Web and email marketing are certainly vital in today's market. But one should be very cautious of stopping direct mail campaigns, or even worse, fail to employ direct mail at all. More on It's Official, Wall Street Journal Reports Small Businesses Lose Income After Cancelling Direct Mail Programs
Many years of being on sales lines has taught me a few things about increasing income and sales. Some really obvious, but nevertheless vital, actions are neglected in many businesses. These obvious steps to increasing sales too often fall by the wayside — they get forgotten in the day to day flurry and only by inspecting the area carefully do you find that yes, once again, these income-making, “obvious” steps have to be drummed back in. More on Six Tips To Boost Sales And Income
See our great new print store More on Announcing the new RESPONSE! Targeted Marketing Print Store…
When flyers and ads talk about free offers there is often times a catch. “Buy $100 of this and we will give you a free teddy bear” or “Free shipping when you purchase $100 of merchandise”. These offers are sometimes useful and sometimes not. It all depends if you want to buy a $100 of what they are offering and if you need a free teddy bear. Sometimes you go for it and regret it later. My wife still has a free teddy bear in the closet she doesn’t know how to get rid of.
But in this newsletter you will get FREE marketing tips. Things you can do right now to promote your business that are… well, they’re free. More on 10 FREE (and Inexpensive) Methods to Kick Off Marketing Your Business This New Year
It seems like reports of the bad economy are being talked about everywhere. Unemployment have risen and sales in many industries are reportedly down.
At the same time many of the small businesses we deal with remain unaffected and continue to increase their income and sales, forging ahead and conquering new territory - apparently unscathed by the worrisome news. Is it luck? What is their secret weapon for gaining ground, while others appear to be struggling for survival? More on Prepare for Battle!
RESPONSE! Targeted Marketing has teamed up with Constant Contact®, the leading email marketing service for small businesses, to bring you a new and exciting way to stay in touch with your most important audience, your customers. With Constant Contact, email marketing is easy, affordable, and effective. More on RESPONSE! Targeted Marketing Partners with Constant Contact to Help You Grow Your Business with Email Marketing!
A few months ago I received a cool pen with my company name and address on it from a pen company. They offered me a great deal on my first order of pens—and provided a sample of what the pen was like. It was nifty and it got my attention. At the time I wondered about the value of having branded pens to give to clients and whether it was a worthwhile investment. More on The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Sale
A few weeks ago my wife was working late at the office when a client called. She needed to raise her income and sales, and in a hurry. “What”, she asked, “do I do about getting the income and sales up to a more viable level urgently?”
She asked the right question. Claire gave her the basic plan to increase her statistics. “You won’t see the results in the first couple of weeks,” Claire warned. “You have to stick to this plan religiously and you will see the results in a month or two.”
So the client crossed her fingers, charged her credit card and implemented the plan.
Word of mouth advertising. Spreading the word. Personal recommendations. Putting in a good word. And a dozen other ways to say it… Referrals.
Absolutely the best form of advertising there is. No sales pressure, no credibility problems, and very low cost of sales. Here's 10 of easy ways to get more referrals:
The simplest way in the world to get referrals is to ask for them. Whenever someone compliments you on a job, let them know you appreciate it, and that you'll do just as good a job for their friends. Tell them that you'd appreciate it if they could spread the word if they really like your work.
You may assume that people would tell their friends, but it's amazing the difference it makes if you give them that gentle reminder. People like to help those that do a good job for them and they feel good helping out their friends, who just happen to be your next customers…
Make a deal with other businesspeople you know. If you know they do good work, offer to tell people about them every chance you get, and ask them to return the favor. It's a good way to start building relationships and it tells you what they really think of your work.
If they agree, make sure you keep an eye out for people to refer them to. Keep up your end of the bargain, and the odds are good they'll keep theirs.
The idea of ‘finders fees’ is very common in big business, but it is frequently ignored in small business. It shouldn't be. Make it known that when someone sends you a job, there's something in it for them. Perhaps a set fee, or a percentage of the total. If they send you a new customer and you're in retail, maybe a discount on their next purchase. Whatever you do, make sure it's something worthwhile for them and sensible for you. $10 for a $25,000 job is insulting. $10 for a one time retail customer buying a used tennis racket might be too much.
In retail it is best to go with discounts. That encourages the customer to make additional purchases, or increases their loyalty as they see what else they can do with the money. Anything that expands the customer base for a retail outlet is worth rewarding.
Want someone to send you referrals? Send some their way.
Nothing will start the process and make it solid like having them know that you're ready to return the favor. So return it in advance.
Some people will send you referrals after this simply because they know it's not going to be a one way street. Others because they appreciate the thought you showed them. And some will do it out of a feeling of owing you something. Very few will ignore it.
Use testimonials in your literature and advertising.
Some people will wonder if they are the only ones that really liked your service, or if you did a good job for them just to get some extra business. If they see that others also appreciate your work and were willing to say so in print, they'll feel more comfortable in stepping out of their shell and making their own satisfaction known.
Some people need the knowledge that they're not the only ones who think a certain way before they'll say so.
Yes, they do make a difference.
If someone has your card, or hopefully more than one of them, they will do *something* with it. If you have asked them when they're in the right frame of mind to pass it along, they will.
