Use grassroots marketing strategies to develop clients for your business and create a buzz in your community. Here are sure ways to get a potential customer’s attention.
1. Give away business cards
Get a goal of how many cards are you going to give out today. If it’s a number like 10, then put them in your pocket. Then give them away. You’ll know if you have done it or not just look into your pocket. Use flyers and brochures as well. Does this mean if you give out cards or flyers that they’ll be customers? No, you’re just getting the word out that you are in business.
2. Look for help from the local community
Use word of mouth power. Get some volunteers to help you with the legwork. Cover areas like local businesses, schools, churches and other civic events. Multiply your time and effort through other people’s time and effort. Talk with neighbors, friends, relatives and family members.
3. Join in local events
Participate in social events like in church meetings and local community projects. Expose yourself and try to do some networking. Visit your Chamber of Commerce. Be proactive in getting the word out. Participate in charity events.
4. Attend your children’s PTA meeting
This is a great way to meet the parents of your children’s schoolmates.
5. Give free samples and trial offers
If you sell health drinks, its best to put up a promotional booth inside a gym. Have free tasters so gym clients can try them. If you are selling water purifiers, it’s best to have a sample unit that you can lend people so they can use it for couple of days. This way, they can compare their old water purifier with your new one.
6. Post ads in stores
Try taking with store owners if you could post ads into their stores. Ask for their permission before posting.
7. Use the 3 foot rule
Anytime you come across a person 3 foot from you, you say “Hi”. If you come in contact with a person whether in a line or in restaurant you speak. If you are in an elevator, you can address them all at once, “Hello.”
8. Use the 30 second rule
The first one was the 3 foot rule; this one is the 30 second rule. Know the difference. Anytime you create conversation with anyone for more than 30 seconds means they have come into your life for a reason. Introduce yourself and say something about your business and what you do. “Hi my name’s John Wilson and I own a marketing company.”
9. Know the answer to the question
The normal question in a first meet is the question, “what do you do?” Learn the answer to this basic question with an automatic response like “I sell medical supplies to medical institutions.” It has to be a knee jerk response.
10. Buy only from prospects
Buy only from potential prospects or clients. It’s a simple deal. Choose to do business with people who will do business with you too. If you are buying a lawn chair, purchase that lawn chair to a store that will also do business with you. There are thousands of stores to choose from.
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Getting your corporation or business covered or reported by the media may be a good way to make your company stand out from your competition. Having good media coverage can also potentially make or break your corporation’s or organization’s reputation or image. To make sure that you get the right media attention that you need, I have prepared this simple guideline in making a media friendly press release.
Be Relevant
Probably one of the most important things to remember in making press releases is to be relevant. Make sure you create a press release that talk of only relevant and news worthy stories about you and your corporation or business. Otherwise, if you make a press release of every single minute and mundane event in your corporation or business, you may end up never getting published at all, even if eventually you do have a potentially explosive story to tell. Aside from being news relevant, you must also only send press releases to the relevant persons. Don’t send entertainment news to the editor of the business section. Make sure you send the right story to the right person at the right time. To make sure that you are sending it at the right time, inquire with your media contact if it is a good time for them to receive a press release. This way you not only appear concerned and courteous, you also get a higher chance of getting your story read. Also remember to put the correct date in your press release and the specific contact details of the person the media can get in touch with.
Be Brief and Specific
In making press releases make sure that you make it obvious that you are sending a press release. Indicate in big letters the phrase ‘Press Release’ or ‘Media Information’ to inform journalists what it is they are reading. Include a short boiler plate description of your corporation or organization as well as any other information you think relevant to make your corporation stand-out (e.g., any awards or recognition you have been given). Make the heading of your press release catchy and interesting. In the first paragraph, that should be no more than two to three sentences with 50 to 60 words, make a summary of your press release with the more specific details in the following pages. Make the press release at most two pages and at best one page, making sure that you include all the pertinent details especially answering the who, what, when, where, how and why of your story.
Tailor your Press Release
If you really, really, really want to get your news published, you would go the extra mile for the specific news organization that you are targeting. Research on their style of writing and the specific format they use to publish their news. Follow this format to increase your press release’s chances of getting published ‘as is’ or at least garnering your corporation or organization a reputation of an ‘easy edit’ press release. Needless to say, a grammatically flawless press release is a must. Avoid technical words, flowery words and exclamation points as much as possible. Sensationalizing your story won’t help you at all. Lastly, remember to let at least two to three persons proof read your work before submitting it to the media.
