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  OCTOBER 2008  
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FINDING YOUR NICHE TO BE RICH  by

 Pam Knight 		10/6/2008 at 06:55
Niche marketing is a very different beast. A niche market is a group of people that share a similar interest or need. It is all about reaching out to a specific group of people, understanding their needs and offering solutions.

Now don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all niches are small. Niches can range from very small to huge. It can be sub-divided as they grow. You probably say who cares about niches? I want to sell my online products to as many people as possible. Or I want to market to as many people as possible.
Well you can’t do that and be successful. Ignoring niche marketing might be your ticket to the poor house.

No niche no online business or small business.

The internet is massive. It’s made up of billions of people searching billions of web pages. Most newcomer’s mistake is that all they have to do is create a product or service and a website and people will come well, some will by the’ll be rich. Well here’s reality if you create a general product or try to be everything to everyone you will end up being nothing to no one.

Make a short list of your passions

What do you do easily and well

Who do you like to work with

What people can afford to pay for your niche

Some you might say I’ve already tried to pick my niche, and I can’t find one. I’ve done so many things that there really isn’t one Niche. Besides I might get bored. ...
  read more...


KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS  by

 Katie Marcus 		10/6/2008 at 06:55
Owning a small business is hard work. You need to take advantage of every available tool at your disposal in order to maximize your profits. One of the most important things you can (and should) do to ensure that your business stays on its feet is to communicate regularly with your customers.

If you have been in business for a while, you probably have some loyal customers that you can tap to help you advertise at a very low cost. Even if that is not the case, you can use some old fashioned techniques to help cultivate loyal customers and improve your bottom line.

Pre Sale Techniques
As old fashioned as it may seem, direct mailing efforts can still generate a surprising number of sales. There are several ways that you can attract new customers through direct mail techniques. You can design a postcard printing and send it to targeted customers in your area.

Or you can try a more basic strategy and run a color printing of flyers and post them in strategic areas. Finally, you can print up some brochures and hand them out to as many of your target customers as possible.

During the Sale
This is by far the most important step in keeping in touch with your customers. When customers come in to your store (this especially applies to regular customers) try to get their contact information. Ask them for their address so you can offer them special offers through the mail. Most will be more than happy to accommodate you ...
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BUSINESS TIPS FOR AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN  by

 Philip Casini 		10/6/2008 at 06:54
1. Priority one: focus on what you do best. It is essential in down times to have a clear picture of where your most understood revenues and expenses will come from. Your core products and services provide the most reliable source for predicting the revenues, and here is also where you have the best understanding of operating costs. It is also where the company usually operates the most efficiently. Form a cash flow baseline based on your core business. This forms the picture you need to make decisions about the rest. Imbalances on either the revenue forecast or expenditures will be exposed quickly and in down times these need to be addressed immediately.

2. Stay away from "fringe marketing" syndrome. The explosion of outbound marketing over the internet exposes you to many new opportunities every day. In down times the need for revenue is high. So it is very tempting to decide to just tweak a product or service and capture that incremental business opportunity. But in down times the company must also operate as efficiently as possible. Servicing incremental opportunities is dangerous because actual returns are usually far less than predicted and you often pay for the decision with a high opportunity cost. These are not good odds for in a downturn.

Why are the returns lower than predicted? Because there is always overhead in packaging a product or service for delivery to customers whether there are one or twenty new features in it. While the best cost accounting can attach ...
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GET THE MOST FROM YOUR CONFERENCE WITH PROMOTIONAL ITEMS  by

 Imogen Brown 		10/6/2008 at 06:53
Conferences are typically packed with business people competing in a vigorous manner to gain new customers and contacts and trying to work out what their competitors last products and offers are. If your luck is in, and you have got your stand placed in a highly visible place, then attracting visitors to your stand is not too difficult. However, if for whatever reason you have found yourself at the back of the hall you are going to have to be a little more inventive on how to get a greater number of people to your stand. Whatever the circumstances are, you are guaranteed one thing, the competition in this day and age is stronger than ever and every exhibitor will be trying to come up with ways to outwit each other and get those vital visitors to their stand.

When selecting which custom printed promotional gifts to use during the conference or exhibition keep one thing at the top of your mind ’bait’. The items you display work best if they are colorful, so that people who pass by your booth will be attracted to your items. Choosing items that are designed with your company color scheme is a great idea-distributing promotional items that use company colors will help reinforce your business identity, in turn helping to make your company more memorable.

