How Can I Increase Customer Awareness Within My Company?

It was suggested to have some of our testimonial ads made into posters and I’ve invited technical staff to work at focus groups which helped but that doesn’t cover the other departments.

###

Posters alone won’t do much. Ideally, you want your customers to be in front of your employees and tell them how what they did mattered to their lives (so it becomes more than simply selling to meet quotas).

Given the size of your organization, you might consider creating a video of what made a difference in the lives of your customers. Close ups of the people talking. Emotional content. The videos could be available for internal downloading and/or a group showing (followed by a discussion).

The posters would be of the people in the video – so the static words don’t get ignored – they reinforce the emotional punch of the videos.

What Are Good Trade Show Games For Salary Loan Business?

I have a trade show booth and I need creative games to attract clients to sign up. Our product is corporate salary loans. We are promoting fast processing of salary loans in 3 days. Do you know any games that can be related to our “fast, easy, speed” loan application and processing theme? I’m tired of spin a wheel, pick a prize, common games. I really need to come up with new ideas and games.

###

Because of the 3 days/3 attributes:

– 3 Card Monte

– 3 Cups & Pea/ball

– 3 balls into a hoop (basketball/nerf ball toss)

Because of fast/easy/speed:

– a dollar catch

– reaction timer (have them press a button after a light goes on)

– categories (give contestants 15 seconds to come up with as many different examples of a category — car brands, fruits, state capitals, etc.)

How Can I Brand Myself?

My niche is self-development / law of attraction and the best I’ve come up with so far is “The Self-Dev Junkie” and “Your Universal Healer”)

I consider my unique talents to be: excellent customer service, creates products that make a difference, strong passion to help others achieve, and friendly, willing to help.

###

Are you a coach? Seminar leader? Spiritual Leader?

Before you focus on the branding, tagline, etc. you need to focus on your strategy.

Answer the following questions to start on your strategic plan:

Who is your ideal client? What problem do you solve for them? How do you solve their problem? Why are you the best for solving it?

The rest will flow from your strategy.

How Can I Increase My Website Rank?

What the first thing I should do on the Internet? I want to have a PR rank website 4 at least, should I have a blog, forum, if yes, where, and where is should I tell about my posting, site, etc..?

###

Site optimization is a long-term process. First, you need to identify what keywords you want top position for, and determine what page rank (a number from 0 to 10) the top sites have. You’re looking for keywords that have traffic (there are people interested in the topic) as well as relatively low page ranks for the top sites.

Once you identify your keywords, you need to populate at least your home page with the words “naturally”. Don’t forget to include the keywords in the title of the page itself and in the keywords tag (which isn’t as important as it once was).

Next, you need backlinks, links from other sites to your site. The better the site that gives you backlinks, the better your pagerank.

It takes time for your site to go up in rank. Newer sites naturally get a lower ranking than newer sites.

What Is A Good Tagline For A Custom Ski Boot Liner?

I am launching a retail, after market ski boot liner into the ski rental market (called “Zip Fit”). The biggest problem with renting equipment is fitting boots. This boot liner is a custom fit, that will be better than most anyone’s own ski boot. So we have a new paradigm in the ski rental market. I am looking for a tag line for this product. The boot liners key features and benefits are warmth, comfort, performance and custom fit.

###

Give Your Old Liners The Boot

Ski Easier and More Comfortably

Your Ski Boots Are Worth Zip

Your Ski Vacation Is Worth Zip

How Can I Attract Buyers To Order My New Baseball Caps?

I have tried just about anything and nothing seems be be working. Calling to ask for an appointment to show them the product line, trade shows, sending in samples. Buyers never return phone calls. At the trade shows the buyers only see their existing clients they have an appointment with and totally ignore the new companies with new products. My website doesn’t get any traffic either. Someone at the show suggested hiring a celebrity but as we found out they are extremely expensive and hard to get. I am thinking of joining a networking association in hopes to find some leads.

