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Using Pens To Grow Your Business
We’ve all seen ‘em a thousands times. Look at your pen cup right now or even the pen you’ve been using all week. Chances are you have at least a few businesses promo pens around. I know I do. I get them all the time and use them. And If i just happen to become in need of the product or service that’s been on that pen i’ve been using lately you bet I end up giving them a call. I’m sure you would too. It beats digging around the yellow pages, (does anyone do that anymore? )
Even searching through Google results can be tedious and if you’ve got the number of a company that specializes in what you need right in your hand… (come on), who wouldn’t at least use them as one of the three sources to get a quote from.
Check out how affordable promotional pens with your company info imprinted can be RIGHT HERE. (This is a collection of Eco-Friendly pens). See one of the Bamboo options that makes a great thank you gift below and click on the image to be taken right to a fully detailed order page.
There is good reason you see these things all over the place. THEY WORK! Plus considering the costs involved in other advertising channels and how long the ads stick around using pens for promotion is really genius. Pens also get passed around and you just never know who your message might end up in front of. It could be your next biggest client ever that’s calling you next because they “accidentally” walked off with that cool pen their dentist had laying on the counter.
These are just possibilities I admit. But that is what promotion is all about. Increasing your possibilities by spreading your image and message out to the masses. Now I don’t suggest you just randomly go about this, but develop a complete marketing plan that includes the use of promotional items such as pens.
If you would like to develop a sound marketing plan with multiple advertising channels going to work for your business just give me a call TOLL FREE at 888-850-3777 and ask about developing a marketing plan for your business. I’d be glad to spend a few minutes on the phone with you and get you started in the right direction.
If you’re ready to make use of these nifty little devices that are sure to get your message seen over and over, have a look at the many options available through our LOGO MALL website. There you can use the keyword search tool in the upper left corner to find just the right promotional products for your business. And remember, I’m just a phone call away if you need any help.
Sincerely,
Keith Nickel Langevin
Introducing Jing! (a 2 minute tutorial on Video Presentation)
The FREE desktop sharing capture software from the geniuses at TechSmith.
If you don’t know about and use this great tool to make presentation videos for your clients and prospects you are missing out on the advances of technology my friend. Let me show you real quick how easy you can do this too!
Watch This Quick Video Right Now (No Opt-in or other BS)
With just a little creativity you could come up with all sorts of ways to benefit from this tool. I’m sure you’ve seen tons of people showing others how to do stuff with the computer this way. The marketing and coaching applications alone are undeniable. Here’s a few of things you can do with Jing right away…
- Take a picture or make a short video of what you see on your computer monitor.
- Share it instantly via web, email, IM, Twitter, Youtube or your blog.
- Simple and free, Jing is the perfect way to enhance your fast-paced online conversations with images and videos
How you might use Jing
Collaborate on a design project
Share a snapshot of a document
Narrate your vacation photos
Capture that pesky bug in action
Show Dad how to use iTunes
Comment on students’ homework
Post tidbits on Twitter or Facebook
So just have fun making use of this great free tool and leave me a comment what you think once you’ve had a chance to try it. Also I would love to hear about how you use and apply it for your projects.
55 Hot Tips For Boosting Your Direct Marketing-Part II
As discussed in Part I, direct mail has to be the most exciting area of marketing. With all the new programs, Co-Registration companies, PPC advertising and Social Marketing sites to help you create a mailing list, your chances of creating a winning mailing are in your favor. In fact the odds of you creating a successful business online today are greater than they were two or even five years ago.
Of course the best approach to starting a new business or a winning mailing is to prepare yourself. The key is to study and learn new techniques that apply to your situation and put them to work. Part II of this article will pick up where the first left off explaining 55 excellent techniques for making sure your mailings pull a stronger response.
26. When using figures, make them as specific as possible.
“30% of all adults do not get enough iron” sounds more believable than “most adults aren’t getting enough iron.” Believability and credibility are factors that help your prospects accept and buy your products.
27. Use a negative fact to make your claims more believable.
Although it’s important to demonstrate the key benefits of your product, a negative element can help establish credibility. Here’s how this technique works. Let’s say you’re selling quality cashmere sweaters at bargain prices. Many customers might doubt your ability to deliver. But if you emphasize that these sweaters are limited to only three colors which have a lot of appeal, you’ve used a negative fact to give reasonable proof of why you can offer such a fine deal.
28. Provide your customers with testimonials from other customers just like them.
Overcome customer reluctance by demonstrating how well your product has worked for other customers with similar problems. When using text, audio or video testimonials, a complete name and company name along with the city is most convincing.
29. ALWAYS offer a guarantee.
By this I mean a STRONG guarantee. Something that shows your prospects you have complete faith in your product. A good guarantee period is at least 90 days and a one-year guarantee is a true winner.
30. ALWAYS issue a call to action.
Tell your readers clearly and precisely what you want them to do. Do Not be timid. Tell them more than once. If you don’t, you run the risk of them not doing anything.
