My last blog of the year. My head has been going all over the place on what to write. Predictions. Heck I’m no expert. I have been reading experts predictions in the papers and magazines for the last month. You don’t need me to tell you what to expect in 2011. Well in scanning over the various papers and magazines in my stack of stuff, maybe you do, but not today. Today is about jobs and job creation. Unemployment is down. Yes it is and that is a good thing, but is it? From up in the Ivory Tower I see 3.6 million people in the States alone who have just dropped out of searching for a job. Yet I see the GPA growing at 2.6 up to 5%.
So what should happen over the next year in your businesses? Are you really going to gown and take charge of your business and your life? Or are you going to stand on the sidelines hoping the government is going to do something about the mess we are in? The choice is yours and no one else’s. Even your significant other cannot make this choice for you.
Larson Notes & Satire: Personally I would always tell you to consult with your significant other. I know I do much better when Mrs. Larson is going in the same way I am. I am not saying that I rubber stamp everything she says and wants or she does the same to me but if we are pulling in the same direction using our unique differences we are going to get there much faster that if we are pulling at opposite directions.
Take loans, be them business, personal or credit cards. I hate paying interest. I mean I hate it with a passion! I am not against banks and the reason they charge interest although credit card interest rates are WAY TO HIGH, which is why my goal is to have every loan paid off, except my mortgage (which is tax deductable) by the end of 2011. At the same time 2 “Little Larson’s” will be graduating from College this spring, yes the proud Papa here.
Now to the real topic, JOBS. This country, this wonderful world of ours needs jobs and job growth and job creation. I plan to do my part by growing my business carefully and in the context of my business plan and at the same time create the opportunity for at a minimum 6 people working in new positions by the end of 2011 in the Land of Larson. Now what are 6 positions to what I believe is 7.2 million Americans that are out of work? A drop in the bucket. But in taking on the responsibility of 7 people and I do take it as a responsibility to them and their family to maintain them and grow with them and keep a safe, happy, non stressful working atmosphere, I will by my best guess be providing another 18 to 54 jobs at client companies which will equal between 25 to 61 jobs. Now we are talking aren’t we? And those are private sector jobs. No tax dollars used to support them.
My 2011 business plan has a lot more ideas in it. Some are not for public consumption. Yes I have some secret stuff to unleash at my competition. (HA HA HA (that was an evil laugh)) Other ideas will come out publically as the New Year comes in.
Come with me for the ride. I know where I am going. Lead, follow or get the heck out of the way. As for me, I would rather be leading.
So for now have a wonderful New Year’s Weekend. Be safe and with the advent of 2011 let’s all be in control of our own lives, and live to the fullest in God’s blessings and abundant grace!
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Mail The Multichannel Powerhouse
You know how I feel about direct mail. I love it. One of the big 3 channels I suggest each of my customers add (Telemarketing, Direct Mail, Web Marketing) or get involved in when embarking on a marketing attack.
Despite the cost of postage, which when put into perspective is really quite a bargain. Despite the bad rap that paper gets which by the way is a renewable resource. Paper companies do plant trees, quite a few of them as a matter of fact. Developments in variable data which is just starting to trickle down to mainstream marketing you can send out highly targeted messages to your customers and prospects.
Mail as an effective channel has lead of all companies Google to use it. Who’d of thought? And don’t thing the NHL has stopped sending out a catalog or two. Go Black Hawks!
To keep things inline and on target these companies are using some sort of a CRM system to help them control the whole program. It keeps their message relevant and directed as they profile what a certain customer who want to buy on their next trip in to the company web site. Think green, because the more targeted your message the less waste there is. And the less waste the lower the cost of the program. Yes going green can be a cost savings benefit to a company.
When constructing your mailing you want to have the most relevant message you can get to the market you’re going after. Talk to the people your sending to, not at them.
Having a big January sale? Might be a bit late for January so start thinking February. With fewer and fewer things going out in the mail try a postcard reminder to invite your customers to the sale.
Need more activity on your online store? Send out a mailing with your web address. You might get a big surprise.
Larson Notes & Satire: Mail gives a lift to sales. Does it really matter to you if they buy in person or off your web site? A sale is a sale is a sale no matter how it happens. Now, I never do a big mass mailing. That is not the nature of my business. It has not been in my companies marketing plan for 25 years. I use a trickle direct mail attack to hold up our telemarketing attack. But, I will tell you that we are now looking at big mailings up here in the Ivory Tower. It has long been a question here on how big to grow my company. Do I don’t really want to become big? I remember the days of 37 employees and not getting a vacation. Yet when I look out into the Land of Larson I see people, good people that need employment. People that don’t wish to be taking a check from the government.
Then I look and see companies that could use our services, companies that need a push to grow faster and stronger. Is this my destiny in life? Am I a greedy capitalist or am I a giver of hope?
Would a mass mail piece find those good companies that need what I do and bring them into the Land of Larson faster than the slow growth plan we have been using? As I look back on 2010 I can say that the growth we predicted a year ago has become reality. Well we are 1½ months behind in projections. A doubling of gross sales is not a bad thing. There were bumps along the way but in and of itself 2010 was a good year. The trickle direct mail plan we have been using was very targeted and very effective. 2011? The plan is to triple gross sales? With a few tweaks (no not twits, well maybe) I know we could push that up to 6x growth, but that would mean I would probably need to go trot off to the bank for a loan and I am not a lover of borrowing money for a non-capital equipment expenditure. (Note to self: need to do a piece on loans and interest)
So many questions at this time of the year, but it is the answers that give us hope.
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Despite the cost of postage, which when put into perspective is really quite a bargain. Despite the bad rap that paper gets which by the way is a renewable resource. Paper companies do plant trees, quite a few of them as a matter of fact. Developments in variable data which is just starting to trickle down to mainstream marketing you can send out highly targeted messages to your customers and prospects.
Mail as an effective channel has lead of all companies Google to use it. Who’d of thought? And don’t thing the NHL has stopped sending out a catalog or two. Go Black Hawks!
To keep things inline and on target these companies are using some sort of a CRM system to help them control the whole program. It keeps their message relevant and directed as they profile what a certain customer who want to buy on their next trip in to the company web site. Think green, because the more targeted your message the less waste there is. And the less waste the lower the cost of the program. Yes going green can be a cost savings benefit to a company.
When constructing your mailing you want to have the most relevant message you can get to the market you’re going after. Talk to the people your sending to, not at them.
Having a big January sale? Might be a bit late for January so start thinking February. With fewer and fewer things going out in the mail try a postcard reminder to invite your customers to the sale.
Need more activity on your online store? Send out a mailing with your web address. You might get a big surprise.
Larson Notes & Satire: Mail gives a lift to sales. Does it really matter to you if they buy in person or off your web site? A sale is a sale is a sale no matter how it happens. Now, I never do a big mass mailing. That is not the nature of my business. It has not been in my companies marketing plan for 25 years. I use a trickle direct mail attack to hold up our telemarketing attack. But, I will tell you that we are now looking at big mailings up here in the Ivory Tower. It has long been a question here on how big to grow my company. Do I don’t really want to become big? I remember the days of 37 employees and not getting a vacation. Yet when I look out into the Land of Larson I see people, good people that need employment. People that don’t wish to be taking a check from the government.
Then I look and see companies that could use our services, companies that need a push to grow faster and stronger. Is this my destiny in life? Am I a greedy capitalist or am I a giver of hope?
Would a mass mail piece find those good companies that need what I do and bring them into the Land of Larson faster than the slow growth plan we have been using? As I look back on 2010 I can say that the growth we predicted a year ago has become reality. Well we are 1½ months behind in projections. A doubling of gross sales is not a bad thing. There were bumps along the way but in and of itself 2010 was a good year. The trickle direct mail plan we have been using was very targeted and very effective. 2011? The plan is to triple gross sales? With a few tweaks (no not twits, well maybe) I know we could push that up to 6x growth, but that would mean I would probably need to go trot off to the bank for a loan and I am not a lover of borrowing money for a non-capital equipment expenditure. (Note to self: need to do a piece on loans and interest)
So many questions at this time of the year, but it is the answers that give us hope.
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
The Power To Survive
Here we are at the end of the year. Been an interesting ride for sure. So was this the year you started your business because you became a causality of long term unemployment? Or was this the year you took your hobby business full time because your significant other lost their job or got their hours cut? If so welcome to the world of the full time self employed. Whether you’re a one person army or have found the means to go out and hire some people be it as employees or as independent associates.
So not what you are among “Us” do you have what it takes to last. To pass the tests of time and business? If you are this far you have probably gone though the attorney and accountant thing. Just remember that at attorneys and accounts are there to advice you as to your liability and exposure not necessarily as qualified business advisors to dictate where you should take the chance on a project or not. You might have gone as far as hiring a designer to put a corporate identify together of business cards, letterhead and envelope. Maybe got yourself an honest web designer. Maybe you have constructed a business plan. Remember this does not have to be an elaborate document. Unless you’re trotting off to the bank for a loan a 1st or 2nd time business plan is your road map for your business and does not have to be a 44 page document. Maybe you have gotten the answers to the burning question of who is going to buy my stuff. I have yet to see a company that is selling enough stuff go out of business.
If you’re like most new businesses or if you have been hit hard by the recession and are sort of starting over, your long on time and short on cash. So you need to answer as honestly as you can “How long can you hold on” and “How much are you willing to risk?” Yes sport fans life as a business owner is not all wine and dine roses with a fat bank account. It can be sleepless nights, holding your pay check so others can get paid, its praying the bank renews your load and doesn’t call it in.
Ok so if you are still with me take a giant step back and take a deep breath. Clear your head. Now what do you need to become a self-sustaining business? What is your true minimum money need figure. You may want $100,000 but you might only need $42,000. Keep in mind that as a self-employed person there are things like self-employment tax there is paying your own health insurance. There are day to day business expenses marketing expenses, phone and communication expenses, the base cost of your goods or services, your fixed business costs such as rent, gas, electric, garbage, etc. So go on and do the math what is your break even figure?
Let’s say you’re a consultant. I am picking this because it is relatively easy with no cost of goods to calculate in. Now you are planning on working a 40 hour week, with a couple weeks off for vacation. Ok 50 x 40 = 2000 right? And your goal is to take in $200,000. Well if Mrs. Yant in math class taught me anything it’s that $200,000 / 2000 = 100 an hour. But enter Dr. O’Leary in business 110 at college. He taught be that all those wonderful 2000 hours are not billable. He taught me that probably 1/3 (I have found a way to get it down to 1/6 but don’t tell him) is not billable. So what I am telling you is that you might actually lose 1/3 of your billing time. That is give or take 700 hours. Trotting back to Mrs. Yant 2000 – 700 = 1300 and now I need to be making $153.85 an hour. Doable?
Too many start ups don’t really understand the kind of start up money involved. Working capital necessary to get your business into the profit stage.
Larson Notes & Satire: I’m on your side, really. I want you to succeed.
I have had the privilege and fun of starting up 3 companies. And worked with a few others of which some made it and some didn’t. Those that didn’t usually had a management problem and a cash flow problem. Talk about putting a marriage though the ringer. Dang I love my wife. There can be long hard nights sitting at the kitchen table debating about going out and getting a real job (one where you get a wage weather there is work and money in the bank or not) to taking that one more step for yourself, sometimes when all there is, is a wing and a prayer, sheer hope in the future and the dream. Belief goes a long way, but belief needs a shot or reality every so often.
So hold on to your dream and hold on to those who love you. Family, friends those are the people who will get you though the rough patches. Your banker, attorney, CPA, the utility companies, your land lord or your suppliers, use them for who and what they are. But your wife, your family your friends hold them close.
Keep your base support strong and you can make it to your dream.
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
So not what you are among “Us” do you have what it takes to last. To pass the tests of time and business? If you are this far you have probably gone though the attorney and accountant thing. Just remember that at attorneys and accounts are there to advice you as to your liability and exposure not necessarily as qualified business advisors to dictate where you should take the chance on a project or not. You might have gone as far as hiring a designer to put a corporate identify together of business cards, letterhead and envelope. Maybe got yourself an honest web designer. Maybe you have constructed a business plan. Remember this does not have to be an elaborate document. Unless you’re trotting off to the bank for a loan a 1st or 2nd time business plan is your road map for your business and does not have to be a 44 page document. Maybe you have gotten the answers to the burning question of who is going to buy my stuff. I have yet to see a company that is selling enough stuff go out of business.
If you’re like most new businesses or if you have been hit hard by the recession and are sort of starting over, your long on time and short on cash. So you need to answer as honestly as you can “How long can you hold on” and “How much are you willing to risk?” Yes sport fans life as a business owner is not all wine and dine roses with a fat bank account. It can be sleepless nights, holding your pay check so others can get paid, its praying the bank renews your load and doesn’t call it in.
