A Marketing Plan That Works. Part #2: Getting Them To Like You
This is the second part in a short series of articles that dig a bit more deeply into the rules of selling and how to create a marketing plan that is most effective for your business while working wise and quick, because perhaps you are up against it already working in your business.
There are some great business books on the market and some even greater business marketing books but one of the finest in outlining the fundamental parts of promoting is Robert Cialdini’s fantastic book “Influence”. In that book Robert talks about the elements of…
- Reciprocity
- Commitment & Consistency
- Social Proof
- Liking
- Authority
- Scarcity
Let us take a look at each of those in greater detail and especially share how I use them to market my business and those of my clients “who range all the way from jazz and rock singers to cement consultants! I'm hoping that this may give you ideas about how it's possible for you to use them too.
Liking…so just how do you create that online?
I recently went to a massive event in London and someone who I know from my local Chamber of Commerce went as well , and I believe they used to be a little shocked by what number of folks came up to point out “hello” and speak to me. I looked like a little bit of a minor celebrity!
What he didn't realize was that I've been blogging and sending out an ezine for over 10 years now, and those two things build a massive body of that “know, like and trust” feeling. Or not.
I'm sure there are several people who loathe me, my viewpoints, my overly promotional ways and my blog entries about everybody, business and personal. Fortunately for me, they have an inclination to unsubscribe pretty quickly and I never get hate e-mail recently even from my biggest anti-fan “bless him and his rants.
There are heaps of videos online where I'm either sharing my knowledge or talking on stage and that creates a very strong sense of “knowing” because people are very visual creatures and we also respond to the emotion in other folk's voices.
Anyone who observed that video on YouTube of my telling the story of the LAST but ONE time I was momentarily homeless in my quest for success, could not fail to realise how really moved I was telling that story or how I'm thankful to my sisters for standing by me all of these years as I have attempted to build business after business and, until relatively lately, failed miserably.
Being willing to share yourself online, the highs and the lows, your learnings and irritations, this creates a powerful bond with your audience, who then feel just like they know you.
It has got to be sort of like the feeling folks get when they identify with characters in soaps and then they go up to the actors in the street and interact with them as if they were the characters they saw having a dram a last week.
The other side of the coin of living your life in public – hanging your arse out as one of my previous coaches used to call it “is that occasionally you can go too far. You say stuff on your blog or in your newsletter that offends, or hurts, or incenses people. You lose subscribers and potential future shoppers. I have definitely done that on 2 occasions I can remember simply. Not so bad in 12 years or so but distressing when it occurs.
The other thing that drives me nutty when I get asked to do a site review, is when they are so soul-less and corporate that you can't get any sense of the individual or folk behind the site. No pictures, no mission statement, no story about how the company cropped up.
And then they ask why their sites do not work. Why they do not build customers and a buyer base.
We don't know who you are!
One of my concerns when a graphics designer offered to revamp my site and my logo latterly was that I should lose the handmade, huffy feely component of it. I don't ‘ want to be too slick – it puts folk off.
Or does it? Only time and testing will tell.
The next thing I do to let people begin to know me is to give loads of my best stuff away in the shape of a free report, 6 x videos and a webinar – by the time you have got to the end of all that, you know who I Am, what I know and whether you want to work with me.
Similarly effective is to host a live webinar every week for existing shoppers and potential future customers “there is only myself and one other that I'm of the opinion that do that. We sit there, week after week and take the likelihood that somebody will rock up and raise a question we don't know the answer to. Actually , neither one of us care as we would just say “I’ll find out and have the correct answer for you next week”.
Again, I'm one of the only web marketing coachs who has ALWAYS had a personal customer group, first on Yahoo, then Google Groups and now on Facebook -where, as long as you've paid me something in the. Past, or are paying me something now, you can hang out with all my other clients and, if I pee you off, you could tell them all about it in a few seconds. How many companies do that?
How much does that do for my potential trust factor?
Though we are all actually in that position whether we like it or not, with Twitter and Facebook, as our consumers can tweet about us or post a complaint on our Facebook pages and we can’t do a thing about it.
Except try and minimise the damage and make good.
So when you are putting together your selling plan, give full consideration to how you are going to let folk get to “know, hopefully like and trust you”.
You may harvest dividends.
Nicola Cairncross is an author, speaker, online entrepreneur and acknowledged expert on how to successfully market your business on the web. To find more free resources on business marketing, visit Nicola at http://TheBusinessSuccessFactory.com
The Best Free Publicity Methods
You can use these ideas to create free publicity for any company website. Contrary to belief, some things in life really are free.
