The next most important factor is DO NOT write content to sell your services or goods. What do we mean by this? In this day and age small companies are using the internet as a key part of building their customer base, keeping in contact with their clients and also using it as a means of advertising.

Having a website is essential today, however it is what you do with it which will determine if having it in the first place was money well spent or money down the drain! This is why online marketing is essential.

The common mistake is that people think as soon as a website is designed, like magic hundreds of customers are going to start flocking to take advantage of the services and products on offer. If this is you and you are about to have your website designed, it won’t happen, you need to give the development of your ... continue reading article.]]> With all content ensure before you start you identify exactly who you are aiming at. The reality is that we are all aiming at someone to take advantage of what we are offering however what is that persons profile? i.e. what makes them tick? who is your target audience?

The next most important factor is DO NOT write content to sell your services or goods. What do we mean by this?
In this day and age small companies are using the internet as a key part of building their customer base, keeping in contact with their clients and also using it as a means of advertising.

Having a website is essential today, however it is what you do with it which will determine if having it in the first place was money well spent or money down the drain! This is why online marketing is essential.

The common mistake is that people think as soon as a website is designed, like magic hundreds of customers are going to start flocking to take advantage of the services and products on offer. If this is you and you are about to have your website designed, it won’t happen, you need to give the development of your website much more thought!

95% of websites don’t actually achieve anything. Why? Because they were never designed with the objectives of the business in mind from the start…

Too many websites are designed with the sole purpose of selling products or services.

If you want to benefit from the rewards the power of the internet brings you need to turn your website into a lead generation tool and don’t try and sell from it.

Once you do this your profits will go through the roof!

What am I getting at?

Think about the last time you searched online, how many websites did you visit before you actually found the info you wanted? 10, 20 or even 30. Meaning that all the websites you visited that you didn’t interact with might as well not have been there in the first place! This type of behaviour is common for every type of internet user, meaning every day millions of sites are being visited but 95% of them might as well be redundant.

That is what you need to stop! You need to get this 95% of internet users to interact with your website when they visit it. You have to give them a reason for staying on your website and ensuring they give you their data so you can use it to market your products and services to.

Imagine if you collected data of 5% of the users of your website, this would mean you would be generating leads to market to at a later date!

Look at your website as a lead generation tool, nothing more. Write the copy of your website with this objective in mind.

This is why having a website isn’t about selecting the right web developer or technical genius it is about selecting the right online marketeer who can explain this to you. Someone who can give you tips on how your website copy should read, how to generate leads and how to use that data to maximise your profits.

Online Marketing and web development are two totally different things, one will cost you money, one will make you money!
So how are we going to ensure your audience stays on our website, reads your articles and emails?

The answer is information. Free information! If you can provide your readers with information about what you are offering they will interact with you. We all like to find out more about interesting topics, therefore if a user is searching online for a certain topic that you offer if you have written an article about it they are likely to read about what you are saying.

As they read your article they are likely to click on the anchor text links you have added to find out more which means that you actually start to generate visitors visiting your website, interested in exactly what you do.

If you can get a visitor to your website through writing interesting articles you are half way there, however what you need to do is when you get them to your website is actually offer them something else for FREE i.e. an E Book with more information about what they have been reading about? Why?

The answer is very simple, because as soon as they complete that contact form for further information you have got exactly what you need to turn your website traffic into sales! You have their data! Once you have their email address you can then continue to send Free information about who you are and what you do then suddenly one day that user actually needs what you are offering and who are they going to contact?

At this point they are going to contact you. You have provided them with various free information, from the initial article, to the Free E Book, to the follow up emails until suddenly they actually need what you are offering!

What has happened here…. When a customer walks into a shop on the high street it is because they more than likely need something from that shop, however when we search online we have so much more choice, meaning many times a user searchers online they don’t actually interact with any websites. However if you can actually capture the data of your users and then market to them regularly through email marketing campaigns, when they actually come back to searching online they are more likely just to go straight to your site as you have continually reminded them you are there!

Your website is their for one purpose to collect data and provide free information! Do not forget that. Once you have that data you can use it and then try and sell your products and services. If you think your website will do that for you, you will be very disappointed.

