Duct Tape Marketing

Developing A Total On Line Presence

By marketsimplicity on June 20, 2013

Developing a “Total Online Presence” –Why your business needs this to survive
By Brad Tornberg, E3 Consulting Partners, LLC.

It seems like developing a Total online presence is like eating Elephant – where do you start? For a startup it makes sense to first develop a strategy that defines your differentiation – your unique advantage and you ideal client. Once you have this then you can begin the process of tactical marketing to get your message across.

The most important thing you can do is to try to get people to know you. Like you, trust you, try what you’re offering, buy what you’re selling and then repeat the process and refer you to others. This is the new paradigm in today’s sales cycle or what John Jantsch calls the Seven Steps to Small Business Marketing Success.

The issues I typically hear are how much time and how much money will this take and I don’t have a lot of either. So the advice is always the same –do something, do it now and do it often. Keep a calendar and stick to it! Remember that small victories are still victories.
Simple tools such as Mailchimp and Unbounce will allow any level user to create a landing pages and create an email campaign that can collect names that opt in from the call to action generated. This content can be reused in ads for Facebook and Linked in and other sites. Simply create the landing page, go to bitly.com to create a shortcut link to your email and now you can create an email and put the link in the email to create a call to action. Remember the call to action needs ot be compelling (something for free – a free book, whitepaper, site visit, consultation, etc.) This is how they get to try out your special service or product – the try portion of the cycle.

Blogs are easy and free. WordPress makes it very simple to sign up and create a blog. The blog is crucial because the search engines reward content and if it’s original and pertinent you will rise naturally in the search engines. The blog is something that can be opted into with your above campaign and gives people a place to land to learn more about you and your business products and services. Blogging is something that needs to happen on a calendar like other marketing activities. You don’t have to be a writer. Use Google alerts and other listening tools to monitor or listen for certain key words and each day you will receive a summary of those pertinent articles or posts. You can repost, retweet or even comment on subjects that are in your sweet spot which makes you relevant and the search engines reward relevance by providing visibility in the rankings so you will be found by those who are looking for you.

My next post will be other tactical ideas to use in helping develop a total on line presence. Feel free to send me your thoughts and Ideas!

Some great tips and ideas to think about as you roll out your marketing plans for 2012

By writeminded on February 22, 2012

Do you ever ask your customers how they would best like to be contacted by you? How frequently? Have you ever asked what types of information can you provide to them that gives value to your relationship? Offer them an incentive to respond to a survey for a free prize and you may show your customers you respect the value of their tie and promise not to bother them with information that is not relevant. The customer now dictates the relationship and when they are ready to buy. If you provide too much information and marketing at too high of a frequency they will shut down. If you don’t give them enough they will not “know” you which will never lead to like and trust and eventually try and buy which is what marketing is all about.

Do you send text messages to your customers? People value the email but the text message can be very powerful as well, appear personalized and will usually evoke a response. Ask them a question and see if they respond, they will. Ask them to tell you their greatest concern when using your product or service or how can you improve your product or service – you may be surprised but you will get responses and valuable feedback that should help you refocus your marketing initiatives and messages. Offer them a 10% discount when they do respond or a thank you for responding. Younger generations are using the phone and use email less and less. They are a mobile culture and work better within a mobile framework.

How many times do you Google your competition? Do you look to see where they are weak? Is there any internet geography they are missing from (no YouTube Videos but heavy presence in Facebook) where you can fill the void and create content that fills that void?

Do you attend many network events? How is that working for you? Have you ever thought of creating an event that centers on you and the types of people you want to do business with? It’s a great idea. You are the host. Everyone talks to the host. Give and you shall receive. Being known as a “Connector” is a sure sign of networking success and part of the Duct Tape Marketing System of people getting to know, like and trust you. If you have it in your place of business people get to know you and your operation. Donate the proceeds to charity and also gain the reputation of Philanthropy.

Do you give referrals? Everyone talks about it but it really is the least used tactic to gain warm referrals and easier to convert business. Why is it so hard to reward employees who can actively seek these? They become an extension of your sales force. Create contests – the winner of the most referrals gets a trip to Hawaii. It may be the best money you ever spent and cost a lot less than commissions would. Contest get everyone involved and it becomes fun yet at the same time look at how it’s helping the pipeline!

When was the last time you asked a satisfied customer for a testimonial? If you did where is it now – hanging on your wall? It serves a much better purpose if it’s emailed to your clients and prospects – look what people are saying about us! or even posted on your website. Video testimony is powerful and generates more unique content for your company. Content is king – the more you have the more the search engines like it and move you higher in the organic rankings.

Finally your marketing message – is it focused? Is it clear? Does it communicate your strategy? What makes you different from your competitors? Does your ideal client see it and does it resonate with them? The fact is simple is still best. One message across multiple mediums is how the social media space is leveraged and should be used as any good set of tools should be.

