What an important topic. Sometimes we as small business owners forget the we even have a voice in politics.
Rieva Lesonsky wrote:

Politics has been on everyone’s mind lately due to the recent midterm elections. In California, where I live, there was much debate (as always) about whether certain propositions on the ballot would actually help citizens—or were simply smokescreens for big businesses to profit. And two of the candi…

We all know the role that big business plays in politics and the influence large corporations have on government via lobbyists and donations. But did you ever consider that your small business could have the same kind of influence?…

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Many more great articles at ioprint.com

We often forget the simple, obvious, things that are key to marketing efforts.  I attended a seminar given by Jeffrey Gitomer ( which was excellent-by the way) and he spent time talking about how we spend time doing things, but not always the right things.

One thing that we often forget is how important an attitude is.  Maybe we have a product that everyone needs and they buy from us.  If we don’t treat them well they won’t be coming back.  They might be happy wit the product, but if they aren’t happy with you, you won’t be getting referrals – not a good thing.

Another thing we forget is to make it exciting.  Do we have the same old boring voicemail or business card, or do we have something exciting.  Something compelling that makes people want to call us and find out more.  How do we brand ourselves and stand out in our communities?

Speaking of brand, are you fully utilizing yours?  Do you have a great concept, good name, but got lost along the way?  Do all of you materials and your website reflect your brand and promote it they way they should in a way easy for customers to use?

Spend some time looking at you and make sure your brand is consistent with your business and is doing what you want it to do.  Make you and your business exciting and interesting.  You want your brand to stand out and be unique.

I often talk about building a marketing program and collateral materials, but don’t often talk about why it is important to use a company you can rely upon to provide guidance about the best way to proceed with your program.

It’s up to you to have a great concept for your business and to understand who your market is and why they should buy from you.  However, just because you are great at pet grooming or landscaping, doesn’t mean you are great at business card design.  A lot more thought goes into making a great card than slapping on a name and address.  A wrong logo can confuse customers that have your card, sending out a different message than you intended (i.e. a lightning bolt for plumbing – when it symbolizes electrician to most people.

Brochures and sales materials can often be done at home.  The problem is that they usually look like someone did them at home.  There are many components, such as ink quality, paper quality and what to leave out that make key differences to the way your business is perceived by others.  Shoddy materials may lead your customers to think that your service is shoddy as well.

And I’m not sure what makes so many people think they can design their own website.  Some people may be talented at design and have the computer know how to do it on their own.  Most times though, it is readily apparent that you did it yourself.  These sites remind me of when a person who knows nothing about home improvement tackles a major project, like re-doing plumbing or installing a kitchen.  One of two things tend to happen – you call in a pro to fix it, or you live with the leaks, uneven cabinets, etc.

Professionals also help you narrow your focus to ensure the success of your program.  There are many ways to attract more customers and measure success.  We spoke about landing pages.  There are also key words you can use and links you can use to increase the visibility of your web page.  It seems that new ways to reach customers come out daily.  It helps to have guidance with choosing the ones most appropriate to your business and the customers you are trying to reach.

To reach our professionals, please call 732-349-9499.

If your attitude about Internet marketing is not to educate yourself or at least investigate options with a professional that can help, you are leaving money on the table.  In other words, old marketing techniques alone are not enough anymore.  They still work really well with other types of campaigns, but Internet marketing opens up a whole new world.

The beauty of internet marketing is that it gets a person’s attention while they are thinking or investigating a purchase.  You are getting connected with people that have a need.  When you do a direct marketing campaign on its own, you are going on more of a fishing expedition.  Not that you shouldn’t send one, but make sure to include your website or landing page in the contents.

I love in-person events and networking, but there is a limit to how many people I can see and where I can meet them.  With hundreds of millions of people using the Internet, belonging to social networks, or just surfing the “web”, it makes sense to have a presence there.  A person can look for my offering, instead of the other way around.  I can reach people 24 hours a day and get customers that I would never have thought to contact.

The key is to target the market you are trying to reach, same as you always have.  The younger the market, the more a robust internet presence is essential.  Also, the more you need to make sure that your message is in the right spots.  This is how a pay per click service can really help.  It actually puts your information in from of the customer.  There is an art to this, but it works very well.

When done right, an Internet campaign, paired with a direct mail and great sales materials, can be more successful than a direct mail campaign alone.  The key is to gather e-mail addresses and build a great mailing list.  Now, resolve to add at least the Internet basics to your marketing program.  You’ll be glad you did.

Landing pages are a key part of on-line marketing.  The internet has changed the way we do a lot of things, including how we buy and sell.  Most businesses have a website, with different pages to talk about who they are, what they do and how to reach them.  Landing pages are designed specifically for giving people more information or to let them know about your offering.  Usually a customer will come to a landing page from a link in an e-mail direct mail piece, banner ad or blog post.

The advantage of having a person go to a landing page instead of your home page is that they will go right to what they want to see without having to search your entire website.  You can also conduct a pay per click campaign, in which your landing page is customized to enhance the effectiveness of the campaign.  The additional benefit is that you can receive details about how many people were interested in your offer and you can assess how effective the campaign is.  These types of campaigns can be tweaked to improve them, like any marketing campaign.

The key to the landing pages success is to design a page that prompts the visitor to take the action you want them to, whether that is to fill out a form, order something or download something.  Your landing page should have your sales pitch in a simple direct format that keeps the person’s interest.  Content is key.  Also, avoid too many distractions.  Ideally there should be one button “Yes – I want to buy” or what ever it should be.  Similar to meeting with someone in person, the more distractions the less likely they will buy.

Landing pages are an important part of your overall plan.  Usually they are an integral part of a well planned campaign.  The rest of the campaign points the customer to the page and it theoretically closes the “sale”.

For more information contact 732-349-9499.