Dramatically Improve Your Marketing Results With These 6 Simple Steps

What if there were a few simple things you could do right now that could help you to market more successfully in the future? Even if you didn’t have your marketing act together over the past year. Well, there are.

Keywords:

marketing effectiveness, marketing results, marketing plan, marketing

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What if there were things you could start doing now that could help you to market more successfully in the future? Even if you didn’t have your marketing act together over the past year. Well, there are.

(1) Review your past marketing activities and results

Take some time to review all of your marketing activities and try to understand which ones worked best. And when I say “worked best” I mean, which ones resulted in more clients, more customers, more sales, or more growth for your business?

Your goal each year should be to understand which marketing activities bring you more business and which ones do not, so you can concentrate on the activities that work, and delete the ones that do not. Even if you did not have an organized marketing plan, or marketing activities that you implemented consistently during the past year, if you are still in business today, then there must have been some form of marketing going on.

(2) Broaden your definition of marketing

Marketing isn’t only things like running an advertisement, or sending out a direct mail piece. It's anything you do that puts your business, product or service in front of the prospects you are trying to sell to.

You may be surprised to realize you’ve been marketing more than you know!

Any time you talk to someone about your business, product or service, in person, at an event, over the phone, or through a brochure or some form of media, you are marketing. Any time you send someone an email or a thank you card from your business, you are marketing.

Be aware of any time you are communicating with current customers, or potential customers. Take the opportunity to make them aware of new products or services, special offers or programs, or even milestones or changes in your business.

Do you include your business card every time you mail a letter to a client or prospect? Do you have an email signature that includes your business name, your phone number, your email address, your website address and possibly even your tagline? You should. You are reminding people about your products and services and making it easy for them to find out more if they so choose.

If you truly believe that your products or services can enhance people’s lives, then it should be easy to share the word at every opportunity. After all, if people don’t know about you, they can’t benefit. Put this way, it is almost a disservice to NOT market.

(3) See if you can track your sales to your marketing, either directly or indirectly

Take a look at the marketing you did do, taking into consideration all of the activities mentioned above. Can you directly or indirectly track any new or increased business to these activities? An example of direct tracking might be: You attended a networking event and someone you gave your business card to, contacted you or made a purchase.

An example of indirect tracking might be: You attended a networking event, and someone you gave your business card to, referred you to a friend, and that friend contacted you or made a purchase. For each marketing activity you did over the past year, ask yourself the following questions:

(a) Did I get any new clients, customers or increased sales as a direct result, or an indirect result, of this activity?

(b) If the answer is yes, quantify the result by asking yourself: How many new clients, customers or sales did it generate?

If you can't seem to track your past marketing activities, consider asking your current customers how they found out about you.

You could do a survey that includes a number of customer satisfaction questions, but also includes a question to determine how they found out about you.

If you have a handful of clients that you work closely with and you really don’t know how they found you, pick up the phone and ask them.

At the end of this exercise, you will have a list of all of your marketing activities, and the results connected to each one.

(4) Separate those activities that resulted in business from those that did not

Are there any activities on your list that did not result in new or additional business? If you gave these activities a good opportunity to bring you business, then maybe it's time to consider dropping these activities and trying some new ones. After all, there is no sense continuing to spend money on marketing that has not proven to be effective for your business. Even if it has worked for someone else, it may not be a good marketing activity for you and your business.

(5) Use this information to plan your marketing for next year

Plan to spend more time, energy and/or money on those activities that brought you business and sales. These activities have proven themselves to be effective for your business, product or service. So odds are if you commit more to them, they will result in even more sales. And, if you really don’t have any way to track your sales or new clients, don’t beat yourself up. You are not alone. In fact, one of my biggest challenges as a marketing consultant has been to get my clients to track the effectiveness of their various marketing activities. Just make sure to remedy this now, once and for all. Commit to never implementing a marketing activity again without some way to track how effective it is.

(6) Set up a way to track all future marketing activities

Recognize the importance of tracking and make sure that you have a plan in place to track all of your future marketing activities. The simplest way to track is to simply ask each new customer where or how they found out about you. You may also want to consider including a code on any flyers or brochures that you distribute, and providing a reason for the customer to bring that flyer in when they come to make a purchase. Reasons to return the flyer could be to take advantage of a special offer, or to get a discount or free bonus gift.

