An online business is becoming more popular than ever these days. This business gives people the opportunity to make money by referring others to it and it gives people a way to save money; plus it helps people get prepaid flat rates that are more affordable for them.
Before you can decide if this is a good business idea for you or not there are many things that you will need to do. Below are the most important things that must be done by you before you can determine if this is the business you want to start.
One: Research thoroughly – If you really want to determine if this is the type of business you want to start then you have to take time to research thoroughly. Research will help you learn a lot of important information about this type of online business that will prove invaluable to helping you make an informed decision.
Two: Find the right opportunity – You need to find opportunities that allow you to easily get started with this type of business. Be sure to look at more than one opportunity to help you find the right one for you.
Not every opportunity will be the exact same and checking them out individually will let you see the differences. This will help you find the one that you believe in the most which is very important to really achieving success with any business.
Three: Educate yourself – You have to educate yourself about this type of business and learn what it will take to succeed with it. Some of the things that it will take include:
- The right opportunity
- Marketing
- Time and effort
Four: Take your time – Many people get online and start a business believing that within a very short amount of time they will have a successful business. You have to understand that with this type of business or any business online it will take time to build it and to make up your mind about which business to start.
Time is needed for you to be sure that you are starting the right business so you don’t end up hopping from one opportunity to another and time is needed to build that business. Remember this and you will have a much better chance of achieving the success that you have always dreamed of.
Now that you know the important things to do to determine if this is a good business for you or not; all that remains is to get started. The sooner you get started the sooner you can make your final decision and be on your way to making good money online with your own unlimited wireless business.
If you enjoyed this article by make money online expert Jeff Schuman please check out our Peoplez Wireless website today. You will find people helping people with an unlimited wireless business opportunity you can get in on the ground floor with. http://www.danpartin.org/
Increase your profit potential by identifying – and avoiding – these 11 marketing mistakes.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 1: Sinking a Fortune Into an Unproven Product
Is your business idea built on market research or a hunch?
Entrepreneurs often fall in love with their products or services before they determine if there’s a real market, and they throw fistfuls of money into the venture. If you, your spouse, your uncle, and your neighbor think you’ve got a winning idea, that’s simply not enough qualified input to run to the bank and drain your savings account!
Avoid this mistake by:
Conducting your detective work (research).
Testing your business idea with the real marketplace.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 2: Believing That “If You Build It, They Will Come”
Do you think you have a product or service that will practically sell itself?
Trust me – you don’t.
There is a misconception among small business owners that, with the right product or service, your customers will simply “find” you when you open your doors for business. Whether you have a physical storefront on a corner lot in the busiest part of downtown, or a graphically pleasing online storefront offering easy access to your hot products and services, your customers will not find you if you do not market to them.
The day you open for business is the day you put on your “marketer’s hat” and never take it off. You must consistently move product, or schedule service time.
To stay in business you must profit.
To profit you must sell.
To sell you must market.
The good news is that, with a marketing strategy, you take the control out of your potential customers’ hands and put it into your own. If you have a product that will “practically sell itself,” then your marketing job will be easy. Just remember that the job must still be done.
Avoid this mistake by:
Defining your niche market and USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that differentiates you from your competition.
Developing a marketing action plan and strategy to reach your niche market with your USP message.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 3: Trying to Reinvent the Wheel
Marketing is an age-old practice with some very basic principles. Yet, I’m sure you’ve read many marketing information products that stress the importance of being innovative and creative with your marketing efforts. It’s easy to get caught up in the innovation process and forget that the REAL focus should be on results.
Avoid this mistake by:
Emulating success instead of trying to create something completely new. Please note that I am not saying, “copy” what others are doing. Look at the basic structure of a tactic, campaign, advertisement, or event and use the same formula as a basis for developing your own tactics.
Realizing great marketing ideas are used over and over again with just the right twist to make them fit a specific business. Focus on results, and choose imitation over innovation to create your own twist on a proven, winning technique.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 4: Over-Preparing and Doing Nothing
The fear of failure can be powerful. So powerful that we do everything we can think of to prevent it. Yet, there is a point at which we are so busy preparing, organizing, and researching to prevent failure that we never get around to the actual marketing of the business. Here are two things to remember:
Activity is not productivity.
In order to sell a million of something, you have to sell the first ONE.
Avoid this mistake by:
Doing something! If you believe in your business and have done your detective work, it’s time to dive into the marketing pool. Start small, track results and build from there.
Not being afraid to make a mistake. Mistakes are the entry to success. At the very least, a failed promotion means you have SUCCESSFULLY determined what promotion does not work. And, to learn what does NOT work is a valuable tool in getting you closer to discovering what WILL work.
So, go ahead. Fail a little. It will make your eventual successes even sweeter.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 5: Boredom
When I was working for an ad agency many years ago, I had one client that was running an extremely successful ad campaign. After about six months, I received a phone call from the client. He wanted to develop an entirely new campaign. When I asked, “why?” he simply said, “I’m bored with the one we have.”
What?
That client may have had the money to spend on a new campaign due to “boredom” but you and I usually don’t. Yet, I’ve often seen my small business clients switch promotions for the same reason. This is detrimental to your business!
“Losing money” is a reason.
“Boredom” is not.
Avoid this mistake by:
Remembering that, what is old to you, is new to an untapped target market. If you have a promotion that is consistently getting you results, stick with it until results show you its time for change.
Testing new promotions without abandoning the current one. Then track results. Never swap a current promotion with a new one that hasn’t been tested.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 6: Relying on Networking to Generate Sales Leads
Joining the Chamber of Commerce and schmoozing at association meetings can put you in contact with vendors and possible joint venture partners, and will be invaluable exposure for you as a community supporter – but it will rarely generate substantial sales leads.
Everyone else who attends these “meet and greet” assemblies is there to do the same thing you are. You may be able to make some valuable contacts for future ventures and promotions, but one-on-one networking is time-consuming and results are unpredictable.
Avoid this mistake by:
Treating networking opportunities the same as any other marketing tactic. Track results by determining your costs and measuring your payback.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 7: Doing What Your Competitors Do
It’s important to be aware of what your competitors are offering, but do not let it dictate the strategy you use for your own business.
If your competitor wants to be the low price leader, let him. Don’t try to become the “lower price” leader. Chances are this will lead you to financial problems because it will thrust you into an ugly price war.
If your competitor wants to tout low prices, then you focus on value. Bargain hunters don’t necessarily want the lowest price. They want the best VALUE. Make what you have to offer something of value.
Avoid this mistake by:
Finding an unmet need or want of your target market, and fill it to differentiate your products and services from your competitors.
Giving customers a reason to choose you over your competitors. Define your USP, and identify your niche market.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 8: Not Targeting a Specific Market
If you believe your market is “everybody,” you will struggle to attract people who will buy from you. The value of target (niche) marketing is one of the toughest sells I make to my clients. They understand the logic of it, but the “fear of losing a potential customer” gets the best of them.
Avoid this mistake by:
Viewing the practice of niche marketing as inclusive, not exclusive.
Think of your business as part of a person’s support group. It’s logical to say, “Everybody needs a support group so my business should attract everyone.” But, will it? People – your customers – want to go to a support business that understands their specific concerns, needs, and wants. Make sure you ARE that business by targeting a niche market.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 9: Targeting a Market You Can’t Reach or One That Can’t Afford You
Targeting a niche market is the smartest way to market. Yet, targeting a market that is too specific will limit your ability to succeed long term. For example, a market that might be too specific would be: female pilots under the age of 35 who fly ONLY New York to London flights. That’s a pretty narrow market to sustain your business in the long term unless you can capture the ENTIRE market with a product or service that has a high profit point and customers need to use or replace it often.
