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.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
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.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Saturation Mail
A saturation mailing can be a valuable tool when you are looking to reach a broad based audience in a local area.
“Carrier route saturation” is a class of Standard Male offered by the US Postal Service to marketers who are looking to hit on virtually every address in a zip code. A beauty parlor might saturate a single carrier route while a big box store might hit on everyone in an entire zip code. There is no exact figure but if you do a saturation mailing you can usually get 5 cents to 6 cents per piece lower on your mailing! Not too shabby.
In order to qualify for the rate, automation guidelines must be followed in regard to sorting, bar coding, packaging and tagging. The mailing must also include at least 75% OF ALL addresses (including commercial) or 90% or all residential addresses in the carrier route of the mailing.
To get in on this there are a few things that must be followed. I would contact your postmaster for all the details.
Addresses may be eliminated down to 75% to 90% penetration level. You can do this by taking out current customers and or removal of addresses that are most likely not to respond. (See your direct mail expert for help if you need it).
Assuming that distance is important to you in securing a customer, you need to understand distance and buying preferences. When figuring out your ideal buying structure you need to take a random saturation out to 20 miles or so, in lager metro areas like Chicago you might want to tighten that down to 10 miles or less. In finding the results this random mailing you need to quantify the response and distance in terms that can be translated into a factor which when put into a model or response possibilities you can target harder to build a saturation model unique to your business. Then armed with your unique distance and saturation and target gain factors you can then determine the best mix of saturation in a targeted mailing that is right for you.
You might find that you want to hit all carrier routes inside of 5 miles. Those addresses 6-8 miles out 9 out of 10 carrier routes. In the 9 to 10 mile range 8 out of 10 and so on.
If geography matters to your business direct mail saturation might be the ticket to increased customers for your business.
Larson Notes & Satire: I like mail. I like it better than email. Even if they toss it in the bucket they need to look at it as they do. They will see your name, your address, your logo. With email one click and your gone! Being B2B I don’t do saturation mail as in geography but I do use mail in a saturation way to target my market in geography, that being by state and business listing. One of my company’s goals is to have a customer in each of the lower 48 states. Right now I have targeted Florida, Texas, Colorado and Washington State as my next states to penetrate. All I need to do is get the right SIC number target the right sized company and down load my list.
Now when I attack it is more that a mailing, it is a phone call or 2 or 3 followed by a mailing than another 2 to 3 phone calls followed by a mailing till I reach my goal. Does it work? It works for me, will it work for you? That is what you need to figure out.
Of course that is the same way I work with my clients to find them new business. I use what I sell. (Another interesting concept, do you use or follow what you sell? Think about it.)
It’s not my way or the highway. Each of us and our businesses are unique. There is no right way and wrong way, there is only a way and no way. Doing something, anything is a way. To sit and do nothing is the no way to going about things.
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.
“Carrier route saturation” is a class of Standard Male offered by the US Postal Service to marketers who are looking to hit on virtually every address in a zip code. A beauty parlor might saturate a single carrier route while a big box store might hit on everyone in an entire zip code. There is no exact figure but if you do a saturation mailing you can usually get 5 cents to 6 cents per piece lower on your mailing! Not too shabby.
In order to qualify for the rate, automation guidelines must be followed in regard to sorting, bar coding, packaging and tagging. The mailing must also include at least 75% OF ALL addresses (including commercial) or 90% or all residential addresses in the carrier route of the mailing.
To get in on this there are a few things that must be followed. I would contact your postmaster for all the details.
Addresses may be eliminated down to 75% to 90% penetration level. You can do this by taking out current customers and or removal of addresses that are most likely not to respond. (See your direct mail expert for help if you need it).
Assuming that distance is important to you in securing a customer, you need to understand distance and buying preferences. When figuring out your ideal buying structure you need to take a random saturation out to 20 miles or so, in lager metro areas like Chicago you might want to tighten that down to 10 miles or less. In finding the results this random mailing you need to quantify the response and distance in terms that can be translated into a factor which when put into a model or response possibilities you can target harder to build a saturation model unique to your business. Then armed with your unique distance and saturation and target gain factors you can then determine the best mix of saturation in a targeted mailing that is right for you.
You might find that you want to hit all carrier routes inside of 5 miles. Those addresses 6-8 miles out 9 out of 10 carrier routes. In the 9 to 10 mile range 8 out of 10 and so on.
If geography matters to your business direct mail saturation might be the ticket to increased customers for your business.
Larson Notes & Satire: I like mail. I like it better than email. Even if they toss it in the bucket they need to look at it as they do. They will see your name, your address, your logo. With email one click and your gone! Being B2B I don’t do saturation mail as in geography but I do use mail in a saturation way to target my market in geography, that being by state and business listing. One of my company’s goals is to have a customer in each of the lower 48 states. Right now I have targeted Florida, Texas, Colorado and Washington State as my next states to penetrate. All I need to do is get the right SIC number target the right sized company and down load my list.
