34 marketing tips and ideas

The title of this post says it all - so let’s get straight to the first marketing tip!

Marketing tip number 1:

When you send a marketing email to someone on a ‘list’ you bought or hired, they do not know who you are.  Therefore, they are highly likely to consider your message as ‘spammy‘.  Not only are they very unlikely to buy from you, they might start Twittering or telling their FaceBook / LinkedIn contacts that your company just spammed them!

Marketing tip number 2:

Learn to identify the difference between marketing activities you can do, and those you can do effectively.  Anyone “can” write a marketing letter or email, but a specialist copywriter can get (literally) thousands of percent better response rates than a keen amateur.

Marketing tip number 3:

If you want your business to benefit from word of mouth publicity, it’s essential to give people something worth talking about!

Marketing tip number 4:

Give your clients a call from time to time, just to see how they are.  Don’t even think of trying to sell them something, just engage them as a fellow human being.

Marketing tip number 5:

Become famous within your industry for how well you look after your customers. This kind of reputation is gold dust.  Offering the best customer service means you will retain your existing clients for longer and find it far easier to win new customers too.

Marketing tip number 6:

Review your current marketing activities and immediately stop anything that is not working. Most small business owners have 2 or 3 forms of marketing, which they stick with primarily because they are “comfortable” with them.

Marketing tip number 7:

The most successful businesses don’t wait until things ‘slow down’ before they focus on marketing. Marketing is an ongoing function within all successful businesses.

Marketing tip number 8:

When was the last time your accountant or bank manager recommended a new client or customer to you? If it’s been a while, meet with them and ask them why. These people have “credible access” to thousands of contacts and could be a great source of new customers.

Marketing tip number 9:

Look outside your industry for marketing ideas and inspiration.  When you simply replicate the marketing activities of your competitors, it’s harder and more expensive for your message to be seen / heard / read.

Marketing tip number 10:

Using a genuine, handwritten signature on your marketing letters can increase your positive response rates significantly.  Though this can only realistically be used on smaller mailings, it is worth the extra effort.

Marketing tip number 11:

Invest in a book, audio program or training course, on how to handle inbound ‘phone calls more effectively.  Even if it only improved your effectiveness by 15 or 20 percent, you could see a real increase in new business over the coming 6 months.

Marketing tip number 12:

Turn your website into a lead generating machine in two EASY steps. Firstly, get the site Search Engine Optimised, so stacks of targeted prospective clients can find you.  Secondly, get your website copy written by an expert, so the people who find you are motivated to call you, visit your premises or email you.  This is an extremely powerful and cost effective way to generate targeted business and enquiries.

Marketing tip number 13:

Keep copies of any marketing material, which motivated you to buy something or register for something. Then, see what you can learn and apply into your business.

Marketing tip number 14:

Your best ideas can come at any time, so make sure it’s always easy for you to capture them.  I recommend you carry a small digital audio recorder. They cost very little and are a lot easier to use than a notepad; especially if you are out for a run at the time!

Marketing tip number 15:

Always look for ways to increase the value of your services.  The more value you offer, the easier it is to win new clients and the harder it is for someone to tempt them away!

Marketing tip number 16:

Who is the most successful company or person in your industry right now?  Find out and then see what you can learn from their success. A quick study of the least successful people in your industry can be equally valuable, by showing you what to avoid!

Marketing tip number 17:

Make sure your full contact details are visible on every email you send.

Marketing tip number 18:

Can you give at least one really good reason why someone should use your services, rather than any of your competitors? If not, it’s time to add a uniquely valuable dimension to your service. It’s easier, less expensive and the results come faster – when you market a uniquely valuable service, as opposed to an ‘average’ one.

Marketing tip number 19:

Before you take marketing advice from anyone, especially online, check out their background first.  Much of the free marketing advice on the Internet is so poor that it could seriously damage a business.

Marketing tip number 20:

Testimonials can be extremely effective, but only if used correctly.  Make sure that the testimonials you use in your marketing, are from people your prospective clients can identify with and that they compliment different elements of your services.

