|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |
|
marketing materials Tagged Articles
|
Home Based Business Owners Don’t Need to Advertise Their Home Address
| |
| Intrepid entrepreneur, Staging Diva, advises home-based business owners to use a contact details other than their home address on marketing materials to protect their safety and to appear more professional. |
|
|
20 questions to ask about your website
| |
| One of the hardest things to do is to analyse your own marketing materials. This rule seems to go double for a business' website. The business owner rarely sees them for what they are. At least they don't see them from a visitor's point of view. The following are some of the criteria a professional designer uses when evaluating a website. Use the same rules when you look at your own site.
|
|
|
Matchmaking 101: Creating Sales Tools That Build Your Brand
| |
| If you’re like other entrepreneurs, you know a good logo is important to branding your company. You may already have a great logo. Now what? How can you create a variety of marketing materials that build your brand?
In a word: Coordinate. All your materials should tie to one another graphically. They should convey the same look and feel, or image, and evoke a similar emotional response in your customer. When viewed side by side, your stationery, brochures, and other promotional materials should create a cohesive “family.”
Of course, your materials don’t need to “match” each other completely, but some elements should remain consistent from one piece to the next:
|
|
|
Top 10 Guerrilla Marketing Myths
| |
| The path to entrepreneurial success is mined with booby traps disguised as words of wisdom. Guerrillas can distinguish the facts from the fables. |
|
|
How Guerrillas Economize
| |
| When guerrilla marketers think of economizing, they don’t necessarily think of trying to save money. What they do think of is getting the absolute most from any money they’ve invested in marketing. They realize there are two kinds of marketing -- expensive and inexpensive -- and they know that expensive marketing is the kind that doesn’t cover the investment they’ve made in it, while inexpensive marketing pays rich rewards for their investment. Guerrillas have the insight to know that economizing has nothing to do with cost; it has everything to do with results. |
|
|
The Essence of Duct Tape Marketing
| |
| Duct tape (the tape) is simple, effective, and affordable—it’s not always the prettiest solution, but it does always work. The central theme of Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide by John Jantsch is that effective small business marketing is a system—not an event—composed of simple, effective, and affordable techniques. |
|
|
Create Your Own Referral Sales Force
| |
| Joining referral networks like BNI or local chamber groups can be a great way to help you network and generate referrals. The most powerful way to use this strategy, however, is to grow your own. |
|
|
The Magic and Tragic Words of Marketing
| |
| Magic words propel great ideas towards profitability. Tragic words doom great ideas to failure. Guerrillas know the difference. |
|
|
What Have the Senses Got To Do With Marketing?
| |
| Emotional connection to something is translated by the senses. With marketing one of the goals for many companies is to create and deepen the emotional connection clients and prospects develop with a product, company or service. This is what creates unshakable loyalty, unsolicited referrals, and viral word or mouth. |
|
|
Guerrilla Credibility
| |
| Every guerrilla knows that the number one factor influencing purchase decisions is confidence. The road to confidence is paved with credibility. |
|
|
Two Questions That Matter Most
| |
| When you consider writing marketing copy, throw out all your notions about features and benefits, riveting, detailed descriptions and techno jargon and focus on answering the only two questions that really matter - and do it before you pass go. |
|
|
Guerrilla Headlines
| |
| Headlines are used in ads, commercials, telemarketing calls, direct mail letters, websites, sales presentations and more. Can you write great ones?
|
|
|
Why would someone come to work for you?
| |
| Most small business marketers think in terms of marketing as a way to get a keep customers. While that is indeed correct, effective marketing is also a great way to attract and keep great talent to your business. No matter how hot your products and services are your growth will be tied very directly to the your ability to get people who are passionate about your company and its story working side by side with you. |
|
|
Are You Waffling?
| |
| Politicians are often accused of waffling between stances on issues in an attempt to broaden or redirect their appeal.
Well, I’ve run across a small business or two plenty guilty of the same. |
|
|
Sure Fire Tips To Make Extra Money At Home & Working Less
| |
| With the current economy crisis, everyone is looking for additional ways to supplement their income. Thanks to opportunity on the Internet, many are finding ways to make extra money at home and stay afloat- not only afloat, some have gone from collecting extra grocery money to making a full time career out of it.
Educating yourself about the different ways on how to make money online will take a great deal of research. Legitimate home based businesses online require you to learn the process of referring products and services, creating your marketing materials, and promoting your business online. This, once you learn the ins and outs, can be quite lucrative. |
|
|
Capturing the Essence of Attraction Marketing
| |
| Attraction marketing is a tool that business leaders have used for many years and is now becoming more relevant in society today. It turns traditional sales principles on their head. People today are tired of being sold to wherever they turn either on the High Street or online. They are now preconditioned to say no to the sales pitch or marketing materials. This article covers how using attraction marketing can be more effective than traditional sales and marketing methods if used correctly. |
|
|
Business Opportunity Seekers Discover The Power Of Affiliate Marketing Online
| |
| Business opportunity seekers discover the power of online affiliate marketing. Entrepreneurs recognized the potential of the Internet long before the corporate world took note. Many companies have since acknowledged the unlimited marketing potential. Most products and services are easily transitioned into online marketing models. Affiliate programs have evolved over the past few years and many companies have adapted their advertising, sales and marketing programs for the Internet. Affiliating with a company gives you instant products, marketing materials, training and a support network. The company gets an instant marketer that they only have to pay when product is actually moved. Moving from the real world to the virtual world has created unprecedented opportunity for the average person to develop an online business opportunity. |
|
|
What's Your Brand Image ROI?
