41-13, 46-21, 09-38, 53-22,
25-20, 25-44, 25-28, 25-52, 49-41, 20-13, 35-06, 35-53, 35-03,
35-43, 29-46, 29-32, 29-30, 29-21, 29-34, 15-53, 15-13, 07-05,
07-13, 28-52, 28-38, 40-19, 24-03, 24-34, 12-18, 45-40, 21-34.
This week's
leads focus...
- Robert Busch
- Bob Becker
- Reg & Jean Batt
[membersonly/archives/former_members/wolfe.htm]
This section
currently Under Construction
Lisa Wolfe began by thanking members for business over past
couple of years. People have been very generous.
Her Hobby
Lisa has found a new rekindled passion for horses. She went from 1 to
5 horses over a span of one
year. She is back down to 4 now. She will begin breeding
one of her horses soon. Anyone that knows about horses knows what
a money pit they are. Lisa has been searching for a way to make
her $40,000
hobby deductible. She found it!
She came up with the idea of publishing a bi-monthly magazine. She
is ready to start distributing it soon.
Her Agency
Her agency is doing well. After six years it is
nice to be over the hump of worrying about getting business. It is much
easier to keep a client than get a new one. Customer satisfaction
is so important. Lisa shared a unique customer service experience
she had that made her a customer for life. She was shock when a
company exceeded her expectations.
Too many take customer care for
granted.
Advertising
People often say "l have tried advertising, it doesn't work!"
This is not true. It does work if you work the process. Look
at the recent flood of political ads. Business ads are being bumped by
these political ads because stations have to run them. But look at
how effective they are. It is all about frequency.
You also need to have a website in this
day and age. If nothing else, at least put a static page up there with your
contact information.
More extraordinary marketing and great
ads have been lost because the business owner lost faith or didn't have
the patience to see the process through. The hardest
step into advertising is
taking that first step. They have thought about it, researched it
but they can't take that first step.
Some of the things your customer wants
to know...They really are not interested in what your product and
service is. They want to know how if it is going to help them.
Its a features-benefits argument - How is it going to save me time?
How is it going to increase my income? Is it going to reduce my stress?
Is it going to cause people to think more highly of me? If you
can't talk them into one of those things than you are wasting your
money. You must present
your service or product in away that is beneficial to them when they see
or hear your ad.
People patronize businesses for a wide
variety of reasons - Convenience. Confidence in
seller. Quality of the offering. Service (as defined by the
customer). Selection.
Advertising is expensive. Bad
marketing is even worse. It usually occurs with an impatient client.
You have to be patient and give it time. It requires consistency and commitment. Ego is
another one. Business owners know a little about a lot of things
including marketing that they learned about 25 years ago in college.
But marketing has changed and you need to have someone that is up to speed
on it.
Businesses comment that they get by on word-of-mouth... But
you're not growing. And the "everybody knows me" argument doesn't fly in our fast growing community.
People are often overwhelmed by
marketing. They know they have to do it but it is always the last
thing on the list of things to do. They don't know where to
start. They don't want to start. And when they don't see
results right away they lose confidence.
Marking
is not an event. It is a
process. It has a beginning, a middle but should not have an end.
As long as you are in business you should be doing something to market
yourself. You can pull back if you need to during a slow period
but don't stop or you will lose momentum. In this day and age businesses come and
go. If you are not out in front of people they will assume you are no
longer in business. You approve it, you perfect it, you change it,
you can even pause it but you should never stop.
You need to find the apparent drama in
what you are offering. If it is not interesting to you, it is not
going to be interesting to someone else. You need to translate the
drama into a meaningful benefit. And then you need to state those
benefits as believably as possible.
You need to get their attention.
How many times have you seen an ad but wondered what was it for?
You need to measure the results.
Ask people that call how they found out about you.
You can piggyback off of other
advertisings and maximize your dollars.
Your strategy is your blueprint.