In a world where cut-throat competition is the name of the game, business owners must find ways to advertise and promote their products or services to the most number of people at the lowest possible cost. In olden times this may mean newspaper advertisements, brochures, TV commercials, billboards, fliers, etc. But the boom of the internet has revolutionized the way businesses have advertised. One of the revolutionary ways to advertise that have been brought about by the internet technology is video marketing.
What is video marketing? Video marketing is a kind of marketing strategy where businesses or companies use videos that are uploaded in the internet to cater to a target specific audience with the end goal of promoting and advertising the company, the product or service and the convert these promotion or awareness to sales of the product or service.
If you have heard of video marketing, you may ask why your business or company should try video marketing. There are at least 5 reasons why you should use video marketing. Video marketing is as enticing to the consumer, if not more so, than the traditional methods of advertisement because it combines both the visual and audio appeal of the television to the interactivity and easy access of the internet. Second, video marketing is also a lot less expensive than the more traditional forms of marketing, as disseminating videos cost nothing as compared to continued TV time, newspaper space or billboard space. Third, since videos need to be accessed and searched before they are played, you can be sure that only those that are interested in your product will watch your videos making your videos more target specific than other forms of advertisements. Fourth, since you use videos, your message, which is the company and the product or service, gets delivered faster and easier. Lastly, using videos gives you more colorful and creative ideas to capture your audience’s interest.
Now that you know why you should use video marketing, here are some tips on how to maximize your videos so as to attain your goal of product awareness and product sales. The most obvious and probably the most challenging thing to overcome with video marketing is to make your videos as catchy and interesting to your consumers as possible. Be sure to put the information the audience is looking for at the start of the video so as to keep the audience interested. It is also important to remember that in making videos you must waste as less time of the audience as possible. Make the video short without compromising the information. Configure the video so as the viewer needs to click only once to load, activate and play the video.
One of the purposes of your video is to reach as much people as possible. Therefore, it is necessary that you optimize your video not only for video search engines but also for content search engines. To do this you must create relevant names for the video and use key words that the video search engine can index.
The advent of globalization and the boom of the internet has taken the world by storm. One can surely say that the world has become a smaller place and the swap of ideas and interests is but a click away. The formations of cyber communities have also strengthened the bond of people that share the same ideals, hobbies and emotions. Programs were created to build a social network of people online to bridge the gap of continents and countries and create one big online community.
The internet has revolutionized not only inter-personal communication but also the way businesses work, market and advertise. It is only natural that the online community be used, not only as a pool of consumers but also as one big advertisement board, with both the product and the feedback coming from the consumers themselves. In recent times a new breed of online marketing has been born, using the social relationships of the consumers as its spring board. This has been termed as the social media marketing or SMM.
What is SMM?
Social Media Marketing has been defined as a kind or technique in marketing that uses social media networks to convey message, an idea, a brand, or an image. Social Media Marketing, like any form of marketing, aims to achieve anyone of these goals: build awareness of the company’s brand or idea, advertisement for a better brand name and visual recall, promote consumer-to-consumer or company-to-consumer interaction and of course the traditional encouragement to buy or use the services or products they offer. The peculiar thing with Social Media Marketing is that it reaches a very target specific audience with often the company posing as a consumer itself and sometimes even the consumer becoming an agent for the company. Unlike traditional marketing campaigns, the SMM uses all kinds of media imaginable from print to moving pictures or videos to audio and even face-to-face communication. And because SMM uses social networks or online communities, it reaches a variety of consumers so long as the company is able to influence those communities or people that are most ‘influential’ in the cyber social network.
SMM Forms of Action
The current literature on SMM has established that there are five pillars or forms of action in SMM. Two or more of these have been the goal of Social Media Marketers. The five SMM forms of action are: identity declaration, identity formation through association, consumer declarations, company or provider declaration and face-to-face interaction.
