Marketing & Advertising: You think sexy. I think research, design, timelines, budgets. I think work.

March 21, 2013 Leave a comment

I get it. Marketing is the sexy beast of the business and communications world. I mean, who would want to do accounting and finance, when you could create tantalizing designs, hilarious commercials, and give people dollars off left and right? And who would want to spend the time speaking the economics of supply and demand when you could be on site at a photo shoot or creating the next YouTube video that is sure to go viral? Who doesn’t want to be reminded of the final product wrapped in the glorious wrapping paper of Christmas past?

Frankly, many of us in the creative field think of marketing in the same way. Like the LMFAO song says, “[we're] sexy and we know it.” Yep. everyone wants to be like us.

Or do they?

For some reason, people are oblivious to the road – the thoughtful, time-intense journey – taken with every creative project. And for some reason, I think we, marketers, must forget he labor-intense, spastic, frantic, desperate road we took take to get to awesomeness. To be honest, sometimes that journey is a perpetual state of hell that you only wish you could escape anytime today, yet, the vortex of creative thinking and fast-approaching deadline laced with ungodly amounts of caffeine keeps us coming back for more. But, as usual, I digress.

The point is, marketing is work. And in order to get a great outcome, you have to be willing to put in the work.

So let’s spend a minute discussing 5 key elements that goes on behind the scenes.

  1. Business goals. Take time to know what you want to achieve. And let’s set the record clear right now. You don’t just want a Facebook like and you don’t just want your video to go viral. That sounds great and all, but friend, you need to dig deeper. Your goal is much bigger than that. So think why is this important. Let give you a hint. It’s because you want more people to know about you and eventually buy from you. This is what you want to strive for. And you should go even deeper. How much do you want or NEED to sell – and in what timeframe… Now we’re talking. As a consultatnt, before I get into the nitty gritty of anything, I take a step back to this very question… what do you want to achieve. This sets the foundation for EVERYTHING going forward. Why? Well, what good is a bullseye without a target?
  2. Budget. What type of money do you have to spend? This is in no way, shape, or form a superficial question. The budget let’s me know what amount of money we have to spend, which in turn determines the marketing channels to use, designers to outsource, and frankly how much work you may have to do on your own. If you have limitless budget, well then, you can go all out. Agencies, top designers, billboards, commercials, social media, catalogs, email campaigns, and the list goes on. However, if you’re working with a modest budget, you’ll have to be a bit more selective with channels and/or have to pull a lot of the weight on your own. You may find your best bet is to make social media and old-fashioned networking your best friend. Or you may find yourself creating emails using MailChimp. And frankly, if you don’t have the skills produce quality outputs, I say leave it alone or take the time to acquire the skills. In the world of marketing, it’s either time, money or both. Your budget will often determine the balance. (Find free marketing tools here)
  3. Research. It happens all the times. Research is one of those step that happens throughout the entire marketing process – before, during, and after execution. Things you need to research include competition, audience, what you have to offer, marketing channels, other parts of your business. And this is where the infamous SWOT analysis comes into play. Do you know you’re strengths and weaknesses. What about your opportunities and threats? Whp’s out there doing the same thing you’re doing? Why would the audience want to buy from you? Why wouldn’t they want to buy from you. How do you look different from the competiton? How do you look like your competition? What other factors may affect reaching your goal.  Is black the new pink (i.e. what are the hot trends?) What is you audience willing to pay? How much disposable income do they have?  Where do they spend theirt ime? What other things are going on within your organization that are also competing for your audience’s attention. What are the current marketing trends? You want to ask these and so much more. Plus, you should keep track of and recap the performance of your marketing efforts both during and after executing. In a nutshell, at this time, you’re looking to see if you need to make quick changes, whether or not you met your goal, and whether your efforts should be repeated.
  4. Strategy. In its simplest form your strategy outlines:
    1. Objective and goals: What are you planning to achieve? Sell $5000 in shoes? Increase clientele by 50%?
    2. Tactics: What marketing channels will you use? Will you have a giveaway or contest? Will you offer a discount? How long will your offer run?
    3. Location: Where will you tactics be executed? Right dead smack in the middle of the shopping mall? In the local beauty salon? Online? All of the above?
    4. Message: “Come in today and…” “Save $5″ “We provide the best… this side of the Grand Canyon”
    5. Voice/Tone: How will you talk to your audience? Will you be witty or does your audience and/or brand call for a more sophisticated tone?
    6. Timing: How long will your marketing campaign run? Two weeks? A month? A year? (Try to always have a place of end date or frequent check points.)
  5. Getting ‘er done. Once you’ve outlined your strategy, it’s time to put the pedal to the metal. This is where writing, design, video production, proofing, editing, Facebook posts, blog posts, website goodness, and all that other good stuff happens.

