Websites and Marketing: For or Against You

Websites can work against you in marketing if the message isn't clear and the path for visitors to navigate isn't clear, either.

Try this exercise for yourself to find websites you like and that appear to market a message or product effectively. Look up 3 - 5 sites you like. Look at them for color scheme, the way they're laid out, how the home page is segmented and the message it contains. How many columns is it broken in to? How much or how little copy does the home page have? How large or small is the company it represents - or can you tell?

By the way, I wrote this article on websites you might be interested in reading:

Traits of successful websites

Do the websites you're studying have a clear "call to action" for the visitor? Are there helpful links from one section to another? Are there elements on the site other than text and images? Is video displayed at all?

Hopefully, these questions will guide you in developing a web site for an effective marketing presence.

Learn Free Marketing Tips from Denmark to So California

First, make friends with people who give rankings in magazines and papers. Copenhagen was recently ranked the world’s most livable city. Well, I’ve not been there but I won’t argue. I’m sure it’s nice. But being originally from Western Pennsylvania, I’m sure the Steelers could pound any team from Denmark.
Check this out: Marketing Copy and Techniques. Certainly, if Copenhagen benefits from the publicity then the local businesses will benefit as well.

Next, sponsor a cause. The City of South Pasadena and the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce recently held a Clean Air Car Show on July 20. There were a number of exhibits including experimental vehicles from Cal State LA and the Chevy Tahoe hybrid.

I also saw Dr. Marina Banik of Banik Chiropractic who was one of the few local businesses at the event. She found a way to get involved with a cause and educated
people about chiropractics and its role in a healthy lifestyle.

Finally, the best form of marketing is learning what people need and then finding a way to meet that need. I commend the Idyllwild, California, Chamber of Commerce for finding a creative way to save residents money and boost membership in the chamber.

Families in the mountain community near Palm Springs use propane. The local chamber worked with Ferrell Gas to provide a discount for any resident who signed up as a member of the chamber. They’re also working on a group health insurance plan, too.

The Idyllwild Chamber is increasing its membership, saving residents money, and bringing the community together. That’s all around win and smart marketing tips any group, like a homeowner’s association, can replicate.

For your reference:
South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Marina Banik, Chiropractor
Idyllwild, California Chamber of Commerce

Personal Branding: Your Key to Greater Sales

Personal branding.

What is it?

For 2 years, I marketed and sold for the Home Depot and the more experienced salespeople told me repeatedly, the name Home Depot gets you to the house for the sales appointment. But the customer buys you -- the salesperson.

Although I was involved in marketing for for-profits and non-profits this was really the first time I thought how personal branding can be more important than corporate branding.

The customer buys you . . . or, if you're in a business networking group, the other business owners refer business to you.

The way you conduct yourself means you are your own best brand or the reason your brand won't succeed.

This article on Hubpages How to become an expert in personal branding online ? made me think about personal branding in new ways and I encourage you to read it.

A few tips to build your personal brand:

• Return phone calls promptly


• Be on time


• Invoice your customers promptly (reduces confusion and boosts your cash flow)


• If you can't deliver a service or product, be honest up front.
  

Secret Marketing Tip for Real Estate Agents

What's the most important marketing tool a real estate agent must have?

A real estate agent can have the latest marketing collateral and promotional items: 4-color postcards, calendars, pens and mugs. But a successful real estate agent must possess something far deeper for their own personal marketing success.

What is it?

What situation does an agent rely on for success?

Talking to a prospective buyer or seller. Or, I should say "listening" and getting the other person to do the talking.

Interpersonal communication – or highly personal marketing – has no equal.

Richard Streitz of Baldwin Hills Realty told me why real estate agents must possess the ability to connect well with others. After all, most agents do essentially the same tasks.

“Many home sellers lack respect for real estate agents,” Streitz told me. “Agents have to be able to communicate to people of all backgrounds. Each new client will test the agent’s credibility. And that is on the line when the real estate agent is sitting down a seller or a buyer.”

Something as simple as asking assessment questions during an open house can help an agent develop those interpersonal skills and respect. Most people walking in to an open house may not be serious buyers. After time, it’s understandable a real estate agent could get tired of the same situation.

However, a few questions like “what brings you to the neighborhood?” and “what made you decide to stop in?” or “are you looking for yourself or someone else?” can open many doors and get the prospective client to begin talking.

When the prospect is talking then the agent’s in a position to gain information which can help build trust and credibility – and even gave gain new leads.

Streitz said it’s important for agents:

• To know how to present themselves


• How to engage others in conversation


• Build trust and credibility

Streitz said it doesn’t matter what brand name is on the realty office. The client is “buying” or respecting the individual sitting in front of them.

Build Your Marketing Campaign

Build Your Marketing Campaign

. . . but how?

Marketing is about getting ideas, creating media, promoting . . . and it gets confusing to build your marketing campaign if you haven't organized your marketing steps.

Here's a list to help you build your marketing campaign so it's structured. This can even serve as a simple but effective marketing plan.

I came up with this after speaking with a client who didn't want to spend time planning. Instead, he wanted to create a video on YouTube and then a web site and then . . . he asked how do we promote it? I said, let's look at this list.

MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT

Here are ways you can create what you want to say as you build your marketing campaign:

• Highlight What You Do Best


• Innovation - have you developed a best practice?


