Archive for the 'Marketing' Category

Jul 12 2011

Business All-Stars!

Don’t clutter up your

                                   

 Here and Now with a

                                    

What if” Dream Team
                                    

 At some time or another, every entrepreneur has a “Dream Team.” Very few, though, ever get the chance to activate it. Why? Because dreams–like hopes and wishes–are not reality.

 ____________________
                                                                     

But we all carry images in our minds of who we’d love to have on payroll, running our operations, finances, personnel (oops sorry, human resources) and marketing, leaving ourselves free to concentrate on product, service, and idea development… and sales!   

Oh well, we entrepreneurs can’t dream about an All-Star business team because… we have made ourselves into: e-n-t-r-e-p-r-e-n-e-u-r-s, and entrepreneurs are business people who do it all, at least until things get up and running, which typically takes 5-6 years, and often longer. So what’s an entrepreneur to do with all this dream stuff?

Can it. Save it in case you have to take a government job! Put it on the shelf. But don’t clutter your “here-and-now” with “what ifs.” Contrary to popular opinion, fueled by uninformed mainstream media people, entrepreneurs are not dreamers. They are parttime planners and full time doers. And they don’t bet the farm or buy lottery tickets.

Entrepreneurs take only reasonable risks. And most entrepreneurs recognize that one solid business plan will take them farther than a year of nightly fantasies. If you’re not sure about how to best put one (a business plan) together and seek help from an expert, by the way, contact Tim Berry.

If you’re not a talented marketing writer, hire one. Find someone to write your business plan narrative section who can digest your company mission, vision, track-record, marketplace, competition, and uniquenesses, and present you in the best possible light. Be prepared to pay well. It’s an investment in yourself and your business.

If you’re not an accountant, hire a CPA to do your business plan financial projections, and certify your balance sheet and income statement. Expect to pay well. It’s an investment in yourself and your business.

If you’re not an attorney, hire one to review your plan and provide the legal statements you need to avoid problems. Pay well. It’s a safety net for you and your business.

These are real issues that require real dollars. (Hmmm, maybe that’s why we dream so much?)

So, enjoy tonight’s All-Star Game and start out tomorrow with your Dream Team in a closet while you roll up your sleeves and get some kind of business plan planned. Fantasy is for children, artists and politicians (and maybe some of your off-hours), but only reality thinking can survive and thrive in this economy.

                                                                                                          

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Hal@Businessworks.US  302.933.0116 

  Open minds open doors. 

 Thanks for visiting and God bless you. 

   Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jul 11 2011

The Real Entrepreneurs

Many traditional marketers haven’t a clue . . .

                                                           

Real entrepreneurs

                                           

respond in an instant and 

                                  

develop ideas thoroughly

                              

from beginning to end.

 

                    

Today’s marketing people are not adapting well to current economic realities. They see themselves as part of the solution to a problem that they do not understand . . . one they are not trying hard enough to overcome.

The no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel economy we’re presently in doesn’t, for example, automatically translate to everyone being interested in finding a better dollar deal. Instead, when budgets are restricted is when entrepreneurs need to invest more heavily in building long-term relationships, as they would expect of their own suppliers.

Traditional marketing pros are missing this.

They are still knocking themselves silly trying to fit business owners into their media and social media games and patterns and rate cards and strategies instead of adapting what they know to help entrepreneurs do more with less

. . . instead of pulling their chairs up to the same side of the table.

                                                                     

This doesn’t mean reinforcing the customer service department. It does mean building customer service into the job decription for every single employee. When every staffer is also a customer service specialist –poof!– you no longer need a customer service department! Nurturing long-term relationships becomes your new business. 

Marketing traditionalists are missing this point, and others like it. The “new” cyberspace marketing pros are also missing the point. First off, the whole world is NOT tuned into the Internet which means the perspective that every human on Earth is aware of Mashable, YELP, Tweets, BFs, DMs, clouds, and the advent of Cicret Bracelets is false. So the perspective is warped.

Second, when traditionalists wrap their marketing strategies around media airtime, print space availabilities and “special rate card deal packages” or “online marketing and SEO experts” (most of whom are self-designated, unproven, and over-priced) parade out their website and email bells and whistles, entrepreneurs end up the losers. 