Now that I think about it, I agree. Marketing is sexy. It takes time, money, and a ton of work. Just like in the real world. — Makeup anyone?

Filed under Marketing

10+ Free Marketing Tools & Resources Worth Your Blood, Sweat & Tears

April 30, 2012 Leave a comment

As we know, not much in life is free. And whoever said love was free lied. That’s like saying social media is free. Everything in life comes at a cost. If currency isn’t the cost, then you better believe blood, sweat, tears, time, energy or some other type of emotional or physical output will be required. That’s just reality. So when you read this list, rejoice only momentarily. Though these are free tools, please expect to invest blood, sweat, tears, time, intellect, and a bit of frustration to make these free marketing tools worth your while.

Now that I have that out of the way, here’s my list of top tried and true free marketing tools and resources:

Blogs & Websites

WordPress.com. Whether you’re looking to produce a simple blog or a full-fledged website, WordPress is my top pick. With customizable themes (and a little design talent), you can easily create a unique website or blog that you can truly call your own. Don’t get me wrong, those in the industry often can spot a blog from a mile away. However, blogs are becoming more acceptable for use as a website. Not only are small businesses using them, well-established organizations are also using blogs to publish and house content. WordPress.com also integrates easily with top social meida sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, which makes it just that much easier to drive traffic to your blog. Finally, plug-ins, mobile apps, and other tools adds convenience while simplifying the management of your WordPress.com account. (Note: WordPress.com isn’t to be confused with WordPress.org. WordPress.org should be left to those who are more tech savy. Plus, you will incur costs as you will need to house a blog or website utilizing WordPress.org on an independent server.)

Social Media Management

HootSuite. Perfect for managing multiple social media accounts. Hootsuite integrates nicely with Facebook (including Facebook pages), Twitter, LinkedIn, and WordPress. Whether you need to post in real time or want to schedule posts, HootSuite makes it easy to do either. In addition, with a web app as well as mobile apps, Hootsuite lets you keep up with your social media accounts whether at a desk or on the go. And with Twitter notifications pushed to your cell phone, you have the option of being notified of customer engagement without the need of actually going into an account. The main areas of content I have with Hootsuite is 1) posting links and 2) posting images. For some reason, posting links seems to be fickle. You have to post it in the area with your content instead of the area that asks for a link. If you put it in the area that asks for a link, it will only post if you shorten it using the tools. Not good for me since I create custom links with bitly for future measurement. And neither links nor images seem to show the preview on the actual social media site. Since I believe previews and images increase engagement, I take the extra step to increase engagement. There is a paid option that allows more capabilities, however, if you only need lightweight management for up to five social media accounts, you’re golden.

TweetDeck. This is one of my favorite social media management tools. Frankly, TweetDeck is what got me hooked on Twitter. If you’re using Twitter from the Twitter.com website, do yourself a favor and use a different program to access Twitter. It’s so much more fun. TweetDeck was my first choice, and I haven’t gone away from it yet. (Though there was a scare before. I digress). Like HootSuite, TweetDeck is perfect for managing several social media accounts. TweetDeck is another free marketing tool that plays nicely with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I have found it a little harder to link Facebook pages to TweetDeck and I haven’t found the mobile app to be as friendly as Hootsuite. The inability to manage Facebook pages and the lack of a mobile app I like is what places HootSuite above TweetDeck in my book from a professional point of view. However, due to it’s desktop application that allows you to view multiple columns simultaneously, TweetDeck is a winner in my book. (Not only does TweetDeck allow you to show columns related to specific social media accounts, TweetDeck also can be customized to show columns including tweets related to a search term or hashtag (#) even if you don’t follow the user. This is perfect for industry research or stalking the competition. (Come on. We’ve all done it.)