| |
| If you’re like millions of other small businesses, creating a professional visual image is key to your success. After all, your image - as seen on your business cards, marketing materials, packaging and website - is the first and sometimes only chance you have to introduce your company to potential customers. If your customers like what they see, you’re one big step closer to getting their business. |
|
|
Your Writing Speaks- How to Make a Good First Impression
| |
| Have you ever received a resume with a typo or seen an ad with a misspelled word? What sort of impression did those errors make? The first impression prospects and clients have of your business is the most critical. If that impression is a poor one, it could be the end of a potential lucrative business relationship. You don’t have to be a language expert to improve your prose. This article will give you some quick and easy tips to get you started writing with ease. |
|
|
The Secret to Sales Success and 5 Key Reasons Why This IS So Important
| |
| Are you wondering why your promotional and marketing materials don’t pack the punch you had hoped they would? Keep reading to learn the secret to sales success. |
|
|
Shortcuts to Copywriting Success! How to Find Inspiration in the Work of Others
| |
| Tips for ethically finding creative ideas in other people’s work. |
|
|
How to Formulate Your Copy to Increase Sales
| |
| Once you’ve determined that you’re ready to create a promotional or marketing piece and you’ve considered who you want to speak to and how you want to present your information, you’ve examined features and benefits, plus brainstormed headlines, you’ll want to take the process a step a further. Creating the content for your marketing materials is a craft. It takes thoughtful perspective and planning. |
|
|
Branding and Business Identity - Image is Everything!
| |
| How the public perceives your brand and the experience they have with you all comes down to what your image is comprised of. |
|
|
Are You Selling What Your Customers Want to Buy?
| |
| How to make sure your customers know you have what they need. |
|
|
Are You Connecting With Your Customers With Consistent Communication They Can Relate To?
| |
| Because copy is one of the key elements of your marketing materials, it’s important to keep up with what’s working and what’s not. |
|
|
Cost of starting a traditional business versus online business
| |
| Cost of starting a traditional business or franchise versus online business.
Look at the different expenses that can occur with these businesses. Products that you are selling or promotion and the return on them. |
|
|
Success at the Speed of Light
| |
| Internet Marketing Coach Frank McGuinness offers insight into how to leverage the success of others to get a quick start in Network Marketing or Direct Sales business. |
|
|
How to Gain Online Recognition by Writing about Your Customers
| |
| You can gain tons of business recognition along with web traffic if you get in the habit of collecting Case Studies, Testimonials and Press Releases from some of your happier clients. In order to have fresh and news-worthy material, you'll need to collect pertinent information from your clients (stories, testimonials, impressions, stories, etc,). Use your creativity and talent to transform them into tangible and interesting marketing materials.
|
|
|
10 Ways to Increase Sales
| |
| In today's tough economic climate with customers spending less money, now is the time to develop strategies to increase your sales. This can be done in a number of ways, dependent on your own business structure, staff, customers and goods or services sold. |
|
|
How to effectively use the “F” word and double your business!
| |
| No matter what you sell, YOU are the product, so give them the experience of their lives by making the “F” words top priority on your list. It will make it easier on yourself to identify their needs, create products and services to fulfill those needs to solve their problems, and you will “feel” on top of the world. Watch your Bank accounts grow when you effectively use those two little “F” words” “Feel” and “Feeling” –
|
|
|
4 Low Cost Ways To Earn Money Online
| |
| Many people searching for ways to make money online do not have money to spend to get started. This is all right because there are several ways you can earn money online without investing too much up front. |
|
|
Is Trust Broken?
| |
| Our trust factor seems to be decreasing every day. |
|
|
Make Writing a Priority, Not a Pain
| |
| Whether you're working on a book or an article marketing campaign, writing is like exercise. And if you want it to really work for your business, then you need to make writing a priority, just like going to the gym or your yoga class. |
|
|
Top 7 Attention-Grabbing Words to Help You Attract Clients
| |
| The right words can stir up excitement in potential clients, causing them to take action they might not otherwise take. Learn the top 7 attention-grabbing words and phrases to include in your web copy and start getting responses from your prospects! |
|
|
Branding Your Nonprofit's Mission - Six Items To Consider Before You Start
| |
| Nonprofit organizations have a myriad of issues they need to deal with on a daily basis, leaving them with little time to focus on branding their mission and organization. However, it is important that they allocate some time and money to branding, as good branding will establish a solid identify, making it easier for clients and stakeholders to recognize and grasp the organization's mission. In addition, recognition helps organizations to solicit clients, raise funds, and improve collaborative relationships. This article provides six items to consider in branding your organization. |
|
|
Home Staging Attracts Top Notch Tenant in Deflated Rental Market
| |
| The Staging Diva®, shares a home staging success story from Isabelle Gelderblom, a graduate of her training program. |
|
|
How to Tell if Home Staging Will Work in Your Small Town – Part 1
| |
| Expert home stager, Staging Diva offers advice to aspiring home stagers concerned with whether or not their small rural town will support such an endeavor. |
|
|
Professional Firms feeling the sales pinch
| |
| Professional Services Firms are struggling when it comes to keeping and finding business. This on top of the fact that many have to come to grips with the fact they need to sell. The market has definitely changed. You cannot sit there aggressively waiting for the phone to ring anymore.
In speaking with one partner from a well respected law firm, he vented his frustration at the lack of action being taken in his firm by partners and their teams in terms of driving the push to find new business in current and new accounts. He stated that some teams were just sitting around with no work to do and no one knows what to do about it. |
|
|
How to Attract Customers With Your Presentation
| |
| In challenging economic times, buyers look for value. The more you provide, the more likely you are to become the provider of choice. Presentations offer excellent opportunities to provide that value at different stages of the business development cycle. |
|
|
Questions That Sell
| |
| We are working on a new campaign for a client and spent a few hours today looking at competitive web sites, ads and brochures.