In that same vein, a market that is begging for the service or product you have but cannot afford it will also be a business impossible to sustain. Never compete for someone’s rent money. Your target market must have the means to buy your products and services.
Avoid this mistake by:
Creating your customer profile to identify characteristics of your potential buyers,
Identifying a niche market,
Examining the long term potential for new and repeat sales.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 10: Focusing On Acquiring New Customers Instead of Promoting to Current or Previous Customers
When you first start a business you have little choice but to focus on gaining new customers. The cost of finding those new customers can be expensive, which is one reason it is so important to really target a specific niche. However, once you’ve made just one sale, you’re ready to start looking at other marketing options.
Wouldn’t you like to:
… slash your marketing costs by half or more?
… reach proven buyers for your service or products?
That little goldmine of proven buyers available to you “on the cheap” is already yours in the form of current and previous customers.
Any respected marketing guru, past or present, online or offline, will tell you that the biggest asset your company has is your customer base.
Avoid this mistake by:
Realizing that, when a sale is finalized, it is the beginning of your relationship with that customer, not the end.
Offering additional products or services to current customers. If you don’t have your own to offer them, then develop a referral, joint venture or product bundling program so you can reap profits from your already-interested (and buying) customers.
MONSTROUS Marketing Mistake Number 11: Not Systematically Following Up on Leads
The least expensive part of business is making the sale. The most expensive is generating leads – finding the people who are interested in what you have.
Once you find people who express an interest in what you have to offer – whether they buy from you or not – you MUST develop a follow up system that will keep marketing to those interested prospects. A person who has expressed interest in your products and services is far more likely to eventually buy from you than someone who did not respond at all!
Avoid this mistake by:
Curbing the tendency to become obsessed with generating more leads until you have exhausted the ones you already have.
Developing an easy, systematic follow up for leads, designed to convert a “maybe” into a “yes.”
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Internet marketing is the same as traditional marketing, others are not. Here are seven things you need to know your online marketing is successful. When you write Xu copy, you should take the time to understand what works and what does not. There are two mistakes almost every amateur search engine copywriting.
Successful non-profit organizations use the Internet to market charitable program.
To help companies improve their digital marketing results, I also had in-depth, widely praised and won the AOP Award for best practice, publisher e-consultancy Guide.
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Internet marketing is still essential to any business’s overall marketing strategy. Mentioned before with all the benefits of internet marketing, people still buy magazines, billboards went out to check to see their mail, watch TV, and shopping. No matter how fast-paced and wide internet of communication, people go out together, talking about going to the gym. Thus, while Internet marketing is absolutely valid and important, demising certain value of the cost of traditional marketing any business, many potential customers. Another thing, when we say that internet marketing, it is not only figures we choose to click on ads. The list also includes security, advertising, advertising social networks, groups, discussion boards and many others. Accordingly, the online marketing activities can effect the number of people exposed. However, one disadvantage is that people started to become one of the, and would even read the advertising information advertising or know (even people in the security list), and delete without opening them. When someone on the Internet, they would like to read / write e-mail, chat with friends, read and post / reply comments, play fun games. As a internet marketing goal is to build a top priority for Internet users. Also, try and spam and unsolicited e-mail and advertising, more and more people away from Internet advertising in general, unless they are some specific content. A variety of Internet marketing strategy is free and paid online marketing can make more money. 12-month Internet Millionaire Review – Russell Brunson is a 12-month millionaire fraud?. As the market one of the most controversial books, and now the Internet millionaire’s 12 months still constitute a major buzz everywhere. A great professional internet marketing make money online. Internet marketing can be a lucrative industry, if some big Internet-related skills and knowledge development to do so successfully. Must also identify and develop the necessary strategies to make money online. Pay per click advertising, online advertising and link exchange programs, is marketing, can be used to make the Internet industry to make money online there are some important programs.
Internet marketing are not the result of a well-defined, integrated internet strategy; rather, they are a response to competitors activities or customers demand. Through the site has existed for more than a year, marketing staff and senior management will naturally question its effectiveness. This is usually the point in a coherent Internet marketing strategy needs to become apparent. As a result, starting in the sum of electronic marketing strategy, is when a company’s existing website, which is to review the existing site and its purpose is to improve the effectiveness of the future. There is no evidence that the development and implementation of a strategy to be significantly different approach to electronic marketing. Strategic planning for enterprise development or strategic marketing to comply with the established framework should still be. The framework provides a logical order to follow up to ensure that the strategic focus of all development activities included. It can be said, however, with the e-market strategy for a highly sensitive process of rapid response mode, the events in the market need. Soviet-style five-year planning application does not seem to fit, the best approach is a new process of electronic marketing strategy is a continuous improvement. Check fee (2002) pointed out that e-commerce or e-marketing strategy process models tend to agree with the following features:
There are many ways to market your product using a large number of online with Google AdWords or Yahoo’s Overture advertising network, eBay, members network, cost per click marketing. In addition, there are many second tier cost of sales and earnings per share network. You need to have a good network marketing strategy, using the Internet to provide online marketing tool. With Internet marketing company, will help you to get your website in search engine advertising and optimization services provided by many of the results, but eventually you need to determine what kind of network marketing will give you the best of a product line. It used to be you bought CPM (cost per thousand) in large-scale campaign Web site and hope that the good performance of these ads and get traffic to your website. Now, there are many choices, there is usually a for each event better than the other run. It appears that the use of network marketing the best way to get return on investment cost per click online marketing tool, the strategic point. Google AdWords and Yahoos Overture CPC programs have dominated the world of network marketing in the past two years, they only get bigger and stronger. Network marketing companies have sprung up to help beginners learn how to use AdWords and Overture to the best of their ability to rope. If you want to build a brand, then the cost per click will not be online marketing solutions. Instead of the online brand, you will go to a CPM campaign, is a straight line costs. The targeted ads, and now there’s online advertising spending is due to leave the television and radio have been gradually transferred to the Internet. Why do you want, if you are advertising with the radio or TV, you can actually track the individual results of the work online. We believe that many ad networks and affiliate program will gradually fade out in the next several years, while Google and Yahoo Zhudao even with their own, targeted search results and more per click advertising network. Internet changes quickly, any company want to optimize their online marketing presence needs to adapt and adjust to the latest technology.
Network marketing is the three capacities: transport infrastructure, marketing, application development, marketing methods and permissions. Practical ability of the network in sports marketing when three similar shift manual gearbox, driving a car, both in mechanics.
Internet marketing is the same where you live, because it is a global market.
They do not have banner ads, because they are cheaper than print. In Facebook, because their children that they should be. If you start what you want for your site’s business focus and you concentrate all energy on helping to improve the preliminary results of this goal, Name of the Dong Xi you Keyi try, to see if they are how they work. Or you can look at things, said: “I do not see how it can help me achieve my goal. Now, if you ignore something, it is possible that they will actually become extremely important, and you ‘local employees realize that you made a mistake. but only the larger error is ignored, since you are overriding, or try to do everything hafway and accomplish nothing.
