Industry Tech Outlook / Admired Leaders of 2024

 

Howard Larson
& Larson & Associates

has been nominated to receive the
Industry Tech Outlook
Admired Leaders of 2024

Working out of covid, the accomplishments gained in 2023 as an industry role model with innovations for both associates and clients have showed how Howard has continued to be a leader and focused business model. 2023 has again showed that the business model of Big Fish in a Little Pond that Howard Larson and Larson & Associates starting using back in in 1996 has not only worked but brought greater job satisfaction to employees and customers.

Remaining quick to shift resources to where they are needed has allowed us to give us a faster response to the needs of our clients and our people. It has not been easy especially over the last four years between covid and high inflation not to mention supply chain issues. We thank God that in our virtual business model we are as cost contained and adept to take advantages of circumstances.  Our philosophy of the Big Fish in a Little Pond and purposefully staying small, seeking out small to mid-sized companies, the majority of our clients continue to be small businesses with revenue of $500,000 to 50 Million with 3 to 15 sales people remains in tact.  2023 with inflation our year over year clients who are using the Larson & Associates 3 Legged Stool Method of Marketing have been seeing growth above 17.9% but more importantly grabbing increased market share with bold tactics and inflation beating market share expansion programs. Those in the trade show area have seen lead follow-up and connections three times the national average. We continue to push our clients deeper into this market area because quite frankly, trade shows are where the customers are. In seminars we have attended this winter with speakers from Freeman and McCormick Place we found untapped marketing areas where we can expand into and see even greater growth for our clients Thank you for your continued support of the Larson Philosophy of Marketing as in April we start our 50th year in business. It is because of you that we are still here and continue to be a success. It is your belief in us that makes us who we are. You give us the freedom to work quick, hard and fast. You are the people who let us out run, out produce and out perform the competition.

If you are not yet a
Larson & Associates client
you should be.

Year after year we out perform other marketing agencies. Why? We are street fighters. If we do not do what needs to be done, we know where to get the experience, the knowledge and the know-how. We have been around the block a few times. You can do what we are able, you can not get what we offer without working on the front lines, in the trenches. If your marketing or advertising company is sitting behind their desk they are doing you a disservice. Things change too fast to to not be involved in the day to day work of lead generation and marketing. If you are not ready to expand I understand, enjoy. But if you are one of the few that says now is the time we have room for 7 new clients in April. Not 8 only 7. When we get our 7 we are done expanding for a while. You will just have to wait in line until we have an opening for new clients.  We are here not only about the money but life. We are looking for not just companies to make a dollar off of. We are searching for companies that have the positive image through service to their customers and their community. These exceptional companies help make the world a great place to live, work and play. If that is you, we want to talk with you, today.

Larson & Associates

We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better
Larson & Associates

3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 www.larsonassociates.ws

2023 Best Of Grayslake Awards Marketing Agency

 

Howard Larson & Larson & Associates have been nominated to receive the 2023 Best of Grayslake Award Marketing Agency Working in the recession years of 2022-23 has shown the business model of a virtual office that Howard Larson and Larson & Associates starting using back in in 2006, not just to lower our carbon footprint but to give the Larson & Associates staff greater job satisfaction and control has allowed us to give us a quicker response to the needs of our clients. Not that it has been easy the last few years. We we thank God that we have not lost 1 day or even 1 hour of work during this time. Our philosophy of the Big Fish in a Little Pond and purposefully staying small, seeking out small to mid-sized companies, the majority of our clients continue to be small businesses with revenue of $500,000 to 10 Million with 3 to 12 sales people remains in tact. Or those companies exhibiting at major trade shows needing a marketing plan that has been shown to work. In 2022-23 despite the recession, our year over year clients who are using the Larson & Associates 3 Legged Stool Method of Marketing have been seeing growth above 21.8% as well as grabbing increased market share with bold market share expansion programs.  Thank you for your continued support of the Larson Philosophy of Marketing. Now in our 48th year it is because of you that we are still here and continue to be successful. It is your belief in us that makes us who we are. You give us the freedom to work quick, hard and fast. You are the people who let us out run, out produce and out perform the competition. 2023 Best of Grayslake Awards in the category of Marketing Agency The Grayslake Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Grayslake area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value. Each year, the Grayslake Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Grayslake area a great place to live, work and play. The Grayslake Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy. Larson & Associates    We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Copyright ©2023 Larson & Associates, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way     Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294 howard@larsonassocaites.ws www.larsonassociates.ws

Our Trademark Plan The 3 Legged Stool Plan

 

