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3 Tips to Integrating Social Media into Your Marketing Practices
Posted by: | CommentsThe Internet has really proven to be a great resource for local business owners, and many of them are just now discovering exactly how many customers it can send in their direction. One of the reasons why this is the case, is because people are now searching online for local businesses by name, or by what they have to offer. Along with that, many of them use social media networks regularly on their cell phones, and you can also use this to drive insane amounts of new and repeat business to your location.
One of the best ways for you to be able to do this is to simply ask your existing customers to follow you on one of the social networks, such as twitter or Facebook. Whenever they do this, it gives you the opportunity to market to them and to send them a message or update about your business. This can be a very powerful tool, and if used properly you can really fill your location with customers very quickly.
Something that you may want to consider, is running specials from time to time and contacting your customers through these social media networks. For example, if you run a small restaurant, you may want to have a special evening that is themed in some way or another in order to attract customers. By sending out a message on the social media networks about this special event, you will not only get visitors that will be attending it, you will also remind people to come by and visit you at any time.
Make sure that you are active on these social media networks, even when you're not sending out information that is specific to your business. This gives people the opportunity to form a bond with you, and a certain level of trust is also going to be achieved. When this takes place, people will feel as if you are talking to them directly, even if you have hundreds or perhaps thousands of followers.
Finally, try to get people interested and adding into the conversation whenever you are posting messages on Facebook. This helps to build your local network, as their friends who are also part of their network will see what they have to say. This is an excellent promotional tool, and it is one that should not be overlooked by any local business that would like to achieve higher numbers and to get more customers to come in their door regularly.
6 Forms of Inbound Marketing Campaigns
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Inbound Marketing On Target
1.) Blogs – it seems that everybody is blogging nowadays, and not only does it help you to have a voice on the Internet, it is also an excellent way for you to be found. Many blogs are interlinked together through what is called RSS, and this can help people to hop from a related blogs over to yours. Simply by posting things that are related to your business, you can have inbound traffic.
2.) E-books – E-books have been around for quite some time, and that they are an excellent way for you to pull people into your website. One thing that you may want to do, is try putting out a free e-book that will be passed around. This form of viral marketing pulls people into your website, and once it gets started, it seems to take on a life of its own.
3.) Videos – The most popular type of websites that are online now are video websites. It seems that online video is here to stay, and you can grab a part of this with your own inbound marketing campaigns. Posting videos that are related to your niche on high-traffic video websites, such as YouTube will naturally pull people that are interested in what you have to say.
4.) Search Engine Optimization – This is the mother of all inbound marketing techniques online. By optimizing for keywords and keyword phrases that are related to your target audience, you can pull free traffic off of the search engines directly to your website. The people that tend to come from the search engines visit as a result of some very specific searches. This means that you have a hot audience from the start.
5.) Webinars - Holding an online seminar is also an excellent way to promote your service or product through inbound marketing. People love webinars, and even if they don’t make it to the actual event, you can post it on your website in recorded form and it will act as a form of inbound marketing for many years to come.
6.) RSS Feeds – You can use RSS feeds in order to pull traffic into your website, as they generally get posted throughout the Internet on related websites. Not only that, it many times acts as a form of inbound link which helps to boost your SEO and get you more free traffic from the search engines.
Business Card Design for Effective Networking
Posted by: | CommentsEven with all the technological advances that have come about in the past few decades, the business card is still a powerful way to communicate and network.
Elements of Good Business Card Design
The main thing you want to accomplish with your business card design is to stand out. If one attends many networking events they know just how many business cards people acquire.
Because a business card is a reminder of who one is, they will want to stand out among all the rest. One way to stand out is to change the shape of the card. There is no law that says that
business cards have to be 3" x 2." with the corners at sharp right angles. By simply rounding the corners it will make quite a difference. Another way to stand out are the elements that you put on the card. A humorous picture goes a long ways to eliciting a smile and reaction from those that receive the card. A funny tagline always makes a business card memorable.
