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.
Friday, November 12, 2010
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.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Do You Need A Custom Landing Page?
Does your company sell different products to different customer bases? Do you do event marketing? Do you need segmentation of your market to narrow down the needs of each niche you serve? Are you going to hold a special webinar? Welcome to the world of the customized landing page.
Whatever you got, if you can narrow down the target to the service, product or event, even if you have made a dedicated page within your current website, it’s not good enough! The creation of a special landing page can not hurt, but help in so many ways.
If your offer is from an email, direct mail piece, telesales message; you need to make sure that the prospect sees what you want them to see quickly, easily and fast in 1 click. 2 clicks are 1 click too many. 3 clicks and your dead.
In creating a specialized landing page you can focus on that 1 target. Key words can be used. Your H1 title line can talk about it. Your Meta tag key words and description can yell out to the little Google spiders saying here I am, here I am!
In addition it allows you the chance to test marketing your service, product or even without a website remake.
If you just remember the basics on making a web page, good navigation, readable text, nice clear images.
Larson Notes & Satire: I have not talked too much about landing pages for a while. But these little things are really an untapped. It can take you right to the top in your targeted market without compromising the more broad based nature of your website. It really narrows down the clicks your targets need to hit to get to you. 1 click and they are there. Doesn’t get much easier for them to buy or sign up.
Add in a link to the home page of your company web site or any other page that makes more sense for them to hit with their 2nd click and make it happen.
Quick, easy, fast, that is what people want on the web. Make it hard and you lose them. Make yourself easy and accessible and you win.
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://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.
Whatever you got, if you can narrow down the target to the service, product or event, even if you have made a dedicated page within your current website, it’s not good enough! The creation of a special landing page can not hurt, but help in so many ways.
If your offer is from an email, direct mail piece, telesales message; you need to make sure that the prospect sees what you want them to see quickly, easily and fast in 1 click. 2 clicks are 1 click too many. 3 clicks and your dead.
In creating a specialized landing page you can focus on that 1 target. Key words can be used. Your H1 title line can talk about it. Your Meta tag key words and description can yell out to the little Google spiders saying here I am, here I am!
In addition it allows you the chance to test marketing your service, product or even without a website remake.
If you just remember the basics on making a web page, good navigation, readable text, nice clear images.
Larson Notes & Satire: I have not talked too much about landing pages for a while. But these little things are really an untapped. It can take you right to the top in your targeted market without compromising the more broad based nature of your website. It really narrows down the clicks your targets need to hit to get to you. 1 click and they are there. Doesn’t get much easier for them to buy or sign up.
Add in a link to the home page of your company web site or any other page that makes more sense for them to hit with their 2nd click and make it happen.
Quick, easy, fast, that is what people want on the web. Make it hard and you lose them. Make yourself easy and accessible and you win.
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://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, October 28, 2010
Website Check Up
How is your website doing? Are you getting enough activity? Enough hits? The sales you were expecting off of it?
Ask yourself these questions and then decide if you need an upgrade of your site.
1. Does your home page clearly say what your company does and the kind of customer you want or serve?
2. Do you use an easy conversational tone in your copy?
3. Do you offer useful content in addition to your product and service information?
4. Is your website optimized for the best possible ranking in the search engines?
5. Are you always updating your websites copy?
6. Do all the pages of your website have an offer that they can’t refuse?
7. Do your action requests talk to the customer at all the different stages to the buying process?
8. Is your phone number on each and every page of your website?
9. If you have them, are your online forms short and asking for only the needed information, not a bunch of junk? (i.e. name, company name, address, phone number, email address?)
10. Do you have a process in place so your website inquiries get followed up on quickly?
If your keeping score give yourself a point for each yes you can answer to. If you are a 6 or below you had better get to work on your site. You’re missing some web action.
