.: Joy Gendusa Profile and Articles
Display by: Popularity | Title
1). Rules of Thumb for Marketing to Your Past CustomersKeeping in touch can dramatically increase business, when done properly.
It’s a fact that your customers are your best leads. This means that the most likely people to purchase your products and/or services are the ones who have paid for them before. It’s also a fact that it costs far less money to keep a customer than it does to go out and get a new one.
2). Starting Small Business Promotional Campaigns
So you’re starting a small business. You figured out what you wanted to sell or do and went out and got it all set up, had your DBA framed and on the wall and now all you need is for someone to buy your product or use your service. Right?
How are you going to go about getting your public to know you even exist?
Promote! Promote! Promote!
Well that all sounds simple, but say you’re a financial specialist, a boat builder or llama farmer.
3). Business Marketing Strategy
What is it and who needs one?
The term business marketing strategy might sound like it is esoteric or stratospheric, so let’s take the mystery out of it so you can devise and implement your own business marketing strategy that fits in to your small business plan.
Strategy comes from a Greek word “stratagein” meaning “to be a general”. Think of a strategy as an overall plan of action needed to win a war.
4). Find the Goldmine within Your Business
Doing a current customer breakdown can help you find the goldmine within your business by determining who you should be targeting in your marketing efforts in the future. There is a goldmine right there and you may or may not see it…it’s your customer base! But is it all of them? No – definitely not. Then what the heck am I talking about?
You probably already have some great customers, probably not as many as you would like though.
5). More Marketing Dope
Direct marketing can make you very successful, but you’ve got to understand the basics. Here are some more gems of the industry that can take you from being a diamond in the rough to the luminous bling-bling.
When advertising your product or service, honesty is not only the legal and ethical path, but also the path to the highest amount of repeat business.
6). Postcards – Picture Perfect Promotion
There is a simple but almost mystical law which governs promotion and marketing and their relationship to the amount of business generated: business will come in to the degree that you get your message out, promote, let people know you are there, advertise, write to people, call people, e-mail people and generally communicate to existing or potential clients.
7). Raise Your Income!
How often do you sit around and wonder how to make more money and get more people to buy more from your company? It’s one of the most basic problems every company faces.
The answer is astonishingly simple. Too simple maybe. But I’ve seen it work over and over again with our customers in every line of business you can imagine.
You have to promote. Your income is determined by how much marketing you do.
8). Specialized Mailing Lists Make All the Difference
If there is one thing I can’t say enough it is that the most important part of your mailing campaign is your mailing list. It is vital that you put the right amount of energy into learning about lists – who to mail to – so that your mailing efforts aren’t wasted. There are a few different ways that you can get an adequately targeted list.
As always the first step is to determine who your target market will be.
9). The Importance of a Marketing Plan
There aren’t many things in life that you would get into with out a plan. Marketing is no different. Your overall marketing plan should cover about a six month period, and should be made up of weekly and monthly marketing schedules.
This is how you do it:
1. Figure out how much money is in your budget.
As we all know, marketing of any kind costs money.
10). 6 Things I Know About Postcards That You Don’t
In my plethora of experience tucked away between these ears, I have managed to cull out for you what I consider the “best of the best” – in other wor
11). Make Your Mailing a Home Run, Not a Strike Out!
You can use great design and copy to get a better response.
When you send a mailing to your customers or prospective customers you are counting on making considerably more money in new business than you spend on the mailing, right? It is obvious that if you were not going to profit from the mailing, you wouldn’t send it out.
A little less obvious.
12). Marry Your Marketing Plan
Make a vow to keep up your marketing schedule in good times and not so good times.
I have said it time and time again that marketing, no matter what type you choose, is a building process. Here is the whole thing summed up in one situation:
Assume for a moment that you had never heard of this thing called "Cola". You go to your mailbox and get your mail only to find a postcard that says "New Fizzy Drink! You'll Love It! A Taste Like Nothing You
Have Had Before!" You might run right out and try it, but more than likely, not.
