easy marketing strategies by Maribeth Pelly

Marketing Lessons Learned from Mary Higgins Clark

I had the priviledge to work with the iconic and nationally known author, Mary Higgins Clark. To date, Mary has sold over 80 Million copies of her books! She also is a very young 80+years with the energy that puts most of us to shame!

Working with Mary provided me with a unique experience and taught me a few important lessons. This month, I'd like to share with you, what I learned about Marketing from Mary Higgins Clark.

LOVE what you do!
Mary is a great example of the fun she is having with her work. If you look around at anyone successful, they have expressed that they truly enjoy the day-to-day process of getting their product or service out into the world. Good days out number the bad. Challenges are turned around into opportunities. This is a an attitude we all can choose.

Listen to your customers.
Mary made every fan, young or old feel special. She listened and responded with a positive reply. Despite the long line of people waiting to meet her, she did not divert her eyes or cut anyone short. Everyone felt important. The feedback from the audience confirmed Mary's graciousness and professionalism. Is your business creating fans?

Know Your Brand!
No matter what your opinion is of Mary Higgins Clarks work or any other artist. Mary Higgins Clark knows her audience and has a style of writing that appeals to a very loyal fan base. Mary said she is presented with opportunities all the time, to turn one of her books into a 'HOT-STEAMY' Movie. Regardless of the money opportunities, Mary said she does not accept these offers because the script will not support the business she has built and is known for. What does your brand stand for?

I hope my experience helps you look at your business with a fresh perspective. These tips are good reminders of how you can create a Magical Marketing Message.

"How Much Does a New Client Cost?"

Measuring your marketing is a 'habit' you can develop to replace unproductive questioning such as 'which marketing strategies are working the best?' or 'how are most clients finding out about my services?"

Reviewing the costs of your marketing and advertising expenses help you to make smart decisions in the future. You can target your marketing to bring in more qualified leads and clients. Experiment with different headlines or placements of ads to identify which advertising campaigns maximizes your biggest return on investment.

Here is a simple way to determine how much it costs to generate new business through your marketing.

Marketing Cost to Attract New Clients Formula:

   Total Dollars Spent on Marketing (annually)__

    New Clients (annually)

 

 

Use the above formula in a chart and begin identifying the marketing strategies that directly impact the growth of your biz!

 

Type of Marketing	Dollars Spent  (Per Annum)	New Clients (annual)	Cost per Client
Print Paper	$2,500	10	$250
Web Site	$2,000	25	$80
Facebook Ad	$500	1	$500
eNewsletter/eZine	$360	75	$4.80
Direct Mailing	$350	7	$50
Client Referral Program	$250	5	$50
Meetup.com	$80	2	$40
Total	$6,040.00	125	$48.32

 

 

"Is your Voice Mail Turning Clients Away?"

Ever listen to a voice mail greeting and question whether you called the right company? Or while listening to the greeting, you swear you heard a car-horn or the clicking of a keyboard in the background?

It would be wonderful to answer each incoming call personally but in reality, busy small business owners are not always available. If this sounds like your situation, then create a voice mail greeting that is positive, easy and informative, for every one who contacts your business.

Many small business owners overlook this area of marketing and without knowing it, they're turning away clients right-at-the-gate.  A well thought out greeting also helps the caller leave exactly the information you need so you can quickly return with the information or support they need.

Check your voice mail greeting often, sometimes even the best phone systems go awry. Make sure it's easy for your caller to leave a message. No unnecessary buttons to press or waiting time.

Use these easy tips to keep your voice mail greeting fresh and current:

Your Voice. Your own voice is best.

Get in the Mood. Record your greeting when you feel happy, not when you have a head-cold or you've been up all night. Record from a quiet location that doesn't sound like you are calling from a cave (aka echo).

When in doubt, get a second opinion. Have someone you trust listen to your voice mail. You may be surprised of the feedback you receive.

What's New? Use your greeting to share a brief update of what is new at your company. Mention an event you are appearing at or invite the caller to subscribe to your free monthly ezine. (Keep this short and light!)

Website. Re-state your website address. Spell it out if necessary.

List the information you need. Remind the caller to leave their name, company name, email, phone, the reason for their call today and the best time to call them back.

 

Build your Media List

A Media List is your Rolodex of names and contact information, that you have built over time, to refer to when you want to share news with the public about your business.  Your list may include the local paper, television station or journalist who covers stories that relate to your industry. Remember to include article directories and (free) press release distribution sites, in your Media List.

 

Update your Media List once a year. This way, when the times comes to share an announcement, you'll have accurate contact information at your finger tips. Keep your list in one secure file with media type, contact name, current email, phone numbers, blogs names and website links included. A spreadsheet keeps the information organized for quick referencing. As a tip, note each contact entry with, "Last Update as Of", and enter the date.

 

If appropriate, keep in touch with the folks on your Media List. Check out their social media profiles and see if your business could be a contributor to their current projects.

 

 

 

Is your sales letter all about 'me'?