Ok so if you are still with me take a giant step back and take a deep breath. Clear your head. Now what do you need to become a self-sustaining business? What is your true minimum money need figure. You may want $100,000 but you might only need $42,000. Keep in mind that as a self-employed person there are things like self-employment tax there is paying your own health insurance. There are day to day business expenses marketing expenses, phone and communication expenses, the base cost of your goods or services, your fixed business costs such as rent, gas, electric, garbage, etc. So go on and do the math what is your break even figure?
Let’s say you’re a consultant. I am picking this because it is relatively easy with no cost of goods to calculate in. Now you are planning on working a 40 hour week, with a couple weeks off for vacation. Ok 50 x 40 = 2000 right? And your goal is to take in $200,000. Well if Mrs. Yant in math class taught me anything it’s that $200,000 / 2000 = 100 an hour. But enter Dr. O’Leary in business 110 at college. He taught be that all those wonderful 2000 hours are not billable. He taught me that probably 1/3 (I have found a way to get it down to 1/6 but don’t tell him) is not billable. So what I am telling you is that you might actually lose 1/3 of your billing time. That is give or take 700 hours. Trotting back to Mrs. Yant 2000 – 700 = 1300 and now I need to be making $153.85 an hour. Doable?
Too many start ups don’t really understand the kind of start up money involved. Working capital necessary to get your business into the profit stage.
Larson Notes & Satire: I’m on your side, really. I want you to succeed.
I have had the privilege and fun of starting up 3 companies. And worked with a few others of which some made it and some didn’t. Those that didn’t usually had a management problem and a cash flow problem. Talk about putting a marriage though the ringer. Dang I love my wife. There can be long hard nights sitting at the kitchen table debating about going out and getting a real job (one where you get a wage weather there is work and money in the bank or not) to taking that one more step for yourself, sometimes when all there is, is a wing and a prayer, sheer hope in the future and the dream. Belief goes a long way, but belief needs a shot or reality every so often.
So hold on to your dream and hold on to those who love you. Family, friends those are the people who will get you though the rough patches. Your banker, attorney, CPA, the utility companies, your land lord or your suppliers, use them for who and what they are. But your wife, your family your friends hold them close.
Keep your base support strong and you can make it to your dream.
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
5 Things About Direct Marketing
There are insider secrets in every industry or what I call the hidden flaw. Every industry has one or two hidden insider flaws that you only can grasp by being in the industry and doping or witnessing the problems attached to it.
The same is true about Direct Marketing. Now marketing is one of those things that “everyone” is an expert at. So people go out and market their businesses without any help at all. Sure you can do it, but like a friend of mine who I was trying to guide through the pitfalls of online marketing was all to impulsive and spent way too much money on a well know Web Hosting site and got no return on his investment because he also was talked into extra bells and whistles that they could do for him. $500 to $1000 dollars later he still did not have a web site that conveyed his message.
So here are 5 handy hints for those of you who want to go it alone. There are more but this is all you’re getting in this blog.
1) Your List will make or break your campaign. The quality of your list will directly make your direct marketing campaign. I have seen campaigns we have done fall flat on their faces because of poor list quality. First make sure your list is clean. I don’t care if it is an email or a snail mail campaign. Second target yourself into as narrow of a niche as you can. The more focused the more pointed the better. This is one case where profiling is a good thing.
2) It is not easy. Many people; dabble in direct marking and squander their money. There are things like understanding your market, understanding the different channels you could be using, understanding the postal regulations.
3) Your call to action. If you’re going to direct market yourself you need to ask for action or in sales we call it ask for the order. Don’t ever assume the prospect knows how to get a hold of you, tell them and give them multiple ways. Some like to call, some like me to email, some like to mail in cards. Give them the power to contact you in their favorite way. Don’t assume that just because you think something is a good thing, the prospect is, tell them why it is so good. Remember people buy for their reasons not yours.
4) Consider the channel your using. In direct marketing we have many tools or weapons we can and could be using. Postcards, fliers, email, Social Media, SEO SMM pay for click, classified ads, letters and card decks. All these are wonderful choices but so also is the distinct possibility that the greater the number of choices the better chance you have in making the wrong choices on what to use.
5) Sell the benefits not the features. Your customer is a lot more interested in how your product of service is going to help them with a certain problem than all the wonderful long detained descriptive features of what you are offering. Appeal to their emotions. People buy on emotions and justify with facts.
Larson Notes & Satire: Now this will not make you an expert by any means. Even the pros make mistakes. If we all hit the nail in the head each that would be too easy. Unless you have an unlimited budget to though at the problem each dollar you spend needs to be productive. I guess that is why I like to work with small and medium sized businesses. It keeps me and my team sharp, very very sharp.
It’s sort of funny (not) but I was working with a large account that did not really care how we spent their money. We were so frugal with our expenditures on their behalf that we got fired. We were so bent on passionate to stretch their marketing dollars that they could not handle the pressure of trying to make every dollar work. Live and learn.
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
The same is true about Direct Marketing. Now marketing is one of those things that “everyone” is an expert at. So people go out and market their businesses without any help at all. Sure you can do it, but like a friend of mine who I was trying to guide through the pitfalls of online marketing was all to impulsive and spent way too much money on a well know Web Hosting site and got no return on his investment because he also was talked into extra bells and whistles that they could do for him. $500 to $1000 dollars later he still did not have a web site that conveyed his message.
So here are 5 handy hints for those of you who want to go it alone. There are more but this is all you’re getting in this blog.
1) Your List will make or break your campaign. The quality of your list will directly make your direct marketing campaign. I have seen campaigns we have done fall flat on their faces because of poor list quality. First make sure your list is clean. I don’t care if it is an email or a snail mail campaign. Second target yourself into as narrow of a niche as you can. The more focused the more pointed the better. This is one case where profiling is a good thing.
2) It is not easy. Many people; dabble in direct marking and squander their money. There are things like understanding your market, understanding the different channels you could be using, understanding the postal regulations.
3) Your call to action. If you’re going to direct market yourself you need to ask for action or in sales we call it ask for the order. Don’t ever assume the prospect knows how to get a hold of you, tell them and give them multiple ways. Some like to call, some like me to email, some like to mail in cards. Give them the power to contact you in their favorite way. Don’t assume that just because you think something is a good thing, the prospect is, tell them why it is so good. Remember people buy for their reasons not yours.
4) Consider the channel your using. In direct marketing we have many tools or weapons we can and could be using. Postcards, fliers, email, Social Media, SEO SMM pay for click, classified ads, letters and card decks. All these are wonderful choices but so also is the distinct possibility that the greater the number of choices the better chance you have in making the wrong choices on what to use.
5) Sell the benefits not the features. Your customer is a lot more interested in how your product of service is going to help them with a certain problem than all the wonderful long detained descriptive features of what you are offering. Appeal to their emotions. People buy on emotions and justify with facts.
Larson Notes & Satire: Now this will not make you an expert by any means. Even the pros make mistakes. If we all hit the nail in the head each that would be too easy. Unless you have an unlimited budget to though at the problem each dollar you spend needs to be productive. I guess that is why I like to work with small and medium sized businesses. It keeps me and my team sharp, very very sharp.
It’s sort of funny (not) but I was working with a large account that did not really care how we spent their money. We were so frugal with our expenditures on their behalf that we got fired. We were so bent on passionate to stretch their marketing dollars that they could not handle the pressure of trying to make every dollar work. Live and learn.
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Social Traditional Media Marketing
Unless you’re a Newbie Business Social Media Marketing should be done in additional to what you are doing now that is working, not pulling the plug on what is successful to get on the newest and the latest. I am not a the kind of guy that is going to tell you if it aint broke don’t fix it. It is fun to tinker. Tweak this and that. See what happens and what doesn’t.
What we call traditional marketing can in fact be helping your Social Media Marketing. What? you say. Hold the line while I get off. What can traditional marketing do to help SMM? Isn’t it the other way around?
Well...yes... and no. The fact is your traditional marketing channels can be helping your SMM to work better, faster and broader. If you are using telemarketing (now I ask you how low teck can you get than the telephone, my kids would rather text than talk on a phone.) you can ask the customer or prospect to tell you what brought them to find you. A Site, a Blog, A tweet?
In the combination of telemarketing and Social Media you can have a positive impact on your lead generation and nurturing efforts. When making that phone contact one of the most valuable and relevant pieces of information you can have to share is what is provided in the conversations posted on the different Social Media Sites you share together. Yes I am telling you to shake and mix your Social Media Marketing and your Traditional Marketing practices together. Yes James Bond had it right, Shaken not stirred.
By talking about relative up-to-date information that was just posted you really start to connect at an even high level.
Ya push the bar higher and higher till no one except you can get over it!
Larson Notes & Satire: In your businesses marketing you are always looking, well maybe you aren’t but I am, looking to expand my market. So you stumbled into the world of Social Media and Social Media Marketing and all these so called experts are telling you to do this and that, what to do and what not to do.
Stop, Look, Listen. Most (and I mean most not all) of these people know what they are talking about and they can keep you out of trouble, at least some trouble. Technologically they got good stuff to share on getting your page set up but after that, they are not you and cannot put your personal stamp of individuality into your marketing and business. There is only 1 you so remember they are talking and acting from their viewpoint. I guarantee that no one is sitting up here with me in the Ivory Tower looking out at the Land Of Larson with me. I am unique, you are unique, they are unique and what works for them, or me might not work for you and your business.
If you use what you got in your marketing, if you use your social media to reach out with relevant up to date conversational interests you will begin to more your prospects from the top of the funnel lower down toward into the customer part of the process. And it is the sale and the number of sales that is important, not the number of online “friends’ you have.
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
What we call traditional marketing can in fact be helping your Social Media Marketing. What? you say. Hold the line while I get off. What can traditional marketing do to help SMM? Isn’t it the other way around?
Well...yes... and no. The fact is your traditional marketing channels can be helping your SMM to work better, faster and broader. If you are using telemarketing (now I ask you how low teck can you get than the telephone, my kids would rather text than talk on a phone.) you can ask the customer or prospect to tell you what brought them to find you. A Site, a Blog, A tweet?
In the combination of telemarketing and Social Media you can have a positive impact on your lead generation and nurturing efforts. When making that phone contact one of the most valuable and relevant pieces of information you can have to share is what is provided in the conversations posted on the different Social Media Sites you share together. Yes I am telling you to shake and mix your Social Media Marketing and your Traditional Marketing practices together. Yes James Bond had it right, Shaken not stirred.
By talking about relative up-to-date information that was just posted you really start to connect at an even high level.
Ya push the bar higher and higher till no one except you can get over it!
Larson Notes & Satire: In your businesses marketing you are always looking, well maybe you aren’t but I am, looking to expand my market. So you stumbled into the world of Social Media and Social Media Marketing and all these so called experts are telling you to do this and that, what to do and what not to do.
Stop, Look, Listen. Most (and I mean most not all) of these people know what they are talking about and they can keep you out of trouble, at least some trouble. Technologically they got good stuff to share on getting your page set up but after that, they are not you and cannot put your personal stamp of individuality into your marketing and business. There is only 1 you so remember they are talking and acting from their viewpoint. I guarantee that no one is sitting up here with me in the Ivory Tower looking out at the Land Of Larson with me. I am unique, you are unique, they are unique and what works for them, or me might not work for you and your business.
If you use what you got in your marketing, if you use your social media to reach out with relevant up to date conversational interests you will begin to more your prospects from the top of the funnel lower down toward into the customer part of the process. And it is the sale and the number of sales that is important, not the number of online “friends’ you have.
12 Days Of Christmas, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Get Personal
Getting and keeping a personal marketing campaign is if nothing else the one key element that Social Media Marketing should have taught us over the course of the last year. Your customers and prospects want to be seen, noticed and appreciated for being their own unique self. Social Media allows us to do that in a very one on one way.
Can the same be true of the other forms of advertising and marketing?
If you know me and what I push it is and has been Telemarketing-Direct Mail and Social Media / Web Site Marketing.
The personalizing of print can become closer to reality with the advent of variable data and profiling to make the right offer to the right demographic group. Telemarketing, can you get much more personal other than a face to face sales call?
But what about the rest? Web, mobile, video print, radio?
The primary point of your marketing campaign is to keep a consistent message in line with who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Consistency of message, consistency of creative, consistence of content, consistency of look, consistency of feel.
If there is just one element that is missing that would be real-time tracking and analytics for each campaign or element of your campaign that you have.
Larson Notes & Satire: So now I have to be real with people? Oh no! I have to talk to them like they matter? If I have learned one thing in life, that would be to not live a lie. Be who I am every time, all the time. That might not make me politically correct, but guess what. If you are around me long enough you’re going to know who I feel about things. Everything. Even the nasty taboo things like religion and politics. But you will also know that I don’t care what race, creed or color you are. Look at me, I’m a graying blond who was lucky enough to marry a better woman than I probably deserve.