Marketing tip number 21:

What do prospective clients see, when they search for your name or your organisations name on Google?  Over 95% of people now check a potential supplier out on a search engine, before deciding to use them or not.

Marketing tip number 22:

When writing a marketing message, focus it 100% on your most preferred prospective client type. Unfocused marketing messages do not compel, motivate or inspire people to respond. By trying to appeal to too wide a group of people, you fail to be directly relevant to anyone. Focus, focus, focus!

Marketing tip number 23:

Avoid using address labels on mail shots - it’s what many junk mail senders use. You will get a better response rate if you use window envelopes, with the name and address printed onto the letter; because more people will actually open the envelope.

Marketing tip number 24:

Never moan to your contacts about how bad business is, even when things are quiet.  Bad news spreads fast and people avoid doing business with (and recommending) what they think might be a “sinking ship.”

Marketing tip number 25:

Avoid the use of buzzwords in your marketing or negotiations whenever possible.

Marketing tip number 26:

Other then your direct competitors, who already has a great relationship with your prospective clients?  Their endorsement of you and your services is gold dust. Now, think of how to motivate them, so that they want to share how brilliant you are with their network.  The results can be amazing.

Marketing tip number 27:

People hate being pestered or pursed.  If you want to attract business, stop chasing it!

Marketing tip number 28:

I have never paid a penny for advertising, however, in the past 14 days, 3 of the best known companies in the world have asked me for marketing help or advice.  This is purely because of my reputation and my online presence. What are you doing, to attract enquiries for free?

Marketing tip number 29:

Start a blog and post new material to it whenever you have something valuable you want to share.  Blogs are either free or inexpensive, yet they can be excellent for developing your reputation as an expert and for communicating with people.

Marketing tip number 30:

Does your website have a contact form that people can use to get in touch?  If so, make it as easy as possible for people to use, by asking for as little information as possible. Name & email address should be enough for someone to make an enquiry. Asking for their company name, phone, location etc just puts people off!

Marketing tip number 31:

Let your personality come through your business. People find it easier to connect with a business when it has a personality – than when a business feels cold or impersonal.

Marketing tip number 32:

When building your business network, size is far, far less important than quality.  Don’t waste your time ‘connecting’ with people, who lack influence or reach. A network of 10, extremely well connected, influential people is USUALLY more than you will ever need!  BTW: You won’t meet these people at a typical networking ‘club.’

Marketing tip number 33:

It’s far easier to sell something to an existing client than it is to sell something to a stranger.  Find 3 new services, which are profitable for you to provide and which your clients really need – then offer them to your clients.  This is probably the fastest way for you to generate a huge increase in turnover and profits.

Marketing tip number 34:

Subscribe to my marketing newsletter and get articles like this one, once a month!

Remember to share!

If you find these tips and ideas interesting, please share them on your favourite social network, using the link below.

Related posts:

1. How to get your fees or prices right in 3 steps!
2. How to make sales the easy way!
3. Common marketing mistakes 101
4. How to sell ANYTHING!
5. Marketing in a recession

6 Comments so far - leave yours by clicking here

Quick networking tip!

I was just looking at a website, where the owner has a small banner, which pleads with total strangers to join his LinkedIn network.  I checked out his Twitter profile, and he’s doing the same there too.  It’s actually a pretty common tactic among some businesspeople, who think it will help them develop their business.

If they can just get another 100 or 1000 people into their ‘network’, business will start to pick up…..right?

Wrong!

I have been building and studying commercial networks for over 20 years and have personally experienced (literally) life changing results.  In every case, the most valuable networks were always those that were built by people who focused on quality, rather than quantity.  These networks contained influential people, who had credible access to the people or organisations that the networker needed to know.

Low leverage networking

Most networking I see, especially online, is not just low leverage - it’s super-low leverage.