###

The buyers you’ve been meeting simply aren’t interested in what you’re selling. This could because: 1) they don’t like your product, or 2) they don’t see a demand, or 3) they don’t like your presentation.

You have a number of approaches:

– Create a demand. Skip the buyers, sell direct to sk8ters and the rest of your target demographic. If you start getting sales, then buyers may follow.

– Improve your presentation. Your website seems to appeal to teens. Why not brand special caps for different college campuses? High Schools? Beach communities? Bars? Adult Sports Teams?

– Improve your product. Ask the buyers what they think about your product and listen. Do they like the price? Style? Uniqueness? Message?

I don’t think a networking assn will help – you haven’t yet identified what you need (other than sales). As for your website, if you’re not getting traffic, then you haven’t figured out what people are searching for and wading into those waters. MySpace would be a natural community to hype your hats and build traffic.

How To Tell Your Marketing Story

Tell Me A StoryWe are wired to tell, read, and listen to stories. A great story gets you to feel as if you were in the story: your senses are engaged, your curiosity is piqued, and your adrenalin is flowing.

Marketing is basically the art of telling a story. Simple stories include:

  • I had no money. I did this. Now I’m rich.
  • I was a loser. This product changed me into the winner I am today.
  • I had no clients. I figured out a great technique. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing.
  • Boy meets girl. They live happily ever after.

A compelling business story causes the listener to contact the business owner for more information or to make a purchase.

You must deliver the story convincingly. When you tell the story in person, make sure that your voice, tone, tempo, eyes, and body are enhancing your story. If you’re telling the story in print, online, or on television, use images to reinforce the words and reduce the length of the story.

You have different stories for different people. Since one goal of a story is to make the listener feel part of the story, the story needs to “fit”. Carefully consider who you’re telling the story to.

Your story has an arc. Think of a classic fable. It no doubt fits the standard framework: every day… until one day … and then … and then … and ever since then …. For example, in Watty Piper’s The Little Engine that Could:

A little railroad engine was employed about a station yard for such work as it was built for, pulling a few cars on and off the switches. One morning it was waiting for the next call when a long train of freight-cars asked a large engine in the roundhouse to take it over the hill “I can’t; that is too much a pull for me,” said the great engine built for hard work. Then the train asked another engine, and another, only to hear excuses and be refused. At last in desperation the train asked the little switch engine to draw it up the grade and down on the other side. “I think I can,” puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great heavy train. As it went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”.

Your story includes concrete details. Details allow the listener to visualize the story and engage the senses. Instead of a refrigerator, say “a white, side-by-side ‘fridge, with an ice dispenser in the left door and a wheeze that you can hear when the compressor is working”. Add appropriate details.

Your story is personal. Instead of retelling someone else’s story, it’s better to tell something that happened to you (or that you personally witnessed). A personal story builds trust in the teller.

Your story needs a clear purpose. Ideally, you want to teach the listener in a way that they can validate the message them self.

Your story is easily repeated. Viral marketing is nothing more than people passing along a story that they liked. Make your story memorable and ideally, easily summarized.

Great stories aren’t accidental. You need to practice telling the story. You need to get feedback to make your story effective. Learn from others’ stories.

When you sincerely tell your personal story effectively, you’ll have lots of curious customers wanting to find out more about you and your business.

Madscam

MadScam“People don’t read advertising – they read what they are interested in. And sometimes, it happens to be ads.”
– Howard Gossage

George Parker ‘s very strong opinions on advertising are detailed in his latest book (subtitled “Kick-Ass Advertising Without the Madison Avenue Price Tag”). He rants about the way businesses generally do advertising, what’s wrong, and how to do much better (without spending a lot).

First, if your business foundation isn’t strong (poor quality of service or product), fix it. Spending time and money to create an ad only to have more people dissatisfied by your business isn’t a good idea.

To create a good (or great) ad, you need three things: information (your unique selling/value proposition – USP/ UVP), time (to craft), and money (to spread the message).