Email

MailChimp. I’ve done the research. MailChimp won over Constant Contact as the preferred email tool. Here’s the scoop. MailChimp allows you to send up to 12,000 emails per month to up to 1,999 subscribers (mailchimp.com – view the details). If you’re just getting started or don’t have a massive email list, it’s a no brainer. MailChimp provides email templates, stores your email lists as well as integrates with Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, with MailChimp, you have access to important stats that help you determine the effectiveness of your email program. Here’s the caveat, I highly recommend you invest the time into choosing the right template and customizing it based on your needs. If you need to hire a designer to help with your template, please do so. And if you need to hire a consultant or content specialist/strategist to help determine the appropriate content strategy for your email program, please do so. Otherwise, you may just be spinning wheels. That’s worth the investment.

Yesware. As a plug-in on Google Chrome and Gmail, this is one of the best friends a person in direct sales could have. Not only does it allow you to create templates for sales letters, Yesware also allows you to track your emails. And it doesn’t just show you whether or not the email has been opened/viewed. Yesware also tells you the number of times the recipient opened/viewed your email as well as how long ago the email. Note: This is only free up to a certain number of tracked emails.

Research

Public Library. Remember all that work you did trying to identify your target market. From books to databases, the public libaray may have what you need to make market research a little easier. Since the tools may not be staring you in the face, do this: walk to the information desk and ask about the available small business resources. It will definitely take time to do your research and put the tools to work for you. Large organizations have access to sophisticate marketing tools and you may have that access also. Remember, my goal is to promote smarter marketing. Stop wasting time pushing messages to the wrong people and stop being in the dark as it relates to industry trends and best practices. It’s time you grow your business up with sophisticated tools that will only benefit you in the long run. #enoughsaid

Webinars, White Papers, Blogs, eNewsletters, Magazines: Okay. Organizations don’t provide free webinars (seminars via the web), white papers, blogs or newsletters simply out of the kindness of their hearts. All of these efforts are part of their marketing strategy. With a variety of goals in mind, from positioning themselves as experts and industry leaders to generating leads and awareness, organizations provide a wealth of information through these tactics. Though you may not be ready to bite on a paid service, there’s no reason you shouldn’t take advantage of the free knowledge they’re providing. Since this information can become overwhelming, be sure to only attend, download, and subscribe to items that are beneficial to your organization. And even with that you have to be sure to be conscientious of information overload. My top 5 organization to follow are: Social Media Examiner, HubSpot, Marketing Profs, AdAge, and Mashable. (Note: Certain organizations may require you to download specific software to access their information or attend their webinar. For “print” applications, the most common software needed is the Adobe PDF reader.)

Free Classes/Seminars: Your local SCORE chapter – who is part of the Small Business Administration – and other organizations may provide free offline classes and seminars. Take advantage of these. First, determine the local organizations that provide assistance to small businesses. Then make an appointment to see a rep to learn more about the organization. Ask if they provide classes, workshops or other resources. And don’t forget to visit their website often and sign up to receive their emails as this may be where they push information regarding upcoming classes, seminars or workshops as well as other useful information.

YouTube: Make this your friend and search for your topic of choice. I bet you’ll find something. Once again, organizations and consultants are looking to generate leads. They’re willing to provide information in order to establish themselves as an expert. Be cautious of the information you receive. Remember anyone can put information on YouTube, meaning that the information they give you could be as wrong as someone calling a blue wall red. So if you aren’t well-versed on the topic, be sure to run the information by someone who is. Even a well produced video could give you horrible information. Just saying. As my friend says, “you’ve been warned.”

Other – You

Your Yapper (AKA Networking). From local meetups to simply talking to a person at the local starbucks, networking is a key marketing tool. I sometimes think people get tired of hearing about my consulting business. And they probably do. But guess what? When they’re looking for a marketing consultant, I am top of mind. Goal achieved. So, toot your own horn. Even if the person you’re talking to doesn’t have a need for your product or service, they may know someone who does. Don’t count anyone out. However, do be wise about who you should spend more time vs. those who would simply benefit from a business card, warm smile, and quick overview of your offerings. And here’s what’s even better about networking – people take the time to tell you about resources you didn’t even know existed. (Shout out to my friends and family for being on top of it. They’re always sending or telling me about something that they believe I may deem valuable)

Blood, Sweat & Tears (AKA Hard Work). This is your number one free marketing tool. Either you put the time and energy into it, you pay someone to do it, or it doesn’t get done at all. It’s as simple as that. Blogs don’t write themselves, emails don’t send themselves, and you can’t benefit from the research if you don’t take the time to gather AND process it. From anxiety to hours of writing to bonafide tears, I’ve experienced it all. Like I said in a different post said, “Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it won’t cost you.” I’m a personal witness. But I can also testify to the fact that it truly is worth it.