13). Direct Mail – Don't Assume, Just Test And Track
Where to Start:
Most novice marketers have definite fixed ideas about direct mail that are way off base - most oft
14). An Internet Marketing Strategy That Works
These days an internet marketing strategy plays a vital part of small business marketing strategies (or any size business marketing strategies for tha
15). Does Your Marketing Plan Need Changing?
Change is good, right? Not always. But when is it bad? Is it a question of good or bad? Sounds philosophical. Maybe it is.
Philosophize on this…why would one take something that is going good – no.. great – and change it? Obvious answer is to make it better. Not!
In business or in marketing, change is not always good. When you have certain promotional actions that are in place making things happen, or in better terms, making you money – don’t change them! Why do I say this? Because I see it time and time again.
16). Internet Marketing with Postcards
On-Line Marketing Strategies
These days an internet marketing strategy plays a vital role in the overall marketing plan of any small business. Getting your website viewed is important for any size business - large or small.
Remember: You can't put up a terrific web site on-line and “hope” that people will just arrive. You have to let your prospects know, IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY, that your web site is there.
17). What the Heck is a Campaign and Why Do I Need to Do One?
Many people ask me, “What is a postcard campaign, exactly?” “And why do I need one?” I sigh. I take a deep breath before writing this chapter. This is a biggee. Very important subject. This is the one that is hardest to teach. No matter how I try, no matter how much proof I give, people just don’t want to believe it. But I owe you the truth. So here goes…
cam•paign n.
18). Goal Setting For Your Dental Practice and Then Following Through
Face it; your practice can't go according to plan if you have no plan.
What do you want to achieve this year? More new patients per week? Higher average dollar-amount of treatment plans? Better patient-satisfaction ratings? No matter what it is you are shooting for, goal setting is one of the most important things that you will do. I’ve got a few tips to help you get there.
19). Basic Marketing Dope
Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not complex if you know the basics – that’s true with anything by the way. Here are some tools
20). Comprehensive Marketing Details Not Found in Beginner Books
If this is the first marketing article you are reading, go find some other more basic articles that I have written and then come back. This data is for the intermediate to advanced marketers.
I want to go over a three-step outline for your marketing which are:
1) Surveys
2) Getting Attention
3) Postage
Marketing surveys save you from flying blind in your business marketing strategies and are the best way to find out what you should be offering, to whom and how.
21). Direct Mail – Not What it Used to Be
The number of businesses using direct mail marketing now compared to how many used this medium 10 to 15 years ago is staggeringly higher. More and more marketers understand its effectiveness and are on the bandwagon - especially Mortgage Brokers.
Years back the novelty of receiving an advertisement in your mailbox was such that any direct mail pieces were not only looked at but mulled over.
22). Direct Mail Marketing Done Correctly, Cannot Fail
So how do you do it?
Direct mail marketing. When it comes to marketing your product or services there are two basic challenges:
1. How do you obtain new customers or clients?
2. How do you get your existing customers to come back for more?
Direct mail/direct response marketing answers both these challenges admirably (it’s not the only way to do it but it is a proven method that always works).
23). Good Marketing Pays for Itself
Most companies ask themselves this question: "How much will this advertising cost us?" when they should actually be asking themselves this: "How much will it cost not to do this advertising?"
If your company spends $1000 per week on marketing then you could save $1000 per week by not doing any marketing. That is true but it is the simple and shortsighted view of the situation.
24). Mailing Lists – Keeping it Simple
The right direct mailing list targets people who want your product or service.
The direct mail mailing list is a key factor in a successful direct mail marketing campaign and a major point to consider in small business marketing strategies where marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is a key concern.
What really makes your direct mail marketing and advertising campaign successful?
The biggest single factor in the success of your direct mail marketing strategy is who you send your mailings to.
25). Marketing – Like a Game of Chess
Have you started thinking about your Valentines Day Promotion yet?
It may sound like a strange question on the day before Thanksgiving but it really isn’t. When scheduling your promotions it is like a game of chess. You should always be thinking at least 3 moves ahead.