This Is What We Are Up Against! Our Trademark Plan The 3 Legged Stool Plan Nothing works every time but somethings work better than others. Our method, the Larson way is the 3 Legged Stool method of marketing. I have been using the Stool or in some form of the 3 Legged Stool for over 47 years. Why? Because it works. The tools have changed but the basic idea has not. Hit people in three different ways using 3 different touch points and you are going to find a way that they respond to. The five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. People will respond to your message if you touch them in the way they want you to. When I started out back in the 70's and 80's I would fax out all night long. It worked. I got into companies like Ram Golf and Doumak Marshmallows. Now that has evolved into email marketing. Don't laugh, email works. The right subject line, the right message, with the right product or service, at the right time and without a lot of fancy arm twisting and you have a new customer. Yes you many get a low conversion rate but it is inexpensive, flexable and if you remember the rule of 27: people see only 1 out of every 3 touch points you make to them and it takes 9 views on average to close a sale. You get the idea don't you. We add in some telemarketing to the people who opened the email and we are calling a warm lead not an icy cold one. We know they have seen your name, read a little about you and you are that much closer to a new customer. Then with the help from the USPS we send out some direct mail postcards. The mail box is empty and people love to get mail. We usually go with postcards but lumpy mail or a monthly newsletter works as well. In the 3 legged stool plan we weave these three elements, email, telemarketing, direct mail, in and out of each other and get the result we want at a very high ROI (Return On Investment). Telemarketing   Telemarketing campaigns are a proven and cost-effective method for selling products and services to a large target audience. Using Larson & Associates in a targeted campaign to a list of qualified prospects, and yes a telemarketing campaigns can increase sales, profits and customer satisfaction without increasing your staffing and training costs. Larson provides reliable and customizable programs designed to increase your profitability through Lead Generation, Lead Qualification, Telemarketing Sales, Appointment Setting, Up‐selling/Cross‐selling, Seminar / Event Registration, Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Customer Retention Programs. Telemarketing is an art. 7 to 15 seconds (Rock Tranel should appreciate that) is all you get to make a connection. 15 seconds to get permission to talk a few seconds more or "click". Email Marketing It is really essential that you use Email when you can. Email marketing has the highest impact on conversions for pretty much every marketing team. It nearly always results in high profit and double digit growth. Yes you need an email list but Larson & Associates knows how to make a list and not buy it from a list company. Direct Mail Marketing   Direct mail, junk mail (by its recipients), mailshot or admail (North America) letterbox drop or letterboxing (Australia) is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. The delivery of advertising mail is growing larger and is a key component to Lead Generation Marketing. So go on and send out those Post Cards, Newsletters, Enveloped mail. Fill the mail box and make someone happy. The Rest Of The Program Blog Marketing Blog Marketing is a content marketing strategy. The marketing strategy uses blogs to address potential customers directly and individually, thus achieving customer loyalty for your brand. Blogging uses viral marketing methods in which an interest group is built based on a blog about you and your company.   Social Media Marketing Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. This involves publishing great content on your social media profiles, listening to and engaging your followers, analyzing your results, and running social media advertisements. There are quite a few social platforms and when you find one put your company name address website phone number etcetera on it but unless you are ready to work it at 100% that is all you should do. Don't dabble on a social site.    LinkedIn Marketing LinkedIn is more focused on individuals than it is on companies. As such, it’s a wonderful tool to help you build meaningful connections with others in your industry, as well as prospective customers or job candidates. Those LinkedIn members often have something to teach us, and we can learn about them in the process. By building these connections, you can identify who might be a good fit to join your company’s team or who might find great success using your product or service. This approach can help you identify specific targets and give your recruiting or sales team a head start. LinkedIn is one of the three sites we here at Larson & Associates work and work hard.   Web & SEO Marketing SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It’s the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic, as well as exposure to your brand, through non-paid (also known as "organic") search engine results. Despite the acronym, SEO is as much about people as it is about search engines themselves. It’s about understanding what people are searching for online, the answers they are seeking, the words they’re using, and the type of content they wish to consume. Knowing the answers to these questions will allow you to connect to the people who are searching online for the solutions you offer. If knowing your audience’s intent is one side of the SEO coin, delivering it in a way search engine crawlers can find and understand is the other. In this guide, expect to learn how to do both. If you are using Larson & Associates for your SEO (thank you) it is being done for you already but do not let your SEO company tell you meta tags don't count any more. They do as well as key words. I can not begin to tell you how many $10 dollar websites (and a few $20,000 web sites),  I have put on 1st page of a Google search because I know how to work "search".  SEO is a game. Some of us just play it better than others.  Trade Show Marketing Tradeshows remain an important and effective means of reaching your key customers and finding new ones. Presenting your company, product or service at industry events. But if you think tradeshows only deliver great returns for specific types of business, you might be wrong. Tradeshows are a fantastic marketing tactic for any business to improve sales and build relationships. From industrial trade shows, to  association trade shows to wedding shows, it is an activity that can make an impact on your bottom line instantly. It does have a cost of perhaps $1000 for a Chamber of Commerce to the shows at McCormick place where $4,000 gets you a 10'x10' with a table, 2 chairs and a rug. Figure on a minimum of $10,000 or more at a major industry show but if done right, you will propel your company at a pace you can only dream of.   AND FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE TRADE Outsourced Or White Label Marketing Services   We offer to the trade services are offered to the Print and Graphic community on a "To The Trade" basis for you to offer this service to your clients with out the learning curve, knowledge need and finding qualified experience staff.  Can We Help You? Sure you can do this yourself. I totally understand and for those of you with the time to write content, flow it into a program like this one and be consistent and still have time for the follow-up, wonderful. Go for it. Have fun and enjoy! But for those who can't there's . . .   Larson & Associates We Make Good Businesses Great and Great Businesses Even Better Larson & Associates 3475 Steeplechase Way    Suite 101 Grayslake IL 60030 847-991-1294