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Why Opt-In Marketing Matters
Jun 14th
The other day a friend of mine asked me what I thought about text marketing. My answer was this – for some industries, like retail, it makes a lot of sense. However, no matter what kind of marketing it is, I believe it has to be opt-in.
How many times do you go to a networking event, meet people, and suddenly find yourself subscribed to their newsletter? Annoying, isn’t it?
If we go with the belief that sales is permission based then it stands to reason that some forms of marketing should be opt-in. It’s not about building your numbers. It IS about building qualified numbers. You really want to be in front of the people who want you in front of them; the people who want to hear your message.
When you take it upon yourself to sign people up for your messaging, you do more harm than good. You run the very real risk of alienating the very people you want to be connecting with. Not the best marketing move I can think of.
In addition, when you ask someone if they’d like to receive your newsletter or text you have a better chance of them actually reading it. Now the marketing is doing its job.
So, let’s compare:
1. You sign people up without their permission. Result:
a. You alienate them and they opt-out or delete
b. They tell others about your behavior
c. They make the decision to NEVER do business with you
2. You ask people if they’d like to receive your information. Result:
a. They are prone to opening and reading your information
b. They might share that information with others
c. They have a positive attitude toward your business
Which scenario sounds better? Exactly!
Sales is always about relationship building. It is your job to create a process that will build positive relationships – not negative ones. You want to be engaged in those relationships for a long time. That won’t happen if you fail to ask for permission first. In addition, once you gain their permission, be sure to offer them valuable information. You’ve gained their trust, so don’t abuse it by pitching all the time. Think about what message you want to share and be consistent.
For me it’s all about how you wish to be perceived. Do you want people to know, like, and trust you or are you in it for the quick hit? The answer to that question will determine the path you choose.
When you want people to know, like, and trust you then you have to be sure you are making decisions that work toward that goal. And of course, we all know that great sales people are the people who want others to know, like, and trust them. While that person may never have a need to do business with you, they will be more likely to refer you to others because of your behavior.
View full post on Small Business Trends
Small Business News: Marketing Matters
Jun 11th
Marketing matters. You may think it’s the quality of your product or service, the connections of your investors or your partners, even the size of your budget. These all may be important at some critical phase in your business, but in the end there can be no business without good marketing. Who will tell customers about your business? That’s the marketer’s job. Is it you?
Message
Marketing missteps. What are you saying to your customers and community? Marketing is a dialogue, or should be, so think hard about the marketing message you are sending. What are you trying to say and who are you targeting? Missteps in marketing occur when you leave the customer out of the conversation. FoxNews.com
Boosting sales with some simple tips. Rolling out new products and getting them into the hands of enthusiastic prospects is a good recipe for success in any business. See how Jim Grundberg and Jason Pouliot boosted revenue for an ailing Tennessee-based golf putter manufacturer with the simplest of low tech small business strategies. How could you use their approach to boost sales for your small business? Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Messenger
Google alert! The search engine giant has tweaked its algorithm and if you market ANYTHING online you owe it to your business to take a few minutes out of your busy schedule and read Chantielle MacFarlane’s comprehensive overview of the so-called Google “caffeine” update. Grab yourself a latte and have a look. CLK Marketing
Can social media generate leads? You bet, says Greg Digneo. To prove it, Greg tells the story about how his little marketing company used a combination of techniques built around the social media revolution to generate 100 new sales leads in just 30 days. Cloud Marketing Labs
Channeling desire with Steve Jobs What can every small business owner on Earth learn from the CEO of Apple? That despite a high-tech world with online marketing and budgets much bigger than yours, salesmanship still matters. And it may be the hardest job of all when differentiating your product or service from the pack. Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Tools
Buying the best apps for your small business. The right app can help your business to be more efficient and productive, and application marketplaces help you to find, try out and buy the best app for you. But with so many of them springing up everywhere, how do you find the right store to even start shopping? Small Business Trends
Winning isn’t everything. Startup entrepreneurs in recent business competitions found there’s a lot more to being involved in the entrepreneur contests than they thought. Contests not only help gain publicity for new startups and networking opportunities with potential investors and partners (not to mention customers) but the feedback received can often spur ideas about new products, services and innovations. You’re The Boss
Startup
By any other name. Think it doesn’t really matter what you call your company? Well, think again, says Divya Gugnani, CEO of a culinary company called Behind The Burner, and an investor and board member on numerous other startups. So how does she suggest you go about picking the right name? Can you say “crowd sourcing?” Open Forum Innovation
Policy
Entrepreneurs in space? The Obama administration wants to outsource space cargo and astronaut transport to companies like Space Exploration Technologies Inc. operated by former PayPal owner Elon Musk, but some see it as a bailout for private space business. While the prospect of entrepreneurs being able to compete in this new frontier is exciting, the idea of what could amount to government sponsorship of big companies with no solid business model is less appealing. WSJ
Networking
Do you have the wrong networking strategy? Because networking is a hard thing to do at times, it’s hard to be critical of small business owners who at least make the effort. But, as Paul Mullan points out, there are definitely right ways and wrong ways to handle business networking whether offline or on sites like LinkedIn. Make these mistakes and you’re likely to get very little from your efforts. Bloggertone
Small Business News: Marketing Matters
View full post on Small Business Trends
The wrapper matters
Jun 11th
When you have a big idea, the question is, how to spread it?
You can go through a traditional publisher and have it printed in the tried and true way, like Clay Shirky. I had a chance to read Clay’s new book a few months ago. No surprise: it’s pure gold, unalloyed insight about the state of media and the world.
If you’re looking for big ideas and are prepared to lose a little sleep, there’s no better book to buy right now.
You can have someone take a short speech based on your book and have them turn it into a animated video. Dan Pink’s video has been seen about 20 times as often as his book has been purchased. Video spreads.
You can turn your idea (like a focus on entrepreneurs) into cool trading cards, like Evan did.
You can skip the printing altogether and start your own video university, like Kahn Academy.
Perhaps write a short manifesto and watch it spread as a free ebook. Like Changethis, a free service that has reached millions with the work of top authors from around the world.
Don’t forget podcasts or mp3s, which can be very funny or motivational.
Consider starting a conference with a unique platform and worldwide reach, like TED.
Or you can blog your idea for several years in a row, slowly building up trust and making an impact over time.
Of course, there’s no right answer. But there’s probably a best answer that matches your time frame, budget, audience and idea.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Updated links: The wrapper matters
Jun 10th
My previous post had two incorrect or missing links, but they’ve been fixed. Click through to see the corrected version. Sorry.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Why User Competency Matters in Social Design
Mar 14th
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Adrian Chan is a Sr Fellow with SNCR.org and is a social interaction design consultant and strategist. You can follow him on Twitter @gravity7 and at… |
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Rule #1 Investing Tool: Successful Investing Strategy | eR33t.com – #@%* That Matters
Feb 28th
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Phil Town’s bestselling investment strategy presented in Rule #1 just got a lot easier, with the help of this web based application to dynamically… |
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