Network Marketing is not just large budget or the entire company’s IT department. We have developed in Newfoundland and Labrador website, then who can appear in more effective competitors excluded from the market itself. We can do the same for you, to establish an online presence to support your other. This allows you all the seamless integration of marketing activities, you become a better profit growth in your site shooting. With complete Internet marketing strategy and a strong web site design, your company has the potential to become a global player., Kok River, some in Newfoundland and Labrador, or any other parts of the world community, asking them to do, they can help your web site design, as a money-making machines effective. We believe that your answer in Lorne Park and associated companies will seek to get you.
Internet marketing is clear, the next question is usually, “Yes, but where I start?.” For new and existing customers a direct entry point. In the days passed, and when people want to find a business, they turned to the yellow pages. Today, your customers will find you on the Internet, if you are not there, they will turn to the next thing, they did find: 1,
Network Marketing is your competitor doing? How do your competitors in the domestic major search engine rankings? What kind of traffic from their own site? Use the right tools, this valuable information can be found in your competitors.: What is it your product or service for the customer to resolve or do not provide any good? In what ways you can best illustrate this advantage? Clear and consistent information on the positioning of your products in the market based on a solid understanding is very important to all offline and online marketing efforts.: How much money can you get customers and still make a profit? What is each customer, you get the value of life expectancy? This is the answer you need to determine the effectiveness of any network marketing program running on key issues.
Internet marketing is falling over themselves trying to shift dollars from offline to online marketing. I believe the idea is that network marketing will give them better to reduce the U.S. dollar in a tight economic returns. While it is certainly a solid strategy for mobile Internet, it pays to put it a little thought, the first: Verify your infrastructure. Offline dollars in your move to online, to ensure that you can actually use all of the online customer service. Do you have in place of? You can quickly adjust the landing page and website copy? No sense, if you put in to send visitors to a site, sucking money from online advertising. If you are from offline to online money like two weeks to generate a 5:1 return, reducing the Prozac and think twice to come back. The biggest mistake I see their budget, the company’s transformation, is that they think this is a line ‘run and do’ things. Marketers and their bosses think they can create a landing page or start a PPC campaign, and then forget about it for a month. And this cycle works in print or television, it will not work online. Line is highly, highly repetitive, and requires constant attention. So you save a lot of advertising money into the labor force.
Characteristics of network marketing is definitely a good start in the Internet market, but if you do not know how to drive traffic to your site, these things will be wasted.
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Internet marketing is just too numerous to mention in this article. If you access the Internet value-added services, web savvy, you will see how much of this marketing can increase your business type.
Network marketing is online marketing, network marketing, network marketing. Internet marketing is very important, but the madness of growth with social media, I strongly recommend listening skills is to know how to do twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Many marketing media, relying on the three to take home the bacon only. The building is a long list of network marketing, a necessary component of success. List building simply means that a user list, you can communicate regularly via e-mail. In order to start building a list, you first need to establish what is called a capture page. Pages, your visitors will be asked to provide some free gifts, to share their names and e-mail. It can be a free report, e-books, video or presentation software. Many merchants also offer free electronic can receive daily early bird tips and notifications.
In today’s competitive (and noise) market, we must combine all the right online marketing tools, to create a truly effective and comprehensive marketing program. All, of course, is up and around the central site, but to create opportunities, improve customer response, increased brand awareness, the site of the network through a comprehensive marketing strategy, including search engine optimization, PPC, social media tools to support marketing, and so on.
Linked network marketing ideas and technology and business strategy design, development, Internet advertising and marketing. Search engine marketing, email marketing, display advertising, affiliate marketing, display advertising, blog marketing, display advertising, viral marketing. Internet marketing is the media running along the different stages of customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing, search engine optimization in a specific site, e-mail marketing and Web 2, banner ads. Network marketing has become more and more organizations use to promote the network media key and very effective. ‘The establishment of a website’ or ‘promotion site’ is the foundation, but not the basis of network marketing.
Somewhere behind that website is a real goal, the real organization. Internet marketing strategy includes all of the online advertising products and services, including market research, email marketing, websites, and direct sales.
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Wouldn’t it be great to have a year where your marketing efforts were streamlined and got the results you were after? None of us want to struggle with marketing, and yet this is the one topic that continues to be highest in the minds of small business professionals.
Let’s really consider some of the reasons that can sabotage our marketing efforts, and how we can turn that around.
Lack of a marketing mindset
We don’t see ourselves as in the marketing game. The truth is, if you are out there running a business, thinking like a marketer has to become your priority. It’s no use having a great service if nobody knows about it, or you.
Lack of knowledge is your enemy. Start by reading whatever you can. Speak to successful people in your field and ask them what strategies they use. The information you need is out there for you to take.
Lack of investment
For many small business owners, the focus on cost control prohibits them from ever investing enough money into marketing and promotion. These activities are seen as costs rather than as an investment. So this year I encourage you to reframe your attitude towards marketing. Once you know what marketing activity to do, and have confidence that it will bring results, spend the money enthusiastically.
Lack of focus
Perhaps you do spend time and money on marketing, but you aren’t happy with the results. Or your efforts are ad-hoc rather than carefully planned. Whatever it is, 2005 is the year to take charge. If what you are doing isn’t working – stop doing it! Ask a professional for help (not your friends or associates!). Or put yourself in your customers shoes and work out what’s going to attract them to your business. If an ad-hoc approach is the problem, take the time to complete the marketing plan in the ‘How to…’ section and become ruthlessly systematic this year.
Lack of over-riding marketing strategy
Marketing activity and tactics are all well and good but it is like driving a rudderless ship if there is no grander plan. Part of creating a marketing strategy is to clearly understand exactly where you are right now, and where you want to be. Your goal may be to have sales of $1,$5 or $50 million. Or you may want to revolutionise your industry. Or you may want your company to be acquired within 5 years. What matters most is that you have a clear, precise vision of where you are, where you want to be in 1year, and where you want to be in 5 years.
Not surrounding ourselves with the right people
All of the great books on success advocate spending time with people who are already successful at what you want to do. Why? By surrounding yourself with people several steps ahead of you, you can absorb the attitudes and values that made them successful, as well as picking up new strategies and ideas. So If you are hanging out with people who also lack a marketing mindset then it’s time to think about expanding your professional network to include those who are already down the track to success.
Marketing is more of an art than a science. Often times you learn by systematically trying different activities and approaches. The experts don’t always have all the answers . . . and this is exactly why you need to give plenty of personal attention to make sure your marketing is working as hard as it possibly can. If you want to get serious about success in business, then understanding marketing is an ongoing priority.
Here’s a quick list of 10 ideas to get you into the marketing groove:
1. Commit to reading one new marketing book per month
2. Start learning about how to market online
3. Make a list of people whose businesses inspire you, and carefully study their marketing techniques. How many of these are you using?
4. Make a list of successful people in your industry and check out their marketing strategy. Why not offer to take one of them out for coffee to learn more about how they got where they are (what’s the worst that could happen?)
5. Revise your marketing budget. Look at your previous investment in marketing, and ask yourself if this is the amount a truly successful business would be spending
6. Review all of last year’s marketing activities. Work out which ones brought new business in the door, or were successful in some other way (building credibility for example). If you can’t quantify how successful the outcome was, stop spending the money!