Even changing your professional title can help. Small business owners and entrepreneurs should use something other than president or CEO. Be creative, even self-deprecating. Consider Yahoo, a large billion-dollar company and the founders refer to themselves as Chief Yahoo. Still, there are professions where comical or whimsical business cards are not well-suited. In cases like lawyers or morticians, the best tip for good business card design is to go minimal. Use plain text and offer as little as possible. Some business professionals could get away with just a name and phone number. For more information place only the name and title on the front, then put additional information on the back. This is a good way to get an initial impression from a minimal design, while still offering plenty of information about one's business.
Always Leave Room For Notes
A person should have plenty of room on their card to personalize it. Good networkers know to always personalize a business card with a note of some sort, like providing their cellphone
number. Handwriting something turns a business card into a personal note which has a higher value. Again the personalized business card will stand out among any others a person may
get.
Of course, if a person is not using the back of their business card it is all the room they will need. On the other hand should someone decide to use the front and back, there should be
plenty of room somewhere to write a note. Just make sure that the note space has a white or very light background to contrast against the ink of the pen for maximum readability.
How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Design
Networking Tips For Live Events
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Networking Tips For Live Events
Live networking events are a wonderful way to get prospects and is so much better than having to cold call for potential business. However, there are some things that one should avoid doing. So, the following are some networking tips for a live event.
Attending a Networking Event Without a Plan is not Smart Networking
While it is true that showing up is half the battle, knowing what one is going to do when there is the other half. It is always a good idea to have a plan of what you want to accomplish at a networking event. Know how many people to meet or which specific individuals to get to know before you arrive. Write a plan of how early to arrive at an event, how late to stay, and define the goals to be achieved will make a person a much more effective networker at live events. After all, how many other people at the event the think will have a written plan just for that event? Among all the networking tips for a live event, this one alone will make one a winner. That is why it is the first tip.
Do Not Be Caught without a Business Card
Every business professional should carry plenty of business cards, always. With the number of different business card cases there is no excuse not to have a good amount on hand. Plus, one knows that they are attending a networking event where they will be handing out business cards, so they should have plenty. It would be supremely embarrassing to be at a networking event and not have a business card. What does that say about the person who knowingly goes to a live networking event and does not have plenty of business cards? It would speak poorly about that person and reflects on the type of work that they do.
It would actually be good to have two business card cases full of cards when going to a networking event. It is not inconceivable that a person can run out of business cards, so plan for that not to happen. One could even keep a box of business cards in their car in case they needed to reload their business card case. The main thing is to never be without a business card when meeting someone new.
Do Not Spend Too Much Time with People You Know
Networking is about meeting new people. As a matter fact the whole reason to go to a live networking event is to meet new people. Therefore, when at a networking event, as diplomatically as possible, avoid familiar acquaintances. The more one knows a person the less amount of time that should be spent with them. That doesn't mean that anyone is ignored but a simple handshake and hello is all one really needs to give to familiar people. Avoid getting caught up into a conversation with them. If one is truly working the event as an experienced networker, then the networker should already be in conversations with people they don't know. That will alleviate any problems from people feeling ignored or snubbed.
Benefits of a Sales CRM Software
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The primary benefit of a sales customer relationship management (CRM) solution is that it makes a business more money. It makes the business more money by making the sales force more efficient in its efforts and by developing stronger relationships with clients and prospects. The following are a few ways how sales CRM software makes all of that happen.
Sales CRM Software Categorizes Clients
A quality sales CRM software permits one to categorize their clients. This is important because what a business sends out to different clients will not always be the same. The more that business can zero in on the target's needs and interests the better the chances for a sale. A very basic categorization would be customers and prospects. One would never send a past customer letter to a prospect or vice versa. However, a sales CRM software can do categorization that is even more specific and customized. It may even turn out that a message is only sent to a single client, and that would be fine because that message would be crafted for just that individual.