Another equally important point is that the items you choose should fit your company’s image, and be related in some way to the products or services you offer. A business ...
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KNOW YOUR TYPES OF MARKETING PROJECTS  by

 Charen Smith 		10/6/2008 at 06:53
This isn’t about the kind of color printing you’re getting done, or the styles of advertising that you’re using, but instead the kind of overall marketing you’re going to be using.

This breaks down into two primary categories: long term and short term marketing. Each one is distinctly different and requires very different approaches. But most important of all, both are needed in order to have the best overall marketing, and yet too often companies focus on only one or the other.

First I’ll break down what each one entails.

Short term marketing deals only with the business you’re going to get over a very brief period of time. A single postcard marketing push is a form of short term marketing. You’ll have a good chance at generating some immediate, solid sales, but they’ll be likely to trickle off fairly fast, and won’t always lead to long term customers.

Marketing that centers on sales are often distinctive types of short term marketing, because they aren’t promoting the brand name so much as the actual sale itself.

Long term marketing is obviously just the opposite, where getting immediate sales isn’t going to be as important, and instead you want to build up your brand name and create a strong company image.

The reason why many companies don’t pay as much attention to long term marketing is because the return on your marketing investment is much slower. You’re spending the money on color printing now, but you won’t always make that money back until months down the line.

Because ...
  read more...


MARKET TO YOUR CUSTOMERS THE WAY THEY SHOP  by

 Daniel P Elliott 		10/6/2008 at 06:52
Most business owners are concerned with how to best maximize advertising to their specific target audience while minimizing the cost to do so. Even though this cost can be written off on taxes, it still depletes funds that otherwise could be spent on other aspects of the business. The traditional forms of advertising of yesteryear are exceptionally limited and can be cost prohibitive. Brochures, mailings, newsprint advertisements, sandwich signs, magnets, and more are still somewhat effective, but are extremely limited. If these traditional forms of advertising yield a return of even 10-15%, then the business owner can count themselves extremely lucky. Luck, however, is not a sound business practice to rely upon. Why would a business owner be willing to pay good money to limit their exposure?

What is the next generation of advertising? If you are reading this article from your computer right now, you should already know the answer. Where traditional advertising only reached a few to a hundred thousand customers, the benefits of advertising with the online and multimedia world don’t even begin to compare. If the average business owner utilized online multimedia advertising such as CD-R or DVD-R discs for the same if not a fraction of the cost, then forget about a measly few hundred thousand potential customers. Perhaps a few million new customers would be a welcome addition to anyone’s business.

The fact that business owners still rely mostly on print ads is astounding. In this up and coming digital age of technology, almost 80% of ...
  read more...


5 REASONS TO USE POSTCARDS FOR MARKETING  by

 Nate Stockard 		8/5/2008 at 20:09
When considering different forms of advertising, always think about postcards. When I refer to postcards I mean 4 inch by 6 inch (4"x6") flyers. I have many reasons to use them, especially in small business marketing, and I have found them to be very effective. Here are five good reasons why postcards should be included in your marketing campaign.

Reason #1: Low cost to print.

4"x6" postcards are pretty inexpensive to print in comparison to most other printed items. I can have a box of 5,000 cards designed, printed, and delivered for under $500. Brochures can cost that much for 500. When dealing with small business marketing, these flyers can save a huge amount on marketing and printing costs.

Reason #2: Size.

I’m sure everyone has seen a 4"x6" flyer at some point. Many times they are placed on your car or left in your door. These flyers are easy to handle, distribute, and save. If someone receives a 4"x6" flyer with coupons on it, they are more willing to save it than if they receive the same coupons on an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper. Obviously, everyone will have different reasons for using flyers, but 4"x6" postcard-size flyers are effective in just about every situation.

Reason #3: Postage Costs.

Postage goes up quite often. It seems like every time I go to the post office, it has gone up again. When determining how small businesses will market to their target markets, postage is always part of the equation. If you are mailing a 4"x6" flyer, it ...
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FINDING YOUR NICHE MARKET  by

 Nick Rice 		8/5/2008 at 20:08
I hear variations on the following comment all the time:

"I can’t make any progress with my marketing until I know what my marketing niche is. Until I know who my ideal clients are going to be, I can’t start with my marketing, so I really can’t get any of your products until I’m clear about this."

