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Hub You - Gear Up Your Marketing for Fourth Quarter
You've heard the real estate clich?: the three factors that determine a property's value are location, location, location.Well, here's an instant clich? about creating value on the job: to succeed, you need to work, work, work.But there's more to success than 80-hour workweeks.You have to do the right things in the right amount to get ahead, according to employment expert Ramon Greenwood. He's a former Senior Vice President at American Express and author of the book, "How to Land Your First Job and Make a Success of It." He operates CommonSenseAtWork.com.Greenwood's insights, while especially relevant for new graduates entering the workforce, will help anyone of any age who has to earn a paycheck.Here are three of his most valuable tips for success on the job.1) Work hard at the
9. Offer Additional Payment Options
Offer flexible payment options such as payment by credit card or payment by installment. Sales can often increase by as much a 30% simply by being a little bit more flexible in the way you get paid for your services. If it's appropriate to your business, try offering free samples of your products, free trials of services, or a no-risk "test-drive" period.
10. Community Involvement
Get involved in your community by volunteering to help in local events. You could serve on the board of a charity, help organize a special event, or donate your business' services to a worthy cause. If time is in short supply (and what business owner has an abundance of time?) then be highly selective in the ways you get involved and choose only those activities that get you in front of influential people and decision makers.
Gear Up Today!
There you have it: ten ways to ramp up sales for the fourth quarter!
Get started on this immediately. At the very least, complete a plan for your marketing within the next week. You don't have to do everything outlined above, but you
I would like to discuss the issues concerning Maine and it’s economy. For this most important discussion we are going to focus on jobs and money flow. Well first we should discuss tourism in the coastal areas. They are not breaking any speed records in Kennebunkport or Bar Harbor, but things are doing a lot better now that the late winter is over, that was a bad one, not the worst but relatively tough. If you check into the area around Cape Cod or Plymouth Rock, you will see a little better than last years numbers. But then again everyone in Boston wants to ditch that traffic as downtown area is worse than Denver’s Cluster Fustermuck. Also it is much closer to NYC or NJ for the weekend.In Bar Harbor things are okay, ferry has full loads to Nova Scotia as does Portland Maine’s ferry departure point. Portland has mu
All of this can mean increased sales for you and me... but only if your marketing is effective.
So how do you get your marketing in shape? Simple. Set some goals for quarter and create a plan to take you there. The following is a list of some activities that you might want to include as part of your fourth quarter marketing efforts.
1. Plan
Create a detailed plan for the next 90 days that includes a huge push for increased sales. Set a sales target for the quarter, look at the work that you have already booked, and then plan where the extra sales you need to reach your target will come from.
What marketing activities can you do that will help get you there? What existing clients can you approach for additional work or referrals? How can you increase the size of your network so that more people know about your business and what you do? Make the plan as detailed as possible and then take daily action in executing it.
2. Review Your Website
Review your website and ensure that it is doing a good job of interesting and educating your prospects about your services. Be sure to stress the benefits of your services and give prospects plenty of reasons why they should do business with you rather than your competitors.
Your site should request that visitors leave their contact information. This can be done by having them sign up for a newsletter, request more information, or arrange a free consultation. You can increase response by offering an incentive, such as a free report or a discount. If your website doesn't ask for this vital information, then make some changes to it so that it does.
3. Write Articles
Write several articles on topics related to your product or service. The articles should contain tips or advice that your target market will find useful and that will help them solve their problems. Post the articles on your website and get them published on other websites and in journals that your prospects read.
4. Publish a Newsletter
Start sending out an ezine or newsletter to your clients and contacts. Include a signup form on your website and offer an incentive for visitors to subscribe, such as the articles you wrote in step 3. Use the ezine to provide more help, education, and how-to advice to your prospects.
5. Speak
Get a speaking engagement at an event that your prospects are likely to attend. Make the talk informative and pack it with as much valuable information as you can. Do not make it an extended sales pitch! Mention the services your company provides by all means, but make sure that you also provide plenty of relevant and useful information to the audience.
During the talk, be sure to promote your newsletter and the articles that are available on your website. Be sure to get the contact information of as many of the attendees' as possible.
