Poor Richard's Almanac For Email Marketers

Ben Franklin wasn’t exactly a marketer; but he was many other things.

He was one of America’s founding fathers, and the dude sure was pithy with his business advice. So here we have some bits of his wisdom, passed down from his Poor Richard’s Almanacs and showing you how they can help you grow your business.

Here are our favorite Poor Richard-isms. Don’t market without them.

Poor Richard's Almanac for Email Marketers

How To Market Your Business With Webinars

If you’ve ever been to a webinars, you’ve seen how useful they can be when it comes to delivering content to an audience. The word “webinar” is an amalgamation of the words “web” and “seminar” — basically a presentation you give to an audience over the web.

With clear instructions and educational webinars, people are more likely to sign up for your information, buy your product and/or stay with your business.

Read more about how you can use webinars to advance your business interests here ....

How To Market Your Business With Webinars

Entrepreneur Connect Groups: Marketing Mistakes You Don't Want to Make

Marketing Mistakes You Don't Want to Make

1. Resting on your laurels. Just because you have what you think is a good marketing plan in place today doesn't mean it'll be right tomorrow. The pace today is so accelerated, you must stay ahead of the game. Constantly research what your competition is doing. Surf the Internet to see what's new out there.

2. Hype. Sooner or later hype will catch up with you. Being superficial and underestimating the consumer is first of all poor taste, and second of all, it's bad business. Avoid the jargon and the pat phrases and give substance.

3. Not having an R&D Team, focus group or feedback source. Test your ideas on others. There are some absolutely wonderful ads out there that people remember, but they don't remember the name of the product/company. For example, there was a great ad out awhile ago that talked about the Bank of the Northern Hemisphere. Very clever; everyone remembered it. The problem was, they didn't remember the name of the bank you were supposed to use instead.

4. Not trusting your marketing person. If you hire someone to do your marketing, hire someone you trust and then let them do their job. With 20 years marketing experience, I had many interesting jobs and some interesting job interviews. One corporation asked me, "Can you stick with a plan once it's in place?" Red flag. Any marketing campaign must be constantly monitored and you need to be able to switch on a dime. An experienced marketing person can titer what's working and what isn't. It becomes almost a sixth sense. Why would you throw good money after bad just because changing it is an inconvenience?

5. Not giving it time to work. It's an adage in marketing that if you're going to say it, say it at least three times. I've consulted with individuals, particularly, who send out a brochure, no one bites, and they want to abandon it. Generally it takes three "hits." People run through their emails rapidly and delete things they wish they hadn't. Make their wish come true! Give them a second, third, fourth chance. The formula is--when you're sick and tired of it, the public is just beginning to hear it.

6. Being timid. There really is no such thing as bad publicity, and things will happen. You have to have been through this to know. Several years ago I was marketing an apartment complex and the manager miscommunicated an "early bird special." The whole unfortunate event made the front page of the local newspaper with stories about parents not being able to buy school clothes for their children, because... 6 months later the apartment complex was filled to capacity. People remembered the name of the apartment and nothing else. Carry on!

7. Not being curious. If you have an ezine edition that had a large number of click-throughs, don't just pat yourself on the back, ask yourself why. Figure out what was different about it. Was it on a special day? Was there something different? More graphics, no graphics? A catchy subject line? A new layout? Don't forget, you can always ask someone who clicked-through!

8. Thinking you have to pay for marketing. Use the free options liberally. Establish yourself as an expert on a subject and let the press know you're willing to be interviewed. When a national news event breaks, make it local. For instance, I'm a coach, and when 9/11 happened, I contacted the press to let them know what coaches had to offer at such a time.

9. Leaving it at home. Prosaic, but we all do it. Your business cards and brochures do absolutely no good sitting in the office. Take them with you!

10. Following the rules. Be as thorough as you need to be. The rule is 'be brief,' but say what you need to say. One of the most effective mailers USAA ever did was a 5-page letter. Know the rules. Then break them.


Entrepreneur Connect Groups: Marketing Mistakes You Don't Want to Make

A New Way to Market Your Small Business

One of the most difficult challenges small businesses face is making their brand known. Fortunately, technology has created a multitude of ways for small businesses to launch an appealing marketing campaign. Social Media cannot be ignored, and it certainly does not look like it will be going away anytime soon. Businesses do well to take full advantage of the marketing opportunities that can be found through sites like Facebook and Twitter. Owners should also keep their eyes open to a new way to market their small business. The launch of Siglat Mobile Apps is a crucial stepping stone for companies wanting to solidify their brand identity. This is small business news worth spreading: the face of small business marketing is changing.

Siglat Mobile Apps is a unique line of mobile marketing apps that allows small businesses to market their products directly to one of the fastest growing demographics on the planet, the more than 4.6 billion mobile subscribers. If it’s hard to imagine getting that kind of exposure for your business, just think back to how marketing campaigns worked before the internet became a normal part of our everyday lives. Who would’ve thought that so many customers could be reached at one time by only using 140 characters or less? Web sites and internet exposure have brought new life to entrepreneurship.

Mobile applications are expected to grow higher and higher in demand. The thirst for new applications is seemingly unquenchable. Businesses are already expected to have a website, but soon their customers will be searching for a company app as well. With Siglat Mobile Apps, a small business can be on the front end of technology. The first of many mobile applications specifically designed to allow small business owners to market their products directly is Mimosa, an iPhone app available on the iPod touch, iPhone 3GS, or iPhone4.

