Sales & Marketing Articles For Entrepreneurs & Small Business OwnersTop 10 Marketing Success Secrets for BusinessesIf you want to market successfully, you need to communicate successfully. The biggest communication mistake businesspeople make is telling their prospects any and everything about their business or company. The same holds true when communicating with the media. When you’re being interviewed, producers and writers don’t have time for your life history, they want a […] What are the New Ways to Promote Your Business?Over the last year or so, lots and lots of new ways to promote your business have appeared. Some of these were there before, but they’ve now become mainstream and have opened the doors for smaller businesses to compete with larger businesses for the first time. And they all have to do with advances in […] How to Achieve Your Sales Targets in 2010I’m sure by now that you have established your sales targets for next year. If you haven’t I suggest that you get cracking and do it now. Time is slipping past! If you have set your targets, congratulations! Here are 10 things you can do to achieve those goals. 1. Invest time prospecting for NEW […] Why Nice People Should Use Fear To Market Their WorkThere’s no mystery about why marketers appeal to fear. Fear mongering works. Before Madison Avenue taught us to fear it, body odor was just a fact of life. Same with gray hair, weeds in the lawn, and dingy whites. Advertising has transformed what were at most minor disappointments or inconveniences into occasions of fear and […] Will It Blend? – Traditional And Social MediaChallenging communications environment? Should one focus on social media first, or exclusively, stick with traditional media and its recognized “credibility” factor, or strive to balance the two? In almost all cases, I would recommend a blend. According to new research by Ad-ology Research, small business owners say the benefits of social networking are lead generation, […] Live At 5 – Handling The TV InterviewWhether you go to their studio or the camera crew simply arrives at your front door there is nothing that fully prepares an executive for the TV interview. You’re so busy today running the company, planning new products/services and struggling to win sales; it is difficult to perform with grace and poise when a television […] Skill And Knowledge Are Telemarketing PartnersTelemarketing is nothing new. Since early in the last century, Wall Street brokers have used the telephone to sell securities, commodities, stocks and bonds to customers scattered across the country. Then, it was primarily a matter of logistics. The world was large, and telephone sales offered a practical alternative to the inconvenience of telegraphic communications. […] Will It Blend – Social And Traditional MediaAs a veteran PR counselor specializing in the creative marketing services space, I avidly track the evolution of media channels, especially the growing challenge that “social media” poses to “traditional media” for marketplace dominance. When working to develop leadership positions for emerging companies an understanding of which media will most profoundly impact one’s reputation and […] Why Your March Sales SuckJournal entry: December 10, 2009 “My calendar is full and my sales are on track. Looks like I’ll end the year ahead of target. This means my boss will finally stop bugging me to get my sales on track. After several years of developing my client base, I’m making headway. That means I can finally […] If At First You Don’t SucceedI suspect that you have heard the expression “If at first you don’t succeed try, try again.” This adage was created many decades ago and it remains true to this day. And even though many sales people understand it, they make a fatal mistake—they use the same approach although their original approach was not effective. […] Why Sales People Hate Cold CallingCold calling is a fact of life for most people in sales. Sure, the vast majority would prefer to rely on referrals, word-of-mouth, or some other lead source that reduces or eliminates their need to make cold calls. However, unless you deal with an established set of accounts, you will, at some time, be required […] 3 Sales Lessons I Learned from a RaccoonFrom the outside, selling seems like a fantastic career. Many sales people get to travel, attend trade shows, go to conferences, socialize, and earn a ton of money. However, those of us in the profession know that selling can be intimidating. Cold calls. Objections. Frustration. Rejection. There are many occasions when we encounter resistance from […] Have You Taken Action On Your Marketing Yet?I had an interesting conversation with someone the other day about our newsletters. He said he received them and I asked him whether he found them useful. He said he did, but mentioned that 70% of what I included, he already knew. Good point, I thought – but often it’s not about what you […] Use Christmas To Promote Your BusinessIt’s getting close to that time of year again – when everyone starts to talk about the ‘C’ word and looks forward to their two week break. Before you look forward too much to your break though, I want you to stop for a minute and just think about promoting over the Christmas period. […] A Living, Breathing Customer DatabaseEach week, I talk to business owners who dream of having a mature customer base that provides them with lots of repeat business. But when I ask them what they’re doing to make that dream a reality, too often they answer with something like: “Well, the longer I’m in the industry, the more customers I […] Seven Fundamental Marketing PrinciplesMarketing is defined as a suite of principles and strategies you use in your business to persuade your target market to contact your business. Marketing is beneficial to your business because it: Establishes awareness that your business exists Promotes branding and name recognition Provides general information about your business or your products / services When […] Getting Your Horses (Customers) To Drink WaterThe old adage “you can bring a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink” is an extremely pertinent one in the world of Sales & Marketing. For instance, let’s use this adage as the metaphor that it is: The Horse: Though not the most flattering thing with which to associate a consumer, the […] Product Differentiation: “A Success Story”In 1983, Howard Schultz was inspired to buy the Starbucks Coffee Company, and according to his book Pour Your Heart into It – this occurred because of a cup of watered-down, bland instant coffee that he was served on a flight to Canada. On that flight, he was inspired to bring a European-caliber appreciation for coffee […] How Does Your Service Or Product Benefit Your Client?In order to be successful with your marketing and sales efforts, you must be clear and confident in knowing, discussing, and delivering the benefits of your services or product. Many sales people and business owners know their facts and features very well. Unfortunately, those alone will not always lead to a sale. To ensure more […] What You Need To Know About Marketing!If you’re like most small business owners, you have a basic understanding of marketing and why you need to do it. However, most small business owners these days are forgetting the basic goal that effective marketing will archive and are reducing their marketing efforts because of an “economic downturn.” The text book definition of marketing […] |
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