Getting back to marketing just be real and personal.
I got an email from a “friend” on one the Social Media sites pushing their product on me. That’s ok I’m more than open to being hit on. In fact I love it because I can see and feel your technique to see if I want to borrow any elements from it. Sad thing was that what they were offering was in direct competition with one of the elements my company does. Worse yet, it came across as if they had not even read my profile page let alone even gazed at my web site. Oh no, someone did not do any homework on a prospect, ME. Now if you want to get into old Uncle Howie’s wallet you had better hit old Uncle Howie’s buttons one my needs, wants and desires.
As for me and my company I sell one thing and only one thing, new customers and qualified leads to deserving companies. We make good companies great and great companies even better. Does your company deserve to be a Larson customer? Maybe for Christmas, Santa will give you a Larson Lead Generating Program.
Just for you, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Can the same be true of the other forms of advertising and marketing?
If you know me and what I push it is and has been Telemarketing-Direct Mail and Social Media / Web Site Marketing.
The personalizing of print can become closer to reality with the advent of variable data and profiling to make the right offer to the right demographic group. Telemarketing, can you get much more personal other than a face to face sales call?
But what about the rest? Web, mobile, video print, radio?
The primary point of your marketing campaign is to keep a consistent message in line with who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Consistency of message, consistency of creative, consistence of content, consistency of look, consistency of feel.
If there is just one element that is missing that would be real-time tracking and analytics for each campaign or element of your campaign that you have.
Larson Notes & Satire: So now I have to be real with people? Oh no! I have to talk to them like they matter? If I have learned one thing in life, that would be to not live a lie. Be who I am every time, all the time. That might not make me politically correct, but guess what. If you are around me long enough you’re going to know who I feel about things. Everything. Even the nasty taboo things like religion and politics. But you will also know that I don’t care what race, creed or color you are. Look at me, I’m a graying blond who was lucky enough to marry a better woman than I probably deserve.
Getting back to marketing just be real and personal.
I got an email from a “friend” on one the Social Media sites pushing their product on me. That’s ok I’m more than open to being hit on. In fact I love it because I can see and feel your technique to see if I want to borrow any elements from it. Sad thing was that what they were offering was in direct competition with one of the elements my company does. Worse yet, it came across as if they had not even read my profile page let alone even gazed at my web site. Oh no, someone did not do any homework on a prospect, ME. Now if you want to get into old Uncle Howie’s wallet you had better hit old Uncle Howie’s buttons one my needs, wants and desires.
As for me and my company I sell one thing and only one thing, new customers and qualified leads to deserving companies. We make good companies great and great companies even better. Does your company deserve to be a Larson customer? Maybe for Christmas, Santa will give you a Larson Lead Generating Program.
Just for you, no partridge in a pear tree or a couple of turtle doves. No 8 maids milking some cows in your conference room (unless you’re from Wisconsin) or 12 drummers drumming though your office just our 12 Days Of Xmas Telemarketing Special Get 12% more calling time at no extra charge to any 2 month program 12/26/10 thru 1/6/11 / only 1 award per day.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Stressed-Out Prospects And Customers
Is it the time of year, or the prolonged recession, squeezed cash flow?
When you make that sales call or appointment is it any wonder you find that your prospect in a rather negative mood. The overwhelming stress a business owner or anyone working is under is at an all time high.
Sadly these negative emotions cause people to make what is a bad situation even worse. Quick off the cuff decisions. Illogical buying.
If you are losing customers I have to ask YOU. Are you listening to your customers or prospects? What is their voice tone? Are they angry? Frustrated? Combative when you make a sales call be it on the phone or in person?
Enter speech analytics for helping in this area. With the use of speech analytics you can pick up on key words and tones such as a competitor’s name, a key product or service need. YOU pick up on the level of their voice the speed of their words.
As you work your sales craft be aware that there are signs that you can be picking up on, if you only listen.
Larson Notes & Satire: 85% of my companies work is telesales. All we have to go on is the art of active speech engagement. We have done the mirroring routine with clients and prospects, we have done the councilor deal, we have done the patient listen to my story time, we have been the news reporter, all in the name of getting the sale or appointment for ourselves or our client customers.
I don’t think these or other techniques we use are for want to trick people into buying from us. Heavens no, I am always looking for a win-win relationship. If what I have does not fit your need I don’t want to sell it to you. I got fired by a customer this last summer because we were not pushy enough for them. No big deal, if they did not fire me I would have fired them.
I have created what seems to be a rather unique Leads Generation Company. I get results by not being an ugly pushy telemarketer. We don’t try to sound like a telemarketing when we make calls for companies. We sound like . . . a normal person.
So if you’re stressed out and I make a sales call on you, go on and dump your bucket. Tell me stories about your kids. Tell me your pain and at the end if I can help diminish your anxiety I will ask for the sale or appointment, but only because what I have will, work!
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
When you make that sales call or appointment is it any wonder you find that your prospect in a rather negative mood. The overwhelming stress a business owner or anyone working is under is at an all time high.
Sadly these negative emotions cause people to make what is a bad situation even worse. Quick off the cuff decisions. Illogical buying.
If you are losing customers I have to ask YOU. Are you listening to your customers or prospects? What is their voice tone? Are they angry? Frustrated? Combative when you make a sales call be it on the phone or in person?
Enter speech analytics for helping in this area. With the use of speech analytics you can pick up on key words and tones such as a competitor’s name, a key product or service need. YOU pick up on the level of their voice the speed of their words.
As you work your sales craft be aware that there are signs that you can be picking up on, if you only listen.
Larson Notes & Satire: 85% of my companies work is telesales. All we have to go on is the art of active speech engagement. We have done the mirroring routine with clients and prospects, we have done the councilor deal, we have done the patient listen to my story time, we have been the news reporter, all in the name of getting the sale or appointment for ourselves or our client customers.
I don’t think these or other techniques we use are for want to trick people into buying from us. Heavens no, I am always looking for a win-win relationship. If what I have does not fit your need I don’t want to sell it to you. I got fired by a customer this last summer because we were not pushy enough for them. No big deal, if they did not fire me I would have fired them.
I have created what seems to be a rather unique Leads Generation Company. I get results by not being an ugly pushy telemarketer. We don’t try to sound like a telemarketing when we make calls for companies. We sound like . . . a normal person.
So if you’re stressed out and I make a sales call on you, go on and dump your bucket. Tell me stories about your kids. Tell me your pain and at the end if I can help diminish your anxiety I will ask for the sale or appointment, but only because what I have will, work!
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Adwords Is Overpriced if . . .
I keep getting these cards and letters from Google trying to get me to try Adwords (Please note how an internet company is using direct mail.) So far with offers of $75.00 and $100.00 in enticements I have not bitten to go that direction. Though it is very tempting Adwords was not in my 2010 marketing plan and to date it is not in my 2011 marketing plan. Now remember I review my plan monthly so that could change but right now it is a no. Yet, to go out and buy key words rather than making a natural organic search work, which I might add that I have, is tempting.
So I ask you does Adwords make sense or is it a dollar drain in my marketing budget?
Adwords is overpriced if you don’t have a good business model. If your business is loosy goosy in who you are targeting from your products and service offerings to your pricing to your overall marketing to your customer service you will miss your target because you don’t have a target to hit.
You need to be William Tell or Robin Hood to hit your target and be one of the top 5 companies in your industry. You need to focus and refine yourself down to the pure reflection of your offering. The biggest problem is going to be what we call, your back end. If you’re willing, to probably loose money or able to only break even at best for the first go round as you work out the bugs, go on and jump in.
Adwords is overpriced if you have a poor cash flow. Even if you have put together the best business model possible you might lose with Adwords if you have a tight, slow of conservative cash flow. If you could use the goggle enticement of $100 and maybe put in another $100 or your own money and get back $300 or $400 in profit wouldn’t that be nice. Unless you’re in a onetime transaction business and you’re lucky this is not going to happen. You could be looking at 6 to 12 even longer for the revenue streams to catch up to your monetary outlay. The longer the sales cycle the longer the cash flow drain. So let me ask you can you prime the Adwords well to get it started?
Adwords is overpriced if you don’t test. In marketing you want to test everything you can. For small business testing is not an option sometimes. Really, I know. As much as you might want and need to test, there are times that your budget is so small that it would be eaten up by the test alone so you need to make your test your outlay of your attack.
As many of you know I have just started my “official” training for a Spring Marathon. It is 19 weeks away but it is time to start ramping up my mileage so by the time February and March roll around I am up to speed and mileage targets to be ready on April 30th. Same too with Adwords. Start with a landing page or better yet 3 landing pages. Test those pages out with the appropriate words. Now remember this is not a test of one of your pages against another. Each of your top ad groups need their own test and you need to get your Marketing funnel or in this case vacuum working to achieve success in all areas and product lines. For most of you, pick out 1 and only 1 product and service to work with and concentrate your limited marketing monies on that 1 item alone.
Adwords is overpriced if you’re fighting for top position. Sometimes you just can’t afford to be the Big Dog in the marketing. To achieve that cost per click top spot might cost more that you can, would or even should afford. Don’t get into an ego bid for a word or word sting. There are times it is really just not worth it. If you are not tracking your ROI ego can take over from logic and make you bid for words that are too pricy. Call for your friendly Bean Counter or Mr. Spock from Star Trek to get you logically back on track.
Pay only what is logical and what you can afford. Real success is when you pay only what you can afford when looking at your cash, your cash flow and margin.
Adwords is overpriced if you have a bad account structure. Let’s pretend you have a good business model, an excellent cash flow and have experience with other kinds or marketing and advertising.
It is easy to be making mistakes with any kind of advertising and or marketing. The problem with mistakes in using Adwords is that a word or word group might contain too many of your competition, a word might not hit your target. A word might not be relevant for you.
Adwords is overpriced if you don’t understand the usage of Negative keywords. Never heard of negative keywords? A sometimes hidden secret is to use Negative keywords in your Adwords attack, Say you have a furniture store selling Night Stands. Guess what, you might show up in searches for One Night Stands! Oh my yes. The fix in this case is to use the negative keyword “One” so it gets filtered out of your Word traffic. You can be saving upwards of 33% by entering the right Negative Keywords. And that is a lot of money.
Larson Notes & Satire: Dare I say that this is only the tip of the iceberg for using Adwords. Use them wrong and you’re going down baby, just as hard as the Titanic, only maybe even faster! So if you get that letter for the good folks at Google you might want to put it on the side and let it gather a little dust. Don’t get me wrong Adwords are a good thing for some companies but are they a good thing for your company? I wish I knew.
While with a $100 coupon from Google might let you get started with no experience at all, if you’re going to go it alone do your homework. The real key is that you can become competent if you have the time and recourses. Success paying for words is a moving target like all web work and success. The better you get at it the more your overall price for using Adwords will or should go down.
My thoughts are to refined your organic key word search to the best you can, then look at Adwords. But then, what do I really know?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
So I ask you does Adwords make sense or is it a dollar drain in my marketing budget?
Adwords is overpriced if you don’t have a good business model. If your business is loosy goosy in who you are targeting from your products and service offerings to your pricing to your overall marketing to your customer service you will miss your target because you don’t have a target to hit.
You need to be William Tell or Robin Hood to hit your target and be one of the top 5 companies in your industry. You need to focus and refine yourself down to the pure reflection of your offering. The biggest problem is going to be what we call, your back end. If you’re willing, to probably loose money or able to only break even at best for the first go round as you work out the bugs, go on and jump in.
Adwords is overpriced if you have a poor cash flow. Even if you have put together the best business model possible you might lose with Adwords if you have a tight, slow of conservative cash flow. If you could use the goggle enticement of $100 and maybe put in another $100 or your own money and get back $300 or $400 in profit wouldn’t that be nice. Unless you’re in a onetime transaction business and you’re lucky this is not going to happen. You could be looking at 6 to 12 even longer for the revenue streams to catch up to your monetary outlay. The longer the sales cycle the longer the cash flow drain. So let me ask you can you prime the Adwords well to get it started?
Adwords is overpriced if you don’t test. In marketing you want to test everything you can. For small business testing is not an option sometimes. Really, I know. As much as you might want and need to test, there are times that your budget is so small that it would be eaten up by the test alone so you need to make your test your outlay of your attack.
As many of you know I have just started my “official” training for a Spring Marathon. It is 19 weeks away but it is time to start ramping up my mileage so by the time February and March roll around I am up to speed and mileage targets to be ready on April 30th. Same too with Adwords. Start with a landing page or better yet 3 landing pages. Test those pages out with the appropriate words. Now remember this is not a test of one of your pages against another. Each of your top ad groups need their own test and you need to get your Marketing funnel or in this case vacuum working to achieve success in all areas and product lines. For most of you, pick out 1 and only 1 product and service to work with and concentrate your limited marketing monies on that 1 item alone.