If you’re a small business owner, operator, or manager, you need to be looking AWAY FROM formula marketing solutions that do not bend over backwards for you the same way you bend over backwards for your customers.

This is not an economy where you can simply accept blanket marketing recommendations without questioning.

                                                                        

Marketing pros need to be thinking more like entrepreneurs. They need to be looking much harder at ways to market products and services for maximum impact without spending as much money as in the past. They need to be offering their services more on a performance incentive basis, and put their wallets where their mouths are. 

Entrepreneurs need to challenge marketing people more to get “more bang for the buck” and –by the same token — be willing to reward generously for performance. A marketing success that produces $1 million in new sales should be well worth a $250,000 or $300,000 fee because you end up with the balance — money you never had before! 

Bottom line: Get streamlined. Get simple. Look under new leaves. Push for impact and relationships instead of deals. Yeah, I know about car dealerships; but they’re in their own world. This post is about reality and your business. It’s about looking to Twitter instead of network TV, postcards instead of elaborate mailers, emails . . .

                                                                       

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hal@businessworks.US

STRATEGY/ CONTENT/ CONNECTION

Higher impact. Lower costs.

——————-

Business Development/ National-Awards/ Record Client Sales

Entrepreneurship & Expansion Coaching    931.854.0474

Go for your goals, thanks for your visit, God Bless You!

OPEN  MINDS  OPEN  DOORS

Make Today A Great Day For Someone!

 

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Jun 30 2011

4th of July Sparklers

Seeking sales fireworks?

                                      

Check your sparklers!

 

                                

Business owners constantly want more sales results than they’re typically ready to put their shoulders to the wheel for, in terms of the marketing words (their “sparklers”) that they use.

The average response to meeting the need for coming up with the right sets of marketing words to represent business products, services, and ideas is a lazy one. Most small business owners, it seems, either wing it to save money, delegate it because they’re afraid of it or want to “give someone a chance”

. . . OR they hire some fancy high-priced group of self-proclaimed experts to get it done.

What works? None of the above.

                             

When you wing it

. . .  it’s like not fastening the screws that hold your product parts together, or not providing the terms of the services you offer. It’s a great deal more than that because you’re dealing with peoples’ brains and that delicate experienced edge of psychological savvy mixed into the creative pot is what makes the difference.

You are not in business doing what you’re doing to be a great marketing writer any more than you’re in business to be a great lawyer or accountant (unless of course you’re a lawyer or accountant!).

So why waste time and energy (and ultimately money) trying to be something you’re not, when you have the option to be driving your business to a successful destination by applying your full resources to operations, finances and sales? Okay, so promise you won’t wing it, okay.

                                                        

When you delegate it 

. . . you’ll hand it off to that assistant of yours . . . you know, the one who’s always writing some book, or poetry, or funny Facebook posts. When you delegate the task, regardless of what you think might be signs of talent rising up from someone on your staff, you should expect to get the inadequate results you will get.

I can assure you after seeing years’ worth of these dynamics, what you get back will simply not be professional enough a representation of your business strengths. Nor will it be put into the customer-benefits language you need in order to succeed at producing the sales results you seek.

What you get, in fact, could very well end up undermining your other sales-building efforts.

                                          

When you hire a fancy group

. . . an advertising or marketing or PR agency — you should know that this choice delivers about 85% odds that the group you hire will be very skilled at not letting you know that they are more preoccupied with winning themselves some type of marketing, advertising or PR award than they are with helping you make sales.

When “getting sales” is what’s important, being “pretty” and having the best designs don’t always count for much.

Odds are also that they will be fantastically talented at not letting on that they don’t really know how to help you make sales. Ask them if they’re willing to work on a expenses plus performance incentive basis. That question usually separates reality from fantasy.

                                              

If the words you’re using don’t sparkle enough to spark action, find a wordsmith. Do some homework and scout around for an experienced individual who has a proven track-record in writing words that get sales results. Find someone who demonstrates interest in your business but not an “expert” at it. An expert writer is what you want.     