Here is a quick marketing tip to consider when you are writing your next sales letter for your website.

"Make your sales letter more about your target market and less about you!"

When preparing copy for your website, utilize the 'top-fold' (the top page that can be viewed from a computer screen without having to scroll down), as the area to capture the attention of your reader. Write conversationally and craft your copy to speak directly to your reader's needs (pains) and wants.

Further down the sales letter (below the fold), insert the value and benefits of your service, then tell them your story and credentials. Later add the features of your offering, payment plans and methods.

It is not uncommon to read a website sales page that starts out describing (in great detail) the author's expertise and story. Luckily, this common mistake can be corrected with just a few edits.

When you find a clear, simple writing style to speak directly to your prospect's needs, they are more likely to scroll down your sales page to learn about your offering.

 

"Create Free (or almost free) Out-of-the-Box PR for your business"

Learn five easy and fun ways to attract good publicity for yourself and your business.   These tactics won't break your budget. They are simple to implement and will help you to strike an interest with your target market (audience).

This post is Part One of a series.

"Online Press Releases"

Using the internet to find free publicity. This may sound like a tip from ‘inside the box’ but I assure you it’s valuable and underutilized with small business owners. 

1.   An Online Press Release is a 300 word, informative piece of writing that consumers or journalists can read on the internet.  An online press release informs the reader and asks them to take an action.

2.   There are plenty of free press release submission sites to use. One benefit of using these free sites is to have relative topics and information about you,  pop up when a potential client, "Googles" you.

3.    Research strong Key Words to be included in your Online Press Release. Key Words are the words your market typically enters into a search engine to search for information. A free suggestion for researching your key words is : http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/.

"Ideas for writing an Online Press Release"

• You attended a workshop and you learned a new concept that will benefit your target market.
• You have research results that is relative and important to your target market.
• You have a new offering for a specific market.
• You are in collaboration with another professional in your field.
• You are launching a new program with a special package at a discounted price.
• You'll be speaking at an upcoming event.
• You spoke at a recent event!

Stay Tuned for Part Two of "How to Create Free (or almost free) Out-of-the-Box PR for your business continues.

 

 

 

 

Educate Yourself and SHINE!

Clients are hiring you because they want fresh ideas coming 24/7. It's quite a challenge to always be on top of your game, unless you frequently take the time to plug into a network, association or seminar that will inspire you to think bigger about how you can support your clients.

If you are a woman entrepreneur, looking for a way to connect with diverse, business minded women, feed your creative mind, AND receive valuable business coaching, visit this link SHINE, and learn how three days away from the office can broaden your thinking. Consider making the investment for yourself, your business (and your clients).

It's the power of knowledge that will keep you ahead.

Educate yourself and SHINE!

Do you have a 'Post-Event Marketing Strategy'?

A Post Event Marketing Strategy is what you do after you had a live event and you want to continue building the relationship with your event attendees.

Here are four easy ways to keep the conversation going after your event.

**Note** Most email marketing software will allow you to prepare mailings prior to the event.  This way while you're relaxing and restoring, work is automatically being done for you!

1. During the Event: Announce to the the participants that they can take advantage of a special offer  or discount because they took the time to be at your event.  (Give an expiration date of the special offer that goes two weeks after the event.)
2. 24hrs post-event: Send an email, thanking the participants for their time...(always say thank you!) and remind them of their special offer and include the link to the website to learn more and make a purchase.
3. Two weeks post-event: Schedule a free tele-seminar, taking one or two of your topics a bit further into detail and promote the special offer again and how it will support your customer's needs.
4. Monthly: Keep in touch through a regular scheduled newsletter sharing valuable information and updates on specials and product offerings.

Single Column Newsletters - Tested and Proven

Single column newsletters are getting higher results from readers.

Why? Our list is made up of very busy individuals, inundated with emails and offers each day. They want to receive clear, linear, scannable pieces of information.

Our readership is mobile. Most individuals are grabbing their email from a hand held device. Be sure that your mailing is readable from a Blackberry as well as a laptop.

Bold the important words or phrases. If your list likes what you have to say on a topic, they will go back and read the finer details.

Test a single column template for your email newsletters for three months and see your statistics improve.

As always, know your list's needs. Deliver information that is helpful with compelling offers.

Improving your website traffic.

There are two objectives of a website, 1) get visitors to give you their contact information or 2) get visitors to purchase something.

If you would like someone to give you their email, then you have to offer them a gift or information in exchange. (Make a compelling offer to get an email on your list). If you want them to purchase a service or product, then make sure they understand you can solve their problem.

If your visitors are not completing one of these two actions, then the strategy of your website needs to changed.

There is plenty of material on the web to walk you through optimizing your website for the search engines and traffic, but to simplify the quest, ask yourself one question. Is your website clear? 

Track the statistic reports for your newsletter, blog and website. Understand the activty that is happening (or not happening). If you don't understand your statistics, give me a call, I can help you.

Ask yourself, is your website clear? Would someone who visits your website, understand what you do and which ACTION you want them to take?