Adwords is overpriced if you’re fighting for top position. Sometimes you just can’t afford to be the Big Dog in the marketing. To achieve that cost per click top spot might cost more that you can, would or even should afford. Don’t get into an ego bid for a word or word sting. There are times it is really just not worth it. If you are not tracking your ROI ego can take over from logic and make you bid for words that are too pricy. Call for your friendly Bean Counter or Mr. Spock from Star Trek to get you logically back on track.
Pay only what is logical and what you can afford. Real success is when you pay only what you can afford when looking at your cash, your cash flow and margin.
Adwords is overpriced if you have a bad account structure. Let’s pretend you have a good business model, an excellent cash flow and have experience with other kinds or marketing and advertising.
It is easy to be making mistakes with any kind of advertising and or marketing. The problem with mistakes in using Adwords is that a word or word group might contain too many of your competition, a word might not hit your target. A word might not be relevant for you.
Adwords is overpriced if you don’t understand the usage of Negative keywords. Never heard of negative keywords? A sometimes hidden secret is to use Negative keywords in your Adwords attack, Say you have a furniture store selling Night Stands. Guess what, you might show up in searches for One Night Stands! Oh my yes. The fix in this case is to use the negative keyword “One” so it gets filtered out of your Word traffic. You can be saving upwards of 33% by entering the right Negative Keywords. And that is a lot of money.
Larson Notes & Satire: Dare I say that this is only the tip of the iceberg for using Adwords. Use them wrong and you’re going down baby, just as hard as the Titanic, only maybe even faster! So if you get that letter for the good folks at Google you might want to put it on the side and let it gather a little dust. Don’t get me wrong Adwords are a good thing for some companies but are they a good thing for your company? I wish I knew.
While with a $100 coupon from Google might let you get started with no experience at all, if you’re going to go it alone do your homework. The real key is that you can become competent if you have the time and recourses. Success paying for words is a moving target like all web work and success. The better you get at it the more your overall price for using Adwords will or should go down.
My thoughts are to refined your organic key word search to the best you can, then look at Adwords. But then, what do I really know?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Friday, December 17, 2010
From Disorder Comes Order(s)
Even if we did not have this little recessionary bump in the economy we would have had a boat load or heavy waves trying to capsize your (business) boat. The twin waves of globalization and technological advancement would have made you look at new ways of doing things. .
Globalization: Companies are being “encouraged” to buy anywhere in the world where they can get the best price. A few years ago the last US shirt manufacturer closed its doors (at least as far as I know) and moved its entire manufacturing out of the United States. That right one typhoon in the Pacific and you might go (literally) shirtless! Why, labor costs. Now of course all those out of work short makers can’t afford to buy the cheaper shirts, but if you have a job I guess you can.
Technology: As we march into information saturation we all know the advancement of what the internet is doing. We are seeing Google and Yahoo, Intel and Dell all pushing to be the newest and best. Opening up their corporate wallets to gobble up what they see as the next better mousetrap of communication. People, you and I can push into Social Media and talk to real people where ever they are about what is important to them in regard to our service or product. Bloggers are out there making comments about business issues. Then there are all the new LAWS that governments are putting in place to get what they think is their cut of the take. (Larson prediction: there will be a National Sales tax on internet transactions)
So how in this mad world do you keep up? You need to systemically, and I do mean get yourself in order, to be able to monitor the outside influences that can and will affect your business. This goes well beyond what in years past you did. You need to be able to look at the negatives to be reactionary and the positives to be proactive and make life difficult for your competition. You need to be moving away from the Harvard Business School of contingency planning and into the realm of Bootstrap picture planning. You need to be thinking, if this happens then I do? Then list out your options and take each option and go through the process of what happens if… You need to be flexible and fast on your feet. Most of you reading this are small business and don’t have layers of bureaucracy to work through. The important thing is to be able to work quickly and decisively to any opportunity or bump in your market.
So how is this craziness affection the customer or prospect? Go out and walk, no run though you’re nearest Mall. Aside from the fact they are empty. (I was out last night) the customers are moving to lower priced offerings. Less and less loyalty. National boarders are making less and less of a difference. Next there is less and less discretionary purchasing going on. It the old one works they are not buying a new one. So what do you do? You need to make your customers feel more comfortable and secure about buying from you.
If we pick on the car industry and you have a prospect looking at a car, you might say, ok, if prices go down in the next 6 months, we will refund the difference, or as some have done, if you lose your job, we will suspend the interest of your car payments or take the car back.
So what are your marketing options? The ones I am going with for 2011 are Telemarketing, Direct mail, classified ads, Web SEM and Social Media Marketing including blogs.
I have always liked the combination of telemarketing and direct mail. I guess that is why when I reinvented my company those to weapons of your marketing arsenal where the 2 areas I pushed into. Why? Because they work. Over the last couple of years I have seen the importance of a solid Web SEM and Social Media Marketing plan and attack which is why I have pushed hard into this area. This is and for the next year my 3 pronged attack for myself and my primary customers.
That leads us to predictive analysis. Yes I am telling you to do selective profiling. Filter out the non-buyers and go after the high probability prospects, harder. Ya go on and rate your prospects. It’s alright, really. No one is looking at your behind the scenes activity. Besides you only have so much time to devote to sales and marketing so be selective.
As now as we advance on to Christmas and the Georgian New Year what is the biggest challenge and mistake you face?
Your advertising budget. Shrink, stay the same, expand. Is what you’re doing working? Would we gain more by looking at other areas? Would we gain market share by lowering price or should we increase service? You should not be thinking short term but long term. This recession will not last forever so you need to plan for the life after recession.
To answer these and other burning questions you need to be looking deeper into your sales areas and sales and profit numbers. If you need to save money, figure out what products are not performing up to projections and/or even costing you money to provide. Are there geographical areas that are non-productive? Are there customers you should let go of?
Today is Friday so over the weekend take an hour or two or three and ponder over your and your company’s future.
Larson Notes & Satire: Where is my competition? India. Philippines. Anywhere cheep. What can they give what I do and can, each and every time? Telemarketing with what we call “ZERO” accent. Technology, like wow, I am running as fast as I can to keep up and try everything I can to keep myself and my handful of social media clients at the forefront of getting found on the web and in their respective Social Media outlets.
Business is not like running a marathon. Not anymore. It’s more like running a 5000 meter (5K) race. You need to go long but so some surges when the opportunity presents its self. Be it to fend off a competitor or to put some distance behind you and your competition when the timing it right.
Have you ever seen a 3 legged stool wobble? I haven’t. I don’t think it can. I am not saying be like me and do as I do. I am unique. Isn’t that a good thing that there is only one of me? What I do works for me as I sit up in my ivory tower looking down on the snow covered grassy yard of my business I see green. The green of spring and the green of money as I work my craft to make my customers money.
I am not cheap. Don’t want to be. You want cheap find an Indian or a Pilipino (and I am not knocking the work of Indian and Philippine companies here) but what I will tell you as much as they might try their people will not sound like an American, they can’t. As much as they might want to act in Social Media like an American, again, sorry but they don’t know the local terms.
You want to market to Chicago and the Midwest. I’ll give you Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Detroit. You want the south; I’ll give you Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis and Miami You want the North East? I’ll give you New York, Boston, Philly, even Buffalo. West, you got it with Phoenix, Denver, LA, San Francisco, and Seattle. Texas? I am there as well, Dallas and fixing problems in Houston.
Web Marketing, Social Media marketing come to us! Why because we are a player in that arena not a bystander company that is playing catch up to figure out what’s happening. We do everything wrong yet we get excellent results. Just ask the pro’s we are terrible at what we do, or are they just now as PRO as they want you to think they are.
We got some big ambitious plans for next year. We are thinking not just 3 months ahead but 3.5 years. Are you?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Globalization: Companies are being “encouraged” to buy anywhere in the world where they can get the best price. A few years ago the last US shirt manufacturer closed its doors (at least as far as I know) and moved its entire manufacturing out of the United States. That right one typhoon in the Pacific and you might go (literally) shirtless! Why, labor costs. Now of course all those out of work short makers can’t afford to buy the cheaper shirts, but if you have a job I guess you can.
Technology: As we march into information saturation we all know the advancement of what the internet is doing. We are seeing Google and Yahoo, Intel and Dell all pushing to be the newest and best. Opening up their corporate wallets to gobble up what they see as the next better mousetrap of communication. People, you and I can push into Social Media and talk to real people where ever they are about what is important to them in regard to our service or product. Bloggers are out there making comments about business issues. Then there are all the new LAWS that governments are putting in place to get what they think is their cut of the take. (Larson prediction: there will be a National Sales tax on internet transactions)
So how in this mad world do you keep up? You need to systemically, and I do mean get yourself in order, to be able to monitor the outside influences that can and will affect your business. This goes well beyond what in years past you did. You need to be able to look at the negatives to be reactionary and the positives to be proactive and make life difficult for your competition. You need to be moving away from the Harvard Business School of contingency planning and into the realm of Bootstrap picture planning. You need to be thinking, if this happens then I do? Then list out your options and take each option and go through the process of what happens if… You need to be flexible and fast on your feet. Most of you reading this are small business and don’t have layers of bureaucracy to work through. The important thing is to be able to work quickly and decisively to any opportunity or bump in your market.
So how is this craziness affection the customer or prospect? Go out and walk, no run though you’re nearest Mall. Aside from the fact they are empty. (I was out last night) the customers are moving to lower priced offerings. Less and less loyalty. National boarders are making less and less of a difference. Next there is less and less discretionary purchasing going on. It the old one works they are not buying a new one. So what do you do? You need to make your customers feel more comfortable and secure about buying from you.
If we pick on the car industry and you have a prospect looking at a car, you might say, ok, if prices go down in the next 6 months, we will refund the difference, or as some have done, if you lose your job, we will suspend the interest of your car payments or take the car back.
So what are your marketing options? The ones I am going with for 2011 are Telemarketing, Direct mail, classified ads, Web SEM and Social Media Marketing including blogs.
I have always liked the combination of telemarketing and direct mail. I guess that is why when I reinvented my company those to weapons of your marketing arsenal where the 2 areas I pushed into. Why? Because they work. Over the last couple of years I have seen the importance of a solid Web SEM and Social Media Marketing plan and attack which is why I have pushed hard into this area. This is and for the next year my 3 pronged attack for myself and my primary customers.
That leads us to predictive analysis. Yes I am telling you to do selective profiling. Filter out the non-buyers and go after the high probability prospects, harder. Ya go on and rate your prospects. It’s alright, really. No one is looking at your behind the scenes activity. Besides you only have so much time to devote to sales and marketing so be selective.
As now as we advance on to Christmas and the Georgian New Year what is the biggest challenge and mistake you face?
Your advertising budget. Shrink, stay the same, expand. Is what you’re doing working? Would we gain more by looking at other areas? Would we gain market share by lowering price or should we increase service? You should not be thinking short term but long term. This recession will not last forever so you need to plan for the life after recession.
To answer these and other burning questions you need to be looking deeper into your sales areas and sales and profit numbers. If you need to save money, figure out what products are not performing up to projections and/or even costing you money to provide. Are there geographical areas that are non-productive? Are there customers you should let go of?
Today is Friday so over the weekend take an hour or two or three and ponder over your and your company’s future.
Larson Notes & Satire: Where is my competition? India. Philippines. Anywhere cheep. What can they give what I do and can, each and every time? Telemarketing with what we call “ZERO” accent. Technology, like wow, I am running as fast as I can to keep up and try everything I can to keep myself and my handful of social media clients at the forefront of getting found on the web and in their respective Social Media outlets.
Business is not like running a marathon. Not anymore. It’s more like running a 5000 meter (5K) race. You need to go long but so some surges when the opportunity presents its self. Be it to fend off a competitor or to put some distance behind you and your competition when the timing it right.
Have you ever seen a 3 legged stool wobble? I haven’t. I don’t think it can. I am not saying be like me and do as I do. I am unique. Isn’t that a good thing that there is only one of me? What I do works for me as I sit up in my ivory tower looking down on the snow covered grassy yard of my business I see green. The green of spring and the green of money as I work my craft to make my customers money.
I am not cheap. Don’t want to be. You want cheap find an Indian or a Pilipino (and I am not knocking the work of Indian and Philippine companies here) but what I will tell you as much as they might try their people will not sound like an American, they can’t. As much as they might want to act in Social Media like an American, again, sorry but they don’t know the local terms.