If your ad fails to fulfill that strategy, its a lousy ad no matter how
much you love it.
The internet
is a part of advertising that cannot be ignored. Your website is
an island if that is all you are doing. It is a very passive form
of advertising just like the yellow pages. You need to advertise a
bridge to that island.
The internet has changed everything. We still don't know the
internet can do for your business. It is constantly evolving.
Rather than making advertising with standard mediums such as TV and
radio antique, the internet has strengthened them because you can now
drive people to your website. You should promote your website on
everything. The larger the internet grows, the more important the
role of advertising will be and the greater its power is going to be.
You move people from apathy to
interest, from interest to buying. You get them to this point
through advertising and the internet.
There are 2 different kinds of
marketing. Permission marketing - You give are given
permission to market to people. You've asked for some information
from them. Asked if it is OK to, for instance, email something to
them. Interruption marketing - Your typical radio, TV,
direct mail...the worst being telephone solicitation. You offer
your prospect an enticement to volunteer to pay attention to your
advertisement.
No advertisement campaign can work by
itself. You build it. Don't stop doing door hangers just
because you now can afford television. Door hangers brought you to
the dance.
You will spend most of your time on
permission marketing. Once you've obtain that permission your
marketing will take on 3 characteristics...They will anticipate it, it
will be personal and it will be relevant. If they do get an
email from you, they won't automatically delete it and will usually act
on it.
Rules to boost your profits that
doesn't cost a lot of money.
-
10/30/60 Rule - There are 3 markets
every business has...(1) The universe - That's everybody.
Taking the shot gun approach. Use 10% of your marketing budget
to market to those people to move them to your next level which is
(2) your prospects. These are the people that fit your
customer profile. You should use 30% of your budget to nudge
people into your third market which is (3) your customer. This
is the market that we tend to overlook. After you make the
sale, do you follow-up? This can be incredibly important.
Smart marketers know that they can maximize their investment by
keeping a customer that they already have.
-
1/10/100 Rule - (1) $1 spent
communicating with your staff. The person answering the phone
can be the most important person in your company. They need to
know what the company is doing. Equivalent to (2) $10
spent communicating with your trade. Equivalent to (3) $100
spent talking to your customers. Never overlook the marketing
power you have in your own staff.
-
The Rule of 3rds - Particularly for
your website...1/3 to design and hosting, 1/3 to attracting people
to your site (you have to reach them offline), and 1/3 to improving
and maintaining your site (keep it fresh and fascinating). You
have to face up to the reality that it is going to cost you twice
what you think because technology is constantly changing.
Some of the things advertising should
always be...Readable, informative, clear, honest, simple, on strategy,
motivating, competitive, specific and believable.
Some of the things it should not
do...Don't let the artwork overpower your idea, the headline or copy.
Don't let the art fail to advance the sale, grab title readers, get the
ad or spot noticed, or don't let it fail to be different. Don't
let the art be created in a hurry. Don't let the art fight the
product's identity.
Use your voicemail
to a minimum!
Reasons TV commercials are
losers...More entertaining than motivating, Its not clear with its
promise, Its got visual but depends on words, Lacking in credibility,
Very high pressure, A fabulous film but a terrible commercial, Its so
clever you forget who ran it, Its so rapped up in special effects its
devoid of an idea, Its too complex or its just plain boring!
Reasons TV commercials are
winners...Clear about competitive advantage, They're intensely visual,
Professional looking, Believable, Credible, Creates a powerful desire,
Focused, It demonstrates the benefit, Its fascinating even the 10th time
you see it.
Seven top reasons advertising fails...
-
Premature abandonment
-
Picking the wrong media for the
right audience
-
Picking the right media for the
wrong audience
-
Unrealistic expectations
-
Over/Under- spending
-
Not supporting the advertising with
other marketing
-
Judging the future by the past
Handouts
[100
Ways to Promote Your Business] [Frequency]