Identity declaration is a tactic used to convey an image or definition of a company, person, website or program. It conveys what the company is all about. Identity formation through association is also a form of building a company’s identity through the interaction of consumers and the communication of the consumer and the company. Consumer’s declaration is a channel in which the consumers declare their thoughts and opinions of the company, usually through a feedback on the services or product of the company. Provider declaration is a company-initiated survey of the consumer’s thoughts or feedbacks whereas face-to-face interaction is an organization of a personal meeting between the consumers themselves and/or the company.
There is no one perfect way to market a product or company, but SMM is a smart way to market your company to a target specific audience with a potential to influence other like-minded consumers.
Microsoft’s attempt to buy out Yahoo Inc. for $44.6 billion is a firm testament to the continuing profitability of online advertising. With some economists talking “recession” and the stock market reacting unpredictably over the last few weeks, online advertising continues to show robust growth thanks to companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.
And whether Microsoft prevails in acquiring Yahoo or not, online advertising is considered to be a booming growth area that shows no sign of decline, even if other areas of the economy seemed uncertain right now. The Interactive Advertising Bureau is reporting that online advertising in the United States grew by more than 25% in 2007. And analysts are confident that there’s plenty of room for additional growth.
Currently, online advertising is less than 10% of all US advertisement spending. However, Americans are spending more and more time online– some surveys show that the average American receives 20% of their media “intake” from the Internet, showing that the potential for growth in online advertising is vast.
Crucially, advertising online also provides advertisers with tracking and performance tools that are unheard of in the off-line world. An advertiser can determine exactly which ads are profitable, which demographic they appeal to, and easily A/B test two ads to determine which is most profitable. This kind of exacting performance tracking appeals to many advertisers, especially those in smaller niche markets who are seeking very specific consumers.
And unlike television, newspaper or radio advertising, with online ads, advertisers only pay a fee when a Web surfer actually clicks on their ad. This means that under-performing ads have lower costs, allowing advertisers to experiment and increase their overall ad spend. This would be the equivalent of running a television commercial that you didn’t have to pay for when the viewer got up to go to the kitchen on the commercial break.
The level of control, user tracking and nonpayment for un-clicked ads make online advertising (or “pay per click advertising) a great value for businesses seeking customers online. It also levels the playing field greatly between Fortune 500 corporations and home-based start ups.
For example, if you search online for “greeting cards,” you will find ads by the biggest names in the greeting card industry, like Hallmark. But you’ll also find ads from small “cottage industry” suppliers and even home-based micro businesses — all competing together for the same consumer.
Is this kind of egalitarian culture, along with the reasonable startup fees, that attracts many advertisers to the Internet, the experts agree that there still plenty of room for growth in the burgeoning online advertising industry.
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Whether you love Microsoft or hate them, one thing is for certain: when the big “M” makes a move, the computer and high tech industry takes notice. With that in mind, Microsoft’s latest move is toward mobile cell phone advertising, an area that has been unable to find its feet so far, due to consumer resentment of being presented with ads on cell phones.
Microsoft’s new mobile advertising program is called Zumobi, and the company is sinking big money into this alternative advertising format. Investing heavily in the (yet to turn a profit) field of mobile advertising would be seen as a monumental risk for most companies. But Microsoft, being the mammoth software company they are, can easily afford to take a few risks, so Zumobi is not quite the “do or die” situation for them that it would be for most other high-tech companies.
Cell phone advertising is seen as risky for a few reasons. Chief among these is the perception by cell phone users that advertising is an intrusion of their mobile experience and privacy. Other companies have tried placing ads sporadically on cell phone networks with very little success. So what makes Microsoft think that Zumobi can succeed where so many others have failed?
The biggest difference between Zumobi and previous cell phone ads are that Zumobi ads do not look or function like conventional advertising. Zumobi uses a special interface design that presents “tiles” that users can choose to click on to access online stores such as Amazon.com.
Microsoft’s approach appears to be much less intrusive than previous attempts at cell phone advertising, and may have the greatest chance yet of succeeding. Another huge difference is that consumers will have the chance to choose which Zumobi “tile” applications they would like to have on their phone. This freedom of choice, and the intuitive, non-intrusive way that Zumobi works makes it feel less like advertising, and more like a free bonus extra to help consumers locate and find products online.
For example, Zumobi’s Amazon.com “tile” allows users to easily search for books, music or DVDs within the Amazon store from a convenient cell phone optimized interface. These types of applications have proven to be more “consumer friendly” than standard “in your face” advertising.
