Nov
27
All too often I run across the hungry talented entrepreneur with a great product or service who has the drive and determination to get a business off the ground but they do not know how to plan for their business future.
What happens when the doors are open but the customers are not calling or worse, not buying? Desperation sets in and money soars out of the bank account but with little return.
If you do not have a solid marketing plan with actionable and quantifiable measures you are looking down a very skinny funnel.
Instead of hurriedly creating a website, buying advertising, hiring fulfillment or marketing agencies to get you customers, take the time to make your plan. Hire a qualified marketing professional to consult you on best practices for your industry.
A website is not just an online brochure anymore. I don’t think it has ever been but more than half of the small business sites I visit do not have call to action or lead generation tools on their site. This is a must have if you are online and you can truly get a return on investment from an online presence if your site is designed with generating leads and sales in mind. Online advertising is another hot marketing campaign these days but is still so new there are a lot of opportunities to get taken advantage of by unscrupulous scammers. If you do not understand how different advertising and marketing techniques work you are out to spend big bucks with little return. Arm yourself with knowledge or hire a trustworthy and reputable consultant to assist you. Executing different campaigns without consistency will make it hard to measure what works and what does not. Measuring a campaigns success is the key to driving future sales. Plan based on projections. What was your annual revenue last year? By what percentage do you expect to grow this year? Keep your expectations in line with your business plan. Trying to grow by 50-100% in a year is asking for management, employee, service and quality issues. If you do not have the business plan and marketing plan working together expect employee turn over, customer complaints or worse loss of customers. Plan for the growth of your sales by what your business plan can accommodate.
There is a difference between a business plan and a marketing plan. Marketing plans are an incredibly important component of any business but many small business owners tend to neglect them because they do not have the time or resources to put one together or manage it. I have seen the difference between companies that invested in planning vs. companies that took the approach of jumping into the next big idea in marketing. Companies that plan grow at a manageable rate that keeps them prepared because they have a forecast of the future. The companies that take the unstructured approach and do not plan, typically have high growth at first then see a tremendous drop in sales after some time due to internal politics, customer dissatisfaction and employee turnover. The company never has a grasp on their financial projections and is 1-3 years from closing their doors.
Final food for thought. How much money did you spend on marketing last year? How much are you willing to invest? For instance the average direct mail campaign has a gain of 2 -6% return on investment. How many direct mail pieces will you mail out? What will the cost be?
If you are struggling with how to get the phone to ring, website visitors not making conversions to sales, it may be time to invest in some solid planning.
Know your goals and limitations before you give your money away to the first marketer that promises you big sales.
All campaigns are not equal. You need to know what type of campaign will work best for your product or service.
Marketing for services is different than marketing for products. Make sure you ask the right questions of your marketing consultant to insure they understand your industry and your business.
Take the first year as your test and analysis of your plan. At each quarter evaluate how the plan is working. You can tweak the plan based on your initial goals and how the plan is developing throughout the year.
Mary Caldwell is marketing specialist for Innovative FX, LLC. http://www.innovativefx.com Mary brings a wide range of project development skills to the marketing team from disciplines as diverse as graphic/print design, sales presentations, direct mail, website optimization, lead generation and project planning.
Mary has been in the small business owner role and recognizes the difficulty of preparing quality marketing and business development tools that result in a high return on investment. She prides herself on giving small to mid size business the tools and resources to make their business grow while not going broke in the process.
Her education in Marketing and Business Administration has strengthened her ability to blend creativity with project management giving her the ability to produce fresh, creative materials in a prolific and cost effective manner.
Contact Mary Caldwell from the Innovative FX website http://www.innovativefx.com
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Nov
26
Babies soon learn that noticing things and acting in direct response is what gets results. As adults, those of us who keep these two basic principles alive and active are the ones best equipped to go with the flow in life and make some advancing steps come what may.