7. Implement an ongoing ‘keep in touch’ program with existing customers
8. Ask 10 or more of your most loyal customers for a referral
9. Stop doing those marketing activities that you know don’t work, but you do them anyway
10. Market research – ask 20 of your customers what value you provide to them. Use what they say in your own marketing materials
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In developing their business plans, companies of all sizes face the challenge of determining the size of their markets. To begin, companies must present the size of their “relevant market” in their plans. The relevant market equals the company’s sales if it were to capture 100% of its specific niche of the market. Conversely, stating that you were competing in the $1 trillion U.S. healthcare market, for example, is a telltale sign of a poorly reasoned business plan, as there is no company that could reap $1 trillion in healthcare sales. Defining and communicating a credible relevant market size is far more powerful than presenting generic industry figures.
The challenge that many firms face is their inability to size their relevant markets, particularly if they are competing in new or rapidly evolving markets. On one hand, the fact that the markets are new or evolving is the reason why there may be a large opportunity to establish them and become the market leader. Conversely, investors, shareholders and senior management are often skeptical to invest resources because, since the markets do not yet exist, the markets may be too small, or not really exist at all.
In developing over 200 business plans for emerging ventures, venture capital firms, SMEs and Fortune 500 spinouts, I have encountered the challenge of sizing emerging markets numerous times and has developed a proprietary methodology to solve the problem.
To begin, it is critical to understand why traditional market sizing methodologies are ill-equipped to size emerging markets. To illustrate, if a research firm were to use traditional methods to size a mature market such as the coffee market in the United States, it would consider demographic trends (e.g., aging baby boomers), psychographic trends (e.g., increased health consciousness), past sales trends and consumption rates, price movements, competitor brand shares and new product development, and channels/retailers among others. However, conducting such an analysis for emerging markets presents a challenge as several of these factors (e.g., past sales, demographics of the customer when there are no current customers) don’t exist because the markets are presently untapped.
The methodology required to size these new markets requires two approaches. Each approach will yield a different approximation of the potential market size, and often the figures will work together to provide a solid foundation for the market’s potential. I call this first approach “peeling back the onion.” In this approach, I start with the generic market (e.g., the coffee market) that that company is trying to penetrate, and remove pieces of that market that it will not target.
For instance, if the company created an ultra high-speed coffee maker that retailed for $600, it would initially reduce the market size by factors such as retail channels (e.g., mass marketers would not carry the product), demographic factors (lower income customers would not purchase the product), etc. By peeling back the generic market, you eventually will be left with only the relevant portion of it.
The second methodology requires assessing the market from several angles to approximate the potential market share, answering questions including:
o Competitors: who is competing for the customer that you will be serving; what is in their product pipeline; once you release a product/service, how long will it take them to enter the market, who else may enter the market, etc.
o Customers: what are the demographics and psychographics of the customers you will be targeting; what products are they currently using to fulfill a similar need (substitute products); how are they currently purchasing these products; what is their degree of loyalty to current providers, etc.
o Market factors: what other factors exist that will influence the market size – government regulations; market consolidation in related markets, price changes for raw materials, etc.
o Case Studies: what other markets have experience similar transformations and what were the customer adoption rates in those markets, etc.
While these methodologies are often more painstaking than traditional market research techniques, they can be the difference in determining whether your company has the next iPod or the next Edsel.
Perry Belcher is known for it’s great product marketing, visit Perry Belcher site to know more about Perry Belcher
With the continued proliferation of the Internet, the meaning of the word “marketing” also seems to proliferate. Cyberspace has opened up a whole arena of new marketing technologies, techniques, and twists. Amidst the online exuberance, it seems each online marketer or salesperson changes the definition of marketing to suit his or her preference.
Many times, ill-conceived notions and perceptions reduce the meaning of the word “marketing” to a shadow of it’s true self. Many see marketing as a series of tactics or gimmicks. Some define marketing as pyramid programs and the like. Others treat the words “marketing” and “sales” or “marketing” and “advertising as synonymous. None of these adequately convey the definition of marketing.
Different Marketing Definitions
Along with all of the new terminology, new techniques, and new twists the Internet has brought us, it has also opened opportunities for misguided notions about the definition of marketing. While the above definitions describe different facets or definitions of related terms, they do not convey the much broader process that is truly marketing. By taking a look at some dictionary and trade definitions of marketing we can get a better feel for what marketing is truly about:
American Marketing Association Definition
The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. (Note 1)
American Heritage Dictionary’s Definition of Marketing
The commercial functions involved in transferring goods from producer to consumer. (Note 2)
Merriam Webster’s Marketing Definition
1 b: the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.
2: an aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer. (Note 3)
Marketing Definition From MSN Encarta Dictionary
The business activity of presenting products or services to potential customers in such a way as to make them eager to buy. Marketing includes such matters as the pricing and packaging of the product and the creation of demand by advertising and sales campaigns. (Note 4)
Note the phrasing: “The process,” “functions involved,” “process or technique,” “an aggregate,” “the business activity.” These all get to the heart of the definition of marketing.
As a process, there are certain foundations of marketing that will never become obsolete. We still have products, services, and ideas to sell at some price. We deliver to our customers via some means of distribution. We promote and we advertise. Those are the basics. Those basics still exist and always will.
If The Marketing Definition Hasn’t Changed, Then What Has?
What has changed is the business environment. Companies compete with more efficient technologies. Customers have better access to their cost options and they communicate to each other in ways not conceivable in the pre-Internet age.
In some industries, the Internet has lowered the cost of entry so that entrepreneurs — many times from a home office — have entered the competition. The changes in competitive environment are numerous. What have also changed are marketing strategies and the marketing programs we have available to implement those strategies.
These have changed, but the basic marketing definition has not. Superior marketing is and always has been analysis, then action. It is strategy development, then logical and thought-out tactical implementation. It is the way to customer satisfaction and increasing profit.
The steps to successful marketing and implementation include:
1) Analyzing your customers and the business environment in order to
2) identify key opportunities to better and more profitably meet customer needs,
3) figuring out how to act on those opportunities, and then
4) implementing your plan.
The process doesn’t have to be cumbersome. Five-year plans and novel-length documents are not required. The logic of the action is what is important.
By applying the basic marketing process, rather than a tactic here and a technique there, your chances of success skyrocket.
Perry Belcher is known for it’s great product marketing, visit Perry Belcher site to know more about Perry Belcher
What we now call “marketing” began long before the name was coined. In the mid-1800s, traveling salesmen dressed “snake oil” and other tonics in fancy packaging and extolled their virtues to a gullible public. New marketing applications soon proliferated in the belief that marketing could make many new things possible in virtually any business situation. For more than a century, implementation, experience and ultimately strategy have helped marketing evolve from crude beginnings into today’s sophisticated practices.
Consumer product firms have been the pioneers in the marketing field and have taken the undisputed lead as the creators of marketing’s best practices. While sophisticated marketing techniques have spawned consumer giants, most financial services firms had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the era of sophisticated marketing.
The Advancing State of Financial Services Marketing
Financial services marketing has, however, evolved rapidly over the last decade. As a result, the very nature of the marketing function in financial services firms is undergoing a dramatic modification as more attention is paid to marketing-driven processes that impact the entire firm. Our observations suggest that the more progressive financial services organizations are currently going through an intellectual and practical transition that is forcing the reexamination of the role of marketing within their firms. Many have begun to realize that financial marketing responsibilities include not only developing the firm’s mission statement and key messages, but also defining its business focus, relevant differentiation, competitive advantages and value proposition.
