By Michael Fleischner | Marketing Expert, Internet Marketing Secrets*
If you're a small business owner, you probably don't have a lot to spend on marketing. That's okay, many small businesses aren't taking full advantage of the many opportunities they have for marketing their business in basic ways that cost little or nothing to implement.
There are a number of things you can do to leverage your existing contact points with prospects and customers that require some initial effort to produce but go a long way in promoting your business, products, or services. Some of these methods include:
1. Business Cards. For less than $20, you can have a virtual billboard that promotes your business. Surprisingly many businesses forget about this great way to promote your business, your products, or special offers. When ordering your business cards, think about how you can use the space effectively. Some of the best business cards that I've seen include specific URL's on the back for accessing free information, tools, resources, or product demo's. I've even seen some with coupons on the back that turn business cards into a customer staple - giving them an incentive to have your business card handy at all times.
2. Invoices. Do you send your customers an invoice in print or electronically? If you do, use the invoice to promote your brand, product or service. This is also a valuable touch point to thank your customers and prompt them to learn about other things you offer. Some of the more effective messaging for your next invoice might be, "Thank you for your business. To learn more about our frequent shopper program call 1-800-555-1234". This simple message can increase awareness and get your customers to take notice.
3. Emails. Nothing in marketing performs as well as your very own list of customer emails. Customers who offer their email address want to hear from you. Do what you can to encourage customers to provide you with their email address. You can always provide a small incentive like a pen with your business's name on it, free information, or a white paper addressing an area of growing importance. Once you have this email list, communicate to your customers on a regular basis and encourage them to do more business with you. Satisfied customers are likely to forward your emails to others, growing the size of your customer base.
4. Thank You Notes. A number of small businesses are very effective at communicating with their customers. These businesses use every shipment as a vehicle to promote their products or thank their customers. You should do the same. When you make a sale and are shipping a product, insert a short thank you note that offers your gratitude and willingness to hear from the customer or perhaps your latest catalog or flyer. This goes a long way in showing your appreciation for you customer and interest in building a long term relationship with them.
5. Online Coupons or Offers. When you have a particular product to sell, you should offer information about it on your website. Additionally, offer an incentive for prospective customers (new customers). When individuals are on your website and take interest in your product or service, providing an incentive to buy can drive considerable response rates. You might be concerned about discounting your product or service to existing customers so be clear that your offer is only for new customers. Your existing customers understand that you're trying to grow your business and won't be disappointed to learn that you're giving an incentive to new customers only.
6. Free Samples. Giving away free samples is one of the most effective marketing tactics available today. Even if you have a service business, offering up a method for prospective buyers to try a derivative of your service without paying for it can lead to increased trials and conversions. Large consumer product companies like Proctor and Gamble know that once a consumer decides that he or she likes the product, they will become a customer for an extended period of time which more than pays for the cost of their promotion.
7. Encourage Referrals. Small businesses that leverage the power of referrals experience strong growth. When you have others suggesting your product or service it's like having your very own sales team. These referrals are even more powerful because, like word-of-mouth, the prospect is being encouraged to buy from an existing customer, associate, expert, or influencer. Think about how you can encourage referrals from your customers or other service providers. One way is to ask other vendors to distribute information about your business to their customer base in exchange for you doing the same.
Marketing doesn't have to cost a lot. Use your own business to communicate your marketing messages and increase lead generation. These simple methods are effective for any small business owner regardless of industry, product, or service offering. Implement some or all of them to see the power of effective small business marketing.
* Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert and the president of MarketingScoop.com, the Internet’s biggest source of marketing information and free marketing resources. He has more than 12 years of marketing experience and has appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. Visit Marketingscoop.com for further details, marketing secrets, or more FREE reprint articles.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Mystery Shoppers Scams: 7 Ways Crooks Try To Fool You
A new alert about mystery shopper scams has been issued by IC3, the multi-agency US group that includes the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
The organization -- IC3 stands for Internet Crime Complaints Center -- fears that the economic downturn is luring thousands of unsuspecting victims into believing they've been chosen to become a mystery shopper.