Live, love & prosper

Filed under Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship, General Business, Marketing, Social Media Tagged with , , , , , , ,

10 Ways to Spot a Creative from a Mile Away

March 21, 2012 1 Comment

You say, “I need a creative person on my team.”

I say, “be careful what you ask for.” Creative people (also known as Creatives or creative types) are strange beings. I’m one of them. We find excitement in things the rest of the world cares a little less about, and we’re okay with it. In fact, we have our circle that’s just like us. And organizations love us because we keep things fresh. We think out of the box. In fact, many like to live vicariously through us. We have guts! Guts to live on the edge. And we love it.

Since Creatives have a hard time conforming, there are those who have a hard time with how we operate. It’s not that Creatives are bad. We just like to have fun. Those of us who learn how to balance the road between comforming and creativity do well. The others, well…have you ever heard of a consultant…or a beach bum…or someone simply chasing their dreams?

Now that we have that out of the way, the fun stuff – spotting your creative:

  1. They’re either a hipster or a geek. Their either socially awkward or they like to live on the edge – or they may be both. Allow this in the organization. It’s good for their creative minds.
  2. They get a little too excited about words, colors, typography, photography, and the arts. It’s okay you don’t get it. This is just part of their natural make up.
  3. They have (or used to have) random hair coloring, ink on their body, or some redunkulous (ridiculous) hair cut or hair style. Face it. Living with the same hair color style is B-O-R-I-N-G. I change my hair who knows how many times in a year. It’s all professional and presentable. If I had to stay the same…[insert scream]
  4. 9 time out of 10, they’re going to say something you don’t want to hear. Be okay with this. This is why you hired them. Creatives invent and take things to new levels. If you stunt their ability to be creative and push against the grain, you may stunt your organization’s success.
  5. They think of something that you didn’t. Be open to their ideas. They use a different side of the brain than others, and they help explore opportunities other people in the organization didn’t (and may not ever) think of.
  6. They’ll look like they’re slacking. They may not come in on time and they may seem to socialize a little too much. Clocks and boxes are not meant for Creatives. They have to be able to express themselves openly. When you box in a creative person, you also box in their creativity. Don’t do this. When you get the right one, they will work their butts off.
  7. They’re in tune with the latest technology. Creatives are early adopters of technology. Why? Because it’s different and cool. They don’t like to conform. Don’t expect their technology to conform either. They are the first with the latest devices. They know what creative programs to use. They know when it’s worth getting the upgrade and when it’s not.
  8. They’re surrounded by other Creatives. As the saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Where there’s one creative, you can be sure to find another, and guess what they’ll be talking about? Music, TV, typography, grammar, their blog, their website, their next personal project, their next professional project…you get the gist.
  9. Drama is part of their life. Yes. Creative people can get a bit dramatic. Expression – or should I say over-expression - is their thing. Frankly, they consider the dramatic expressions kinda fun. (Note: This type of drama is not to be confused with the petty “drama” that harms relationships.)
  10. Their cubicles are, well, different. From pictures to posters to trinkets to random personal or professional creations, you’ll see this at the desk of a creative. While everyone likes to make their cube “at home,” Creatives take it just a bit further. You will be wowed, inspired, or appalled by their unique expression. However, whether you’re wowed, inspired, or appalled, the one thing you won’t say is that it’s status quo.

Creatives are meant to create. Creating means inventing or modifying. This is just a natural extension of our DNA – and  it’s a huge pro for all organizations. Creativity is needed for growth. Accept it. You need us. We need you too.

Live, love, prosper.

Filed under General Business, Marketing, Uncategorized

Twitter Etiquette for Beginners: Part 2 – Build relationships

March 19, 2012 Leave a comment

Part 1 focused on general Twitter rules, where rule 5 was build relationships. As stated in Part 1, this isn’t to be an all-inclusive guide on all things Twitter. Instead, this is intended to help you understand what it means to be polite and acceptable when using Twitter. While this is intended for businesses, I’m sure there are individuals who can also benefit from these Twitter tips.