At the same time, however, a number of financial services marketing directors must engage in long-term turf battles with other departments before they can implement worthy financial marketing initiatives that will help accelerate the achievement of corporate goals. In many financial organizations, the persistent problem of differentiating financial marketing from sales still remains largely unresolved. In addition, some financial services marketing directors must still enlist substantial management support just to maintain equilibrium and obtain the opportunity to accomplish even limited objectives.
Focusing on the Customer
Peter Drucker, a sage of the financial marketing discipline, discussed customer defined value almost 50 years ago. During the last decade his concept of a customer-centric focus has become part of popular marketing literature and is now the guiding principle of financial marketing. Drucker’s fundamental mandate that ‘the customer’s interests must come first’ can be summarized by the following statements paraphrased from his extensive writings:
The only valid definition of business purpose is to create a customer.
What the business thinks it is producing is not as important as what customers think they are buying; what customers consider to be value is decisive.
Every business has only two basic functions: marketing and innovation.
Marketing is your whole business as seen from the customer’s point of view.
While easy to articulate, customer-centric practices are difficult to implement in most financial services organizations. Obstacles include a prevailing product-push mentality, a focus on short-term profitability, under-investment in financial marketing activities, and the lack of solid market intelligence about the needs and wants of target markets.
We believe, however, that in the future the most successful financial services marketing organizations will be those that make Drucker’s principles their own through extrapolation, adaptation and creative application. As effective financial marketing evolves to a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary activity, successful firms will create a culture of customer orientation throughout the organization and incorporate advocacy for customer welfare in all corporate decision-making.
With the financial services industry currently going through a transformation, management’s challenge is to provide the leadership to displace the status quo and create a culture of opportunity. Early adaptors who apply the concept of “integrated marketing” on an organization-wide basis will not only develop a customer-orientated culture, but also create opportunities for innovation, improved performance and incremental profitability.
Perry Belcher is known for it’s great product marketing, visit Perry Belcher site to know more about Perry Belcher
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Waste #1: Failure to define marketing correctly and not identifying Marketing assets already in the business.
Waste #2: Failure to execute marketing inside before going outside!
Waste #3: Failure to build a marketing plan around the THREE WAYS TO GROW!
Waste #4: Failure to have a USP – Unique Selling Proposition
Waste #5: Failure to communicate and integrate the USP – on-going sales training
Waste #6: Failure to understand the Lifetime Value of a Customer
Waste #7: Failure to make advertising Direct Response
Waste #8: Failure to leverage relationships: Inside and outside the business
Waste #9 Failure to implement Direct Marketing
Waste #10: Failure to start marketing on the Web
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION:
Lean Marketing Follows the Lean Manufacturing Example
For many years, manufacturing companies have been working to get their employees trained in “lean” manufacturing techniques. These techniques primarily target areas of waste in a manufacturer’s operations, processes, equipment and labor. The objective is to eliminate waste and make the operations, processes, equipment and labor more efficient. By doing so, cash flow can improve because a company will be much better at delivering products to the customer when the customer wants it. No sooner, no later. There is less inventory on hand because the company has learned how to produce the right number of products and do so in a more efficient manner. Many times the cost of production, equipment and labor can be reduced to increase the bottom line for a company. Equipment is more efficient so a company’s return on equipment investment increases. The company wins and customers win with lean manufacturing.
This success in lean manufacturing is now moving into the area of “lean” office and “lean” healthcare. Other industries are adopting many of these “lean” techniques to lower costs and be more competitive in today’s world.
These same “lean” concepts can be applied to marketing. We are unique in introducing these “lean” techniques into the “top” line operations, processes, marketing resources (marketing equipment) and staff of a company. Our system seeks to eliminate waste and inefficiencies in all the marketing and sales or “top” line processes. Instead of “bottom” line cost savings, there are “top” line revenue increases which results in more profit or increased “bottom” line.
In other words – lean marketing and sales.
Business Owner Frustrations
The traditional definition of marketing has been the introduction of your company’s products and services to prospective customers. By reason of this definition, business owners have pursued the “traditional” avenues of marketing. These include: Advertising, hiring more salespeople, prospecting, direct mail, referral programs, web marketing and many more.
All of these traditional marketing methods can work – but many times they don’t (Don’t create a paying customer) and this leaves business owners frustrated. Sometimes they have invested thousands of dollars in these traditional methods only to find out they didn’t work or that in order to really work, they need to invest thousands more.
The business owners then go back to the providers of these traditional marketing methods and ask for accountability. The reply is usually something like this:
“Did the (marketing method) bring in more prospects?” “Yes, but they didn’t buy anything.” says the business owner. “Well, if they don’t become paying customers, we can’t control that – that is your responsibility” is the reply.
In other words traditional marketing method providers are not paid and do not concern themselves with what happens after a prospect is generated. Indeed there may be plenty of new prospects generated, but if they don’t become customers, it hasn’t helped the business owner! And, the frustration only grows.
Waste #1: Failure to define marketing correctly and not identifying Marketing assets already in the business.
The frustration grows partly because the definition of marketing is short-sided and inadequate. It is time for a new one. A new one for the 21st Century!
We have redefined marketing to be:
The introduction AND SELLING of your company’s products and services to PAST, PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE customers by first optimizing and leveraging ALL of your company’s marketing assets.
With this new definition, marketing becomes concerned with what happens after a new prospect is contacted or inquires. If a business owner does not track and understand what is happening to a prospect immediately upon contact or inquiring, waste enters in.
There may be waste in that the right qualifying questions are not being asked, so salespeople spend time with the wrong prospects. Waste. It may be that whoever is answering the phone or greeting the prospect is not saying the right things. Waste. It may be that the prospect isn’t ready to buy right now but might be later. The company is not tracking this relationship and the prospect goes away. Waste.
Then, if a prospect does become a customer and is ignored or not included in the company marketing efforts in an on-going basis, then the customer will not buy as much as they could. Waste. And, if there is not good customer service and the customer leaves the company there is more waste. It is ten times as costly to get a new customer than to keep one.
To eliminate this waste required an acceptance of a new marketing definition.
Too many companies separate sales and marketing. Many times the two departments don’t even talk to each other. Waste. Selling is and always should be under the umbrella of marketing. Don’t separate the two. That creates waste.
IDENTIFYING MARKETING ASSETS
Because of the inadequate definition of marketing that has prevailed, business owners think of marketing assets as only their advertising or the accumulation of new prospects and new customers. This is a very short-sided view of marketing assets – a waste.
You can find a list of marketing assets on our website, blog, and in other articles we have written. These include past customers, current customers, salespeople, the company’s advertising, referral programs, current sales and marketing processes, location, reputation, time in business, relationships with other businesses, etc. It is very important for business owners to “see” all of these as marketing assets. Not just those that create new prospects.
If a business owner will begin “look” at marketing in a different way – accepting the new definition, then they will begin to eliminate the wastes that occur under the traditional definition and find new sales and profits waiting for them.
Waste #2: Failure to execute marketing inside before going outside!
The traditional definition of marketing as discussed has forced business owners to always be looking OUTSIDE their business for growth.
What I mean by “outside” is working with traditional marketing resources for the generation of new prospective customers. This means going outside to find new prospects with advertising, tradeshows, web marketing, direct mail, salespeople prospecting, etc.
Because of this tendency to focus on MORE PROSPECTS with marketing, waste begins to creep “inside” the company.
The minute a prospect is introduced or inquires about a company’s products or services, they become “inside” the company. Now the real marketing should take over. This is where “hidden” new sources of cash, sales and profits can be found.