Release a new or improved product
When a product can show more true value than competing products, it will take hold faster and the news will spread quickly. It’s not hard getting innovative products in front of the public eye. To further ensure the success of a new product or service you can take the marketing one step further and seek an seo company to create online campaigns to drive targeted visitors to your website.
Celebrate your anniversary
Milestones of success deserve acknowledgement. Make a special anniversary logo for your business website, send out press releases and offer special promotions and the publicity will be yours for free. Let the public know how long you’ve been in business with an announcement for five, ten, twenty-five years and so on.
Bring on Members New to Your Team
You can often get your new employees showcased in a local paper at little or no cost. Be sure to bring out the person’s special skills and background that will help in his new position, and include a recent picture. Be sure to have your new employee introduce themselves to your customers.
Give away something that has a value for free.
Technically, this method is not really free, but the publicity you get is free. Businesses that offer a service can think about free inspections and/or consultations. Offer a free trial for your service or product. Restaurants have the option to offer free meals or dishes. BOGOF special deals work wonders for publicity. Another way to get your business name exposed to people for a long time is by providing a complimentary functional promo item which bears your company’s name or logo.
Take a survey
Pundits are always on the lookout for surprising links and social trends in infancy. Even a survey that shows what people actually do with your products can make a newsworthy report.
Stunts
You don’t have to jump over school buses on a motorcycle to get attention. You don’t need to risk anything but a little of your pride, in coming up with creative and fun ways to garner yourself publicity.
Offer free information
Experts in some businesses or industries may write free columns for local newspapers. TV and radio stations often seek to have experts give commentary about current affairs. Get your name out there along with your employees’ so your business can demonstrate its expertise while the public is listening.
Involve yourself with a charity.
By giving and working with local and national organisations, you build community credibility. When you list your charitable activities on the website of your business, people will be able to see that your company is not just about profit. Also, charities often list event sponsors in their advertising, providing even more free exposure.
Effective Marketing Tools For Equine Business Marketing
In today’s technologically advanced world there are more choices than ever for effectively marketing an equine business. The choices are simply endless when it comes to the myriad of methods available. Five equine business marketing methodologies have been identified in the process.
Logo Design
Clients put premium on the logo shape and representation of any equine business or service. A good-quality logo is clear, attractive and properly conceived. It must be capable of providing clients with the value and benefits of the equine business or service. The colours must have the touch of simplicity and it has to be easily seen from a distance. Logos are needed in business cards and all types of promotional materials. It is imperative to have a professionally done logo. Choose an experienced equine design company with a knowledge of equestrian businesses to make sure your branding is attractive to your target audience.
Business cards are a Necessity in Business
The professionally designed business card is a boost to your equine related business. The impressive design of your business card can boost your marketing program. Your business card is a mirror of quality, services and contact information.
Printed Flyers
Sale flyers are integral to equine design marketing and can be used to draw attention to your services and promote special offers. The design of the logo and company photographs underscore proficiency and aptitude.
An Equine Business Website
Websites are simply an equine business marketing choice that cannot be ignored. A first-rate website presents to end-users a general idea of the service and product that you are selling. The functional website is fully optimised, consists of graphics as well as valuable information and can be accessed in spite of slow connections. It should be easy to navigate so that a potential client can find the information they need with a minimum of frustration. The website needs to contain information, photographs and videos that convince client to support your business. Websites are always ready to be updated to keep the information fresh unlike printed materials which become obsolete. The internet is the preferred method when seeking professional equestrian services.
Vehicles Graphics
Vehicle graphics are another good option for promoting your equine related business and increasing the visibility of your brand. Graphics can be imprinted on vans, horse boxes and trailers to serve as an advertising medium. Remember that your logo, business name and comprehensive contact information are important, if you want to communicate to drivers and passersby, your graphics must be easily understood.
Understand the significance of these equine business marketing tools that can get new clients, keep you in the list of current clients and make them return to your door.
A Newbie’s Guide To Marketing A Cleaning Business
Of all business types, I’m sure you’ll agree that running and maintaining a cleaning business isn’t the most complex. For it to be successful, however, marketing will be paramount. The key to business growth is marketing after all. Consider the following tips below to make sure you start off marketing your business the right way.
Name Your Business Right
When I first learned marketing it was basically defined as: everything involved from researching a market’s needs to developing a product and all the way to getting the product to the end user. However, for your cleaning business, you won’t be getting so deep into it.
Were you aware that you can actually start your marketing when it comes to naming your business? Yes, naming your business is towards the top of your “to do” list.
