Showing posts with label thinkvisibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thinkvisibility. Show all posts

12/15/10

Visibility Basics: Small Business Marketing with Newspaper Ads

We revisit the concepts of marketing for maximum visibility in this article by Todd Bates. He explains how newspaper advertising can still fit into your strategy.

Small Business Marketing with Newspaper Ads

Author: Todd Bates


Are you currently running Newspaper Ads? Have you seen that the cost of your ads in print have risen while the results are falling? In the modern era, print mediums are losing millions (some groups billions) of dollars to entrepreneurs moving to marketing their businesses online. Is print media dead?


Walk by any coffee shop, airport lounge, or newsstand and you will see that print media isn’t dead. Yes, print is struggling, but they still command millions of eyeballs. Millions of people still pick up newspapers daily. The big question is how are you transforming those eyeballs into customers? How are you piquing their interest and getting them to take action?


Should you fall victim to the ad salesman and be told you need to “run the ad longer” or “buy a bigger ad” you will just be throwing away money. Newspaper ads can work for your business, when you can avoid key mistakes.


1. Change Them Quickly – The benefit of newspaper ads is they are printed daily. Don’t get sucked in to running the same ad for an entire month. Be nimble and get the ability to change your ad quickly. If your ad doesn’t generate a single call, you don’t have to scrap the entire ad; you might just need a headline change. Remember, when you run internet ads you can change them every hour if you need to, push your newspaper advertising and change as often as you can to find the ad that works.


2. Remember the 7% Rule – Tragically the newspaper ad salesman isn’t your friend. They will try to use logic like “Just 1 customer and the ad pays for itself”. Last time I checked you aren’t in business to invest $1 and get $1 back, you might as well keep the dollar in your pocket. To keep your marketing and advertising costs down for your business, my 7% rule states that you can only invest 7% in marketing to get a customer. That means that if your average customer is worth $3,000 to you, then you can invest $210 to get that customer. Watch your numbers to keep your costs in-line.


When you want to get more from your newspaper ads, you can’t do what everyone else is doing. To get results, your ad needs to be different and needs to stick within your marketing budget.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/small-business-marketing-with-newspaper-ads-3840300.html

About the Author


As a business and marketing coach he has helped over 15,000 clients in the last 20 years. His dedicated style of 1 on 1 coaching gets business owners and sales professionals the help they need, not like many of the "1 size fits all" programs.

To this day he is still the only top marketing coach that you can reach on the phone. With over 41 different marketing systems that he has personally developed he matches the personality of his clients to the RIGHT system for maximum success.

8/30/10

Should You Reinvent the Visibility Wheel?

When I was growing up, from time to time my dad used to say "Why reinvent the wheel?" He was most often referring to doing something in a way that is tried and true, i.e.: proven to work. 

When I find a resource or a batch of information that is not just good, but great, I like to share it. Such is the case with the writings of a blogger named Stoney deGeyter.  One of his recent posts addresses a topic that is near and dear to most of our hearts -

Basically, most websites -- aside from their lack of ability to be found -- fail to lead people from Points A to B to C, so that they actually do anything while they're there. Stoney spells out some ways to fix that. Among the suggestions are: 
  1. Using ACTION words to describe what your business and website are about. and 
  2. Setting specific CALLS TO ACTION on the web pages to help drive the results you're looking for.
If you are wondering why you have not gleaned more sales from the internet, answer a simple question:
Have you asked for the sale? 

Take a look. Be objective. What does a visitor see when they arrive at your website?
You probably don't need a bigger, shinier, fancier Visibility Wheel. You just need one that works for your business.

This is what we can do for your business - Help you to get and use the best tools for:
  1. Building and maintaining Internet Visibility for your business.
  2. Channeling that visibility into Online Business revenues.
  3. Measuring and Managing Results from being visible and online.
Are any of these familiar?
  • Your website isn't bringing business to your door...
  • Your e-marketing is expensive and cumbersome...
  • You can't measure your results effectively...
Click this link to Contact us now about solutions for those problems.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved


7/6/10

Business Visibility and Telling a Story

This post is short. It includes a business-related visibility story in video format. 
The video is short. 
The point: You don't need a long story to build your online visibility. 
You simply need to tell one... Or a few... Or many... 
In any case, start the process of telling your story. Otherwise, you remain invisible.



This is what we can do for your business - Help you to get and use the best tools for:
  1. Building and maintaining Internet Visibility for your business.
  2. Channeling that visibility into Online Business revenues.
  3. Measuring and Managing Results from being visible and online.
Are any of these familiar?
  • Your website isn't bringing business to your door...
  • Your e-marketing is expensive and cumbersome...
  • You can't measure your results effectively...
Click this link to >>> Contact us now about solutions for those problems.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved


7/5/10

Visibility and My "Why"

DMMI Associates LLC turned 5 a few days ago. Those five years have had their ups and downs -- good times and tough times. Ergo, as Year Six gains its footing, I decided to revisit my "why" list. As Bill Bartmann, Tulsa billionaire wrote in his Why Be in Business for Yourself? article,

Entrepreneurs know that there is only one predictable way to become wealthy; you need to take control of your destiny...

Wealth and independence are certainly valid motivators for many small business owners. My why list, though, has another key element that greets me every day. I am responsible for the well-being and guidance of an adolescent child. He's my main WHY.