If you don't already have their contact information, a good way of getting it is to offer a bonus item that can be mailed out to attendees afterwards, such as a recording or transcript of the presentation, or another article or in-depth report. In order for the attendees to get the bonus item, have them leave you their contact information on a signup form or have them give you their business card. It's important to solicit this information immediately after the talk. If you refer them to your website to signup, the response rate will drop significantly.
6. Advertise
You should review your advertising and ensure that is cost-effectively driving a steady stream of prospects to your door. If you don't already advertise regularly, now would be a great time to start.
Begin with some small advertisements in publications that your prospects read, and test what works. If the response to your ad is encouraging you can increase its size. If the response is poor, make some changes to it and try again.
Conduct a direct mail campaign that educates your prospects on the services you provide. Provide as much information as possible and don't make the material overly "salesy" or it will be ignored. You might consider promoting your newsletter in this way as an easy, low-risk way for prospects to get to know your business. The bottom line with direct mail is to be informative and focused on the benefits that your prospects receive. Follow up the direct mail campaign with phone calls or even a visit to the prospect.
7. Utilize Your Current Clients
Study your current clients and look for ways that you can provide additional services to them. Look specifically for ways that you can really help them develop their business. Ask them for referrals.
8. Network
Meet with people in your network and exchange referrals. Generate some business for them and educate them on the types of prospects you're looking for. You'll be amazed at how quickly they'll be able to come up with names of people you should speak to, especially after you've helped them.
9. Offer Additional Payment Options
Offer flexible payment options such as payment by credit card or payment by installment. Sales can often increase by as much a 30% simply by being a little bit more flexible in the way you get paid for your services. If it's appropriate to your business, try offering free samples of your products, free trials of services, or a no-risk "test-drive" period.
10. Community Involvement
Get involved in your community by volunteering to help in local events. You could serve on the board of a charity, help organize a special event, or donate your business' services to a worthy cause. If time is in short supply (and what business owner has an abundance of time?) then be highly selective in the ways you get involved and choose only those activities that get you in front of influential people and decision makers.
Gear Up Today!
There you have it: ten ways to ramp up sales for the fourth quarter!
Get started on this immediately. At the very least, complete a plan for your marketing within the next week. You don't have to do everything outlined above, but you
Promotional mouse mats are great gifts for conventions or trade shows, and are a fun way to get your business name and company information out to clients and potential clients. They are big enough for real advertising to your customer base, and are useful rather than just novelty items like some promotional gifts can be. A great way to make them even more useful is to pair them with something else that is useful as well: coasters for the desk.When people think of desk sets, they are more likely thinking of pen holders and in boxes rather than a matching mouse mat and coaster, however these other kinds of desk sets can prove to be just as useful as the other. Mouse mats are very useful all by themselves, but how many people think to bring coasters in to their office? One too many coffee stains, and your custome
Your site should request that visitors leave their contact information. This can be done by having them sign up for a newsletter, request more information, or arrange a free consultation. You can increase response by offering an incentive, such as a free report or a discount. If your website doesn't ask for this vital information, then make some changes to it so that it does.
3. Write Articles
Write several articles on topics related to your product or service. The articles should contain tips or advice that your target market will find useful and that will help them solve their problems. Post the articles on your website and get them published on other websites and in journals that your prospects read.
4. Publish a Newsletter
Start sending out an ezine or newsletter to your clients and contacts. Include a signup form on your website and offer an incentive for visitors to subscribe, such as the articles you wrote in step 3. Use the ezine to provide more help, education, and how-to advice to your prospects.
5. Speak
Get a speaking engagement at an event that your prospects are likely to attend. Make the talk informative and pack it with as much valuable information as you can. Do not make it an extended sales pitch! Mention the services your company provides by all means, but make sure that you also provide plenty of relevant and useful information to the audience.
During the talk, be sure to promote your newsletter and the articles that are available on your website. Be sure to get the contact information of as many of the attendees' as possible.
If you don't already have their contact information, a good way of getting it is to offer a bonus item that can be mailed out to attendees afterwards, such as a recording or transcript of the presentation, or another article or in-depth report. In order for the attendees to get the bonus item, have them leave you their contact information on a signup form or have them give you their business card. It's important to solicit this information immediately after the talk. If you refer them to your website to signup, the response rate will drop significantly.
6. Advertise
You should review your advertising and ensure that is cost-effectively driving a steady stream of prospects to your door. If you don't already advertise regularly, now would be a great time to start.