After about three hours we looked at each other and said, “Can you remember anything any of these companies said that stands out?” Ken said, “I bet if I took all these brochures, and removed the company name and logo, even our client couldn’t tell them apart!”
Every single firm started their pitch with a description of their products and services, and lots of detail on how great they are. Then they added thrilling descriptions of their plants (usually with a picture of the parking lot) and a price list.
|
|
|
Checklist to Capture Media Attention
| |
| Find out what's behind a well written media release and how it can affect your business. |
|
|
How to Create High-Value Presentations That Attract New Business Effortlessly and Authentically
| |
| Buyers look for value...When you add value to your presentations, you pull business in...The more you provide, the more likely you are to become the provider of choice.
|
|
|
Smart Women and Cravings
| |
| This article is about offering some suggestions on how women entrepreneurs can make their business more desirable to their ideal clients. Make sure that you create marketing, offers and image that will get people “craving” your product or service. |
|
|
Two Totally Different Services From One Company? – Here’s How To Market Them Effectively
| |
| You’ve got a business that offers two totally different services that are somehow related to each other. As an example we have chosen Kung Fu and Stress Reduction which are a likely set of disparate services.
You have two particular problems here. One is branding your business with two disparate services on offer. The second is marketing your business, your marketing materials and where to find likely clients. |
|
|
Winning in Prospecting to Increase Sales
| |
| Prospecting in business is a word that elicits feelings of joy to dread. After all, many small business owners to sales professionals content that prospecting is hard work. For some, they strike more veins of Fool's Gold are hit than the real gold. So if the rewards from your prospecting efforts are not where they want to be, what are you doing to change the results?
|
|
|
10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Impression with Your Small Business Marketing
| |
| These days, the Internet has created tons more competition in any field than there was just 5 years ago. So you’ve got to have your marketing ducks in a row before you try to sell a thing. Otherwise someone out there is sure to be making a better impression than you. Thankfully, creating a top-notch impression with your marketing doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
|
|
|
Get More Clients by Making Your Marketing Materials the Life of the Party
| |
| When you sit down to write your marketing materials, you’re really getting ready to have a one-on-one conversation with the person who’s going to read them. It’s up to you to decide what kind of conversation that’s going to be. If you make it sound like your typical, formal, boring, all-about-me marketing, people aren’t going to stick around to read the whole thing…
|
|
|
How to Write Articles at Light Speed and Use Them to Market Your Small Business
| |
| The easiest articles to write are tips and how-to articles. Everyone loves to read them ‘cuz they are quick and easy. And you’ll love writing them for the same reason.
|
|
|
Six Easy Steps to Creating a Killer Ad Campaign.
| |
| If your small business needs to get to get the word out, but is short on marketing money, this article will help you optimize your advertising dollars by creating ad campaigns that get noticed, remembered, and acted upon. |
|
|
Franchisees are Independent
| |
| It is important that those visiting or doing business with your franchisees know that the business is independently owned and operated. |
|
|
The Cost of a Franchise Offering
| |
| There are initial and ongoing costs to a franchise program. This article summarizes each and gives an idea of what the franchisor can expect. |
|
|
7 Deadly Sins—Don't Kill Your Business with These Marketing Material Mistakes
| |
| When it comes to marketing your business it is important to make a good first, second, and lasting impression. Learn about 7 deadly sins that you need to avoid like the plague when creating your marketing materials. |
|
|
Pros and Cons of Buyig a Franchise
| |
| This article is designed to give you a deeper understanding of the relative gives and takes of buying a franchise and will help you look at franchising within a balanced framework. |
|
|
Evaluating Franchise Marketing Programs
| |
| An important part of any franchise system is the marketing program. Is the franchisor able to help you predictably create demand with a proven marketing approach. This article will help you determine if the franchisor is providing real value in regard to marketing programs. |
|
|
Anti-Attraction
| |
| They say marketing has a bad name. But I maintain that NOT marketing has a much worse name. If you're an entrepreneur or small business owner interested in attracting new clients, are you still committing any of the 10 deadly sins listed below? |
|
|
Seven easy ways to promote a new product or service
| |
| Inexpensive ways for companies to promote their products and services. |
|
|
How small businesses owners can make this their best year ever
| |
| Here are my top tips to help small businesses owners make this year their best year ever... |
|
|
Why Competitive Research is the Backbone of Any Successful Marketing Campaign
| |
| Businesses, particularly small ones, tend to get caught up in all of their own day-to-day affairs and operations. In the case of marketing, a business owner may be struggling to put together that winning campaign – trying to focus on being clever and memorable. But only looking at your own business is half the marketing battle. You need to be taking clear notes on your competition. That doesn't mean plagiarizing their campaigns, of course. It means taking the time to do some competitive research. Why? Because competitive research shows you how to position your company in the minds of your market. |
|
|
A FEW SELLING DOS AND DON'TS
| |
| DO match and mirror the speed, tone and volume of the other person's voice.
DON'T speak in a monotone.
DO call for a specific reason such as to provide some information of value.
DON'T call just to check in.
DO go the prospect's web site first to see if they fit your ideal prospect profile.
DON'T randomly send out expensive (your time, material costs and postage) literature.
DO tell the truth even if you do not have the answer to a question at that moment.
