Envisioning Success

Coordinate Your Marketing Efforts

Posted by Chris Shockley under Marketing

Unless your business is just booming, with customers fighting to get in your door, you’re faced with the task of marketing yourself constantly.

There are a lot of ways to do this such as, networking, advertising, direct mail, a website, Facebook, etc.

This article is not about the specifics of each of those, but rather a primer on a new paradigm using your direct mailer campaign in coordination with your website.

With so many avenues available to the small business owner, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with how to do each one the most effectively. That is actually the problem, each one of these often promotes itself as if by just doing “x” you can gain the customers your after, when in reality, you will find far more benefit from using one avenue of your marketing to support another. Read more…

Get Your Website Generating Business

Posted by Chris Shockley under General, Marketing, Web Design

I’m going to go out on the limb and make the assumption that most of you have a website already. For many it was included as part of the membership or association, for others you knew you needed one so you did it with a do-it-yourself service. Some of you had someone build it, maybe yourself and there is sits in all it’s glory.

Can I ask, how’s that working for you?

Are you getting lots of new customers? Are people finding your site, learning what they need and then calling you or sending you a contact through your email form? Read more…

Make Sure Your Marketing Message is Crystal Clear.

Posted by Chris Shockley under Marketing

As we know, we are all marketers who happen to provide this service or that product. But are you getting your message across clearly in every format you have to convey it?

When you exchange business cards with someone and they ask, “What do you do?”, are you able to, quickly and clearly explain the benefits of what you offer? How about when you have thirty seconds at a networking meeting, like one of the ones I attend? For you it could be a minute or even five minutes. It might be your direct mailer or a sales letter.

There have been a number of times that, while networking (building those relationships) someone else comes up to me, that I have had as a customer, and says thanks for something I did and the other person I am speaking with says, “Oh, you do “x”"? Obviously my thirty second spiel is not hitting home, because I know I’ve said everything I do. Read more…

To Whom Are You Marketing?

Posted by Chris Shockley under General

As I’ve been thinking about my impending direct mailer I’ve read a lot of different things about getting people’s attention, about having a time limit (if offering some kind of special) and having a specific call to action. These are all good and necessary things that you want to use accordingly.

I’m also a big proponent of having your direct mail piece go out and ask the recipient to go your website to fill out some form or whatever to get the deal being offered or be entered into the drawing, etc.

But what about the content? How much do you put in there? There are decidedly two camps:

Read more…