Showing posts with label sales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sales. Show all posts

Friday, May 15, 2009

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:

www.eggurl.com/dV

www.AndrewBarden.com

www.SoccerMarketingInc.com

www.TrainingInLA.org

www.MackeySalesTeam.com

Sunday, October 5, 2008

A largely untapped resource to help small business owners

Hi there. If you're a small business owner, entrepreneur, or just thinking about starting a business, you'll want to see what the Small Business Administration of our government has to offer you, often at no charge, that will help you start or grow your business. What a pitch! Basically, the government is saying "We'll help you make more money and never charge you a dime!" Can you beat that? And yet, I'm amazed at how many small business owners DON'T use the services of their local Small Business Development Center (SBDC)!

For 54 years, the US Small Business Administration has been a key resource for small businesses across our nation, funding local SBDCs and providing an amazing amount of helpful online and printed content. I urge you to take advantage of the many products and services your local SBDC provides. If you are looking for financing, business counseling, federal procurement opportunities (where the federal government buys from you), or you need help attaining the certifications necessary to compete in today's marketplace, then you'll want to stop by your local Center. You can locate yours by visiting http://www.SBDCnetwork.com

Like most any non-profit or government organization, when you work with an individual in that group they may be great or they may be less than great. It is hit-or-miss. But, just know that it is worth finding that "diamond in the rough," that person whose talent and sincere interest in your success actually makes the difference. So, don't be disheartened like I was many years ago when I made my first appointment with an SBDC counselor in Pennsylvania who turned out to be a dud. Since then, I've not only had amazing counselors but have become one myself, so I know that these positions do attract very effective business counselors.

It is easy to get excited about serving the small business community. People walk into our offices with such energy and hope and talent that you know they will do whatever it takes to succeed! And it usually requires that kind of attitude and persistence in order to make any new business work or to begin to dominate the market and grow your existing business.

Small businesses like yours are the lifeblood of our economy. Did you know that? Small business owners create between 60 to 80 percent of the new jobs in America. It isn't the big businesses that make up most of the GDP, it is the work of small business owners. They help drive our economy, transform communities, create jobs, and e3nable people to realize their dreams. What dream businesses do you want to start?

At the SBDCs, our goal is to help small businesses by giving the mthe tools they need to succeed. Curious about what we can do? Visit: http://www.SBDCnetwork.com to learn more. Whether you are starting or expanding a small businesses and need help developing a business plan, targeting clients that make you more money for your time, or establishing a budget or need additional training (don't you just LOVE to do bookkeeping!) (tee-hee), or you need technical or financial assistance, the SBDCs are here to help.

You see, the role of government is to create an environment in which the entrepreneur can flourish, in which minds can expand, in which technologies can reach new frontiers. Serious, hard-working and successful small business owners create wealth for themselves, their investors, and their employees. Their creativity, hard work, and productivity have combined to produce the most vibrant economy in the world (it's only the banks that have made it unstable lately).

Your local SBDC (Small Business Development Center), one of over 1,000 offices nationwide, are accessible via one of America's largest resource vaults for supporting small business owners at http://www.SBDCnetwork.com. Register for free, watch some training videos, write a business plan, apply for a loan, and a whole lot more. We're here to help.