Now when I attack it is more that a mailing, it is a phone call or 2 or 3 followed by a mailing than another 2 to 3 phone calls followed by a mailing till I reach my goal. Does it work? It works for me, will it work for you? That is what you need to figure out.
Of course that is the same way I work with my clients to find them new business. I use what I sell. (Another interesting concept, do you use or follow what you sell? Think about it.)
It’s not my way or the highway. Each of us and our businesses are unique. There is no right way and wrong way, there is only a way and no way. Doing something, anything is a way. To sit and do nothing is the no way to going about things.
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 9, 2010
The Synergistic Web Site
In an online marketing plan and attack your main website is your base of attack. It contains the elements of what your company is, what it sells and what its primary goal of service/products are.
Yet if your site is lost in the great abyss of the 38th page of a google key word search what effect can it have on your overall companies marketing and sales attack? 3 things:
1) Explain to the world who and what you are
2) Be there for people and companies you give your URL to and actually send them to.
3) A stable message to send your Social Media followers to.
As competitive as the internet is, you need to have some kind of control over your own destiny, and at the same time keep up with the current state of web marketing opportunities.
In using a synergistic approach to your attack you can develop and promote your “brand” as 1
Web Design Development
> Use good graphic and layout techniques to achieve a visually appealing website.
> Use up to date programming to ensure that all the parts of your design and elements work in harmony.
> Get the best in website optimization to ensure you get the maximum in conversion of all potential visitors.
Content Development
> Use the writers and copywriters to develop your content.
> Use photographers and graphic designers to create great design elements and have the knowledge to coordinate them to work in harmony.
> If you are using audio and or video use a higher end developer
Website Marketing
> SEO – Search Engine Optimization - Don’t overlook it! If you want to be rated higher in the search engines with a key word (or word string) organic search it takes time, patience and knowledge to get you up there.
> SEM – Search Engine Marketing – pay-per-click, banner ads, and other paying ways to get seen on a search. Sometimes you need that extra kick to get seen. Don’t do it alone, or as I say: “It’s your money.”
> Use a Social Media Professional to leverage the power of all the different social networks and other social media tools to get seen and listed.
Implementation
Nothing happens until you put things into action. Development, promotion planning means nothing unless you do something about it. Bring your team into a synergistic force. Get them talking and working in harmony. Don’t let them get into little turf wars. If that happens there is only 1 looser, YOU.
Larson Notes & Satire: Oh where of where is your website? When was the last time, or 1st for that matter that you did a key word search for it? When was the last time, or 1st that you asked a friend to do a key word search for you site?
Seek and ye shall find? Yes with a little help from your friends.
Now am I a pro at all this stuff? No way, but I have one trick up my sleeve, I have friends and associates that are. At Larson & Associates we focus on implementation not necessarily perfection. If you don’t like it, don’t use us. But guess what, our web site is getting over 400% more hits this year than a year ago. And our sales? Ha ha, sales up in double digits in THIS Economy!
We get things done! We are doers not procrastinators. We get things as good as we can and go! If you are going to sit around waiting to be perfect you will starve. Better to be 75% perfect and implement than to sit around and wait another 5 months for everything to be perfect and miss the market.
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.
Yet if your site is lost in the great abyss of the 38th page of a google key word search what effect can it have on your overall companies marketing and sales attack? 3 things:
1) Explain to the world who and what you are
2) Be there for people and companies you give your URL to and actually send them to.
3) A stable message to send your Social Media followers to.
As competitive as the internet is, you need to have some kind of control over your own destiny, and at the same time keep up with the current state of web marketing opportunities.
In using a synergistic approach to your attack you can develop and promote your “brand” as 1
Web Design Development
> Use good graphic and layout techniques to achieve a visually appealing website.
> Use up to date programming to ensure that all the parts of your design and elements work in harmony.
> Get the best in website optimization to ensure you get the maximum in conversion of all potential visitors.
Content Development
> Use the writers and copywriters to develop your content.
> Use photographers and graphic designers to create great design elements and have the knowledge to coordinate them to work in harmony.
> If you are using audio and or video use a higher end developer
Website Marketing
> SEO – Search Engine Optimization - Don’t overlook it! If you want to be rated higher in the search engines with a key word (or word string) organic search it takes time, patience and knowledge to get you up there.
> SEM – Search Engine Marketing – pay-per-click, banner ads, and other paying ways to get seen on a search. Sometimes you need that extra kick to get seen. Don’t do it alone, or as I say: “It’s your money.”
> Use a Social Media Professional to leverage the power of all the different social networks and other social media tools to get seen and listed.
Implementation
Nothing happens until you put things into action. Development, promotion planning means nothing unless you do something about it. Bring your team into a synergistic force. Get them talking and working in harmony. Don’t let them get into little turf wars. If that happens there is only 1 looser, YOU.
