had. That, we hope, will someday change, but it's still too early to know for certain when and if social media will ever be reliable replacement for e-mail.
Other business owners are turning back the hands of time and returning to what was once the only low-cost method of marketing; direct mail. For those of you who don't remember marketing before the Internet, direct mail was the de facto marketing tool to beat.
It's low cost and easy availability made it the marketing tool of choice for all types and sizes of businesses. Direct mail is the tried-and-true marketing channel and has been for more than a century. Direct mail has changed little in decades as a powerful marketing tool. It's stable, reliable, predictable, and remains a well-respected and highly affordable marketing channel, even by today's standards.
When direct mail is combined with the Internet, it becomes a very powerful and highly flexible marketing channel. For example, a business might send out a simple postcard to their past customers alerting them to a special offer, sale, or other event. The customer is then directed to a web page for more information and to place an order.
The postcard will see a deliverability rate in the high 90% range, and of those, the vast majority will at very least see the marketing message printed on the postcard. When you compare that to the sub 1% who will actually see a marketing message sent via e-mail, direct mail begins to look very attractive.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about marketing with direct mail is that you can take most of what you're doing on the Internet and convert it easily to a format that can be used with direct mail. This is one of the biggest attractions business owners are excited about, aside from the rather immediate increase in sales, of course.
About the Author
=================
Robert Imbriale is the author of the best-selling book, Motivational Marketing. He is a successful business coach, and seminar leader who has helped hundreds of thousands of business owners create bigger, more successful businesses, and he can help you too. Tell him what your biggest challenge is with your business right now! Go to http://www.askrobertimbriale.com
If you would like to have Robert help you with your business, you can reach him at 1-800-541-3816 or at http://www.robertimbriale.com
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Weathering the Storm - What to do to Stay on Top in a Down Economy
Weathering the Storm
What to do to Stay on Top in a Down Economy
By Robert Imbriale,
The Motivational Marketer
Business owners from coast to coast are worried, scared, and some are even considering closing up shop because of what they see as uncertain times ahead. While it's true that there will be many business closings ahead, your business doesn't have to be one of them.
What's behind much of the fear and worry is the constant barrage of bad news about industry giants failing at an alarming rate. And, it's not just the what's in the news. Our conversations have also turned negative about anything related to the economy.
What has happened to many business owners is that they have taken what they have heard or read about in the news and given it more attention than it truly deserves. That has created doubt, which soon becomes fear, and not long after that, you'll find these same business owners throwing in the towel and shutting their doors forever.
And then there's the trickle-down effect to consider. When one business fails, other business owners then begin to look at that failure to support their beliefs that things are as bad as they are hearing about in the news.
If your business is going to succeed, the first thing you need to do is shift your attention away from all of this and instead focus on things that are indeed more positive. I'm not suggesting that you ignore it all, but try to at least get a new perspective on it all.
For instance, yesterday, I was at the local packing and shipping store where business was booming. In fact, the owner told me he was having a great holiday season, despite what the fact that if you believe what you're hearing about in the news would make you think this could simply not be possible.
I'm sure that you won't see a story about this business in the news, either, so don't go looking for it.
Now, I'm not trying to blame the news media for all our troubles. These companies are nothing more than businesses that respond to what their customers buy. We buy bad news hundreds of times more than good news. If we bought only good news, that what you'd see more of. So it's not entirely the media's fault.
Closer to home, I started to look for signs that things weren't quite as bad as I'd heard. Sure enough, there is the landscape crew out on my front lawn, so I asked him how his business was doing. It was slower, but he was still getting big landscaping jobs, one totaling more than $125,000.00!
In my own business, I'm seeing more and more clients contacting me for my executive level coaching services because they are looking to make this coming year better than the previous one!
"What?" People actually not looking at things from a negative perspective? Well, they'll see, you think to yourself because you "know" they just can't be right.
Then you look a little deeper at what's really happening right now and what you begin to see is that this is the perfect time to be positive about the future.
Think about it this way. When the economy was bubbling hot, houses became almost unaffordable as prices rose to record-setting highs. Yes, cheap money was indeed behind all of that, but had it continued to go the way it was going, in just a decade from now, the average home in this country might have topped a million dollars!
Things are simply adjusting and getting back to more reasonable levels. And, as in any adjustment period, it's going to be a little uncomfortable for a little while. And, there is a lot you can do right now to take dvantage of all the changes.
Here are some suggestions for you.
First, go out of your way to find stories of success. Find people who are now talking about better times ahead instead of hanging around people who can only parrot what they hear in the news.
Then, start creating your plans for this next year by putting down on paper everything you wish to have and do in the next 12 months. Go ahead and be bold here because big dreams are what create big results.
Next, create, find, invent a way to get yourself around people who are positive, upbeat, and who are seeing all the opportunities that are now being created that could never have been if things had stayed the way they were. Engage in conversations of success and what you want your business to do, and what you're planning for the next year.
This is where a good coach can be extremely valuable to you and your business, and it's a worthwhile investment if you simply can't find anybody to motivate you and hold you accountable.
If you do these simple steps, what you'll find is that things aren't quite as bad as they are made to appear, and in fact, there are many places that are thriving right now.
Think about this. Each and every day billions and billions of dollars changes hands on the Internet. That number may be lower than it once was when it broke all previous records, but it has not stopped! It's just lower, and nothing more.