Innovation in Customer Service – The Next Fronteir

By brad on February 17, 2012

Innovation in Customer Service is the next frontier. Yes products evolve and get easier to use, more efficient and streamlined but what do they do to make the customer experience better?

People will use anything that makes life more efficient and are willing to pay for ease, convenience and offerings that cater to their needs, work to fit their lifestyle or circumstances and looks and feels like a personalized experience.

Some hotels for example now let you check in and out on a 24 hour rolling basis making it an innovation that directly impacts the customer experience. If the customer can change their buying patterns to make things easier for themselves then any service offering like this will be successful.

A supermarket chain allows you to call ahead with your list so that when you arrive your order is ready and you can just pick up the items you forgot saving you the long time you spend in the supermarket but still allow for the experience of shopping. They also provide home delivery which is an old model but felt that many of their customers still like the shopping experience to be able to select key items such as fruit, meats and other personal choice items. They are growing at an amazing rate because they offer services that bring innovation to the customer experience and meet multiple needs depending on their customer’s circumstances.

In the mobile world now that the platforms are becoming more widespread and used as everyday tools (iPhones, Droids, Tablets) the success of the appliance will be judged going forward not just based upon the applications that are utilized on the device and for what purpose. The device themselves will gain or lose market share depending on the ergonomic likes and dislikes (style, size, color, ease of use, availability of applications, etc.). However the devices that can bring consistent innovation to the customer experience by changing the way the consumer behaves will rise to the top. Users of these devices will see the utility as something that improves customer service and is a must for their lifestyle.

The monetization of Customer Innovation can be quite large. It will come from repetitive use and mass adoption from consumers which originates from social media acceptance and approval. After all how they bring innovation to the customer experience is always a great story to tell!

What CRM is best for my business?

By marketsimplicity on September 24, 2011

I get many questions from clients and other consultants who specialize in marketing on what is the best CRM solution for a certain type of business. It always makes me wonder what people are thinking about when they go to find a software solution to help manage, nurture and convert leads to sales.

It should always start at defining the needs of the business first. Are they small or large in size? Can they support taking care and managing the “technical” side of a CRM solution or is a hosted solution off premise a better alternative? Sometimes the answer to this helps reduce the choices right from the start. Most companies today recognize they need to have both solutions so in that case which works best if both options will work?

Typically, the answer may lie in two areas – number of users and cost per user. At some point if I say have 10 users at $35 per month that cost will exceed the cost of having the solution on site that you pay for once. Don’t forget to add on the upgrade and maintenance charges and the ongoing cost of either doing it yourself or having the vendor who sold it to you come back and bill for more. Either way it’s important to sit down and do the math. Sometimes the up-front cost can’t be met and there is no choice. Other times the spend on a monthly basis won’t work but a loan to purchase it outright may. Sometimes it’s based on the “hassle Factor” or having to maintain or support it yourself.

Either way you still have to take care of and nurture the data in the solution. If not the money is wasted. Most clients don’t take the time to define who owns the solution? Who is responsible for defining and managing how the data goes in and what is done on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. How is the data going to be used and are we collecting the information we need to be able to effectively use it? The hard part starts after the purchase. No solution will take care of itself. You can automate the steps and tracks that a new lead or contact should follow but who will setup that path?

Oh so what is the best solution for your type of business? The answer is one that allows you to customize the system so that it meets the needs of your business and can be managed by the current staff you have in place. Most of those give you some capability to modify the fields, screens, views, reports with information specific to your business. If I am a dentist I want to know the date of the last checkup. If I own a salon I want to know what products my customer likes and uses. Information and the way you track it is unique to you and in most cases the reason you want to use a CRM system to help you have better customer interactions resulting in more sales from that customer or prospect.

Time to Plan and Get Ready for the Fall!

By marketsimplicity on August 22, 2011

I always look at the summer in two ways. First it’s extremely important as a business owner to take down time and relax. Mental freshness is sometimes the biggest roadblock for business innovation. Sometimes rest can be regenerative in terms of your creativity skills thus the benefits of taking a break.

The second benefit of the summer is it gives you a chance to refocus on the last three business development months. I say three months because unless you are well into the sales cycle or get lucky enough to find those people who realize it’s use it or lose it in terms of budget, you only really have thru Thanksgiving in terms of getting buyers attention. Holidays work well for B-to-C but here we are specifically referring to the B-To-B market.

Many business owners and decision makers also look at the last part of the year the same way so if they are going to reach their milestones they need to get moving and in terms of your product or service so the timing is good to get their attention.

Planning what you’re going to do is the best place to start. How much do you have to spend to get what result? That is the place to start. Focus on the activities that will generate the revenue you need to reach your goal in the shortest time. In my case it was going back to basics in terms of traditional marketing methods such as Trade Shows and Direct Mail.