Larson Notes & Satire: Oh where of where is your website? When was the last time, or 1st for that matter that you did a key word search for it? When was the last time, or 1st that you asked a friend to do a key word search for you site?
Seek and ye shall find? Yes with a little help from your friends.
Now am I a pro at all this stuff? No way, but I have one trick up my sleeve, I have friends and associates that are. At Larson & Associates we focus on implementation not necessarily perfection. If you don’t like it, don’t use us. But guess what, our web site is getting over 400% more hits this year than a year ago. And our sales? Ha ha, sales up in double digits in THIS Economy!
We get things done! We are doers not procrastinators. We get things as good as we can and go! If you are going to sit around waiting to be perfect you will starve. Better to be 75% perfect and implement than to sit around and wait another 5 months for everything to be perfect and miss the market.
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 5, 2010
Social Media Is Free, Right?
Facebook is free.
Twitter is free.
MerchantCircle is free.
Foursquare is free.
LinkedIn is free.
Heck Social Media is all free! Right?
What’s your time worth? 2 cents?
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is thinking that Social media is free. Every second you are on the clock is ticking. If your there for fun, go on and let the good times roll, but if you are there to make a buck or two, you had better buckle down and get smart.
If you start to blog on a regular basis that is the cost of your time? If you or you have a marketing person or team monitoring unfiltered posts, who is paying for the time that is spent as they let the screen roll down looking or searching for posts about you, your company or your industry. Taking time to track is very costly if you put any value on your time.
So what are the real costs? Start with the opportunity to the business of just listening analyzing, participating and collaborating in the different networks.
It takes careful planning to roll out a solid program. Creating a twitter presence is easy. Participating, responding and building a brand presence is where the real work is. The actual setting up of the account is nothing. Same with LinkedIn, Facebook, MerchantCircle, the Nings, MySpace and all the others. The work really starts once your page is up, running and out there.
Set a time limit to do things in Social Media. Create your balance of activities not your best friends.
Finally make a social media program for your company where you have certain times of the day where you work at it. Like the old adage: Plan your work and work your plan.
Larson Notes & Satire: Social Media can eat you alive. You can go on to do one little post and 87 minutes later you are finally signing off. That is not because the sites are so hard to navigate but because you flitter from conversations that might not fit in with the task at hand. If your blogging, blog. If you’re answering a group post, answer it, and only do that. Do not stray from the task at hand.
There is a cost and the cost can be the time you need to build your business by using a tool that you started using to build your business.
So what about me?
Blog: 1-3 hours a day
Facebook: 30 minutes a day
Twitter: 15 minutes
MerchantCircle: 30 minutes a day
LinkedIn: 30 minutes a day
Nings: 1 hour a day
Other: 1 hour a day
Total: 5-7 hours
Cost: $150.00 to $840.00 a day
So is there a cost? You tell me.
Now the question is what is my ROI? That my friend is for another blog.
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://ember.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.
Twitter is free.
MerchantCircle is free.
Foursquare is free.
LinkedIn is free.
Heck Social Media is all free! Right?
What’s your time worth? 2 cents?
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is thinking that Social media is free. Every second you are on the clock is ticking. If your there for fun, go on and let the good times roll, but if you are there to make a buck or two, you had better buckle down and get smart.
If you start to blog on a regular basis that is the cost of your time? If you or you have a marketing person or team monitoring unfiltered posts, who is paying for the time that is spent as they let the screen roll down looking or searching for posts about you, your company or your industry. Taking time to track is very costly if you put any value on your time.
So what are the real costs? Start with the opportunity to the business of just listening analyzing, participating and collaborating in the different networks.
It takes careful planning to roll out a solid program. Creating a twitter presence is easy. Participating, responding and building a brand presence is where the real work is. The actual setting up of the account is nothing. Same with LinkedIn, Facebook, MerchantCircle, the Nings, MySpace and all the others. The work really starts once your page is up, running and out there.
Set a time limit to do things in Social Media. Create your balance of activities not your best friends.
Finally make a social media program for your company where you have certain times of the day where you work at it. Like the old adage: Plan your work and work your plan.
Larson Notes & Satire: Social Media can eat you alive. You can go on to do one little post and 87 minutes later you are finally signing off. That is not because the sites are so hard to navigate but because you flitter from conversations that might not fit in with the task at hand. If your blogging, blog. If you’re answering a group post, answer it, and only do that. Do not stray from the task at hand.
There is a cost and the cost can be the time you need to build your business by using a tool that you started using to build your business.
So what about me?
Blog: 1-3 hours a day
Facebook: 30 minutes a day
Twitter: 15 minutes
MerchantCircle: 30 minutes a day
LinkedIn: 30 minutes a day
Nings: 1 hour a day
Other: 1 hour a day
Total: 5-7 hours
Cost: $150.00 to $840.00 a day
So is there a cost? You tell me.
Now the question is what is my ROI? That my friend is for another blog.
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://ember.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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