These prospects are having conversations, sales pitches, etc. directed at them by people, staff inside the company. The prospects have entered the sales process inside the company.
Every business in the world has the same sales process:
Prospect created ——-qualified——-presented——-closed.
There could be tremendous sources of “waste” along this process. It could be that the wrong prospects are being created in the first place. Waste. It could be that the prospect is not being qualified. Waste. It could be that the presentation made (either on-line or off-line, in person, on the phone, in an ad, etc. is not being done well.) Waste. It may mean the prospects are not being closed as well as they could be. Waste. It could mean that after they are closed, there is no on-going process of marketing. Waste.
It is everything that happens to a prospect AFTER being introduced that contains the hidden sources of new sales. It is what’s happening “inside” the company that is as or more important than what is going on “outside” to generate more customers.
This approach to marketing is more “non-traditional.” Most of our clients started out thinking the answers for more sales were in the creation of more prospects. But, soon, the system helped them uncover serious areas of waste and it was discovered that more sales and profits WITHOUT SPENDING MORE MONEY TO CREATE NEW PROSPECTS could be had FIRST by fixing and eliminating areas of waste. (Core Four Steps) Then, more resources could be devoted to generating more prospects because systems were in place to make certain there was no waste in the managing of the new prospect’s experience. So, all resources devoted to the creation of new prospects (Big Four) were maximized, leveraged to their fullest, creating maximum profit opportunities.
Doesn’t that make more sense?
Waste #3: Failure to build a marketing plan around the THREE WAYS TO GROW!
Every time I ask a business owner for a description or written copy of a marketing plan, the plan ALWAYS focuses on getting more prospective customers. This is to be done by advertising, web marketing, tradeshows, direct mail, telemarketing, salespeople, etc.
In other words, all plans are made under the traditional definition of marketing i.e. the introduction of a company’s products and services to prospective customers.
As indicated already, this definition is limited and incorrect.
There are three ways to grow sales and profits for any company. They are:
1. Increase the number of prospective customers contacted or inquiring
2. Increase the conversion rate of prospective customers to buying customers
3. Increase the value of worth of each customer
The marketing plans found at most companies deal only with number one – more prospects.
All marketing plans in the 21st century should revolve around ALL THREE!
If not, there is potential for tremendous waste. And, that is exactly what we find.
All business owners should hold their “marketing”departments and Vice-Presidents to the metrics or measuring of all three ways to grow. This way, assets become optimized. Waste is eliminated. The three ways to grow makes certain that all possible sources of cash and new sales are being considered.
Business owners should receive a weekly report from marketing that gives an accounting of marketing’s performance in all three areas. The conversion rate doesn’t only apply to salespeople closing sales. It applies to web click through and conversion rate, direct mail response rates, telemarketing response rates, etc. In other words, there might be several “conversion” rates in a company’s marketing process.
The “value” or “worth” of each customer is increased by doing more upselling on the front-end and more “back-end” selling after a prospect becomes a customer. Step number three in our system specifically focuses on increasing customer value.
The three numbers of prospect contact rate, conversion rate and value level are the three numbers a business owner should have a daily accounting for and should insist that the marketing department plan around all three ways to grow.
Waste #4: Failure to have a USP – Unique Selling Proposition
Unless any business owner or salesperson can tell a prospect in 90 words or less why they should do business with a company and not the competition, there is waste.
The USP is a selling proposition. Not a mission statement. Prospects and customers don’t care what your mission is. They only care what you can do for them better than anyone else. That is a USP.
Dominos Pizza created a stir with a 30 minute delivery or FREE USP. It took the company to the top of the industry. Now, all Pizza places can get you a pizza in 30 minutes. It is no longer unique. Dominos must now create a new USP if they want to get back to the top.
What is your USP?
A USP is not “good quality” or “good service” It must be more specific and if possible quantitative. If possible, it should be as overt and significant as possible. Not found in the fine print of a warranty statement.
If you’re unclear what your USP might be, listen to the top salesman in the company. They are often selling what it is customers really want.
Most companies think that “branding” is all they need to do. Again, branding is not a USP. It might be a description of your company or a position in the market your company wants to take. Again, these are not USP’s. They can support and help introduce a USP, but they are not selling propositions. A USP must be able to be sold.
If a business owner is not clear what the USP is, certainly prospects and customers won’t be clear. Look closely at the marketing assets of owner expertise, time in business, company credibility, to see if USP can be uncovered.
Talk to customers and ask them why they do business with you. Research and examine the competition to see what they might be selling as a USP.
However, the most important of all these is the competition. A USP is not necessarily what the owner thinks it is and even what customers might say it is. If the competition is doing it, it is not a USP. And, it must matter to the customers. You might have the most unique product available, but if customers don’t want it or don’t care about it, it is not a USP. Step one of our system focuses on helping a company develop a USP.
The USP is the first and most important part of any marketing plan. It must be determined first because it will then often determine which target markets should be pursued. It is the market research that should be done to understand the strengths and opportunities for the company. The USP becomes the “core” or foundation of all marketing and sales efforts.
Waste #5: Failure to communicate and integrate the USP – on-going sales training
Most of the time, a company can uncover and define a USP but then they fail to integrate the USP successfully.
Almost all USP’s fall short because the salespeople aren’t on board. They are not incorporating the USP into their sales presentations. A good USP integrated into a sales presentation can increase conversion rates significantly.
But, usually, salespeople go back to what they are comfortable doing.
A business owner must require the marketing department to see that the USP becomes integrated into all marketing and sales processes. This is from placing ads, business cards, brochures, displays, scripting for those answering the phone, etc. It needs to be incorporated into the sales presentations and any on-going marketing communication with customers.
The USP should be on the home page and incorporated into every other page of the company’s website.
This goal of complete company integration starts with the salespeople. That is why sales-training needs to be an on-going concern with any company. New salespeople need to be trained what it is they really sell! The USP. They need to always be trained in how to qualify, present and close more effectively. The more training done in these areas, the higher the closing rate will be. The margin between the company’s current closing rate and 100% is an area of marketing waste.
This is why sales trainers are paid a lot of money! They increase the closing rate for a company which translates into higher sales and profits! Less waste. When marketing is able to get sales integrating the USP, then implementation of the system is more successful. Salespeople are on the front line. They know what customers are saying and what they like or dislike. This can mean adjustments to the USP can occur regularly and quickly.
A company might have more than one USP depending on different revenue sources. USP’s change. They should be reworked and looked at on at least an annual basis. The key factor in change is what the competition is doing.
Waste #6: Failure to understand the Lifetime Value of a Customer
A big area of waste in a company is when marketing decisions are made on the one-time purchase of a customer, not the life-time value of a customer.
For example. A retail clothing company might do a direct mail piece or have a catalog as a way to attract new customers. Let’s say the mail piece generates 10 new customers that bought an average of $100 in retail clothing. That’s $1000 in sales. In this case, the cost of the mailing, postage, printing, etc cost $1,500.
The company concludes that the mailing didn’t work.
That is a waste. A big mistake. What is being wasted is the future opportunity for more customers! Why?
Let’s say this retail clothing company has a great product, good customers service and on average those 10 customers come back twice a year and spend $100 each time and keep coming back for an average of 10 years! That’s 20 return visits at $100 a piece or $2000. This times 10 customers is a total value of $20,000 generated all from a $1,500 mailing! $20,000 is the lifetime value of these 10 customers. Not to mention the referrals or family members they might motivate to come and start buying.