One of the best things you can do with business cards is to give more than one. If a person has just told you how much they like your work, hand them 5 business cards. Tell them something like : "Well, I certainly appreciate the good word. If you think you'd be doing them a favor, maybe you could pass these on to people you know when they need work done. Make sure you keep one for yourself in case you need to get a hold of me, though!"
Yes, this works. It's different, so they remember. And it's personal, so it matters to them.
People are always willing to recommend those they see as leaders. Public service projects are a great way to become that leader and give something back to your community at the same time.
Make sure you don't do this just for publicity, though. Find a cause you personally believe in and work with that. It will be much more satisfying for you, and more productive for the group you help. And you won't come across as a phony. If you're helping with a cause you believe in, people will see that you care. And they'll realize you will probably care as much about your work as your cause.
Yes, something that simple. People appreciate someone who is helpful. If they appreciate you, they'll remember you and want to return the favor. Again, do this where it's appropriate and where it's meant sincerely. Like most things that lead to referrals, this is something that becomes an end in itself before long.
You started your business because you're interested in what you do and you want other people or businesses to benefit from the services and products you provide. So don't be afraid to talk it up. Mention to everyone what you do. If you had a recent good result, talk to them about that or mention how exciting it is to work in your field. Even the receptionist of your office supply company may get interested - or she may mention your business to her boss! One chiropractor turned his favorite waitress into a patient when she mentioned she had a headache. If you don't talk to people you will never find out that they are prospect.
The most important tip is to keep in touch. After 2 or 3 months of no contact you begin to fade in the memories of your clients and patients. We all get busy. We make changes. Life throws a million things at us every day. It’s easy to forget about people. It’s easy to let friendships fade away through lack of contact. We have all had it happen.
Business relationships work the same. If we stop having regular contact with someone, our relationship with them can fade away. It becomes less important and less a part of our life (and their life).
So, find ways to keep in touch with people. There are several easy ways:
Stay in touch with them at least every 30 days and you will keep your relationship current and strong. You will stay on their radar and they will stay on yours. This makes it much more likely they will find opportunities to send you business.
Contact Barry today to get started on your newsletter today!
Obtaining a Permanent Position in the Mind of Your Clients
You worked hard to get your existing clients on board with you. You spent money on promotion to get them in for the first time, ran special promotions and pushed people into the door to get your business going.
Your client or patient liked you. He was happy to spend his money with you. And you know if you talk to him personally you can get him interested in coming in again. But you have an expanding business. You hired extra staff to do handle customer relations and sales for you so you could expand the business. You don't have the time to talk to every client or patient individually on a regular basis to ensure they come in for their next service or buy their next product.
So how can you still have that personal relationship that made that client or patient first come to you?
Working with you to analyse the demographics of your client base, isolating your past successful promotion pieces and doing a short, targeted survey on your existing clients or patients, we will put together your very own newsletter.
Using the surveys to capture the image that your clients have of you and your business, we will design a newsletter template that strengthens that image. From the photos, to the colors, to the lines, to the copy; everything will push forward that image that has been formed.
From there we will create alive, interesting articles that push the message to continue to use your company and that sells specific services or items.
This is your mouthpiece. A chance to deliver the information that your client or patient needs to have when making a decision about his next service or product.
We create individualised newsletters for businesses and health practitioners. We recommend doing a simple survey project on existing clients is included in the set-up costs of the first newsletter design. This is done to capture the exact image that your clients have of you. The newsletter template is then designed to strengthen this existing image and to ensure your newsletter in no way violates this image. In other words, no two newsletters for 2 different companies look the same. Your newsletter would have a unique look that is just for you and your business and is based off your image with your clients.
If you have a large email database, an email newsletter would be an inexpensive method to get a newsletter out. Your newsletter would not be limited by space, would be full color, and you wouldn’t have the cost of printing or postage. We can help you get set up with email marketing to help you keep track of email addresses easily and add new addresses with very little work. We then set up your template. After that we simply create new articles and update your newsletter and, once you have approved it, send the newsletter out for you. See samples.
For email marketing you should be signed up with an email list management service. We recommend Constant Contact which provides a 60-day trial period.
The printed newsletter has several available options. You can have it one color or, for less than you may think, you can have it be full color. The design fee remains the same for one color, 2 color and full color. Variations of size can be requested and quoted on.
We have 2 standard sizes available;
Are you uncertain of how to go about writing articles - or just don’t have the time?
We will do research into, and write articles on almost any subject. You name it and we will let you know if we can do it. We have done articles on behalf of chiropractors, nutritional products, dentists, drug rehabilitation, computer consultants, to name some specialized fields.
If you have existing articles that you want to run, we can help edit and add glossaries for any difficult terminology that would inhibit readers’ understanding.
We strive to create informative articles that the reader will understand and to keep it interesting so they do actually read and, therefore, receive all the information.
If you would like a standard article from the collection we have created, it is included in your standard newsletter design costs. It can be edited and customized for your needs.
For an additional fee, we can write unique articles for your newsletter only and guarantee that the article will not be used in any other newsletter at any time. In other words, you can purchase the copyright to that article.
I would like to commend Sarah, Claire and Barry Coziahr of Response Targeted Marketing and Brian Mehl of The Brain Mill for helping immensely more...