The Next 5 Lessons: Building relationships & beyond

  • Engage with you followers by using speaking to your followers using “@” mentions, sending a direct message, or even retweeting something they’ve posted. This is a great way to build relationships and say, “hey I’m interested in you too.”
  • Respond to people who have given you a shout out, “@” mentioned you, have sent you a direct message, or retweeted one of your posts. If you don’t respond, this is almost as bad as not speaking back to someone who said hello to you – and frankly, that’s rude. (Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to respond to people who send you SPAM.) Hot Twitter tip: Using a smart phone app and setting up a notification should will greatly help monitor these interactions.
  • Be a person. For some reason, organizations forget they are human. Instead, they become this brand or icon. While you need to be consistent with your brand, a simply random post lets your follower know you’re a person. Maybe you can talk about a remodel. Talk about what the environment in the office is like. Or just maybe even tweet what you’re having for lunch and how great it is. If you can tie it in with your brand, even better. This just lets people know, “Hey. I’m a person.” By the way, this means you can’t schedule everything  – you’ll actually need to be on Twitter (or a Twitter app) sometimes.
  • Say something valuable. Many times on Twitter we like to businesses like to push their product or service. ROI is the final goal, right? It is. However, you have to balance pushing your offering with actually saying something your user wants to hear. In fact, I know one brand who doesn’t directly push their product often. Instead, they reinforce their brand using humor, thus, building brand equity. This along with the other tactics they’ve used to in a rebranding effort has made me consider making the purchase over other top names.
  • Follow back. When people follow you on Twitter, it means they have interest in what you have to offer. Don’t be so rude to not follow back. I know that when you follow a lot of people, your Twitter timeline becomes hard to manage and follow. However, this gives you an opportunity to put the Twitter list function to use.

Filed under Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Tagged with , , , , ,

Twitter Etiquette for Beginners: Part 1 – The basics

March 12, 2012 Leave a comment

NOTE: This message is intended for twitter novices and even some who think they are twitter experts. This is NOT intended to help you know how to use Twitter or help be an all-inclusive guide on all things Twitter.  Learn what annoys Twitter users, can potentially get you blocked by users, can get you reported as SPAM, or can simply hinder your number of followers. If you think you know everything, maybe you don’t want to read. All others…enjoy.

The First 5 Lessons in Twitter Etiquette

 

  • Tweet. No, seriously. Do you know the amount of people who create Twitter accounts but then don’t tweet. This is not cool. In fact, if you’re looking to increase your number of followers, be sure that you have a significant number of tweets under your account. If you don’t tweet, there’s a chance that the end users won’t follow you.
  • Tweet frequently. Not just do you need to tweet, you need to tweet more than every once in a blue moon. On the other hand, this doesn’t mean tweet obnoxiously. By tweeting, you help others know “who you are.” And once you start engaging back and forth, you may even build some valuable relationships.
  • Complete your Twitter profile. This is how people know who you or your organization is and what you represent. This is also a way people decide whether or not they want to follow you. No profile is super suspect, especially with the number of Spammers out there.
  • Get to know the language. It’s TWEET people. You can tweet something or have a twitter post. I hate when people say that they like to Twitter something. There’s also hashtags (#), at mentions (which looks like “@”),DM which means to direct message which goes directly to your user, and RT
  • Build relationships. Social media is a thing of the new. Social networking is how the social sites began. Media is a one way street. Networking implies a give and take. It implies building relationships and getting to know one another. However, organizations make the mistake of being just one way, and this can be simply due to the fact that they’re oblivious to the fact that they don’t know how to interact. To determine how to interact, you have to determine how your audience is using the social networking site. This may take a bit of primary and secondary research, including simple observing to make this determination.

Filed under Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Tagged with , , , ,

Why I Removed Email from my Marketing Strategy

March 5, 2012 Leave a comment

It’s true. Email is a highly effective strategy for internet marketing. It definitely drives reaches your target audience as well as drives conversion. It’s a great way to increase awareness of a product or service, educate the market, and even get the market to take an action. And many people have opted in to receive the email…meaning they have said, “Yes. Send me junk mail valuable advertisements. I want to spend my money with you.”

But email is time consuming…and FOCUS is the word of the day. While on Twitter, I previously posed the question “how should a marketer spend their time?” The response that stuck out the most, spend your time where you make your money. Well, duh. It was a duh answer, but it was profound at the same time.

We, as marketers, get caught up in the hype of all the different tactics that we want to jump on them all. In reality though, that’s not always smart. We need to invest our time where we can see return. That’s what smart marketing is all about.