You need fireworks? Start with someone who knows how to spark sales with “sparkler” words . . . words that attract attention, words that create interest, words that stimulate desire, words that bring about action, words that prompt satisfaction.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” 

[Thomas Jefferson] 

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Hal@Businessworks.US  302.933.0116

 Open minds open doors.

Thanks for visiting. God Bless You.

God Bless America and America’s Troops.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jun 28 2011

You’re not God anymore!

Sorry, Docs and Esqs,

                    

 but you’re not God

                      

anymore!

 

                                   

Well, one good thing about the current Administration (and it may be the only good thing) is that it has snapped Americans back to reality — the reality that no matter how great you can talk, action speaks louder. And taking no action speaks loudest of all. Like a whirling dervish, this tax-and-spend do-nothing White House spins in place.

So that’s the good news: we’re all learning from our mistakes. Watch the blur!

_________________________________                                                  

Now on to doctors and lawyers: You guys are being shopped around for on the Internet, and you haven’t yet caught on to the reality that this single shift in patient and client technology is driving your practice into the ground because you’ve chosen to ignore and discount its impact on you. But you can’t. You need to take action now

Reality is that your services are no better a commodity than peanut butter, plumbers, snowplowing services, or used furniture once a prospective patient or client gets her or his pudgy little fingers into the Bing or Google search window.

The days when you needed not to worry about your staff customer service skills are long gone.

                                                 

Heart patients in Pennsylvania fly to Arizona or Minnesota for surgery. People with vision problems in Florida will travel to Baltimore. Just because a local physician or lawyer diagnoses a problem seldom means anymore that the patient or client will stay with that professional. Many, if not most, seek specialized care referrals online.

A good part of the reason for this, and one that’s continually dismissed, has a whole lot more to do with office staff treatment and “bedside manners” of the doctor or lawyer than most professionals would care to admit. Truth is it’s likely to be costing you 50% or more of your practice volume. And it’s close to 100% avoidable!

Incredibly, to most of America’s population raised on ER and Law & Order, there are studies floating around that show over 90% of all doctor and hospital visits (including those to the ER!) are for reassurance

— being told with a warm smile and backpat, “You’re going to be alright. Take two aspirin and call me in the morning” seems to sum up what most people consciously or unconsciously seek.

And I strongly suspect the same dynamics of pursuing empathy come into play with lawyers.

                                                           

Lawyers thrive on delay. Doctors thrive on patient loyalty. Neither of these payoffs are very much in the cards (or the stars, tea leaves?) anymore because people want gratification as immediate as a txtmsg response, and loyalty is directly proportionate to truth (readily verifiable on the Internet), and personal attention with every contact.

So, solutions? Here are 3 FREE solutions: More frequent and more genuine use of smiles, and of “Please” and “Thank you.” Don’t assume your patients and clients are being treated the way you want them to be. I can tell you of over 100 medical and law offices where they are not. Find out. Use friends as “secret shoppers” to report experiences.

Reward positive attitudes. Small, inexpensive, frequent rewards actually work better than lump sum cash or raises (which, remember, are permanent). Consider outside professional coaching help.

 

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

 Open minds open doors.

Thanks for visiting. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jun 27 2011

Every blink you blink

 Every step you take,

                            

 every word you say,

                                  

 every blink you blink

                           

  . . . is marketing.

 

 

You’re a professional practice or small business owner or manager. Whether you have 100 employees or work out of your bedroom closet, the words you use (and don’t use) and the ways and places you move (and don’t move) say worlds about where you’re headed and how long it will take you to get there.

Every step you take and word you say, every blink you blink is a form of marketing to someone for something.

                                                                     

It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to get your rich brother-in-law to loan you his $1,700,000 Bugatti Veyron to drive your best customer to dinner at the club, or whether you want to motivate your new assistant, or get approval to cash in a free WAWA coffee coupon that expired yesterday, you are constantly engaged in marketing.

Your business plan and loan applications are marketing documents. When you hire a consultant, you have to impress on that person or group (oh, sorry, “team”) that you and your business are worthy of her/his/their exertions on your behalf. You slide a little salesy language into explaining what your business is all about.

