Jim's Marketing Blog

Marketing tips and ideas to help you grow your business

What are Joint Ventures and how do they work?

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Joint Ventures, often known simply as JV’s, can be an extremely effective way to generate new business.  This is probably why so many of you asked me for information on Joint Ventures, when I asked you for your marketing questions recently.

The following is a brief explanation of what JV’s are and how they work.

Joint Ventures explained

I’m sure there are a few different definitions of the term Joint Venture, but it’s actually pretty straight forward.  It’s simply a way for 2 or more parties to market their services more effectively.  This usually means reducing the cost of one’s marketing, increasing the reach of one’s marketing or both.  Here’s a common example:

2 or more companies can put a mail shot together, where a piece of marketing from each company is included in the envelope.  The cost of the mailing is usually shared between both companies.  This is most effective, when YOUR marketing piece is being sent to THEIR mailing list.  You should then reciprocate, by offering THEM the same opportunity with YOUR mailing list.  This form of cross marketing can be extremely powerful, if you pick the right JV partner.

Joint Ventures and potential hazards

There are a few things you need to consider, before investing in a Joint Venture.  These include:

  • Never do a JV with someone you don’t know or have not thoroughly researched.  This week alone, I have seen someone on Twitter, openly recommending a well-known con artist to her clients and friends!  Whilst this was not a JV, it is an example of how easy it is to align one’s reputation, with someone that can seriously damage their own good name.
  • Find a Joint Venture partner, who is in a complimentary but non-conflicting industry to your own.  For instance, an accountant could offer my marketing services to her contacts and I could offer the accountant’s services to my contacts.  That’s because neither of us offer a service, which might take business from the other.
  • The most successful JV’s are mutually beneficial.  As with any deal, it’s really important that both parties benefit equally.  If you find that you’re the one getting all the new business and not the other person, there’s no incentive for them to continue.If this happens, consider offering the other person a commission or reward for anything you generate. Keep it balanced and everyone benefits!

Joint Ventures can be a useful way to reduce your marketing costs and get your message in front of a stack of new, prospective clients or customers.

However, in my next post, I am going to show you something that’s more powerful than a JV and which can help you generate amazing results very, very quickly!

Response rates and timing

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Here is a simple marketing tip, to help you quickly improve your mail shot, email marketing and blogging response rates.

response rate email mail shotsIt’s all about – Timing.

Even if your marketing message is irresistible, you will only get the maximum return form it, if you get it in front of people at the right time.  This holds true, regardless of what form of marketing you use – though in this post I will focus on; mail shots, email marketing and blog posts.

Mail shot response rates

If you send a business to business mail shot out, which people receive first thing Monday morning, it will typically get a lower response rate than the same mailing would, if it arrived on a Tuesday – Friday morning.  Letters that arrive on Monday morning, have to fight for the reader’s attention, against all the other Monday mail PLUS all the mail that arrived on Saturday.  Equally, Monday morning is usually a particularly busy time for most businesses, meaning the reader often has less time to read their mail too.

In short, by arriving first thing Monday morning, your mailing could be reaching people who have less time to read it and it will have to compete for their attention, against a lot more mail.   Does avoiding the Monday morning post make a massive difference? No, but it will usually give you a better return.  Now, as it costs you the same to send a mail shot, regardless of what day you post it, it makes sense to avoid Monday’s and improve your response rates.

Whether you sell business to business or direct to the consumer, you need to find out when your target audience is most likely to have the time to read your message.  This is why testing and measuring your marketing feedback is so important.

Email marketing response rates

Timing is also important for email marketing.  In my experience, you should get business to business marketing emails out during office hours; again avoiding Monday mornings.

For example, the best time to send my marketing newsletter, is after 9:30am Tuesday – Friday.  I have tested and measured this for almost 4 years and the results are constant.  Think about it and it makes perfect sense.  If Sue gets into her office Monday morning and finds my newsletter in with 30 pieces of spam or junk email, that arrived since she left work on Friday evening, it’s way too easy for her to delete the newsletter by mistake.

It also makes it harder for her to actually see my newsletter, in with all that clutter and junk.