For example, I see web designers, SEO experts, consultants etc who are wasting stacks of time trying to get 1,000 strangers into their ‘network’, when they could get endorsed access to 10,000 or 50,000 targeted businesses or people, via just one influential, well-connected contact.

A network of just 10 highly influential, respected people is of massively more commercial value to you, than a network of 100 or 1000 people with little influence, interest or reach.

Networking tip

Focus on building a new commercial network, with just 10 people, who have credible access to thousands or more of your prospective clients.  These people can help you get the backing, the sales, traction or the audience your project needs.

Related posts:

1. Networking and numbers
2. The value of your network
3. 6 words to transform your results!
4. Common marketing mistakes 101
5. Online networking & attraction

9 Comments so far - leave yours by clicking here

My dofollow experiment - The results

In November 2008, I decided to start an experiment. Against the advice of a few SEO professionals, I decided to see what would happen, if I offered ‘dofollow’ links from the comments section of this blog.  I have been able to take this gamble, because this blog is 100% free of advertisers, affiliates and sponsors.  In other words, I have none of the traffic pressures many of my fellow bloggers have.

After 6 months, here’s my experience.

What’s a dofollow link?

Briefly, for those who do not already know, when you leave a comment on a dofollow blog, the links you put in your comment are followed by Google, from the blog, to wherever your link points.  However, the vast majority of blogs and websites offer ‘nofollow‘ links, which means that Google is told not to follow the links you leave in your comments.  By offering dofollow links, it’s believed that you give a tiny SEO boost to those who comment on a blog.

The dofollow results

3 weeks ago, I removed the dofollow attribute from the blog, so that I could see what difference, if any, it made.  I thought it would take weeks to notice any real, measurable difference, but the change started after just a few days.

Here’s what happened.

Spam comments from REAL people

Sadly, this blog slowly became a magnet for people seeking to get dofollow links for their sites and their client’s sites.  This form of spammy commenting, has already all but stopped.  This is because those who make a living from targeting dofollow blogs, usually have software installed on their machines, which shows immediately if a blog is dofollow or not; (like Quirk’s popular SearchStatus plugin for firefox).

Let me make this clear - I am NOT talking about automated spam, which every blogger gets.  I am referring to spammy comments left by real people, exclusively designed to get dofollow links to their site (or their client’s sites.)

Search engine results

After just 3 weeks with the dofollow attribute turned off, search traffic to this blog from Google has increased by over 25% (and it’s still increasing.)  My Google Pagerank has also increased from 3 to 5.  I have discussed this considerable increase in search engine traffic with several SEO professionals. It seems the general belief is that I was being penalised by Google, NOT because I offered dofollow links; but because too many of those links pointed to what SEO professionals refer to as ‘bad neighbourhoods.’

In other words, people were linking to dubious sites from here and I was being penalised by search engines for allowing it.

I believe that this problem can be rectified, by manually checking the URL’s of every link left by every person who comments. However, this blog has around 4000 comments - one post alone has almost 700 comments (and growing!)  The large number of comments on this blog, made it just too time consuming for me to manually check the URL destination of each comment. Yes, there is software out there which is supposed to be able to do this for you, but I found it to be way too inaccurate - often claiming great blogs were spammy and visa versa.

Conclusion

Just offering dofollow links shouldn’t have any negative impact on a blog - providing you have the time to be able to manually check out the URL of every person who comments on your blog AND you are able to correctly identify what is a good or bad neighbourhood.

This causes a REAL dilemma though.  That’s because the temptation is to delete any comment from someone, with a link that you are not 100% sure about.  This inevitably means you run the risk of deleting comments from great, genuine people.

Dofollow clues

There’s an old saying in marketing, which tells us; “success leaves clues.” So, this weekend, I checked out the 50 most successful blogs that I read and NONE of them offer dofollow comment links. By the way, these include; scobleizer.com, chrisbrogan.com, problogger.com, copyblogger.com as well as techcrunch, mashable, ducttapemarketing.com and veronica belmont’s blog.

