Marketing Archives - Page 33 of 34

“Undo The Status Quo”

Doug Smith - Cincinnati Radio Marketing Consultant

Do you market yourself or your business the way you do because “that’s the way it’s always been done”?

Truth be told, your answer is probably “Yes”. It’s a lot safer to follow the status quo, but can your business reach its full potential by doing business this way? If you’re happy with how things are going….great. But maybe, just maybe, there is a better way.

A classic example of someone who thought there was a better way was Henry Ford. Up until Ford’s assembly line concept, automobiles were constructed from the ground up in one location in the factory by one team of workers. Mr. Ford is often credited with the invention of the assembly line, which is incorrect, instead he took an idea from one industry and put it to use in his industry. The idea of building a car via an assembly line came to him during a visit to a sausage packing plant in 1908. The sausage company used an assembly line to package their product and when he saw it, Ford thought the idea could work for building cars. Over a period of 5 years he refined the concept and in October of 1913 Ford launched his moving assembly line and the rest, as they say, is history.

If Mr. Ford played it safe and stuck to the idea of “that’s the way it’s always been done”, the Ford motor company, and the automobile industry as a whole, would not be what it is today.

So take a look at how you market yourself or your business. When was the last time you tried a new idea? I would be willing to bet it’s been a long time. Maybe it’s investing in an electronic media you’ve never used (TV, Radio). Maybe it’s diving head first into the world of Social Media (if you are not using Social Media you are missing out). Maybe it’s changing the way you position your business in the mind of your potential customer. If you haven’t tried something new in a while, do it now.

Successful ideas are all around you and chances are there are some really good ones in places you would never imagine. (Who would have thought the sausage industry would forever change the automobile industry?)

Doug Smith is a Senior Account Executive for WREW Rewind 94.9 and www.cincysavers.com in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky. You can contact Doug at (513) 535-9123 or dosmith@hubbardinteractive.com

STOP COLD CALLING, Referral Marketing-Part 1

Duane Plapp - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Referral Marketing Expert

WHY are you still cold calling? Cold calling is fruitless, requires you to check your reputation at the door and is the easiest business to lose to other cold calling sales people. You need to start building your brand and start getting high level referrals. It all starts with an emotional message that shows your passion for what you do. Example I am a chiropractor, “I am a bone shaper”. I’m an insurance agent, “I create the future.” The response is “How do you do that.” Some call this an EBM (emotional based message) others call it a memory hook, whatever you call it; it’s funneling the conversation so that you can develop a relationship. This is what referral marketing is all about. I like to call it “My Power Phrase with passion”.

My mission is to create constant, continuous and predictable referrals for life without cold calling. We all want to do business by referral, but we don’t create the methodology to implement the platform, so it never comes to reality. Sure we get referrals but they are passive and not consistent. They are not constant, continuous, or predictable. There’s a “HOPE” that referrals will happen.

If our goal is to do 100% business by referrals than that can only happen if we pass credible referrals and receive credible referrals. It’s called a level 10 referral. Level 10 referrals are referrals where your only action is to show up a get the check.

There is a way to create a platform where you can create these constant continuous and predictable referrals, it is call referral marketing strategies by Referral Institute. We have created a system to help you change your whole way of doing business. First it involves a change of one’s mindset. You must change your way of thinking.

Referral marketing strategies involves three basic principles:

1- You must create a phrase for people to instantaneous recognize this is a potential client for you.

2- You must communicate with the people who you want to refer you business to and who you want to develop a strong relationship with.

3- And last, you must create your own brand.

Before you even get this far there is one important action that has to happen. You must have a target market. What is a target market? It is the section of the market that you are going to direct you marketing efforts towards to create credibility for your brand. It does not mean that you do not have other products or services. It is the people you want as specific target to create your niche. If you do not do this first then everything else with be fruitless.

Ok, now you have a target market. You should ask yourself “”who are my clients?”

