Want to Grow Your Business? Be Helpful.

            When people think of a bad economy the first things they think about are about their job security, their salary and their budgets. This is not a problem, simple fight or flight in action. The problem begins when we start making these thoughts our constant thoughts; we begin looking for ways to ease the pain of these thoughts, making them “not real” in our minds.

These thoughts start to take you away from your actual priorities of enhancing the company. You start thinking of maintaining rather than growing, holding rather than letting go. The best part is you’re not alone -  Yes, I said the BEST part. Your competition is embroiled in the same tug of war with their emotions over the economy as well. Their guard is down, just like yours.

I know what you’re thinking, so tell me something I don’t know. Everyone is constantly hearing about the economy and sales being down, cutbacks, budget cuts, etc. The thing is; these conditions only affect you if you let them. If you constantly bemoan how sales are down and your budget has been cut and there is nothing you can do – well that’s exactly what is happening – you are doing nothing.

Times like these do not come along very frequently, which IS a good thing. But at the same time, times like these don’t come around very frequently!  Everyone is in a frozen state, afraid to move, afraid to lose anything and the thing is this is the best time to gain.

Your competition is in the same state as you are; it’s like an old western gunfight. You are looking each other straight in the eye waiting for one or the other to make a move, only neither of you are moving, the DVR is on pause. Neither of you are willing to make the first move and you really don’t know why.

I recently read that in a bad market you can take 15 to 20 percent of the business away from your top competitor. You can also obtain 20 to 30 percent of all new business coming in and convert sales 30 – 40 percent more from people coming to you. These are big numbers.

How is this possible? By simply ACTING rather than reacting to the current situation. Marketing in its simplest form is basically telling your prospects and customers how you can help them.  What better time to offer help than now. The only thing you need to do is change – change how you approach your prospects and clients. Change how you push or pull your product or service through the market.

Bruce Barton said it best: “When you are through changing, you are through.” Start looking past the obvious of what your product does, examine more how it helps. People want and accept help more freely when your offer is sincere. Be sincere and truly care about your prospects and clients business and they will repay you using your product and service.

So there you have it, a simple HELPFUL way to add more clients and sales to your bottom-line.

Be helpful.

A Sign from Above, behind or the side…

Trade Shows represent the best opportunity to showcase your products and services. With your prospects and customers all gathered in one place to learn how to improve their business and make life a little easier for themselves. You have a captured audience, now how are you going to bring them into your booth?

Offering a free promotional item is a start, smiling people at the front desk, greeters in the aisle. All nice but how about that person way over in the corner, down the aisle about six booths across, 5’ 8” dark hair, nicely dressed? What are you doing to get their attention and draw them to your booth?

Oh, your logo is on your booth. OK, what if they don’t recognize your logo or it just doesn’t peak their interest? Now what? Let’s take a step back and look at this from another angle. When in an airport or a grocery store what makes you buy the magazine or newspaper you’re looking at? The Headline correct? The headline drew you in to want to learn more.

So if you want to draw people in to your booth to learn more about your company and products – where’s your headline? We get so caught up in getting to the show, ordering the literature, picking out the promo item and getting the lead machine working we forget that we need to get people to the booth first. That voice in the cornfield wasn’t talking about tradeshow booths – “Build it, they will come.” Yours isn’t the only ballpark out in the middle of nowhere.

A great deal of time and money has gone into the design of your logo, your booth, the graphics and color inside. Time and money that has been looking from the inside out, everything looks great. The colors flow, product names are there, stations look good, product displays in order – you’ve written a great article but forgot the headline.

Picture in your mind the last tradeshow you attended, look at all the booths, the people walking by, the bags filled with trinkets and literature. Do any of the booths standout to you? The really large ones with the logo hanging from the ceiling, maybe; otherwise they all just start to blend together.