DON'T try to fake like you know the answer to a question you don't.
|
|
|
Do You Know Who Your Target Audience Is?
| |
| It is surprising how many businesses are just advertising to all and sundry. They don't even realize how many resources they are wasting by adopting this approach. When the concept of Target Audience is mentioned to them they reply "everyone is my target audience - right" - Wrong. Marketing is more effective when you put the message exactly in front of the people who are ready, willing and able to buy your product/service at that moment. |
|
|
The Importance of Branding Your Product in a Depressed Economy
| |
| The adage “what’s in a name” has often been debated. When it comes to products, a good, catchy name that sums up what your product is and what it offers is critical. Afterall, the name will be the first things consumers see on a shelf, a web-site or marketing materials. A well thought out name may even make it easier for search engines to find your product and bring it up in the first few pages of google or yahoo. |
|
|
Consistency
| |
| Be consistent in your messages. |
|
|
3 Online Business Ideas to Get Started Quick and Easy
| |
| Some people just want to start a online business and make money as easy as possible. If this sounds like you then read this article because I will give you a few quick and easy ways for starting an online business. |
|
|
Marketing With Love?
| |
| Recently I was reading The Five Love Languages book and realized that the principles that apply to communicating love between people also apply to conveying the emotion of love in your marketing. |
|
|
Too much work and not enough workers Here are seven alternatives to hiring
| |
| If you're at the point in your small business where you have too much work, but you just aren't sure you have the business to merit it just yet, here are seven ways to get the ob done without making a giant commitment. |
|
|
How to Find Your Own Unique Selling Proposition
| |
| One of the biggest mistakes a small business can make – especially a young small business – is trying to be all things to all people. This article will show you what it takes to create your own unique selling proposition (USP) in order to become successful.
|
|
|
The Franchise Ambush, Part II - How to Help Your Friends & Family Help You.
| |
| This article dicusses the type of advice potential business owners normally receive from friends and family and provides a more balanced outlook on how to discover the best business opportunity for you. |
|
|
It's Official - Your Sales Pity Party Is Now Over
| |
| Your Pity Party Is Now Officially Over
The business environment is always in a state of flux. So it is up to you to
decide the pro-active directions, activities and attitudes that are best for your business.
And being flustered stops you from being focused on what is really important.
This is the year for you to get your act together and create strong relationships
with your customers and potential customers. It's the year for invention, re-invention, moving forward, carving away what doesn't fit and adding what does. |
|
|
How White Papers Free Reports can Turbocharge your Marketing Efforts
| |
| If you are like most business owners, you are often afraid of giving away too much information. But in fact, you needn’t be afraid. The more valuable the information you give away, the more your prospects and customers will see you as an expert and trusted advisor. |
|
|
How to Create Magnificent Marketing Materials
| |
| Stand out. Get noticed. Be remembered. How do you do this? By creating marketing materials that really engage with your target audience and show them how you are different. |
|
|
Designing Your New Business – Setting Up A Design Business
| |
| Many small businesses are crying out for good design at a low cost and if you are just starting out as a designer – this is great news for you. This helps them but it also helps you because you not only get experience but you also manage to build up a portfolio, some good references and still get paid! |
|
|
Entrepreneurs – Have You Got What It Takes To Succeed?
| |
| You’ve got a great idea, you are pretty sure that what you have will sell, you’ve even got some cash together. What else do you need? |
|
|
Entrepreneurs – You’ve Got A New Business – So Shout About It!
| |
| After the hard work of planning and setting up a new business, getting together the funding and starting out in business, you need to tell EVERYONE about it! So what’s the best way to shout about your business? |
|
|
Entrepreneurs – You Want Your Customers To Remember You Don’t You?
| |
| You’ve worked hard to get your business up and running and you are starting to get a good customer base – so how do you make sure that they do not forget you? |
|
|
Entrepreneurs – Want To Increase Your Profits Without Increasing Your Costs?
| |
| Running a business is hard work, and you don’t always get back enough profit to compensate for the enormous amount of work that you undertake. So here are a few ideas on how to increase your profits. |
|
|
Entrepreneurs – Selling The Benefits Of Your Products To Your Wholesalers
| |
| Do you know in my heart that the products you sell can greatly benefit your customers but are struggling to get companies to believe in what you do. Do you want to increase your customer base and sell more to your existing customers? |
|
|
Entrepreneurs – What Can You Learn From Dolly About Managing Your Customers?
| |
| Dolly Parton is a very recognizable business women. She has built an international multi dollar business from her great singing voice. As she is so popular her entertainment shows get popular – but she still manages to get everyone in – happy! What can we learn from the way she does business? |
|
|
The Perfect Internet Business - Start Affiliate Marketing
| |
| Monetizing an Internet business is one of the most challenging things a business owner has to do. Coming up with products to sell is not as easy as it sounds. In this article let's talk about why affiliate marketing is a perfect Internet business for many people. |
|
|
Basic Home Business Startup Costs
| |
| The advantage of working from home is that you liberate yourself from the daily routine of a 9 to 5 job. You save commute time and cost, you set your own schedule, and you work for yourself. The flipside, however, is that the entire burden of paying the new business expenses will fall on your shoulders. However, after weighing the pros and cons, you will discover that working from home is far more profitable in the long run. |
|
|
Collecting From Your Customers
| |
| Are You Letting Customers Off The Hook And They Owe You Money??
An old sales manager of mine taught me something years ago. It's pretty simple.
He said:
"It's not a sale until you're paid."
|
|
|
The Most Bizarre Old School Sales Rule EVER
| |
| I had a friend years ago give me some very bad advice (thank goodness I didn't pay attention to it)
"Kim, when you're first in business - no matter what they ask for - say YES."