• Milestones of Your Company


• Your Role in Your Industry


• Benefits to Your Customers

MEDIA

Now you can see the media where you want to apply your message.

• Website


• Video/DVD


• Posters


• Brochures


• Promotional Items

PROMOTION ONLINE / OFFLINE

• Search Engine Optimization


• Article Postings


• Forums, Social Networking


• Direct Mail


• Community Events


• Advertising - print

TRANSACTION COMPLETE

Sale made or donation made.

By the way, coming mid-July will be postings on reaching Spanish customers. You can use this same approach to build your marketing campaign for any ethnic group.
And if you're interested in a resource to turn leads from your marketing campaign in to sales, then check here.

Remember, an effective marketing campaign is about integrating and helping lead your prospects or target audience to a central point.

Contacting Prospects Regularly

Creating marketing collateral is important.

Getting leads is important.

But you must be contacting prospects regularly to generate new sales.

Why?

I always recommend people look at their own habits. You often don't buy or get in to a business relationship immediately when you meet someone. It takes time.

Let's say you've bought an item for your home like a refrigerator or you've bought a new car. You go to the store looking for an appliance or to the car lot. And you purchase then and there.

But you've already been thinking about the purchase for some time. It was already in your mind.

Contacting prospects regularly and following up leads to make new sales requires a deliberate, organized approach.

I don't know if the tool you use for follow-up is as important as having a tool to start.

I like using Excel spread sheets to list my contacts and prospects.

Try to choose one time per week to make follow-up calls or send follow-up emails or even nice cards sent in regular mail.

Why is it so important to follow up leads and prospects more than 2 or possibly 3 times?

Does it surprise you that 81% of all sales happen on or after the fifth contact, according to a study done by the Association of Sales Executives.

So hang in and persevere as you make following up an important part of your marketing plan.

FINALLY. A MARKETING APPROACH THAT REALLY WORKS!

You want marketing to lead to more sales, right?

Sales is the lifeblood of a company and marketing must ultimately lead to more sales. But so often, it's hard to measure. Marketing can get lost in theory or the production of materials. Too often, sales become forgotten since sales and marketing are two different skill sets.

Growing your business and sales doesn't have to be difficult or expensive--if, you have the right marketing approach.

With The Give to Get Marketing Solution you'll learn to attract customers like a magnet with a proven- effective system that really works.

This is a product that will give your sales an instant boost. For more information, visit: Give to Get Marketing

Market Yourself Locally

Marketing yourself locally may be the wisest move you can make.

When you market yourself locally and professionally you can build a reputation among a core group of satisfied customers.

This article goes into more detail about marketing in a specific zip code or demographic area.

When you have a core group of satisfied customers, then local marketing can expand or it can bring you even more customers in a particular locale.

What is local marketing?

It depends on the size of your business, what you provide whether products or services, and how you're able to distribute the information.

True, the Internet changes what "local" might mean. Local marketing could be a Yahoo! group that you moderate or post to regularly. It could be "x" number of customers knowing about both your brick and mortar store and your Internet site.

Marketing yourself locally may mean belonging to a few different chambers of commerce spread across a county.

Regardless of how you define local, the goal is building a core group of customers or clients. When they're satisfied, then they begin referring business to you regularly.

In my case, as a marketing consultant and writer, I provide marketing plans and services to small and medium sized businesses. There are more than 100,000 such companies in Los Angeles County. But I don't have the resources to try and cover the entire county so I concentrate in a geographically local area.

As far as an online strategy, I try to stay with a niche topic and keep building my expertise.

Yes, I'll accept business from different places especially through referrals. A friend of mine the Dallas area builds web sites and he might need me to write content or develop marketing support for his web clients. So much can be done with the phone, email and web sites.

Nevertheless, because of our mobile society, staying local and doing well can generate referrals across the board.

Stay focused, provide a needed service, grow and market locally and further expansion will take place.

Creating a Marketing Budget

How much money should you spend on marketing your services or your products?

Here is a way to look at the issue.

How large is your current customer base and how much do they typically pay for your service or your product?

Do your customers generate enough referrals to keep you busy?

The larger your customer base, and the more active they are in generating referrals for either products or services, then the less money you need to spend on marketing -- to bring people in the door.

You can also read this article on 3 different types of hair salons and how much they need to spend on marketing.

I have a friend who's a CPA and he does the books for non-profit organizations. He really doesn't have to spend money on marketing at this point since he has a stable client base and he gets referrals from them.

However, if he wants to grow his business, say hire an office assistant, and go for higher paying non-profits as clients or market his expertise in a different way, then he'll have to spend money on marketing even if it's putting together a simple brochure and perhaps a simple web site.

The money you spend on marketing doesn't have to be much, but it should reflect the overall company goals and objectives.

Ask yourself:

1. Do you provide a premium customer experience or premium product?

2. Do you have more middle of the road services or products?

3. Do you have more of a mass market commodity item?

The more premium of an experience you provide, your marketing dollars may be less since you need fewer people. You just need to target the money to the right people and audience.

Or, you could spend proportinately more marketing dollars to reach fewer people if the clientele is high end. However, if they're satisfied with your product or service then they should generate word-of-mouth leads.