In marketing, the more focused your messages are, the more effective they will be and the more business they will generate for you. A focused marketing message speaks directly to the reader, in a language they understand. It addresses a challenge or opportunity that’s directly relevant to them. These messages have the power to motivate the reader to take action, to; buy from you, call you, email you or visit you.
Compare that kind of focused approach, to what we see with the typical marketing messages used by small and medium sized businesses…
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Sales leads or enquiries, are an essential part of the marketing process. After all, a steady flow of good quality sales leads, when acted upon correctly, can lead to a regular stream of lucrative business and allow business owners to plan ahead with confidence.
SO, this post gives you TEN 10 popular and powerful lead generation ideas, to add to your marketing arsenal…
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Endorsed Relationships, have been referred to by marketing experts, including Jay Abraham, as the most powerful form of marketing in the world. I totally agree. This brief post, will show you what endorsed relationships are and how you can use them to market your business.
What is an Endorsed Relationship?
An endorsed relationship, in marketing terms, is simply a relationship you form with another person / company / brand, where they endorse (or recommend) you and your services to their clients, customers and contacts. This can come via literally any form of marketing…
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Is your marketing shouting at people?
If you go into Starbucks today and start shouting at the people around you, you will definitely grab their attention. However, it’s not the kind of attention you want to attract. Many small businesses use a very similar approach with their marketing. In an effort to capture attention, they act in a way that gets them noticed, but for all the wrong reasons.
They not only fail to generate new business; they can permanently damage the reputation of their business too.
Some examples of how companies shout at people with their sales and marketing:
* Adding people to their newsletter list, without permission. It’s spam.
* Spamming people on Twitter.
* Meeting people at networking events and using that transparent crap; “tell me about your business and how I can help you.” Wake up, it’s not 1985 any more!
* Asking people to join their Linkedin network, claiming they worked with them (when both parties know it’s a lie.)
* Unwanted telemarketing calls to people’s homes at 8pm. Just what you need when getting a young child to sleep or relaxing after a hard day….
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There’s a big difference between learning something and learning something of value. When I speak with people about my services, I often say;
“Some coaches teach so others can learn – That’s not me!
Some coaches teach so others can accomplish – That IS me!”
This is because not all information is the same. I meet with businesspeople all the time, who tell me how much they enjoyed a certain book or how interesting they found a seminar or workshop they attended – BUT that they still have the same problems or challenges. They were educated, but with the wrong information for their unique situation…
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I had one of those moments earlier, where something suddenly clicks into place. I figured out that Jims Marketing Blog is not actually a blog.
Yes, it’s built using blog software, but it’s not a true blog. A blog (short for web log) was originally supposed to be an online journal. That’s why everything’s presented in [...]
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When you are looking for new ideas or you need to solve a problem, do you think on paper? This post will show you 2 very simple, easy to use tools, which can help you become massively more creative and a superstar problem solver.
I was working at my desk the other day, when a friend [...]
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If you use email or blogging to market your services, I believe you will find the following information really useful.
It’s all about the importance of avoiding certain words or phrases in your emails and blog posts, which could get them blocked from reaching your readers.
Whilst there are many different things that can lead to an [...]
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One of the secrets of great communication, is to pick the correct delivery method, to get the maximum, targeted exposure for your message. We refer to this as “giving oxygen” to your marketing.
Marketing oxygen
Some of you will have noticed that when I made my BIG announcement here yesterday, I closed the comments section for that [...]
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If you write a commercial blog or you are thinking of starting one, I would really appreciate it, if you would take a moment to check out The Ideas Blog.
Why?
It’s a blog I created, that’s designed especially for bloggers who want to turn their blogging into a financially successful business or income stream.
However, unlike most [...]
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This post is all about the marketing impact of perception, and how the way people feel has a massive influence, on whether or not they buy from or recommend certain brands.
The marketplace’s perception of a brand or industry is extremely important, which is why big brands work so hard to ensure that the general perception [...]
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How do you feel about people, who criticise you or your work negatively?
Well, if you are thinking of using a blog as a part of your marketing mix, (and you should), you will need to figure out how to deal with them. This is especially the case, if your blog becomes popular.
The 2 sides of [...]
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I’ve had a few emails this week, after technorati.com ranked this blog inside the world’s top 10 small business blogs for the first time.
Whilst this ranking will go up and down all the time, to have actually reached that spot is quite an achievement, for a marketing blog that’s little over a year old.
People wrote [...]
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I want to share a valuable piece of advice with you, which I received from my mentor; the late, great Jim Rohn. Here’s what Jim used to say;
“Have something worth saying and say it well.
Jim would use that phrase when speaking about effective communication and I believe it’s also a very simple, powerful way to [...]
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As regular readers will know, I’ve made a career out of helping businesses and entrepreneurs achieve measurable sales results.
Recently, I have started to use the term “bankable results” to refer to my style of marketing. This phrase was commented on by one of my readers and regular contributors, Robin Dickinson. So, I thought I would [...]
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This post is all about the importance of how you present and deliver your marketing messages. Content may be king, but if that content is delivered inappropriately, no one will read it.
Here’s a recent example of what I mean.
I was emailed today by a company that wanted me to buy some software. I could tell [...]
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If you are planning to start the New Year with a marketing push, here are a few questions you might want to ask yourself, before you proceed. Think of this as a simple, New Year marketing check list.
So, before you invest a penny of your money, or your time, on marketing for 2010; take a [...]
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Ever wondered why some blog posts get lots of comments and other posts get very few?
I have one post on this blog with almost 700 comments and others with just a few, so why does this happen? Well, there are thousands of posts around the Internet, offering long lists of what to do in order [...]
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In just a couple of weeks, your customer base or client base will come under attack!
Why?
Because January is when your most savvy competitors will launch their New Year marketing initiatives. These guys are the one’s you need to watch out for, as they tend to do things very effectively, (it’s why I call them savvy.) [...]
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