You want to market to Chicago and the Midwest. I’ll give you Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Detroit. You want the south; I’ll give you Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis and Miami You want the North East? I’ll give you New York, Boston, Philly, even Buffalo. West, you got it with Phoenix, Denver, LA, San Francisco, and Seattle. Texas? I am there as well, Dallas and fixing problems in Houston.
Web Marketing, Social Media marketing come to us! Why because we are a player in that arena not a bystander company that is playing catch up to figure out what’s happening. We do everything wrong yet we get excellent results. Just ask the pro’s we are terrible at what we do, or are they just now as PRO as they want you to think they are.
We got some big ambitious plans for next year. We are thinking not just 3 months ahead but 3.5 years. Are you?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Your Image Counts
You’re out there on the web, in the mail, face to face, handing out business cards at networking events, doing whatever it takes to find that elusive customer.
Start by protecting your base. Ya, make sure what got already is secure. Keep your name, your company, your brand secure in the eyes of your current customers and prospects. This is your bread and butter. This is what is putting the bacon on the table. Don’t lose track of what you got. Love them, kiss their babies, take them out to breakfast and or lunch.
As you start on an expansion phase in your business you will need to put in extra time. Why extra, so you keep your base secure. You will need to need to keep a hard eye on social and twitter talk. If someone reaches out, you need to be there to answer. If you get a referral you need to be there to make the connection. If you get slammed you need to answer the attack.
A new blog, a new social media site to keep track of, going out and reading and posting onto other blogs, reading and then answering forum questions in some to the social media sites you are already in, starting a newsletter (online or print), putting the final touches to a new brochure or completing and sending out that mailer you have been talking about forever. All good ways to protect your image and your territory.
Expand your personal expertise. You can increase the total value of you and your companies brand by finding every and I mean every opportunity within your present area of skill and knowledge. You know things that other people don’t. You really do. Let people know you are willing to share your knowledge with then in return you might get some good exposure as an expert in your field. If you can dominate the area of knowledge in and on the different Social Media sites you’re involved in one and a time, you will own that area, you will be known as the resident expert. People will turn and come to you for your knowledge. Just make sure that you have customers or prospects and that your target market is in and on the site or you will be just wasting your time. Just spinning your wheels in a Chicago show drift.
Boost your visibility. As your reach out, touching people at their level you will be increasing your overall visibility. Work for a Big Dog company; ask the powers that be if you can produce your own personal product and services blog. If you are in a small company ask your boss, and more times than not they will jump for joy, heaping lavish praise on you for being so proactive and taking something off their plate. I know I would.
Larson Notes & Satire: Remember the higher up on the visibility ladder you go the more of your butt is exposed. If you’re ready to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, step out and make it happen. The world is filled with so many people who talk talk talk then do nothing. I’d rather see a person do do do and not toot their own horn about it. Nothing wrong with talking if you are a doer. Just don’t be an empty potato sack. You toot people will see, they will stand up and notice that you are a doer, a winner, a succeeded. If you can push your self to do one more thing a day your ahead of the competaion. Now just think, if you did one more thing before you started work in the morning, one more thing at lunch time, and one more thing before you sign off for the day, where would your business and career go?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Start by protecting your base. Ya, make sure what got already is secure. Keep your name, your company, your brand secure in the eyes of your current customers and prospects. This is your bread and butter. This is what is putting the bacon on the table. Don’t lose track of what you got. Love them, kiss their babies, take them out to breakfast and or lunch.
As you start on an expansion phase in your business you will need to put in extra time. Why extra, so you keep your base secure. You will need to need to keep a hard eye on social and twitter talk. If someone reaches out, you need to be there to answer. If you get a referral you need to be there to make the connection. If you get slammed you need to answer the attack.
A new blog, a new social media site to keep track of, going out and reading and posting onto other blogs, reading and then answering forum questions in some to the social media sites you are already in, starting a newsletter (online or print), putting the final touches to a new brochure or completing and sending out that mailer you have been talking about forever. All good ways to protect your image and your territory.
Expand your personal expertise. You can increase the total value of you and your companies brand by finding every and I mean every opportunity within your present area of skill and knowledge. You know things that other people don’t. You really do. Let people know you are willing to share your knowledge with then in return you might get some good exposure as an expert in your field. If you can dominate the area of knowledge in and on the different Social Media sites you’re involved in one and a time, you will own that area, you will be known as the resident expert. People will turn and come to you for your knowledge. Just make sure that you have customers or prospects and that your target market is in and on the site or you will be just wasting your time. Just spinning your wheels in a Chicago show drift.
Boost your visibility. As your reach out, touching people at their level you will be increasing your overall visibility. Work for a Big Dog company; ask the powers that be if you can produce your own personal product and services blog. If you are in a small company ask your boss, and more times than not they will jump for joy, heaping lavish praise on you for being so proactive and taking something off their plate. I know I would.
Larson Notes & Satire: Remember the higher up on the visibility ladder you go the more of your butt is exposed. If you’re ready to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, step out and make it happen. The world is filled with so many people who talk talk talk then do nothing. I’d rather see a person do do do and not toot their own horn about it. Nothing wrong with talking if you are a doer. Just don’t be an empty potato sack. You toot people will see, they will stand up and notice that you are a doer, a winner, a succeeded. If you can push your self to do one more thing a day your ahead of the competaion. Now just think, if you did one more thing before you started work in the morning, one more thing at lunch time, and one more thing before you sign off for the day, where would your business and career go?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Web Ranking: More Than a Good SEO Program
In the “Old Days” we would do a SES (Search Engine Submission) on a site once every 15 and/or 30 days and get a company listed higher up on the Search Engines. It worked, and it worked quite well.
But now it’s not your father’s SEO. New things such as Google’s caffeine are changing the way Search Engines do business. News, paid advertising, shopping coupons feeds, and of course Social Media all are playing a larger, bigger role in ranking.
There are Basic Search Starting Points to be aware of. A few things that have traditional giving consistent Search Engine Optimization Strong content, good keyword density, keywords in title and meta tags (Don’t believe people when they way meta tags don’t count anymore) link building (both inbound and outbound).
As it sits today from up in my ivory tower looking down on the snow filled landscape of my office window, there is nothing more important in today’s SEO that a good Social Media presence. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Merchant Circle, Nings, Yelp, can and do play a major part in what happens to your Web Sites rankings. But it is not just a matter of throwing up your shingle and twitting away. Social Media and SEO marketing can strengthen each other or destroy what you are trying to do. A solid Social Media campaign engages and interacts with your friends and fans that improves your over all organic listings and strengthens your inbound linking possibilities.
If you set your Social Media profiles up correctly, you need to pay attention to use your key words as well as making this a source of inbound links to your Web Site. Additionally if you do it right, your Social Media sites start to crowd out your competition in a key word search page Now there is a beautiful thing, less room for your competition, and let me tell you it is a major coup when you own 4.5 or 6 or the whole first page of a key word organic search.
As we push to get to the top so too are the Search Engines looking at even more changes. Your sites history, change activity, site hits. As scary as it is, no two searches from any given 2 or 3 computers will produce the same results.
Yet, if you keep using good basic SEO concepts you will have some success. If you go into hyper drive with your work in this area you can (and will) get top rankings. I can only use myself as an example. In fighting the Big Dog Telemarketing Companies my site with certain key word stings such as “Telesales for printers” gets top ranking in Yahoo, Google and Bing.
What is your target market, narrow nitch it and go out own it!
Larson Notes & Satire: Now that I said this let me tell you something else. Things are going to change. No I have no hot line into the board room of Google, Yahoo or Bing. They are not telling me what is coming down. I am reactionary like everyone else, just trying to keep on top of the wave. Yes get out those old Beach Boy albums and play a few surfer songs. Ride the waves baby!
Now if you think I am too nonchalant about this, don’t mistake my words. I take it very seriously but keep in mind to win I also treat it as a game, a game I am winning and intend to keep on winning.
I may knock on your door and ask if you want to play. If you want to play with me (and I will take your money) I will get you results if you do it my way or you can do it yourself. Either way Just Do It!
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
But now it’s not your father’s SEO. New things such as Google’s caffeine are changing the way Search Engines do business. News, paid advertising, shopping coupons feeds, and of course Social Media all are playing a larger, bigger role in ranking.
There are Basic Search Starting Points to be aware of. A few things that have traditional giving consistent Search Engine Optimization Strong content, good keyword density, keywords in title and meta tags (Don’t believe people when they way meta tags don’t count anymore) link building (both inbound and outbound).
As it sits today from up in my ivory tower looking down on the snow filled landscape of my office window, there is nothing more important in today’s SEO that a good Social Media presence. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Merchant Circle, Nings, Yelp, can and do play a major part in what happens to your Web Sites rankings. But it is not just a matter of throwing up your shingle and twitting away. Social Media and SEO marketing can strengthen each other or destroy what you are trying to do. A solid Social Media campaign engages and interacts with your friends and fans that improves your over all organic listings and strengthens your inbound linking possibilities.
If you set your Social Media profiles up correctly, you need to pay attention to use your key words as well as making this a source of inbound links to your Web Site. Additionally if you do it right, your Social Media sites start to crowd out your competition in a key word search page Now there is a beautiful thing, less room for your competition, and let me tell you it is a major coup when you own 4.5 or 6 or the whole first page of a key word organic search.
As we push to get to the top so too are the Search Engines looking at even more changes. Your sites history, change activity, site hits. As scary as it is, no two searches from any given 2 or 3 computers will produce the same results.
Yet, if you keep using good basic SEO concepts you will have some success. If you go into hyper drive with your work in this area you can (and will) get top rankings. I can only use myself as an example. In fighting the Big Dog Telemarketing Companies my site with certain key word stings such as “Telesales for printers” gets top ranking in Yahoo, Google and Bing.
What is your target market, narrow nitch it and go out own it!
Larson Notes & Satire: Now that I said this let me tell you something else. Things are going to change. No I have no hot line into the board room of Google, Yahoo or Bing. They are not telling me what is coming down. I am reactionary like everyone else, just trying to keep on top of the wave. Yes get out those old Beach Boy albums and play a few surfer songs. Ride the waves baby!
Now if you think I am too nonchalant about this, don’t mistake my words. I take it very seriously but keep in mind to win I also treat it as a game, a game I am winning and intend to keep on winning.
I may knock on your door and ask if you want to play. If you want to play with me (and I will take your money) I will get you results if you do it my way or you can do it yourself. Either way Just Do It!
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Monday, December 13, 2010
How Much Should You Expect?
If there is any danger in delving into the world of Social Media Marketing it is expecting too much. Once you have allocated the time and the effort necessary to get involved, how much and how fast of a payback do you anticipate getting?
Social Media Marketing (heavy on the social, light on the marketing please) is about trying to engage with the customer in conversations that are important to them in regards to your product or service. If there is any insight I can give you here, it is that you need to keep your other working channels of marketing going forward and use Social Media for the interaction tool it is. Use the tools that are made to hammer home your message hammering away. Be Lars the Carpenter and swing that hammer hard! Keep your direct mail, keep your email campaign, Keep that telemarketing program in place and support it, back it up with your high touch Social Media Marketing program.
Each touch makes a difference. Hard core marketing to find and grab their attention and High touch to sooth their pain. By mixing your tools up and using them in the way they are meant to be used you will find the real ROI of Social Media going up to become cost effective and cost justifiable.
Larson Notes & Satire: You can’t sit the in your ivory tower and beat on people all the time. As easy as hammering your message home is, and it is much easier than stepping down into the masses to actually interact and talk to your customers and would-be customers.
Interaction takes work, honesty, trustworthiness and integrity. If you are not true to your words when you get out of your tower and have to talk to people you might find yourself on the front line of criticism. I know I have. I know I have a way of working both in and out of Social Media. If you have followed me for any length of time you know I am hammering my message out there, at times inappropriately but then if you say something to me, via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Email or whatever, I stop and respond and we can have a good conversation.
Again if you know me, I am not politically correct, I speak my mind, I am highly opinionated, but will fight tooth and nail to preserve you and I, the right to our individual feelings and beliefs. If I annihilate you from becoming my customer, well it is probably just as well because you would not last long as a Larson customer. Either you would fire me or I would fire you, and yes I do fire customers! The point is when you hire Larson & Associates as your marketing company you are really hiring me and my ideas no matter who in the Larson team is working on your account, you are getting my way of thinking and my doing things.
I am a capitalist and business is business. Business with a heart? Well. . . . . see me on February 14th.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Social Media Marketing (heavy on the social, light on the marketing please) is about trying to engage with the customer in conversations that are important to them in regards to your product or service. If there is any insight I can give you here, it is that you need to keep your other working channels of marketing going forward and use Social Media for the interaction tool it is. Use the tools that are made to hammer home your message hammering away. Be Lars the Carpenter and swing that hammer hard! Keep your direct mail, keep your email campaign, Keep that telemarketing program in place and support it, back it up with your high touch Social Media Marketing program.