Since then, I have refined my marketing strategy. I’m not simply focusing on the fun, free, or even quick things. I recently focused on efforts that builds awareness and generates leads. From there, I have to close the deal.

Today, I pose this question, where have you gotten lost in the hype? Where are you wasting your time? What can you do better? How can you make your marketing efforts worth your while? How can you live, love AND prosper?

Regina R. Patterson, M.B.A.

Filed under Marketing Tagged with , , ,

Secrets of a Web Marketer: The stuff we think, but don’t always say

February 27, 2012 2 Comments

  1. Pinterest is the hot new thing, and we’re already effing it up, putting our little greasy paws in it. And we’re not going to stop until the next fad comes along.
  2. Competition is only a click away. That’s why we try to make sure you don’t EVER leave our site.
  3. We have a very short window to capture your attention and get you to take action. If we can get you to do this…shazaam, we’ve done our job.
  4. People are still scared to make transactions online…so umm yeah, the site better be secure.
  5. Design does make a difference…so get it right…or pay someone to get it right for you.
  6. In real estate it’s “location, location, location.” In content marketing it’s “ease of use, ease of use, ease of use.”
  7. Communicate quickly and clearly. No one is going to read through all the mess.
  8. There is an information hierarchy, but I’d have to kill you if I told you (j/k…that’s just kidding for you who still haven’t mastered those darn acronyms).
  9. We can smell a template, blog, and self-developed website from far away…so if you do it yourself, make sure you implement best practices. Otherwise…busted!
  10. I’m only on Facebook because you are.
  11. Twitter…how can I get them to my site in 140 characters or less?
  12. Social media isn’t the end all be all, but it’s free and EVERYONE is pining for it.
  13. A deep link is the best link. Don’t link a user to a destination and make them search for the information. That’s kinda rude.
  14. People die to hear these words: widget, flash, iWhatever, app, user-experience, user interface, HTML, code, CSS, SEO, SEM, social media, facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Pinterest, blog, Instagram, interactive, engaging, conversion…and the list goes on. Load your conversation with these words, and you’re instantly the smartest thing since the person who invented slice bread.

Filed under Marketing, Online Content, Website Design Tagged with , ,

INFOGRAPHIC: 5 Basic Questions to Ask Before Developing a Marketing Communications Strategy

February 20, 2012 Leave a comment

Filed under General Business, Marketing Tagged with , , ,

The Profitability of FREE: 6 Questions to Turn “Free” into Profitable Business

February 13, 2012 Leave a comment

As business owners, the one word in the English dictionary that may make us cringe more than any other word may be “free.” Other words that may make it to the top of the list of painful things we hear from our customers are: “discount,” “can I pay later,” “can I get a “hook up,” – you know anything that would encourage businesses to decrease prices in the effort to capture the customer.

I know. I’ve heard these words more than enough. “Can I get the family discount?” “Can you do it on a volunteer basis?” And yes, just like you, I want to scream at every instance I hear these words – primarily because I know the investment of time and other resources it takes to execute.

Yeah. It may seem that there can’t be high costs in designing a logo or developing a marketing strategy or even managing your social media accounts, but the cost is in the research, technology, labor, materials, and time that could be spent on paying clients. Time is money…and if you have a normal hourly rate, frankly doing something for free can simply be a means of cheating yourself. However, there are instances when there is profitability in free.

How many times have you seen “1st session FREE”…or “Buy 1 Get 1 Free”…or “FREE Sample”…or “FREE for the first 30 days”…or “FREE XXX with the purchase of $50 or more?” You get the gist.

These statements generally have an unstated goal, such as “I need to clear inventory,” “I want to hook you as a customer,” “I know you won’t buy any other way (and yes, this has already been calculated into my financial plan)” or “we need to do this in order to keep up with our competition.”

Offering something for free can be a very effective marketing tactics. However, YOU MUST BE SURE TO HAVE OBJECTIVE AND YOU MUST WEIGH THE PROS AND CONS. 