In this case each "move" should be one month. Therefore you should have been
thinking about your Valentines, or February promotions as you fall asleep after your big Turkey dinner.
26). 2 Step Marketing
Do it Right.
I receive postcards all the time. The other day I received a postcard trying to sell me a copy machine. It had tiny
27). Business Goal Setting and Then Following Through
Your business can't go according to plan if you have no plan.
What do you want to achieve this year? More new customers per week? Higher average order amounts? Better customer service ratings? No matter what it is you are shooting for, goal setting is one of the most important things that you will do in the New Year. I’ve got a few tips to help you get there.
28). Effective List Management Can Save You Big
Let’s talk about how to keep your postage costs down.
So far you have been following my advice and mailing to the same list more
than once. At some point you find lists that will produce returns continually, but you notice that you are receiving more returns than when you started mailing to those lists.
You may see things like "Undeliverable as Addressed" or "Forwarding Order Expired.
29). Increase New Customer Traffic to Your Business
One person tells another, who tells another, who tells another and so on. You get the idea. Let’s see how to make that an actuality.
You have a great company and you provide the highest level of customer service. But as the old cliché says: "A happy customer tells a friend, an unhappy customer tells 10 friends." You don’t have to worry about the unhappy customer telling 10 friends
because you always do a great job and keep your customers happy.
30). Marketing Hat for Graphic Designers or Wannabe’s
Many people think that the quality of any graphic design is determined by how aesthetically pleasing it is: Although making the card look good is important, this couldn't be further from the truth. The only true measure of any design, at least commercially, is "How well does it pull?". By pull we mean what type of response does it elicit? Does it pull.
31). Postcard Marketing Done Right
Say it with a post card. A well designed, colorful, high impact postcard in the mail box of your prospect is your best ticket to a new customer. For your existing customer, a marketing campaign which includes frequent post cards is the perfect start to new sales - this is one of the key small business marketing strategies.
For the recipient:
• You don't have to open a post card!
• You see it right away, the bright picture is not hidden from view by an envelope.
32). Rising Postal Rates? Don’t Cut Down the Direct Mail
The United States Post Office in the past had some trouble with its finances and their solution was to raise the postal rates. Whether or not you agree with this approach to trying to stay in business, like the weather and government in general, it’s something you have to live with.
Many companies have used this as a reason to send out fewer or smaller mailings in an attempt to keep their costs down.
33). Stay in Touch with Leads and Get More Closes
How many leads have come into your business since the beginning of time that never closed? That is a salient question. Who knows how many, but I bet there are a lot.
Whether a small company or a large one with a sales force, the leads that are always best are the ones that are easy to close. But what about the prospects that were reached but never closed? They are in an abyss - The Unclosed Sales Lead Abyss, technically speaking.
34). There’s More to Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) than Meets the Eye
All too often people look at marketing ROI in terms of response rate: in other words, “I sent out 10,000 pieces of direct mail and only got 39 responses which is terrible.” This is wrong think.
When it comes to marketing ROI, you have to realize that the term means Return On Investment and the return is measured in dollars (or your local currency).
35). Dental Marketing Basics
Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not complex if you know the basics – that’s true with anything by the way. Here are some tools that are brilliantly simple and with them you really won’t have to sweat the small stuff.
The more that your prospective patients see your name in front of them, the more likely they are to call your number (and not someone else’s) when they need the services you offer.
36). Dental Surveys Can Boost Marketing Campaign Results
In dentistry as with any other profession is it important that you know what your clients think of you and why they came to you. You need this information so that you can devise a marketing campaign to bring in more patients like those that patron you often already. You can’t just assume that you know what they think. Because you have been in business 20 years you may have some idea; this is true.
37). 6 Facts About Postcards That You Can Use to Grow Your Dental Practice
In my plethora of experience I have managed to cull out for you what I consider the “best of the best” – in other words, I took the most proven details about postcards that are significant to you starting a dental postcard campaign and really winning with it.
In marketing to your potential patients I want you to understand some key direct mail marketing essentials that will help you to acquire new patients effectively:
1) A postcard is better than something in an envelope.