If you encounter me someday and wonder why I work hard and often push harder: he's why.
So, to all the parents out there whose why may be a bit fuzzy today: Keep at it, all you Mommy and Daddy Business Owners. Our kids are counting on us.


This is what we can do for your business - Help you to get and use the best tools for:
  1. Building and maintaining Internet Visibility for your business.
  2. Channeling that visibility into Online Business revenues.
  3. Measuring and Managing Results from being visible and online.
Are any of these familiar?
  • Your website isn't bringing business to your door...
  • Your e-marketing is expensive and cumbersome...
  • You can't measure your results effectively...
Click this link to >>> Contact us now about solutions for those problems.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved


6/24/10

Visibility? Show Me.

Last week, I wrote a blog entry titled "Visibility on the World Wide Web"
It had some facts and figures (yawn) -- all intended to make a good case for Internet Visibility for your business. The catch is though, if you found your way to this blog, you probably already understand that visibility is important.

Over the last several months, I've told you about various Why's, What's, and How's relative to building your business visibility. Ultimately, that should lead to profitability -- a concept that I was first introduced to by Hazel Walker of the Referral Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The missing piece, however, has been the "Show Me" part. A lot of people claim to be able to do something. This is especially true now that Social Media is deemed hot. Very few folks show you.

So, here's what you will have a chance to see:
Starting today, I'm demonstrating the Visibility Recipe in the real e-World.
I'll be using the tools that I've talked about on this blog and other social media sites.
  • Step One is the Website. It will be the Show Me Visibility site.
  • The recipe preparation will continue from there. 
As of this posting date and time, the site is a "shell" of sorts, ready to be filled. You are invited to watch its evolution.
Be advised: The site is meant to both demonstrate and market thinkVAULT's visibility services. Therefore, be forewarned. I intend for it to attract business owners who need the solutions we offer.
There will be some elements of fun, too. So, enjoy!

This is what we can do for your business - Help you to get and use the best tools for:
  1. Building and maintaining Internet Visibility for your business.
  2. Channeling that visibility into Online Business.
  3. Measuring and Managing Results from being visible and online.
Are any of these familiar?
  • Your website isn't bringing business to your door...
  • Your e-marketing is expensive and cumbersome...
  • You can't measure your results effectively...
Click this link to >>> Contact us now about solutions for those problems.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved


6/21/10

Million Dollar Website

Million Dollar Website?!
What website could cost a million dollars?
Truthfully – anyone’s. A small business website that merely sits idly on the internet, with little or no traffic, will cost its owner about one million dollars in lost business. 
In fact, a business without even a simple Internet Visibility Strategy is missing opportunities to capture prospective customers every day!
There is a solution to this widespread problem, however. An Internet Visibility Strategy can solve it.
Whether your company is in the market for outside help, or not, some basic tenets remain true. 
  • If you would like to see and hear them, please set aside 5 to 7 minutes to review this web page:
    Click here
  • You may contact us from there, if you'd like to know more or engage us for help.

 

This is what we can do for your business - Help you to get and use the best tools for:
  1. Building and maintaining Internet Visibility for your business.
  2. Channeling that visibility into Online Business.
  3. Measuring and Managing Results from being visible and online.
Are any of these familiar?
  • Your website isn't bringing business to your door...
  • Your e-marketing is expensive and cumbersome...
  • You can't measure your results effectively...
Click this link to >>> Contact us now about solutions for those problems.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved


6/16/10

Visibility on the World Wide Web

What exactly constitutes "web presence" and visibility on the World Wide Web? The mere fact that it is world wide presents both opportunity and potential obscurity!

Estimates from various sources revealed these numbers:
  • Active registered domain names = 80 million.
    This represents exponential growth over the last 5 years. Source: Netcraft
  • As of November 2009 - over 20 BILLION web pages were being indexed by Google and Yahoo! Source: Answers.com
  • The number of unique URLs, i.e.: the addresses to your web pages and other sites, now exceeds 1 TRILLION -- yes, a 1 followed by 12 zeroes.
Is it any wonder that web surfers may be a bit challenged to find your website? The odds are quickly turning against you.


Let's say that you own a flower shop and you put up a website. You sit back and wait for the phone to ring... 
But wait -- how will your website and your flower shop be found among the 11 million plus search results? Click the image to see a larger version.

Just how do you build a strategy to be found among the millions of possibilities?

That is in fact the key: you must have a strategy.

That strategy begins with knowing your market and understanding it better than any of your competitors. Beginning there will help you to refine your market niche.
Once you know your market niche, the who to and what you sell, it becomes more clear how to target that market. Zero in on that target. Then you can create and tune your website to serve both it and your bottom line.
To help you answer the key questions for defining your niche, see this article from Entrepreneur.com on how to narrow your Target Market.

This is what we can do for your business - Help you to get and use the best tools for:
  1. Building and maintaining Internet Visibility for your business.
  2. Channeling that visibility into Online Business.
  3. Measuring and Managing Results from being visible and online.
Are any of these familiar?
  • Your website isn't bringing business to your door...
  • Your e-marketing is expensive and cumbersome...
  • You can't measure your results effectively...
Click this link to >>> Contact us now about solutions for those problems.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved