Advertising; Delivering the Message Part of Marketing
So often we hear marketing consultants and marketing book authors, which are a dime a dozen for the most part; say that Advertising is a Method to Communicate to the Customer Information About Your Product or Service. Sure that is one of the many ways in Marketing to reach your customer and most people who have been in business for quite a while, know that the multiplicity affect is a much better approach.
For instance if you have a back board ad at the little league field then that is a smart thing to do, sponsoring a prize a bingo night is brilliant and a little advertising in the right places can go a long way indeed. The real trick is to get the most bang for your buck when marketing your products or services.
Advertising can be beneficial some times, but generally it is much better to co-sponsor promotions, events and show community support when in a small business. Additionally this works well for larger companies, because it shows the potential clientele that you care about them. These types of marketing work well in Politics, business and soliciting funds for non-profit groups too.
The biggest myth is that if you have a small marketing and advertising budget that your choices are limited and that you have less opportunity? Not so. In fact you have more chances to be more creative with the resources you have. Consider all this in 2006 and be weary of the so-called and self-proclaimed marketing experts who have written 3 or more marketing books?
Lance Winslow
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Why Referral Business Is So Valuable
With so much money invested on innefective advertising, it’s time to look at some good old fashioned ways of generating new business. One tried and tested way is by referral.
Here are three reasons why referrals are so valuable
1. Customers who refer are more likely to stay with you and as a result, spend more, adding to their lifetime value.
2. Referrals are more likely to become customers. Why? Because they have been recommended to you by someone they trust and who in turn, trusts you.
3. Referrals who become clients are likely in turn to generate referrals because they understand the process.
What’s the best way to generate referrals?
You have to earn them! You have to treat your customers as friends. The result is that they will want to introduce you to people they know who in turn can do business with you.
It’s back to that Trust thing again isn’t it? By showing you care about them and about their lives, your level of trusts increase. Remember the three things people think about before doing business with someone?
1. Do I like the?
2. Do I respect them?
3. Can I trust them?
By taking the time to develop relationships, trust increases, as does the likelihood of referrals.
By delivering a high standard of service in an appropriate professional environment or fashion, you are demonstrating your professional competence. The combination of this and your capacity to develop relationship will in turn earn you the right to ask for referrals.
I guarantee that if you did nothing else but began asking your customers for referrals on a regular basis you would instantly see an increase in referrals coming into your business.
The best time to ask for a referral is when a customer gives you a compliment or expresses any kind of gratitude towards you or your business. Tell them that your purpose in asking is to build your business. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
In fact, a client who really likes you will actually feel honoured that you have asked for their help.
Don’t be afraid to tell your clients whom they should be thinking of as referrals (i.e. people under a lot of stress, people who are health conscious, people in pain) - be specific. You get what you ask for!
OK, so now you’ve gained sufficient trust and respect to ask for referrals, what do you do when you start getting them?
Simple. Make a fuss of them by means of reward and recognition. Just as with children and dogs, rewarding good behaviour makes certain that the behaviour is rewarded.
Do it publicly, too. Create a Referral Recognition wall in your reception area. Put the names of people you’ve rewarded up there. Run a referral incentive program that rewards more for more referrals.
Remember we’re talking about the cost of client acquisition and retention here. Far better to pay for the client after they’ve spent than to gamble on attracting them!
With a Reward for Referral program, your costs are a fixed item for every new client, too, making budgeting far easier.
Ask yourself this question: Do I currently know my exact cost of customer aquisition? If the answer was “no” you should look closely at a referral reward program.
About the author:
James Yuille is a sales and marketing consultant and trainer with over 32 years experience. He is based in Brisbane, Australia.
His free weekly sales and marketing newsletter provides topical information for business owners and salespeople. Find out more at http://www.jamesyuille.com
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Custom Printing
The ability to stand out from the crowd, gain recognition, and be known is an essential one in many facets of life. It seems as though everywhere we look sets of standardized template designs pervade our very existence. Everything from flyers, brochures, letterheads, logos, T-shirts, websites, and many more eye catching gimmicks seems to come from one of many similar sources. Uniqueness seems to be an antiquated concept. However the ability to have a design completely custom tailored to the fit the exact needs and specifications of any given purpose, for a business, or even for a musical group, are vital to generating exposure.
Eye catching printed material, or even printed apparel, such as screen printed T-shirt designs with a company logo is a great way to gain exposure from the masses. However, the publications and apparel designs must bring something to the table which will draw attention. A plain, boring, standardized concept will turn heads the other direction. A new and creative conceptual design brings forward the possibility for maximum exposure. Passersby will stop dead in their tracks to gawk at the material and keep the company and/or band name in mind. Such simple conceptual designs are not only thought up by professionals. In fact, an average person can easily create a work of great attention grabbing beauty when put to it. The possibilities are limitless for where and how exposure through custom printing can occur. Everything from custom websites, custom T-shirts, custom letterheads, custom brochures, custom flyers, and even custom logos (just to name a few) can be created and mass produced. With web hosting for only pennies a day, the internet has become the new vehicle for exposure.
With billions of websites, and millions more being added each day, the internet has become the worldwide marketplace for the free exchange of ideas and concepts. With web hosting services for just pennies a day, and a great wealth of tools for graphics and web design work, creating a custom logo, and/or website is well within the scope. With a wealth of design techniques, and limitless possibilities for graphics and presentation, the internet is the best places to create a custom publication of any sort. In conjunction with a strong campaign to attract the attention of the less technologically savvy, success is at the fingertips of the daring entrepreneur who decides to break away from the humdrum and overused designs.
Custom prints can be created at varieties of locations, from you local office supply store(s), to your own living room. The conceptual design is best left to professionals for reproduction. A few suggestions might be Office Depot, Staples, or Kinko’s to start. Many different companies can help create a custom and attractive website as well. Although this is something that can be done from one’s own living room, some of the technical and backend aspects are much better left to certified professionals. Clearly the possibilities are limitless when it comes to custom printing, simply begging the question, “Why doesn’t everyone do this?”
Our Printing Directory is dedicated to the printing industry. Find more information and other printing topics on our Custom Printing resource page.