Archive for December, 2008

My wife and I both went to school over in West Michigan. I went to Western Michigan - she went to Calvin College…yeah, she’s smarter than me - I can admit it!

A few months back we traveled back to West Michigan for a day trip and ate at the wonderful Rose’s Restaurant in East Grand Rapids. Being the marketing nerd I am, I signed up for their e-mail newsletter.

Last night I received an e-mail from them and thought it was a great example of smart marketing. Everyone is going to be buckled down in Michigan today as we are getting quite a snow storm (6 inches where I am and it’s not close to being done…)

Rose’s and their sister restaurants knew lunch traffic would be down on a day like today and tossed a great 50% OFF offer to their e-mail list (see image below.) I’m certain this offer will draw some folks out who otherwise would have been staying warm and toasty at home…

A topic I recently covered with my Your Marketing Academy members is Local Keyword Research.

I wanted them to generate a list of keywords that people would be typing into google (and the other search engines…) to find their website…

Today I came across a blog post that offers some great resources to get this job done.

Check out the post from SubmitYourArticle.com here

I’ve been checking out a Social Media platform called Twitter for a little while now (you can follow me on Twitter here) - I’ll save some thoughts on the Twitter platform for another post…

Today, I wanted to share this little nugget that I read on Twitter (it was posted by matthomann):

Never assume your current clients understand all you can do for them, or believe your former clients remember all you did for them.

Reach out to both in these hard times and new business will follow.

Great Advice. Great wisdom. How can you apply it in your business?

Read this the other day in a marketing publication I subscribe to:

The dealership blames the bad economy for their demise. But I doubt that was the problem. In the time I bought my 4 trucks from them, I never once received a thank you note. Never once received a call to see how I was doing with my vehicle. Never once received an invitation to come in and try one of the new models (my history was to buy a new one every 4 years — would have made sense to start sending me notes at year 3). Never once received an invitation to a VIP reception. Never once received a birthday or anniversary (wedding or purchased date) card. And the list goes on and on.

All the items this gentleman listed are practical marketing and sales strategies.

Instead of your salespeople sitting around twiddling their thumbs and feeling sorry for themselves - why not write a handwritten note? Why not make a call to the client - not to sell them anything, but to simply ensure they are satisfied with their purchase?

A little time spent on these activities will go a long way and help offset the economy we find ourselves in.

Ok, I’ll admit - this is a bit silly - but the metaphor resonated with me, maybe it will for you as well.

(See the 1 min 28 sec video on what I’m talking about here)

It’s 7:58 AM right now and I have already “ate my frog” this morning. The toughest task that I had on my to-do list is done and my day will be much better off because of it.

A current Your Marketing Academy member, Nick Hopwood, had a feature article today in the Northville Record.

Nick is a Partner at Park Avenue Wealth Management in Livonia, Michigan and has done an excellent job of implementing the Public Relations portion of the Duct Tape Marketing System.

We know this is true: There is something very powerful about a third-party endorsement from a magazine or newspaper. Nick was featured as the expert in the article. He offered several great (and relevant) quotes and will no doubt generate very positive PR.

He will also be able to highlight this article on his own blog, at his office and in his Marketing Kit.

Marketing Lesson: Take a systematic approach to generating Public Relations for your company. A little effort will go a long way. Good work Nick!

The Duct Tape Marketing System is based on 7 Proven & Practical Steps:

1. Narrow Your Marketing Focus
2. Find and Communicate a Core Difference
3. Package Your Business
4. Create Marketing Materials that Educate
5. Establish Your Lead Generation Trio
6. Automate & Dominate
7. Live By the Calendar

I’d like you to grab a copy of our free report that expands on each of the 7 steps. Please fill out the form below:

Today I spoke at the Tecumseh Rotary Club meeting on the 7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success. It was a great group and a great lunch as well! (Thanks Evans Street Station!)

During the Q&A time a gentleman asked if I had any marketing ideas for him… He owns a few condo developments and has several units up for sale and sitting vacant. The housing market is down in Lenawee County and he didn’t know what to do.

One component of the Duct Tape Marketing System is to create a Referral Marketing System. My advice was to offer the folks who already live in these developments an outrageous commission for referring a new buyer. They want folks to move into the vacant units (helps their property value) and with the incentive of a cash commission - overnight, he could have dozens of sales reps helping him find buyers.

I threw out offering $2,500 to folks who referred buyers. When I talked to him after the meeting he said, “I decided I’m going to offer them $5,000.”

Excited to hear how this strategy goes for him.

What is your Referral Marketing strategy?