31. Give your prospects an incentive to take action NOW.
Offer discounts, free merchandise, time limits, or iron-clad guarantees to help ease your prospects over whatever makes them feel reluctant.
32. ALWAYS end your letter with a P.S.
The P.S. is one of the most frequently read portions of a letter even when other sections are skipped. Take advantage of this by driving home an impressive benefit, sweetening your offer, or otherwise motivating your prospects to act now.
33. Check the flow of your letter.
Your letter should flow smoothly from section to section. Lose your course and you might lose your reader. Also, if you use a teaser copy on your envelope or in your email subject line, make sure your headline or first sentence picks up where the teaser left off.
34. Use an 800 number.
The use of 800 numbers increases response from 10%-50%. If you can’t afford your own 800 number, many companies now offer 800 number services for a fee. To find out about them, look through the ads in any direct marketing magazine such as Direct Marketing or perform an online search.
35. Key every ad or mailing you use-without fail.
The beauty of direct marketing is that everything is measurable. You can easily tell precisely how many inquiries and orders are generated by each of your offerings. All you need to do is build a unique key into the order form for each of your offerings.
36. Repeat your offer and your guarantee on your order form.
Focus on your offer or strongest benefit and restate your guarantee. An official looking border around the guarantee has been shown to help response also.
37. Make sure your coupon is easy to use.
If your coupon is too crowded or difficult to use, you’ll lose business. Have a friend or employee fill out your coupon. They can tell you how easy it is to use.
38. ALWAYS use a reply card, envelope or email address.
Postage-paid Business Cards or Business Reply Envelopes will boost your response. But they also boost your cost. The use of email marketing keeps your cost down and offers possible easy contact with your audience. With small orders, use a reply card or envelope that requires your customer to use a stamp. If you do not give your customer a specific way to respond, many of them won’t!
39. Use a teaser on your envelope.
To be effective, a good teaser must offer a strong incentive to open the envelope.
40. Use a plain white envelope.
Another method of getting a high percentage of prospects to open your letter is to use a plain white envelope. Either no return address or just an address without a company name pull the best results.
41. Lift letters boost response.
A small note featuring a key benefit, special offer, or president’s message is a cost-effective way of “lifting” your response.
42. Think follow-up.
You should constantly be thinking about related items to work into your product line for follow-up sales to your customers. Whenever you receive a new order, always send a follow-up offer 10 to 15 days later.
43. Offer multiple versions of the same product.
Deluxe versions, full-featured models, basic features only models, and personalized versions are just four ways of getting extra mileage from the same basic product.
44. Use response mailing lists.
List of people who have responded to a mail order offer or email offer are more profitable than compiled lists. Always find out what the customer responded to.
45. Use HOTLINE lists.
If you can get a list of people who have responded to offers in the last 3 to 6 months, it’s definitely worth the additional cost. Satisfied recent buyers are strong candidates to buy by mail or email again.
46. Cultivate duplicate names from different mailing lists.
Most marketers run a merge/purge when buying multiple mailing lists to eliminate duplicate names. What a waste of an exceptional marketing opportunity! Buyers who show up on multiple lists have a proven buying history. Treat them like gold!
47. How to find the best mailing lists.
Contact 3 or 4 mailing list brokers. Ask them to recommend 10 lists for your product or service. Then compare the results. The list to test first are those recommended by more than one broker.
48. Use high quality paper when printing your brochures and sales letters.
Initial impressions are crucial. Make sure your documents and emails present the image you need to succeed.
49. Use colored stock for paper order forms.
Colored stock with black ink distinguishes your order form from the rest of your package. It draws attention and increases sales.
50. Use 2 colors of ink on paper and email order forms.
Two colors of ink on white stock or white email backgrounds give you the opportunity to create an extremely professional looking order form.
51. Use a separate order form.
A separate order form will outpull a coupon contained within your brochure or email. Smart marketers always use all three. If a separate order form is used, another pass-along order can be made from the coupon in your brochure.
52. Use heavy stock for your paper order forms.
A substantial stock, such as card stock, always outpulls flimsier paper.
53. How to get the most mileage out of premiums.
A bulky premium that your customers can feel will get your envelope opened. If you’re premium isn’t bulky, a teaser along the lines of “Your FREE item is inside” is effective.
54. Cultivate “swipe” files.
Set up files and collect examples of great headlines, sales letters, emails, brochures, coupons, teaser copy, and so on. Study the examples that really make you feel like taking action.
55. Ask yourself this CRUCIAL question.
Based only on your direct mail package or email, would you buy your product or service? Be uncompromisingly honest. If your answer is “no”, keep making the necessary changes until you can unequivocally answer “YES”.
These two articles of the 55 marketing tips should give you enough techniques to help you have many successful marketing campaigns. Remember to pick the techniques that apply to your situation and put them to work!
You can obtain all the knowledge possible but if you do not put that knowledge to work it will mean nothing to you and you will gain nothing.
Just Do It!
