Marketing

Creative Email Message Subject Lines

February 11, 2012 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

I’ve always told my small business readers to tie their marketing into the time of year or season. Well, with Valentine’s Day coming up on Tuesday, I had to share with you some creative email subject lines that I received in my inbox this past weekend:

Indianapolis Company: Ray Skillman Westside Mazda: Email Subject Line: ”Pamper Your CX9 this Valentine’s Day.” I am on their list because I purchased a car from them. Now, I would never think to incorporate Valentine’s Day into an email if I were a car dealer, but they did so very creatively with the subject line. And it’s great that they’ve even customized the email with the exact model of car that I’ve purchased. Even the email inside was customized for the holiday with various offers, such as a “Sweetheart Special,” in which the body copy states: “Give your CX9 the special treatment it deserves.” And of course, they have a few other specials, a great call to action (click here to schedule your service appointment or call) and the service hours and address clearly listed below, and of course a link to their website. The design wasn’t perfect, but they did a great job overall.

National Companies: Some of the other email subject lines which I found intriguing were from national brands, but we can still learn from them because they find ways to connect with their targeted audience through the subject line to get them to open the email. These days, with information and email overload, the subject line just may be the most important component of the email campaign. Here are some good ones that caught my eye:

Bob Evans Farm: Email Subject Line: “Snow is Coming! Pick up a Warm Meal for Your Family this Weekend” What a great way to contrast the cold winter months with the warm, comfort food of Bob Evans. Inside, the email shows a snowy scene with a Bob Evans billboard reading “Snow Day! Meals for Under $20″ and an offer for their 10 Family Meals to go for under $20, with convenient curbside service, along with a soup promotion and a few other promotions, and of course social media links. The copy also further enhances the concept, with words such as “Bad weather shouldn’t stop you from enjoying a great meal.”
Fisher Price Family: Email Subject Line:”Two Days Only: “KISS” Shipping Charges Goodbye!” This one is appealing to our wallets, of course, but also ties into the Valentine’s Day theme. Inside, they spell out the meaning of their subject line: “Let’s Keep It Sweet and Simple, Valentine…”, offering complimentary shipping on their site to entice people to shop on their website for Fisher Price toys.
Dole Sunshine Times: Email Subject Line: ”Find Your Winter Paradise with Dole!” Okay, so this one caught me because I could use a little paradise now in the middle of winter. Inside, the company features a tropical recipe, a link to their contest to win a Hawaiian vacation, and a link to print a coupon (my girls love their fruit cups).
Uncommon Goods: Email Subject Line: ”You Can Hurry Love!” This one, of course, appealing to the last-minute Valentine’s Day shoppers, who now realize that they had better hurry if they’re going to find a gift for their loved one online and have it arrive by Tuesday. Inside, the company gives selections for different gift recipients, and features an expedited shipping offer for an extra $3.

Now, to clarify, these emails were sent to my personal email account, which I use for most of my non-business email newsletter subscriptions. After scrolling through most of the B2B email marketing messages I received in my business inbox last week, I didn’t really see a ton which caught my eye. Most of the subject lines pertained to content inside, but weren’t completely compelling. The ones that were more likely for me to open answered a question or problem that I was having in my business, or a topic that interested me.

So the bottom line for creative email marketing subject lines: Be clever, entertaining or seasonal, and get personal. After all, you’re emailing to a real person, with true feelings and emotions — not just a business. Keep those things in mind the next time you create your email campaign, and I bet you’ll have a higher open rate.