You can also do this by phone or on the Internet if that is how your customers make purchases. Simply ask them to provide you with the code on the brochure or flyer that they are calling or ordering from. Make sure the code is specific to the location or group of people that you distributed the flyer to. If you are networking or speaking to a group and someone gives you their business card and agrees to receive your free report or e-newsletter, make sure you include a reference in your contact database of the event where you met them. For every marketing activity you do put a plan in place to help you track all them. Effective tracking is by far one of the easiest ways to improve your marketing effectiveness. And when you zero-in on what marketing activities are most effective for your business, you will be able to focus your efforts on only those activities, and will be able to spend less and get more as a result.

(C) 2005 Debbie LaChusa

Dramatically Increase your sales with these tips

Everyone can use more sales right? It has been proven that you can develop and run a successful business on the Internet if you apply certain principals.

Keywords:

business, internet marketing

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If your are just starting a business venture then the following tips will provide you with a solid foundation for growing your new company and if you have been in business for a while you can use these tips as a supplement to your existing marketing strategies.

The results of the following tips may vary based upon your dedication to applying these tips on a daily basis.


1. Sign-up to win web site awards. When you win, some award sites publish your web site link, name and description on their site.


2. Join online business associations or clubs. If you join, they will usually list all their members on their web site. It will give your business extra exposure.


3. Utilize a simple form of viral marketing. Write or have someone else write a small report with your ad included on it and allow others to give it away.


4. Improve your business by promoting customer feedback. Tell them you want their honest opinions about your business, good or bad.


5. Design your packaging so it sells your products. Utilize colors and lettering that make your product more attractive to your prospects.


6. Compare your product's guarantee to your main competitors. Find a niche were your can design your guarantee to be more powerful.


7. Try not to assume your audience understands everything in your ad copy. If you have words they may not know the meaning to, define them.


8. Build alliances with other online businesses. You could trade links or ads, create joint venture deals; cross promote your products, etc.


9. Design your web site to be a valuable resource for people. Include original content, links to other interesting web sites, ebooks, software, etc.


10. Compete with the highly branded businesses by practicing good
customers service, strong product quality and speedy service.

Make a commitment to apply at lease one of these tips each day and you will be amazed by the results.

Clean Your Shower Curtains and Make them Sparkle like New with these Easy Tips

Make your shower curtains shine like new with these simple cleaning tips...

Keywords:

shower curtains, shower curtains line, easy to remove shower curtains, shower curtain liner

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Dirty or moldy shower curtains will give you a drab feeling while taking a shower or bathing. They also cause your entire bathroom to look messy or dirty. Because shower curtains line the bathtub, which is always creating moisture, they tend to mildew easily and get soap scum build-up.

Unfortunately, cleaning shower curtains is never a welcomed task. It seems like too much work to remove the curtain and liner from all the rings for a good washing. Perhaps you often take the easy way out and just spray them with shower cleaner and let the water run over them!

Either way, they must be removed and cleaned thoroughly at least every few weeks to keep your bathroom looking shiny and fresh. Use the tips below to make shower curtain cleaning much easier.

Vinegar, Bleach, and Baking Soda

If you use a vinyl or plastic liner, you may be able to wash it in the washing machine with a cup of vinegar and a cup of bleach. Check your labels to be sure the chemical will not harm the materials or cause cracking. Use cold water only - hot may melt your material. Wash the shower curtains along with white towels and a regular amount of detergent after running them through the cycle with bleach and vinegar to give them a fresh smell.

Once you're finished washing your shower curtains, don't put them in the dryer. Instead, hang the curtains in the bath as normal and allow them to drip dry.

For fabric curtains, use a cup of baking soda instead of vinegar and bleach. To remove any mildew or mold, wash fabric shower curtains in hot soapy water with just a tiny amount of bleach or color-safe bleach for colored fabric. Soak fabric curtains in a salt-water solution to prevent molding, but only use a small amount of salt to prevent crystals from forming on your curtains.

While you have the rings off the rod, give them a good cleaning as well!

Cleaning Shower Curtain Liners

Shower curtain liners can be cleaned similarly to the shower curtains depending on the materials they're made of. Be sure your liner is washable in the washing machine before trying it. Also, keep your liner clean in between by spraying it with mold-resistant cleaner and rinsing the liner thoroughly at least every few days. You can do this while it's still hanging in the tub.