Blog post viewing numbers

I have spoken to many, many business bloggers who have all found that their weekend posts are usually read by far fewer people than their weekday posts. Clearly, a lot of people disconnect from their business or job between Friday evening and Monday morning.

However, a lot of bloggers write their blog posts during the weekend, because it’s the only time they have available to write – Then publish their posts immediately.  In my experience, this is not usually the best way to maximise your reach.

I find that when I publish a post on a Saturday, the post will usually get just 25% as many views as it would have got, if I published the same kind of post during the week.  On a Sunday the numbers are usually a lot higher, but still 50% lower than a midweek post.  So, if you only post once a week or less and you write a business to business blog, avoid publishing your content during the weekend.  It’s fine to write posts whenever you like, but businesspeople read in greater numbers during the working week.

Of course, if you blog 7 days a week like many professional bloggers, this is far less of an issue.

Your experiences?

I would love to know if YOU have noticed any time-related trends, when you send or publish marketing material. If you have anything to add, please share it below.

A letter from Google

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I received a sales letter last week from Google. That’s right, one of the world’s leading email providers contacted me; not via an email, but via a letter.

Email marketing and Google

google email marketingGoogle already has my email address, because I am a user of a number of their services – including Gmail. So, it would have been very easy for them to have sent me the same sales message in an email. However, Google know that they will get a higher response rate from a targeted letter than from a sales email.

If the owners of Gmail are writing letters with sales offers, rather than sending sales emails, there’s a BIG marketing lesson here!

People hate sales emails and spam

People have a VERY low tolerance for emails, which are just sales messages.  The letter from Google was exactly that – a sales message.  However, I did open the letter and read it.  Had Google sent me that same sales offer via email, it would have been deleted, unopened; as soon as I read the subject line (no matter how clever it was!)

The average person hates spam with a passion and many tend to consider all sales emails (no matter how well targeted) as spam. As a result, not only is a prospective customer or client unlikely to respond to a typical sales email, they are very likely to develop strong, negative feelings about the sender too.

Is email marketing dead

No, not at all! Email marketing, when handled correctly, is still extremely powerful and getting more powerful all the time.

If you re-read the above, you will see that I use the term ‘sales emails.’  Sales emails are extremely low leverage and increasingly ineffective.  These are emails that contain a sales message and are often sent to a ‘list’, which the sender has either bought, borrowed or built by harvesting email addresses from business cards / directories etc.

Unless the sender has a good relationship / rapport with the people on that list, the sales emails they send will be deleted before they are read.

Email marketing & sales emails

Email marketing could not be more different. For example, I write a very popular marketing newsletter, which contains a unique marketing article or some valuable marketing ideas / advice.  Most editions have zero advertising.  Occasionally, I will include a single, one paragraph piece to promote something I am involved in.  The response rates are fantastic, because my readers already know me and trust me.  Some of my readers even blog about how much they value my newsletter.

In fact, many of my readers tell me that they have ‘Jim Connolly’ marketing folders on their computers, where they file my newsletters, for future reading.  How many people keep spam email or sales emails on file? No one!

Mail shots, direct mail, marketing letters

The overuse of sales emails is creating a growing resistance to them within the marketplace.  Obviously, with so many businesses mass emailing sales offers to people, the amount of traditional marketing letters being sent has dropped enormously.  As a consequence, marketing professionals are seeing traditional marketing letters, (sometimes called direct mailings or mail shots,) achieve better and better results.

A well crafted marketing letter, with a hand written signature, sent to a small, targeted group, with a compelling offer and a ‘call to action,’ can be extremely effective right now.

Mail shots or email marketing?

This is a HUGE subject.  Here’s a very brief overview.

I suggest you try a professionally handled mail shot IF you provide a service, which is only offered to a relatively small geographical area.  Some examples might include; accountants, commercial lawyers, franchise operators, insurance brokers etc.  Let me be completely clear. I am not suggesting these types of service providers cease using email to market their services.  I am suggesting they STOP using sales emails, START using email marketing AND consider trying a professionally handled, direct mail campaign as an addition to their marketing mix.

Jim Connolly’s marketing

I offer a service, which is sold internationally.  As a direct result, 100% of my marketing is conducted online.  My marketing approach is all about giving away free marketing advice, information and tips, to as many small and medium sized business owners as possible.  Then, when they want someone to look after their marketing, they give me a call.