Signage is your ultimate headline, the reason people are drawn to your booth. Most people blow opportunities at trade shows strictly due to signage.  Your signage is your headline. Change it and you can increase both the quantity and quality of your booth traffic. Your signage provides a reason for attendees to visit your booth and learn more. A simple logo on a backdrop is not going to cut it.

Ask an engaging question, tie in your offering with the theme of the show, anchor your booth and company as the reason this show exists to begin with, compel them to answer your call and learn more. Your booth doesn’t need to remain stagnant because that’s what you paid for, a simple sign can add more to your bottom line than you could ever imagine.

Add a topper to your expandable banner, place a sandwich sign out front, if they have to walk around it they have to read it. Look beyond the norm, add floor graphics, use the old Burma Shave style of the 50’s, provide a solid reason for prospects to come inside your booth to learn the benefits you offer. With the right approach you can win the battle for the prospect, dominate the competition and acquire enough sales and leads for your pipeline to keep you busy for months.

All the World’s a Stage – Act Like It

It’s amazing how many articles, books and websites are dedicated to the art of the most dreaded sales job – the Cold Call.  Type it in as a web search and a staggering 55 million hits come up – MILLION. That’s probably 4 or 5 times the total number of cold calls that are ACTUALLY made each year.

If so much is written on being more effective with cold calling, cold calling is a waste of time and no fear cold calling, why is it still so hated? Simple – FEAR.  Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, just plain old fear. So, you are asking yourself, why are you writing about Cold Calling when no one else can help. Well, I discovered something quite by accident the other day when I was taking care of this fearful job.

I started to fantasize about what it would be like if I could pay someone to do this for me. What it would be like if someone stepped into my shoes and said the things I wanted to ask without worrying about the response. First I thought it would be a great idea to trade calls with someone, they make my calls I make theirs.  Great idea I need to research further (don’t steal this now) but not an instant answer. The more I thought about how nice it would be the better I felt. I was relaxed, not anxious, relieved beyond belief.  Then it hit me – BAM – like Emeril the chef likes to say, I cooked up this great idea.

When I make Cold Calls who says I have to be ME? We watch television shows and movies all the time where actors and actresses play characters that are anything like the real person playing the part. Why not play the part of ME as someone else? We do it on first dates all the time, creating someone we know the other person will like. Why not create a character that is an employee of mine, one that listens to what I have to say; knows what I do, how I do it but has no fear when it comes to making cold calls.

“Roger”, my new employee, knows all about my company, products and services. He can answer any question that comes his way, he’s bold, brash and doesn’t take no for an answer. If someone says they’re not interested or have no need for our product or service “Roger” could care less – just one more call down and one less to make the next time around. “Roger” has that way about him, very confident and loves what he does.

Well good old “Rog” went on to make forty calls that day without a care in the world. He was almost “too” confident, wanting people to say “no” quickly so he could get to the next call. This guy is a real go getter when it comes to the phone now. To “Roger” All the World is a Stage for him to act on and carry out Cold Calls. “Rog” is one of my best employee’s now. Works for almost nothing and is always up to the task.

Creating your own “Roger” or “Linda” is easy and amazingly simple to do.  Sit back and simply imagine what the ultimate cold calling guru would look like to you. Picture the color of their hair, their eyes, complexion, even how they dress. Do they have any outstanding characteristics? Maybe a chin like Leno or a smile like Jennifer Aniston, if you build them…they will come.

Next imagine how they would talk, sit, handle themselves on the phone. Envision them with more confidence than you could ever conceive in a person. Make them into someone you would want as a best friend. Got them pictured in your mind? See them making calls and sales one after another. Carefree, having the time of their life and enjoying work like no one you have ever seen. Do you see them now, can you feel their confidence? Now pick up the phone and start making calls, no not you, “Linda” or “Roger”. Add the little inflection “Linda” has in her voice when saying the company name, that little southern drawl “Roger” has, like he has talked to this stranger before.