Each touch makes a difference. Hard core marketing to find and grab their attention and High touch to sooth their pain. By mixing your tools up and using them in the way they are meant to be used you will find the real ROI of Social Media going up to become cost effective and cost justifiable.
Larson Notes & Satire: You can’t sit the in your ivory tower and beat on people all the time. As easy as hammering your message home is, and it is much easier than stepping down into the masses to actually interact and talk to your customers and would-be customers.
Interaction takes work, honesty, trustworthiness and integrity. If you are not true to your words when you get out of your tower and have to talk to people you might find yourself on the front line of criticism. I know I have. I know I have a way of working both in and out of Social Media. If you have followed me for any length of time you know I am hammering my message out there, at times inappropriately but then if you say something to me, via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Email or whatever, I stop and respond and we can have a good conversation.
Again if you know me, I am not politically correct, I speak my mind, I am highly opinionated, but will fight tooth and nail to preserve you and I, the right to our individual feelings and beliefs. If I annihilate you from becoming my customer, well it is probably just as well because you would not last long as a Larson customer. Either you would fire me or I would fire you, and yes I do fire customers! The point is when you hire Larson & Associates as your marketing company you are really hiring me and my ideas no matter who in the Larson team is working on your account, you are getting my way of thinking and my doing things.
I am a capitalist and business is business. Business with a heart? Well. . . . . see me on February 14th.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Marketing to the Littles
The small and medium size business marketing place is huge. I mean large. I’m saying gigantic.
Just how big compared to their big business brother?
Micro / 1-4 employees / 13,231,562 businesses / 75% of total / 27,884,651 contact names / 43% or total
Small A / 5-9 employees / 1,943,132 businesses / 11% of total / 6,886,895 contact names / 10% of total
Small B / 10-19 employees / 1,247,580 businesses / 7% of total / 5,865,649 contact names / 9% of total
Medium / 20-99 employees / 1,089,625 businesses / 6% of total / 12,797,020 contact names / 20% of total
Large / 100+ employees / 207,493 businesses / 1% of total / 11,788,517 contact names / 18% of total
Point blank, if you go after the smaller market you are aiming at 62% or all businesses.
So what is a good plan of attack? In this blog I give you 4 areas to look at.
1) Know the Purchasing Dynamics. There are big differences in how you need to look at a small micro (1-4) vers a mid (20-99) sized company. The micro businesses are usually hand to mouth businesses living from invoice to invoice. There are lots of them, but cash flow can be a problem in the segment. Cash, COD or prepayment is a good thing. Their appetites for services and products is small and you need to test your offers with lots and lots of these small (schools) of fish. You need to keep a very narrow nitch to avoid confusing this market on what you are offering. The Midsized are a different animal, they have people specific titles such as purchasing manager, marketing manager, sales manager, office manager. This makes a totally different kind of attach and message you might have to be using. The ones in between? It’s a mixed bag of where and how they are growing and what the owners business since is.
2) Know your company and the best prospects for you. Know thy self. If you know yourself the hunting ground you pick will or should be filled with the kinds of prospects you want to be in front of. This is not as hard as you might think. Look at who is buying from you now and good find more of them. This analyses should show you types, sizes, what they buy and how much. If you track yourself you will also know transition level and marketing penetration. Turn to the SIC codes and employee size that have in the past given you the most return.
If you understand the makeup of the kind of customer you now have be it micro, small a, b or mid, you can target your limited resources. Success really comes down to:
40% - list
20% - consistency
20% - offer
20% - the rest
3) Know how to mix and match marketing channels. Not every product or service works in each and every marketing channel. Phone. Email. Mail, moble apts, SEM, pay for click, etc, etc, etc. want a list of marketing tools go to http://www.larsonassociates.ws/marketing_tools .
I have found that the 3 most potent marketing tools are:
Telemarketing
Direct Mail
E-Mail
The big guys will be telling you, you need a mix of 60% direct mail, 20% e-mail and 20% telemarketing. Well. . . they are not you and working in your budget. We at Larson sort of go 50% telemarketing, 5% E-mail, 5% direct mail, 30% Social Media Marketing, 5% Web site, 5% the rest. Heavy on the sweat equity and low on the cash outlay. You need to do what works for you, not me nor anyone else. It takes a little time and experminatioin to figure this out but it is well worth the effort.
When you get down to ROI, count your pennies carefully. Friend and followers are not hard cash and cash in king in business. Want to be the homecoming king or queen of your Social Media Site go find yourself a bucket full of friends. What to eat at the Ritz, go find yourself a pail of paying customers.
4) Analyze your results and make adjustments. Analyze, analyze, analyze, measure, measure, measure, adjust, adjust, adjust!
One of the most common traps is to fall in love with what you are doing. Now don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying change things because YOU are getting boarded with them. YOU DON’T COUNT (here). What matters is what your prospects and customers think and say. You might post your message 1234 times, you might make 8365 phone calls, you might send out 4532 post card mailings. You are so tired of hearing yourself saying the same thing time and time again, but guess what, your prospect, each one, has only heard it ONCE maybe twice. Yes that’s right, it is new to them. Brand spanking new!
Concentrate on sales, orders, and cross-selling. Look at that. If those numbers take a dive, then and only then make a change.
Larson Notes & Satire: I do the same thing day after day, week after week. Call, mailing, blogging. Why because it works. It works because I do in as completely as I can! 95-100% of 3 things is much better than 66% of 10 things.
Now if you can land a big company account beware. The money can be good. The rewards high, but beware, if any 1 account is more than 20% of your work load get out there and narrow the gap. You need to be in a position where no one company is holding you or could hold you hostage if they pull the account, at least get it down to only 45%. Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself. I have done a lot of sleepless nights worrying over that big account. No more. Spread them out and sleep at night. I’m not saying that I would turn down a big account. Well maybe I am. If a large company came to me and begged me to take on a telemarketing program needing say, 20 to 40 seats, I would either not do it or I would outsource it to a (trusted) friend in the business.
Ya you heard me, I don’t want to be that big! I like being small. I have no aspirations of a 100 person company. I did once and guess what I worked 60 hours a week and never got a vacation. I have no desire to have my face on Forbes or INC magazine. I like me and where my company is and what we do for small to midsized companies.
I guess I want some quality in my life and not the headaches.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Just how big compared to their big business brother?
Micro / 1-4 employees / 13,231,562 businesses / 75% of total / 27,884,651 contact names / 43% or total
Small A / 5-9 employees / 1,943,132 businesses / 11% of total / 6,886,895 contact names / 10% of total
Small B / 10-19 employees / 1,247,580 businesses / 7% of total / 5,865,649 contact names / 9% of total
Medium / 20-99 employees / 1,089,625 businesses / 6% of total / 12,797,020 contact names / 20% of total
Large / 100+ employees / 207,493 businesses / 1% of total / 11,788,517 contact names / 18% of total
Point blank, if you go after the smaller market you are aiming at 62% or all businesses.
So what is a good plan of attack? In this blog I give you 4 areas to look at.
1) Know the Purchasing Dynamics. There are big differences in how you need to look at a small micro (1-4) vers a mid (20-99) sized company. The micro businesses are usually hand to mouth businesses living from invoice to invoice. There are lots of them, but cash flow can be a problem in the segment. Cash, COD or prepayment is a good thing. Their appetites for services and products is small and you need to test your offers with lots and lots of these small (schools) of fish. You need to keep a very narrow nitch to avoid confusing this market on what you are offering. The Midsized are a different animal, they have people specific titles such as purchasing manager, marketing manager, sales manager, office manager. This makes a totally different kind of attach and message you might have to be using. The ones in between? It’s a mixed bag of where and how they are growing and what the owners business since is.
2) Know your company and the best prospects for you. Know thy self. If you know yourself the hunting ground you pick will or should be filled with the kinds of prospects you want to be in front of. This is not as hard as you might think. Look at who is buying from you now and good find more of them. This analyses should show you types, sizes, what they buy and how much. If you track yourself you will also know transition level and marketing penetration. Turn to the SIC codes and employee size that have in the past given you the most return.
If you understand the makeup of the kind of customer you now have be it micro, small a, b or mid, you can target your limited resources. Success really comes down to:
40% - list
20% - consistency
20% - offer
20% - the rest
3) Know how to mix and match marketing channels. Not every product or service works in each and every marketing channel. Phone. Email. Mail, moble apts, SEM, pay for click, etc, etc, etc. want a list of marketing tools go to http://www.larsonassociates.ws/marketing_tools .
I have found that the 3 most potent marketing tools are:
Telemarketing
Direct Mail
The big guys will be telling you, you need a mix of 60% direct mail, 20% e-mail and 20% telemarketing. Well. . . they are not you and working in your budget. We at Larson sort of go 50% telemarketing, 5% E-mail, 5% direct mail, 30% Social Media Marketing, 5% Web site, 5% the rest. Heavy on the sweat equity and low on the cash outlay. You need to do what works for you, not me nor anyone else. It takes a little time and experminatioin to figure this out but it is well worth the effort.
When you get down to ROI, count your pennies carefully. Friend and followers are not hard cash and cash in king in business. Want to be the homecoming king or queen of your Social Media Site go find yourself a bucket full of friends. What to eat at the Ritz, go find yourself a pail of paying customers.
4) Analyze your results and make adjustments. Analyze, analyze, analyze, measure, measure, measure, adjust, adjust, adjust!
One of the most common traps is to fall in love with what you are doing. Now don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying change things because YOU are getting boarded with them. YOU DON’T COUNT (here). What matters is what your prospects and customers think and say. You might post your message 1234 times, you might make 8365 phone calls, you might send out 4532 post card mailings. You are so tired of hearing yourself saying the same thing time and time again, but guess what, your prospect, each one, has only heard it ONCE maybe twice. Yes that’s right, it is new to them. Brand spanking new!
Concentrate on sales, orders, and cross-selling. Look at that. If those numbers take a dive, then and only then make a change.
Larson Notes & Satire: I do the same thing day after day, week after week. Call, mailing, blogging. Why because it works. It works because I do in as completely as I can! 95-100% of 3 things is much better than 66% of 10 things.
Now if you can land a big company account beware. The money can be good. The rewards high, but beware, if any 1 account is more than 20% of your work load get out there and narrow the gap. You need to be in a position where no one company is holding you or could hold you hostage if they pull the account, at least get it down to only 45%. Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself. I have done a lot of sleepless nights worrying over that big account. No more. Spread them out and sleep at night. I’m not saying that I would turn down a big account. Well maybe I am. If a large company came to me and begged me to take on a telemarketing program needing say, 20 to 40 seats, I would either not do it or I would outsource it to a (trusted) friend in the business.
Ya you heard me, I don’t want to be that big! I like being small. I have no aspirations of a 100 person company. I did once and guess what I worked 60 hours a week and never got a vacation. I have no desire to have my face on Forbes or INC magazine. I like me and where my company is and what we do for small to midsized companies.
I guess I want some quality in my life and not the headaches.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Being Small – Big Advantage
As a small business I, you have a distinct disadvantage with it comes to competing against the Big Dogs. For us, every single customer is crucial to our success. Every sale is paramount in the survival of our business. Our customers know this and for that very reason they often choose a small business over a larger counterpoint. They want the special kind of treatment a small business can give. The lack of layers makes it a fast paced world of opportunity.
In a Gallup poll 66% of responses in the US said that have “supreme” confidence in small business. Sit back and smile because the Big Dogs have only a 19% confidence rating.
Confidence. Yes they, the average buyer and customer on the street trusts small business. When there is a problem most likely in a small business you can go right to the “man” and not get headed off by a middle manager who can’t make decisions. As a small business I can afford to have any bad decisions on customer relations happening. The buck and the phone calls come to and stop at my desk. I am sure you do the same.
Now it is a fact that some customers can not be satisfied no matter what you do. Ok, accept it and fire them. Yes fire a customer that is hurting your business. Fire them and go out and find one that will love you and your business for what you can do for them. Bad customers will kill you. So just do it and get it over with. They are going to stop using your business anyway once they find out they can’t push you around.
Be that Big Fish in a Little Pond.
Larson Notes & Satire: Good customer service is what transcends businesses and industries. No products, no marketing efforts, No advertising campaign can take you past a bad customer service reputation. It’s your repudiation. It’s your valued word. It’s your trustworthiness. The Big Dogs are you handing this marketing position of the mind of the customer on a silver platter, all you have to do us be true to your word and follow though.
Be that Big Fish in the Little Pond. Fill it up so no one else fits.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
In a Gallup poll 66% of responses in the US said that have “supreme” confidence in small business. Sit back and smile because the Big Dogs have only a 19% confidence rating.