Part II next week….

There’s no place like (working from) home!

Darian Richardson - Owner, RMC Franchise Connect - Cincinnati Franchise Consultant

Have you ever dreamed of running your own business? If you asked 100 people this question, I would imagine 90% would respond “YES”. Well have you ever dreamed of running your own business from the comfort of your home? That may sound like a distant reality to some, but according to the market research firm Interactive Data Corp, in 2009 over 18 million Americans did just that. And for many people, joining a home-based franchise system has been the answer to accomplishing their dreams of work-life balance, career satisfaction, and financial success.

When you hear the word franchise, many people naturally envision a true brick and mortar concept found on street corners, strip malls, and office buildings. On the contrary, some of the world’s best and most successful franchise businesses can be started from home. For example, are you thinking of starting your own children’s in-home tutoring business…there’s a home-based franchise for that! Thinking of starting your own business coaching/consulting company, there’s a home-based franchise for that! Thinking of starting your own dog-walking/sitting, commercial cleaning, senior care, home improvement, advertising, financial services, etc… there are home-based-franchises for that too! You get the picture.

There are a number of key benefits that a home-based franchise can bring versus a traditional business. Low overhead for office expenses, flexible work schedule (you set your own hours), and the freedom from “office politics” and that annoying boss. Once you find a strong home-based franchise system that provides the structure you need to achieve your personal and professional goals, you are well on your way to experiencing and enjoying the life you always wanted. So grab some coffee, turn on your home computer, and slide into your comfortable slippers because it’s time to go to work.

For more info visit www.rmcfranchiseconnect.com or email info@rmcfranchiseconnect.com

Top Five Ways to Increase Sales with Social Media

It seems like every second article you read today is about social media. How it can build your brand, help you connect with your customers and keep your business ‘current’. But it’s hard to sign off an investment of time and money to something that’s relying solely on the long-tail for returns, right?

Sure, social media can seem like a time-suck waiting to happen; but Sony executives weren’t complaining when they cleared $1.5 million in sales on Twitter. Or Dell; who revealed their Twitter presence accounted for a $3 million increase in sales in 2009.

Social media can, in fact, build upon your online sales effort. You just gotta get it right.

1. Word of Mouth Like a Wild Fire

Getting people to tell their friends about your product or service is the golden ticket. People trust their friends to give them recommendations, and the rise of online social networking means customers are more likely than ever to tell the world about their purchase; and spread it further too.

Work the viral angle – offer a limited offer or special promotion through Twitter or Facebook, and let your followers spread the word for you. Remember, a hot giveaway is perfect to get retweets and perhaps a few new followers; but if you want sales, a discount will drive it home.

2. Unprecedented Interaction

Marketing your product or service through TV, print or radio can leave customers feeling like they’re being marketed to. The beauty of social media is the fact that it’s based on the premise of being a social activity; so users feel at ease, and comfortable conversing with you. The key is to start conversations in a non-threatening way; don’t force yourself on people, and stay true to the social aspect of the platforms. Be the guy everyone wants to talk to at a party, built trust and loyalty *first* with your followers and friends and you’ll get a better result when it comes to promoting your product.

3. Global Domination from your Computer

Tapping into Facebook and Twitter’s 600 million strong combined user base means that you have more promotional reach at your fingertips that you’d probably ever thought was possible.
The sky’s the limit when marketing through social media and that means sales can reach new heights – but it doesn’t come automatically.

You’ll need to build up your following, and there’s a number of things you can do to help up your count:
Start promoting your Twitter and Facebook profiles on your other marketing, on and offline.
Use keywords as search terms to find Twitter users that are already talking about what you’re selling; then follow them to get a follow back.
Use Facebook ads to drive people to your fan page.
Encourage new followers by promoting a giveaway: ‘Follow us for the chance to win…’ or ‘Retweet this to go into the draw for…’

4. Mix Social with your Sales Team

Gone are the days of the dry email after a networking event or sales call. ‘Lovely to meet you, I wanted to remind you of our amazing offer…’ Now, your sales team have a new tool at their disposal. Social media is fantastic for building relationships; just search for your sales leads name in Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, and connect, to continue the conversation in a friendly; unobtrusive way. By connecting with potential customers online in this way, you’ll have an opportunity every day to pop up on their desktop.