The waste is $20,000 in new sales opportunity because the company stops doing the mailing! They concluded that they lost money on the mailing because they calculated only from the first, one time purchase, not the lifetime value.
The industry that understands this concept very well is the music and DVD clubs. For $1.00 you can get 5 FREE DVD’s. We all know it cost the company more than $1.00 to ship 5 FREE DVD’s. What we don’t understand but the company does, is the lifetime value of a new customer. They have calculated that over time, or a lifetime of the average customer, there will be additional orders on average that more than make up for a slight loss in the original mailing.
This is how a marketing budget should be determined. As long as the cash flow can handle it, more and more testing should be done and evaluations made on the lifetime value concept. Even if a company needed to borrow money to do marketing, they may find out that marketing brings a better return than any other investment the company could make. This is often the case.
This lifetime value is the same information used by manufacturers in determining to purchase a piece of equipment. Up front, they may not cover costs but over the lifetime of the equipment, the return justifies the investment. Such should be the same thinking about marketing.
Waste #7: Failure to make advertising Direct Response
In the 21st Century, the investment required for successful media advertising can be very significant. Many business owners try to do a little bit of advertising in the paper or radio or billboard, etc. but find out they don’t get back any return. They become frustrated and upset.
There are two reasons for this frustration. First, there probably isn’t enough advertising going on in a synergistic way that creates results. If the company is advertising on radio, they might need to do newspaper and billboard as well. If they start marketing and advertising on the web, they probably need to do off-line marketing to support it. These costs and investments can become very difficult to maintain. A huge waste of money.
The second reason the advertising falls short is most are doing what is called “institutional advertising” rather than Direct Response advertising. They are sold by the advertising agency that “branding” and “positioning” is important. They are told that if they don’t advertise, their competition will and beat them to the customer. These are both possible true statements. But, not necessarily true.
Our recommendation to small business is to make all advertising direct response.
That is, make it create a response of some kind i.e. a lead, purchase or request for more information. That way, the advertising can be measured. It can be held accountable.
Direct Response is covered in step five and seven of our system. Briefly, there are several important elements that should go into every advertisement that makes the ad direct response. These elements include: Headlines, sub-headlines, good copy, offer, urgency, reply mechanisms, bonus, P.S., etc.
If a company will follow these rules, the advertising can be tracked and different testing accomplished. Institutional advertising simply tells people that the company is in business and has great service. There is no USP, offer, urgency, bonus, reply mechanisms, etc. Therefore, the company cannot measure results. A big waste.
By implementing direct response marketing into all advertising, different testing can be used to make the same dollar invested return more in leads, sales or even an opt-in E-mail database. Waste (in the form of non-producing ads) are eliminated.
Even with direct response, there is branding and positioning that can be accomplished. At the same time, if there is room in the marketing budget, branding and institutional advertising in and of themselves can be effective.
It’s simply the case that most small to medium sized companies can’t afford both types of advertising.
Waste #8: Failure to leverage relationships: Inside and outside the business
Whether a business is just getting started or has been in business many years, one of the biggest wastes that occurs is the failure of the business to examine how relationships with other businesses and customers can create a lot more sales.
These are referred to as endorsements and alliances. They are covered in step four of the system.
The most significant marketing asset of any business is the customer base. A business owner should know which customers can lead the business to more customers. An endorsement is secured and an endorsed mailing is sent to the clients and or customers of the company’s customer. This can open the doors to thousands of prospects – WITHOUT SPENDING MORE MONEY ON ADVERTISING.
So, the rule should be to examine the 20% of customers that are generating 80% of the business. Approach them for an endorsement (of the company’s USP) and work out a regular endorsed mailing. This failure to use customers in this way is a big marketing waste.
In looking at the 20% first approach those customers who are already giving the company referrals. This endorsement simply becomes a more formal consistent way to generate more referrals.
Then, look outside the company database. Look to complementary businesses that have customers or clients your company could serve.
Approach these businesses with the same endorsed mailing opportunity. Maybe you can endorse them to your customer base in return!
Don’t let these relationships go underutilized – such a waste.
Waste #9 Failure to implement Direct Marketing
Throughout my consulting experience, I have come close to creating the CORE five. This would include Direct Marketing step #7.
This is because the most underutilized marketing asset in any company is the phone. It is so inexpensive yet can yield so many new profit opportunities. Any use of phone could be classified as direct marketing. It can be used to generate leads, repeat business, upselling, close sales, follow-up on prospects, etc. Yet, many companies don’t use it as they should.
Much of the same could be said now for E-mails. They can do much the same as a phone – contacting prospects, following up on presentations, upselling, creating newsletters, etc.
Direct marketing includes: direct sales by salespeople, E-mail marketing, Web marketing, teleprospecting and telemarketing, direct mail, etc. These are all marketing methods that can be tested on a small scale, without risking a lot of dollars to find out which can work and which won’t work.
One of the biggest marketing wastes is that companies roll out marketing in big numbers before testing on a small scale first. One Artist’s marketing director invested $20,000 to print and mail 20,000 catalogs to museums. Not one sale. He should have tested with 2000 first to see if anyone was interested. This would have cost $2,000 instead of $20,000. He wasted $18,000.
There are probably staff members in every company that could test offers, etc. on the phone. Contact top customers to upsell or invite them in for a special offer. Salespeople can be calling during downtime.
Clearly, one of the biggest wastes today is that companies are not testing direct marketing on the world wide web. Waste #10.
Waste #10: Failure to start marketing on the Web
The technology of the web has evened the playing field between large companies and single owner companies. What a great opportunity for small businesses. Yet, most still don’t even have a web site. What a waste.
Internet penetration is now at 69% for North America. The number of high-speed internet users almost doubles every year.
The first objective of course is to get the company a USP. From there, you can determine if this USP can be sold over the web either by providing more information for prospects to learn about your company or actually creating a sale – E-commerce.
Yet, the purpose of this section in the report is to encourage all companies that have static information websites to begin thinking about how they can make sales from their site. You can test a pay per click campaign for less money that you can do a direct mail campaign to learn the same things.
The international usage of the web is also expanding. Asia has 418 million users, Europe 322 million, North America 233 million and Latin America 110 million. With those numbers growing year by year, there could be an opportunity for any company to sell something to them over the web.
Internet marketing – is your website making enough sales is addressed in the bonus step of our system. It is important to make an evaluation of your website and have the help of others in determining how best to use the web. This is why this bonus step is also considered part of the Big Four. You’ll need the help of designers, programmers, marketers, SEO experts, etc. to succeed, whether you do these tasks yourself or outsource them to others.
As long as you stay away from the web, there is waste. Even if you have a local store that sells only locally, the web resources can be a big help in creating more sales and profits. Learn how to use this technology to your benefit and eliminate that area of waste in your marketing.
CONCLUSION
I hope this free report has been of help to you. Even if you don’t become our customer, you can find new cash and new sales by eliminating these areas of waste in your marketing. And, if you do become a customer, I’m confident you’ll be able to systematically eliminate all of these wastes by implementing our system into your business.
Perry Belcher is known for it’s great product marketing, visit Perry Belcher site to know more about Perry Belcher
Recently I was talking with a very bright traditional marketer on the value of integrating Internet marketing into an enterprise’s marketing mix. Personally, I have witnessed significant and measurable increases in the online results of an enterprise when they include traditional marketing strategies like direct mail, radio, television or publicity with their internet marketing strategies.