Sales CRM Software Provides Multiple Ways to Contact
Having multiple ways to contact clients helps keep contact efforts fresh and new. Imagine if the only way a business contacted their clients was via e-mail, after a while clients would become immune to those efforts. However, some sales systems like Ace of Sales.com provide alternative means to make contact. Alternative ways like sending a card with a custom message or even a custom photograph can really make a difference. Sending a customized postcard can be a quick way to make contact and an impact. And then there is the telephone contact information for a person-to-person phone call. All of these different ways to contact clients or prospects are just more tools available to the sales person (or small business owner).
Manage Client Notes in your Sales CRM Software
Three Tips For Effective Time Management In Networking Groups
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How effective are you with managing your time in Networking Groups?
Every small business owner has the challenge of getting his or her business name known. And the array of opportunities to market a business is vast but marketing is typically expensive for the small business owner. Where large corporations can wage multimillion dollar ad campaigns, the entrepreneur has to be more selective in its battles. However, networking groups can be a very cost-effective way for one to spend their time rather than their money. Still, there are some tips that can help a small business person to maximize that time spent in their networking groups.
The first tip is to go into a networking event with a plan. The larger the group the more important is the plan. The plan should contain a goal of how many new people you are going to see. The number of new people that you can introduce yourself to is a lot easier in an open event like a MainStreetChamber Commerce mixer, rather than a smaller membership based group we you are likely to know everyone already. Another element the plan should contain is who you are going to see. Even with the membership group where you see everybody weekly, plan to sit next to and get to know one of the members you don't know that well. Always increasing your circle.
The second tip is for membership type groups where everybody knows you and provides you leads. The tip is to understand that your purpose for attending each event is to educate. Not only do you need to educate everybody about what you do, it is more important that you concisely and precisely educate everybody about who is a good prospect for you. If you tell people that everybody is good prospect for you, that tells them nothing. But what you want to do is trigger in their mind specifics about people that can open the floodgates of leads for you. Regardless of your business, your core clientele can be segmented into different groups. For example, if you find that your customers often wear blue shirts and you tell your networking group people who wear blue shirts are good prospects for you. That will immediately trigger memories people that they have seen wearing blue shirts that they know.
The third tip is to prepare your leads early or provide them via e-mail before your weekly (or regularly scheduled meeting). This will save you a lot of time in the meeting so you can be concentrating on tips one and two above. You can always provide leads during the week when you may have more time and simply claim credit later with whatever formal procedure your networking group uses. Do not spend a lot of time in your networking groups clarifying leads that can be done via e-mail or telephone before or after the meetings.
Hopefully, by planning what you want to achieve your networking group meeting, then ready to educate your group, and prepare your leads early your time will be well spent.
Loral Langemeier’s Yes! Energy Review
Posted by: | CommentsI've been connected with Loral's Live Out Loud community since 2006 and was ecstatic to here about her new book "Yes! Energy: The Equation to Do Less, Make More." and the Yes! Energy Summit that is coming in September because of the strength I've received to say Yes! to the right people at the right time because of what I've learned from her and the people in the community.
The Yes! Energy Summit is going to be different than your traditional "energy healers" as she offers you the tools to support you when you start saying YES! and gaining new clients. Never fear, Loral is here. Join me and learn from the Yes! Energy Master.
"What is a Yes! Energy Master? A Yes! Energy Master is a true world leader, a person who has harnessed their Yes! Energy and used it to achieve paramount success." – Loral Langemeier
Just say YES! and take action by getting your hands on her new book and get on the email list for the Yes! Energy Newsletter too.
The biggest difference between those who create the life they want, versus those who simply live the life they have, comes down to one simple word:
“Yes!”
Why Yes! Energy?
According to Loral Langemeier "Regardless of your current situation, where you are in the world, or whatever challenges you might be facing, the path to a life of abundance (in all areas of your life) is found by unlocking your “Yes! Energy.”
