Archive for the ‘Marketing for small Business’ Category

Love me, hate me but look at me

Monday, April 2nd, 2012 by shahar

Frankly every time I go to a social network I can hear the screams of professionals: “Love me, Hate me but look at me”

Every one with a different tip, a cooler picture, or in many cases, a bigger lie. “look how I made 6 figures in 3 days: etc.

It looks like we are so desperate to be popular, to be visible and to get people to pay attention to us that we just do anything.

So desperate, we forget to search for what is really important: Qualified customers with an emotional reason to stay close to us.

We forget what is really important in our business and just spend time in actions that will not bring us any profits. Even worse, most of the time we forget to set a structured process to convert the few that do pay attention to us.

No wonder, failure is a word that crosses the mind of many of these entrepreneurs.

Friend, social media is a knife with a sharp edge on both ends. It can help you a lot but it can also kill you.

Unfortunately, lately it looks more like a harakiri sword where many entrepreneurs use to commit suicide.
They drink this drug of choice and leave their business to the hands of fake popularity.

It drives me crazy. I love what social media can do for business but I can’t stand anymore this search for fool’s gold. A new trick everyday to fool yourself that things will happen fast and easy. If only you buy this new e-book, software, program etc.

Stop this nonsense right now I beg you!

Achieving long lasting prosperity takes more than this. Above all it takes some thinking time and a strategy.

Let’s look at this:
If you were an artist with your work in a gallery, how could you stand out from the other paintings?

1. You could paint a bigger picture. That alone would make you pop. In marketing, I think this is where social media can be used well. You can be everywhere.

2. Paint a different picture. You can always go with the herd and do whatever everyone else is doing or…..you can do what makes sense to your business, have a structured process to convert your marketing efforts. Let’s face it, you can be marketing all day but if you don’t have a process to make sales where are you going to end up?
I talk to people everyday and so many don’t have a process to sell.

3. You can paint a picture that tells a story. You can create emotional connections, have people stop and pay attention to you, tell your hero’s story and engage people is a whole different level than number of friends and followers. Those numbers don’t matter if they don’t pay attention. I have a whole system on how to position your business to become irresistible here.

4. You can do all of the above and stand beside the picture engaging with possible buyers and closing the sale. Yes you. not a tool, not an audio, not a message on a wall. You. You are necessary in your business. You must have a process, a strategy and you must ask for the sale. You don’t need to be miss popular, you need to be a true entrepreneur that does what it takes to succeed. You need to stay away from the herd, be yourself and take specific actions to make your business grow. Most of them will happen outside the social media environment. Stop fooling yourself. Social media is just media, it is not the solution to all your business needs or marketing needs.

Come on, you can achieve so much more.

Cool business ideas with continuity income

Friday, March 16th, 2012 by shahar

There’s no shortage of efforts bringing more sustainable and transparent food alternatives to consumers. Now, New York-based Farm to Baby NYC is specifically targeting parents with a subscription-based service offering organic baby food.

To begin using the service, parents based in New York can log onto the Farm to Baby NYC website and order a range of seasonal produce – from hubbard squash to parsnips and spinach – sourced from farms in the local area. Customers can sign up for either Half Membership, which offers four 10-ounce pots per week for USD 55, or Full Membership, which includes eight 10-ounce pots per week for USD 99. The glass pots are collected by Farm to Baby NYC for re-use. The service currently uses Gorzynski Ornery Farm and W. Rogowski Farm in New York and Phillips Farms in New Jersey, ensuring a low carbon footprint and supporting these local businesses.

We’ve covered numerous subscription-based services on Springwise in the past, but by adding some (still) made here appeal to the model, Farm to Baby NYC have also boosted their green-credentials. An idea ripe for exporting to other parts of the world?

Website: www.farmtobabynyc.com

Source: Springwise

How to promote your book

Thursday, March 15th, 2012 by shahar

We did this presentation with Phil Davis a while ago. These are great points for authors that want to market their books. There is more to book promotion than you might think. Enjoy!

Marketing to female boomers

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 by shahar

Read this research the other day and found it very interesting:

Boomer women when asked what they like to get as a gift:

one third would like a charitable donation in their name.

20% the newest electronic device

18% jewelry or clothing

12% books

24% other- like cooking stuff

0% WINE, FLOWERS OR FRUITS

Even though boomer women like wine, flowers or fruits they don’t want to be seen as “the older women that get fruit baskets”

Guys out there, don’t say you were not advised.

