1. Print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to a target list.
People will read your postcard if you limit the information you print on the card. Make each point critical to deliver the best message. Mention any specials or promotional offers on your best services. People will buy services and products they are familiar with and are in need of, so market your best foot forward. Save money, market to your core audience only.
2. No single advertising or marketing strategy will work all the time, so rotate your strategy.
People get bored quickly and easily so rotate your strategies. Keep your message fresh and current. Try using several means to deliver your message. This does not suggest you try a bunch of different advertising mediums once, and then stop. You should have a stable medium like internet to help deliver your message. Make your message fresh and compliment your main marketing methods with splash campaigns. Landing page tactics work well, for more information on landing pages, contact Zenergy Works.
3. Synergistic Pairings or Buddy Marketing.
Co-marketing is useful in helping business owners advertise their service and save money doing so. It also allows a business owner to co-brand their companies helping build the reputation that you put in the marketplace. Find like-minded business owners and develop marketing campaigns together.
Make A Splash
Keep It Simple
4. Answer your phone in a unique way to attract more customers.
Changing your delivery per season and adding new statements like “Thank you for calling Zenergy Works, ask about our Free SEO Analysis, this is Bryan how may I help you?” Will invite your callers to ask more about what you do and what you can offer them. Keep your message fresh and current. Try using several means to deliver your message. This does not suggest you try a bunch of different advertising mediums once, and then stop. You should have a stable medium like internet to help deliver your message. Make your message fresh and compliment your main marketing methods with splash campaigns.
Be Consistent
5. Stick Mini Billboards everywhere
Design a simple sticker that has your logo and a quick message. Stick it everywhere, your postcards, on the back of your business cards, any print advertising, on any envelope you send out, including your bills, (Hey bill collectors buy services too) on handwritten messages. Think of this as mini billboards sending out your message.
6. Make contact within 2 weeks to a previous customer
Send a second offer to those people who have already done business with you. People buy products and services they are familiar with. Your past clients are your best targets. Making contact with them inside of 2 weeks keeps your product or service fresh in their mind.
Don’t Fear The Unknown
7. eNewsletters
There are several companies who offer quick and easy email newsletter delivery systems. We recommend Constant Contact. People will open an email from people they have done business with or would like to business with. People will open emails from people they are familiar with. Use opt -in campaigns only. That is, allow each person you email the chance to opt out of receiving any future newsletters. DO NOT BUY LIST; start with collecting emails from current clients, family, and friends. Encourage them to forward your newsletter and have that person contact you to be put on your list. Try using only 1 newsletter a month. Do not over contact people, they will get annoyed. Sign Up For A Free 30 day trial by clicking here (link to : http://ping.fm/r6EAj)
8. Seminars and Open Houses
One of the best ways to talk about your product or service is to hold seminars. Use your advertising methods like Radio , TV, and print to invite people to attend. Invite your key customers and prospects. Limit the attendance and charge a fee. A fee will give the impression of value. Holding Free seminars will often give impression that they are going to a sales pitch. Most people do not want to be SOLD, they want to be educated.
9. Bartering
This is an excellent tool to promote your business and get others to use your product and services. You can trade your product for advertising space or for another company's product or service. This is especially helpful when two companies on limited budgets can exchange their services.
10. Internet Marketing
One of the biggest mistakes that small businesses can make is not doing enough internet advertising. The easiest way to do FREE internet marketing is making sure you are on all the local search engine listings. Go to Yahoo and Google and click on the local link. At the bottom of each page you will see “ADD YOUR BUSINESS”. Click on it and follow the instructions. Contact Zenergy Works for a quote on how we can help you manage your internet advertising in a more effective manner today, 888-278-5718
Friday, November 27, 2009
Have you ever wondered how to handle all of your Social Networks at once? Well find out on http://ping.fm/VP8Nw
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Zenergy | SEO Company in Bay Area
Link
Check out this new SEO company in the Bay Area and how they use a different style of profiling for the pictures in the About Us section.