With unique mobile marketing applications, small businesses like Mimosa Creations can offer direct product purchasing to their customers through PayPal from a mobile device. Feel free to download the free Mimosa app to see how this new small business marketing tool can work for your company.

Siglat Mobile Apps has tested and proven development patterns. They can build a customized application for a business or product in a matter of weeks. Can you imagine giving more than 4.6 billion mobile subscribers the opportunity to purchase your products directly from their mobile device? For more information about how your small business can tap into the mobile device advertising market, visit www.siglat.com. Isn’t it about time your company launched their own app?

3 Ways to Improve Your Image With Marketing Materials

Your marketing materials should portray a professional image that builds confidence in potential clients.  If you try to cut corners, clients will see it, and it will reflect poorly on your business.

Take advantage of some of the low-cost software available on the market to help you create visually appealing literature such as brochures, business cards, newsletters, flyers, and catalogs. The three tips below will get you moving in the right direction.

• Create materials that have a consistent look. Use the same logo and/or colors across the different pieces. If you spread out your marketing materials and looked at them in their entirety, they should look like they came from the same company.

• Use high resolution photos and artwork. For example, 300 dpi is a good resolution for printing. Take photos yourself or purchase stock images from one of the many sites selling royalty free images. Start with dreamstime.com, gettyimages.com, and istockphoto.com for thousands of pictures and illustrations to choose from.

• Print on high quality paper. Regular 20 lb. copier paper won't do. Newsletters, flyers, and brochures look good on glossy paper. You could also print postcards and brochures on heavier stock.

Use the design services offered by Freelance Assistance, LLC, and experience the power of branding. We'll partner with you to create marketing materials you can be proud of. We do the design work as well as the copywriting. Send us an email to find out how we can help you improve your image.

How Often Should You Email Customers?

Well...it depends.

Email is still a popular means by which to advertise to customers, even with other avenues available. Coupled with the fact that it's inexpensive, it's almost a no-brainer to make it part of any marketing campaign.  A good campaign generates sales and builds customer loyalty. The trick is to determine how often to send notices. If you send them too much, you wind up in the delete folder more often than not. Don't send them enough, and you could miss out on possible leads, sales, or find yourself emailing addresses that are no longer in use.

To ensure an effective email campaign, follow these guidelines:

• Make sure your content is short and sweet. Anywhere from 350-500 words per email should do it, and if you can get your point across with less words, even better.

• Use your campaign to alert customers to specials, send them coupons, or forward valuable information that will help them solve problems. It shouldn't just be about selling your services.

• Include a call to action. Tell them the expiration date and how to redeem the coupon. If you're solving a problem for them, tell them how to get in touch with you.

In general, you should not email customers more than once per week. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. They should look forward to opening your emails to read what you have to say. To determine how frequently to email them, test frequency levels. Try once per week, once per month, and twice per month. Ask yourself the following questions during the test period.

1. How many unsubscribes did I get at each level?
2. How many click-throughs?
3. How many customers opened the email?

By reviewing the numbers, you'll have a better idea of how often you should send messages to your customers. There's no magic number for all businesses, but you can get as close as possible to what's ideal for your product or service.

Freelance Assistance, LLC can help you create an email campaign that fits your customers' needs. We'll take over the weekly or monthly task of sending out notices. Send us an email to find out how we can create original content so you can stay in touch with your customers.

How Do You Convince Someone That They Need Your Small Business Services?

My answer may sound a little unusual at first but think about it, perhaps it may be the way forward;

If you're talking to someone sceptical of your product .... firstly I'd suggest you try to find out why it is that they feel this way and address this. Should this fail you should consider whether or not you actually want this person as a customer or not - Stick with me on this for a moment....

If you decide that you do really want this person as a customer my suggestion would be to offer them your service for free..... Hang on, don't give up at this point, keep reading....

Let me clarify "free". Outline what it is that the client requires of your service and clarify that your service CAN meet (or exceed) their requirements .... and then provided you are confident that you can deliver as required, offer them a free trial of the service after which time if they are unhappy they can walk away with no obligation to pay. On the other hand .... if they are happy then they need to agree to purchase (and if the service is one where they pay monthly, that they also pay for the services used during the successful trial period).

I can't guarantee you'll win the business by doing this. However it'll certainly help you to identify which prospective customers are just wasting your time.

Where you are up against a competitors product, my view is that it is all about meeting the needs of the prospective customer. Most people are averse to change and need a compelling reason to do so.

If you are targeting a business customer, you'll need to provide them with a compelling business case because their drivers for change are likely to be increased functionality and/or decreased cost. The barriers you'll need to overcome can include a temporary loss of productivity, financial investment required, and that "hassle factor" which invariably has a dollar value attached.

From a marketing perspective, you need to remove the objections that are coming up for this prospect.

The biggest objection is the fear of the unknown (will I get my money's worth? will they deliver? will this guy be a nightmare to work with?). You need to make these fears go away.

How, you ask?

Give examples of your past work. Let them talk to a happy customer with a similar problem. To the extent that you can quantify your results, do. (Numbers speak louder than words. Anyone can say they deliver "cutting edge software and services," but only a few will be able to say "I saved [company] $2 million last year.")

Ideally, find someone that has used you and the competitor, and can talk to why they continue to work with you.

Also, with some products and services, you can offer a "try before you buy" version. For a services company, this might be a free 15 minute "check-up," that give them free advice, no strings, that lets them see how you think and work. For a products company, this can be a trial or review product.

Whatever you do, do not go for a competive jab. That is seen as a sign of desperation.