When naming it, make sure it stands out from your competition. Keeping it simple will also aid in making it easy to remember. Your business name should reflect the type of business or industry you’re engaged in. Consider the following example for an office cleaning business: “Zip’s Office Cleaning Force”.
Give Your Business The Right Business Structure
Paying attention to your business structure is essential when you first start your cleaning business. What type of business are you going to set up? A Limited Liability Company (LLC)? A corporation? A sole proprietorship? Now, this article wasn’t written to expand on the specifics of each of the aforementioned. Nonetheless, do seek out professional advice from a qualified tax preparer or accountant to discuss how you ought to structure your business.
Now, why should this concern you anyway and what’s it got to do with marketing? Well, this is important because when you structure your business right there just may be some tax advantages. When it comes to the aspect of marketing, remember that any tax benefits you get can be enough to help your business survive during rough times.
Price Your Business Like You Mean Business
Your next area of focus is pricing your services correctly. Don’t forget that you’re in business to make money. Starting a cleaning business can be done on a shoe string budget, but your pricing model is one of the things that will actually help you stay in business.
Structuring what you’ll be charging your clients isn’t hard. Take a look at what your competition is charging and imitate them. Nonetheless, avoid pricing that’s way too low as you’ll only be shooting yourself in the foot. The problem with having the lowest prices is that it’s not the best pricing model. Low pricing may not be the best thing for your business. Remember that you started your cleaning business to make profits. And profits come from offering a good quality service at a good price.
Do You Have What It Takes To Be An Affiliate Marketer?
Each of us has its own interest or has a hobby. Some love all kinds of books, music, and movies while others are into sports and traveling. There are also people who love to grow flowers and loves pets. These things help us to relax and forget our everyday problems and troubles and these things are common to people. But not everyone has a hobby that makes money for him/her except if you love your job.
Money making hobby could let you treat your family and friends with the extra cash or you can even quit your current job that you almost certainly hate. That is why many of us today go online to start a business; their reasons are either to supplement their income or to gradually replace their offline income from their job. Affiliate marketing is a great way to start in making money online.
Affiliate marketing is a revenue sharing partnership between a web merchant and one or more affiliates. The affiliate is paid a commission for referring clicks, leads or most often sales to the merchant. An affiliate’s advantage is that he can make money in a business where he doesn’t have the upfront costs of creating his own product, and he doesn’t have to worry about e-commerce, bookkeeping, or even customer support for it is the merchant’s responsibility.
Now, for sure you want to be an affiliate marketer with all that benefits an affiliate could get. But, do you have what it takes to be an affiliate marketer? Before you begin your venture into affiliate marketing, you need to decide first which area interest you. What products do you know the most and which products you could do the best job of selling? Once you discover your specialty, perseverance, patience, determination comes next. These are the qualities you should possessed to be a good affiliate marketer.
Too many online business prospectors lose out because they become impatient. You also have to know what your strengths are, the things in which you are good at and your capabilities and abilities related to your chosen streak. And the most important thing is you have to have a strong desire to succeed in affiliate marketing.
To be an affiliate marketer is not an easy task. You have to learn the techniques of marketing your product or service. You shouldn’t be looking at every chance because marketing is all about attracting you to look at this or that particular opportunity. To be a successful affiliate marketer, you should learn how to listen and to be taught because in life we need to learn skills to get by.
For an affiliate marketer, you should know how to market your site effectively, in will enable you to get thousands of visitors coming to your site which transforms into more sales. This only means that the faster you set up a website, the bigger your chances of making money online faster. You should avoid the same mistakes some affiliates make everyday, they are only building a short-term business where they just make a small sale. Make sure you do understand that you should be building a long-term affiliate business and not just something that makes you a few dollars on one sale.
It is also better to have knowledge on how to upsell your visitors for expensive services. This will in turn make you become recognized as an expert in your field and making money will be easier. There are some people thinks that just by having affiliate links on their website will bring them good profits. This can have some truth to it, but then most successful affiliates still believe that making use of strong marketing campaigns for their affiliate programs is still important. But affiliate marketers become much more successful when they treat their customers or online visitors as friends. Make a commitment to establish relationships with your customers and especially with visitors to your site. It is very important for an affiliate marketer to have a good business relationship with customers or visitors.
You should also be creative. The real key to being successful with affiliate marketing is to develop a good content based website and weave your affiliate links into all your content. You have to provide your prospects with good, quality content to keep them coming back to your site. So, do you have what it takes to be an affiliate marketer?