I think that is a bizarre recipe for disaster. It is also the Old School Rule of Selling that is out-dated, WRONG and definitely NOT for you!
|
|
|
Small Business Opportunities In The Medical Industry
| |
| The medical industry has always been one of the most reliable businesses in the face of economic downturn, and when you consider that millions of baby boomers are approaching senior citizen age and will require more healthcare services than ever before, this industry is one of the hottest available markets to get into and this article shows some of the top opportunities available in the healthcare industry. |
|
|
The Sum of the Whole: Part I
| |
| Did you know that your marketing materials talk about you behind your back? In the business world our reputations mean the world to us and part of that is how we are perceived by the outside world. What does your visual identity (logo, stationery, collateral etc.) say about you and your business? Learn insider tips on how to tap into the power of marketing and graphic design to create more professional collateral materials to represent your business properly and to help your business be more memorable. |
|
|
The Sum of the Whole: Part 3
| |
| Learn how to use and integrate 5 professional typography rules into your brand identity materials to enhance your marketing efforts. |
|
|
First Impressions Count
| |
| Tips for getting off to a good start during your first 30 days in a new job. |
|
|
Increase Sales and Marketing Response with an Irresistible Call to Action
| |
| The real goal of marketing and advertising is to get people to take action. Whether that’s calling for an appointment, going to your Website, walking in your store, or busting out a credit card and buying something right now.
|
|
|
Saying What You Mean To Connect With Prospects! Why What You Say is Just as Important as How You Say it.
| |
| Do you REALLY think about what you are saying and how you are saying it, particularly in your promotinal copy?
Word choice is a vital component of the copy for your marketing, advertising and promotional materials. In fact, your copy can make or break your sales efforts. I always say “copy counts and actually your sales count on your copy.”
The best illustration of how important copy really is was shared by my good friend and mentor Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero. She explains that copy is the DNA of all marketing materials. I have to agree.
Imagine stripping all of your marketing materials of words. How well would your website, brochure, print ads, sales letters, press releases or broadcast scripts work without words?
|
|
|
Connect With Customers & Prospects on THEIR Terms to Increase Sales
| |
| Are you really speaking to your customers in ways that connect them to your products and servcies?
Undoubtedly you offer a product or service to your customers or potential customers. Have you seriously taken time to consider how you or your business benefits your clients?
If you haven’t done this lately, take a moment to consider your customers. It’s super important.
Your marketing content should be all about what your product or service will do for the consumer. One of the most common mistakes made in marketing, advertising and promotional materials is not focusing on the features and benefits of a product or service and HOW they directly benefit your core audience or target market. |
|
|
Use New Eyes
| |
| When was the last time you read your marketing material? Did a "name check" to see what internet users find when they google your company?
It's time to use new eyes!
Next time you go to the printer - give your brochure or marketing materials to someone who doesn't know a thing about your company and ask if they "get it". Many of us are so use to our jargon and our services that we just assume our readers will understand what we write and who we are---big mistake.
When was the last time you googled yourself and your company? It's amazing what you can find out about people and the companies they run.
Want more positive exposure? Write articles, create
|
|
|
Why Affiliate Marketing Is A Great Online Business Idea
| |
| Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular online business ideas due to the fact that it is beneficial to both the merchant and the affiliate marketer in so many ways. |
|
|
A Well Managed Suite of Business Materials
| |
| When you’re not around to make a personal impression, your materials are doing it for you. So naturally, you want to be sure that your materials are making the right impression. In this article I’ll go over a few specific bits of advice to ensure that your corporate identity materials are projecting an image of competence and success. |
|
|
Have You Tried Being A Customer Of Your Business Lately?
| |
| This may sound odd - but have you looked at how you treat your customers recently?
I was discussing this earlier today with a client whose business has stagnated after he moved into a new office last year and we were looking at possible reasons why that would be.
We looked at the products he was offering, how he was conducting his marketing, what factors locally had changed, was the "credit crunch" likely to be an influence, and so on.. |
|
|
Are You Falling Into This Advertising And Image Trap?
| |
| Whilst we were away last week I couldn't believe the huge number of businesses that had fallen into this obvious advertising and image trap.
Website hosting is so cheap and easy these days that it is no wonder most businesses have some form of online presence, and proudly include the website name and email address in their marketing materials.
And I hasten to add that is a good thing. Unless...... |
|
|
Yawn..Do Your Customers Think You're Dull?
| |
|
Well - it really breaks another big rule of SELLING. When you're dull - you're not different.
When you're not different (with something that is important to your customer) -they feel that you're exactly like your competitor.
|
|
|
Hey - Are Your Sales And Marketing Materials Fridge Worthy?
| |
| When my friends come over to my house, the first place they head to is the fridge.
And nooooo - it isn't for the food either! (although I AM a fabulous cook)
They are STARING at all the cool quotes, cards, offers and important things or people that I want to remember and have in my radar. All attached with a fabulous magnet of course.
(REALLY - it's a position of honor!)
And people LOVE looking at it!