Some of his questions to help you craft your USP/UVP include:

  • Are you unique?
  • Can you positively prove it?
  • If you’re not unique, are you better at what you do than the competition?
  • Do you provide provable quality?
  • Do you provide value?
  • Are you totally reliable?
  • Do you give the impression you’ve been around for a while?
  • Do you have solid and reference-proof case studies?
  • If you went out of business tomorrow, would anyone, apart from you, your mother, your dog, and your investors care?

“The consumer isn’t stupid, she’s your wife.”
– David Olgilvy

Great ads aren’t full of clich?©s or say “me-too”. They are edgy ads full of true, useful information (USP/UVP) about your product (or service). They are well targeted. The standard axiom of “it takes 7 impressions to get noticed” are baloney – all it takes is one great ad to get noticed, and hammering a dumb message over and over is insulting to the reader.

Besides discussing when it’s appropriate to create print, radio, television, and online advertisements, he tells how (and who) should create the ads. He’s not a fan of doing it yourself with in-house talent; he strongly believes that you should almost always use a consultant / freelancer (like himself). When creating ads, use “tissue sessions”: a simple idea is shown and you brainstorm the contents with the ad-creating talent.

“I know that half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted.
Unfortunately, I don’t know which half.”

– John Wanamaker

He concludes that you must measure the result of your advertising. When someone new contacts you ask, “Where did you hear about us?”. Use tracking codes or special ad-specific offers to help isolate which ads produced which results. Without measuring, you have no clue if you’re wasting half your money (or more).

It’s Only A Money Problem

Published in Northbay Biz Logo October 2007 BizTips Section Logo

 

WalletIda, my Prussian grandmother, loved talking with friends and family.

Once, after listening to a friend’s woes, she said, “Oh, it’s only a money problem!”

Her friend sat stunned for a minute and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, there are health and money problems. A health problem only God can help with. A money problem is fixable by humans.”


Knowing what’s wrong

We often forget that problems we can solve are a challenge, but not insurmountable.

Let’s start by looking at a list of common business problems / challenges:

  1. Not enough clients. Are you sitting around waiting for the phone to ring?
  2. Not enough money. How is your cash flow? Are you having trouble paying your bills on time?
  3. Not enough time. When was the last time you took weekends (or evenings) off? How about a vacation? How about a good night’s sleep?
  4. Staffing. Are your spending more time dealing with your employees than working on your business? Are you wishing that you could clone yourself?
  5. Competition. Are there more businesses fighting for your customers?

What’s interesting about all of these problems is, they’re really just symptoms. And if you spend your time trying to fix the symptom rather than fix what’s actually wrong, the result will only be temporary.

So what are some of the underlying problems?

  1. Lack of Planning. Many businesses start serendipitously. You create a product or service for your own needs. Someone notices it and wants to buy it. You sell it. They tell their friends. You sell more. You’re in business! Gradually, you notice you’re selling less. What happened? Do you need to advertise more? Reduce your price? Strategic (focusing on vision) and business (focusing on action) plans are necessary to help you identify goals and achieve them.
  2. Not Knowing Yourself. What core values underlie your business? This is the “soul” of your business and attracts the right clients to you. These qualities inform all your actions; including your message and your image.
  3. Not Knowing Your Clients. Who are your potential clients? How easily can you find them? Clearly define your niche: New mothers who love yoga; children who like classic movies; recently divorced men. The narrower your niche, the easier it is to find customers, and the easier it is to create a message tailored just for them. If you have multiple niches, you’ll need different messages for each group.
  4. Wrong Message. Your clients don’t (initially) care about you and your products. They care about their problems. Solve their problem, and you have a potential client. Have them trust your solution (and price the solution’s value well), and you have a new client.
  5. Single Income Stream. Are you stuck working by the hour? If you’re not working, you’re not earning any money; taking a vacation becomes a dollars-and-cents trade-off, not a quality of life issue. If so, then you don’t have a business-you have a job. A business can make you money while you’re asleep. Likewise, if you business is cyclical (for example, gardeners in spring and summer), you need other services or products for the “off-times”.
  6. Working on the Wrong Things. What are you good at? What do you like to do? Whenever possible, focus on your likes and delegate everything else. Doing too much of the things you don’t like is a sure-fire path to early burnout. You need to understand all the parts of your business, but you don’t have to be an expert at all of them (or be the one to do them) .
  7. Not Measuring Your Actions. How can you tell if you’re spending your time or money effectively? By constantly measuring your results to find out if you’ve been getting a good return on your investment (ROI).