But with Microsoft dominating so much of our online life (nearly 90% of computers worldwide use Windows for example), do we really need the company dominating our cell phones as well? Many Microsoft critics think the company is too big already, and resent the excursion into cell phone ads.
But the real success or failure of Zumobi will be measured by its usefulness to consumers, and its ability to contribute to sales for advertisers. It will take a very clever interface to remain non-intrusive to cell phone users, and still be a worthwhile sales tool for advertisers. Can Microsoft pull this off? With Zumobi officially launching early in 2008, we will find out very soon.
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Direct mail marketing can be a very lucrative business. It’s a billion dollar industry which people who know how to take risks are drawn to. The profits in this business can be exponential, but at the same time the losses that you will incur can be as fatal if you are not very careful.
So how do you ensure success? It all goes down to the mailing list. Without the proper mailing list you’re just barking in the wrong tree. Selling to someone who doesn’t need anything will only cost you money. You know that mailing lists will cost you money because you still have to pay for the names and address.
There are several ways on how you can save money while being successful in this venture. There are established businesses that can help you with success. Although you might shell out some money right from the start, selling your stuff and raking in profits from your sale will make it all worth the investment.
How do you get the correct list for the particular product that you are selling? It’s a million dollar question that everybody wants to answer. All the companies that sell this type of lists claim that they are the best, but it’s still up to you that gauge them. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of trial and error before you can actually get the list that you want.
But there are shortcuts. Instead of trial and error which will cost you thousands of dollars before you even make a single sale, ask around which one works the best. As much as possible search for online forums that talks about direct marketing. Even though there are posers that will direct you to their own site, you can still see some of the authentic comments and from there you can easily choose which mailing list companies will be perfect for your product.
There are many lists out there that sell the names and addresses. In the early stage of your business, you are still strap of cash. Instead of buying the list, why not create a list of your own. You are all the persons in the world know what your product is about, and who will benefit from the product. If you can, join trade fairs and ask for the names of those interested so that you can mail your offers for free.
The correct mailing list is the first and the most essential step. Once you have the proper list, make sure you have right content. As much as possible, personalize!
These are only some of the tips that you should consider before you go on direct mail marketing. Just don’t take blind risks; a calculated risk is all you need to be a successful marketer.
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Whether it’s on the internet or in any offline business sector, competition is fierce. That’s why one of the most lucrative markets right now is in advertising; getting noticed is not just a part time job but a full time effort. Whether you’re running a really small business or a big one, you’ll realize that getting noticed is more than just any commercials and radio spots. You have to come up with something that will make people remember you. You have to create a brand that will eventually be remembered by anyone. If you just go with the generic version of things without any product or service branding, you’ll end up with nothing and losing money in the process.
You have to be proactive in branding your service or product. It’s not just a one time effort but a continuous effort to make people conscious that you exist and can actually serve them. Although technically, doing nothing’ about branding is still a strategy, but it will get you nowhere. What’s important is to do something others will immediately identify you. That’s only part of the branding job but it gets you started.
If you’re offering a service to customers, don’t just tell them that you’re offering a service. Tell them that you offer something entirely different. For example, don’t just be contented in offering good service for landscaping, offer an after work assessment. This personalization is a surefire win-win solution for you and you’re customer. Not only you guaranteed them that you did something really god but you’re willing to sit on it with your clients and ask them what they think on what you’ve done so far.
Products on the other hand are quite different when it comes to branding. This doesn’t really entail the service that it does but what’ really unique about this brand. If you’re selling food supplements, don’t just say it will make your life better, point out the number one ingredient that will definitely help anyone who are planning to take the supplement. Of course, your claims should be true or else you’ll be in trouble with the law. Once you’ve found your unique feature, stick to it. This unique feature will be your niche. Even though you don’t own the whole market, you have faithful clients who will keep your business running no matter what.
Lastly, when creating a unique product or service, you have to add something that they will remember. This is where the logo or the slogan creation comes into play. Whenever you see the logo of Microsoft Corporation; you always think about computers even though how ridiculous the advertisement is. That’s also the same with McDonald’s, Apple, Nike and other big companies who just don’t bank on good product or service but on branding as well. Although you can’t really compete with these products right now, you can certainly let some people remember with your service that comes with a logo. People don’t really have to remember your name and phone number, a good logo or a short but effective slogan will do the trick.