I often advise my clients that ANY sales and marketing materials they're creating had better be FRIDGE WORTHY. (or puh-lease - DON'T show them to me)
|
|
|
Easy Steps To Prepare Your Marketing Plan For Your Business
| |
| It's not as frightening or complex to prepare your marketing plan for your business as you may believe or may have heard. |
|
|
Top 10 Ways to Maximize Your Marketing Dollars
| |
| Top 10 Ways to Maximize Your Marketing Dollars |
|
|
Self Test: Small Business Marketing IQ
| |
| How much do you know about marketing your small business? Spend a few minutes with this quiz and see how much you know. |
|
|
Turning Your Simple Work At Home Opportunity Into Money
| |
| Affiliate marketing has long been a great way to make money online. One downside to this industry has been the time lag between when you make a sale and you finally get paid. There are things changing within this business model, and in this article we are going to talk about how to turn a work at home opportunity into cash instantly. |
|
|
Simple Top Home Internet Business Ideas
| |
| There are so many different ways to make money at home on the Internet that it's often hard to get started. In this article let's see if we can narrow that down a little bit by listing the top 5 home Internet business ideas available to you today. |
|
|
Work From Home Made Simple
| |
| Many times when people get started working on the Internet they don't have the skill level to do everything that can go into working from home. That's all right because everyone starts online the same way. Let's take a look at two simple work from home opportunities that you can get started with. |
|
|
Are You Making This Costly Marketing Mistake?
| |
| After all, what happens when the reader is searching for the phone number and their doorbell rings, or their kids barge in? They are on to other things instead.
|
|
|
Personal Branding - Do Your Marketing Materials Make Your Spine Tingle?
| |
| Do your small business marketing materials, and the personal brand image you project make your spine tingle? Or, do they look like your eight year-old child designed them? If any of them give you shame, they're your “marketing package blunders”. Find out why you need to fix them, and get tips how. If you do, you’ll sell more of your products and services! |
|
|
How to run a gold medal business
| |
| We are now in the middle of the Olympics and every evening I watch the highlights on TV. I marvel at how the athletes can pull exceptional performance out of the bag, when the pressure is on and there are hundredths of a second between win or lose. So having achieved the heady heights of running for Scotland in athletics here are my five tips to help you run a gold medal business. |
|
|
Building Sales Creatively
| |
| When you don't feel like you "Have to" make the sale, the sales process is much more enjoyable. When you are confident and relaxed you can be more creative, which makes the sales process more enjoyable for your customer, which makes it easier for them to buy and not be sold. |
|
|
Are You Selling The Wrong Thing?
| |
| If you are focusing on selling the wrong thing you will repel prospects and unnecessarily complicate the sales cycle. |
|
|
Make More Sales By Avoiding The Product Trap
| |
| It's wonderful that you are passionate about your products and services but this won't help you make sales. Learn the key ingredient in the sales process that will have you closing more sales than ever. |
|
|
3 Tips to Earning the Big Bucks - The Value of Presentation
| |
| The way entrepreneurs present themselves is an important part of how we value them. If you want to earn the big bucks you have to present yourself the right way. You have to create a brand through presentation. |
|
|
Branding Your Business
| |
| It's not enough to just have a name and logo for your business-you need to create a brand that incorporates your whole identity. Our experts share how to establish your business as a successful, brand-name company. |
|
|
Business Building Tips from a MillionDollar Copywriter
| |
| Professional copywriter, Carline Anglade-Cole, offers her advice for building your copywriting business by Guillermo Rubio, AWAI Staff Writer
|
|
|
Stage Yourself to Sell: Image is Everything
| |
| One of the easiest ways to catapult your business to success is to act as though you are already successful. Do you play the part of a very successful home stager? |
|
|
Influence Like "The Boss"
| |
| Much of influence is based on passion and showmanship. Every night on tour, Springsteen and other artists conjure up the magic to move people physically and emotionally. It's a great lead to follow! |
|
|
Make BIG profits using little words
| |
| Little words can help you increase your sales and profits.
Because of increasing marketing and selling costs you must find ways to maximize the impact of each and every contact you and your marketing materials have with your prospects. You must make sure you have a very high impact that creates the perception of value to the customer. You must:
•Attract the prospect's attention
•Get the customer to purchase your products / services
•Get the customer to use more of your products / services |
|
|
10 Things You Should Know Before Hiring A Freelance Copy Writer
| |
| If it's a large project, ask to see a draft of the first piece or section before the writer does any more work. That way if you need to make any major changes you can do it before they get too far along and costs go up.
|
|
|
Developing Sales & Marketing Materials for Overseas
| |
| You’ve selected a target market overseas, and found a distribution partner, who has now asked you for some sales collateral materials to help him or her market your product or service successfully.
As you put together your brochures and sales sheets, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind to ensure that your printed marketing materials are culturally and linguistically correct. |
|
|
WHY FACTS TELL, AND STORIES SELL!
| |
| The remarkable power of stories to drive readership, and burn your sales message deep into your prospects brains... |
|
|
Seven Tips to Amp Up the Power of Your Marketing Copy
| |
| In order to write copy that does all that you have to know a good bit about the art and science of copywriting. Otherwise, it’s really hard to develop the kind of marketing materials that grab people by the eyeballs, keep them reading, and inspire them to take action or buy from you. |
|
|
How To Grow Your Business Through Speaking
| |
| One of the leading entrepreneurs in Los Angeles says, "If you are not getting results by speaking, you need to take responsibility as the marketing director of your business and learn how to do it effectively. The biggest problem I have seen is the resistance business owners have with spending time and money getting the entrepreneurial training needed to increase their results. TOO many business owners think they should intuitively know how to write their marketing materials, AND SPEAK IN PUBLIC. Writing advertising copy and verbal expertise is not a skill we are born with. It is a learned ability. So if you don't know how to get the networking or sales response you need, either hire someone who can do it effectively or learn how from an expert. THE CONTRARY IS COSTING YOU MORE BUSINESS THAN YOU EVEN REALIZE." |
|
|
Creative Techniques that Make Business Writing Stand Out
| |
| When most writers think about marketing materials, press releases, and how-to writing projects, they assume creativity is a waste of time and energy. Why not give it to them straight—right? But business writing doesn’t have to all business. Business writers can borrow several techniques from their creative writing counterparts to make their marketing materials fresh and unique.