Confidence. Yes they, the average buyer and customer on the street trusts small business. When there is a problem most likely in a small business you can go right to the “man” and not get headed off by a middle manager who can’t make decisions. As a small business I can afford to have any bad decisions on customer relations happening. The buck and the phone calls come to and stop at my desk. I am sure you do the same.
Now it is a fact that some customers can not be satisfied no matter what you do. Ok, accept it and fire them. Yes fire a customer that is hurting your business. Fire them and go out and find one that will love you and your business for what you can do for them. Bad customers will kill you. So just do it and get it over with. They are going to stop using your business anyway once they find out they can’t push you around.
Be that Big Fish in a Little Pond.
Larson Notes & Satire: Good customer service is what transcends businesses and industries. No products, no marketing efforts, No advertising campaign can take you past a bad customer service reputation. It’s your repudiation. It’s your valued word. It’s your trustworthiness. The Big Dogs are you handing this marketing position of the mind of the customer on a silver platter, all you have to do us be true to your word and follow though.
Be that Big Fish in the Little Pond. Fill it up so no one else fits.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Getting In The Customer’s Mind
The idea of having a business is to sell stuff. Now who do you sell to? People. People buy things, and the way to a customer’s wallet or check book is through their mind.
You need to be targeting messages to your targeted market segment buy putting yourself in the customer’s shoes. (I’m a size 10.5).
Right or wrong in today’s world if a customer or prospect stops hearing from you their first thought is that you have gone out of business. So a key point here is to not disappear or ever stop marketing. I’m not saying this because I have a marketing company here and do this for people and companies but because it is a fact! So start standing OUT!
So what would I do?
1st start by empowering comparative shoppers. What? Ya, put the power in the hands of the comparative shopper. What are you afraid of? Remember yesterday’s blog? You can’t sit back being afraid of talking about what makes you and your product/service the best of the best! You are in control if you initiate the conversation. Talk about what makes your service/product the best choice while providing objective positive (never ever bash a competitor, only you look bad).
2nd Challenge your customers to buy smarter! Give the customer (your) reasons to open up their check book and buy from you. You need to know your market and your customer but don’t be shy. Ask them to not only buy, but if it is (really) in their best interest ask them to buy more.
3rd Show genuine gratitude. Don’t be bashful, that is only good if you are asking Snow White out for a date. Let the customer know in no uncertain terms that you appreciate their business. Tell them; write them thank you notes, phone calls. This small but personal action can make all the difference for the next sale.
4th Reward customer loyalty. There are many ways to do this. Give them a “secret sale”, preferred customer rewards, customer appreciation events, customer only coupons. Let them know just how important they are to you.
5th Show confidence in our company and its products and services. Reinforce credibility. Kill any rumors. Position you and your company as the lead in your service niche.
6th Share the (good) news. No matter if it is about your company, you, the people you have working with you, crow a little. Put a little Peter Pan magic out there and stand up and crow the news out. With all the negative news filling out heads hearing a little good from where ever it comes from is almost always welcome. Unless, of course you’re Captain Hook.
7th Ask how you can help. Engage the customer? What does that mean? Talk to them. Ask about their special needs. Ask what the most challenging issue in their business is and find out how you can ease their pain. Use surveys both mailed and online, call them up and ask, use your social media tools to get responses.
8th Knows how to say, UffDa (or do you say Opps?) Mistakes happen, yes even here at the invincible perfect Larson & Associates. When they do know how to say I’m sorry.
9th Find ways to give value added services that don’t cost you. Use those surveys and reviews you have been sending out and receiving. There are probably some golden nuggets in those forms. Read them and act on them. Become an innovator. Value added or ever a new product or service might be in line for you.
10th Comfort First time buyers. When someone buys for the first time from you give them a follow up call, send them a “good choice” thank you note. Don’t disappear just because you made the sale. If you lucky to be adding new customers in this economy don’t take them for granted. Reassure them and thank them.
11th Update and inform the customer. They are now part of your family of loyal (we hope) happy customers. Make them feel the part.
12th Segment your customers for relevance. Different customers buy form you for different reasons and or products. Cut them into product lists so you can send them information on what is important to them and not someone else. If Joe and Mary buy Red Doogers and Tom, Sally and Rodger like Orange, group them together so you can use the same marketing message for the right people and not be sending out information that has no meaning for them. That only shows how you DON’T know your customer now what you know.
Larson Notes & Satire: You need to get and own your market segment in only 1 place. The customers mind. No one really cares if you are on the 1st page of a Google or yahoo search, although it is fun to brag about (type in telesales for printers and see how high Larson & Associates is today). It is not about buying up all the key words to get up on top of a search. It is about the customer buying from you, and you alone. There is no second place. Once their money is spent it’s gone. The mind of the customer is where you want your company to be.
Now think about it, when you think of telemarketing, lead generation, target marketing, web marketing, who do you think I want you to think of when you have money to spend on these kind of services? That’s right Me! I want you to think of Larson & Associates. Not because I’m greedy but because I believe in my heart I can give you the most bang for your buck. I truly believe I can give you a bigger payback than my competition.
Do you believe that you can do the same for your customers and prospects? If you can say yes, go out and do it. It you can’t rethink, reengineer your company. You can be the best at whatever you want to be. Be the Big Fish in the Little Pond. Come on in, the waters fine.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
You need to be targeting messages to your targeted market segment buy putting yourself in the customer’s shoes. (I’m a size 10.5).
Right or wrong in today’s world if a customer or prospect stops hearing from you their first thought is that you have gone out of business. So a key point here is to not disappear or ever stop marketing. I’m not saying this because I have a marketing company here and do this for people and companies but because it is a fact! So start standing OUT!
So what would I do?
1st start by empowering comparative shoppers. What? Ya, put the power in the hands of the comparative shopper. What are you afraid of? Remember yesterday’s blog? You can’t sit back being afraid of talking about what makes you and your product/service the best of the best! You are in control if you initiate the conversation. Talk about what makes your service/product the best choice while providing objective positive (never ever bash a competitor, only you look bad).
2nd Challenge your customers to buy smarter! Give the customer (your) reasons to open up their check book and buy from you. You need to know your market and your customer but don’t be shy. Ask them to not only buy, but if it is (really) in their best interest ask them to buy more.
3rd Show genuine gratitude. Don’t be bashful, that is only good if you are asking Snow White out for a date. Let the customer know in no uncertain terms that you appreciate their business. Tell them; write them thank you notes, phone calls. This small but personal action can make all the difference for the next sale.
4th Reward customer loyalty. There are many ways to do this. Give them a “secret sale”, preferred customer rewards, customer appreciation events, customer only coupons. Let them know just how important they are to you.
5th Show confidence in our company and its products and services. Reinforce credibility. Kill any rumors. Position you and your company as the lead in your service niche.
6th Share the (good) news. No matter if it is about your company, you, the people you have working with you, crow a little. Put a little Peter Pan magic out there and stand up and crow the news out. With all the negative news filling out heads hearing a little good from where ever it comes from is almost always welcome. Unless, of course you’re Captain Hook.
7th Ask how you can help. Engage the customer? What does that mean? Talk to them. Ask about their special needs. Ask what the most challenging issue in their business is and find out how you can ease their pain. Use surveys both mailed and online, call them up and ask, use your social media tools to get responses.
8th Knows how to say, UffDa (or do you say Opps?) Mistakes happen, yes even here at the invincible perfect Larson & Associates. When they do know how to say I’m sorry.
9th Find ways to give value added services that don’t cost you. Use those surveys and reviews you have been sending out and receiving. There are probably some golden nuggets in those forms. Read them and act on them. Become an innovator. Value added or ever a new product or service might be in line for you.
10th Comfort First time buyers. When someone buys for the first time from you give them a follow up call, send them a “good choice” thank you note. Don’t disappear just because you made the sale. If you lucky to be adding new customers in this economy don’t take them for granted. Reassure them and thank them.
11th Update and inform the customer. They are now part of your family of loyal (we hope) happy customers. Make them feel the part.
12th Segment your customers for relevance. Different customers buy form you for different reasons and or products. Cut them into product lists so you can send them information on what is important to them and not someone else. If Joe and Mary buy Red Doogers and Tom, Sally and Rodger like Orange, group them together so you can use the same marketing message for the right people and not be sending out information that has no meaning for them. That only shows how you DON’T know your customer now what you know.
Larson Notes & Satire: You need to get and own your market segment in only 1 place. The customers mind. No one really cares if you are on the 1st page of a Google or yahoo search, although it is fun to brag about (type in telesales for printers and see how high Larson & Associates is today). It is not about buying up all the key words to get up on top of a search. It is about the customer buying from you, and you alone. There is no second place. Once their money is spent it’s gone. The mind of the customer is where you want your company to be.
Now think about it, when you think of telemarketing, lead generation, target marketing, web marketing, who do you think I want you to think of when you have money to spend on these kind of services? That’s right Me! I want you to think of Larson & Associates. Not because I’m greedy but because I believe in my heart I can give you the most bang for your buck. I truly believe I can give you a bigger payback than my competition.
Do you believe that you can do the same for your customers and prospects? If you can say yes, go out and do it. It you can’t rethink, reengineer your company. You can be the best at whatever you want to be. Be the Big Fish in the Little Pond. Come on in, the waters fine.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Personality Of Business
Your company, your brand, your product, your service has a very distinct personality and more times than not that personality is you!
Your personality is how customers perceive you for better or in some cases for worse.
Your average advertiser / marketer has been getting away with selling only a great product or a fantastic service and leaving out the personality behind the brand. So where do you stand. Do you manage your company’s image and perception? Does your customer’s and prospect’s perception match the kind of personality you want them to have and see?
1) You are selling to people not businesses. Maybe all of us B2B people should start saying B2P the P standing for people. It is true that the buyer might not be buying from you for themselves, but they do have their own agenda to consider. Who they are, how they work? Who they answer to? Know the individual behind the invoice. Remember to tune in to WIIFM radio station “What’s In It For Me”.
2) Are you really any different? Are you really any different than anyone else? Ah, reality time. You need to differentiate yourself from all the other Dooger Companies out there. 24 hour shipping? All too common. 98% of all items in stock, pardon me while I go to sleep. You must and I stress the must, find that one then that makes you, you, that makes your company the reason they need to buy from you and not Joe Smith.
3) Do you and your customer speak the same language? Drop the jargon if it is inappropriate. Speak customerese and don’t sound all to technician if it is not appropriate. You might be selling Blue Doogers but if the customer calls it a blue paper clip holder, guess what you better be calling it. You vocabulary should be your customers vocabulary. Talk their language!
4) What is the emotional reason to buy from you? Hank Trisler said it. People buy on emotion and justify with facts! Do you make life simpler? Do you let them look good to their boss? Do they get that benefit or a good ego rub while getting a more efficient and productive service or product?
5) Find every contact point and make it an opportunity to reinforce your brands message. Make sure that once you create your one of a kind position that you can push it though in your entire marketing campaign on every channel that you are using, telemarketing, direct mail, e-mail, letters, faxes, social media messages, web site, pay for click, Examine every touch point that you have with your customers and prospects and make it a magic moment.
Larson Notes & Satire: Right or wrong, I am the face (or voice) of my company I define who and what my company stands for.
In defining and redefining your brand you need to be vigilant to the consistency and relevance to your target market. Say what you want to say and do what you need to do. It is constant and ever moving. You can’t just plan out your year in December and expect it to work the entire year.
Sure I now have my yearly plan for 2011 laid out. I know the direction I want to go in, but will it change? Probably. How often will I be reviewing it? At a minimum every 2 weeks Most likely 26 times in the next 12 months? Always remember a well rounded complete marketing plan will be targeted at the individual in a company not to the company itself. As you communicate across all your marketing channels remember: “Customers buy for their reasons not yours.”
Now you need new customers? Call us and I’ll put a program together for you that will fit you, your company and your customers and prospects.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Your personality is how customers perceive you for better or in some cases for worse.
Your average advertiser / marketer has been getting away with selling only a great product or a fantastic service and leaving out the personality behind the brand. So where do you stand. Do you manage your company’s image and perception? Does your customer’s and prospect’s perception match the kind of personality you want them to have and see?
1) You are selling to people not businesses. Maybe all of us B2B people should start saying B2P the P standing for people. It is true that the buyer might not be buying from you for themselves, but they do have their own agenda to consider. Who they are, how they work? Who they answer to? Know the individual behind the invoice. Remember to tune in to WIIFM radio station “What’s In It For Me”.
2) Are you really any different? Are you really any different than anyone else? Ah, reality time. You need to differentiate yourself from all the other Dooger Companies out there. 24 hour shipping? All too common. 98% of all items in stock, pardon me while I go to sleep. You must and I stress the must, find that one then that makes you, you, that makes your company the reason they need to buy from you and not Joe Smith.
