Your Website On My ForeheadWritten by Jon Castle
People are so focused on promoting their websites on web nowadays that many are overlooking original marketing medium—the offline world! Many tried and true methods of advertising exist for brick and mortar businesses that could just as easily be applied to online businesses. These methods have been developed over hundreds if not thousands of years—what cavemen used to sell I have no idea—but point is still valid. Business promotion existed long before internet. So what methods of marketing in “real” world can an online business owner apply to cyber world?One extremely effective method is brand marketing through merchandise. Think about it—before web existed, how did businesses like real estate companies market their brands? One way they did it was to give stuff away—a marketing trick that is still being applied effectively today. How many pens, pencils, and magnets do you have lying around house, stuck to refrigerator, placed behind your ear—wherever—that bear some company’s logo or name? If you have ever worked in an office environment doubtless you would have noticed several different slogans on a hodgepodge collection of pens (some that might even still work) and pencils collected over time from seminars, informational fairs, trade events, etc. Brick and mortar businesses are doing it, so why aren’t you?
| | Systems for SuccessWritten by George Torok
What does it take to succeed? How many times have you asked that question of yourself and others? You may have heard many different answers. I have found one thing that successful people have in common. They use systems. They may or may not have talent. If they did they learned not to rely on talent alone. Talent is seductive. For example, if you are talented at golf you might be tempted not to practice. You might believe you can wing it. Tiger Woods never wings it. Wayne Gretzky never winged it. Both of them are tremendously talented at their sport. But they know not to rely on that talent alone. They developed systems. What is a system? A set of practices, procedures and habits melded into a process that you learn, perform, evaluate, improve and do again - repeatedly. Everything that you do can be a process. This applies in your personal life but especially to your business. To run a marathon requires a simple system - training, diet, measurement and repetition. The hard part is taking 70,000 steps to complete race. Your business is more like a marathon than a sprint. Everything in your business begs for a system. Business is real simple that way; discover system and do it. And systems by their nature are simple. They demand only persistence and consistence. Let's look at most important aspect to your business - sales. If you don't sell you die. Can't get more important than that. Selling is not luck or talent - it is a process. You find a client who wants your product, they see value in buying from you, they can afford it, and they buy. That is over simplified but that is process. Depending on business you are in you learn details of each step and apply them. A friend of mine told me that he knows how many million dollar clients he will get this month and one after. Why? Because he knows process and where to find them. The difference between $10,000 client and $1million client is where to look. The selling process is same. The only difference is system of where you look. To maximize his sales he keeps reapplying process (system) and strives to find opportunities for improving efficiency in system. The second most important activity in your business is marketing. Why? Because marketing is everything you do that makes it easier to sell. Here is where following a system is even more important. Marketing is about sending messages. Building your visibility, credibility, value, character and reputation takes time. And results are difficult to measure. You might be tempted to give up too soon. What marketing systems do you have in place? You might consider implementing some of these.
|