If you’ve ever seen a potter at work you will notice that he pays very careful
attention to what happens to the clay on his wheel, you may have also noticed that
when maleable clay is spinning at a steady speed the slightest adjustment can have
dramatic results.
We’re pretty clay-like too, we are maleable and we are in motion and a careful
adjustment will have results on our future shape and usefulness in a very similar
way.
If a potter throws a lump of clay on the wheel, plays around with it for a while and
then walks away and turns his attention to other things, will he come back to a
finished pot? In short, no. It’s just not going to happen. He needs to be there, to pay
attention and take action, to observe, to feel, to consider and then to do what he
believes to be the best active response to bring that pot into being.
We have a choice - we can live by design or by default. In living experience, that
means the profound difference between being an unformed entity at the hands of
others, the elements, the weather, whoever and whatever, as we sit and spin inert
and unattended on the wheel of life. Alternatively, we might be a wonderful pot in
progress, shaped by care and attention to become ever more elegant, ever more
useful, and ever more suited to our chosen purpose.
It’s never too late to start, it’s never to late to change, to pick yourself up and dust
yourself down, try something new, learn something new, do something different.
And remember that all it takes is to pay yourself some real and valid attention and
then to make small adjustments in direct response - that’s all. That and to keep it
going, keep noticing, keep adjusting and know that all else will follow as night
follows day.
Ananga Sivyer is a contributing editor and health consultant for LifeScape magazine and the author of the self-help workbook: The Art & Science of Emotional Freedom
For more articles likes this or to sign up for her free “Energy Points” E-zine, visit her web-site at: http://www.ananga.net
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Nov
25
Now that you’ve figured out your budget, your booth location, your target audience and what products you’re interested in, it’s time to start designing your booth! Here are our Top 5 Display Design Tips to get you started. And as always, the pro’s at Adler Display are here to help with all of your display needs.
1. Communicate.
You’ve done a lot of up-front research to determine your target audience, your marketing message, and the products that you’d like to use. Now you need to communicate these with the designer! Event items that you might think insignificant can be helpful to your designer. Your designer should also be in close contact with your display vendor to be sure that what they design meets the appropriate graphic standards for the display products you are using.
2. Simplify.
A common mistake among exhibitors is trying to cram too much information onto a display booth. Too many graphics, too many messages, or just too much “stuff” in general can be overwhelming and confusing to booth visitors. Booth visitors should be able to understand your products and services within the first few seconds of visiting your booth. Keeping visuals, messages and literature to a minimum will help visitors understand what you do quickly, which will help ensure that they remember you back at the office.
3. Use High Quality Graphic Elements.
Nothing can be more disheartening to a trade show exhibitor than spending loads of time and money on a display, only to show up at the event and see a competitor using the same imaging in their booth! When choosing graphic elements, try to find unique photography, or have your designer develop elements that are one-of-a-kind for your booth. Make sure that the photos and graphics used are high resolution, clear and colorful so that when blown up to booth size, they hold up.
4. Use Signage to Attract, Direct.
Not only can good signage capture the attention of passers by, but it can be used to help direct booth visitors to particular areas of interest as well. Banner stands and tabletop signage can mark areas of interest and can visually support your overall theme or message.
5. Stand Out from the Crowd.
The show floor can often times seem like a sea of companies who all do the same thing. So how do you get people into your booth vs. Joe’s booth across the isle? Your display design should be well laid out, have a clear message, and should attract show goers attention from a distance. The use of overhead signage, backlit graphics, or tall display elements such as trusses can all help you attract the attention of those walking the isles. Movement is another way to attract attention. Hands-on demonstrations, multimedia presentations, and moving signage are great ways to attract attention from far away. Your display vendor will be able to show you what options are available.
Ron Adler has been working in the exhibit industry with Adler Display (http://www.adlerdisplay.com) for over 30 years. Ron has designed and created some of the most unique and creative displays in the mid-Atlantic region including several Visitor Centers in Maryland as well as dozens of exhibits for museums and hospitals throughout the United States.
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