Larson Notes & Satire: It seems every day I am doing something to help get my site ranking higher and higher. Post a blog. Do an online key word string search. Ask people to look for my site or got to it and give it a hit. Website rankings don’t come by accident, but hard work. You can pay for clicks or pay to get in the pink area of a word search. But I am not talking about that. I am talking about getting you up there with no, zero money. It can be done.
And just in case you want a little help in finding quick places to improve on go to http://www.pearanalytics.com/ . PearAnalytics is a tool which is easy to use, and provides fast results concerning important SEO factors. Unlike most tools you can find to help you, PearAnalytics provides solutions to improving these factors in seconds at no cost.
If you need help call me and I will charge you to do it. I am only telling you, if you have the time and the patience you can do it all on your own. But it does take perseverance. If I can do it, anyone can.
Today on Google in a keyword sting of “telesales for printers” one of my sites was the 1, 2 and 3 listings. Go on see for yourself.
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://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 these questions and then decide if you need an upgrade of your site.
1. Does your home page clearly say what your company does and the kind of customer you want or serve?
2. Do you use an easy conversational tone in your copy?
3. Do you offer useful content in addition to your product and service information?
4. Is your website optimized for the best possible ranking in the search engines?
5. Are you always updating your websites copy?
6. Do all the pages of your website have an offer that they can’t refuse?
7. Do your action requests talk to the customer at all the different stages to the buying process?
8. Is your phone number on each and every page of your website?
9. If you have them, are your online forms short and asking for only the needed information, not a bunch of junk? (i.e. name, company name, address, phone number, email address?)
10. Do you have a process in place so your website inquiries get followed up on quickly?
If your keeping score give yourself a point for each yes you can answer to. If you are a 6 or below you had better get to work on your site. You’re missing some web action.
Larson Notes & Satire: It seems every day I am doing something to help get my site ranking higher and higher. Post a blog. Do an online key word string search. Ask people to look for my site or got to it and give it a hit. Website rankings don’t come by accident, but hard work. You can pay for clicks or pay to get in the pink area of a word search. But I am not talking about that. I am talking about getting you up there with no, zero money. It can be done.
And just in case you want a little help in finding quick places to improve on go to http://www.pearanalytics.com/ . PearAnalytics is a tool which is easy to use, and provides fast results concerning important SEO factors. Unlike most tools you can find to help you, PearAnalytics provides solutions to improving these factors in seconds at no cost.
If you need help call me and I will charge you to do it. I am only telling you, if you have the time and the patience you can do it all on your own. But it does take perseverance. If I can do it, anyone can.
Today on Google in a keyword sting of “telesales for printers” one of my sites was the 1, 2 and 3 listings. Go on see for yourself.
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://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, October 27, 2010
Hitting On The Rich
As we slowly recover from this wonderful fun recession we all might want to look at selling more to the “rich”.
They are out there. But who are they?
66% are women
20% are minorities
68% are married couples
56% of those households earn over $250,000
21% purchased from a catalog 12 or more times a year
10.5% growth in households of $250,000 in income and above
Top 4 wealthiest areas in the United States
$118,509 – Los Alamos NM
$107,499 – San Jose / Santa Clara CA
$100,141 – Bridgeport / Stamford / Norwalk, Conn
$ 94,599 – Washington DC / Arlington VA
$ 92,020 – Bolder CO
Selling to the affluent is changing as is and has the economy. As a marketer you will find a fierce fight for those dollars. Not only is there more competition for their purchasing but the affluent households are looking for value over status. Of that the very top 2% of all this group of people has actually increased their spending 40% from the 3rd quarter of 2009. And studies show that these wealthy Americans do consistently respond to mail and catalogs.
Do you have a product or service that the wealthy need or want?
Larson Notes & Satire: Selling to the rich. Be it the 5 areas targeted above or areas where you live that have enclaves of wealthy people. You know where they are. If not get the census report and it will help you find them.
So ask yourself do you really have a product to sell to them? If so
1. Target the right price point for your product. These people, at least most of them are not rich because they go out on buying binges. They are smart and they are thrifty.
