Are you ready to create a marketing piece, but don’t know where to start? Regardless if you’re doing it yourself or getting professional design and writing help, there are some simple, yet essential steps to follow that will make the whole process go smoothly and prevent costly mistakes. Here are 10 questions to answer before you create a marketing piece: What is the purpose or objective of your piece — to entertain, inform or to persuade? What action do you want your prospects to take — request information, visit your website or call you? Keep your marketing purpose in mind when…
Today I have some good news and some bad news. First the good news. The good news is that the great people at SmallBusinessCEOMagazine.com are publishing an article in their December issue that was submitted by yours truly. Click here to read my article: “How Relationship Marketing Can Help Your Business During Bad Economic Times.” If you haven’t visited SmallBusinessCEOMagazine.com yet, you’ll have to check this out. They have created an incredible open-to-the-public online magazine just for small business owners and entrepreneurs like us. You can access articles written by the top people in their professions. They also have a…
Can a bad economy put a dent in your sales? Sara, a colleague of mine, thought so as she watched her sales decline during the last six months. Like most of us, Sara has heard the news reports suggesting that we are in a recession. She wondered if the reason her sales are down is the bad economy. I asked if she had recently cut back on her advertising and marketing, and if she was using relationship marketing to promote her business. “Yes, I am pulling in the purse strings and limiting my expenses,” Sara replied. I asked if she…
Do you have dismal results from your direct mail campaigns? As a small business owner, it can be frustrating to spend time and money on a postal mailing and not understand why it failed to deliver. If you want to increase your postal mailing response rates, I recommend you follow these 12 proven tactics. Know your objective. Do you want customers to place an order, call you, visit your website, or return a reply card? Create an eye-catching design or theme for your campaign. Use the same theme for every piece in the campaign. Explain the benefits rather than listing the features. Make the…