They all went on to say, we are unlikely to be kept up to date of all their latest services, not receive invoices on time (well that’s not the end of the world from my point of view – but it most certainly is from the businesses in question), correspondence will be delayed, etc, etc.

How do this look to me as a customer that this has happened? Yes it can be put down to the postal strike and for me the issues are not that great!

However imagine if you are a business that prints out its literature. Or you had an important deal to sort that could be worth £1000’s for your business and all this is interrupted because of a postal strike!

Look at this from the customers shoes, if they don’t get the service or goods they want, then you are running the risk of losing business!

We live in an age, where this can be avoided. Most businesses use emails to communicate with their contacts, rather ... continue reading article.]]> It amazes me that yesterday I received 3 letters from companies we use, apologising that their services will be interrupted over the next week or so due to the postal strike

They all went on to say, we are unlikely to be kept up to date of all their latest services, not receive invoices on time (well that’s not the end of the world from my point of view – but it most certainly is from the businesses in question), correspondence will be delayed, etc, etc.

How do this look to me as a customer that this has happened? Yes it can be put down to the postal strike and for me the issues are not that great!

However imagine if you are a business that prints out its literature. Or you had an important deal to sort that could be worth £1000’s for your business and all this is interrupted because of a postal strike!

Look at this from the customers shoes, if they don’t get the service or goods they want, then you are running the risk of losing business!

We live in an age, where this can be avoided. Most businesses use emails to communicate with their contacts, rather than using the phone.

However no where near enough are using emails to send out marketing material and to issue invoices.

To me the two most important parts of a business are:

1 – Getting the interest in the first place

2 – Collecting payment when a client proceeds

Therefore why is not every business using emails to its full advantage?

Here is a great example that explains this further…

Christmas is round the corner and already we are seeing Restaurants / Pubs with ‘Book Now for Christmas’ signs, posters, leaflets all over the place.

Yes they look nice, however they are all very costly! Think about this for a second, who is likely to book with a Restaurant or Pub for Christmas dinner?

A – someone who has never used the place before?

B – a regular customer?

The likelihood is it is going to be a ,B, a regularly customer, that has already experienced how fantastic the food and atmosphere is.

- Why not ask for an email address when a booking is made?
- Why not run competitions to collect email addresses?

Then when September / October comes around you are not spending £1000’s on marketing material, all you do is construct an email and send it out to your customers telling them how great Christmas lunch is going to be.

This applies to all businesses who are sat there scratching their heads wondering, how they are going to cope with a postal strike as their whole business relies on letters, sending out flyers and leaflets.

Remember all printed material costs. This cost can be avoided, by moving your business online and using email marketing.

Don’t let the next postal strike affect your business!

Being outstanding at marketing is fairly straightforward – but so few businesses do it. You just need to continually test new marketing strategies on a small scale. It may be a new direct mail campaign, a new ad, a letter to your customers, an email, a new headline on your website, a two week telephone campaign. You test small, then you measure the results. What did it cost? What revenue did it generate? If it was not profitable, you’ve learnt an important lesson and move on. If it was profitable, you roll it out and make it an integral part of your marketing mix.

Are you clear what the purpose of your business is?

Outstanding business performers share a similar way of thinking about business. The highest purpose of their business is not to just make money or increase profits. The highest purpose of their business is to add real value to the lives of  their customers or clients.

We’re not talking about some vague concept of adding value. We’re talking about a deep commitment to enhance the lives of those you interact with. Why is this so important? It is the ... continue reading article.]]> Do you Test and Measure every aspect of your Marketing?

Being outstanding at marketing is fairly straightforward – but so few businesses do it. You just need to continually test new marketing strategies on a small scale. It may be a new direct mail campaign, a new ad, a letter to your customers, an email, a new headline on your website, a two week telephone campaign. You test small, then you measure the results. What did it cost? What revenue did it generate? If it was not profitable, you’ve learnt an important lesson and move on. If it was profitable, you roll it out and make it an integral part of your marketing mix.

Are you clear what the purpose of your business is?

Outstanding business performers share a similar way of thinking about business. The highest purpose of their business is not to just make money or increase profits. The highest purpose of their business is to add real value to the lives of  their customers or clients.

