Become Your Local Calendar Girl And Make Your Business The Envy Of Your Town
OK, this one's been overdone, but not entirely. A calendar still makes a great marketing tool.The reason is simple. It keeps your name in front of your customers all year long. So how do you ensure they use your calendar instead of someone else's? Make your unique.Use an odd-shaped design. For instance, if you own an auto detailing shop you might design your calendar in the shape of a Ferrari. Or maybe, if you are a party supply retailer, you design your calendar in the shape of a balloon, with a string dropping down from the bottom of the calendar.Another way to make your marketing calendar unique is to personalize it for each customer. Suppose you have a list of Grade A customers you want to reward for their business. So as a Christmas gift you give them a calendar with important dates on it. But the important dates are important to them. In other words, their wedding anniversary, childrens birthdays, graduations, etc. Of course, the implied task is that

Turning a Difficult Customer into a Customer that Comes Back
I really hate it when things don’t go as they should and you have to spend time and effort sorting it out. I have hanging onto a phone line being told that “my call is important”, when I have far better things to do. Many companies are turning away possible loyal customers, because they do not know how to turn a complaining customer into a thankful customer who will come back to buy from you again. Here’s our suggestion. Firstly, I think that you have to put yourself in your customer’s shoes – why do they consider it necessary to come into the store to complain? Then ask yourself, what will resolve your customer’s problems? If someone is angry or upset, it is because they feels injured or cheated in some way. Your job is to let the customer vent and to listen attentively in order to understand the source of that frustration. When you do that, you send the message that you care about then and their problems. If you treat the custome

B-to-B Business Owners: Measure Your Marketing for Success
The best way to ensure you get stellar results from your marketing is one that is overlooked surprisingly often: measure! When you first launch a marketing program, you may have to start by measuring activities, but eventually you’ll be able to measure results. Most importantly – and this is where a lot of measurement efforts fail -- you can measure progress against your plan.Here are a few guidelines to help you get started or to assess your current measuring system: Keep it simple – collect only data you’ll actually act on. With applications such as CRMs and web analytic programs, it’s easy to measure more than you really need to know. Just ask yourself this question: “What will I do with this information?” Make sure the data is collected in the same way all the time. If you’re trying to spot a trend, consistency is often more important than accuracy. Look at the findings regularly and share it with others. omitted.

Tip 1. MARKET FOR YOUR DESIRED PROSPECTS, NOT YOURSELF

What looks good to you is not necessarily effective for your
desired audience.  This is the biggest mistake I see people
make over and over again.  They come up with an idea, they
think it’s great, a few friends, family or nontarget market
people give them the thumbs up and they run with the ball.
When it doesn't work, they just can't understand why.

Do market research and test your strategies on your target
market.  Big companies do lots of market research before
launching a product or service.  The little guys don't have
the resources to match this but that doesn't mean you omit
it.  Even if you are an independent professional, you
need to do marketing research.  And market research isn't a
one-time deal.  It needs to be incorporated into your
marketing system and it needs to be ongoing.

Tip 2.  YOU MUST ANSWER THESE FOUR CRITICAL MARKETING
        QUESTIONS

Question 1: WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?

ey
think it’s great, a few friends, family or nontarget market
people give them the thumbs up and they run with the ball.
When it doesn't work, they just can't understand why.

Do market research and test your strategies on your target
market.  Big companies do lots of market research before
launching a product or service.  The little guys don't have
the resources to match this but that doesn't mean you omit
it.  Even if you are an independent professional, you
need to do marketing research.  And market research isn't a
one-time deal.  It needs to be incorporated into your
marketing system and it needs to be ongoing.

Tip 2.  YOU MUST ANSWER THESE FOUR CRITICAL MARKETING
        QUESTIONS

Question 1: WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?

Big companies do lots of market research before
launching a product or service.  The little guys don't have
the resources to match this but that doesn't mean you omit
it.  Even if you are an independent professional, you
need to do marketing research.  And market research isn't a
one-time deal.  It needs to be incorporated into your
marketing system and it needs to be ongoing.

Tip 2.  YOU MUST ANSWER THESE FOUR CRITICAL MARKETING
        QUESTIONS

Question 1: WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?

And market research isn't a
one-time deal.  It needs to be incorporated into your
marketing system and it needs to be ongoing.

Tip 2.  YOU MUST ANSWER THESE FOUR CRITICAL MARKETING
        QUESTIONS

Question 1: WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?

Is it immediately clear to the reader what is being offered?
Any opaqueness, confusion, or question marks in their mind,
even for a second, and they have moved on.  Don't be cute or
clever.  Make it simple and clear.  Cute and clever has a
reference point now with S*P*AM or hype.  Don't let them
place you into that category.

Question 2: WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

The big benefits are very clear and directly stated... not
implied; the reader doesn't have to guess.  The listener
doesn't have to guess.  They come to you from all
different stages of readiness and desire levels.

How do you handle each one when they arrive makes what
occurs afterwards critical?  It isn't what you perceive that
they want, it is what they perceive what they want.  Stop
guessing just because you are too lazy to do the legwork.
Start asking and don't ever stop.

Question 3: CAN I TRUST YOU?

How do I know you are safe and credible? Can I find out
easily enough if I want to? Is your photo and contac