I don’t sell my services, people hire me instead.  For those of you who provide services or products across a big or unlimited geographical area, I suggest you do exactly the same.  Instead of sending sales emails; emails that just ‘push’ or attempt to sell your services – use email as a way to engage potential clients and provide massive value.  Also, make sure that every person you send your information to has proactively sign-up to receive it.  For example, don’t send newsletters or e-bulletins to people, just because you know them, are a member of the same network or you happen to have their business card.

Use email communication (and your website / blog / FaceBook / LinkedIn / Twitter) as a way to showcase your expertise and encourage potential clients to email you, call you, comment on your blog, follow your Twitter account etc, etc.

The results can be stunning!

Time for marketing

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QUESTION: What does great marketing have in common with great comedy?

ANSWER: Timing!

Marketing & timing

I received an email earlier, announcing the launch, today, of a new website.  If you check the date of this post (20th January 2009) you will see that it’s the day that President Obama was inaugurated.

This international,  mass media event, has received blanket coverage across the news networks and even seen services like Twitter struggle to cope with the huge increase in activity.

In other words, it’s a terrible day to try and launch a new website!

If you are thinking of launching something for your business, make sure you check out what’s happening on that day.

Email marketing and mail shots

Of course, timing is important to many elements of marketing. For example, the day of the week your mail shot arrives, will have an impact on your response rate.  I advise B2B marketers not to have their mailings arrive on a Monday; because Monday’s are typically very busy for businesses AND your letter will also be with all the other mail that arrived over the weekend.

The day and time of day that your email marketing arrives in someone’s inbox, will also impact your results.  An email, which arrives at 7am on a Monday morning, will arrive in an inbox filled with a weekends worth of junk mail and spam.

That same email, arriving at 11am on a Tuesday morning, will arrive in an inbox, which has already had the spam / junk mail removed.  This makes it easier for your message to stand out and increases the chances of it being read and acted on!

Always check out what’s happening in your prospective client’s world before setting a time to take action.

Movement or progress?

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As we move into a brand new year, I would like to share one of the simplest, yet most valuable pieces of advice I know with you.

Don’t mistake movement for progress!

Progress is not the result of hard work. If hard work were the secret to success, our grandparents would have been millionaires!Progress only comes when we work hard doing the right things. However, if we keep rowing that boat in the wrong direction, no matter how hard we row; we will never get where we want to be.

Before you invest your time or money on any marketing activities in 2009, make sure you are doing the right kind of marketing for your business – before you worry about doing it correctly.  For example; you ‘might’ be doing a mail shot correctly – yet by using email marketing instead of paper-based mailings, you can see better, faster results for a fraction of the cost and time of a traditional mail shot.

You might be doing that mail shot correctly, but it may not be the right form of marketing for what you want to achieve – your outcome!

Making progress

I suggest you look at all the marketing activities you currently engage in and then, one by one, find out if there isn’t a better, higher-leverage alternative for you to use in 2009.  There’s a list of marketing ideas here, which are extremely effective, just to get you started.

Over to you

What have you found to be the most effective forms of marketing for your business over the past year? Share your experiences and leave a comment below.

How to quickly boost your marketing results!

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Here’s a quick tip, which can help you MASSIVELY increase the effectiveness of your marketing!

It’s all about focus

Whenever you write any form of marketing material, it’s extremely important that your message is focussed 100% on your core prospective client base.

marketing focusMany small businesses use a scatter-gun approach to their marketing messages and as a result, they write copy, which is vaguely relevant to everyone who reads it but directly relevant to no one!

By diluting your marketing message, you always reduce it’s effectiveness.

For example, let’s imagine that Bob provides a ‘Virtual Assistant’ service.  He is particularly keen to work with  web designers, software developers and SEO experts.  Bob will get a far, far better response from his marketing if he writes a tailored marketing letter/email for each individual group – rather than a vague, generic one, which is aimed at trying to be relevant to all three industry types.

Bottom line

Vague marketing messages will not motivate people to respond to you!  However, a marketing message that clearly shows how your service will solve the readers problem, is extremely attractive and will inspire far more people to respond to you!

There are 10 GREAT marketing tips for you here!