2. Target consumer attributes that are relevant to the product. Yes that’s right; again it falls on you to target the right product into the right demographic profile. Yes you can profile here. This is marketing not airport surveillance and that is what we do. Lol.
3. Have a good website where those prospects can go to get more information or actually buy your product or service. Is your site easy to navigate? Does the shopping cart work easily? Help them to buy.
4. Have multiple ways for the prospect to contact you off your mailer. As stated above, web site, but also phone number, email address and maybe even a return card or envelope.
Don’t think that people are going to buy from you because you’re such a nice person. You will starve if you sit and wait. Grasp your future! Be the driver of your life
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://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.
They are out there. But who are they?
66% are women
20% are minorities
68% are married couples
56% of those households earn over $250,000
21% purchased from a catalog 12 or more times a year
10.5% growth in households of $250,000 in income and above
Top 4 wealthiest areas in the United States
$118,509 – Los Alamos NM
$107,499 – San Jose / Santa Clara CA
$100,141 – Bridgeport / Stamford / Norwalk, Conn
$ 94,599 – Washington DC / Arlington VA
$ 92,020 – Bolder CO
Selling to the affluent is changing as is and has the economy. As a marketer you will find a fierce fight for those dollars. Not only is there more competition for their purchasing but the affluent households are looking for value over status. Of that the very top 2% of all this group of people has actually increased their spending 40% from the 3rd quarter of 2009. And studies show that these wealthy Americans do consistently respond to mail and catalogs.
Do you have a product or service that the wealthy need or want?
Larson Notes & Satire: Selling to the rich. Be it the 5 areas targeted above or areas where you live that have enclaves of wealthy people. You know where they are. If not get the census report and it will help you find them.
So ask yourself do you really have a product to sell to them? If so
1. Target the right price point for your product. These people, at least most of them are not rich because they go out on buying binges. They are smart and they are thrifty.
2. Target consumer attributes that are relevant to the product. Yes that’s right; again it falls on you to target the right product into the right demographic profile. Yes you can profile here. This is marketing not airport surveillance and that is what we do. Lol.
3. Have a good website where those prospects can go to get more information or actually buy your product or service. Is your site easy to navigate? Does the shopping cart work easily? Help them to buy.
4. Have multiple ways for the prospect to contact you off your mailer. As stated above, web site, but also phone number, email address and maybe even a return card or envelope.
Don’t think that people are going to buy from you because you’re such a nice person. You will starve if you sit and wait. Grasp your future! Be the driver of your life
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://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, October 25, 2010
Blog Writing Secrets
You can be writing your own blog. It is really quite simple, just sit down and write as if you were speaking.
Really it is just that easy. No more procrastination. No more sweaty hands. No more using large, 8 syllable words. Just relax and write. Write as if you were talking to a close friend
Writing the way you talk does not give you permission to write bad. What it does is help keep you focused to be a better more productive focused writer.
Here’s how to use “write the way you talk” to end all the insecurities and avoid sounding like a complete idiot:
1. Imagine your talking with a friend. Write like you are having a good conversation with your best buddy. So when you’re writing, think about how you would explain your chosen topic of the day to a close friend who is sitting next to you.
If you were having a conversation with your friend, what words would you use? What would you talk about first? What questions would they ask you?
2. Record yourself. Not sure what you sound like, try recording yourself. If you talk to on the phone regularly, record the call and listen to it later (Be sure to check the laws in your state first. Some states require you get the other party’s permission before you record).
3. Take a deep breath, relax, take a sip of coffee, and just be yourself. When you write the way you talk, you can’t help but put your personality into the piece. Weave in a couple of good, topical, personal stories and you’re on your way.
4. Use the same words that you normally use. If you write the way you talk, you’ll be more apt to use common, everyday words that you would normally use. Words people understand and don’t need to run to the dictionary to look up. Use the KISS method, Keep It Simple Stupid. That way your writing is simple and clear. If the average person needs to get a dictionary out to know what you’re trying to say, then you need a different word.
