Pasadena Foundation Blog

pHere are some crack Marketing Tactics that you will find to be both cost effective, as well as, highly profitable for your business. Consider combining some of these into a synergistic Marketing Strategy. Implementing a a href=http://www.businessconsultingabc.com/Developing_and_Writing_A_Winning_Marketing_Plan.htmlMarketing Plan/a doesnrsquo;t have to be cost prohibitive. Think outside the boxmdash;this is what this article is all about!/p
pstrongFree Consultations:/strongnbsp; Providing a free consultation for a half hour or an hour to your prospects, giving them valuable information and advice. Follow up with the prospect in a couple days and ask for the business. This strategy firmly establishes you are the expert. If the prospect does not contract to use your services, you have positioned that prospect to be an excellent referral source. Be sure to ask for referrals!/p
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liPower your Consultation with visual aids and demonstrations./li
liTurn your Free Consults into testimonials./li
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pstrongWrite Articles:/strongnbsp; Being published as an Expert will bring you targeted, continuous business.nbsp; Be sure to submit your articles online and back link to your Website.nbsp; Your web traffic will benefit exponentially.nbsp; Then offer Free E-books on your Website to solidify the relationship.nbsp; When prospects realise your expert status, they will give you business, as well as, refer you to others. The viral marketing element of article marketing is huge- you never know where your articles will end up!/p
pstrongSeminars:/strongnbsp; Depending on your business having a FREE or Paid Seminar can be a great way to mine prospects.nbsp; Again, this strategy works well as the Expert strategy and piggybacks well with Free Consultations, Articles and E-books.nbsp; Free Seminars can be irregular, but a nominal fee Seminar can be enough to ensure success.nbsp; A nominal fee ensures the attendee will show, while providing a ton of value for the information provided.nbsp; Be sure to video all your seminars and sell them on your website./p
ul
liLecture / instruct for half an hour to forty five minutes, then open it up for questions.nbsp; Wrap up the seminar at the hour mark.nbsp; Have an area with coffee and sweets set up so you can network before and after the seminar./li
liThe goal is to get as many business cards and contact information as you can from the prospects.nbsp; Follow with a mailed hand written note or a personal email within 24 hours.nbsp; Then call the prospect a day later.nbsp; Have the Seminar on a Tuesday and follow up Thursday or Friday via phone to set appointments for the next two weeks./li
liHave two Seminars a month.nbsp; Make them a little different so you can attract the same prospects again!nbsp; Give your previous attendees a VIP Pass.nbsp; If you donrsquo;t sell them the first round yoursquo;ll have a much better chance after the second seminar./li
liWrite a Book and your Seminar attendance will increase three fold.nbsp; The more you can foster the Expert Status, the better your results will be./li
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pstrongFree Demonstrations:/strongnbsp; I love Free Demonstrations!nbsp; I cut my teeth in Sales in my youth selling Electrolux Cleaning Systems (ok, so they were vacuums and dry cleaners).nbsp; Selling a premium product which had a ton of value built in required a Free Demonstration.nbsp; If I couldnrsquo;t sell the prospect in 45 minutes then I would leave the Cleaning System with them for two days and return at a prearranged time to pick it up.nbsp; With a good financing package backing me up, I closed 8 out of 10!/p
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liA Free Demonstration can also be short in front of a crowd and take orders after.nbsp; Depends on the product you are selling./li
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pstrongemNote:/em/strongnbsp; At Seminars and Mass Demonstrations, make sure you have plenty order takers and appointment setters on hand.nbsp; You canrsquo;t be signing up prospects and talking to them at the same time!/p
pstrongOpen House Events:/strongnbsp; Opening up your business to existing customers and prospects for a day every three months is an awesome way to solidify relationships and drum up more business.nbsp; Have refreshments and employees staged in different areas explaining how the business works.nbsp; You, the owner, mix and mingle and mine!nbsp; Make sure each employee is schooled prior, to get business cards and contact information.nbsp; Be sure to teach the employee to make notes on the prospectsrsquo; biz card or contact info so you have individualised means of future contact.nbsp; Make sure you have a demonstration room for the serious prospects!nbsp; Make sure you are fully staffed fro an Open House. nbsp;All hands on deck event!/p
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liSend Press Releases to local / regional publications and look for creative ways to advertise your Open House.nbsp; There are loads of Free Online and Offline Event Directories.nbsp; Use Social Networking!/li