Easy-to-Remove Shower Curtain Liners

There are now easy-to-remove shower curtain liners that zip on and off just below the rings. This enables you to remove the liner without taking it off the rings. Shower curtain liners such as these can save much time and effort when you're in a hurry. They're also great for the kids' bathroom because you may need to clean theirs more often.

When you face that daunting task of cleaning your shower curtains, just imagine how fresh and beautiful your bathroom will look. Use these tips to make your shower curtains and shower curtain liners look sparkling new!

Enjoy Direct Daily Payments for Years to Come with these Business Ideas

Learn about the types of Internet home businesses and how you can start earning direct daily payments for years to come...

Keywords:

daily cash, daily money, daily payments, get paid daily, internet home business, home business opportunity, make money d

Article Body:

If you plan to start an online business, there are many options to consider. There are Internet businesses where products are sold from a warehouse or an inventory storage building. There are online businesses that sell information only. There are also online businesses that sell services, but not tangible products. The list of opportunities goes on and on. But which one will bring in direct daily payments to you? Let's explore some home business ideas to see which will be right for you.

What are Direct Daily Payments?

Direct daily payments are payments that come directly to your bank account, PayPal account, or wherever else you might receive payments. The payments come from the customers directly to you instead of through another company's payroll. You will be your own boss and control the money. Realistically with any business, you are not likely to start receiving direct "daily" payments when you first start the business. But with some opportunities, the payments might come rolling in more quickly than you think.

Internet Home Business Offering Tangible Products

An Internet home business that offers tangible products usually involves stocking inventory and shipping products to the customers. You can sell any type of product, from golf supplies to gift baskets to auto parts. The benefits are you can build a business based on your personal interests and build it to a successful -and even very large- operation over time. You can still receive daily money for products once the business is established.

If you don't want the hassle of offering your own products, you can sign on as an affiliate to sell products for others. With affiliate programs, you'll earn a commission every time you refer a new customer when they make a purchase. Affiliate programs can be lucrative, but they also take a while to build. Research carefully before relying on affiliate programs to be sure the companies are stable for long-term earnings.

Service-Oriented Home Business

A service-oriented home business enables you to get paid daily, weekly, or monthly for a service. The service can be anything - writing, web design, web hosting, accounting, transcription, data entry, marketing, and so forth. With a service business, you're paid according to your time and skills, and you don't have to keep any inventory on hand.

Turn Key Internet Home Businesses

A home business that is already set up for you with a website, customer service, and products or services to offer is called a turnkey home business. This type of business usually requires a minimal investment on your part to set up, but you'll be responsible for promoting the business. Some opportunities will even promote for you, but may require a larger initial investment.

A turnkey business allows you to start an Internet home business without all the typical costs involved with startup. You can sign on with a company and reap the benefits of their product or service, their promotional efforts, and training. They do all the legwork for you so it's much easier to get started. Some turnkey businesses do offer products or services or digital products such as e-books while others may be similar to an MLM program. They teach you how to market their business so you can make money daily in a shorter period of time.

To start receiving daily money with a healthy residual income, study these types of online businesses to see which one will fit your time schedule, start-up budget, skills, and interests. If you need a steady income now, choose a home business opportunity with the most potential for earning direct daily payments in the near future.

Do These Myths Make Your Meetings Miserable?

Surveys show that businesses waste 20% of their professional payroll on bad meetings. Gain huge savings by managing these seven myths about meetings.

Keywords:

Effective Meetings, One Great Meeting, Steve Kaye, Leadership, facilitator, business meeting, facilitation, minutes, agenda

Article Body:

You can hold effective meetings and become a more successful leader if you avoid these seven monsters. Here's how.

> Myth 1: Executives belong in meetings.

Although the demands of business cause executives to attend more meetings than other professionals, executives should be very selective on which meetings they attend. Top management is responsible for vision, strategy, plans, and communication. That means wise executives spend most of their time thinking, learning, planning, and communicating. Inefficient, ineffective meetings waste the time of the company's most valuable employees.

Better: Ask probing questions when invited to make sure that your presence will add value. For example, "What are your goals for the meeting?" "How will I contribute to achieving those goals?" and "How can I prepare for the meeting?" After all, you want to contribute to an effective meeting if you decide to attend.

> Myth 2: Holding a large meeting is impressive.