You might want to substitute your own concern: "I don’t know what my services are yet," or "I don’t really know what the ultimate outcome is that I provide for my clients," or "I don’t know what makes me unique yet."

And with this declaration of what you don’t know, your marketing grinds to a screeching standstill.

My answer is typically the following:

"You don’t find your niche. Your niche finds you. And this goes for your services, ultimate outcome, uniqueness, etc."

What I mean by this is that you can’t really figure it out in your head. You need to discover it. And the way you discover it is to jump into the process of marketing.

I know this might not makes sense to you, but stick with me here, because this is really one of the biggest issues service professionals face.

I’ve seen it hundreds of times.

I’ve seen people completely stuck because they can’t figure out their audio logo or perfect marketing message. And they "know" that when they figure it out, all their marketing will fall magically into place.

Utter nonsense, I’m afraid.

Here’s the big secret that nobody has told you: ...
  read more...


AMERICAN SALON AND SPA  by

 Greg Milner 		8/5/2008 at 20:07
The many different services that are offered are the biggest thing used to draw potential customers to a new salon. Providing the latest cuts and styles is another big draw. One obstacle to offering the newest trends is knowing exactly what they are and how to do them. Internet sites offer some insight. There are many magazines that are dedicated to the salon industry and the American salon and spa business in particular. A new salon owner will want to subscribe to as many as possible to keep up with the industry.

Many salons and spas offer facial treatments. Some of these services are waxing and scrubs. Others include electrolysis and the sale of home products. These services are not just for women any more. A growing number of men are paying more attention to the appearance. Some of them are having their eyebrows waxed and getting Brazilian wax treatments. A few salons offer laser hair removal treatments. This is a rare, but growing part of the industry.

A salon should never neglect learning all of the newest and most trendy cuts. Styling and cutting hair is where most of the money will be made by you and your stylists. Salon customers do not just look for a quality cut or style. They want a courteous service. A rude or unfriendly stylist will drive customers away. Beauty salon patrons want attention paid to them. They want their opinions listened to. American salon customers expect engaging conversation while having their hair styled. A ...
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SALON MARKETING TIPS  by

 Greg Milner 		8/5/2008 at 20:06
Nearly every town in the world has a newspaper. Simple ads will get notice from the customers that you need. These ads work great if you are offering a special or package deal. If you want to move some of the hair-care products on your shelves then run an ad offering a percentage off of these items. Yellow page ads in your local phone book are a great way to list some of the products and services you offer. The biggest benefit to this type of salon marketing is that it will be in print for a year. Newspaper ads will last for around a week and then you will have to pay again. The yellow pages fit a tight budget nicely. For those few who are technologically advanced, a website is another option. The cost and time required for a website puts off many salon owners. You should carefully consider the pros and cons of having a website.

The most helpful, or damaging, marketing tool for a salon is word of mouth. If you please a customer once they will tell a few friends. If their hair looks great every time they leave your salon, they will tell everyone that asks exactly where they got their hair done. Mess up once and clients will tell everyone they see what happened and where it happened. It may be a double-edged sword, but word of mouth is a ...
  read more...


YOUR BUSINESS CARD CAN MAKE YOU RICH!  by

 James R. Roche 		8/5/2008 at 20:05
Your business card can bring you more leads, more clients and more riches...but only IF you know how to leverage its full potential. The humble business card has got to be the most underutilized marketing tool of all...yet it has the power to churn out riches into your bank account like a turbo-charged, cash-flow machine.

When I’m at a networking event I’m amazed that only 5% of the business cards I see are truly effective. The rest miss the mark...badly. First off, I invite you to rethink the function of your business card...

Don’t think of your business card as an ugly, functional parking lot for your name and address. Think of your business card as an elegant invitation to a fantastic party you’re having. You want lots of people to come and enjoy the fun. With this mindset, here are five keys to leverage the full power of your business card.

1. Put a Call to Action on Your Business Card

When someone hands me their business card the first thing I do is flip it over. I’m usually shocked. 95% of the time I see the same massive mistake being made...the back of the card is blank! (Or worse, it has a small advertisement for the printing company, which indicates the person didn’t want to spend the $10.00 to remove the printer’s logo.)