liSocial Online Networks such as Linked In, Facebook and Twitter can be fantabulous forums to getting out information about your Open House or other Company Events and News.nbsp; a href=http://www.businessconsultingabc.com/Cost_Effective_Online_Marketing_Strategies.htmlOnline Marketing/a is both cost effective and lucrative!/li
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pstrongTrade Shows:/strongnbsp; I am not a huge fan of Trade Shows because many shows will have absolutely no merit for the money and time you spend.nbsp; However, many businesses have been successful with Trade Shows because they figure out through research which ones really have qualified buyers and know little success secrets.nbsp; Some Trade Show Keys to keep in mind:/p
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liAlways attend and research a show prior to your involvement./li
liDetermine ways shows let you contact prospects before and after the show./li
liPartner with a good Strategic Partner and partake in a large 20 foot booth together.nbsp; This attracts attention and offers prospects the best solutions./li
liHave ldquo;roamersrdquo; walking the show continuously handing out circulars and flyers, which pictorially show prospects where your booth is.nbsp; Offer a Freebee or discount for the prospect to come to your booth.nbsp; Require the prospect to register to receive the Freebee or Discount./li
liHave Brochures available at your booth for the motivated prospects./li
liBe sure to mine each prospectrsquo;s information and product / service interests.nbsp; Donrsquo;t rely on them to contact you after the show.nbsp; /li
liVisually demonstrate your product or service.nbsp; Let prospects see the final solution.nbsp; /li
liHave plenty of staff on hand to sell, take information and greet prospects./li
liBig Signs, Big Graphics, Large Font, Video, Audio ndash; these are all key in helping the prospect visualize / own your solution./li
liTake lots of pictures and video so you can post to the web during the show to create a viral buzz./li
liAlways get a prospects email address so you can send them an Opt In for your Newsletter, Company Alerts, RSS, etc./li
liMake sure all of your Staff is instructed to take notes on the prospectsrsquo; business card so you can jog your memory on the prospectsrsquo; relevance and importance./li
liDirect Mail response rates to Tradeshow Participants can be as high as 20%, as compared to the average 2% response rate for a first mailing./li
liTrade Shows can be a good way to kick off your penetration into a new market./li
liIf you are going to the expense of going to a Trade Show, be sure to run some advertising prior (with an incentive to come see you)./li
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pstrongNewsletters:/strongnbsp; I think Newsletters (both offline and online) are an excellent information and sales tool.nbsp; This goes hand in hand with the Expert Role, providing interested prospects valuable information, while having information on how to contact you or a web page to visit.nbsp; Newsletters should be sent once per month with an expert article as the main focus.nbsp; I like to have the article in the center of the Newsletter with a narrow column to either side with supporting information and resources.nbsp; These side columns are great areas to partner with other businesses to offer more expert information and help.nbsp; Be sure to feature article your FREE half hour or hour consultation service on the Newsletter and any seminars, webinars or such coming up.nbsp; The more you get into and use your Newsletter, the more exponential the results.nbsp; And, please, write your own content!nbsp; You are the Expert!/p
pstrongWrite a Book:/strongnbsp; Irsquo;m not saying get in the book business.nbsp; A book sets you apart as a bonafide Expert and gives you instant believability.nbsp; It is one of the best sales generator tools you can use!nbsp; My Business Plan Book lends instant credibility to my experience as a Business Planner and a href=http://www.businessconsultingabc.com/What_Does_a_Good_Business_Consultant_Do.htmlBusiness Consultant/a.nbsp; You can use Print on Demand Publishing to print books and drop ship to customers as they are ordered singly for a price of $5 – $10 per book.nbsp; Get writing!/p
pstrongSpeaking at Club Events/strong:nbsp; Being a featured speaker at a private club event can drive great business for you.nbsp; Make sure to have a brochure and make sure to feature an easy to remember website address.nbsp; Feature a special promotion for just the club attendees.nbsp; Again, being a Club Speaker sets you up as the Expert and a fantastic way to advertise your articles, newsletters and books./p
pstrongAbout the Writer/strong/p
pFrank Goley is a business consultant, business turnaround consultant, and business planner for ABC Business Consulting. Frank is an expert in writing, developing and implementing business plans, business turnaround plans, business financing plans, marketing plans, strategic plans and web marketing plans. Frank offers comprehensive business consulting, business coaching, business turnaround consulting, along with web seo, web development and web marketing consulting, to small and medium size companies.. Frank is author of the business plan book, strongemThe Comprehensive Business Plan Workbook ndash; A Step by Step Guide to Effective Business Planning/em/strong, and he has over 50 published articles on business success strategies. He also writes the Business Success Strategies Blog./p