Actually, holding a large meeting is expensive. It can also be impressive if it is conducted properly, which means that it will be as small a possible.

Better: Invite only those who can make meaningful contributions. The likelihood of holding an effective meeting diminishes with groups larger than ten or twelve.

> Myth 3: Structure inhibits spontaneity.

This is true if your goal is to obtain random outcomes over infinite time. While this may occasionally produce spectacular results, such as winning a lottery, you can achieve predictable results faster by applying structured activities. These help people make methodical progress toward results. Otherwise, the group is attending a party, instead of working in a meeting.

Better: Use structured activities to keep you in control of your meeting and make progress toward results.

> Myth 4: People are too busy to prepare agendas.

Since there is always time to repeat a task, fix a problem, or make an apology, there must be time to take the steps that avoid such dilemmas. Overall, preparing an agenda saves time and money.

Better: Prepare an agenda or, if you are too busy, ask someone to do it for you. Then send the agenda to the participants so that they can prepare for the meeting.

> Myth 5: Minutes are unnecessary.

This is true for any meeting where people wasted time producing nothing. Effective meetings produce results that are worth documenting. Minutes serve to track action items, record decisions, and inform others. If you are planning a meeting with no results worth documenting, ask yourself why that meeting is necessary.

Better: Record key ideas, agreements, and action items during the meeting. Then convert these notes into minutes.

> Myth 6: Meetings should last a long time.

While this may be true for some meetings, most meetings can be conducted in less than an hour. Long, casual meetings lull people into lethargy. In general, people are able to focus on a task for 30 to 60 minutes. Then their attention fades and they take mental holidays to think about other things.

Better: Plan meetings where you spend time and resources in proportion to the value of the results. That is, an effective meeting should be designed to earn a profit. Also, plan short breaks every 50 minutes.

> Myth 7: The effectiveness of meetings is a low priority.

This is true if you seldom hold meetings. Of course, if you have more than two employees, you need meetings to make decisions, reach agreements, and develop solutions. Effective meetings are a critically essential activity in running a business. They harness the combined wisdom of your staff to invent products, increase sales, improve productivity, plan strategies, and create success.

Better: Learn how to plan and conduct meetings that make your business a success.

Get More Clients For Your Home-Based Business by Avoiding These Five Deadly Mistakes

If you're receiving all kinds of opportunities to bid on contracts, yet don't seem to be converting prospects into buying customers, there may be a problem in the way you're trying to sell yourself. Don't let these five deadly mistakes kill your chances of success.

Keywords:

home-based,home,business,entrepreneur,work from home,work at home,entrepreneurship,job,based,SOHO

Article Body:

Not long ago, I put out an RFP (request for proposal) for a virtual assistant to take over technical responsibilities for my web site, shopping cart and autoresponder, so I can focus my efforts on several large projects and my private clients.

I received close to 20 offers, however, less than a handful made enough of an impact for me to request a personal interview.

Of those I chose not to pursue, it's not because they were incompetent or lacking in any way. I'm sure they are competent VA's with a great deal to offer. The problem was the way they were communicating to me ... the potential client.

You can rest assured no matter what business you're in, you will be competing with perhaps hundreds, if not, thousands of other businesses who are vying for your ideal client, and you need to separate yourself from the others by avoiding these five deadly mistakes.

1. Not understanding the prospect's needs, or worse yet, completely ignoring them!

My needs were clearly listed - web maintenance, shopping cart and autoresponder administration. One of the offers I received listed typing, transcription, scheduling appointments and making travel arrangements as the services provided.

No mention of providing the technical skills I required.

If you're submitting a quotation to provide a product or service, make sure you understand what the prospect needs, then tell that prospect how you can meet those needs.

If you merely provide a list of what you offer with no reference to what the prospect is looking for, she will think you either a) don't pay heed to what you're reading, or b) just don't care - and either one of them will put your proposal into the round file.

2. Not walking your talk.

One bid listed web maintenance and design as a service offered, however, the bidder didn't have a site of her own or offer any references or testimonials for sites she 'allegedly' maintains.

If you offer a particular service that can be verified, provide testimonials, references and samples in your original bid so the potential client can corroborate them.

People are busy and if you don't give them what they want on first contact, they aren't going to take the time to contact you for more information when five, ten or fifty other proposals are giving them what they need.