Small Business lessons I learned while doing bird photography

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 by shahar

Nashlah and I got cool photo cameras for Christmas with cool telephoto lenses. I haven’t touched a professional camera for over 20 years. I used to be a professional photographer when Nashlah was a baby. I used to work for a pet magazine but with my divorce I lost some of my equipment and never touched a professional camera until now.

We decided to do some bird photography and used the holidays for a photo expedition. The first thing I learned was how important it is to invest in self-improvement. Being from the “film age” dealing with a digital camera was not as easy as i thought, especially the automated focus part. I got some magazines to help me with that and this week I’m heading to a photo club to be able to update myself. Same applies to having a business, self-improvement is crucial and no, we don’t have all the answers and we have to adapt to new times.Also good is to create relationships with people that can help you get to the next level.

Right on the first day we saw a bald eagle. It was my first bald eagle in the wild. How thrilling that moment was!  The impressive bird was far and I messed up the focus again so the pictures were not too good, but the excitement was still there. We decided to come back the next day to try again. Persistence in life and in business is crucial. We can never forget that.

The next day the eagle was there and the pictures came out a lot nicer. I noticed a funny thing. Nashlah would take a picture, get excited about it and would keep looking for the pictures in the camera, while the bird was there, waiting for her. She got excited with the result and chose to pass the real moment in order to focus on her achievement. Well, it is a good thing to praise ourselves but you cannot let a shiny thing take you away from the real moment and the real work that needs to be done. That moment will never come back again. It is so precious and cannot be wasted with things that can be done later.

We then decided to focus on finding more eagles and big birds and that is what we did for the next 3 days.

We saw on the map that there were some bird refuges close by and some water fowl management areas so we headed there.

It was a holiday and when we got to the first water fowl area, the place was empty. We had no idea what a water fowl management area was and it looked a little scary riding our brand new car in a very small strip of land surrounded by water on both sides, plus the silence and the fact you could not see an end on the road.

My heart started racing and I was a bit scared. The situation was new to me, with a lot of unanswered questions and I a feeling that I could not control the outcome. Then I realized I had made the commitment to try something new everyday in order to face my own fear and limitations and to show myself there are new possibilities, opportunities and I don’t have to be in control of every outcome. At that moment I really started enjoying the experience. Yes, same thing should be done in our businesses.

We didn’t see many birds there, since it was a very cold day in winter, not the best time to start bird photography. We shot pictures of some birds we didn’t know and some flying hawks. That night before heading to the hotel we got some western bird’s books. We needed some self-improvement in that area as well. We also had a little talk about the fact that we started taking the pictures not in the best time of the year and with little planning and preparation. Isn’t this typical of entrepreneurs? It was good but it could have been better. The fact is, we would go on no matter what but next weekend, believe me we will be better prepared.

The next day was just fantastic! We spotted a bald eagle right at the beginning. Well, now we knew what to look for, we had learned to see and due to the books, we knew a little about their habits.

She was on a tree not too far. We stopped the car and started walking with the equipment. We were really close when she flew away. We learned a few things. Disappointment happens no matter how excited you are and some “thinking through the end” before acting helps. Why we though that the eagle would stand still seeing two voluptuous girls walking with big equipment, very colorful clothes and chatting at full lungs is beyond me. That lesson sank in really fast. This week we are out to buy some camouflaged clothes and we are training in keeping our mouth shut.

Entrepreneurs should live by the motto “fall seven times, stand up eight”, so we decided to go after that eagle and find her again. Using our best judgement we started going around until we finally saw her again. Standing on a tree on a farm ground.  There we went. Almost quiet this time. It was so exciting! We had to do a minor trespassing, but we could not loose that opportunity.

We got a lot closer this time. The lens could be a little longer, the light a little better I kept thinking but my finger could not stop taking the pictures. Then I noticed that I should take care of composition, different exposure times etc. Things I should take care in order to get a good picture. So I remember one thing my photography professor taught me many years ago. He would say every time we were shooting. “Cut your anxiety in half and go closer”. I finally took a deep breadth, corrected what needed to be corrected and took another step, and another one.

The eagle was looking at us the whole time and at some point decided to fly away, but this time it flew towards us. I kept shooting, it is so much easier to shoot several pictures now than before! It flew right above our heads, really close. I don’t know if eagles attack humans but I couldn’t care less. We were jumping up and down for at least half an hour.  I got a very good picture and Nash got several.