Use the back of your business card to present an irresistible offer and reason why someone should go to your website or contact you again. Offer them a free special ...
  read more...


HOW TO PROFIT FROM THE BEAR STEARNS DEAL  by

 Jason Leister 		3/19/2008 at 16:21
So it looks like Bear Stearns is about to get sold for a "paltry" 236 million dollars. That’s down from a value of about $20 billion only a year ago.

Now before we go any farther... let it be known that I’m no financial expert. So please don’t take this as investment advice to go out and buy up JP Morgan shares.

This is a marketing and business article after all.

So my financial "analysis" here (if you can even call it that) is just to illustrate a larger idea... it’s extremely oversimplified. You’ve been warned. :)

BUT...

When I see something like the Bear Stearns deal go down, it’s not my financial ears that perk up, it’s my business ears that pay attention.

So in this case, JP Morgan is about to purchase a (struggling) billion dollar business for peanuts.

JP Morgan is the face on the deal, but the government is behind them every step of the way.

So they’re acquiring Bear Stearns for $2 per share with their risk backed by Uncle Sam.

Sure there are possible future pitfalls. But all in all, kind of an amazing turn of events.

Plus... provided the big wigs in charge can push the sale past angry shareholders (who are about to get the shaft and could get more return on their investment simply by putting a FOR SALE sign on the Bear Stearns building in Manhattan...), JP Morgan will enter the prime brokerage business overnight. And they’ll walk away with a prime brokerage business that’s about DOUBLE the size of ...
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MARKETING FOR REFERRALS  by

 Charles Countryman 		3/19/2008 at 16:21
Everyone loves referral business for two reasons. One: because they are typically pre-qualified. Two: they are usually free leads. But there is a fundamental flaw in the way most businesses go about getting referrals which usually equates into them rarely getting one. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’d have to admit that most businesses do not receive many referrals because they flat don’t deserve them.

The first thing you should be doing NOW to earn referrals in the FUTURE is working on yourself and your business so that you are referable. What I mean by that is do you do what you are supposed to do for your clients? If you said yes, then just be happy you got paid because you got what you deserved and nothing more...just like your client got. But, if you said you go above and beyond for your clients then you are working in the right direction.

Being referable is a combination of several things and no one is more important than the other for the average person is only willing to refer someone that they LIKE and RESPECT.

You get people to like you simply by being likable and genuine with everyone you interact with. You gain people’s respect by doing what you said you would, resolving all conflicts in a manner that is perceived as fair by everyone (this is usually the hardest part..the perceived part that is) and treating people with sincere honesty. I’ve never believed insincere or fake people have long term success, ...
  read more...


MARKET SEGMENTATION BY GENERATIONS  by

 Linda Morton 		3/19/2008 at 16:20
Market segmentation by generation market segments provides a wealth of information about target market members. Small business owners can use this information to improve their marketing.

Knowing characteristics for each generation market segment enables small business owners to communicate better across generations.

For instance, a Generation X business owner with a product that’s targeted to Baby Boomers, may go wrong in marketing to Boomers. If the Generation X business owner doesn’t know how Baby Boomers differ from Generation X, marketing message may be worse than ineffective. They may actually alienate Boomer target market members.

Market segmentation can help avoid the potential pitfalls of marketing across generation market segments by helping small business owners to understand how concerns and information needs differ by generations.

Some of these concerns and information needs include:

• World War II generation members are concerned with staying young and healthy. Their information needs deal with their concerns, particularly affordable health care.

• Baby Boomer generation members are concerned about their career and finances and an orderly world. Their information needs include how to overcome stress and dealing with a changing world.

• Generation X members are concerned with growing racial disharmony, the environment, and their jobs or businesses. Their information needs include all of these, plus building and maintaining positive relationships.

• Generation Y members are concerned with autonomy, conformity, pragmatism and intimacy. Their information needs evolve around coping with problems and dilemmas.

The reason that generations have different concerns and information needs is because they have different defining moments.

Defining moments mark a moment in ...
  read more...




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Blogs

Finding Your Niche to Be Rich

 Keeping in Touch With Your Customers

 Business Tips For an Economic Downturn

 Get the Most From Your Conference With Promotional Items

 Know Your Types of Marketing Projects

 Market to Your Customers the Way They Shop

 5 Reasons to Use Postcards For Marketing

 Finding Your Niche Market

 American Salon and Spa

 Salon Marketing Tips

 Your Business Card Can Make You Rich!