3. Vague testimonials.

One bid provided a link to a web site where I could read testimonials. The testimonials were one and two liners followed by clients' labels instead of their names, locations, or businesses.

For example, "Betty does good work. - Accountant", "Betty always has her work to me on time. - Chiropractor."

If your services are worthy of receiving testimonials, there is no reason why the providers shouldn't approve the use of their name, business and town to validate the testimonials as authentic. Adding a picture creates even greater validation.

4. Don't meet requirements, but want the business anyway.

One proposal came with a note, "I don't know how to do what you need, but I'm willing to learn."

The thought and aspiration may be there and perhaps, you can learn, but ... if you're competing with many others who are qualified and can step in and start work right away, your bid will be discarded immediately.

Find out what kinds of services others in your industry are providing that you're not. Also, find out what kind of demand is being made for those services. If you discover numerous requests being made for a particular skill, consider learning that skill and get yourself into the game.

5. Don't make it all about you.

I received two offers that demonstrated no real interest in how they could meet my needs. The first went as follows ...

"I love working with coaches! I've been running my own business for "x" years. I have a degree in "x". I worked as a nurse's assistant for 'x' years, then decided to pursue my love of organizing, and I have ..." - there was no mention of skills that would meet my needs.

The second was similar ...

"Our company would like to offer you a free 1 hour consultation over the phone to tell you further information about who we are, what we do, and how we work." - does anybody care about the prospect and what she needs?!

One of the primary rules of marketing was missed in both.

When people are considering your service or product, they're looking for help or to fill a need. The only thing on their mind is "What's in it for me?" Nothing else. Nada. Zip. So make sure your entire focus is on what you can do for them.

If you're making any one of these five deadly mistakes, take corrective action right away.

Once you've mastered the art of how to communicate with your prospects and give them what they want, they'll be beating a path to your door.

2006 © Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source

Earn an Extra Income with these Home Business Opportunities

Learn about some unique home business opportunities and how you can get started with your own home business...

Keywords:

home based business opportunity, make money on the internet, work at home jobs

Article Body:

No matter what your skills or interests, there are many opportunities to make money on the Internet. Whether you're a career mom who wants to stay home while earning a living or a father who wants to earn an extra income, the Internet is still wide open for success.

Below are some unique ways people are earning money online and tips on how you can get started.

Information Research and Brokerage

The Internet is often called the "Information Highway" because so much information is available online. Someone has to find and compile this information through research and put together helpful materials, articles, brochures, manuals, and so forth. Businesses and organizations usually need a continuous flow of information to provide to their users. This gives you a great opportunity for employment from home. You can find work-at-home jobs researching or preparing informative materials for one particular company or start your own home business providing the services to several companies.

Specialist Opportunities

If you wish to specialize in a certain field, there are many home business opportunities in various fields such as real estate, finance, education, writing, and retail. You can narrow your job search to the fields of interest to find a job you love. For instance, if you've always wanted to work in real estate, you might find a work-at-home job with a real estate company. Even if you're not a real estate agent yet, there are opportunities for clerical work, photography, website design, accounting, and more.

Niche Home Based Business Opportunity

Another type of home business is the "niche" business. "Niche" means a unique product or service - something that is not available just anywhere. Perhaps you've developed a certain product or have found a rare product that you can buy wholesale and sell through your own website. Or, you might have a unique service to provide to individuals or business owners. The possibilities are endless!

Affiliate Marketing and Other Moneymaking Methods

Another way you can earn money online is through affiliate marketing. You can become an affiliate of one or more companies and sell their products or services for a commission. To do so, you will probably need your own website. Some companies will provide a ready-made website for you; however, you should have the ability to customize the website for uniqueness in the search engines.

You can also work for companies online that are involved in marketing or finance. There are paid survey programs, turnkey opportunities, and wealth-building programs to help you create multiple streams of income. With paid survey programs, you fill out survey forms online or participate in product forums to earn dollars. Some are earning $100 to $200 per day doing this full time while others earn a great part-time income.

With turnkey opportunities, you are provided a website that has been tested and all the tools you need to build wealth. Some turnkey solutions require a fee to start, some are free. Just be sure to check out the company first for legitimacy.

As you can see, home business opportunities are available for just about anyone. There are work-at-home jobs or opportunities to start your own business. Choose what will work best for you so you can start reaching your goals today!