|
|
|
Make Your Logo Work For You! Five Key Ingredients to an Effective Business Logo
| |
| Your logo is your #1 sales representative. Is your logo working for you—or against you? Learn about five key ingredients to an effective business logo, and assess your logo to determine if it is communicating the best message for your business. |
|
|
How to Achieve the Appropriate Tone in Your Written Communications
| |
| Years ago, business writers wrote all their communications in a formal tone that sounded the same throughout the piece—passive verbs, jargon, and the editorial “we” were all characteristic of this business writing style. Only radical writers broke away from these established business writing principles. |
|
|
How to Start Your Own SEO Business
| |
| Tips and tools for starting your own Search Engine Optimization businessm, which will ensure your success. |
|
|
Seven Secrets of Writing That Sells
| |
| Even in today’s tech-savvy world information is spread through the written word. Customers have to know what your product, service or idea can do for them—or they won’t buy. So whether you’re writing brochures, Web text or anything in between, you need clear, concise, benefits-oriented copy that really sells.
|
|
|
Setting Coaching Fees So That Everyone Wins
| |
| Is your coaching business allowing you to meet your financial goals? If not, here are a few tips that will allow you to start charging what you are worth! |
|
|
Website is an Ad
| |
| Your website's home page is an advertising tool. We have just seconds to engage a visitor so that they take the time to go through the site to learn more about your products or services.
|
|
|
Work At Home Business Ideas And Opportunities For Beginners
| |
| There are many reasons why individuals express an interest in starting their own business from home which makes the desirability level of this type of occupation quite high. Here are some of the most profitable home business ideas to consider starting today. |
|
|
MultiLevel Marketing Can Bring You Big Rewards
| |
| While doing research on ways to earn income from home, you've probably stumbled upon the term multi-level marketing (MLM) at least once and have wondered exactly what that entails. |
|
|
How Do You Find Legitimate Online Home Based Income Opportunities
| |
| There are many people that get online looking for opportunities that they can make money with, but how are they supposed to know when they have found the legitimate online home based income opportunities? |
|
|
How to Write White Papers for Credibility and Profits
| |
| White Papers increase credibility and profits . Marketing with White Papers as a part of your marketing strategy can create very quick and appealing results. |
|
|
How to Attract More Customers with White Papers
| |
| Writing White Papers is a very powerful way to attract more well-paying customers and clients. White papers offer a very unique marketing advantage in a very competitive marketplace. |
|
|
Case study of a business coaching business with fantastic potential
| |
| This case study shows what it takes to be a successful business coach and advisor. |
|
|
Your Strategy For Crafting Compelling Copy Depends on Placement & Message
| |
| Where is your message going to be seen or heard? This is an important question to consider BEFORE writing a single word. Consider the medium or channel of placement and this will help you create a content strategy to support your overall marketing goals. |
|
|
A Checklist for Franchising Your Business
| |
| Franchising your business is a major undertaking. Here is an essential to-do list for the prospective franchisor. |
|
|
Don't Let the Franchise Fee Scare You!
| |
| If you have searched for a franchise opportunity to buy, perhaps you have become frustrated at the upfront franchise fee that that franchisor is asking. $25,000.00, $35,000.000, $50,000.00 or more sounds excessive, right?
|
|
|
9 Simple Virtual Team Outsourcing Tips to Make More Money
| |
| Is the cost of hiring a team holding you back? Discover the 9 Simple Virtual Team Outsourcing Tips to Make More Money in Record Time. I'll share them with you here and I hope you will pass it on to others who really need to discover how profitable it can be to outsource and delegate. |
|
|
3 Ideas To Ick-Proof Your Brand
| |
| Do you ever feel like your brand is out of alignment with your values system?
If you said "yes", I'm curious: why is your brand icky?
Your brand is made up of the look, the feel and the experience of doing business with you.
Does it look like a mess? Is your design all over the place? Have you outgrown them and become more sophisticated and evolved?
Does it feel pushy or sleazy? Are you using tactics that you think you need to use to make sales? Do you find that when you market, you wind up feeling like a slimeball?
In any case, an icky brand is no fun. It's gross and uncomfortable, for both you and your clients.
Join me in stamping out ickiness in branding. |
|
|
Empower, Educate, Create Need and Convert With A Simple Checklist
| |
| If you’re an expert, and what you do would require or benefit from regular check-ups or check-ins, then consider a checklist. It can help your clients see the need for your services. |
|
|
Using Design in Business
| |
| Design in business is much more than just catchy ads. You can use design to generate new ideas and turn them into innovative and competitive products and services, improve your business processes and strengthen and deepen your marketing approach.
If used systematically across your business, design can bring a range of measurable commercial benefits... |
|
|
Are You Using a Chess or Checkers Small Business Marketing Strategy
| |
| Until the day I learned to play chess I loved playing checkers. Both games require a strategy that maximizes a player’s ability to capture his opponents pieces without first losing his own. Checkers was fun. But the complexities of chess lead to more satisfying victories and defeats. |
|
|
Marketing From The Outside In
| |
| Instead of telling prospects what they need to know, too many service firms talk about the features or functionality of their services or products. (This is inside-out.) They really should be taking an outside-in approach to their marketing. |
|
|
Use Testimonials to Market Yourself
| |
| Testimonials are a wonderful way to market yourself. They give you credibility—a third-party endorsement. |
|
|
Marketing 103: Branding
| |
| "Branding" is providing a consistent message to your customers. It's rooted in the combination of your core values and your strategic plan for your company (think of it as your "business persona"). |
|
|
AN ACTION STEP IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
| |
| Finding the right words to market your business is important, but don't mistake your wordsmithing for productive action. Crafting a good marketing message and delivering it effectively are not at all the same thing.
|
|
|
360-Degree View Promises Delivery
| |
| Do all the external-facing departments in your company see the world through your customer’s eyes? All customer touch points, including marketing, sales, customer service, technical support and accounts receivables, should be integrated with each other.