Disney – the Marketing Machine:

August 3, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

What we can learn from Disney to Market Our Businesses

It had been years since my parents had taken me to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, so when the time came to take my two daughters, Elaina (4) and Evelyn (2 1/2) to Disney World this summer, I was more than excited to see what had changed. I was also eager to look at the company and the experience from a different perspective (a marketing angle), since launching my Indianapolis marketing business in 2005. Why not learn from one of the masters of marketing? So when we arrived with our extended family for our 2-day adventure, I took note. Here were some of the things I noticed:

Elaina & Evelyn at Disney World, waiting for the Country Bear Jamboree show to begin

Evelyn & Elaina at Disney World, waiting for the Country Bear Jamboree show to begin

Keeping it Classic: The old, familiar Dumbo ride where I got lost (not once, but twice) as a toddler is the same as it was 30 years ago. The Country Bear Jamboree show was very much like I remembered it (but much cheesier now that I’m an adult). Even the evening electrical light parade through downtown had the same feel to it, even though the light displays were much more modern and elaborate than when I was a child. Disney has done a good job keeping some things classic, so that through the years, they stay consistent in their brand experience. Business Marketing Takeaway: Do you have some things in your business that you hold onto because they hold a special place in customers’ hearts?
VIP Treatment: Disney has many options for visitors to make them feel special. For instance, we received “1st Time” buttons for my daughters, which was supposed to give them extra attention throughout the park. And another extra package my daughter, Elaina, got to experience was at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, where she received the royal treatment from her own, personal
Evelyn receiving a special kiss from Sleeping Beauty, at a princess character breakfast. We will always remember this experience Disney created.

“fairy godmother” with a princess dress, hair, makeup, tiara and accessories. Despite the 90-degree heat, she didn’t want to take the dress off for most of the day! I also experienced what it was like to see my daughters meet and get autographs from Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White and all of the princesses for the first time at a Disney Character breakfast. These experiences made the Disney trip extra special for them (and for me), and were worth the extra cost. Business Marketing Takeaway: Could you offer some kind of VIP package or special treatment for customers willing to pay more for the experience?
Improving Customer Service: One of the coolest features of the two days at Magic Kingdom were the Fast Passes. These allowed us to avoid waiting in 90-minute lines with impatient toddlers just to enjoy a 60-second boat ride. We were able to skip around between several rides by picking up a Fast Pass ticket, and then coming back later to ride the ride or see the show with no more than a 10-minute wait. Disney has done a great job with this system, because it alleviates a common complaint that visitors have had for years — lines are long during peak operating season — and improves the overall customer satisfaction with the Disney Experience. Business Marketing Takeaway: Is there something you could improve upon in your current business process to enhance the customer experience, wait time or service expected?
Creating Memories (and Brand Evangelists): Aside from the many Mickey Mouse eared-souvenirs we could purchase from the various gift shops throughout Magic Kingdom, Disney also gave us a photo pass, which we could use to get our picture taken in various places throughout the park. While in concept, it’s a great idea for an additional service offered (and who wants to tote around a digital camera all day?) the drawback to this was the $15 per photo price tag, which made it a negative for me. One marketing tactic that I think they’ve done well with is their “Let the Memories Begin” ad campaign. If you’ve seen the TV spots or magazine ads, they feature submissions from real families visiting the parks, sharing a photo or video of their experience with Disney parks. One photo shows a family riding the famous teacups ride, and another features a video of two parents (and the children’s reaction) telling their kids that they’re packing their bags for Disney. The website also allows you to share your own memory, and thus feeds the emotional connection between the Disney brand and the customer/visitor. They have also re-purposed these memories on their social media sites, blogs, ad campaigns and more for greater impact. Business Marketing Takeaway: How can you create an emotional bond with your company and its customers, and get them to share their experiences with others, as brand evangelists?

Overall, I was very impressed with my most recent trip to Walt Disney World – from the hotel staff at the resort to the rides and the experiences. And I was even more impressed with Disney’s marketing prowess. Hopefully you can learn a few lessons from a marketing master on how to improve your marketing and customer experience.

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding, Customer Service, National Brands Tagged With: Customer service, Disney marketing, Disney marketing machine, marketing Walt Disney World, the Disney experience, What to learn about marketing from Disney

Creating the Perfect Marketing Strategy without Copying It

July 3, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

Just as no snowflake is alike, your business marketing plan should be different too

Not all businesses are created equal, right?

So quit marketing and advertising your business like everyone else.

My point is simple: Find the right combination of advertising, marketing, PR and promotional activities that fit the unique offering, customer base and budget of your business, and you’ll find success.