3) Do you and your customer speak the same language? Drop the jargon if it is inappropriate. Speak customerese and don’t sound all to technician if it is not appropriate. You might be selling Blue Doogers but if the customer calls it a blue paper clip holder, guess what you better be calling it. You vocabulary should be your customers vocabulary. Talk their language!
4) What is the emotional reason to buy from you? Hank Trisler said it. People buy on emotion and justify with facts! Do you make life simpler? Do you let them look good to their boss? Do they get that benefit or a good ego rub while getting a more efficient and productive service or product?
5) Find every contact point and make it an opportunity to reinforce your brands message. Make sure that once you create your one of a kind position that you can push it though in your entire marketing campaign on every channel that you are using, telemarketing, direct mail, e-mail, letters, faxes, social media messages, web site, pay for click, Examine every touch point that you have with your customers and prospects and make it a magic moment.
Larson Notes & Satire: Right or wrong, I am the face (or voice) of my company I define who and what my company stands for.
In defining and redefining your brand you need to be vigilant to the consistency and relevance to your target market. Say what you want to say and do what you need to do. It is constant and ever moving. You can’t just plan out your year in December and expect it to work the entire year.
Sure I now have my yearly plan for 2011 laid out. I know the direction I want to go in, but will it change? Probably. How often will I be reviewing it? At a minimum every 2 weeks Most likely 26 times in the next 12 months? Always remember a well rounded complete marketing plan will be targeted at the individual in a company not to the company itself. As you communicate across all your marketing channels remember: “Customers buy for their reasons not yours.”
Now you need new customers? Call us and I’ll put a program together for you that will fit you, your company and your customers and prospects.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Friday, November 19, 2010
The Law of the Customer
By Brian Tracy
The customer always acts to satisfy his or her interests by seeking the very most and best at the lowest price possible. Customers practice economic calculation in their choices. They seek to minimize their purchases and to minimize their costs, or outlays. Customers always attempt to get the things they want the fastest and easiest way possible, right now, at the lower possible price. This is not a problem. This is merely a fact of business life. Customers want the very most for the very least, and they will buy from whomever they feel can best give it to them.
http://www.briantracy.com/
Larson Notes & Satire: All my customers get 1 thing no one else can give them: ME. Yep that’s right I am unique. There is only 1 me as much as I might want to clone myself; it’s just not going to happen. If they go anywhere else they can’t have a piece of me.
If the decide that I am of no value to them, well, then, maybe my company is of no value to them and we should part ways. Then again if they try to push the cost of my services down to far, they will not get me either.
I, we do things here that most normal people don’t want to do and don’t like to do. We are the Doctor of Cold Call Pain. For the most part we make cold calls to companies for companies and their sales people. We get slammed, we get told off, I have heard every excuse that has ever come to the mind of man for why they will not talk to me, we dial and make the calls that no one wants to make. If it was easy I would not have a job. If it was fun (well I think its fun) we would all be making cold calls to have a bit of enjoyment.
I never have see a company go out of business because of too few (profitable) sales. And that is what we give, leads and customers, can a company ever have enough?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
The customer always acts to satisfy his or her interests by seeking the very most and best at the lowest price possible. Customers practice economic calculation in their choices. They seek to minimize their purchases and to minimize their costs, or outlays. Customers always attempt to get the things they want the fastest and easiest way possible, right now, at the lower possible price. This is not a problem. This is merely a fact of business life. Customers want the very most for the very least, and they will buy from whomever they feel can best give it to them.
http://www.briantracy.com/
Larson Notes & Satire: All my customers get 1 thing no one else can give them: ME. Yep that’s right I am unique. There is only 1 me as much as I might want to clone myself; it’s just not going to happen. If they go anywhere else they can’t have a piece of me.
If the decide that I am of no value to them, well, then, maybe my company is of no value to them and we should part ways. Then again if they try to push the cost of my services down to far, they will not get me either.
I, we do things here that most normal people don’t want to do and don’t like to do. We are the Doctor of Cold Call Pain. For the most part we make cold calls to companies for companies and their sales people. We get slammed, we get told off, I have heard every excuse that has ever come to the mind of man for why they will not talk to me, we dial and make the calls that no one wants to make. If it was easy I would not have a job. If it was fun (well I think its fun) we would all be making cold calls to have a bit of enjoyment.
I never have see a company go out of business because of too few (profitable) sales. And that is what we give, leads and customers, can a company ever have enough?
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Why Mail?
Email vs. Snail Mail? Is there a choice? Should there be a choice? What is the right marketing vehicle for your company? Do you even care?
The average email open rate that I have been reading lately is 22.1%, which means that 77.9% are deleted without even a look, and that does not count the ones that are kicked back with bad addresses. Blanked out. Poof, gone never to return to the light of a computer screen.
If that was a Snail Mail piece it would be like sending out blank cards or letters. Blank as in nothing printed on them, except an enticing headline, maybe.
The big e-mailers want to go out and shout about how cost effective email is in comparison to Snail Mail. Ok shout away, but I will tell you that even as they are throwing my postcard mailer into the bucket they will see my company name, they might glance at my headline, so that the next time I send them something, and there will be a next time, they might dig a little deeper into the message I am sending them, so that on the 3rd or 4th piece of mail I have sent to them they might even start to understand what it is I do.
Mail, E-mail, it is not the cost, but the success that really matters.
Larson Notes & Satire: I mail. I email. I phone. I place classified ads. I do what works.
Is mail dead? I don’t think so. As each or our e-mail in boxes gets cluttered up, we scan though more and more deleting at will. Yet, each day my mail box gets a few pieces dropped into it by my mailman. And with the unclutteredness of it, I do look at every piece, and read at least the postcard mailers, (I am partial to post card mailers) the envelope & letter pieces might get opened but if they are too wordy I’ll see what they are talking about and usually, unless it is really enticing, it hits but bucket, but guess what? I did look and skim though their message. You don’t get that with email.
E-mail has a place in the sales and marketing world. Use each tool for what it does best. But don’t tell me Direct Mail is dead.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
The average email open rate that I have been reading lately is 22.1%, which means that 77.9% are deleted without even a look, and that does not count the ones that are kicked back with bad addresses. Blanked out. Poof, gone never to return to the light of a computer screen.
If that was a Snail Mail piece it would be like sending out blank cards or letters. Blank as in nothing printed on them, except an enticing headline, maybe.
The big e-mailers want to go out and shout about how cost effective email is in comparison to Snail Mail. Ok shout away, but I will tell you that even as they are throwing my postcard mailer into the bucket they will see my company name, they might glance at my headline, so that the next time I send them something, and there will be a next time, they might dig a little deeper into the message I am sending them, so that on the 3rd or 4th piece of mail I have sent to them they might even start to understand what it is I do.
Mail, E-mail, it is not the cost, but the success that really matters.
Larson Notes & Satire: I mail. I email. I phone. I place classified ads. I do what works.
Is mail dead? I don’t think so. As each or our e-mail in boxes gets cluttered up, we scan though more and more deleting at will. Yet, each day my mail box gets a few pieces dropped into it by my mailman. And with the unclutteredness of it, I do look at every piece, and read at least the postcard mailers, (I am partial to post card mailers) the envelope & letter pieces might get opened but if they are too wordy I’ll see what they are talking about and usually, unless it is really enticing, it hits but bucket, but guess what? I did look and skim though their message. You don’t get that with email.
E-mail has a place in the sales and marketing world. Use each tool for what it does best. But don’t tell me Direct Mail is dead.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Link With Influencers
So there you are out there on the vast world of Social Media all alone. To continue on yesterdays linking thoughts to get your web page listed higher up in the Search Engines.
Ask yourself, who are the people in your TARGET market that have the most influence? Don’t mess with people in your industry, not that you should not follow people of knowledge in your industry or profession but they are NOT going to buy anything from you. You need to attach yourself to the people who are in your target.
If you can start to target and get a conversation going with these key influencers, if you can start to create a dialog with them, if you can gain their trust as a knowledgeable trustworthy person they will gradually open you up to their following though retweets, friend requests and sending your message with appropriate links!
The key here is trust. If they trust you and you have something of value to give to their friends and followers they will gradually give you access. It won’t be overnight, it takes time, much more time than money, but more that even that it takes a real honesty and sincerity.
Larson Notes & Satire: Who are you? Really who the heck are you and why should I want to be following you? Any why should I use my good name for you? If I do that what you do and say is a direct influence on me! Are you honest with yourself and your brand? Can you walk the straight and narrow talk, all the time, every time?
Think about that the next time you get a stray recommend me on LinkedIn or MerchantCircle. Should you say a good thing about someone who you don’t know? What you say can and does make a difference on you, as well as the person you are recommending.
Now my company sells leads so I am not going to go out and give you a lead for fun, but I might, if you give me reason, recommend your business as a quality place or person to do business with. And if I do, don’t fail me! I can undo my good favorable recommendation.
Don’t believe me? Just ask me why I will not drink Dr. Pepper, why I will not stay in a Motel 6, or I will never buy or install an American Standard Faucet in mine or any home improvement project I EVER work on.
If you talk the talk make sure you can walk the walk.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Ask yourself, who are the people in your TARGET market that have the most influence? Don’t mess with people in your industry, not that you should not follow people of knowledge in your industry or profession but they are NOT going to buy anything from you. You need to attach yourself to the people who are in your target.
If you can start to target and get a conversation going with these key influencers, if you can start to create a dialog with them, if you can gain their trust as a knowledgeable trustworthy person they will gradually open you up to their following though retweets, friend requests and sending your message with appropriate links!
The key here is trust. If they trust you and you have something of value to give to their friends and followers they will gradually give you access. It won’t be overnight, it takes time, much more time than money, but more that even that it takes a real honesty and sincerity.
Larson Notes & Satire: Who are you? Really who the heck are you and why should I want to be following you? Any why should I use my good name for you? If I do that what you do and say is a direct influence on me! Are you honest with yourself and your brand? Can you walk the straight and narrow talk, all the time, every time?
Think about that the next time you get a stray recommend me on LinkedIn or MerchantCircle. Should you say a good thing about someone who you don’t know? What you say can and does make a difference on you, as well as the person you are recommending.
Now my company sells leads so I am not going to go out and give you a lead for fun, but I might, if you give me reason, recommend your business as a quality place or person to do business with. And if I do, don’t fail me! I can undo my good favorable recommendation.
Don’t believe me? Just ask me why I will not drink Dr. Pepper, why I will not stay in a Motel 6, or I will never buy or install an American Standard Faucet in mine or any home improvement project I EVER work on.
If you talk the talk make sure you can walk the walk.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
Monday, November 15, 2010
SEO Generation For Links
There is no question that the incoming link to a website from some other site is gold.
In starting a SEO-Linking strategy the first thing to do is to link all of your businesses social profiles together aiming at your website. This will help your name and your “brand” in taking and holding onto the search results of pages in a brand name search and or even a market oriented search.
After placing your link on your social media home pages you need to put your links into your content of ALL forum answers and blogs and blog answers. Search Engines are weighing these links higher in value almost as we speak. Social Media is built on the prediction of sharing and talking about things of value.
A well optimized posting by you can attack or push you into new networks if your blog or post gets linked into them, further helping in the linking process in an indirect but equally powerful way. The added benefit in all this is that long (whatever the definition of long is these days) after you have posed something it might be winding though the endless labyrinth of social media sites unknown to you and your circle of followers and friends.
Larson Notes & Satire: With the advent of real time search getting hooked up right with your links and pushing your links out into the world of retweets and aimed pushes to your social media sites can be resounding.
As short lived as it might or might not be, you can get elevated up in short order with a properly optimized blog or post. Links and keywords.
Then all you need to do is make the sale.
Need help call us.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
In starting a SEO-Linking strategy the first thing to do is to link all of your businesses social profiles together aiming at your website. This will help your name and your “brand” in taking and holding onto the search results of pages in a brand name search and or even a market oriented search.
After placing your link on your social media home pages you need to put your links into your content of ALL forum answers and blogs and blog answers. Search Engines are weighing these links higher in value almost as we speak. Social Media is built on the prediction of sharing and talking about things of value.
A well optimized posting by you can attack or push you into new networks if your blog or post gets linked into them, further helping in the linking process in an indirect but equally powerful way. The added benefit in all this is that long (whatever the definition of long is these days) after you have posed something it might be winding though the endless labyrinth of social media sites unknown to you and your circle of followers and friends.
Larson Notes & Satire: With the advent of real time search getting hooked up right with your links and pushing your links out into the world of retweets and aimed pushes to your social media sites can be resounding.
As short lived as it might or might not be, you can get elevated up in short order with a properly optimized blog or post. Links and keywords.
Then all you need to do is make the sale.
Need help call us.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
P.P.S. An American Company, marketing American Companies! Call or email to get an appointment to pick my brain (a $125.00 value) for 30 minutes.
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