55 Hot Tips For Boosting Your Direct Marketing-Part I
Direct Marketing has to be the most exciting area of marketing. The results of a winning mailing are truly thrilling. Few things can compare with opening your mailbox to find a flood of emails or envelopes filled with orders and checks made out to you! And if you can increase the response to your offer by just a fraction of a percent, you can turn a slight profit into windfall profits.
So one of the key questions marketers always ask is, “How do I increase the response to my mailings?” In this first part of a two part article, you’ll learn 25 of the 55 excellent techniques for making sure your mailings pull a stronger response.
Not all of these techniques will work for every mailing you create. The key is to review the techniques whenever you’re planning a mailing. Pick the ones that apply to your situation and put them to work. Your bank account will be glad you did!
1. Carefully target your audience.
Sales volume can be directly connected to your ability to accurately identify your most likely customers. If necessary, create different versions of your package tailored to each specifically targeted audience.
2. Solve your customer’s most irritating problems.
Most customers don’t buy products, but they do buy solutions to problems that plague them. If your product solves a critical problem, pull out all stops to let your customers know.
3. Help your customers achieve significant goals.
This is the complement of the prior point. If you can clearly show that your product or service will make your customer’s lives easier or better, your sales volume should shoot straight up.
4. Focus on your customer’s needs, not your product.
Customers have limited interest in your product or company. But they have unlimited interest in their needs, solutions to their problems, and making their lives better. Concentrate on fulfilling their needs through the use of your product or service.
5. ALWAYS stress benefits.
Always concentrate on how your product will benefit your customers-both logically and emotionally. Hit the right hot buttons and your sales will skyrocket.
6. Repeat your key benefits in the beginning, middle, and end of your email, letter or brochure.
Tell your readers once, tell them again, and then tell them one more time. Remember, people buy benefits, not products.
7. Use the “4 to 1″ rule.
Your sales copy should contain four “you’s” to every one “I.” Customers want to hear about their number one priority-themselves. One of the best ways to convey that you understand your customer’s needs is to use plenty of “you” language.
8. Use a stop-them-in-their-tracks headline or first sentence.
Some letters and emails benefit from a headline while others don’t. Either the headline or first sentence must be very powerful in order to convince your prospects that your letter is worth reading.
9. Use sub-headings liberally.
Subheads help break up long blocks of copy. They also act as a “hot point” outline to pull the reader through the key ideas of your email or ad.
10. Seize the reader’s attention immediately.
Don’t waster space building up to your blockbuster points. Start with them. You have only a paragraph or two to convince your prospects to keep reading your letter. Give them what they need to make sure they continue.
11. Flatter your reader.
These days people are much more sophisticated when it comes to advertising. They know that you got their name from a mailing list. You can turn this fact to your advantage by using this kind of copy.
12. Share some “inside” information.
Direct mail offers a perfect opportunity to appeal to a person’s need to feel special. An ideal way to do this is to share some exclusive information. Make it clear that this offer is being made only to them.
13. Issue a personal letter from the President.
People like to deal with the person in charge. Using this type of personal message builds confidence.
14. Never end a sentence at the bottom of a page in a sales letter.
Always use a broken sentence to carry your reader forward onto the next page of your letter or email.
15. Feature the offer.
Everyone loves a good deal. Your job is to design an irresistible offer and make it a key focal point of your letter or email. A strong offer can often be the extra incentive that will convert your “maybes” to real live orders.
16. Give something away for FREE.
Free samples, trials, demonstrations, consultations, or information are all exceptional ways of getting customers to give your product or service a hands-on try. Sometimes that is all it takes to close the sale.
17. Run a contest.
Give away a free enrollment in your seminar, a free subscription to your newsletter, or anything else that appeals to your buyers.
18. Use a special “before the price increases” offer.
If you plan to raise your prices, make your regular customers a special offer at the old price for a limited time.
19. Repeat your offer.
An irresistible offer can overcome customers reluctance. State it at least twice in your email or letter, and again on your order form.
20. Make a time-limited offer.
Offer a special deal for a limited period of time. And do just that-legally you can’t continue a time-limited offer indefinitely.
21. Base your offer on a limited supply.
A close-out of your inventory can create strong demand. A limited supply offer can be used to designate exclusivity and prestige.
22. Offer a special deal to the first 100 people who order.
Or the first 25, 50, 250 and so on. But remember, the key here is to keep it to a meaningful limit as an incentive for customers to act quickly.
23. Make a charter offer.
This approach is ideal for new products, subscriptions,and service agreements. If your product isn’t new, consider starting a membership club and offering charter members special benefits.
24. Make a “last chance” offer.
Last chance at this price, inventory close-outs, and last chance before a model change can all be used to successfully win more orders.
25. “Buy 1 get 1 FREE” always outpulls “2 for the price of 1.”
Although the savings are precisely the same, the first format sounds like the customer is getting a better bargain.
As mentioned in the beginning, not all of these techniques will work for every mailing you create. The key is to review the techniques whenever you’re planning a mailing. Pick the ones that apply to your situation and put them to work.
In part two you’ll learn about boosting the pulling power of your mailings.
In the meantime you have plenty of ideas to apply in your marketing. So go to work and try them out!