MarketingMoment

1. Create a brand. Print up small but important things such as business cards with a professional logo to present a good image.
2. Ramp up online. Websites today are one of the most important tools when creating a business. Make sure you establish yourself on the internet so that customers have somewhere to learn about you.
3. Make your first sale. The first sale is always the hardest, but once you have the ball rolling, there will be no stopping you.
4. Customer testimonials. Start building the credibility of your business from day one. Get customers to write up a testimonial. And be sure to seek permission to use any unsolicited praise.
5. Build a campaign. Be creative. Quantify on any good opportunity that comes your way; anything from a special promotion to a big event can be used in the campaign to get your name out there.

Source: Start Your Business magazine, issue 14, p28

Possibly related posts: 

• Little-Used Customer Acquisition Tip
• 5 Tips For Better HomeWorking
• What’s In a Business Name?

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I can teach you all the marketing strategies in the world, but if you’re not making time for marketing, then you may as well close shop. Harsh words, perhaps, but most definitely sound advice in the business world of today.

More so than ever before, your main job in business is to tell the world what you have to offer. You simply HAVE to make time to market it . . . again and again . . . despite what is going on around you. Unless you want to end up ‘broke’, that is.  

By doing some marketing every day — no matter how seemingly negligible   — I am able to keep in front of my current and potential clients. If you think you don’t need to do any marketing (what? In this economy?!), or you can’t find the time for it, then think again.

Marketing is something that ALL businesses — no matter how big or small — absolutely MUST invest in. Without a doubt. Especially in today’s overcrowded trading environment. 

And particularly if you need WANT to ride the wave of the current economic wave, and come out plain sailing at the other end… 

Rather stick a pencil in your eye than tackle that HUGE marketing task? 

Split it into smaller, more achievable chunks.

For example, rather than thinking of having to build an entire website, complete with 30 pages or more, start by working out exactly *what* you want visitors to do once they land on your website. Or spend a few hours searching for websites that you like the look and feel of for ideas and inspiration. 

  

To read more tips to help you get your marketing machine revved up and raring to go, and gain *hidden links* to recent CfS newsletter editions, become a CfS subscriber. As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD that can dramatically improve sales simply for signing up and trying it out.   

Subscribe here.  

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

• 5 Ways to Get ANY Business Out of a Slump
• How to Get People to Buy From You
• Create a Buzz for Your Business With Twitter
• Can the X Factor Help Your Business?
• Be a Client Magnet
• Recession-Proof Your Business
• Stand Apart from ‘Me-Too’ Competitors
• Stop! Don’t Post that Letter!
• Common Mistakes that Can Kill Business

 Subscribe here.

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1. Work out how often per week, month or year you are going to send out your newsletter, and then stick to this schedule. Consistency and regularity are key.
2. Provide quality content that is relevant to your target audience and is worth reading.
3. Hold competitions. People love the opportunity to win prizes, and a good competition can make your ezine ‘viral’.
4. Don’t overpopulate your email newsletter with ads.
5. Be patient. It takes time for newsletter marketing to work.

First published in Communiqué for Success newsletter: 

http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/marketing_cfs_newsletters.htm 

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Do you have an in-house newsletter/ezine that goes out to your marketing or writing staff?

Perhaps you belong to a professional organisation that is actively looking for fresh newsletter articles. Ones that are relevant and useful for your members…

Then again you might publish a great blog and need more quality content…

I have written many articles and ‘filler pieces’ on a variety of business, marketing and writing-related topics – and they are now available at no charge for inclusion in your newsletter, ezine, website’s article archive, or blog.

You can access some of these articles (be sure to read the usage rules) at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=T_Dooley

Otherwise, feel free to browse through the rest of this blog, or sign up to my newsletter here. 

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Last year I changed my email list-management provider. I was a little hesitant at first, but after receiving more and more recommendations myself about Aweber, I decided to give it a go. And I could not be more delighted.

Sure, there were some teething problems. But they were mostly down to me (too keen in a ‘let’s run before we can walk’ kind of way). Besides, the online help and live support have been invaluable.Aweber goes a long way to establish trust, too. I receive regular “Everything OK?” type email messages, and I know should anything go wrong, there is always a friendly customer-service operator ready and willing to help me out.

So more than a year on, am I still happy? You bet. I’m staying with Aweber … for now, at least.  ;-)

Besides, I was asked by one of my subscribers whether I myself would recommend Aweber. And the answer (so far!) has to be a resounding yes.

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Tags: headlines, Recommended resources, resources, Aweber, ezine management, newsletter management, autoresponders, auto-responder, auto responder, ezines, newsletters

Laughter is the best medicine, or so they say, and, in light of this being a bleary-eyed Monday I thought I’d share some of my favourite headline howlers (taken from actual newspapers):

1. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
2. Miners Refuse to Work After Death
3. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
4. Safety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should Be Belted
5. Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
6. Survivor of Siamese Twins Joins Parents 
7. Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge

Do you know any other howlers? Or perhaps, on the flip side, you’ve been suitably impressed by a newspaper’s headline… Please share using the comments link below. I hope to compile the best (and worst!) ones for a future post. 

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Tags: headlines, English grammar gaffes, headline howlers, funny headlines   

Yesterday, I came across an advert for a copywriting job. Part of it read: “We won’t pay you much to start with but the prospects for successful writers are very good.” 