Mystery shoppers, or secret shoppers as they're sometimes known, are used by retailers and restaurants to secretly test customer service standards by pretending to be real shoppers.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
The organization -- IC3 stands for Internet Crime Complaints Center -- fears that the economic downturn is luring thousands of unsuspecting victims into believing they've been chosen to become a mystery shopper.
Mystery shoppers, or secret shoppers as they're sometimes known, are used by retailers and restaurants to secretly test customer service standards by pretending to be real shoppers.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
HOW MUCH MARKETING IS JUST ENOUGH? C.J. Hayden, MCC
In my early years as an entrepreneur, a wise mentor taught me about the "just enough" principle. "An entrepreneur's to-do list is endless," she said. "If you ever want to be able to work less than 60 hours a week, you need to figure out how much of anything is just enough."
The one area of entrepreneurship that probably generates the longest to-do list is marketing. When you think of all the ways you could potentially market your business, and compare that to what you are doing now, the implications can be terrifying. Even if you worked 100 hours per week and had a marketing budget equal to last year's total revenue, you could never tackle it all.
But if you can determine how much marketing is just enough to bring in the level of business you want, as well as pay for itself, you can create a functional marketing plan that allows you to sleep at night. The trick is finding that just-enough point.
Take networking, for example. If you attend three networking events per week, and at each one you make three or four useful contacts, is that enough, too little, or too much? Well, that depends on whether you have enough time to follow up with the people you meet.
If you are able to follow up with each of your new contacts appropriately, a three-times-per-week networking frequency is sustainable. But if find you are scrambling to make contact with that many new people before they forget who you are, you're probably attending too many events. You've exceeded "just enough" and are now wasting your time.
The same principle can be applied to prospecting. At what point do you stop adding new leads to your prospect list, and reaching out to people who don't yet know you, and instead concentrate on closing sales with the folks you already have in the pipeline?
Take a close look at the prospects you already have. Have you followed up with every one of them within the last thirty days? Or if you already know their needs are urgent, within the last ten days? If not, you should probably slow down on collecting new leads and spend more time on follow-up. Or if you're on top of all your follow-up activities, you should back off there, and focus on adding new prospects to your list. Either way, you should stop at just enough.
What about publishing an ezine, writing a blog, or sending email broadcasts or postal mailings? How often is just enough to publish or mail? The answer will vary depending on your goals. If you are publishing or mailing to increase your credibility or build relationships with your audience, you'll be seeking different results than if you are trying to elicit a direct response in terms of enrollments or purchases. But there is always a just-enough point to be found.
With a blog, for example, try this experiment once you have some regular readers. Write a new post weekly for two weeks, then twice a week for two weeks, then daily for two weeks. Keep track of how much time it takes you, how your readers respond, and what impact it appears to have on your goals. Then go the other direction, and post only twice per week for two weeks, then just weekly for two weeks. What do you notice?
You'll likely discover there is a sweet spot, where the amount of effort you put in correlates to what you get back. Going beyond that point and doing more has little additional impact, but doing less than the required threshold reduces the payoff so much that your efforts seem wasted.
No matter what marketing approach you choose, the secret to finding the just-enough point is to start looking for it. Instead of blindly trying to do everything, or blithely ignoring what you don't seem to have time for, become rigorous about comparing what you are doing to the results you are seeing.
Determining how much marketing is just enough may turn out to finally be the answer to finding just enough clients.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
The one area of entrepreneurship that probably generates the longest to-do list is marketing. When you think of all the ways you could potentially market your business, and compare that to what you are doing now, the implications can be terrifying. Even if you worked 100 hours per week and had a marketing budget equal to last year's total revenue, you could never tackle it all.
