Another issue of Be Heard!, the free weekly ezine, is now available. Check out a free webinar tomorrow night at 8pm ET on how to integrate your marketing. Also, learn how to email a reporter and not get deleted, and get contacts at Fortune Magazine!
Check it out here.
Nearly 75% of Americans believe that we have entered a recession. That’s according to a ecent CNN poll.
And it’s no wonder. Unemployment on the rise. The housing market has tanked. Forget getting a loan or credit. Couple that with an increase in food and fuel costs, time are certainly tough.
For more people in business, it’s time to tighten belts. But that doesn’t mean you should be cutting your marketing.
Research shows that if you keep up your marketing efforts during an economic downturn, you can keep your business running and have a competitive advantage.
A number of studies that analyze past recessions have consistently shown that sales and profits have dropped off at companies that reduce their marketing efforts. During these downturns, advertising was the marketing communications strategy of choice. But today, another strategy has now triumphed as the most effective-and most efficient-tool to weather the storm: public relations (PR).
Why PR?
Besides being low cost, it provides a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd, especially when so many businesses are scaling back and keeping hush.
So do you have news to share? In times like these, a journalist is looking for stories that feature positive business news. Think of a profitable quarter, expanding your workforce, new joint ventures, and other announcements that buck the downturn trend.
These days, email has become a staple in the workplace. Building an email list is so important if you want to retain your contacts and build healthy relationships with them. Studies are showing that most business prospects wont even recognize you or your brand until your seven emails in. That doesn’t even include them actually buying or using your services. With that being said, take time to build an effective email list.
Now, a truly effective email contact list is difficult to create and manage, but it can be done and it’s worth it. Try out these tips:
Make a Form - Create a registration form for potential users to fill out. Make the form visible to your users and you will see how many people fill out your form daily. Studies show that an opt-in box is great, but a squeeze page – a landing page that people first see when they go to your website encouraging them to opt-in – brings even better results.
Give to Get - Give potential subscribers to your list a reason to sign up. Like it or not, people online virtually expect to receive something for free before they buy. In fact it is only usually after they have received your free offer and have satisfied themselves about the quality of the information before they go on to buy.
Guarantee Privacy - Scam artists play a large role on the Internet. This is why users are skeptical on whether or not to provide personal information. Provide a privacy policy and make your personal information readily available on your website.
Another issue of Be Heard!, the free weekly ezine, is now available. One last Publicity Breakthrough left! Get it before it’s gone. Learn tactics for creating an online buzz, and get contacts at C-SPAN.
Check it out here.
A few days ago, I shared one tip on how you can be helpful to attract more customers and clients.
Here’s another idea: use the media to show how helpful you are to your prospects.
By using press release and other media relations tactics, you can connect with your target market through the endorsement of an independent third party (the media). When someone writes about your product or service, it lends credibility that paid advertising simply cannot.
Why it works? Appearing in a newspaper or magazine, or on TV, radio or an Internet media site:
So what can you do?
Send out timely, newsworthy press releases on a monthly basis.
Being a small business owner in today’s economy, you may find it difficult to compare yourself to the big businesses that tend to try to cast shadows over smaller companies. What your failing to realize is that your business can offer just as much as the huge moguls can. It’s all about reconfiguring your mindset, forgetting all of the norms you have built up in your head.
You may have more limited resources, and less finance at your disposal, and these kinds of things tend to make you think small scale. If you can make yourself think big, your goals for success may come a little more easily. You wouldn’t be in business if you didn’t believe in what you’re selling. In all actuality, you’re selling yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, who else will?
You started up a small business in order to live your dream. You have a passion for what you do and want to share that passion with your clients. You may advertise a service or a product, but what’s behind that ad is what counts. You make that service available and attainable. You are the brains behind the entire operation and you should take pride in that. If you lack pride or passion, consider reevaluating your reasons for starting up your business. Did your business take a turn you never intended it to? Is a small response rate causing you to lose your drive? You have to remember one thing — making a success of your small business takes an immeasurable amount of dedication and drive, so muster up every ounce of perseverance you originally started with and continue to push forward.
Reject the mindset that because you are a small business you are small scale and will only reap small benefits. You need to have a big vision for your company and where you’re going to take it. The bigger the vision, the bigger the rewards and you deserve the success you get in return for your hard work. The more you believe in you, the more others will too. You need to stomp on the modesty you were taught to exemplify, and learn to sell every aspect of yourself. YOU are your business and if people don’t believe you have what it takes to make it big, they won’t believe your business will do anything for them.
Once you’ve reprogrammed the way you think about yourself and your business, you’re halfway to success. You can avoid becoming part of the statistic that most small businesses fail within its first year. You have become your main selling point. You are the brand. The services or products you provide are secondary to what you can do for your client. Once your clients realize that you are an expert at what you do, their repeat business will become inevitable, which is the main goal of a business. Give clients a reason to associate your brand with you, and success is sure to follow.
Another issue of Be Heard!, the free weekly ezine, is now available. Get info on signing up for your Publicity Breakthrough, how to publicize an event, and get contacts at Los Angeles Times.
Check it out here.
In my Monday Media Marketing Minute over at Startup Spark, I shared why you need to be the missing piece of your customers’ puzzle.
Once you figure out how you ‘fit’, you then need to tell your customers.
If the list is correctly targeted to your potential customer, direct mail is an accurate, testable, flexible and highly personal way to make a connection. It also allows you to measure the response to your campaign if planned correctly.
Direct mail has many advantages. It puts your business information into the hands of your target market on a personal level without actually meeting them. It also precisely targets those individuals who need to know about your business.
No matter what information you have in your direct mail piece (I prefer postcards because they’re cheap and colorful!), you need to make sure you have a call to action that addresses that missing piece your customers are looking for.
Another issue of Be Heard!, the free weekly ezine, is now available. Get the scoop on a free webinar with ReadyTalk on promoting your webinar or teleseminar (August 6 at 2 PM ET, 11 AM PT). Also find out more about social networking for business, and get contacts at O, The Oprah Magazine.
Check it out here.
