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Let’s Do the MARKETing!
Marketing entails a lot of brainwork and creativity. It follows a domino process and every step needs an equally meticulous guidance and attention. Before you bring your products to the open, you must first conduct a research. Research delves into...
Polls and Surveys: A Great Path to Free Publicity for Marketing-Minded Financial Planners
When I search Google News for "surveys," I get nearly 50,000 results. When I search for "stocks," I get about 54,000. The media love polls and surveys. Here are just a few headlines in the news as I write this, generated directly from surveys: ...
Postcard Marketing Relieves Anthrax Scare
The latest Anthrax scare might have you thinking twice about using postal mail to promote your business. A Washington Post-ABC News survey showed that "65% of the American public was at least 'concerned' that letters containing anthrax bacteria had...
RSS: THE NEW KING OF PERMISSION MARKETING
Gold is in your mailing list.
How many times have you heard this statement before? Undoubtedly, these words have been used so many times that they have become one of the verified clichés in Internet marketing.
Well, it has become a cliché...
Web Traffic for Manufacturers Defines New Marketing Model
According to Dean Schmidt, Vice President of the Affinity Program for TR Cutler, Inc., "We had to find a way for manufacturers to rapidly experience ROI from an aggressive PR campaign. 45 press releases in 90 days generates extraordinary traffic to...
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3 Simple Marketing Strategies
3 SIMPLE MARKETING STRATEGIES Copyright 2002 Bob Leduc
These 3 simple marketing strategies work for any business. You can implement them quickly and produce immediate results. They won't cost you much money. And the sales growth they generate continues as long as you continue using them.
1. CREATE A SPECIAL COMBINATION OFFER
Combine several of your products or services into a Special Combination Package with a price lower than the total cost of buying each item separately. Promote it as a Special Offer for a limited time. When you pass the expiration date, replace it with another Special Combination Offer using a different selection of products or services.
Special Combination Offers increase your total sales by motivating hesitant customers to buy now so they can get your "good deal". Special Combination Offers also increase the size of your average sale. And bigger average sales generate more total profit for you.
TIP: After you develop 3 or 4 different combinations you can continuously recycle through the same series of offers. This enables you to continue promoting Special Combination Offers without taking the time to create new ones.
2. SINGLE OUT A SMALL CUSTOMER SEGMENT
Look for a narrowly defined niche within your targeted market. Identify a specific group of potential customers with a strong need (or desire) for the benefits provided by your product or service.
Create a special version of your advertising catering to the specific concerns and needs of prospects in this new market. Customize your sales message so each prospect perceives your product or service as the perfect solution to their unique needs.
For example, one person selling a lead service to small businesses noticed that many of her clients were network marketers or real estate agents. She created a customized web site for each of these 2 niche markets. The sites looked similar. But the content was different. A visitor to either site could assume the lead service applied exclusively to their industry.
BONUS: A highly defined, small niche market also insulates you from competition. Other small businesses are likely to overlook it. And large businesses completely ignore small market segments.
3. ESTABLISH A SUBTLE REFERRAL PROGRAM
Referrals from customers are
easier to sell than cold prospects. And they don't cost you anything. It's too bad you get so few of them.
You can generate a continuous flow of referrals with a simple but subtle Customer Survey. Send it to your customers by postal mail, email, fax or post it on your web site. The survey I use asks only 3 questions:
1. What did you like best about our (product or service)?
2. What can we do to improve the value of our (product or service) for you?
3. Who else do you know that wants to (state the benefit provided by your product or service)?
The first 2 questions focus attention on the benefits you provide. Your customers are more likely to volunteer referrals at the 3rd question when they are already thinking about the value of those benefits.
BONUS: You also gain something from the answers you get to the first 2 questions. The first question often generates a response you can use as a testimonial (with your customer's permission). The second question may provide an early warning of a problem you need to correct ...or it may alert you to an opportunity you can exploit.
Select one of these simple marketing strategies and start using it in your business. It won't take much time or effort and you'll see results almost immediately. Then repeat the process with each of the other 2 strategies until all 3 are part of your marketing system. You'll enjoy a permanent increase in your sales volume for a very small increase in your expenses.
Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience in building successful businesses. He just released a revised and completely updated New Edition of his manual, "How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards", and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards" Phone: 702-658-1707 after 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV
About the Author
Bob Leduc is a Sales Consultant with 30 years experience in building successful businesses. He just released a revised and completely updated New Edition of his manual, "How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards", and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards" Phone: 702-658-1707 after 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV
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