Your job is simply to find new and innovative ways to tap into the money stream that is flowing and will continue to flow, no matter how bad things may get out there.
Realize that millionaires are made in good times and bad. It's not about what's going on out there as much as it is about how you think about and what you do about it.
Your success comes from seeing things that other people can't or won't see. Every smart and successful business owner sees things as they want them to be rather than as they are.
They put their focus on what they are trying to create instead of what they are getting because they realize that what they are getting right now is simply a result of what they did, or failed to do, in the past. What they get tomorrow and beyond will be the result of what they do today and everyday going forward.
In a nutshell, you can, and you should be planning for a great year ahead. You should be thinking about how you want your business to look a year from today, and start working on those plans right now.
If you'll do these things, and I mean really do them, instead of just giving them lip service, I know you'll be pleased with the results you'll get in the coming year, regardless of how bad the media tells us things are out there.
Remember, drama is what sells newspapers, not stories of success. Go ahead and buck the trend, plan ahead, and create a business that will stand the test of what's ahead.. and cash in as all your competitor's go out of business because they got scared and their customers now start buying from you!
Think about it. You can either struggle in the coming year, or you can thrive, and it's really all up to you.
About the Author
Robert Imbriale is the author of the best-selling book, Motivational Marketing. He is a successful business coach, and seminar leader who has helped hundreds of thousands of business owners create bigger, more successful businesses, and he can help you too. Tell him what your biggest challenge is with your
business right now! Go to www.AskRobertImbriale.com If you would like to have Robert help you with your business, you can reach him at 1-800-541-3816 or at www.RobertImbriale.com
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Which Comes First, the Product or the Promotion?
I often answer marketing strategy questions on social networking sites, which typically lands me new clients. While I was on LinkedIn's group called eOffice, I read the following posted question:
Which comes first, the product or the marketing?
I stumbled upon this post by the genius Seth Godin, The Marketing Guru. “Well, if you define marketing as advertising, then it's clear you need the product first (Captain Crunch being the only exception I can think of... they made the ads first.)
This great clip from Mad Men brings the point home. If the Kodak guys hadn't invented the Carousel slide projector, Don Draper could never have pitched this ad. But wait. Marketing is not the same as advertising. Advertising is a tiny slice of what marketing is today, and in fact, it's pretty clear that the marketing has to come before the product, not after. As Jon points out, the Prius was developed after the marketing thinking was done.
Which comes first, the product or the marketing?
I stumbled upon this post by the genius Seth Godin, The Marketing Guru. “Well, if you define marketing as advertising, then it's clear you need the product first (Captain Crunch being the only exception I can think of... they made the ads first.)
This great clip from Mad Men brings the point home. If the Kodak guys hadn't invented the Carousel slide projector, Don Draper could never have pitched this ad. But wait. Marketing is not the same as advertising. Advertising is a tiny slice of what marketing is today, and in fact, it's pretty clear that the marketing has to come before the product, not after. As Jon points out, the Prius was developed after the marketing thinking was done.
Jones Soda, too. In fact, just about every successful product or service is the result of smart marketing thinking first, followed by a great product that makes the marketing story come true. If someone comes to you with a 'great' product that just needs some marketing, the game is probably already over.” http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/02/which-comes-first-the-product-or-the-marketing.html
Then, I replied with the following:
As you already know, Seth is among the best in the industry. So, to agree with him is a bit redundant. But, since you asked, it is definitely the promotion/marketing. If you haven't already read Tim Ferriss's 4-Hour Work Week book, you'll find in there several simple ways to test, at least online, the sales process, including all marketing channels and finally to the point on a web page that someone gives their credit card information.
If you can get traffic to your site, convert enough of them to either register for some free report or actually make a purchase (with the last page saying, "Sorry, we are in the product launch phase, your credit card has not been charged. We will notify you when the product is available."), then you'll know you've got the right marketing message and the right sales process.
One key for online traffic via Google Adwords is to apply a filter to your ad so that you only get people clicking through who are most likely to make a purchase. Often, you'll see ads that give the price ranges of the products. So, if viewers are not ready to spend at least the minimum, they will likely not click. Lowering your marketing cost is equivalent to making more sales.
If you can develop a strong ROI by testing one or more marketing / sales process strategies first, for a product that you plan on developing, you will 1) be able to adjust the actual product's features according to what is going to sell better and 2) know that once the product is made, you can quickly set up your marketing channels and get them sold immediately.
In another OFFLINE approach, you do surveys. Simply 1) determine a psychological profile of your ideal client, 2) locate them locally (once you know someone's preferences, you'll know where they shop/eat), and 3) canvas your ideal clients, meaning, ask them in person or over the phone all the market research questions. One trick is to get permission to set up a table in front of where your ideal clients shop (and if you have voter registration forms on half of your table, no one can deny you!).
Even if 20% of respondents don't reply accurately (some people have a hard time predicting their own future behavior), so long as the majority reply accurately, you'll have some primary market research that will help you set up a proof of concept / feasibility study and both convince yourself that you have the right product at the right time, and you'll then know how to send the right message to the right people.
Since you know Seth's work, I'm guessing this is all review for you. However, perhaps others on this group would find some of what I explained of value.
So, do you have any stories that showcase this principle at work?
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