5. Communication and Traffic Boosting Tool

Social media is just another form of communication. It offers more than many traditional marketing avenues, but if nothing else – it’s a new audience to tap into. Twitter and Facebook offer you the opportunity to communicate offers, announcements and news, and of course, drive traffic back to your website; ultimately, increasing sales. Promote away!

Lewis Howes is a former professional athlete, world record holder in football, and author of the LinkedIn book, LinkedWorking. He is the founder of the Sports Executives Association, and the popular sports and social media blog SportsNetworker.com. He writes for popular social media blogs such as mashable.com, socialmediaexaminer.com, and problogger.net. You can find him on Twitter @LewisHowes.

So why not call the 20% back?

Matt Plapp - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Marketing & Social Media Consultant

by Matt Plapp

The #s never lie and you’ve all heard it in your business “80% of our business comes from 20% of our customers.” In my past posts I’ve covered numerous topics on how marketing relates to sales. As a business owner, this topic is your best and worst friend…FOLLOW-UP. Over the past 12 years I’ve been astonished how many sales people and companies that I’ve bought large ticket items from and never heard from again. I’ll only focus on 1 category though, as I write this I’m 34 years old and I’ve purchased 24 cars. YES, 24 cars and I know that’s not a good thing (I’m in auto rehab though, I’ve had my current car for 18 months). I tell you this because to this day, I don’t have a SINGLE sales person from a car dealership who has EVER called on me or calls on me now. This number covers 16 dealerships, 13 local Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky car dealerships. So I’d say the numbers below have some validity as too a “Marketing Problem” most dealerships have.

Think about that for a minute. I’ve had closed deals with over 20 sales people on transactions ranging from $12,000-$65,000 in 1 industry, and I’ve NEVER had a sales person follow-up with me? No one calls me monthly, no one sends me or wife a personalized card, no one calls to see if I am in the market AGAIN or if I know anyone buying a car. What a novel idea, actually call someone and ask them?

I do get a computer generated Birthday card from a Cincinnati Toyota dealer where I bought 2 Toyota FJ Cruisers on the SAME DAY and never heard from the sales person or a manger after the sale. The worst part, I was referred to the GM who got me with his “Top Salesperson”, neither has ever followed-up.

I’m consistently amazed in my travels how I hear the car dealers cry the blues because sales are down and no one is buying and you can’t get them financed, BLAH BLAH, BLAH. I’ve heard it all, my question to all of them is the same; “do you follow-up consistently with your customers.” Does the sales manager, GM or owner call every customer and say thank you afterwards? Does the sales person have a system of contacting the customer monthly via email, phone or mail? Of course most of them say they have a follow-up system in place, but most either don’t realize they don’t or they think follow-up is a generic letter from the service manager that’s generated by a computer and has a computer printed signature to be follow-up.

A number I hear around the industry is that car dealers can spend around $300 per sold car on advertising. So it seems to me that if you spend $300 on a customer, it would be a great idea to try to get their next purchase, their brothers, their neighbor, their parents, etc. But they never do follow-up.

Think about these numbers: Let’s say I’m a car dealer in Northern Kentucky who sells 3,000 cars per year. Imagine if I follow-up with my customers hard-core and we consistently get referrals from those customers, but at the end of the year it’s only 10% (WHICH WOULD BE REALLY LOW). So that’s 300 car sales we just made because we run a professional sales operation and properly treated our customers. At the $300 per customer, we just saved $90,000 in advertising expenses per year. Now the scary part is a GREAT follow-up program that involves everyone from the sales person to the business owner can get easily 30-40% in referrals. Your numbers are right, those dealerships are WASTING upwards of $200,000 per year in advertising because they don’t know how to take care of their customer.

As a retail business owner I realized at a young age the importance of follow-up. Our company not only sent our large-ticket customers 8 mailings per year that had a valid good offer and were personally signed by a department head, but we made sure our sales people called their customers and sent thank you notes consistently. We touched our customers upwards of 12 times per year and because of this we were able to only spend $35,000 per year in mass media for a business doing $15 Million in retail sales. We spent less than $50 per customer on advertising, compared to the industry norms of upwards of $300 per customer. Go figure, customer follow-up works.

Matt Plapp is a Marketing Consultant in the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky area specializing in small business marketing via grass-roots, events, guerilla, online and social media marketing. You can contact him at matt@mattplapp.wpengine.com or 859.743.2408.

How One Thank You Card put 380 People in a Room

Brennan Scanlon - Executive Director BNI Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky

It was a normal weekday at the office while I sifted through my mail. Not uncommonly, I had received something from my area Chamber of Commerce. I should point out that this is our areas largest Chamber with over 5500 members. As I opened it, I was pleasantly surprised to find a personally hand written thank you note from the Director of Membership, John B. “Brennan, thanks sincerely for your membership, here’s to your success.” What an impact this made on me. I called John to thank him for his thank you card. Does that seem silly? It’s not. Here’s why. That phone conversation turned into a lunch, which then turned into a meeting as to how our two organizations might help one another. Although, I knew not to rush the process as our relationship was so new. Over the next few years, we invited John & his Chamber to enjoy a complimentary booth and 5 minute presentation at our All Chapter BNI Awards Breakfast. What was in it for us? Nothing. We were glad to be associated.

After a few years of this we realized that our two like-minded organizations had an opportunity to take a step together. Across the globe, regional networking organizations were coming together in February to celebrate networking during “International Networking Week” (www.internationalnetworkingweek.com). While “International Networking Week” is an initiative of BNI, it is open to all networking organizations. Collaboration being the mindset of course (novel idea, I know). John, Laurie, & Kitty at the Chamber embraced the idea. What happened next? Well, 380 people in a room of course. On February 3^rd, 2010 to be exact. An event sponsored by 13 companies, presented by the largest Chamber in our region, the largest business referral organization (us), and the regions leader in business news. A powerful keynote speaker names Cea Cohen Elliot (ceaspeaks.com) changed lives that day, and 380 people then walked out to change the lives of others.

Rewind a few years. Picture John B. sitting at his desk at 5:48pm. While he is definitely ready to head home for the day, he writes out one last thank you note. “Brennan, thanks sincerely for your membership, here’s to your success”. Had he walked out at 5:46pm, there would not have been 380 people in a room, and lives would not have been changes, including my own.

Zig Zigler once said, “you don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great.” Life is a boomerang, you’d better start throwing. Thanks John

On The “Mark”eting

On The “Mark”eting…by Doug Smith

How often do you purchase a new car?

How often do you purchase laundry detergent?

How often do you buy a new pair of shoes? (For my wife, I think this is about every week)

The answers to those questions are your buying cycle for each category.

What is the buying cycle for your product/service? (If you don’t know it, I suggest you find out)

It is important to know the buying cycle of your product/service because it plays a big part in how your potential customers react to your advertising.

Take the target pictured above. Each red ring of the target represents a part of the typical buying cycle…..

– Doug Smith Cincinnati Marketing Expert Bullseye The outermost ring is when you are not in the market for a product/service. (You own a car you are happy with and buying a new one is the last thing on your mind.)

– The second ring is when you realize you may need that product/service. (Your car has been in the shop lately and you are wondering if it is time to get a new one)

– The third ring is when you’ve decided it’s time to purchase that product/service, but you want to shop around. (You hop online to do some research)

– The Bulls-Eye is when you are ready to buy. (You’ve had it with your car and it is time for some new wheels….NOW!)