Don’t just jump on the Twitter or Facebook marketing bandwagon because the company down the street has found success with it. Or, alternatively, spend thousands on one strategy while ignoring others that might prove effective.

Creating the perfect marketing strategy does involve some trial and error. Gently test the waters of any new marketing tactic and see what kind of results you get, before investing huge sums. However, with that said, you also need to give each marketing tactic enough time and impressions to see results, so don’t give up too early.

So how should you go about creating a marketing plan or strategy for your business?

Many business owners want to skip this step of creating a marketing plan. But it’s very important to the future success of the business. While I highly recommend a formal, written down and thought out marketing plan, if you don’t want to pay a professional like myself to develop one, you should at least sit down and analyze the basics of your business:

Define your product/service, niche, industry, competitors, unique selling proposition (USP), price point, and primary/secondary target audiences.
From there, investigate all possible advertising/marketing/PR/promotional options available, along with associated cost, audience reached, timing and other details. Include the cost of your time as well in these estimates.
Then make a recommendation of a combination of these tactics to try and put them in a marketing calendar for the upcoming quarter/year.
Evaluate the effectiveness of each tactic when determining whether to renew your investment in it.

A simple way to a marketing strategy that works for you. Just remember: All businesses are different, and thus the ways used to promote them should be unique as well.

Filed Under: Advertising, Budget Marketing, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, USP Tagged With: marketing planning, marketing plans, marketing strategy, social media marketing

Real Estate, Curb Appeal and Marketing Your Business

June 22, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

My Humble Home in Brownsburg, Indiana, back in Greener Days

On a hot, 80-degree plus afternoon, I decided to go for a jog in my neighborhood. While I was not trying to use this time to think, without an iPod (mine has been lost for several months), my mind started wandering, and I began making note of my surroundings. In my observations of my neighbor’s lawns and houses, I started making connections to the marketing world (I know – what a nerd!)

So what do my neighbors’ houses have to do with marketing your business? Here are some marketing lessons learned while jogging:

1. Curb Appeal: People do notice. Does your business have a nice appearance on the outside? Whether you have a retail shop or you are representing yourself at networking events, are you coming across with a nice first impression? Just as I saw many houses with poor landscaping, weeds and grass that desperately needed mowed, your business might be in need of a little curb appeal too. Could you use a new logo? Website? A new suit or tie to replace those shorts you’ve been wearing to the Chamber luncheons? Why would I want to buy what you’re selling if you don’t look appealing?

2. A “Wow” Factor: Does your business have one thing that is it’s specialty — something extraordinary for which you’re uniquely known? Just as some of the houses I noticed on my block had a really cool landscaping feature or porch furnishing that made their house stand out, you too need something to stand out from your competitors. Think of why your customers buy from you, time and time again, to get a clue for something that you could start marketing as your “wow” factor (or USP). For my business, it would be that I am a good business writer that also understands SEO (search engine optimization).

3. Look Better than your Competitors: If you have a for sale sign in your front yard, you’d better have that house looking its best, or why would I want to buy your house over another one down the street? On my jog, I saw houses for sale with immaculately kept yards, and others with enough weeds to make a lawn care company cringe. The same holds true for marketing our businesses. If you want to win business from your competitors, you’d better be one of the best looking business on the block, or I will shop elsewhere.

I saw some other cool things while on my run, but these were the top three tips that stuck in my mind. Hope they have helped you think a little bit differently about marketing and first impressions. Now I think I’ll go pull some weeds in my front yard…

Filed Under: Indianapolis Marketing, USP Tagged With: curb appeal, marketing and real estate, marketing your business, selling a home

Traditional Versus Online Advertising: What’s Your Share?

April 28, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

Wanted to share with you an article I wrote this month, which was featured in an e-newsletter of a colleague of mine, Janet Falkenberg of ExecuStrive, an Indianapolis virtual assistant firm. Thanks, Janet, for letting me share this article with my Indianapolis business colleagues.

Do you consider yourself a “traditional marketer”? Are you spending a majority of your marketing and advertising budget on offline activities, such as yellow pages ads, print advertising, coupons and billboards, because “that’s what our company has always done”? Are you wondering whether these methods are still paying off, or whether you’re spending too much in these areas for the return on investment?