But if you can determine how much marketing is just enough to bring in the level of business you want, as well as pay for itself, you can create a functional marketing plan that allows you to sleep at night. The trick is finding that just-enough point.
Take networking, for example. If you attend three networking events per week, and at each one you make three or four useful contacts, is that enough, too little, or too much? Well, that depends on whether you have enough time to follow up with the people you meet.
If you are able to follow up with each of your new contacts appropriately, a three-times-per-week networking frequency is sustainable. But if find you are scrambling to make contact with that many new people before they forget who you are, you're probably attending too many events. You've exceeded "just enough" and are now wasting your time.
The same principle can be applied to prospecting. At what point do you stop adding new leads to your prospect list, and reaching out to people who don't yet know you, and instead concentrate on closing sales with the folks you already have in the pipeline?
Take a close look at the prospects you already have. Have you followed up with every one of them within the last thirty days? Or if you already know their needs are urgent, within the last ten days? If not, you should probably slow down on collecting new leads and spend more time on follow-up. Or if you're on top of all your follow-up activities, you should back off there, and focus on adding new prospects to your list. Either way, you should stop at just enough.
What about publishing an ezine, writing a blog, or sending email broadcasts or postal mailings? How often is just enough to publish or mail? The answer will vary depending on your goals. If you are publishing or mailing to increase your credibility or build relationships with your audience, you'll be seeking different results than if you are trying to elicit a direct response in terms of enrollments or purchases. But there is always a just-enough point to be found.
With a blog, for example, try this experiment once you have some regular readers. Write a new post weekly for two weeks, then twice a week for two weeks, then daily for two weeks. Keep track of how much time it takes you, how your readers respond, and what impact it appears to have on your goals. Then go the other direction, and post only twice per week for two weeks, then just weekly for two weeks. What do you notice?
You'll likely discover there is a sweet spot, where the amount of effort you put in correlates to what you get back. Going beyond that point and doing more has little additional impact, but doing less than the required threshold reduces the payoff so much that your efforts seem wasted.
No matter what marketing approach you choose, the secret to finding the just-enough point is to start looking for it. Instead of blindly trying to do everything, or blithely ignoring what you don't seem to have time for, become rigorous about comparing what you are doing to the results you are seeing.
Determining how much marketing is just enough may turn out to finally be the answer to finding just enough clients.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Ticket and Lottery Scammers Score in World Cup 2010
Although World Cup 2010 means different things to different people (depending on your taste in sports), in the soccer world it means South Africa in June, when 32 nations, including the United States (Group C, if you're interested), meet to compete for the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) championship.
And, of course, it also means ticket scam time. You only have to look at this year's Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver and even the recent Miami Super Bowl for evidence that ticket scams for major events are still a big money spinner for the crooks.
Click here for the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
And, of course, it also means ticket scam time. You only have to look at this year's Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver and even the recent Miami Super Bowl for evidence that ticket scams for major events are still a big money spinner for the crooks.
Click here for the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Thursday, March 4, 2010
ASKING FOR HELP IS NOT CHEATING C.J. Hayden, MCC
A desperate entrepreneur contacted me recently. "I need to get clients immediately," she said. "I've been trying for months with no success, and I'm almost out of money." When I asked her how she had been marketing herself all this time, she gave me the following list of what she had been doing:
* Attending networking events where she met people, introduced herself, and exchanged business cards
* Launched a brochure-style website describing her services
* Purchased ads in several directories where businesses like hers were featured
* Printed some flyers and posted them on bulletin boards around town
Now here's some of what she hadn't been doing:
* Never asked any of the people she met at networking events to have coffee, get better acquainted, or find out more about their needs
* Never looked around her community to see who might be a good referral source and ask them to consider referring business to her
* Never told her friends and former co-workers about her new business and asked them to let others know about it
* Never asked anyone else in her profession where they found their clients
In other words, she had never asked anyone for help, even though she was drowning.