Begin with some small advertisements in publications that your prospects read, and test what works. If the response to your ad is encouraging you can increase its size. If the response is poor, make some changes to it and try again.
Conduct a direct mail campaign that educates your prospects on the services you provide. Provide as much information as possible and don't make the material overly "salesy" or it will be ignored. You might consider promoting your newsletter in this way as an easy, low-risk way for prospects to get to know your business. The bottom line with direct mail is to be informative and focused on the benefits that your prospects receive. Follow up the direct mail campaign with phone calls or even a visit to the prospect.
7. Utilize Your Current Clients
Study your current clients and look for ways that you can provide additional services to them. Look specifically for ways that you can really help them develop their business. Ask them for referrals.
8. Network
Meet with people in your network and exchange referrals. Generate some business for them and educate them on the types of prospects you're looking for. You'll be amazed at how quickly they'll be able to come up with names of people you should speak to, especially after you've helped them.
9. Offer Additional Payment Options
Offer flexible payment options such as payment by credit card or payment by installment. Sales can often increase by as much a 30% simply by being a little bit more flexible in the way you get paid for your services. If it's appropriate to your business, try offering free samples of your products, free trials of services, or a no-risk "test-drive" period.
10. Community Involvement
Get involved in your community by volunteering to help in local events. You could serve on the board of a charity, help organize a special event, or donate your business' services to a worthy cause. If time is in short supply (and what business owner has an abundance of time?) then be highly selective in the ways you get involved and choose only those activities that get you in front of influential people and decision makers.
Gear Up Today!
There you have it: ten ways to ramp up sales for the fourth quarter!
Get started on this immediately. At the very least, complete a plan for your marketing within the next week. You don't have to do everything outlined above, but you
"Success is about who you become. The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit." -Jim RohnAs a solo-entrepreneur you’re either starting a new business or intending to grow your existing business. Aside from getting the most obvious systems in place – technology, business and marketing plans, defining your product or services, and finances, what else is needed to be successful?Self-Investment!Companies have been bringing in corporate trainers for years. It’s good business to invest in programs that teach employees how to be better leaders, manage conflict, improve communication, increase sales effectiveness, become more confident, etc. Using a myriad o
5. Speak
Get a speaking engagement at an event that your prospects are likely to attend. Make the talk informative and pack it with as much valuable information as you can. Do not make it an extended sales pitch! Mention the services your company provides by all means, but make sure that you also provide plenty of relevant and useful information to the audience.
During the talk, be sure to promote your newsletter and the articles that are available on your website. Be sure to get the contact information of as many of the attendees' as possible.
If you don't already have their contact information, a good way of getting it is to offer a bonus item that can be mailed out to attendees afterwards, such as a recording or transcript of the presentation, or another article or in-depth report. In order for the attendees to get the bonus item, have them leave you their contact information on a signup form or have them give you their business card. It's important to solicit this information immediately after the talk. If you refer them to your website to signup, the response rate will drop significantly.
6. Advertise
You should review your advertising and ensure that is cost-effectively driving a steady stream of prospects to your door. If you don't already advertise regularly, now would be a great time to start.
Begin with some small advertisements in publications that your prospects read, and test what works. If the response to your ad is encouraging you can increase its size. If the response is poor, make some changes to it and try again.
Conduct a direct mail campaign that educates your prospects on the services you provide. Provide as much information as possible and don't make the material overly "salesy" or it will be ignored. You might consider promoting your newsletter in this way as an easy, low-risk way for prospects to get to know your business. The bottom line with direct mail is to be informative and focused on the benefits that your prospects receive. Follow up the direct mail campaign with phone calls or even a visit to the prospect.
7. Utilize Your Current Clients
Study your current clients and look for ways that you can provide additional services to them. Look specifically for ways that you can really help them develop their business. Ask them for referrals.
8. Network
Meet with people in your network and exchange referrals. Generate some business for them and educate them on the types of prospects you're looking for. You'll be amazed at how quickly they'll be able to come up with names of people you should speak to, especially after you've helped them.
9. Offer Additional Payment Options
Offer flexible payment options such as payment by credit card or payment by installment. Sales can often increase by as much a 30% simply by being a little bit more flexible in the way you get paid for your services. If it's appropriate to your business, try offering free samples of your products, free trials of services, or a no-risk "test-drive" period.