Billboard Advertising - Traditional Advertising

Are you more of a fan of traditional advertising or online advertising?

Many companies have not yet maximized the opportunities that exist to market their businesses online. Some of the options available include:

Websites
Search engine optimization
Email marketing
Blogs
Pay-per-click advertising (Google AdWords)
Social media marketing (YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook)

Finding More Clients Online

Don’t get me wrong: traditional advertising has its place, and for some businesses, it’s the best method of reaching the ideal client. However, more people are using the Internet to research businesses and make purchases online rather than searching in yellow pages or in their local newspaper. With online marketing, your business could increase its brand awareness and lead generation exponentially using some of these online marketing methods. So you are missing out on a potential audience if you don’t at least consider online marketing as part of your overall strategy.

But where should you start?

Outsourcing your Online Marketing Efforts

Many business owners don’t have the skills or technical knowledge to use online marketing, or are overwhelmed with the idea of incorporating online marketing tools. In this case, it’s best to ask a marketing professional for help. They can steer you toward the right online marketing tactics that best fit your budget, target audience and sales goals. A professional can also create a marketing calendar of activities, as well as help you set up your online marketing plan and implement your online marketing program too.

For instance, if you had a plumbing company, and your website that was optimized for search terms such as ‘Indianapolis plumbing’ or ‘Indiana plumbing company,’ you could be generating hundreds of leads for your business each day, just from web searches alone. Couple this with blogging, a YouTube channel showing plumbing tips, and a modest pay-per-click advertising campaign, and you’ve got more leads than you can handle – all at a lower cost than one month of your yellow pages ad. Do you see the potential?

Integrating Online and Offline Marketing

Many businesses find it best to integrate both online and offline marketing methods in order to achieve greater results at a lower cost. If you’ve always spent $1500/month on billboard advertising and $1000/month on yellow page advertising, for example, we can look at how you could reduce your spend in traditional media and move some of that budget to online media. In most cases, you can market your business online at a much lower cost than traditional advertising.

I hope you can see the value of incorporating Internet marketing into your current efforts. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results and — the return for the cost — that it can bring for your business.

Filed Under: Advertising, Blogging, Business, Indianapolis Marketing, Indianapolis advertisting, Marketing Strategy, Marketing-Mix, Outsourced Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Website Development Tagged With: advertising budget, billboard advertising, blogs, offline advertising, online advertising, online marketing, pay per click marketing, search engine optimization, social media, traditional advertising, traditional marketing

The Secret to Business Success

March 23, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

By Janet Falkenberg

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from my friend Janet Falkenberg of ExecuStrive, an Indianapolis virtual assistant business.

Let me share a secret with you that many successful entrepreneurs already know – you have to manage your business effectively to reach the levels of success you desire.

So, if you can answer YES to ANY of these questions then you know you are not effectively managing your business:

Feeling overwhelmed at the start of each day – you don’t know what to do first?
You’ve been busy all day but don’t feel like you’ve achieved anything?
Are projects/clients are falling through the cracks or you’re “forgetting” appointments?
These are only the symptoms of LACK of systems. You don’t have core systems in place and your business is running you when it should be you running your business!

Do you strategically look at why and how you are busy? Time is your most valuable asset and cannot be replaced. Engaging in activity that has little value will not produce the revenue you desire.

A virtual assistant is an expert who focuses on business processes and can provide entrepreneurs with advice and guidance on setting up business processes, analyzing workflows, streamlining and improving operations.

For a business to be successful, all the areas of the business need to work together. Creating systems will help you realize big results in increased efficiency, more profits, increased customer/client satisfaction and retention, just to name a few. Here are some core areas that would be helpful to have a system for:

Project Management
Current Client Care
Client Retention
Tracking Sales
Marketing and Advertising
Business Owner Time Management

There are five ways a virtual assistant can set up systems to manage your business so that you can effectively market and grow your business.