The thing is that most hard-nosed, competitive, aggressive business people know all this and make no bones about practicing proactive, assertive language and posturing at every turn in the road. But those who often have the most to offer in terms of creativity and innovation will typically get themselves caught up in the process, not the selling.

We can’t turn timid creative genius personalities into super sales pros overnight (and probably shouldn’t try or even want to), but we can help raise these folks up a notch by pointing out that five criteria are part of every successful marketing effort . .  and that EVERYthing is marketing SOMEthing! Your steps, words, and blinks must:

  1. Attract Attention

  2. Create Interest

  3. Stimulate Desire

  4. Prompt Action

  5. Deliver Satisfaction

                                                          

All five of these must be present in every form and function of marketing to bring about ongoing and long-term success. Look around you. The extent to which these five criteria are effective determines how effectively your message is being delivered to your target markets.

Look for the five in print advertisements and broadcast commercials; billboards and other outdoor advertising vehicle messages; print and video promotions and displays; online presence (websites, social media sites, etc.); sales presentations (in-person, seminars, webinars, teleconferences; trade and professional shows); public relations programs (events, news releases, etc); packaging and labeling; merchandising; even pricing can all be measured for effectiveness when they succeed at making these ten words work . . . even in your “elevator speech.” 

Remember you are being:

watched; heard and overheard; listened to (there IS a difference!); read about; sized-up; checked out; assessed; evaluated; figured out; thought about; tested; weighed; raked over; admired; followed; respected; loved; praised; scourged; mocked; appreciated; and bought

— all day, every day, even as you sleep!

                                                 

The same way that you buy or don’t buy others, they buy or don’t buy you. Your best insurance for achieving success is to make the sale. Your best way to make the sale is to accept that it is what it is, and that you need to be forever on the alert to opportunities.

Opportunities are created by marketing that attracts attention, creates interest, stimulates desire, prompts action, and delivers satisfaction.

Drive your imagination forward with reality. 

 

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US

 Open minds open doors.

Thanks for visiting and Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jun 26 2011

TIMING is the answer. What was your question?

It’s not all about the numbers . . .

How you time your

                          

purpose and your passion

                                                 

 determines your success.

 

                         

“Life is timing,” says a man commonly reported to be one of the world’s top 20 motivational speakers: Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, author and editor of nine business and personal life and leadership books, including one with over two million copies in print in 12 languages.

When you want to demonstrate some proof to yourself of the importance of timing and being able to make timing adjustments, go find the nearest batting cage; swing at a round of fastpitch baseballs; then take some deep breaths and swing at a round of slowpitch softballs. (Do them in the opposite order if you really want to challenge yourself!)

Hey, sometimes it’s the little things in life, like baseballs and softballs that can humble the best of us.

The reality though is that there’s much to be said for “being in the right place at the right time,” Of course saying and doing “the right thing” is what makes the difference. Just as adjusting one’s swing to the pitch is what makes a great hitter, adjusting your purpose and passion to the circumstances is what makes for great business success.

And it’s not all about numbers!

The answers to your marketing needs, e.g., will not come out of statistical analysis of market research. Leave that stuff for the corporate and government types who need to juggle and analyse numbers to cover their butts. You have a small business to run, and there’s no time for that. You try things. They don’t work. You adjust them.

Marketing is not a rational, unemotional, objective, cut and dried, black or white series of numbered quantifiable events. It’s an art. It’s a psychological-based creative art form. It requires substantial experience with and adaptations of psychology. It seeks to impact peoples’ minds with a message. Every person’s mind is different!

What about how you conduct yourself? What about leadership? Good timing and making good timing adjustments means there are some important “Don’t’s” to guide you as you step up to the plate:

  • PLEASE DON’T say one thing to an employee, customer, associate, consultant, referrer, supplier, sales rep, investor, lender, and then do another!

  • PLEASE DON’T promise any of those people what you can’t deliver.

  • PLEASE DON’T promise what you won’t deliver.

  • PLEASE DON’T ask for meeting options, and then change them when you get them.