Porsche Mikeska writes for UniformHaven.com who sells dickies scrubs, discount dickies scrubs and lab coats as well as a host of other items.
The Importance Of Finding Your Market
To create your own product, you must first start with a topic. This should be the
fun part of product creation. How do you choose a topic? That’s easy! First find
a hungry group of buyers and then find a topic that either solves a problem they
have or benefits them in some way.
Many info product creators will just start creating a product on a given topic, and
then, when the product is finished, they will look for buyers. Well, I’m here to tell
you that this is the wrong way of approaching info product creation.
Wouldn’t you be better off if you created a product specifically for an information
hungry audience? Even better, create a product for an audience hungry for
information who has money! That way, you would know that the buyers existed,
even before you put all that time into creating your info product.
If you approach the creation of your info product using this method, you will
GREATLY enhance the success of your product! By “success” I mean two
things: the profitability of your product as well as the name recognition of you as
the creator.
Let look at two examples:
Example 1
I know quite a bit about a specific subject. I decide to write an
ebook that focuses on the subject. So, I spend a few days to a few
weeks putting all of my knowledge into an ebook. When I’m done, I
decide to start working on my website. Now, I go to do some
research and I find that all of my keywords that are used throughout
my ebook have less than 1,000 searches done per month. Not only
that, but there are already over 20,000 sites that provide information
on this subject!
Oh no! Now what am I going to do? How will my new ebook
compete with over 20,000 sites to get those few people who
actually search on the subject each month? I do the best that I can
in optimizing my site for the search engines and I hope that I have
really high conversion rates.
Columbus Ducci likes to write for UniformHaven.com which offers cherokee scrubs, discount landau scrubs and lab coats as well as a host of additional items.
Conduct One Must Possess To Succeed In~Attitudes That Must Be Possessed To Succeed In~Great Attitudes One Must Possess To Succeed In} Internet Marketing For Small Business
Small business online marketing is a very popular field nowadays. There are lots of businesses that are looking for Small business online marketing to boost their business and to rank higher in different search engines. Now when you have already started in this field and you want to be as good as the others, there are certain skills that you need to have. The truth is that you can only be better in this field with these attitudes at hand. If not, you might just want to give up and look for some other fields to work with.
• Willpower. You might say that this field is just a walk in the park, but the truth is it isn’t. You might do well today, but it does not follow the next few days. This field is changing from time to time. The changes are in fact very fast. What you know today might no longer be applicable the following week. As such, you really have to strive harder to become better. Never stop in looking for materials that will help you improve. If you’ve heard of the latest trends, go ahead and master them.
• Fortitude. This has always been a virtue in online marketing. What you want here is not always achieved. Even if you did everything to make things work out, the result aren’t always the same. Thus, you need to be more patient until the results are clear. For sure, with your effort, you will just see these results.
• Passion of labor. This is indeed very important. If you are an extrovert, for sure, you will find it boring to face the computer every day. Since all tasks are done online, you might as well forget that you need a social life too. Thus, you need to know how to love your work every day of your life. You have no other choice since it is what the job demands. If you tend to really do away from a long time of exposure with the computer, you might as well think of another field to work on.
• Reliability. Being a consultant, for sure you have a boss to report to. Make sure that you report everything to your boss. By everything, it means that your reports are all accurate. If you think there are some things that you can no longer handle, don’t be shy to admit it. For sure, your boss will offer a helping hand. If not, at least he knows.With these conduct at hand, success in Business marketing services is definitely on its way!
Great Attitudes One Must Possess To Succeed In Small Business Online Marketing
Small business online marketing is a very popular field nowadays. There are lots of businesses that are looking for Small business online marketing to boost their business and to rank higher in different search engines. Now when you have already started in this field and you want to be as good as the others, there are certain skills that you need to have. The truth is that you can only be better in this field with these attitudes at hand. If not, you might just want to give up and look for some other fields to work with.
• Willpower. You might say that this field is just a walk in the park, but the truth is it isn’t. You might do well today, but it does not follow the next few days. This field is changing from time to time. The changes are in fact very fast. What you know today might no longer be applicable the following week. As such, you really have to strive harder to become better. Never stop in looking for materials that will help you improve. If you’ve heard of the latest trends, go ahead and master them.
• Fortitude. This has always been a virtue in online marketing. What you want here is not always achieved. Even if you did everything to make things work out, the result aren’t always the same. Thus, you need to be more patient until the results are clear. For sure, with your effort, you will just see these results.