With that being said do not forget the marketing system or machine that you are hopefully trying to build (If not you should get In touch with me so I can show you how!). The system should have a clear strategy as well as s tactics necessary to achieve the strategy. The system always needs to be fed. Social media and other passive methods tend to collect the feeder you need to produce the desired result of a buyer so don’t neglect them.

In my case the long term continues to get fed by more Belly to Belly in person contact such as Speaking Engagements and Networking. A grass roots campaign of getting out and talking to the people adds this other leg to my campaign without any pressure. It’s strictly getting out to people, exchanging business cards, educating them and hoping that when they need you (and of course you have to stay in front of them for this to happen) they immediately think of you as the one to go to in their mind. They know you, they like you and they have been looking for a reason to do business with you. They trust you because they read your blogs and hear you speak. They visit your web site and find its content useful and timely. Occasionally you tweet something useful for them to go look at or research. You add value to the relationship.

I feel strongly about the Duct Tape Marketing approach that people need to Know, Like and Trust you before they Try, Buy and Repeat from you. So how to you get them to know. Like and trust you? My planning usually happens during a quiet time on a lazy summer Sunday or Thursday evening at a Coffee Shop. Either way you need to find your time, find your place and plan your fall campaign season now!

The Business Marketing Catalyst – Yes, You CAN Be More Successful…

By marketsimplicity on June 3, 2011

Being in your own business may be the most rewarding thing you’ve ever done. Chances are, it’s the most challenging as well.

What you’re about to discover is a proven process that accelerates your business success – and helps you achieve whatever life goals you want to achieve.

As an Authorized Consultant of Duct Tape Marketing, which is one of the most successful marketing consulting companies in the world, I can speak from truth and experience while saying: “I seriously wish that something like this was available back when I was just starting in business!”

First, what you’re about to discover is based on pure facts, results, and documented successes. What I’m about to disclose contains no fluff, just plain old straight talk on what it’ll take to get your business to the next level.

This will help you move forward in your business to levels that, until now, you had only dreamed of.

As a business owner, you know that there’s a lot of risk out there!
50% of business start-ups are closed by the end of the year and
95% of ALL businesses go out of business in their first 5 years.

And, with 50,000 businesses starting up every week,
that’s a lot of dreams destroyed.

Even if you’ve made it past the magical 5-year mark, you understand that you can do better. But, if you’re like most business owners, you’re unclear on the quickest, easiest and safest way to get there. I remember being uncertain about what to do next, and don’t wish it upon anyone now that there’s a better way.

Once you move past it though, and create yourself a million, even multi-million dollar business, things are much easier the second time around if you ever have the opportunity to go back and do it all over again.

It’s no secret that, as a small business owner, you’re one of the rare gems out there.

People like you make the economy go around, create thousands of jobs every week, and have made this country what it is so well known for… “the land of golden opportunity”.

What’s less known though (except by small business owners like yourself of course) is that starting and building a business to the point that it runs on autopilot is not a walk in the park.

You’re about to learn how you can make the next six months the most profitable and enjoyable period in your life.

But first, let me ask you a simple question to see if you and I are on the same page…

Do any of the following frustrate you as a business owner?

You’re always having to look for new customers and trying to find new ways to get them to buy.
You’re tired of hearing how easy it seems for some people to grow their business, while you do things your own way and get less-than-optimal results.
You know there must be easier ways to get the marketing success you want… but aren’t sure who to trust or even where to begin.
You work long, hard hours (averaging 50 hours a week… or more).
You want more control over your retirement and know that, at this pace, you’ll have a tough time retiring when you’d like to… with a decent lifestyle.

Today, I want to introduce you to Duct Tape Marketing. We’ve partnered up with them to help business owners like yourself learn and implement their revolutionary new business system – The Catalyst Program – which can help you achieve all that you want to achieve with your marketing.

No matter what your present situation is, the Duct Tape Marketing Catalyst Program helps you move past it so you can get to the next level… the next… and the next…

This same process is…

One that finally gives you control over your marketing along with the confidence and clarity to continuously make the right small business marketing decisions
One that attracts quality leads and helps convert them to paying customers that stay with you for years.
One that allows you to become the successful business owner you are striving to be.
One that does not need you to work long hours anymore.
One that gives you affordable marketing tools that consistently get you results and are not simply one-hit-wonders.
One that self-finances its own growth through profitable marketing channels.
One that will show you how to enjoy your life more… make more money… and have more fun

Take control of your marketing and ensure your business future. Get started by signing up for our 7 Steps for Business Download to receive updates on the latest Duct Tape Marketing tools for your business!

~ Brad Tornberg, E3 Consulting Partners and Market Simplicity