Check out this new SEO company in the Bay Area and how they use a different style of profiling for the pictures in the About Us section.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Facebook | Zenergy Works - SEO Company
Link
Top SEO company on Facebook | Zenergy Works SEO company in Santa Rosa
Best SEO company in Santa Rosa handling seo services for small to medium sized business owners.
Top SEO company on Facebook | Zenergy Works SEO company in Santa Rosa
Best SEO company in Santa Rosa handling seo services for small to medium sized business owners.
Friday, June 13, 2008
What are these Radio Buying Services I keep seeing?
I have been asked several times this month about those "Cheap" radio buying services that business owners are seeing on the internet after doing a google search: "How To Buy Radio Advertising". It frustrates me that the first potential piece of information that a business owner recieves after trying to educate themselves on using radio advertising as a viable media to advertise their business is information on how to "NOT" to buy radio advertising. Radio Advertising is not "CHEAP". Here is a definition of "cheap" as defined by dictionary.com ;
1. costing very little; relatively low in price; inexpensive: a cheap dress.
2. costing little labor or trouble: Words are cheap.
3. charging low prices: a very cheap store.
4. of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy: cheap conduct; cheap workmanship.
5. embarrassed; sheepish: He felt cheap about his mistake.
6. obtainable at a low rate of interest: when money is cheap.
7. of decreased value or purchasing power, as currency depreciated due to inflation.
8. stingy; miserly: He's too cheap to buy his own brother a cup of coffee.
The problem with putting the word cheap and radio together is that people have the perception that they can buy an effective advertising while buying the cheapest commercial inventory. Here is an inside secret into what is know as "traffic" in radio stations. The cheapest spots or commercials get the lowest priority. Your commercials will get bumped off, switched around, thrown out, or put into placement from Midnight to 5am in the morning. Yep! You heard me, those cheap spots are useless when trying to reach your target audience. Trust me, if you are considering Radio Advertising, their are plenty of professionals who can help you do it the right way.
For more information about how I can help you, visit
San Francisco Radio Advertising Professional, Bay Area Radio Advertising Guru, and East Bay Radio Advertising Solutions ----- Click Here
1. costing very little; relatively low in price; inexpensive: a cheap dress.
2. costing little labor or trouble: Words are cheap.
3. charging low prices: a very cheap store.
4. of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy: cheap conduct; cheap workmanship.
5. embarrassed; sheepish: He felt cheap about his mistake.
6. obtainable at a low rate of interest: when money is cheap.
7. of decreased value or purchasing power, as currency depreciated due to inflation.
8. stingy; miserly: He's too cheap to buy his own brother a cup of coffee.
The problem with putting the word cheap and radio together is that people have the perception that they can buy an effective advertising while buying the cheapest commercial inventory. Here is an inside secret into what is know as "traffic" in radio stations. The cheapest spots or commercials get the lowest priority. Your commercials will get bumped off, switched around, thrown out, or put into placement from Midnight to 5am in the morning. Yep! You heard me, those cheap spots are useless when trying to reach your target audience. Trust me, if you are considering Radio Advertising, their are plenty of professionals who can help you do it the right way.
For more information about how I can help you, visit
San Francisco Radio Advertising Professional, Bay Area Radio Advertising Guru, and East Bay Radio Advertising Solutions ----- Click Here
The Upside Of A Recession: 'The Dumbbells Cut Back... The Smart People Don't'.
The market drops 370 points in a single day, corporate earnings disappoint and housing prices continue to sink.
We are in uncertain economic times. We may be in a recession right now, or could slip into one next week... or next month.
As optimists, we don't like forecasting difficult economic times. But, even optimists have to come to grips with the realities of our uncertain marketplace.
With economic anxiety looming, many of our clients are asking: how should I position and market my firm in the year to come? Assuming yours is a healthy company, here are our general recommendations.
