PlusOne – Marketing Musings

Even in the age of email and Twitter, the old fashioned sales letter still has a vital place in today’s marketing mix.

One reason why they remain a foundation marketing method is because they allow you to bypass spam and other noise. A well written letter can have a significant impact on opening up the sales process.

Here’s six, easy, yet powerful tips to help you to produce a tremendous sales.

One – Identify the objective of the letter? Think very clearly about what you want the letter to do.

Continue Reading»

No comments »

I am feeling like Dave Hughes from his Glass House days – I’m not happy.

Four months ago I was introduced to an affiliate network contact in the USA with the view of increasing the exposure of Caricature King to a couple of selected sites in the USA.

From the very start things were, well kind of unsatisfactory.

I asked for an overview of their business, but nothing arrived. But there was the news that a big USA membership shopping site said they would like to run with it at the commission rates we proposed.

Continue Reading»

No comments »

SMS is a great way to communicate with your market and your customers. Here we present just a  few ideas showing how SMS can be used to help drive traffic to your store, or used to enhance customer relations. Note the inclusion of the optout on all promotional messages.

If you would like to explore how SMS can be used in your business, feel free to call Matt on 0409 349 752 for an obligation-free chat. In many cases we can set up a free account for you to test your ideas!

…………………………………………..

Continue Reading»

1 Comment »

As a marketing consultant, I speak to many businesses who face some similar problems, which soon becomes a set of problems common to most businesses. One of these is the need to capture more sales from the people already browsing or making inquiries at the shop, business or outlet.

One of the most common problems facing many businesses is sales staff is not aligning with the customer. By this I mean it is very easy to ask a customer what they want (a product based, cash and wrap approach) but it is less easy to determine the customer’s needs (the benefit/solutions approach).

Continue Reading»

No comments »

By Alastair Rylatt – Excel Human Resource Development

Copy of article written by Alastair Rylatt which appeared in the HR Monthly Magazine

Silly as it might seem, the Human Resource Profession must find answers to a new world of work that is radically different to the one we knew in the past. As it is painfully obvious, we can no longer rely on the luxury of a stable workforce to get the job done. The modern workplace is becoming highly organic and transitionary and we increasingly dependent on people who are not full time employees. Today’s business development and professional survival is increasingly reliant on how well we can stimulate relationships, energise alliances and enthuse people with whom we have little or no control over.

Securing Velcro Commitment

Continue Reading»

No comments »

When economic conditions turn hard, just as we have been experiencing for almost 12 months, one of the first activities in any cost control of a business is a reduction in marketing and advertising.

The reason behind this is often that marketing and advertising are intangible and often unmeasured activities.

For companies doing marketing and sales via electronic channels, the ROI can be measured more easily. However, for most businesses trying to track the effectiveness of marketing is too time consuming and hard.

Continue Reading»

No comments »

If you are into business on the internet, this list will be of interest. If not, this list may be of interest!

Google reveals Australia’s most popular internet searches
Fastest rising searches of 2009

1. Swine flu
2. Susan Boyle
3. MasterChef
4. Stimulus package
5. Wimbledon
6. Twitter
7. Bing
8. One HD
9. AFL fixture 2009
10. Bruno

Fastest rising retail searches of 2009

Continue Reading»

1 Comment »

If you’re considering Microsoft® Office, but would like to evaluate other, more price friendly options… We suggest looking at compareOFFICE 2009. With powerful functionality and intuitive ease of use, compareOFFICE 2009 satisfies personal and business requirements of a fully integrated office software package.

Do everything, from brochures and manuals, mailmerge letters, create graphics to presentations and databases.

Continue Reading»

No comments »

This Business Tip is all about customer service. It is about an odd demarcation that has evolved between customer enquiries that are received by phone and those that are received by email. Which is more important? Which gets the best response?

This question has always been at the back of my mind, but today’s tip was prompted by this interesting point that appeared in:

Your website’s hidden treasure – SmartCompany
2. Reduce query-to-order turnaround time
How often are sales or production processes delayed because you haven’t been able to “touch base” with your prospect or customer? And how many sales have been lost because a competitor beat you to the punch?

Continue Reading»

No comments »

This is an interesting article that shows how ad agencies just don’t get Twitter at all.

Twitter marketing: genuine works — NevilleHobson.com

Rather than interactivity, they push user activity. Perhaps they need to look up ‘conversation’ in the dictionary.

Have ideas on the use of Twitter? Share them via comments.

No comments »