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If you’ve been in the internet long enough, you might have accidentally landed on sites where they promise you big bucks in no time at all. Maybe you got curious with all the claims that they have been in vacation more than twice this year because of the perfect work at home opportunity. So you give your e-mail to get more information. Immediately, there’s a response basically telling you that recruiting others would mean money while selling things online. Welcome to Multi-Level Marketing.
MLM has been around for decades now and it has taken so many forms. The most popular of course are the ones thriving through the internet. Gone are the days where you have to visit people to introduce the opportunity to them. Even though such face-to-face marketing is still practiced, it’s not as wild as before. Besides, no one really loves the idea of having someone over they don’t even know inside their homes. So they go online where everyone could be as safe as they want. They create sites with videos testimonies and pictures. There was even a site where they park their super sports car, and talk about how much fun they had in their numerous visits in Vegas before they continue with the program. Smart Eh?
But MLM has received some bad reputations that started for as long as I can remember. I think it all started when Amway was accused of pyramiding in 1979. That was a very long time but pyramiding is still a perennial reality that anyone should look out for. To keep it simple, pyramiding is simply a practice of a company wherein they encourage their members to recruit more members instead of selling the product. In turn, the primary source of income for its members is the number of members they have recruited instead of the products they have sold over time. The members will be required to pay a fee for “training.” Going back to Amway, they were not doing this, but they were known to sell their wares at a very low price and at the same time, give ridiculous testimonies on how great the company is.
The difference between a legal and illegal MLM companies is so vague that you can’t really tell the difference between them. Unfortunately most of the companies you want to sign up for still requires you for a small training fee. I really don’t understand why, but they just want a small piece of money from you before you can go ahead and sell their stuff.
The best thing to remember when you’re signing up with an MLM company is legitimacy. Look for “the stuff”: proper business registration with BBB, toll free number, proper address (no PO) and other things. A money back guarantee is also a good thing. Also always remember that you’ll be selling something quite expensive. The rationale for this is that everyone should be earning from your earning because of the recruitment strategy so it could be really hard to sell one if you’re not really persistent with your marketing strategy.
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There are so many products online that you can earn money from through affiliate marketing. It’s one of the most efficient and proven ideas to earn money in an effortless manner. There are people who just sit back and relax while waiting for some commissions while some are even working really hard without any earnings at all. Reason for failure for these marketers could be many things; it could be technology, sales experience and human networking, etc. However, there can be a fundamental cause for the problem marketers often ignore: failing to select the correct product to sell.
That just seems reasonable since a product that’s not really effective will not work for you. Being an affiliate marketer doesn’t mean selling what’s the highest per lead commission or per sale commission. Sometimes, a product is so hard to sell that even though you spend much time and resources, it just doesn’t work.
Unfortunately, there’s no “Golden Rule” on what to do to get the sales coming in and selecting the best product. But here are some tips on how to get them working for you.
The first thing is that you have to ask yourself before you select the product to sell is its marketability. To know this, all you got to do is to ask yourself if you would like to buy the product. This way you’ll know, as a regular consumer, if the product is worth the price. If there’s a small inkling that you want to buy it, go ahead and sell it. If you like what you sell, you should be able to sell it with passion.
Second is the catch of the product when compared to other services. When you’re considering a product, be sure to get a product or service that has something unique to offer. In the idea of niche marketing, you can target specific people who want a certain type of programs. Your product will easily show up among the searches of the consumers.
Third is to lookout for over promotion. Even though the product is good and can be easily sold to people, if everyone else is selling the same kind of product, there’s no need to assert yourself to the already growing marketers. The chances of getting a sale will be slimmer than selling a unique product that no one sells or with very little competition. Again, remember the concept of niche marketing. It’s better to corner and be king of a very specific market than just be a small member of a big product, fighting your way into sales.
Lastly, cover the “basics” for your customers. Sure there are things that are unique to a product but there are things that should come with any type of products customers are looking for. Among them is customer service, legality of the product, and other forms of after sales support. It’s also some kind of social responsibility among us affiliate marketers to sell something beneficial and good to your customers. It also helps create good karma for good luck in our venture.
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