The Cumulative Power Of Marketing
The laws of marketing never change, even in a recession. In fact, if played correctly, they can compound in your favor. Marketing, in any economic environment, is about sustained and integrated activity.
Like the principle of compound interest, a little investment, applied consistently, will pay great dividends down the road. There are of course short term benefits – marketing assists in generating immediate sales – but the real power of your marketing program is cumulative. This cumulative effect drives awareness and ultimately preference in your service so, at the elusive time of need, your prospect thinks of you first.
A sustained marketing effort will help ensure that your pipeline is consistently replenished, leads are properly nurtured, and your market presence is maintained.
The advantages to continuing your marketing in uncertain economic times go far beyond simply maintaining the status quo. The reality is many of your competitors are going to pull back their marketing. As a result, your dollar is going to go further than it is now. Your share of voice will grow. This represents a great opportunity for forward looking firms that are committed to growth because there are still lots of buyers out there.
The Reactionary Response
Many service firms automatically cut expenditures, and marketing is often on top of the list. It's an instinctive response to difficult economic conditions. Almost universally, this response will lead a company to have real trouble in the coming years, recession or no recession.
We can understand why firms think they need to cut back. The sensationalistic media attention given to the economy creates a quiet panic in all of us. We run all sorts of scenarios through our head: clients are going to brace for hard times... they will take longer to make purchases... perhaps they'll even cut service providers. As you think of sales cycles stretching, client retention diminishing, and project size shrinking, you may find yourself looking to cut costs.
Marketing is one of those initial costs that seem easy to reduce. It's hard to measure and you aren't quite sure if it's needed when it's time to hunker down. Why not cut it until things are looking up again? It's easy to justify: "We'll go full force once the market turns, it won't hurt a thing."
The Facts
Study after study demonstrates why this is not wise. Keith Roberts, of PIMS Associates, found firms that increase their marketing spend during a recession actually grow significantly faster than firms that maintain or decrease their marketing spend.1 Additionally, firms that invested more in marketing in a down market realized a 4.3% increase in their ROI. This compared to companies that maintained or cut their level of effort during the two years following a recession.
The study also pointed out that those who increased their marketing efforts during a recession gained market share three times faster in the two years following a recession than businesses that cut their marketing. While service firms don't play the market share game, this does illustrate the cumulative effect of marketing and the opportunity for advancement in a recession.
While the work PIMS did is compelling, it's hardly the only material on the subject:
McGraw Hill found that business to business companies that maintained or increased their marketing during the 1981-82 recession grew during and after the recession at a far greater rate than those who didn't maintain or increase marketing spending.2
The research firm of Meldrum & Fewsmith studied all post World War II recessions and found that advertising aggressively during recessions not only increases sales but it also increases profits, and at a far greater rate than those firms that cut back.3
American Business Media found that maintaining share of mind during an economic downturn directly related to current and future sales and that maintaining share of mind costs much less than rebuilding it after a period of marketing inactivity.4
According to Coopers & Lybrand, marketing during a time of economic difficultly solidifies your client case, portrays you as stable, takes business away from less aggressive competitors and positions your firm well for post recession growth.5
We could go on, but we're sure you get the point – this storyline, and the research behind it, is compelling.
The Silver Lining
As legendry ad man Ed McCabe puts it, "All great enterprises move forward in a recession, and the weaklings move back. The dumbbells cut back...the smart people don't."
Be one of the "smart people." Whether there will be or won't be a recession, maintaining a healthy marketing program will only build on what you have already developed. And maintaining and growing what you have toiled long and hard over requires careful planning, decisive execution, and plain old guts. Now more than ever the money you spend now on marketing matters. Not because dark times loom, but because there is real opportunity out there right now.
We are in uncertain economic times. We may be in a recession right now, or could slip into one next week... or next month.
As optimists, we don't like forecasting difficult economic times. But, even optimists have to come to grips with the realities of our uncertain marketplace.