The timing between each ring depends on the buying cycle of your business.

How often do your customers need to purchase your product/service? (For example…..the buying cycle for a new car is about 5 years. The buying cycle for gas for that car is about two weeks.)

The key to marketing success is how well you reach your potential customers BEFORE they get to the Bulls-Eye. If your marketing efforts are based exclusively on reaching the people in the market for your product/service RIGHT NOW, you better have the lowest price or you will lose out because you haven’t taken the time to differentiate yourself from your competition in the mind of your potential customer.

Cultivate a marketing message that creatively explains your businesses Unique Selling Proposition and then consistently hammer home that message.

If you consistently tell someone WHY YOU before they NEED YOU they will FIND YOU.

Doug Smith is a Senior Account Executive for WREW Rewind 94.9 and www.cincysavers.com in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky. You can contact Doug at (513) 535-9123 or dosmith@hubbardinteractive.com

Creating Constant Continuous Referrals

Duane Plapp - Professional Business Coach and Referral Marketing Expert

What is the value of referral marketing? Would you rather create one client via the “Old Fashioned” cold calling or several clients with less effort through your referral power team?

Did you know that it takes the same effort to make one sale as it does to create several new clients by using referral marketing strategies? You create a referral power team with professionals who have the same target market and train each other your products and services. You work to create a strong relationship with your referral power team and to “Train” your sales force. The team is out their looking for potential clients for you just like you are looking for clients for them. Once you both get on the same page the referrals start rolling in.

So the time it takes to try to create one sale you can create three sales. You repeat this four times and you now have four referral partners and they are sending you three referrals per week. You are now getting twelve referrals a week and you’re not spending any more effort than it takes to create one sale.

You have created a sales force that is constantly looking for people who can use your products and services. How strong your relationship and whether you have done great job of training your referral partners will determine the closing ratio. There is a direct correlation between your relationship and your closing ratio.

Here is a diagram which shows these marketing strategies:

The above is what most sales people use to get new business “Cold Calling”. Below is how professional sales people who rely on referral marketing find new clients:

Take your business to the next level! Stop cold calling and start building your network of referral partners or your “Referral Power Team” today.

Duane Plapp is a professional business coach with The Referral Institute Cincinnati. Duane can help you create “Referrals For Life”. If you’re interested in learning more about referral marketing you can contact Duane at duper2947@aol.com or 859-240-6428

Darian Richardson makes the Cincinnati Enquirer

: Darian Richardson – Owner, RMC Franchise Connect – Cincinnati Franchise Consultant

RMC Franchise Connect helps match potential entrepreneurs, new business opportunities

DOWNTOWN – Darian Richardson is convinced that franchising will continue to be a hot career choice for entrepreneurs.

That confidence this year prompted Richardson to launch RMC Franchise Connect, a downtown-based firm that provides free consulting services to help individuals identify franchise opportunities.

RMC is paid a finder’s fee by the franchisor once a successful match is made between an individual and the company.

Richardson, 33, was co-owner from 2004 to 2009 of Pep (formerly Promotion Execution Partners), a Cincinnati-based firm that specializes in promotional management and execution services for companies, including handling direct mail and website initiatives.

He sold his stake in that company last year to help open RMC.

WHY DID YOU feel there was a market for your firm?

With the state of the economy due to downsizing, unemployment and job dissatisfaction, more people are re-evaluating their career options. They’re looking for ways to provide stability, financial security and work/life balance for themselves and their families. Statistics show that one in 10 Americans launched their own business in the second quarter of 2009 as a path to economic recovery. And franchising has been at the forefront of that trend.

WHY WOULD SOMEONE choose a franchise as a way to start a business?