5. Toss out the rule book and just start writing. Yes there are rules about grammar, writing styles, active versus passive voice, and punctuation. I don’t know if I have ever met an English teacher that liked me. Just keep focused on getting your points across, and don’t worry about anything else. Once you’ve done that, go back reread and fix what doesn’t sound right.
After you’ve done that, hit save and leave it till morning, come back and look at it again. A freash head cleared out might find some additional changes to make.
6. Find a friend. Want to make sure that what you write actually sounds readable and like you? Get a friend to read it, and let them be critical.
7. Read what you wrote out loud. When you read it aloud you will find all those awkward sentences that you sort of skim over when you just read it to yourself. You will find yourself stumbling over words and sentences that don’t quite fit together
So go ahead, as the Nike slogan says, “Just Do It!”
Larson Notes & Satire: It is really that simple. No English major, no degree in composition. If you are an avid reader of mine, you know I don’t follow any rules real when I blog. I have a basic outline and then, I think it and write it. It is sort of obvious isn’t it? Outside of keeping on my chosen target of blogging about marketing and advertising I just let it flow.
But here I am writing and blogging away and there you are reading. And at the same time my web site is getting a record number of hits and I have been able to hire a new person this month so…
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://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.
Really it is just that easy. No more procrastination. No more sweaty hands. No more using large, 8 syllable words. Just relax and write. Write as if you were talking to a close friend
Writing the way you talk does not give you permission to write bad. What it does is help keep you focused to be a better more productive focused writer.
Here’s how to use “write the way you talk” to end all the insecurities and avoid sounding like a complete idiot:
1. Imagine your talking with a friend. Write like you are having a good conversation with your best buddy. So when you’re writing, think about how you would explain your chosen topic of the day to a close friend who is sitting next to you.
If you were having a conversation with your friend, what words would you use? What would you talk about first? What questions would they ask you?
2. Record yourself. Not sure what you sound like, try recording yourself. If you talk to on the phone regularly, record the call and listen to it later (Be sure to check the laws in your state first. Some states require you get the other party’s permission before you record).
3. Take a deep breath, relax, take a sip of coffee, and just be yourself. When you write the way you talk, you can’t help but put your personality into the piece. Weave in a couple of good, topical, personal stories and you’re on your way.
4. Use the same words that you normally use. If you write the way you talk, you’ll be more apt to use common, everyday words that you would normally use. Words people understand and don’t need to run to the dictionary to look up. Use the KISS method, Keep It Simple Stupid. That way your writing is simple and clear. If the average person needs to get a dictionary out to know what you’re trying to say, then you need a different word.
5. Toss out the rule book and just start writing. Yes there are rules about grammar, writing styles, active versus passive voice, and punctuation. I don’t know if I have ever met an English teacher that liked me. Just keep focused on getting your points across, and don’t worry about anything else. Once you’ve done that, go back reread and fix what doesn’t sound right.
After you’ve done that, hit save and leave it till morning, come back and look at it again. A freash head cleared out might find some additional changes to make.
6. Find a friend. Want to make sure that what you write actually sounds readable and like you? Get a friend to read it, and let them be critical.
7. Read what you wrote out loud. When you read it aloud you will find all those awkward sentences that you sort of skim over when you just read it to yourself. You will find yourself stumbling over words and sentences that don’t quite fit together
So go ahead, as the Nike slogan says, “Just Do It!”
Larson Notes & Satire: It is really that simple. No English major, no degree in composition. If you are an avid reader of mine, you know I don’t follow any rules real when I blog. I have a basic outline and then, I think it and write it. It is sort of obvious isn’t it? Outside of keeping on my chosen target of blogging about marketing and advertising I just let it flow.
But here I am writing and blogging away and there you are reading. And at the same time my web site is getting a record number of hits and I have been able to hire a new person this month so…
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://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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