 How to Profit from the Bear Stearns Deal

 Marketing for Referrals

 Market Segmentation By Generations

 The Most Important Aspect Of Your Business

 Freebies - A Dead Giveaway

 Basic Ad Creation Know-How

 Marketing Is More Than Creativity

 Redefining Marketing and Sales

 Six Easy Steps to Create a Basic Marketing Plan

 Maximize Your ROE

 Effective Lead Generation Tactics

 Advice About Online Marketing

 Persuasive Advertising Techniques

 Plastic Bags for the Retailers

 Plastic Bags Can Click Your Business

 Plastic Bags Generate Brand Awareness

 Are You Spending Money On Plastic Bags?

 When to Use Promotional Plastic Bags

 Marketing by Example

 Using Market Analysis to Create More Profits

 Promotional Pens - Perfect Choice for Your Valuable Client

 When to Use Promotional Pens?

 Marketing Budget - Do You Need One?

 How To Promote Your Products Online

 Make a Million Dollars on the Phone

 Blow Away Your Competition With a Killer Web Site Marketing Strategy!

 Knowing Who Your Ideal Clients Are

 The Importance of Having a Budget For Marketing

 Budget Marketing: Maximizing Your Exposure

 What You Need To Know About Commercials

 Succeed At Selling At Your Trade Show Booth

 Web-Communication - Getting Heard

 Marketing And Advertising

 20 Free Marketing Ideas

 International Marketing

 How to Pull in Clients Like a Magnet

 How To Market On The Internet

 Full Color Brochures

 Brochures

 Color Business Cards: Add Some Flair

 Cheap Brochures

 Computer Consulting: Spread the Word

 Marketing Tips for Consultants

 IT Marketing: Use Trusted Business Advisors

 IT Marketing: Rewarding Referrals

 Pricing: The Final Frontier

 Attending Business Conferences: Post-Conference Harvesting

 Marketing Research: Know Your Customers

 The Biggest Marketing Secret in the World...

The Biggest Marketing Secret in the World...

Business Gift Giving that Creates Profit

 How to Be Noticed and Influence Business

 9 Ways to Connect with Your Customer

 Create VALUE and WIN Customers

 The KEY to Marketing SUCCESS

 8 Step to a Winning Marketing Plan

 How BIG is Your Marketing Budget?

 Booklet Tips on Hot Topics to Write About

 IT Marketing: Find the Decision Makers

 Mortgage Marketing in the 21st Century

 Action-Oriented Marketing

 Real Estate Letters; Low Cost, High Profitability

 Naked Selling

 How to Find a Niche

 Get More Marketing Value from Staffing Software

 Sell More by Giving Something Away

 March Is For Marketing

 Thank God for Competitors and Market Research

 Marketing with No Marketing Budget

 ight Ways to Control Trade Show Display Costs

 Nine Tips on How to Set Goals For Your Trade Show Exhibit

 Five Tips on How to Select a Trade Show Exhibit House

 What to Expect From a Top Flight Trade Show Exhibit Company

 Boost the Sales Power of Your Trade Show Exhibit

 Nine Tips for Successful Trade Show Exhibit Selection

 Slogan Writing the Easy Way

 No Magic, Just Business

 Market Research

 How To Use Joint Venture Marketing To Enhance Client Relationships

 How To Make Your Business Card Magnetize Joint Venture Partners

 Marketing Your Service Business

 Best Practice Guide for a Sales Lead Generation Campaign

 Getting Back Lost Lawn Care Business Customers

 Never Hide From Your Customers

 Taking the Kick Out of Coke

 Exposed: Your Customers’ Most Secret Desires

 Niche Marketing Success – Be a Big Fish in a Little Pond!

 Everyone is Looking for a Leader

 101 Uses for Toll Free Voice Mail to Increase Your Business!

 Using Voicemail to Sell Your Cleaning Services

 Create Marketing Materials That Actually Provide Information

 Your Marketing Starts With Writing

 Business Cards: To Pose or Not to Pose

 Why Free Business Cards Just Don’t Cut It

 Consistency Is Far Greater Than Rare Moments of Greatness

   

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