Make several calls like this and see if you don’t feel different. Check your results, number of calls, meetings, messages left. How did you feel when “Linda” tripped over a word and then simply laughed it off without a care in the world? Pretty darn good I bet.

This isn’t a one act play; this is going to be the longest running show in history. Every time you schedule yourself to make calls you need to picture “Linda” or “Roger” in your mind. What great thing did they do over the weekend, what trip do they have planned? Amazing how their sales numbers are consistently the best in the company isn’t it? They really have their act together and the attitude they use on the phone shows this to be true.

If you really want to take this to the next level and get really good at it, join a local theater group or take some basic acting classes. Too much…then read a book on acting for beginners and learn how to develop and get into a character.  All the World’s a Stage – Cold Call like it is.

Anchor Cards

                In earlier posts we talked about the importance of Anchoring Your Marketing, the process of tying in your company, product or service into your marketing efforts. Basically, anchoring the theme or message to the result you are looking to accomplish.

                One very strong way to accomplish this is through the use of simple cards included with your mailing, promotional item or as a simple handout. Literally, a few pennies in cost that will increase the success of your message ten times over…

                Picture this: You attend a tradeshow and have decided to give out a simple pen with your logo on it. (times are tight, we know, but think of something better next time)  The same scenario plays out at this tradeshow as every other one, people herd down the aisles looking at booths to see who has the FREE stuff. They give your booth a glance, see you have some nice pens laying out, (let’s hope their nice, after all it represents your company from this day forward)  they grab a pen and without looking at it jam it into their tradeshow bag. Now, they get back to the hotel room that night and just like an eager trick or treater they dump their treasures on the bed. They begin to sort through their stash, sorting it by value and type. Your pen is just one of ten or fifteen in the mix that are not given a second look and piled with the other pens to be put in the junk drawer when returning home.

                Now imagine you are at the same show but this time you have printed up full color cards that tell a little bit about your company, product or service and have an anchor line on them to tie into your marketing message. This card is attached to your pen and the same scenario plays out where the hungry freebie grabber comes by to get his stuff. Only this time during the sorting process he comes across your pen with the card attached. What does he do? Just like all people he’s curious about the card and reads it – he reads it, your information about your company. A 1:1 interaction separate from all of your competitors, you have now been given a second chance to pull this person in as a possible customer. If your product or service is a match for their needs you now have a thousand times better chance of seeing this person the next day of the show or talking with them during your follow up call.

                A very simple solution to a problem that faces companies almost every day, getting and keeping their message in front of their prospects and customers and it only costs a few cents. Anchor Cards can take many shapes and forms depending on how they are presented and of course your budget. They can be clipped to t-shirts, inserted into boxes or used by themselves. We recently created one as a magic trick to demonstrate the “magic of marketing”, very effective at networking events or the tradeshow floor.

                Consider developing and using an anchor card for your next event and see how much farther your marketing dollar goes for only a few pennies more.

The Two Most Important Keys on Your Keyboard

Many PC users are saying to themselves – there are three – Control – Alt – Delete. The three it takes to restart Windows after yet another crash. Windows difficulty aside there are two keys that can make a world of difference to your writing.

In an earlier article “Is Your Marketing Smarter than a 5^th Grader”, we talked about the need to “dumb” down or at least diminish the age appropriateness of our writing when doing so for marketing purposes. The background of that article being that the majority of people can read at a fifth grade level and at that level the colorful use of adjectives begin to take wing.

Writing takes on many forms – technical, research, story, advertising, etc., each with its own style, need and substance.  While writing the words flow from your mind like a waterfall, words crashing over the edge, spraying onto your paper or screen, some making it, others dropping to the rocks below. Pictures like the one just presented enter our minds and our brain chooses words from our incredibly large Thesaurus like a painter chooses a brush for each stroke.