  • PLEASE DON’T set meetings or appointments (note especially, professional practices) and then keep people waiting without some definite, reasonable, truthful, and on-time explanation. Acknowledge people waiting in line! And, by the way, a visiting sales rep should be treated just as importantly to you as your best employee or best customer.

  • PLEASE DON’T host a meeting and then interrupt it with non-emergency cell calls or txtmsgs that really could wait.

  • PLEASE DON’T call for a meeting and then change it on the fly at the last minute.

This is all starting to sound like a reminder list for exercising integrity? HA! YES!

HOW you time things, HOW you time your purpose and your passion is what others measure you by. It’s your own yardstick that you create. So, yes, integrity it is. Sizing up when and where to swing your bat counts alot. HOW you swing it counts most! 

Drive your imagination forward with reality.

Open minds open doors.  

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

No responses yet

Jun 23 2011

rightbackatcha!

Twitter opportunities

                          

bail small business out

                   

 of still sinking economy!

                                                            

                                                 

Opinion, after creating thousands of small business marketing and management programs, and many life observations:

Since the debut of television, no other media vehicle has had such positive and pronounced impact for small business as Twitter. LinkedIn is a distant second and Facebook doesn’t even make it to the table.

________________

A little background . . .

  • In case you haven’t noticed: since 2008, there’s been relentless government pursuit of globalization at the expense of business, marked by the near strangulation of entrepreneurial ventures and accompanying choke-hold on free market competition.

  • In flagrant disregard for America’s economy, America’s employment opportunities, America’s military, America’s healthcare, and America’s self-esteem, spread-the-wealth idealogy has trampled the nation’s economic heart and soul beneath its runaway tank treads.

  • America’s 30 million small business enterprises –the proven source of over 90% of all new jobs– have been chewed up and spit out while bungling corporate giants and their muscle-brained unions have been handed tax-dollar bailouts that have accomplished nothing.

________________

                      

So where does Twitter come in and what’s “rightbackatcha!” all about? Twitter, first of all, is a powerful outbound social media entity. Among many applications, it allows for small businesses to broadcast availability of products and services out to the world at no cost. In today’s economy, this access is a Godsend.

More and more small businesses are taking advantage of the opportunities Twitter provides, and are discovering that INTERNET globalization opens new revenue stream pathways unimaginable just 5 or 6 years ago. Business today comes from many surprise sources . . .

A local plumber gets a service call from Betty whose cousin lives 2,000 miles away but cut and pasted his clever Twitter quote into an email to Betty because it mentioned the town Betty lives in. Betty figured that was better than the Yellow Pages. Voila!

                                                                

LinkedIn, FYI, is a much more sedate, more corporate medium. It lacks both the flair and immediacy of Twitter.  

Facebook? Forget about it! For business, Facebook doesn’t cut it! Let it help you keep your Friends and family together and communicating, but don’t expect it to make sales for your business.

If you run a small business and you have a website, why do you need to find people to drive to your Facebook page to try to get them to visit your website? It won’t happen. The process is too big a run-a-around. Visiters bail out. Why waste time and money and energy?

Send people direct to your website! Facebook also demands constant monitoring to police inappropriate posts that you don’t want associated with your business.

So, now you’re on Twitter, but it’s not working? That’s only because YOU’RE not working.

If you work” Twitter, you are careful not to flood it with repetitive sales-pitch messages, and you have fun with it by being social. Yes, that’s what makes it part of “social” media.

In other words, someone mentions or thanks or repeats (RTs) your comment (“Tweet”)? Reply with a thank you!

Say: “rightbackatcha!” or express some form of appreciation. Even a “TY” will do.

But don’t disregard others for the sake of ramming home your sales message. Your “Followers” will drop like flies.

                                                             

About “Followers,” incidentally, if you’re not selling something that EVERYone needs (rubberbands, toothbrushes, water), you don’t need 36 trillion Followers; you need Followers who share your interests or who fit your market target. Be selective.

If you’re going to “play the numbers” and amass as many as possible, be prepared for the fallout. You will inevitably attract weirdos who will waste your time and energy.