Over the past 6 months, my dofollow experiment has been really interesting.  My conclusion is that dofollow is a GREAT idea, if you have the time to check out the URL of every comment and the ability to call it right each time.

If you only get a few comments a day and can afford the time to check them out - Go for it!  However, if you get a lot of comments to your blog and you want to avoid a lot of extra work, I think you have a call to make. 

Ironically, the dofollow benefits you give your commenters will make very little difference to their SEO anyway.

This post covers my unique, personal experience with dofollow links.  I would like to hear your experiences with dofollow links or nofollow links.  What kind of impact did they have on your blog; positive or negative?

Related posts:

1. Internet marketing experiment update!
2. Google and me!
3. Link love, Google and spammers
4. I’m following you!
5. Dear Google

8 Comments so far - leave yours by clicking here

Join me on Twitter - Don’t follow me!

With marketing and business development, it’s all too easy to focus only on the BIG issues. However, small things can make a massive difference and totally change how people think about us.

I decided to write this quick post, after receiving the comment below from one of my readers, Joni Mueller. Here’s what Joni said:

Excellent article and excellent case study. I also like the little subtleties on your web site. For example, I’ve never seen anyone invite me to “join” them on Twitter, it’s always follow me or find me. “Join” me implies there will be a two-way interaction. That’s great. Glad I stumbled onto this site from Twitter.

One small word

A marketing professional knows there’s a massive difference between the phrase ‘join me’ and the phrase “follow me.” By changing just one word in that phrase, you dramatically change the meaning of the phrase.  Asking someone to follow you sounds incredibly arrogant!  It suggests you are referring to your readers as if they are fans.

Pop stars, movie stars and professional sportspeople have followers / fans - not people like you and me.

We have friends and contacts. People don’t follow us, they join us.

Related posts:

1. The Seth Godin blog strategy
2. Why I’m leaving Twitter!
3. How I attracted 8000 Twitter followers in 14 weeks!
4. Seth Godin and Twitter
5. Building your twitter network

9 Comments so far - leave yours by clicking here

Customer service and social media

This is a quick update to a recent post.

I wrote here last month, about the added importance of customer service these days - because of the growth of social media and the massive reach this now gives your customers.  My blog post detailed the poor experience I had with o2 customer service - my mobile / cell phone provider.

I explained how a disgruntled customer today has access to thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people, via social media tools like; blogs, Twitter, FriendFeed, FaceBook etc.  Just a few years ago, an unhappy customer typically had very little influence or reach. The power was all with the provider - but that’s all changed now!

Update

Since writing that post, I started noticing lots of people arriving here from Google, after searching for the term “o2 customer service.” At the time of writing this, my o2 post appears on page 2 of Google for that search term!

I have no idea how many people have since read about my experience, but it certainly shows the influence consumers have right now and why great customer service is more important than ever.

I would like to give o2 the chance to respond, but I have heard nothing from them since publishing the original post.

Related posts:

1. Customer service in the Twitter age!
2. Link love, Google and spammers
3. Google and me!
4. Why I’m leaving Twitter!
5. Highly Recommended: Chris Brogan’s blog

11 Comments so far - leave yours by clicking here

What if Twitter suspended YOUR account?

I was just telling someone about a chat I had a couple of weeks ago, with a VERY stressed out Twitter user.  This person, who shall remain nameless, had (for no reason) seen his Twitter account suspended.  He was absolutely distraught and called my office (here in the UK) from his office in San Francisco.

He introduced himself to me, explained what had happened and then told me that he relied on Twitter for 75% of the traffic to his company’s website and most of their sales enquiries.

“If I can’t get my Twitter account back Jim, I don’t know what I will do!”

In case you don’t already know, the reason he asked for my help, is that I write a very widely read Tech News Blog, have a few influential friends and almost 20,000 people following my Tech News Blog on Twitter @thetechnewsblog .

The reason I mention this guy’s predicament, is that it’s a PERFECT example of two common marketing mistakes.