The trick to great writing, like a great painting, comes down to which brush and style of stroke to use. Word choice is the equivalent to the brush you use, forming the color and shapes on the canvas and in your head.  The wrong word can turn off a reader, confuse them or send your message downstream never to be seen again.  Too many times writers try to make an obscene attempt to dazzle their readers with their large vocabulary – writing for themselves and not the reader, in other words painting a delicate scene with a barn brush.

 The key to writing is to paint the scene you want the reader to see in their head, provide them words they know, understand and can grasp into pictures. I’m not saying change your writing style, just change how it comes about.  Write with the same passion and flare you always do and then go back and use the two most important keys on the keyboard.

I bet right now you are saying to yourself – OK what are they??? Well here you go-

SHIFT + F7

These two keys when pressed together while on a word will launch the Thesaurus built into Word and most other word processing programs – the universal equalizer for all writing. The simplicity of these two keys to expand, sharpen and develop your word use will astonish you. Simply write your article, paragraph or story in your normal manner and then have someone go through and highlight any words they either do not understand, confuse them or have difficulty tying into your work. You then go through this list and point the cursor at the beginning of the words – hit SHIFT/F7 and choose one with a more general meaning. It really is that simple and you will be amazed at how little this changes your article or story and actually enhances it for every person that comes across your writing.

Two simple keys to open your writing to the entire world.

(this style was used to write this article – there were 15 alterations made this way)

Is Your Marketing Smarter than a Fifth Graders?

The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” also can relate to your writing, with the correctly chosen words you can turn a simple sentence into a chapter of information.

One of the biggest obstacles in writing for marketing is that we are trained to write “intelligently”, by this I mean coming off with wording that demonstrates our full use of the English language.

In English classes starting in high school, we are taught to expand our vocabulary and expound the use of it. Take the last sentence for example, it could have just as easily been written – “In English classes starting in high school, we are taught to use a lot of words and explain in detail what is happening.” Both have the same meaning but each carries a different weight with readers. The first version is fine for something like this blog but in marketing you need to appeal to as many different styles of readers as possible.

When writing for marketing purposes, the key isn’t to come off sounding intelligent and powerful but to appeal to everyone reading or listening to your text. There is a popular game show on right now called, “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader”. A game show where you match your intelligence on what a common 5th grade student currently knows and is learning. Fifth grade was chosen because this is the point right before the transition from learning the “basics” to where students are introduced to a higher comprehension of information

 This is where you need to target your material – the 5th Grade level.  While in school you were always judged at what level of reading you were at – he reads at a 4^th grade level, she reads at a 5^th grade level, etc. Your readers are no different, they each read at a different level and targeting a lower level of reading will guarantee that you will appeal to ALL readers.  

The 5^th grade level is where students begin to understand more about how words can paint a picture. Instead of “the tree had many colorful leaves”, they now read “the tree was overflowing with fiery warmth of the colors from the sun – red, orange and yellow burst forth.” This is exactly where you need to take your marketing material. Paint a picture for your reader; bring them in to what you want them to know by entering their minds and painting pictures on their brains. Think of your writing like “graffiti for the mind.”

By painting with words rather than dazzling with brilliance you will appeal to a much larger audience, enhance your message and add more to your bottom line.  Create wording that glides down a mountain like a bright red sled sifting through the fresh snow at breath taking speed. Words that can be understood and be ”seen”.

The Big Book of WoW!™

While putting together marketing items for an upcoming meeting, pieces I thought would be relevant to the prospect, it began to build up as I added more and more of the unique items that we have access. As the book grew it was amazing the difference in the items and how it all came together. Inside were print pieces that unfolded, expanded, changed shape, moved, had shape, you name it. Along with the print pieces were promotional pieces that were mailable and incentive based. While the book took some time to get together it started to form an amazing marketing appeal when I looked it over myself. I know, go figure, something you create looks good to you…

 I brought the book to my meeting and the first thing the prospect said after going through the book was literally “Wow, I have never seen so many great ideas in one place before.” Right then I thought, OK it went well. They asked me to quote them on a couple of the items for upcoming projects and we are moving forward on one of them. Two days later I was fortunate to get a meeting with a very well known company and felt it was another great opportunity to showcase the items inside. Again, after looking over the book the first thing two of the people present said (there were three present) were – “Wow, there are some really nice ideas inside.” and “That’s all I can say – “WoW! nice stuff.” Three Wows’ in two meetings, might have been a fourth but our third member had to take a call. They requested a couple of samples and quotes on two pieces inside the book and we are working on them now.