Set up systems for the core areas of your business. You can use the above list as a guide. Review the systems you have in place.
Systemize repetitive tasks. Are clients asking the same questions? Create auto responders or template email answers to these questions.
Create a calendar to handle your appointments, project deadlines, etc.
Create your core business systems. How do you handle new clients?
Create a long term plan. Use spreadsheets to schedule your annual marketing plan that shows month by month what programs to run. This will take all the guesswork out of running the business. You can easily see the available time slots for getting work done or scheduling appointments.

Working with a virtual assistant to develop these systems will increase your business, your income, and your productivity!

To your success!!

Janet Falkenberg
ExecuStrive
Details Get Done
317-440-0255

Filed Under: Indianapolis Marketing, Marketing, Marketing & Sales, Marketing Plans, Marketing Strategy, Outsourced Marketing, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: creating a marketing system, marketing plan, marketing system, outsourced administrative assistant, outsourced marketing, virtual assistant

Time Management Tips for Working with your Marketing Pro

March 21, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

Indianapolis Productivity Consultant Robby Slaughter

By Robby Slaughter

Editor’s Note: Here is a guest post from my friend Robby Slaughter of Slaughter Development, who describes himself on Twitter (@RobbySlaughter) as ‘Troublemaker and productivity/workflow expert.’ He also hosts a series of seminars on productivity in Indianapolis.

There are two very good reasons you hired a marketing consultant to help promote your business: that person is an expert in marketing, and they actually have time to implement marketing campaigns. So how do you manage your time effectively to maximize your working relationship? Here are some tips for making your arrangement productive:

Schedule and Stick to Meetings – You should be getting together in person or taking part in a dedicated phone call on a consistent basis. These meetings are the best time to bring up new ideas, not when inspiration strikes you at 4AM and you decide to dash off a text message. (Don’t do that.) Instead, come prepared with questions, ideas and assignments. Start and end on time. Make sure you’re focused on having a meaningful conversation, not just a todo list.
Use Collaboration Software – It can be as simple as free tools like Google Docs or DropBox, or as fancy as a document management system. Just avoid the endless barrage of emails and instead update the mutual, virtual whiteboard. That way, everyone can see project status without the frustration of interruptions.
Give Positive and Negative Feedback - Make sure that you are always ready to tell what you do like and what you don’t like. If all you offer is either praise or criticism, your words may fall on deaf ears. Provide a range!

Incorporate these suggestions into your routine, and you are sure to find your working relationship take off. Good luck!

Robby Slaughter is a productivity and workflow consultant based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Filed Under: Business, Indianapolis Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Outsourced Marketing Tagged With: hiring a marketing firm, Indianapolis marketing consultant, marketing time management tips, time management and marketing, working with a marketing consultant

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Your Website Traffic Starts Here

March 16, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

[Note: This post first appeared as an article in the Hamilton County Business Magazine. It offers a good overview of the basics of SEO for those who want to learn more.]

As a business, you have probably taken the time to build your website with a goal of converting your visitors into prospects. You have built content that engages your visitors, establishes your company as the expert, and leads visitors along a decision path toward the goal of becoming your customer. But getting them to your website first seems to be half the battle. That is where search engine optimization comes into play.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization is building your website’s structure, content, links, code as well as external links back to your site, using relevant keywords and strategies, to allow prospects to find your website through a search engine.

Why SEO?

For most industries, we are no longer relying on yellow pages to find service providers or vendors. A majority of people looking for a product or service these days turn to the Internet, and search on Google, Yahoo or other search engine directory. Thus, the goal for your business should be to appear in the published search results for your product or service, in your targeted regions.

Starting your SEO Efforts

So how can you go about getting those coveted top rankings for your website? Well, the bad news is that there is no quick process for instant SEO results. You should be weary of any company that suggests otherwise. SEO involves a conscious effort of research, analysis and tweaking of the foundation of your existing website, and other methods to generate increased search traffic over time. However, here are a few tips for getting started along the road to a well-optimized website:

Are Companies Searching for your business on Google? Help them find you with SEO.