No matter who your customers connect with in your company, their experience must be consistent, clear and coordinated, an integrated “360-degree” view of your customer, ensuring that promise and delivery are in sync.
Three elements of a company propel its business: marketing, sales and customer service. Most companies know, theoretically, that these three elements need to work together effectively to produce steady sales, revenue growth and happy customers. |
|
|
360-Degree View Promises Delivery
| |
| Do all the external-facing departments in your company see the world through your customer’s eyes? All customer touch points, including marketing, sales, customer service, technical support and accounts receivables, should be integrated with each other.
No matter who your customers connect with in your company, their experience must be consistent, clear and coordinated, an integrated “360-degree” view of your customer, ensuring that promise and delivery are in sync.
Three elements of a company propel its business: marketing, sales and customer service. Most companies know, theoretically, that these three elements need to work together effectively to produce steady sales, revenue growth and happy customers. |
|
|
Creating an Effective Business Card
| |
| The right business card will help you make a great first impression. |
|
|
Marketing Tip - The Top 6 Biggest Marketing Mistakes
| |
| Marketing Tips - The top 6 marketing mistakes - avoid them and watch your marketing results go up. Get 5-10 times more customers immediately. |
|
|
Marketing 101
| |
| Why should someone buy your product? You know it's great, but why should they care? |
|
Other marketing materials Related Articles
|
The Sweet Aroma of Highly Effective Marketing
| |
| Highly effective marketing is accomplished when your marketing materials and marketing strategy work together to reliably move your prospects through your sales process. |
|
|
What You are Marketing is Yourself
| |
| Marketing a service business is not the same as marketing a product. The strongest asset you have in marketing your business is actually yourself. Allowing your customers to get to know you will build their trust. You deserve to be the star of your own promotional materials. |
|
|
Creative Techniques that Make Business Writing Stand Out
| |
| When most writers think about marketing materials, press releases, and how-to writing projects, they assume creativity is a waste of time and energy. Why not give it to them straight—right? But business writing doesn’t have to all business. Business writers can borrow several techniques from their creative writing counterparts to make their marketing materials fresh and unique.
|
|
|
"Own Your Zone" Marketing
| |
| Do you get overwhelmed when you think about your marketing?
Do you feel there’s so much to do, or you’re not clearly sure what to do?
Here is one way I have found to cut through all the confusion to complete clarity.
I know that you know about marketing with benefit streams and creating the “What’s in it for me?” marketing perspective for your materials. However, there is more important information about what makes you unique that often gets ignored.
|
|
|
Developing Sales & Marketing Materials for Overseas
| |
| You’ve selected a target market overseas, and found a distribution partner, who has now asked you for some sales collateral materials to help him or her market your product or service successfully.
As you put together your brochures and sales sheets, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind to ensure that your printed marketing materials are culturally and linguistically correct. |
|
|
A Well Managed Suite of Business Materials
| |
| When you’re not around to make a personal impression, your materials are doing it for you. So naturally, you want to be sure that your materials are making the right impression. In this article I’ll go over a few specific bits of advice to ensure that your corporate identity materials are projecting an image of competence and success. |
|
|
Saying What You Mean To Connect With Prospects! Why What You Say is Just as Important as How You Say it.
| |
| Do you REALLY think about what you are saying and how you are saying it, particularly in your promotinal copy?
Word choice is a vital component of the copy for your marketing, advertising and promotional materials. In fact, your copy can make or break your sales efforts. I always say “copy counts and actually your sales count on your copy.”
The best illustration of how important copy really is was shared by my good friend and mentor Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero. She explains that copy is the DNA of all marketing materials. I have to agree.
Imagine stripping all of your marketing materials of words. How well would your website, brochure, print ads, sales letters, press releases or broadcast scripts work without words?
|
|
|
The Sum of the Whole: Part I
| |
| Did you know that your marketing materials talk about you behind your back? In the business world our reputations mean the world to us and part of that is how we are perceived by the outside world. What does your visual identity (logo, stationery, collateral etc.) say about you and your business? Learn insider tips on how to tap into the power of marketing and graphic design to create more professional collateral materials to represent your business properly and to help your business be more memorable. |
|
|
Matchmaking 101: Creating Sales Tools That Build Your Brand
| |
| If you’re like other entrepreneurs, you know a good logo is important to branding your company. You may already have a great logo. Now what? How can you create a variety of marketing materials that build your brand?
In a word: Coordinate. All your materials should tie to one another graphically. They should convey the same look and feel, or image, and evoke a similar emotional response in your customer. When viewed side by side, your stationery, brochures, and other promotional materials should create a cohesive “family.”
Of course, your materials don’t need to “match” each other completely, but some elements should remain consistent from one piece to the next:
|
|
|
Case Study – Create A Great Strategic Alliance
| |
| Search for the standout projects/challenges that can showcase how good you are. It’s worth a phone call to ask permission to showcase the client/vendor in your materials. In addition, invite them to publish the same case study in their marketing materials – which will extend your reach too. |
|
Featured Article
Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Suggestions
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.