So, someone tells you you’re great or that they like your quote or the title of the song you mention or the product or service you represent, tell ’em “rightbackatcha!” or say Thanks (or THX). But you ignore sociability at your peril.    

Drive your imagination forward with reality. 

Open minds open doors.  

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

No responses yet

Jun 21 2011

Lovin’ Sales

There comes a time

                          

in the life of 

                                  

every business owner 

                                  

where lines become

                           

BLURRED  

                                      

 between love and sales!

                                                                  

 

Even though with one of these, you fall into it, and the other you never want to have fall at all, there are endless similarities. Just consider a few musical messages when you substitute one for the other:

Put A Little Sales In Your Heart . . . Sales Make The World Go ‘Round . . . All You Need Is Sales . . . Sales Is A Many Splendored Thing . . . Silly Sales Songs . . . Sales And Marriage . . .  They Call It: Puppy Sales . . . Sales, Sales Me Do . . . Makin’ Sales In The Afternoon With Cecilia . . . Sales Are In The Air . . . Sales Are But A Little Boat Upon The Sea . . . Sales, Sales, Sales . . . When A Man Sales A Woman . . . What’s Sales Got To Do With It? . . . Sales Will Keep Us Together . . . Feel Like Makin’ Sales . . . To Sir With Sales . . . Give Me Sales . . . Stop, In The Name Of Sales . . . Chapel Of Sales . . . Game Of Sales . . . A World Without Sales . . .  Sales Letters In The Sand . . . Takin’ A Chance On Sales . . . You’ve Lost That Salesin’ Feeling . . . Will You Still Sales Me Tomorrow . . . Sales Me Tender . . . Can’t Buy Me Sales . . . Sales Will Keep Us Together . . . You Get The Best Of My Sales . . . April Sales . . . Young Sales . . .  

If you’re here looking for a great list of love songs

with “love” in the title, I don’t want to disappoint you:

 GO HERE!

__________________

                                                                             

Ah, but –fun aside for a moment, there are a couple of really huge “Lovin’ Sales” problems to consider:

1)  If someone who holds control over you or your business –like the government or a major customer, investor, supplier, or partner– hasn’t a clue about real entrepreneurship, and what it’s like to love your work, you’ve got troubles. 

These are people and entities who need to see your work as a committed relationship — in much the same way you might offer up testimony as part of a business plan and budget to impress lenders. I mean, I did once have an accountant who lectured me that my business was a legal entity that needed to be thought of as a separate person.

(That assertion of course simply reinforced my conviction that accountants lacked human feelings, and made me think that maybe my business was the one person in my family who was not dysfunctional! Kidding ;<) er, almost.) 

The point is that if those with control don’t appreciate your relationship with your business, you are losing sales you deserve to make, and income you need to grow.

2)  If you’re not 100% tuned-in to the reality that without sales, there is no business, you are living in fantasyland! In other words, your business cannot survive and thrive if you keep it locked in orbit around your great business idea at the expense of a monumental sales effort on your behalf. This is 2011. This economy will not tolerate you sitting.

(The alternative of course could simply be to apply to your state DOT or local roads department for cone placement training — security, benefits and no brain use!)

If you’re staying in the game, you need to devote more time and energy to selling than you have been. Nobody else can sell your business as well as you. It’s your baby. It’s your DNA. You feed, finance, insure, staff, and nurture it. Now get out and sell it. If you make 3 calls a day, make 10. If you make 10, make 20. Whatever it takes.  

If you’re not lovin’ your sales every day, no one’s going to be lovin’ to buy what you have to sell. Period. 

 

                                                     

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

No responses yet

Jun 19 2011

Life In The Fastlane

Think you have

                         

a busy business

                                         

 and lead a busy life?

                      

Think about this quote

                       

…and this 60-second bullet list!

                                                                    

 

Pretty scary stuff to be banging around your brain, eh? It’s no wonder you get yourself stressed out. Just think about the information overload comment and what’s happening in every passing 60 seconds worth of cyberspace. I mean,  any entrepreneur in her or his right mind could easily almost die or justify opting in to becoming an ostrich. 

But, no. Here you stand, taking it on the chin (and in the wallet)! You are in it, and you’re going to make it work for you because you are not a quitter, because you’ve got guts and gumption, because you believe in your ideas. What’s missing? Sometimes you teeter on the edge of not believing in your SELF. Sometimes you need a re-charge.

Well, step right up, business and professional practice owners and managers and operators and partners and investors! I know you think you’ve got a “killer” business, so I’ll tell ya what I’m gonna do: I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse. Are you ready?

Here’s the deal: You stop reading newspapers and news magazines and newsletters . . . stop watching and listening to news reports and programs . . . take more deep breaths than ever before . . . think more about your family than you normally do and say a few more prayers than you’re used to . . . for 21 days!

If you fail to make something of really major importance happen for you and/or your business in that amount of time –21 days, but you must follow the news abstinence path outlined– I will devote a full blog post to promoting your business interests for free plus provide you –also free– with a professional news release you can use.

I’ll even throw in step-by-step personalized professional guidance on how to make it work . . . Over $2500 worth of professional services for FREE if you fail to succeed with the approach outlined above. No strings attached. No gimmicks. I will not try to sell you on anything else, or on any extension of services.

This is a straight ahead offer.

If you are successful, you get –free– a full 45-minute customized and personalized telephone consultation on how to make more effective and more economical use of your planned and existing marketing efforts. No strings attached. No gimmicks. I will not try to sell you on anything else, or on any extension of services.

This is a straight ahead offer. 

Deadline: You have until July 29th to stake your claim. I will expect a dated, detailed report of the steps you take and the results you produced or failed to produce. You can contact me by email or phone message anytime, and I will respond promptly.

You have nothing to lose except news

(and that never changes anyhow).

                                                      

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jun 18 2011

“FREE” Takes Time!

No-cost/low-cost marketing

 

doesn’t happen overnight!

                                                             

When you commit to spending minimal or no dollars to get your marketing message out to your target market, don’t expect miracles. Be realistic enough to recognize that a great many factors can impact your effectiveness. 

Whatever you do must be well done. If it’s news releases, you need to distribute a series of at least 5 or 6 different ones, 10-20 days apart, to a reliable list of media contacts, whose names and titles are double-check spelled correctly . . . and who are treated with utmost respect and gratitude for consideration.

Remember you are asking these people to give you free publicity. They decide if you get it or not, if your words are worthy, if they like the way you ask, if they are in a receptive mood, or if they will require you to buy advertising time or space first.

Your releases must be:

  • NEWSWORTHY – Use “enlightened” self-interest, not just self-interest!

  • GRAMMATICALLY FLAWLESS – Use Spellcheck. Use AP and UPI “Style” books, and Strunk and White’s Elements of Style

  • 1.5 PAGES MAX, AND 1.5 – 2 LINES PARAGRAPH SPACING

  • 3-4-LINE PARAGRAPHS

  • ACCOMPANIED BY:

    • Your contact info
    • Interesting, captioned photos whenever possible
    • Short, personalized-as-possible cover notes that point out why each release will have interest to the recipient’s reader or broadcast audiences

If you’re using social media and/or emails (and you should be on both counts, if for no other reason than to support and promote the use of releases), think before you “Send.”

Always include a shortened link to your site. Be social. A steady stream of sales pitches, day after day numbs Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn subscriber brains into Delete Mode.

As with your news release headline, make sure your message attracts attention without being alarmist or overstepping acceptable boundaries of good taste.

Be smart enough to realize that the economical course of action you choose for your marketing simply does not offer the same accelerated pace of providing and paying for an advertisement and getting immediate exposure.

“Free” takes time!

Expect — even when everything and every person involved in the process falls neatly into place — it’s going to take you longer than you want it to, to make things happen.

                                              

A news release that finds its way to a receptive editor may get tossed at the last minute because a major news event breaks. Coverage of that takes priority because it sells newspapers, magazines and broadcast aduiences.

That’s what sells advertising time and space and that’s what pays salaries.

                                                            

# # #

                                                   

Your FREE subscription: Posts RSS Feed

Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

No responses yet

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