Fixing what’s wrong

Once you’ve identified the underlying problem, how to do you solve it? The good news is, you’re not expected to know how to solve everything in your business. But you are expected to come up with a plan, implement it and measure its results (repeat as necessary).

You’re the expert in what you’re offering. So unless you want to be an expert in the “other stuff,” it’s best to get some help. If you’ve done your research (books, magazines, peers, experts) and you’re still stuck, it’s time to put on your creative thinking cap:

  • Detail The Problem. How long have you had it? What have you tried? What worked? What’s the benefit of solving the problem? What’s the underlying reason for solving the problem (money to payoff debt? Lifestyle change?) Do you really want to solve the problem (or is there an emotional block)?
  • Imagine Your Problem Solved. What would you have: more money, less effort, higher quality, better clients, more time for other things? Is this future truly compelling? If not, odds are you won’t successfully solve the problem .
  • Palpate. Gently explore the problem and see what’s true. Find your blind spots. Have someone interview you about the problem and start offering quick suggestions. How would someone in another field solve it? A child? What would you do to prevent the opposite of the problem from happening (for example: If I had too many clients, I would: be surly, wouldn’t answer the phone, do a bad job, etc.). Are your assumptions really true? Have you seen anyone else solve it? Who do you admire, and how would they solve it? Will the problem go away if left alone?
  • Evaluate. Generating solutions to problems is easy. Doing something about them is harder. Make sure to implement solutions that have measurable results. Learn from your mistakes.
  • Get Support. Making change requires new routines. It’s easy to slip into familiar patterns.

Be thankful that you “only have a money problem.”

Overhauling My Website (And Why You Should Care)

Engine OverhaulPerhaps you’ve already noticed – I overhauled my website. This is my third rewrite of my site.

Originally I wrote the website using a canned template and site builder software that my web host provided for free. While that worked, it wasn’t a reflection of my business.

I then rewrote the site using Dreamweaver. This software gave me lots of control over the result, but it was a hard learning process.

As I’ve explained to many of my clients who wanted website advice – in addition to budgeting time and money to create the site, you’ll need to also keep the site up-to-date, which is an ongoing expense (since you need to pay a web designer to update the site for you).

Normally, to create a web site, you hire a web designer. A web designer combines the skills of a graphic artist with those of a computer programmer. They write your website in a language like HTML, which describes what goes where on a page on your website. The HTML is stored on your host computer. To create your website, the designer uploads the design to your host. To modify your site, the designer changes the relevant files and re-uploads them.

Recently, there’s a better way to build website, using blog (more formally called CMS = Content Management System) technology. CMS is designed to make it easy to write articles. CMS separates the design of the site from the content. So, you can have someone create the design for you (or do it yourself), and then you can change the content when you want, without the need to hire anyone, or use any special software. Only basic computer expertise is needed.

Since I’ve been answering marketing questions for a while, I realized that I could share some of this information with others. So I created a blog, and tied it into my existing site. It worked fine, but it didn’t look like the rest of the site, so I decided to rewrite my website to use CMS. You’re now looking at the result.

The biggest upside to the new look is that the site is easily searchable (by category, date, keyword, or search phrase). It’s more modern looking, and it’s also easier to change how it looks. I can update the site from anywhere in the world and people can subscribe to the RSS feed.

Overhauling your existing site isn’t for everyone. But the next time you’re planning to have your web designer update your site, you might consider CMS.