Too many eggs in one basket is a bad idea

Firstly, he was relying too heavily on just one marketing activity.  It’s always better to have a broad marketing mix, with at least half a dozen, high leverage marketing activities.  By the way, I recommend you take a look at FriendFeed and add it to your marketing mix!

Your house, your rules!

Secondly, he placed his company’s primary source of new business, directly out of his control.  This blog is owned by me and I have a community of brilliant people, who comment here, email me and recommend the blog to their friends.  So, as long as I work hard to provide interesting content, the success of the blog’s community is within my control.  It can’t be suspended in error, like this poor guy’s Twitter account.

If you are in business and have developed an online community that you value, I strongly recommend you encourage them to engage with you on YOUR TURF!  Get a blog or add a forum to your website - or do both.  Don’t allow all that hard work and value to go to waste, just because some third-party screws up your account or goes broke!

Related posts:

1. Twitter follower problem
2. Great free advertising
3. Marketing Guru’s, equality and attraction
4. Join me on Twitter - Don’t follow me!
5. Clear marketing sells

4 Comments so far - leave yours by clicking here

Stop pushing!

If you are walking down the street and a stranger pushes you, they get your attention!  Of course, the attention you are giving them is 100% negative, because people don’t like being pushed!

If your sales or marketing is based on pushing, you can expect the same negative attention from the marketplace.

Common types of pushy marketing

• Cornering a stranger at a networking event or conference, while you recite your well-rehearsed “elevator pitch” to them.
• Sending people unsolicited email, no matter how “special” your offer is. They will consider it spam and everyone hates spam.
• Sending automated, DM’s (direct messages) to strangers, who have just followed you on Twitter, telling them to click links or add you to their FaceBook or LinkedIn network etc.

If you want people to be attracted to you, your business and what you have to offer, don’t push them away.

Related posts:

1. Link love, Google and spammers
2. First impressions count - even online!
3. Clear marketing sells
4. The power of attraction marketing
5. Being positive about your business

10 Comments so far - leave yours by clicking here

More traffic to your site in 2 easy steps!

If you own a website or blog and you want to dramatically increase the number and quality of visitors you get, you need to encourage people who visit your site, to share what they find with their friends.

Thankfully, we know that when people find material on a website, which they believe will be of interest to their friends and contacts, they are more than happy to forward it to them.  This is why websites like FriendFeed, StumbleUpon, YouTube, Twitter and Digg have become so popular. They allow people to easily share things with their friends.

In order for you to benefit from the viral power of the Internet, there are two things you should consider.

1. Content

Firstly, you need to have content on your site, which is worth sharing.  This means your content has to be better and more valuable than the typical material, which people find on your kind of site or blog.  Many blog owners feel compelled to write ’something’ every day; indeed many so-called “social marketing gurus” even write posts telling people to do this.  The challenge this presents, is that very few businesspeople have the time required to write new, valuable content every day.

Post only when you have something worth sharing and focus on quality, not quantity.

2. Make it easy to share

Secondly, you need to make it super-easy for people to share your material with their friends.  I use a free plugin for this blog called sharethis, (see below), which allows people to share what they find here, on any sharing or bookmarking site (or via email) - quickly and easily.  Just a few mouse clicks and that’s it!

As a result of focusing on what I believe to be valuable content AND making it as easy as possible for people to share it, I get thousands of new visitors from sharing / bookmarking websites every week.

A quick tip!

Take a moment to look at the last few websites, articles, videos, blog posts or whatever; which YOU have passed on to your friends.  Now ask yourself this question: “What was it that motivated you to share that material and how can YOU use that same kind of motivation, to get others to share YOUR content?”

Your answer to that question is a good starting point!

Related posts:

1. 3 great Internet marketing tips
2. Marketing Blog Update
3. Good marketing advice?
4. Marketing Guru’s, equality and attraction
5. Focus on people - Not ‘hits’!

10 Comments so far - leave yours by clicking here