I've heard sad stories like this many times over the 18 years that I've been helping entrepreneurs find clients. It seems there is a persistent myth that the "right" way to get clients is to do it all on your own. Yes, many entrepreneurs do tend to be Lone Rangers and enjoy their independence, but this determined avoidance of asking for help goes beyond ordinary self-reliance. It's almost as if these business owners had been told getting help was illegal.
Because of this pervasive do-it-all-yourself attitude, I hear from many entrepreneurs that they are embarrassed or ashamed to ask for any assistance. One business owner told me, "I was really struggling, but I couldn't ask anyone to help me, because then they would think I was a failure." Tragically, by refusing to ask for help, he was actually causing himself to fail.
Let's bust this myth wide open, here and now. Successful people ask for help all the time. It's how they become successful. That is how the business world works. Entrepreneurs do not build successful businesses all on their own. They build them with the help of their family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, networking contacts, customers, and fans.
Here are five approaches to get started with asking for help to build your business right now.
1. Ask and ye shall receive.
If you've been feeling held back by believing that asking for help is somehow weak, presumptuous, or taking unfair advantage, let those feelings go. Give yourself permission to ask for help, recognizing that all around you, people more successful than you are doing exactly that in order to succeed.
The people already in your life -- family, friends, colleagues -- truly want to give you their support. They just need to be asked, and shown how. If you have not yet told every single person you know about your business, now is the time. Tell them what services you offer, the type of clients you are seeking, and ask them to please spread the word about how you can help the people they know.
2. Make your requests specific.
First, make sure you are actually asking, and not just hinting. Direct requests are much more likely to produce results. Say, "Would you introduce me to your friend?" instead of, "It would be good to meet your friend sometime, but I know you're awfully busy."
Second, be specific about what you're asking. Saying, "Please refer me some clients," is nowhere near as effective a request as, "The best clients for me are people who care about their health and are suffering from back, neck, or joint pain. Do you know anyone like that?"
3. Offer something in return.
People are more likely to respond to your requests -- and you'll feel better about making them -- when you offer something in return. When speaking with entrepreneurs, ask who would be a good client for them, and how you can best refer likely prospects. When speaking with others, just ask them: "What can I do for you?" Simply showing your willingness to make the relationship reciprocal is often enough for both of you to feel comfortable about your request.
4. Make your request appropriate to the relationship.
You'd be amazed how often I get emails like the following: "I'm brand new in business, and I do exactly what you do. I imagine you get more inquiries from prospective clients than you can handle. Would you refer some of those to me?" I applaud these folks for taking the initiative to ask, but a request like this isn't appropriate to make of a complete stranger.
Spend some time getting acquainted before asking for a referral. Entrepreneurs who share your target market, but don't do the same work, are ideal candidates to become referral partners. When you encounter successful people who are essentially your competitors, ask them to share their wisdom about where to find good clients. You'll find that most other entrepreneurs will be happy to help you when you approach them with reciprocity and respect.
5. Don't wait until you've made it.
If you wait until your business takes off to let friends and colleagues know about it, you will lose out on the most likely source of referrals most new businesses have. If you wait for clients to send you referrals instead of reaching out to likely referral partners, you may never have enough clients to make those referrals. If you wait for people you meet while networking to contact you instead of contacting them to ask how you can help, you may be waiting a very long time.
Asking for help is not cheating. It's how anything important ever gets done. Stop struggling all alone! Start asking for help, and you'll also start building your business.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
* Attending networking events where she met people, introduced herself, and exchanged business cards
* Launched a brochure-style website describing her services
* Purchased ads in several directories where businesses like hers were featured
* Printed some flyers and posted them on bulletin boards around town
Now here's some of what she hadn't been doing:
* Never asked any of the people she met at networking events to have coffee, get better acquainted, or find out more about their needs
* Never looked around her community to see who might be a good referral source and ask them to consider referring business to her
* Never told her friends and former co-workers about her new business and asked them to let others know about it
* Never asked anyone else in her profession where they found their clients
In other words, she had never asked anyone for help, even though she was drowning.