• Passion of labor. This is indeed very important. If you are an extrovert, for sure, you will find it boring to face the computer every day. Since all tasks are done online, you might as well forget that you need a social life too. Thus, you need to know how to love your work every day of your life. You have no other choice since it is what the job demands. If you tend to really do away from a long time of exposure with the computer, you might as well think of another field to work on.
• Reliability. Being a consultant, for sure you have a boss to report to. Make sure that you report everything to your boss. By everything, it means that your reports are all accurate. If you think there are some things that you can no longer handle, don’t be shy to admit it. For sure, your boss will offer a helping hand. If not, at least he knows.With these conduct at hand, success in Business marketing services is definitely on its way!
Business Marketing For Dummies
Make your sales go up!
When it comes to increasing sales you have options. Through the use of giant balloons you have the ability to increase visibility, traffic and sales. You can use giant balloons. advertising blimps or other types of advertising inflatables to attract new customers to your business. Flying a giant balloon or advertising blimp across the sky with your business information is a very popular way to bring new clients into your business.
Business marketing is only as hard as you make it. P.T. Barnum was a genius marketer by being unusual and different. You as a marketer can use this advertising media to bring new traffic and clients to your business or event. Blimps and balloons may be old school to some but they are still being used by companies large and small.
Use giant balloons and helium advertising blimps to attract new customers. You will not find a more cost effective way to provide you with immediate results. These types of balloons come in different sizes and styles and are designed to fit every budget. The majority of companies that sell and rent these balloons report that repeat business is a huge part of their business.
Whether you are looking to go big or small you can find a balloon or advertising blimp to fit your business marketing needs. If you choose to go with a larger advertising balloon these can be tethered to a building to increase attention to your business. Many people consider these types of larger balloons to be floating billboards that will not break your budget like a regular billboard can. So whether you are holding a promotion, event or just looking to increase sales this is a great marketing option for you.
Billboards Or Online Media? Business Marketing
Billboard marketing is one of the oldest and famous forms of product promotion companies are embracing for many years. There are many ways of reaching the customers such as ads in radio, newspaper and magazines, and television. But because traveling and commuting from different places is a common activity of general public, billboard is the best way of attracting their attentions especially when placed in a good site. It usually has a striking message and a good picture.
However, there are number of disadvantages of using a billboard:
-Since they rely on the number of people passing a specific site, there are no indication on how many different people passes and can see the ad. Let’s say, there are 10,000 people passing everyday, but there is a big probability that the number will fall or the same people are the ones passing the site everyday. And no one can be sure if all these passer by are looking at the ad. – Weather condition affects the billboard; it can destroy the billboard and the frame itself. Weather and traffic condition can also affect the attention of passers by and the number of people that will travel on that specific time. – Using billboard can cost a lot, depending on the location and size of the billboard. – Message must be brief or really short since the target readers are moving or passing. Due to this, they are now often used as reminders or to lead people to another source such as website. – They are vulnerable. Can easily be torn out or vandalized.
One of the primary ways most businesses market themselves is through the use of display ads in newspapers, magazines, or yellow pages. A display ad is simply an advertisement in a box that could be any dimension, but is determined by the standard sizes for a particular media. In addition to having ads that blend in, almost all display ads are being done all wrong. At the very top of the ad is the business name, or logo. Under that they have bullets highlighting features of their business followed by contact information.
First of all, never waste the top of an ad with your business name or logo. While this may sound harsh, customers just don’t care about you yet. All they care about is what you can do for them. So tell them up front! Use a powerful headline to capture their interest.
And while the bulleted feature list does give the reader information about what services you offer, just about every other ad has the exact same information. These bullets don’t tell potential customers how you stand out from everyone else. Give the reader benefits of going to your small business versus going somewhere else. Even if there are no real differences, just pointing out the benefits of using your business is different than anyone else is doing.
When it comes to creating squeeze pages, the simpler the better. Keep it focused on the one aim of getting their contact details and, if you can, telling you more about them – you know a bit of market research. Find or create something that your target market will find useful such as an e-book, explain what they’re getting and in most cases people will quite happily give you their permission to follow up with them.
Once you’ve got their details, you can direct them to specific pages on your website, make them special offers and generally keep them informed about what you do.
So think through how you’re going to follow up with people if you use a squeeze page because here’s not much point in building a database of people who’ve visited your site if you’re never going to do anything with them!
It’s estimated that it takes somewhere between 5 and 7 ‘touch points’ before someone trusts your brand enough to buy from you, so in the first few emails to them, focus on interesting information rather than overt hard-selling
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