With economic anxiety looming, many of our clients are asking: how should I position and market my firm in the year to come? Assuming yours is a healthy company, here are our general recommendations.
The Cumulative Power Of Marketing
The laws of marketing never change, even in a recession. In fact, if played correctly, they can compound in your favor. Marketing, in any economic environment, is about sustained and integrated activity.
Like the principle of compound interest, a little investment, applied consistently, will pay great dividends down the road. There are of course short term benefits – marketing assists in generating immediate sales – but the real power of your marketing program is cumulative. This cumulative effect drives awareness and ultimately preference in your service so, at the elusive time of need, your prospect thinks of you first.
A sustained marketing effort will help ensure that your pipeline is consistently replenished, leads are properly nurtured, and your market presence is maintained.
The advantages to continuing your marketing in uncertain economic times go far beyond simply maintaining the status quo. The reality is many of your competitors are going to pull back their marketing. As a result, your dollar is going to go further than it is now. Your share of voice will grow. This represents a great opportunity for forward looking firms that are committed to growth because there are still lots of buyers out there.
The Reactionary Response
Many service firms automatically cut expenditures, and marketing is often on top of the list. It's an instinctive response to difficult economic conditions. Almost universally, this response will lead a company to have real trouble in the coming years, recession or no recession.
We can understand why firms think they need to cut back. The sensationalistic media attention given to the economy creates a quiet panic in all of us. We run all sorts of scenarios through our head: clients are going to brace for hard times... they will take longer to make purchases... perhaps they'll even cut service providers. As you think of sales cycles stretching, client retention diminishing, and project size shrinking, you may find yourself looking to cut costs.
Marketing is one of those initial costs that seem easy to reduce. It's hard to measure and you aren't quite sure if it's needed when it's time to hunker down. Why not cut it until things are looking up again? It's easy to justify: "We'll go full force once the market turns, it won't hurt a thing."
The Facts
Study after study demonstrates why this is not wise. Keith Roberts, of PIMS Associates, found firms that increase their marketing spend during a recession actually grow significantly faster than firms that maintain or decrease their marketing spend.1 Additionally, firms that invested more in marketing in a down market realized a 4.3% increase in their ROI. This compared to companies that maintained or cut their level of effort during the two years following a recession.
The study also pointed out that those who increased their marketing efforts during a recession gained market share three times faster in the two years following a recession than businesses that cut their marketing. While service firms don't play the market share game, this does illustrate the cumulative effect of marketing and the opportunity for advancement in a recession.
While the work PIMS did is compelling, it's hardly the only material on the subject:
McGraw Hill found that business to business companies that maintained or increased their marketing during the 1981-82 recession grew during and after the recession at a far greater rate than those who didn't maintain or increase marketing spending.2
The research firm of Meldrum & Fewsmith studied all post World War II recessions and found that advertising aggressively during recessions not only increases sales but it also increases profits, and at a far greater rate than those firms that cut back.3
American Business Media found that maintaining share of mind during an economic downturn directly related to current and future sales and that maintaining share of mind costs much less than rebuilding it after a period of marketing inactivity.4
According to Coopers & Lybrand, marketing during a time of economic difficultly solidifies your client case, portrays you as stable, takes business away from less aggressive competitors and positions your firm well for post recession growth.5
We could go on, but we're sure you get the point – this storyline, and the research behind it, is compelling.
The Silver Lining
As legendry ad man Ed McCabe puts it, "All great enterprises move forward in a recession, and the weaklings move back. The dumbbells cut back...the smart people don't."
Be one of the "smart people." Whether there will be or won't be a recession, maintaining a healthy marketing program will only build on what you have already developed. And maintaining and growing what you have toiled long and hard over requires careful planning, decisive execution, and plain old guts. Now more than ever the money you spend now on marketing matters. Not because dark times loom, but because there is real opportunity out there right now.
Labels:
advertising,
Internet Marketing,
radio,
Radio advertising
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