Website Analytics:
Start by looking at your existing website traffic. If you already have a good analytics program set up, such as Google Analytics, you are a step ahead. Note: If your analytics program does not include at least the last 12 months’ worth of data, or you are not able to view search engine keyword phrases, you might want to check out Google Analytics. Looking at your traffic report, answer these questions:

From what region are most of your site visitors coming?
Which external websites are referring visitors to your site?
Which search engines are generating the most traffic?
What are the top keywords and phrases visitors use to find your website?
Are these keywords reflective of your product/service offering and sales goals?

Brainstorm a List of Keyword Terms / Phrases

Using your site analysis results, as well as your instinct, brainstorm a list of every possible combination of keyword phrases that an individual might type into Google to search for your company, product or service. This includes using locations in the search (if that is important to your business), using plural, singular or other variations of a word and more. For example, I would like my company to rank for the term ‘Indianapolis marketing firm’ but I also would include ‘Indianapolis marketing consultant,’ ‘Indianapolis PR firm,’ ‘Indianapolis SEO,’ and so forth. The goal here is to build a master keyword list with which to build your website’s SEO strategy.

Find out the Most Popular Search Phrases

Now that you have armed yourself with some keyword phrases, you need to find out which phrases your potential customers actually use in an Internet search. Otherwise, you are wasting your time optimizing your site for an irrelevant keyword phrase. Google has a good tool, through its AdWords program, which allows you to type in a list of keywords or keyword phrases, and it will tell you the average monthly website traffic on Google. It will also give you suggested keyword phrases based on your current website content. From this research, you will need to build a spreadsheet of all prospective keywords, prioritize based on your needs, and create a master keyword list from which you can begin to optimize your website.

Determine Your Current Ranking

The next step in your search engine optimization effort should be to determine where you currently rank for various search phrases of interest. There are several free or low-cost tools available on the Internet to help you calculate your ranking. One of my favorite tools is Max Rank Tracker by a company called TrackingGuru. Alternatively, you can simply type each phrase into Google and see if your website comes up on the list of search results. Do not be disheartened if you do not appear anywhere on the first few pages of search results for a given phrase. Keep in mind the competitive nature of the keyword phrase, and remember that you can also target certain geographic locations in your SEO goals.

Research your Competition

When developing an SEO strategy, many businesses often forget to analyze their competitors’ websites. Doing so can help you determine which websites are ranking well for a given keyword phrase, as well as provide much insight as to why their sites are ranking so well. You can use competitive research to help build your master keyword list, determine best practices for optimizing your website, and more. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that most of your competitors are not properly optimizing their websites, which means you have the opportunity to capitalize on this fact.

From this point on, there is much more involved in properly optimizing your website from a content, navigation and link standpoint. However, if you start with the proper research first – a review of your own website, your competitors’ websites, and a list of popular and coveted search terms – you will be better equipped to continue the SEO process of altering your website to boost your search engine ranking for your desired terms.

Upcoming SEO Seminar: In future posts, I’ll be discussing more strategies for search engine optimization. You can also learn more SEO strategies by registering for my upcoming tele-seminar: SEO For Coaches and Consultants on Wednesday, April 20th at 7 p.m. EST. Even if you’re not a coach or consultant, I’ll be sharing lots of tips, so you’ll be sure to gain some tools to use for optimizing your website.

Filed Under: Indianapolis Marketing, SEO Indianapolis, SEO Strategies, Search Engine Optimization Tagged With: basic SEO strategies, do-it-yourself SEO, Indianapolis SEO, search engine optimization, SEO

R.I.P. – Avoiding The Small Business Tombstone

February 18, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

Don't Let Your Business End Up in the Business Graveyard In my seemingly bustling town of Brownsburg, Indiana, I’ve seen many businesses close up shop in the last year or so. Some were service businesses, and others were retail establishments. I don’t know the details of each individual situation and why they made the decision to close, but as a marketer, I can’t help but say to myself, “I wish I could’ve done something…” or “they should have done this…”

I know the reality that half of all new/small businesses fail. Some are swallowed up by competiton with greater marketing dollars. Some just don’t provide great customer service or have a product that people want to buy. Some were born from great ideas, but didn’t gain enough of a following to sustain the business.