That’s why Loral Langemeier created a step-by-step approach to show you how to tap into the inspiration, motivation, and passion in your life — every day. Through this book, Loral demonstrates how her “Energy Equation” has helped enhance thousands of lives with no more than a few simple shifts in their daily activity.
Your Business Under the Big Top
Posted by: | CommentsExperiential Marketing: What is it?
They are programs that allow consumers to become active participants in a marketing effort. Well planned and executed experiential marketing programs can be very memorable and relevant and can result in a positive change in consumer behavior (such as making a purchase) and attitudes (such as changing brand preference).
Experiential Marketing played a big part in the promotion of the new touring show of 
Cirque Du Soleil OVO under the Big Top near the Mall of America. Fortunately I was able to participate in both the show and the Toddler Tuesday event where I observed young children and their parents learn how the performers prepare for a grand show.
Watching the little ones dance like no one was watching, picking out the design for a swoosh of color on their cheeks and a tickle of the brush on their nose was fun. They are so carefree and giddy with excitement hoping to look like the bugs on the stage. With OVO being a new show teeming with insects while people buzz about the high energy acrobatics that are performed by amazing artists I can’t help but wonder what impact we could have on our own businesses if we studied this performance.
I was in awe with the differences of what goes on behind the scenes verses what we see on the stage. Each costume takes up to 80 hours to complete, the performers work 6 days a week with 8 performances and everyone works together for one common goal. To put on an amazing show that will create memories for years to come.
The preparation, details, dedication and belief within the walls of the Big Top are lessons to be learned for every business owner.
Take a moment to ask yourself these questions about Experiential Marketing in your business:
Andy Horner’s True Story – Don’t Be Like Brady!
Posted by: | CommentsMy friend Andy Horner, chief development officer at Ace of Sales, put this video together for you. He is brilliant at creating salesmakers that help sales people make a sale. Watch this and then leave your comments on this blog post or at the Ace of Sales Facebook fan page. 
On Twitter, You’re More than Just a Number
Posted by: | CommentsIt was bound to happen.
We live in a society that judges people based on their appearance, their age, and material possessions – did you really expect Twitter to be any different?
True, there are more than a few users who will judge your Twitter status or efficacy strictly by the number of followers you have. They tend to collect followers like baseball cards, and fancy to count themselves among the Twitter elite.
Well, that’s all well and good, I suppose – but more isn’t always better.
The Pulpit, or the Parlor from a purely logistical perspective, how many genuine connections do you think you can cultivate, nurture and maintain – without spending every waking moment feverishly typing 140-character pleasantries? I don’t know about you, but the notion of trying to keep tabs on twenty thousand of my closest BFF’s sounds more than a bit daunting. In fact, it sounds downright impossible.
Even as I say this, there are sure to be some Twitter users who would vehemently disagree. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. For my part, I prefer to interact in a parlor, as opposed to a pulpit-style atmosphere on Twitter – and in order to do that, you can’t focus on developing a congregation. Instead, you focus on developing a camaraderie. This mindset will likely prevent you from ascending to the elite Twitterati status, but it won’t prevent you from being successful.
The most important things to remember about Twitter are:
* Be yourself. Mama said it best, and she was right.
* Be engaging. Offer insights, ask questions, and join the conversation.
* Be helpful. Retweet posts from others. Your followers will appreciate it, and so will the original poster.
* Avoid the pushy sales pitch. Folks buy from those they know, like and trust.
* Be grateful. Thank those who help you, and those who offer value to you.
* Recognize other Twitter users, and recommend them whenever you can.
* Remember the 80/20 rule – 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers/prospects.
Of course, this isn’t to say that those folks with tens of thousands of followers aren’t successful (just look at Barack Obama) – but it is a safe bet that the dialogue between user and follower is dramatically different. Like anything else, your mileage may vary.
At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember is that Twitter is a tool, and the manner in which you use it will determine your overall success.