I've heard sad stories like this many times over the 18 years that I've been helping entrepreneurs find clients. It seems there is a persistent myth that the "right" way to get clients is to do it all on your own. Yes, many entrepreneurs do tend to be Lone Rangers and enjoy their independence, but this determined avoidance of asking for help goes beyond ordinary self-reliance. It's almost as if these business owners had been told getting help was illegal.
Because of this pervasive do-it-all-yourself attitude, I hear from many entrepreneurs that they are embarrassed or ashamed to ask for any assistance. One business owner told me, "I was really struggling, but I couldn't ask anyone to help me, because then they would think I was a failure." Tragically, by refusing to ask for help, he was actually causing himself to fail.
Let's bust this myth wide open, here and now. Successful people ask for help all the time. It's how they become successful. That is how the business world works. Entrepreneurs do not build successful businesses all on their own. They build them with the help of their family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, networking contacts, customers, and fans.
Here are five approaches to get started with asking for help to build your business right now.
1. Ask and ye shall receive.
If you've been feeling held back by believing that asking for help is somehow weak, presumptuous, or taking unfair advantage, let those feelings go. Give yourself permission to ask for help, recognizing that all around you, people more successful than you are doing exactly that in order to succeed.
The people already in your life -- family, friends, colleagues -- truly want to give you their support. They just need to be asked, and shown how. If you have not yet told every single person you know about your business, now is the time. Tell them what services you offer, the type of clients you are seeking, and ask them to please spread the word about how you can help the people they know.
2. Make your requests specific.
First, make sure you are actually asking, and not just hinting. Direct requests are much more likely to produce results. Say, "Would you introduce me to your friend?" instead of, "It would be good to meet your friend sometime, but I know you're awfully busy."
Second, be specific about what you're asking. Saying, "Please refer me some clients," is nowhere near as effective a request as, "The best clients for me are people who care about their health and are suffering from back, neck, or joint pain. Do you know anyone like that?"
3. Offer something in return.
People are more likely to respond to your requests -- and you'll feel better about making them -- when you offer something in return. When speaking with entrepreneurs, ask who would be a good client for them, and how you can best refer likely prospects. When speaking with others, just ask them: "What can I do for you?" Simply showing your willingness to make the relationship reciprocal is often enough for both of you to feel comfortable about your request.
4. Make your request appropriate to the relationship.
You'd be amazed how often I get emails like the following: "I'm brand new in business, and I do exactly what you do. I imagine you get more inquiries from prospective clients than you can handle. Would you refer some of those to me?" I applaud these folks for taking the initiative to ask, but a request like this isn't appropriate to make of a complete stranger.
Spend some time getting acquainted before asking for a referral. Entrepreneurs who share your target market, but don't do the same work, are ideal candidates to become referral partners. When you encounter successful people who are essentially your competitors, ask them to share their wisdom about where to find good clients. You'll find that most other entrepreneurs will be happy to help you when you approach them with reciprocity and respect.
5. Don't wait until you've made it.
If you wait until your business takes off to let friends and colleagues know about it, you will lose out on the most likely source of referrals most new businesses have. If you wait for clients to send you referrals instead of reaching out to likely referral partners, you may never have enough clients to make those referrals. If you wait for people you meet while networking to contact you instead of contacting them to ask how you can help, you may be waiting a very long time.
Asking for help is not cheating. It's how anything important ever gets done. Stop struggling all alone! Start asking for help, and you'll also start building your business.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Beware of Chile Earthquake Scams
In the wake of the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, we wanted to remind you that whenever there is a major natural or other disaster, scammers begin sending out charity relief scams and other scams almost immediately. We've created special updates on what scams abound and how to protect yourself from Chile earthquake scams and Haiti earthquake scams, since the same scams will show up for the Chile earthquake.
Click Here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Click Here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
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