 Now, just to tempt fate, I decided to see if this book really was that good. So I brought it to the most skeptical person I know, my neighbor who hates my dog and calls when I mow to close to his side of the yard. A real test. He has nothing to do with marketing directly, but is a VP of Sales for a good sized company. While he was out inspecting the grass after I finished cutting it I went over, offered him a beer and asked if he would look at something for me. Out came the sample book as I was calling it at the time. Since I offered the beer he was of course obliged to take a look but knowing him was not going to be nice about it. He glanced through, even pulled out a few pieces for a closer look and then said – “Wow, you need to show this to our marketing department.” My jaw hit the ground and pieces of cut grass flew into my mouth, a WoW out of “Uncle Barry” as we call him on the street. I thanked him and ran immediately inside to tell my wife that I got a Wow! out of Uncle Barry. It was at that time that my oldest son said “You have a Book of WoW?” and the name was born. The Big Book of WoW!™

 So what does this have to do with you reading this? Well, I got to thinking and it seems to me every business should have a Big Book of WoW! ™  Ideas, recommendation letters, articles in newspapers and magazines talking about your business, just stuff that might make someone say “WoW, I did not know that.” When it comes down to it a Big Book of WoW! ™ is really an extension of why your business is so much better than the competition. It demonstrates why you do what you do and why your current clients and customers work with your company.

 I am now on a mission to write a book and design a course on how to create your very own Big Book of WoW! ™  Stay tuned.

Get to the “Working” Part of Networking

            For most small businesses, networking is the key to new and increased sales. The multitude of networking events and opportunities that exist is evidence enough that networking is a necessary function and that it works. From networking groups like BNI,  Rotary Clubs, business organizations and chambers of commerce, business people gather on a regular basis to meet, mingle and get business. The problem is people approach networking in the wrong way, looking to serve themselves rather than those around them.

 To gain better insight let’s look at the definition of networking:

 Net-work-ing  [net-wurk-ing]–noun

            a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and    groups having a common interest.

 You will notice that nowhere in this definition does it say anything about being self-serving or waiting for people to approach you. The key words it does have are “supportive and sharing”, something missed by most people involved in networking. Too many people go to networking events looking for new faces in an industry they service, once found they launch into what they do and how they can sell to them. How often do you like it when people approach you in this manner? Very similar to when you go to a department store to look around and then feel bothered by salespeople when they ask if they can help you.

 As a past president of a large business association I have witnessed countless interactions between members and guests and better than 80% who meet for the first time are “what can I do for you” encounters. Unfortunately, many people attending these events end up meeting and spending the majority of their time with friends and business associates they already know and then complain that no one ever comes to these things anymore. The problem being that they are looking for who they can sell directly to again, limiting their field of vision to less than 1% of the room in their eyes.

 Now if you take the two key words in the definition of networking and use them properly you will expand your “net” of business influence farther and catch more business.

 Supportive – by focusing on the people you meet and learning their story and more about their business you can gain a much better understanding of what types of businesses are in the room and expand your view way beyond who you can sell to. Learn about as many people as you can, let them talk and then move on.

 Sharing – as you gather this information be on the lookout for people and businesses you meet that might be a great match for each other. Seek them out and hook them up, be supportive of their business needs. Once you begin helping others get together they will want to reciprocate, all of a sudden their minds open and they search for people they know, people not even at this meeting, that they can introduce you to. By expounding your help you expand your business.