Although he did not disagree with the concept, he re-focused the discussion on the importance of an enterprise establishing their marketing message and objective even BEFORE contemplating their traditional or Internet marketing strategies. What an excellent point! What about you…
o Have you created a clear and concise marketing message?
o Have you defined your customer benefits and integrated them into your message?
o Have you established a measurable objective to determine your success by?
Your Marketing Objective Defines Your Results
Business owners and marketers have a tendency to think in broad terms about their marketing objective by focusing on ones such as “generating traffic” or “designing a website.” Instead, the effectiveness of their internet marketing strategies should be driven by specific marketing objectives established from the end result required of the business to be economically sustainable.
For example, “generating traffic” is not directly tied to a financial objective like “generating a cost per sale of $75.” The common misperception of “traffic equals sales” has wasted tremendous amounts of business’ capital on poor quality website traffic. In addition some businesses have developed negative attitudes towards Internet marketing by falsely associating poor results to it instead of to a lack of an objective.
Recently a new client described his horror story of spending a significant part of his budget on contracting with a paid search service provider. The resulting paid search campaign was a major failure in terms of satisfying the client management’s net profit objective. Actually, to be precise, the campaign caused a massive negative net profit.
After asking further questions to understand why the situation occurred, I discovered that the blame could not be attributed to the service provider’s failure to perform but instead to the client’s failure to define the correct marketing objective.
The client contracted with the service provider under an objective of “generating traffic” versus “generating a positive net profit.” The goal of “generating a positive net profit” involves a more strategic performance-centered setup and management of a paid search campaign which this particular service provider was not capable of delivering through their business model.
Unfortunately, directed by the client’s defined objective, the service provider delivered massive volumes of paid search “visitor traffic” which failed to satisfy the client’s non-communicated but expected increase in positive net profit.
Your Marketing Objective is the Balance between Determining Success and Failure.
By defining a measurable objective, an internet marketing strategy is regulated by the resulting increase or decrease of it. From this perspective, a simple “yes/no” decision is made as to the success of a particular strategy: “Yes” it achieved the marketing objective and should be maximized; or “No” it fell short of achieving the marketing objective and should be dropped or the message adjusted and tested again. Without a measurable objective, the success of an internet marketing strategy is determined by subjective means versus real data.
A Clear and Concise Marketing Message Ensures Achievement of Your Objective
The marketing message is essential for generating performance from your Internet marketing strategy. Rather on your website, landing page, or paid search ad, the message attracts visitor attention, qualifies the type of visitor and persuades the visitor to complete your defined marketing objective.
An excellent book written by Doug Hall titled, “Jump Start Your Business Brain” outlines three essential components every effective marketing message should include. They are:
1. Overt Benefit: answers the customer-centric question of “what’s in it for me?”
2. Reason to Believe: what persuasive credibility shows that you will do as you promise?
3. Dramatic Difference: what is your uniqueness to the customer?
The rudimentary knowledge gained from these three essentials is that you must focus on your visitor and answer their buying questions. By satisfying your visitor’s needs in a manner that persuades them to buy, they will correspondingly satisfy your needs.
Are You Satisfying Your Visitor’s Needs?
An easy way to assess whether your marketing message is even capable of satisfying your visitor’s needs is to count the number of times your website copy states “you or yours” versus “we and us”. Although primitive, this exercise will immediately tune you in to where your marketing message is directed. If you’re talking more about “we” then about “you” then you’re focusing on the wrong message.
Instead of spending more time on developing a traffic generation strategy, re-focus your time and thinking on developing an effective marketing message with a measurable objective. Ultimately your traffic generation strategy will achieve higher returns and stronger results when you attract the most qualified visitors through an effective marketing message and gain “data-driven” insight from a measurable objective.
Perry Belcher is known for it’s great product marketing, visit Perry Belcher site to know more about Perry Belcher
Small business marketers love the chase. Love the new fangled way to make the phone ring. They love to think of a marketing promotion as a single event. But it’s precisely this view of marketing that holds most small businesses back. They fall prey to the “marketing idea of the week” and never fully explore what it takes to create and build a completely functioning, consistently performing, marketing system.
In this article I am going to outline the basic steps that any business can follow on the way to creating their very own marketing system. But first let’s explore this word system in the context of marketing. Small business owners have no problem thinking systems when it comes to say, accounting or hiring. When it comes to marketing though, all bets are off. It’s as if they are waiting for magic fairy dust to fall upon them with the next great marketing innovation.
Look, effective marketing is little more than creating and operating an effective marketing system. Now, when I use the word system I mean several things. 1) The system is documented – You can’t have a system or a step in a system unless you write it down. 2) The system is built on sound marketing principals and 3) You constantly measure, innovate, and refine the system.
Okay, so on to the system building steps.
1) Narrow and define a target market – Small business owners love to say yes. “Sure we can do that.” The next thing you know the target market is roughly anyone they think will pay them. You must commit to a narrowly defined target market and you must focus all of your attention upon serving that market like no one ever dreamed of. A narrow marketing focus might be – Estate Attorneys – as opposed to Law Firms.
2) Discover and communicate a core message for that market – Until you can show how your firm is different and offers something unique, you will always compete on price. You must find a way to tell your newly defined narrow target market why you have something to offer that they value. Your core message might be – We show estate attorneys how gain all of the business they can handle – as opposed to: We help law firms.
3) Develop multiple forms of permission based lead generation – No one like to be sold to and more and more advertising is falling on numb ears and eyes. Your lead generation system must be built on several fronts, such as public relations, referral marketing, strategic partnerships, and targeted advertising. Your lead generation message must offer the target market a reason to want to know more. Forget about the sale, look for ways to build trust.
4) Construct a lead conversion and customer reselling process – No amount of leads in the world will help your business if you don’t efficiently turn those leads into clients. You must have a plan that maps out what you will do when phone rings, when you make the sales call and when it’s time to do more business with the clients you already have. Most small businesses completely ignore this aspect of their marketing, but this is where the real success in marketing lies.
5) Create educational based marketing and presentation materials – Forget about the glossy sales brochure, use your marketing materials to teach how your firm is different, how you solve real problems, how you work, why you work, what you believe and your marketing will be much more successful. Your web site must come from this point of view as well.
6) Define the most important marketing success indicators – Setting marketing goals for such things as leads, appointments, sales, phone calls, referrals, impressions, mentions and anything else you can think to measure is how you turn marketing into a game and how you keep score of the game. Everyone loves and game and the only way to improve something is to measure how well you are doing in the first place.
7) Build an annual marketing calendar and budget and stick to it – Once you have spent the time and energy to think through steps 1-6 you need to commit your plan to a marketing calendar and then allocate (or at least think about) the money it will take to implement your plan. Once you create a calendar it is much more likely that you will look at the tasks assigned to each month like a “to-do” list. So, instead of whining that you should do more marketing, you simply scratch each item off your list and plan for the next. It’s an amazingly simple but effective device.
Okay…now the last bit of advice.
Every system needs a champion. Either find someone in your organization who does little else but operate the system or hire a marketing professional and charge them with helping you develop, implement and run the system.
Properly fed and maintained, this little marketing system can become the engine that drives your firm’s climb to the top.
Perry Belcher is known for it’s great product marketing, visit Perry Belcher site to know more about Perry Belcher
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