Franchises have brand recognition that provides instant credibility to the business. For instance, most people recognize franchise names immediately: Cinnabon, Great Clips, Precision Tune, Ace Hardware and Molly Maid. Not only are you getting established brand identity, but more importantly, a proven business model that has been successful over time.

WHO IS A potential franchisee?

Any individual looking to start a business, a corporate executive in transition or someone looking for a side business to supplement his or her income. Another growing segment is stay-at-home moms.

WHAT ARE THE hottest franchise categories these days?

The first one is senior care, as the baby boomer generation continues to age. They will make up 25 percent of the nation’s population in the next five years, creating greater demand for franchises to service those needs. Another hot area is children services, including child care and in-home tutoring.

WHAT ARE THE biggest challenges to opening a franchise?

The biggest is getting financing to start the business. Other major obstacles include choosing the right franchise that fit your goals and taking the time to do the diligence to make a smart decision.

By Jeff McKinney • jmckinney@enquirer.com • July 3, 2010

Advertising Is Easy – It's Marketing That's Hard…

Matt Plapp – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Marketing & Social Media Consultant

Many times I hear companies claim their marketing doesn’t work. They play for me their :60-second radio commercial (WAY TO LONG) or their poorly produced cable spot (which runs next to high def Ikea spots). Next they pull out the mailer they just sent out to 10,000 people who don’t know their business with a 10% off coupon (10% off???). Then I break the news to them…THAT’S NOT MARKETING, that’s advertising. Yes, marketing and advertising are dramatically different.

Advertising is easy, you just purchase a useless ad from the sales person who comes by your store every week with the “Best Deal In Town”, that will not reach your target market and then you put a terrible message on it, or you let the sales rep who just got out of college write it for you. Marketing on the other hand takes time and effort.

Let me set the scene for you…In June the Cincinnati Reds had a “Skateboard Day” where the first 10,000 kids to arrive at the game received a FREE skateboard deck. Pretty cool promotion. Now here is where it gets interesting. If you have kids or you have ever owned a skate board you know what I’m getting ready to tell you. The skateboard deck is only a DECK. You still need grip tape, trucks, wheels and bearings at the very least. If you’re smart you need knee & elbow pads, wrist protectors and a helmet.

So, why am I telling you this? Well, if you own a skateboard shop this is a GOLD MINE. You get a few of your employees or team skaters together and you head down to Great American Ballpark and you pass out fliers about your shop. These fliers could have coupons (with more than weak 10% off coupons), surveys to capture your customers info and more importantly an invitation to these new skateboard owners to come to your store.

This is where it gets hard…YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO DO IT! Yes, you need to find out about events like this ahead of time, have inventory in stock to meet demand and put a street team together to go to GABP and market your company. The sad part is most companies don’t do this.

I had mentioned this opportunity to a client of mine from Glickin.com. Glickin.com specializes in helping companies market themselves at events like this. So they called a few skateboard shops in the area and asked if they were heading down to the game. Not one of them knew about the promotion and when asked if they’d like Glickin.com to help them do this, they said they did not need to do marketing like this????? One even said “I’m a destination shop, they know where I’m at and they’ll find me”? How can 10,000 kids and their families know who and where you are! If that was the case you’d have 20 stores by now and be a millionaire and not driving a 15 year-old ford escort.

So to recap we just talked about the following items:

1. Find events you can talk to your customers

2. Plan for these events.

3. Actually ATTEND and work these events

4. Ask customers to buy from you with GREAT offers.

5. Capture as many of the attendees information to build your customer database

That is why marketing is hard; you have to actually do something. You MUST plan to be successful in marketing your business and you must leave your shop and be creative. Oh yeah, the kids probably would have talked mom and dad into buying some shoes and a few shirts as well:)

Matt Plapp is a Marketing Consultant in the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky area specializing in small business marketing via grass-roots, events, guerilla, online and social media marketing. You can contact him at matt@mattplapp.wpengine.com

MATT PLAPP