Before offering a free service or product, here are a few questions you should ask yourself:

  1. What am I looking to achieve? This is the first question you need to ask. Are you looking to gain new clients? To increase word of mouth? To get an on the spot purchase? To obtain a future purchase?
  2. What will I offer for free? You may have a full line of product or service offerings. It may be wise to offer smaller portion of the product as a sample or a service that is not as labor intensive as others but at the same time  educates the customer on you offerings and lets them know why they need you.
  3. Can I afford it? It’s wise to generally do some type of financial analysis prior to offering a free service determine how much it will affect their bottom line, esp. if they plan on losing money due to offering the free service. You need to understand how much they can afford to lose.
  4. Will you be able to keep up with the demand? Is your product or service so greatly desired that by offering it for free, you’ll get a greatly increased number of customers? (7-Eleven Free Slurpee day is a great example of those.) If you expect a high number of customers due to the free offering, you’ll need to make sure that you can keep up BEFORE offering it for free.. (Or simply manage your risk by limiting the number or type of customers who can take advantage of the free offering. (i.e. )
  5. What’s my risk? Will you have to neglect other customers to fill the demand of the customers looking for the free product or service? If so, this may not be a good option, or you’ll want to work this into customer’s expectations when determining project timelines. Remember, it costs less to retain an existing customer than to gain a new one.
  6. After they’ve bitten into the free offer, what’s my next step? This is the most important question of all. How do you plan to get them to make an actual purchase? Are you capturing email addresses? Do you give them a coupon? Do you send up a follow up email, and in what timeframe do you send that email? If you don’t have a follow up strategy, then all the effort put into offering something for free may have been in vain.

Filed under General Business, Marketing Tagged with ,

The Danger of Being Overly Ambitious

January 16, 2012 1 Comment

You’re on one side of the table. Your potential customer is on the other side. Your job…the pitch.

You have this one in the bag.

You tell them all you can do, and your prospect is definitely impressed. They’re drawn in with each word. They see it – how you’ll benefit their organization.

You’re even ready for the questions and requests that come your way. “Yes, Mrs. Smith, as a matter of fact, we can do that. There would be a small increase in cost, but we definitely can work it into the package.” (It doesn’t really matter what the “it” is. You can handle it.)

Then it came in slow motion. That request that you’re not ready for. However, instead of being transparent, you confidently say, “Yes. We can do that too.”

Liar. You can’t. For one reason or another…you don’t have the time, the expertise, the technical know how, or other resources to get it done.  But you said “yes,” and now you’re stuck. And even worse, your reputation is on the line. If you aren’t able to deliver, you may be screwed.

How could you have prevented this?

Just say no. If you aren’t ready to handle the customer’s request, be honest. Tactfully, let them know you can’t deliver what they’re asking for. Even if you lose the potential customer, you’ll keep your integrity, and your organization’s reputation won’t be tainted. Remember…you’ll always be able to pitch to more clients.

He Who Over Promises & Under Delivers

Being overly ambitious results in over promising and under delivering. As stated earlier, this will result in a huge blemish on your organization’s reputation – especially if your organization is a repeat offender.

There are several options that you can take in order to avoid being one who makes promises in which you can’t deliver:

1. Say no. As stated before, if you can’t do it, just say no. This doesn’t mean you have to let the prospect walk away unfulfilled. It just means you may have to seek 3rd party assistance to get the job done.

2. Be realistic with yourself. Know what you can do and what you can’t. Make sure you’re realistic about what’s on your plate, your skills, your resources, and what the amount of time it takes to complete what’s being requested.

3. Set customer expectations. Communicate timelines and needs in advance. Then continue communicating throughout the execution. Give status updates, communicate roadblocks and definitely give your customers opportunities to provide feedback.  Remember, you are in a partnership with your customer, and great  partnerships result from effective communication.

4. Be open to constructive criticism. Maybe you think you’re delivering effectively. However, your customer base doesn’t. Give them a chance to let you know. Allow your customer to give you feedback, both while you’re in teh process of completing a project

5. Obtain necessary skills or resources. If you find you are low on time or missing a certain skill or expertise, outsource the parts of the project in which you need help. If you’re budget doesn’t allow this, it will be better to say no than to get into a pinch. ~ On the other hand, if you’re simply need to enhance skills – such as presentation skills, design, writing, etc. – get training. Consult or hire an expert or seek out the proper education to help with development.

Reach for the Stars…

We’ve all heard this – and it’s not bad in theory. We all have goals. And this is great. However, if you’re ill-prepared, you will get burned. So, before you have to stop, drop and roll, make sure you have the skills and resources necessary to prevent unwanted blazes from down yonder.

Live, love & proser,

Regina

Filed under Entrepreneurship, General Business, Marketing Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

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