We’re not talking about some vague concept of adding value. We’re talking about a deep commitment to enhance the lives of those you interact with. Why is this so important? It is the single most effective sales tool any business can employ. If you call a company and they just want to make money from you, you can tell instantly can’t you? But if you call a company and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make your life easier, solve your problems, meet your needs and answer your questions – don’t you just love it?

When we stop obsessing about how great our product or service is, and start obsessing about adding enormous value to the lives of our customers and clients – our profits soar – and as an added bonus, doing business becomes much more pleasurable.

Is your marketing continually focused on explaining the BENEFITS of your product or service?

One of the biggest marketing mistakes that businesses make is focusing on the details of their product or service, rather than the benefits it offers customers. People will only buy from you when they, either consciously or sub consciously understand how they are going to benefit from what you are offering them.

I hate to tell you this, but the customer doesn’t really care how great you are – END OF!

Define your unique selling points (USPs). This could be about the price of your product (or special discounts or promotions), the delivery mechanism and the products you are prepared to offer, the speed of service you offer, after-sales service or methods of ordering. 2. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes

Focus all your efforts on emphasising the benefits of your product, other than highlighting obvious points, such as product features. Wherever possible, mention the words ‘you’ and ‘your’, as this will help make your customers feel more individual. 3. Your message should be snappy and clear

Test it out on friends and family – do they understand what you are trying to say? You should be able to get any benefits across about your product in 30 seconds or less, so think carefully about your choice of words and how to deliver them with the most impact.

4. ‘New’ and ‘free’ are words that sell

Try and include these as often as possible, within reason. People are often wary when it comes to new products or services – offering trial periods or money- back guarantees can help to reassure potential customers. Special offers also have a wide appeal.

5. Justify every pound of your budget

All customers ... continue reading article.]]> 1. Emphasise what makes you different from the competition

Define your unique selling points (USPs). This could be about the price of your
product (or special discounts or promotions), the delivery mechanism and the
products you are prepared to offer, the speed of service you offer, after-sales
service or methods of ordering.

2. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes

Focus all your efforts on emphasising the benefits of your product, other than
highlighting obvious points, such as product features. Wherever possible,
mention the words ‘you’ and ‘your’, as this will help make your customers feel
more individual.

3. Your message should be snappy and clear

Test it out on friends and family – do they understand what you are trying to
say? You should be able to get any benefits across about your product in 30
seconds or less, so think carefully about your choice of words and how to
deliver them with the most impact.

4. ‘New’ and ‘free’ are words that sell

Try and include these as often as possible, within reason. People are often wary
when it comes to new products or services – offering trial periods or money-
back guarantees can help to reassure potential customers. Special offers also
have a wide appeal.

5. Justify every pound of your budget

All customers theses days have a budget in mind and are constantly looking for
deals, explain in detail the full package on offer.  By going in to every detail
about what you offer, you build up greater value in your product/service.

6. Ask your customers for product endorsement

Testimonials are like gold dust. Whenever anyone says anything positive about
your product or service, ask if they would mind providing an endorsement for
you. The more testimonials you put together, the more confident your
prospective customers will be of the service you are delivering.  MAKE SURE
ALL TESTIMONIALS GO ON ALL YOUR MARKETING MATERIAL SO YOU CAN
REFER PEOPLE TO THESE!

7. Word of mouth works wonders

If existing customers recommend your service to friends, colleagues and
associates, you stand a great chance of getting new business. This is a great
way of marketing, as it involves no cost to you and the new business you get is
likely to be a warm and long-lasting relationship. Consider offering incentives to
existing customers if they can drum up new business, for example by offering
them a scalable discount.

8. Attract customers with incentives

Too many business people miss out on sales because the customer has no
reason to act immediately. Offer customers an incentive to sign up straight
away, for example via a discount or free product. Whatever you’re selling,
always remember to include a time-close or deadline and state it clearly.

9. Act on feedback

No one knows more about what your customers think than your customers
themselves. Take on board as much feedback as possible about your product,
and take every opportunity to ask customers what they think about your
product.  Make sure you act on feedback (both positive and negative).

10. Know when to follow-up

Whenever a conversation takes place or you get a new lead, set a date for a
follow-up, even if it’s 6 months away. If you’ve made the effort to make initial
contact with a customer and even sent information, it’s criminal to miss out on
the sale because you didn’t follow-up at the opportune time. The best sales
people are those that follow-up religiously.