10. Community Involvement
Get involved in your community by volunteering to help in local events. You could serve on the board of a charity, help organize a special event, or donate your business' services to a worthy cause. If time is in short supply (and what business owner has an abundance of time?) then be highly selective in the ways you get involved and choose only those activities that get you in front of influential people and decision makers.
Gear Up Today!
There you have it: ten ways to ramp up sales for the fourth quarter!
Get started on this immediately. At the very least, complete a plan for your marketing within the next week. You don't have to do everything outlined above, but you
Even on a great day at work there are so many things that can go badly. Any little glitch can become a negative, stress-inducing experience: the staff member who arrives late leaving the company short-handed, you placed an order for needed inventory in plenty of time but your vendor shipped to it to the wrong address which caused you to be out of stock, the customer who was told her order would be ready on Thursday but now needs it Wednesday, the invoice for “The Acme Company” that should have been filed under “A” for “Acme” instead of “T” for “The”, and on and on. Each of these small glitches caused problems, wasted time, added stress, and caused unhappy customers and staff. Even worse, while everyone runs around fixing problems, other crucial work does not get done. If you were keeping score, each glitch would earn
Begin with some small advertisements in publications that your prospects read, and test what works. If the response to your ad is encouraging you can increase its size. If the response is poor, make some changes to it and try again.
Conduct a direct mail campaign that educates your prospects on the services you provide. Provide as much information as possible and don't make the material overly "salesy" or it will be ignored. You might consider promoting your newsletter in this way as an easy, low-risk way for prospects to get to know your business. The bottom line with direct mail is to be informative and focused on the benefits that your prospects receive. Follow up the direct mail campaign with phone calls or even a visit to the prospect.
7. Utilize Your Current Clients
Study your current clients and look for ways that you can provide additional services to them. Look specifically for ways that you can really help them develop their business. Ask them for referrals.
8. Network
Meet with people in your network and exchange referrals. Generate some business for them and educate them on the types of prospects you're looking for. You'll be amazed at how quickly they'll be able to come up with names of people you should speak to, especially after you've helped them.
9. Offer Additional Payment Options
Offer flexible payment options such as payment by credit card or payment by installment. Sales can often increase by as much a 30% simply by being a little bit more flexible in the way you get paid for your services. If it's appropriate to your business, try offering free samples of your products, free trials of services, or a no-risk "test-drive" period.
10. Community Involvement
Get involved in your community by volunteering to help in local events. You could serve on the board of a charity, help organize a special event, or donate your business' services to a worthy cause. If time is in short supply (and what business owner has an abundance of time?) then be highly selective in the ways you get involved and choose only those activities that get you in front of influential people and decision makers.
Gear Up Today!
There you have it: ten ways to ramp up sales for the fourth quarter!
Get started on this immediately. At the very least, complete a plan for your marketing within the next week. You don't have to do everything outlined above, but you
The one ultimate reward that counts for any business organization is improvement of bottom line profitability and the return of satisfied customers. This end result must justify all the initiatives taken by upper management. Upper management utilizes a tool called “cost of poor quality (or ”COPQ”) as a barometer for evaluating six sigma projects. Apparently, it is the only way to get upper management to accept six sigma. The upper echelons of corporations have come to realize the importance of six sigma for its tangible economic benefits.understand the value of upper management support for quality/process improvement top down fully, when you learn that management does not realize the importance of investing that extra time and money in quality improvement or lacks the commitment. Let’s be straight forward, this s
9. Offer Additional Payment Options
Offer flexible payment options such as payment by credit card or payment by installment. Sales can often increase by as much a 30% simply by being a little bit more flexible in the way you get paid for your services. If it's appropriate to your business, try offering free samples of your products, free trials of services, or a no-risk "test-drive" period.
10. Community Involvement
Get involved in your community by volunteering to help in local events. You could serve on the board of a charity, help organize a special event, or donate your business' services to a worthy cause. If time is in short supply (and what business owner has an abundance of time?) then be highly selective in the ways you get involved and choose only those activities that get you in front of influential people and decision makers.
Gear Up Today!
There you have it: ten ways to ramp up sales for the fourth quarter!
Get started on this immediately. At the very least, complete a plan for your marketing within the next week. You don't have to do everything outlined above, but you should pick at least a couple of activities and take action this week.
The fourth quarter can be a great time for sales, but you have to be prepared. That means getting started now.
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