 Look at it in much the same reasoning as poor customer service. If you provide good customer service one person will hear about it. If you provide terrible customer service… twenty people hear about it. In networking, when you help one individual meet a contact that same person will make it a point to introduce you to as many as they know, just for showing a little support.

 It is amazing how well this works but how few people practice it. When I first became president of the business association they were averaging about 80 -90 people at each event. Once I started introducing members to each other, word got out that this association was incredible for meeting people. These same businesses attended similar functions together for quite some time but had never met. By making it a point to make introductions, our meetings began to draw an average of 150 to 200 people, doubling our membership and creating a network like no other in the area. Even as a regular member again, I make it a point to introduce at least four businesses to each other. By supporting the group I help make it grow with new members and you never know who these new members may be married to, friends with or live next door.

 If you want to see your business contacts grow, seed the group first and then let them feed you in return.

PURL’s of Wisdom and other Marketing Tools

It seems that every article or post you read recently always begins with “in today’s economy”. Unfortunately, it almost seems a necessity because the economy is affecting almost everything and anything we do including and especially marketing. The importance of marketing in today’s economy has been shouted and touted as much as possible, everyone saying that you have to continue marketing in order to stay relevant in sales and remain at the top of your market. This is as true as any words spoken on marketing and will always ring true.

What is more important now than ever before is getting in front, staying in front and remaining in front of your prospects and clients. Fortunately, there has been a large influx of new marketing tools that fit both the web, print and promotional arenas. These tools if used properly, have the ability to create more awareness and excitement in your products and services than ever before. While many are using Facebook, MySpace and Twitter as a new realm in their marketing endeavors, these are nice, but not measurable or capable of creating long-term recall in your targets mind.

On the Web frontier we have the emergence of PDF viewers and publishers that allow the integration of audio and video along with dynamic links to your current web content. These digital PDF products allow you control over updating content, tracking page turns and even viewership. This tracking includes page views, area zoom and  geographical location of the reader.  A long way from a static, simple PDF file that we are used to reading. For an example click here  Dynamic PDF’s

Another web-based product that is just now beginning to make in roads is the use of PURL’s or Personal URL’s. For those that are unfamiliar with this relatively new marketing tool, PURL’s combine the use of Variable Data Printing (VDP) and a separate hosted website for each recipient. The combination of these two mediums provides a personal message to the recipient’s and the tracking of both the reception of the printed piecel or the viewing of their personal website or URL that you’ve set up. With PURL’s you have the ability to add individual or group messages, invitations to separate events, and the addition of information gathering quizzes or polls. The cost per impression, compared to return on investment is what really makes this particular marketing tool stand out. To view a simple demo of a personal URL site go to PURL Demo.

On the print realm we’ve already touched on one product, Variable Data Printing or VDP. VDP incorporates the use of digital printing by placing personal information in the greeting, body and even pictures of your marketing material. VDP achieves its power by incorporating the recipient’s personal information, as people always like to see their name in print or even the sky… VDP is only a fraction more than traditional printing and more than makes up for this additional cost by increasing readership up to 42% in some cases.  

Our final look is at Print on Demand or POD. Print on demand also utilizes the benefits of digital printing and the web. An E-commerce or print store is set up, where company employees have access to order their own print materials. This includes business cards, letterhead, envelopes, notepads, brochures and more, each piece with the capability of personalization by the person ordering.  POD provides both the benefit of personalization and speed of ordering since it all takes place online. POD, websites can be set up to bill individual departments and provide feedback on usage on a companywide basis and ships directly to each user.
For additional info Web-to-Print

These are just examples of a few of the new tools available to your marketing endeavors. If you would like additional information on any of these pieces follow the links to the right for more in-depth look or to contact us. Standup, standout and keep marketing, the economy will improve and the more you stay in front of your prospects and clients the stronger you will be at the right time.

TPC.NEWSLETTER

April/May Newsletter