Five Basics of Successful Marketing 3

Different marketing techniques work for different businesses but a number of basic principles hold true for all businesses. Over the next week we’ll share 5 key principles that you MUST understand to market your business successfully.

3. It’s a lot about persistence

Did you know people need up to seven opportunities to view your message before taking action? You won?t get much of a response the first time you carry out most marketing activities. Sorry, to be the bearer of bad news but it’s important to be realistic and not give up on your marketing efforts at the first sign of adversity.

If the people you are contacting have not come across your business before you are likely to need to contact them several times before getting results. Later on in the course we’ll cover the AIDA model which stands for ‘Awareness’, ‘Interest’, ‘Desire’ and ‘Action’. As consumers we don’t just buy everything we see, there are a number of psychological barriers which must be overcome before a purchase takes place. From a seller’s point of view it’s our job to help the buyer overcome these psychological barriers and this can be done via marketing.

Tip! Allow time and money for repeat marketing activities to make the most of your initial investment.

To find out more about successfully marketing your business have a look at Marketing: The Essential Guide.

Five Basics of Successful Marketing 2

Different marketing techniques work for different businesses but a number of basic principles hold true for all businesses. Over the next week we’ll share 5 key principles that you MUST understand to market your business successfully.

2. Warm or cold

People who haven’t heard about your business yet are cold contacts?, those who have signed up for your newsletter, sent an enquiry, or even purchased from you are warm? It is much easier to get warm contacts to buy again than it is to get cold contacts to buy at all, so make sure you nurture your current contacts and customers.

A newsletter is essential for staying in touch. Don’t feel it has to be long and complex: a short e-blast with a special offer on a regular basis is more effective than a detailed newsletter once in a blue moon.

Want to find out more about successful marketing, why not have a look at A Guide To Promoting Your Business.

Advanced Blogging Library closes today

This is the last chance to get Erica’s advanced blogging library, the best value blogging product ACEInspire has had to offer. But you need to be quick as it closes at 10am today!

So what are you getting in this great package:

• A Guide to Successful Blogging eBook – a 62 page eBook taking you the whole process of starting and creating a blog.
• Writing for Successful Blogs – take your writing to the next level with this handy eBook.
• A 30 min Video Tutorial on Analysing Stats  - this video is invaluable, without this information you’re pretty much throwing darts blind.  The information leaves nothing to guesswork when it comes to understanding how your blog is performing. What’s covered;

• Explanation of all the stats terms
• How to increase your visitors
• How to lower your bounce rate
• The three different types of traffic
• How to target keywords
• How to create content that your visitors love

AND

• A 25 min Video Tutorial on Email Marketing – take your blog to the next level by building a list of your most committed followers.  Building an email list gives you a chance to take the relationship a step further or offer information in one niche area via an email list

What’s covered;

• How to build an email list using AWeber
• How to create email campaigns
• How to analyse the performance of your email list
• How to increase engagement and make more sales (if you’re selling!)

 AND

• A SEO Tips Video. SEO for most people is boring and takes too much effort.  Scrap all that, all you need to do is a little more than the competition.  This video gives you 9 ways to start getting ahead of the competition and all of it can be included in your usually posting routine.  Any blogger can begin implementing these tips right away – no tech knowledge required! Watch the 18 minute video to see how to do all nine now.

 AND

• A How to Monetise Your Blog Video Our blogs generate a four figure income every month and we don’t actively pursue advertising.   Everything I know about monetising blogs is in this video.  Everything.  You can make your entire fee for this library back by selling one tiny ad or making one affiliate sale (explained in the video!).  We know our strategies work as not only have we been using them for the past three or four years but we have clients that have paid for my more expensive courses from their blog revenue after following my advice.  We could include everything I cover but I think you know me well enough to trust that this video will be good.

This is the best content Erica has ever produced and priced at £29 but is only available till 9pm tomorrow, Tuesday 21/02/12. Get your access to the video library here.  Watch it, read it, enjoy it but above all take action and you’ll see real results.

Five Basics of Successful Marketing

Different marketing techniques work for different businesses but a number of basic principles hold true for all businesses. Over the next week we’ll share 5 key principles that you MUST understand to market your business successfully.

1. Numbers count

Do you know how many new people you will have to show your business offer to before one of them bites? You may need as many as 1000 cold contacts before you get your first sale. You can learn two things from this. Firstly, do everything you can to spread the word about your business. Use online and offline techniques and don?t rule out any marketing tool until you have tried it. Secondly, find some way of collating your contacts, either in your own database or on something like Constant Contact, Profollow or Aweber.

Collating your contacts into a database or preferably an email list will help you carry out tried, tested and successful marketing strategies

To find out more about marketing your business look at our free eCourse Business Promotion Basics

How a Marketing Mix can Boost Your Bottom Line Part 1

If you want to market your business, you need to understand the 4-P’s; Product, Price, Promotion, Place. Check in every day this week to find out more about how to use these to

Understanding your product at a deep level and from your customers point of view will help you make good decisions about your product or service. After today’s lesson you may find that one of your p’s is incongruent with the message you are trying to communicate and you may see the need to adjust your offering slightly, this is absolutely necessary if you are to achieve increased success.

By the end of this week’s posts you should also more fully understand the message your product or service sends and tailor your marketing communications to match this, avoiding consumer confusion. Consumer confusion is bad for your bottom line as it can stall the decision making process, and in the worst case dissuade the buyer from making a purchase completely.

1. Product

The ‘product’ covers the products and services you currently offer and any new developments or new additions you may consider.

The ‘product’ also encompasses branding, packaging and any guarantees you offer.

Example: You’re offering a ‘luxury’ product which you sell for £1000. You wrap the product in cheap brown paper and put into a flimsy plain plastic carrier bag. The product comes with a one month guarantee.

This is a rather obvious example of an incongruent marketing mix. The packaging and guarantee are at odds with the pricing and therefore the customers expectations. This scenario is likely to lead to low satisfaction as all though technically there is nothing ‘wrong’ with the packaging and guarantee it sends mixed messages to the consumer creating confused expectations that will ultimately lead to disappointment.

Think for a moment about your own product or service, does the packaging and branding fit in with the product you’re offering?

PR Tips: Ideas for Press Releases

January is a great time for planning your PR throughout the year. If you need some inspiration to come up with an angle for your press releases, we’ve compiled some of the things which you might want to include throughout the year:

• Seasons - You can also tie in a press release with a holiday or special occasion. Could your business do something related to Valentines Day, Fathers Day or school holidays?
• Charity work - Do not hide your light under a bushel if your business is making a donation to charity. A press release is a great way to let people know about community service, whether you offer training or apprenticeships to students or sponsor a local sports team.
• New products - New services or products: focus on the benefits to your customers and the publication’s readers.
• Achievements - Issue a press release when you or your employees are recognised for outstanding achievements or gain qualifications. Focus the release on how the award or qualification will help customers or clients.
• Business launch - Launch of your business, or business expansion — of interest to local papers and trade and business publications. You could also mention the launch of a new or updated website.