As a small business owner or professional, how do you keep your company from becoming a part of this statistic?

1. Listen to your customers. Survey your potential customers and make sure there is a need in the marketplace for your product or service, or if they are happy with your company, and why or why not. This could be as simple as asking your current customers in a quick email or phone call, or even asking family or friends. Doing a little market research will help you understand the market needs and how to tailor your business offerings and/or service for success. Remember – needs change, so do this every once and a while, especially if you’ve been in business a while. You may discover an unmet need that you can use to expand your product offering or extend your brand. And if you’re doing something terribly wrong, wouldn’t you want to know about it? So Ask!

2. Get your name out there. If your customers or potential customers don’t know you exist, how are they going to buy from you? It seems like a no-brainer, but I’ve seen many companies just open up a store and rely on drive-by traffic to get people in the door. How much business are you leaving on the table because you are not promoting yourself? Yes, marketing is an investment, but you should consider this a monthly expense, just like your office lease or supplies, to keep you in business. Just as in personal finances, despite the risks, if you don’t make the investment in your business, you won’t see the returns.

3. Find more than one way to promote yourself. Along this same line, don’t simply rely on one tactic, such as referrals or advertising in one coupon book, to get new business. With websites, SEO, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email marketing, direct mail, tradeshows, workshops, Google AdWords, newspaper advertising, magazine advertising and more, if you choose at least three or four tactics and create an integrated marketing campaign, I guarantee you’ll see greater results than you would with just one of these tactics alone.

4. Do the right kind of marketing. Many businesses think that throwing a bunch of money into advertising will get them the results they seek, without putting much thought into the ideal places to market, or the right message to market. Put together a list of all of your advertising and marketing options, determine which tactics best fit your target audience, your budget and your time commitment, and go from there. Then adjust your spend and your message based on results so that you’re not wasting your efforts.

5. Learn from others’ mistakes (and your own). Doing the research before starting a business, or expanding your business, or investing in a new marketing tactic, may prevent you from regretting it later. The Internet is a great resource for information, but you can rely on friends and colleagues, a business coach, a consultant or an industry thought leader to give you feedback and advice. If you’ve made a mistake, try to adjust your course and keep on sailing.

Business is cut-throat, and there are no guarantees of success. In some cases, it’s necessary to cut your losses and move on. But my hope is that your business can survive if you use a little intuition, a little guidance from others, and some smart marketing tactics.

Filed Under: Business, Indianapolis Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Plans, Marketing Strategy, Word of Mouth Marketing Tagged With: Brownsburg, Brownsburg marketing, marketing to avoid going out of business, small business failure

Getting Started with Online Video: Common Pitfalls to Avoid

February 17, 2011 By Susan Young Leave a Comment

Here is a guest post from my friend Rocky Walls, CEO / Media Guy of 12 Stars Media Productions. Since I’ve had a lot of clients ask me how they can get started with online video, I thought I’d have Rocky “de-mystify” it for us. – Susan

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Rocky Walls - 12 Stars Media Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Getting Started with Online Video
By Rocky Walls, 12 Stars Media

Using video online is all the buzz these days. And, why shouldn’t it be? Video boosts SEO (search engine optimization) and SMO (social media optimization), increases traffic to your site and conversion rates, and makes your customer interactions more personal.

There are, however, some common pitfalls to avoid when getting started with video. Here’s a video to share with you the three mistakes we see the most.

So, in summarizing…

1.) Don’t say too much. You actually want your viewers to feel like they need a little more information so they’ll continue to check out your site, watch more videos, or contact you with questions.

2.) Don’t say it wrong. Just talk to the camera like you’re talking to your friend across the table at a coffee shop. Avoid using scripts; instead try bullet points. Here are three simple steps for sounding natural on video that I like to share with folks who are just getting started.

3.) Go for deep, not wide. Again, ten viewers who watch and retain your actual message are much better than 10,000 who just laugh and don’t even remember who you are.

If you want more information about real, simple video please visit us at 12 Stars Media anytime.

Filed Under: Indianapolis Marketing, Marketing with Video

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