Tell you what, I’ll tell the restaurant owner: “I’ll pay fifty pence for my three-course meal, but if I like it I’ll pay a bit more next time. Okay?”

(Excuse me while I duck the flying plate of pasta!)

Just as cooking isn’t a hobby for restaurant owners, writing is NOT a hobby for freelance copywriters. Rather, it is part of a viable business, so please give them the respect (& fees) they deserve.

Paying a professional anything less will only serve to haunt you. As famous ad man David Ogilvy once said: “Pay peanuts, and you get monkeys.”

And he show know: Not only did he own and run one of the most successful advertising agencies of all time, he also generated millions of pounds in profits for his clients.

OK, so what specifically does the monkey reference have to do with business?

Well, there is a current trend to outsource skills, including copywriting and editing, to the cheapest service provider.

Nothing wrong with that, you may be thinking. After all, we operate within a global marketplace, don’t we? And the struggling economy at large is putting a lot of pressure on companies to cut the cost of business, right?

Sure, but going after price rather than value can have dire consequences.

I should know. It happened to me…

I’d hired a so-called ‘professional’ writer with a seemingly good portfolio via one of those service providers like Elance to write a 30-page report for me.

On top of her taking almost three times the agreed time to do this, the quality was poor. She was so off brief it was scary. There were typos everywhere, and some of the language used was very suspect indeed.

Worse, having already collected the bulk of the payment due as a deposit, she disappeared. No contact. No one to put things right. No brief fulfilled.

Later, I found out she had passed off other peoples’ samples in her portfolio as her own.

I ended up out of pocket for that project. And you can imagine the frustration and disruption caused to my business. Which is what happens to a lot of business owners who think they can save money by going after cheap.

So, please, listen to experience. Honour the core values of your own business as well as that of the service provider you’re hiring … otherwise, you’ll be left with monkeys if you pay peanuts.

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Tags: Elance, Guru, outsource, outsourcing, sub-contracting, service providers 

The trick to writing flyers that sell is to keep it simple. But not too simple. Many people think (wrongly) that they can get away with printing up just a workshop title, venue, date and maybe the main tutor, say. I’m sorry to say that, unless you are the workshop equivalent to Pink Floyd or Prince, the orders ain’t gonna come flooding in. 

What you need to do is engage in a dialogue with your readers, understand where they’re coming from and what their needs are, explain why you’re writing to them, recommend a solution… And all in under 150 words or less.  

So be sure to choose every word carefully.  Adapted from “How to Create Flyers that Stop Prospects in their Tracks“, first published in the 30th of April edition of MediaMinister’s newsletter, CfS. 

To read the full article and gain *hidden links* to recent CfS newsletter editions, you’ll have to become a subscriber. (That’s a good thing, by the way, or so CfS readers tell me!) As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD that can dramatically improve sales simply for signing up and trying it out.  

Subscribe here. 

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

• 5 Ways to Get ANY Business Out of a Slump
• How to Get People to Buy From You
• Create a Buzz for Your Business With Twitter
• Can the X Factor Help Your Business?
• Be a Client Magnet
• Recession-Proof Your Business
• Stand Apart from ‘Me-Too’ Competitors
• Stop! Don’t Post that Letter!
• Common Mistakes that Can Kill Business
• The Most Important Action You Can Take For Your Business This Year 

Subscribe here.   

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In keeping with the current global economic meltdown, I have decided NOT to raise my copywriting, marketing, PR and editing/proofreading fees.

Instead, MediaMinister.co.uk will deliver the same valued-added service at 2008 prices to help clients continue to generate within budget the desired response from professionally crafted communications.   

So whether it’s business writing, staff communications, tenders and proposals, marketing material or publicity you’re after, you can now make your budget go further without diluting your results.

For the time being, all prices for my revenue-boosting tools and laser-focused “do-it-yourself” kits will be frozen, too. 

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A client asked me to put something together for a novel and fun way to sort out … well, everything, really — life, work, man trouble, money worries, confidence crises … pretty much most things can be dealt with. And the best part, it’s totally painless. Here is the press release I wrote, which is being picked up by the media as I type:

***[Possible Feature/Human Interest Story and/or Reader Giveaway]***

How a Shambolic Bag of Junk Can Provide the Catalyst to Lasting Change

You might think that your new Prada is THE stylish accessory of the moment, but to Debbie Percy — the UK’s ONLY official handbag therapist — it says a lot more about you than you think. And its contents can give clues as to how to change your life for the better…

“A reference to the past, a comment on the present and a glimpse into the future!” says Chris Evans. 

[322 words] 

For more quotes and information, or to arrange an interview or shoot with Debbie Percy, call 01189 076186/0771 325 2104 or email debbie [at] handbagtherapy.com   

About Debbie Percy
Debbie Percy has pursued a corporate career in human resources for 21 years working with global businesses across different sectors, in the UK and abroad. From 1997 to 2002 she lived in the USA where she developed her skills as a top-level coach, and many of her interests including Metaphysics and Neuro Linguistic Programming. 

Debbie now runs Handbag Therapy and her own coaching company called Acamar Coaching Limited, and she specializes in working with people who are serious about changing their life or simply getting more out of it. During the last six years, she has developed a unique method for introducing clients to personal change and life coaching.  

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