Making Your Contacts Work For YouWritten by Sue and Chuck DeFiore
The best way to explain this concept is to tell you a story. While calling for lease purchasing property, I spoke with an older widowed woman. I went through my script and when I asked her why she thought her home hadn’t sold, she said to me, I just don’t know, I put it in paper. I then asked her if she had a FSBO sign in her yard, or if she had posted any flyers around neighborhood or in nearby markets. She said, why no, I haven’t. To make a long story short she said she would ask her granddaughter to help her do just that. She thanked me profusely and I told her to call me if she needed any help!Now I am sure there are some of you out there saying, why, she isn’t doing deal with you, and I say right back to you, it is not always about money. What do I mean by this, just this, you are a business owner in your community and sometimes good will is more important than money. Do you know what happened because I helped this woman? You got it, she sold her home and gave my card to her granddaughter and her fiancé to call me to see if I had a property they might be able to lease purchase. I did in fact have one, so she gave them money (from her house sale) to move into a nice lease purchase home. Because she referred them to me, I sent her a referral fee and let me tell you she told all her friends before she moved to Florida and we got several more deals from those calls.
| | Successful Promotion is a State of MindWritten by Wendy Maynard
Copyright 2005 Kinesis, Inc.Every good marketing plan should have a section on ongoing promotion and publicity, which outlines ways of reaching your target market. These tools can do many of same things paid advertising is supposed to do, at a fraction of cost. With an on-going publicity strategy, you can enhance your image and bring in new business. Your first step: examine your marketing plan. Does it outline a carefully selected target market and identify its needs? Does it list your products and services that will meet those needs? Your marketing plan should describe how you will make it easy for your potential customers to buy what you sell. And, it should describe how these people will learn that your business exists - i.e. your promotion. Next, take a look at your business itself. Do you know who you are? Are you using your image as a consistent marketing tool? In a world of intense competition, credibility and trust are crucial. This stands true for corporations, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. Establish a company message you believe in and repeat it over and over in your promotional materials. Fortunately, consistent promotion is a state of mind - once you start promoting your message, you'll find opportunities everywhere you turn. By reinforcing your image and repeating publicity, you'll begin to see dividends accrue for your organization. As your company's stories appear in media, your clients and prospects will perceive you as more credible. You are positioning yourself as expert. As you send out materials such as newsletters and ezines, you build a relationship with people over time. They feel like you are a friend, not a pushy salesperson. If you're not sure where to start or where to go next, a professional agency can help you refine your existing strategy and create marketing tools to meet your specific goals. Here are some marketing tools to consider:
|
