Tag Archives: marketing strategies

Birds of a feather flock together

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Birds of a feather flock together. Many of these idioms are handed down from generation to generation are really good rules. Now, consider for a moment that you could apply this idiom to your business. According to Marketing Coach Carol Naff, you can use this wisdom in your business.

Birds of a feather

If it is true that birds of a feather flock together, then when you identify your target market or niche, you can easily know where your potential clients gather. Your niche helps you identify your marketing strategies for your ideal clients. Marketing is about creating relationships. With unlimited money, time, and energy, you can market to everyone.

Chances are that you can’t market to everybody but you can serve everybody. Choose a small target market. Then when people outside your target come into your life, you can still serve everybody. By knowing whom you want to meet, you can then identify where to find them. Identify your Niche. Reflect on your ideal clients or perhaps even just one special client. Your ideal client is the person most likely to buy from you, and whom you most want to serve. My ideal clients are identified on my website at SoloBizMarketing.com Your ideal clients:

  • Acknowledge or recognize a strong desire to have the outcome, experience, or solution that you provide.
  • Are motivated for whatever reason to take action to get it.
  • Realizes that the ROI exponentially exceeds the cost.
  • Can and will find the money to pay for your product or service.
  • Are thrilled with your product or service.
  • Tell their friends, family, clients, and colleagues about you and how much they love your work.

Strategy: Identify whom you want to meet. It helps you describe your target market so everyone can easily identify a perfect referral for you. Then identify where to go to meet them. It means that, yes, you can provide services to everyone and at the same time, just market to a specific niche. Identify where your birds flock together.

Business Card Scanner and Your Business Card

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Guest blog by Michael King, Designer/Owner, Black Swan Image Works, Graphic Design

Business card scanners have made it easier to control our lists of contacts. So far, so good. But not all cards scan equally well. Some don’t scan at all.  What about your card?

I find that cards I have collected that don’t scan well end up in a second, “enter by hand” pile. Often that pile lies unattended for weeks or months. Certainly long enough for me to forget where I met the person or why I wanted their card. This is not ideal for either side in the transaction. How does your card measured up?

  1. Light text on a black background. This is absolutely the worst combination for most scanners. If your business card must have a black background, some problems can be minimized by using a standard sans-serif font, preferably bolded, and set at a minimum of twelve points.
  2. Closely related to number one is a darker colored font on a black background. Think about it. This card may be difficult to read in anything but a very bright light. I recently encountered a card with a black background and deep purple text. Pretty, but not a good communicator.
  3. Small, light type on a color background. The scanner doesn’t get enough information to “read” the card. A rule of thumb: try not to use type sizes smaller than 10 points. Nine-point type may pass muster, but why take a chance?
  4. Script fonts or eccentric fonts. Fonts that deviate from the accepted letter forms are hard to “read.”

Most of the four traits are fairly easy for your graphic designer to rectify. But if you have a predominantly black and white or light color palette, you may end up having to recycle your current inventory of cards and go for a new design.

If you have any questions about any of the issues I have raised, please feel free to contact me at 303-477-4662 or michael@bsiw.us.

LinkedIn Positioning to Sell Your Book, Get More Clients, or Find a New Career

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A LinkedIn profile is the perfect way to have a web presence with or without a website. People can get to know about you and your book. Yes, it does take time and expertise to set up all the options, but once it is in place, you can update most of it in an hour or so.

LinkedIn is the #1 Professional Networking tool on the Internet. Pinterest is quickly taking over that spot. More than 75% of all books are sold on the Internet. Identify ideas to update your profile by looking at other profiles. Visit linkedin/com/in/carolnaff

So, the media reviewed your book or published your story

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You’ve done it. Your book was reviewed in the newspaper. Your story was told in the media. Congratulations! Now what?

That’s right; now what? Today’s newspaper or magazine is tomorrow’s recycling, but that doesn’t mean the life of your review is over — far from it, as a matter of fact.

That piece written about your book, a top 10 list, book review, article, or “think” piece (like an editorial or letter to the editor), still has lots of promotional juice left in it if you know how to squeeze it out.

According to marketing coach Carol Naff, here are just a few things you can do with your published works. Obviously, the rest of the world moved on to the next edition of whatever periodical has published your piece. Use this opportunity to drive traffic to buy more books or bring in more potential clients.

  • Tell the world about your published status by posting your piece on your website. You can either post a PDF of the article, or a link to the publisher’s website (assuming it is on their website), or you can post the original copy you submitted along with a mention of when and where it was published.
  • Email signature. Add a link in your email signature to automatically inform everyone about your review. Use it to drive traffic to your website.
  • Frame it. That’s right; make a nice clean copy on archival paper. Lay it out nicely to fit on a single page, and frame it like a photo. Hang it proudly in your office, home, or reception area. Then your visitors who missed your piece when it was published can see what it looked like. They might be just as impressed (if not more so) than the readers who stumbled over your article or review in the first place.

See additional tips to keep your publicity in the sun on solobizmarketing.com

Promote you and your book on Pinterest.com

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Finding new and exciting ways to engage with your customers online can help to revitalize a stale social media marketing campaign. Pinterest, a new image sharing social site, has built quite an online buzz and some brands are using the platform to engage with customers. Check out these great branded accounts:

  • Nordstrom
    Whole Foods
    Martha Stewart
    Better Homes & Gardens
    Real Simple
    West Elm
    Bergdorf Goodman
    The Today Show
    Travel Channel
  • Lands’ End

One of the biggest advantages to Pinterest is the demographic that has made the site popular. The site caters to a female audience (reportedly nearing 70 percent), most of whom are under the age of 45. This much sought after demographic can play a key part in the purchasing decisions of the average American household and your bottom line.

Now you might ask yourself, how on earth can my brand use an image sharing website? When you sell a seemingly uninteresting product or offer a unique service it might be hard to see how you can use a site like this to your advantage. But, with a bit of creativity and research, you’re bound to find a way to use the new platform.
Here are seven creative ways some brands can use Pinterest.

Hold a Contest
One creative way to utilize Pinterest is to hold a contest. Lands’ End recently held a contest it coined: “Pin It to Win It.” Participants were encouraged to browse the Lands’ End site, create pins of items they liked, and the most creative and stylish entries won prizes. This kind of contest can engage your audience and also gets them to your site, browsing your products, and linking to them!

It’s important to review any site’s Terms of Service if you’re looking to run a contest on their platform. As you can see, Lands’ End successfully launched the contest, it’s just up to you to come up with the concept. I could see successful photo hunts/treasure hunts, define your style contests, wedding wish-list contests, and many more!

Conduct Market Research
Have plans to revamp services or products in 2012? Why not test out new products or even your upcoming ad campaign on Pinterest?

Other brands have started using Pinterest as a platform to conduct market research or test product launches. In a recent Mashable post, one creative suggestion was to use Pinterest as sort of a social online focus group to see first-hand reactions, on a platform not as inundated as Facebook.

Feature Customers
One way to appeal to this demographic is to play to their vanity. Feature customers on your Pins, especially if you have a clothing boutique or store. “Customer A paired these shoes, belt and top to create this stylish winter cocktail party look!” Showcase customer purchases that exemplify their style or pin photos of products that go well together and that customer X recommends.

Have a wedding venue? Create pins for each of the events or weddings you hold at your venue. Feature each bride and groom and wedding party and take it that next step by creating a style board of the bride’s wedding style. Pin photos of decorations and elements that made the wedding unique. This will help other prospective brides to see that your venue can be transformed to fit their unique needs.

Present Concepts in a New Way
Did you know Pinterest allows you to add contributors to your boards? Have a few team members put together a storyboard on Pinterest to present to a customer. Or co-Pin with a customer to create a board full of ideas for their next event or shopping spree.

I could see this working especially well for an event planner, photographer, bakery, travel agent, art dealer and gallery, or even a jewelry designer. Each of these professions requires both parties to be in agreement on what is the final product style or idea. If the product or idea is presented in a clean, simple, and creative way, using Pinterest, it can stand a chance of being better received. Not only that, it allows you to creatively engage with customers, and prospects can see too!

Put a Face to Your Brand
Personalizing your brand’s style or what your brand stands for can be a hard thing to do with plain ol’ web copy. Use Pinterest to showcase your style, what makes you different, what your brand stands for, and use it as an opportunity to highlight your employees too. Putting a face to your brand is easily done with Pinterest.

Promote Your Image Content
I recently started a board of all my favorite infographics and a brand can do something similar. Feature all of your image content in one place for easy access.
Infographics, product photos, and your own photography can be featured. Do your research and see how other brands are using Pinterest to share their image content by browsing a few of the brand pages listed above.

Stylists, fashion editors, and personal shoppers can feature their image content to help them sell their services. Their style and ability to put together an outfit can be easily translated through a board on Pinterest.

I could see travel agents using Pinterest to help a customer see the full picture of their luxury vacation. Pin photos of activities in the area, landscape photos, and photos of the hotel lodging and other accommodations. The possibilities really can be endless.

Sell More Products
Add a “$” or “£” to your Pin description and Pinterest will automatically create a price banner for your photo. In the gifts section of Pinterest users are able to see your products, and if you do your job right you just might sell some products – by putting a link to the site where a user can buy your product (duh!). Don’t forget to take down the Pin once you sell the product, if applicable.

Using Pinterest in this way is great for artists, designers, arts and crafts peeps, jewelry designers, and even real estate agents.

Imagine creating a board of a property you’re trying to sell. Take photos of the property and surrounding areas. One idea might be to add photos of possible improvements that can be made to the home or those improvements the seller might be willing to pitch in on. By creating a board of all these items a viewer can quickly and easily see just how amazing the house is (or can be).

Summary
These are just a few of the creative ways brands can use Pinterest to spark interest and engage with customers. And to whet your palate for Pinterest even more, check out the announcement from Facebook last night – 60 new and exciting apps were unveiled including a Pinterest app! If you aren’t convinced Pinterest is here to stay, you certainly should be now.

How is your brand using Pinterest? Do you see additional benefits to using this popular site?

Speak so the Power of Persuasion Is On Your Side and Your Business Grows

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Sally Bonkrude

Guest blog by Sally Bonkrude, PositiveInnerChange. How would you like to grow your business by positioning yourself as an expert in your field? The best way to do this, is to get your message out to the world. And the best way to get your message out is by public speaking. Today, we have service groups where you can speak, and tons of meet-up and networking groups who want speakers. Public speaking is an important marketing tool for your business and there is no reason not to use it.

To position yourself as an expert by speaking, you not only have to know your stuff, but you have to be able to deliver your message in a way that draws people in and persuades them to take action.

Here are some beginning pointers….

  • Enjoy being “you” when speaking! Let go of trying to hide your imperfections. Let go of any need to impress, inspire or to be special. Being you is perfect enough!
  • Begin with a smile, soften, breathe and know that you are being of service to your audience through your message.
  • Send compassion out to your audience and in to yourself…we all need it.
  • Let your passion out and shine.
  • Don’t hold too tightly to following your notes or planned presentation, instead trust your intuition and go with that.
  • Always, listen to your audience before, during, and after your presentation.

During your presentation, pay attention to your audience’s body language. If they are bored, adjust your presentation. You might try asking questions or go for more interaction. Relax and be open to what needs to happen in the moment.

Sally Bonkrude is a professional speaker and also works with speakers to create and deliver a message that sells. As a psychotherapist, Sally also helps performers to overcome anxiety and step onto the stage with confidence. To connect with her go to: SallyBSpeaks.com/blog and positiveinnerchange.com

Yayoi Kusama’s work on view at London’s Tate Modern through June 5

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Horse Play Happening

Just recently, Yayoi Kusama jumped off the page of a magazine and got my attention.

Kusama released Happening in 1965. Since 1967 she had a lot of happenings and fashion shows not only in New York but also in Holland and Rome. As she got more active , she was influenced by an anti-vietnam war movement and American Presidential election and social elements were added to her art. She started creating Kusama Dress and textile , which were sold at department stores and boutiques all over the United States. In 1969 she opened her own boutique.

Polka dots, the trademark of “Kusama Happening.” Red, green and yellow polka dots can be the circles representing the earth, the sun, or the moon. Their shapes and what they signify do not really matter. I paint polka dots on the bodies of people, and with those polka dots, the people will self-obliterate and return to the nature of the universe. An excerpt from “Infinity Nets,” Kusama Yayoi Autobiograph. Visit Yayoi Kusama

To Use Business Social Media or NOT

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This question is frequently asked by my clients and alliance partners. You notice that all the ‘big guys’ are using social media. Name just one major company that does not use Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Actually, we should call it ‘business social media.” Add the latest player on the Internet, Pinterest.

According to Jeffrey Gitomer, “Social Media is the new cold call.” In his latest book, Social Boom, Gitomer states, “Business social media is the best, least expensive, most direct way of communicating with your customers to be discovered in the last 100 years. By taking complete advantage of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, you can promote and propel your business beyond the next level, beyond your competition, and beyond the economy. Now is not the time to go slow. Now is not the time to worry about a few negative comments from customers. Now is the time to capitalize on the opportunity … and become the market leader. Business social media will build your brand, your reputation, and your…

Business social media is valuable to:
1. Find clients and customers
2. Drive traffic to your website
3. Promote a sale
4. Hold a contest
5. Have a Web presence
6. Fill classes and seminars

This is the perfect way to have a web presence without a website. People can get to know you and your service. Yes, it does take time and expertise to set up all the options, but once it is in place, you can update most of it in an hour or so.

Strategy: Connect with me and then contact me to help you with your social media.
Facebook Business Page – facebook.com/#!/marinercompany
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/carolnaff
Pinterest –  pinterest.com/carolnaff

Trends Analysis by Thomas Frey

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We are in for a very exciting year ahead. It’s a year where many competing trends will collide, and through those collisions we will see new pathways emerge.

At the same time, many new trends are forming, some with enough steam to form entirely new movements, others that will run their course and splinter into other emerging ways of doing business.

The “new normal” is quickly becoming the “nothing normal,” and our daily routines, …read more at  ColoradoBiz magazine

Getting What You Really Want for your Business

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Creative Connections is pleased to present

The WOW Factor

January 20, 2012, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

Getting What You Really Want From Your Business

Running your own business often means being run over by your business. Those great ideas and energies you employed to launch your enterprise are so easily swamped by day-to-day demands of operating a business. Is it any wonder that 400,000 small businesses close their doors every year?

What goes wrong? Why can’t entrepreneurs find a way to prosper and grow their businesses?

The WOW factor workshop is designed for participants to tackle issues of dissatisfaction by exploring, redirecting, and focusing their human capital. In the process, participants will understand how to more effectively and efficiently connect their signature strengths and passion with the operation of their business.

By gaining clarity and perspective, the net result is the development of a plan to maximize the owner’s strengths and passion. At the same time, reducing the business’s operational drag that can sap energy, enthusiasm, and spirit. Read more…  

Two experienced businessmen will introduce you to steps to utilize your strengths.