Now we went looking for more bald eagles, we felt unstoppable. Not a big deal that there are not that many bald eagles flying around, we knew we could do it. After a few hours we spotted another one. She flew, we chased and we got a few more pictures. We were able to fulfill our challenge and the feeling was great. That night we were exhausted but had a hard time falling asleep. That feeling was so exciting! Knowing that you are able to reach your goals and go after challenges is great. I made a side note to start doing some exercise. If I need to keep doing this, I need to be in good shape. Changes are necessary and good.

Next day we headed to some other bird refugees and water fowl management areas. Now we decided to get as many western birds documented as possible. We like challenges just like most entrepreneurs. Last year we took a geocaching challenge of finding one cache in each page of the Utah atlas and we did it. We covered the whole state of Utah. Could tell you a lot more about planning ahead before venturing into deserts with that story. (We thought deserts would have gas stations and restaurants).

I had to deal with another little problem in the water fowl management area. These places have a lot of hunters. I respect their right they have to kill but have a very hard time with this, especially with the sound of fire arms. My brother was killed some years ago and every shot would bring that memory back. I had to keep telling myself that this was another thing I needed to be able to face and force to think that instead of his death, each shot would remind me that he loved life and his hobbies too. Need to work more on this one.

We were reminded again that planning ahead of time would have been a good strategy, since we were freezing in the low temperatures. Funny thing is that when you are shooting the pictures, you don’t feel cold at all, but waiting for the birds can be painful. We got some interesting pictures of cool birds, a lot of birds butts flying away. There are many more bad pictures than good ones but the good ones make up for all others. Can’t refrain from saying that in business we all have more failures than successes but the few successes make up for all the work and frustration.

Besides all things we learned with this experience, one was clear: It is really necessary to take a break every now and then. Not only to release stress but also because with trying new things not related to business gives you the opportunity to find another side of yourself and see different ways to deal with different challenges and to challenge yourself is to find in you a strength you probably didn’t know you had.

Hawk Flying

Hawk Flying

Embrace the weird to be unique

Friday, October 7th, 2011 by shahar

I had the opportunity to visit the store of Little Miss Matched at Disney some weeks ago and decided to do a short video on this company that is very unique in their approach.

Small business marketing tip: Increase trust

Sunday, September 18th, 2011 by shahar

Most organizations focus on growing their customer base. The real focus should be on growing the circle of people that trust what you stand for.

Jon Jantsch

Price strategies in small business marketing

Monday, August 29th, 2011 by shahar

Jason Mars is the co-author of the book NO B.S. Price Strategies with Dan Kennedy.
We loved reading the book and think it is a very important read specially in a market like we have today.

I had the privilege of interviewing Jason Mars and he shared some great insights on how to work price in different business models.

Here is the interview for you, just click on the link:

Listen to Price Strategies Now

Where to submit press releases

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 by shahar

Part of a good small business marketing strategy is submitting press releases every now and then. Ideally every month.
Press releases should be around a good story and to the point. Press releases are not only good to get attention from the press but by submitting to press releases sites you also get links back to your site.
Here is a list of places where you can submit your press release for free.

1888PressRelease.com
24-7 Press Release
AddPR.com
BizEurope.com
eCommWire.com
Express-Press-Release.com
Free-News-Release.com
Free-Press-Release.com
Free-Press-Release-Center.info
FreePressIndex.com
FreePressRelease.co.cc
FreePressReleases.co.uk
i-Newswire.com
IndiaPRWire.com
MediaSyndicate.com
MyFreePR.com
NewswireToday.com
PageRelease.com
PR.com
PR9.net
PR-Inside.com
PRCompass.com
PRlog.com
PRurgent.com
PRzoom.com
PressAbout.com
PressBox.co.uk
PressFlow.co.uk
PressMethod.com
PressRelease.com
PressReleasePoint.com
TechPRSpider.com
TheOpenPress.com

QR codes and TV shows

Thursday, June 16th, 2011 by shahar

We have been talking about the potential of QR codes for small business marketing for quite a while now.
Here are some previous posts we did on QR codes.

This week. Reel seo blog talks about the next wave of QR codes and their debut on Tv and online videos.

Read the post here: QR codes and Online videos

Achieving Long Lasting Prosperity

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 by shahar

Last time we wrote about achieving long lasting prosperity we had a lot of good feedback. This month we did a call on this topic for our inner Circle Members and they also loved the subject!

So, I decided to share with you that call because I believe it can transform your business and help you grow.

Would love to hear your comments!

Listen to Achieving Long Lasting Prosperity Now

List of promotion ideas

Sunday, November 28th, 2010 by shahar

Here are a few points in a list of things you can use to promote your business. Copy and write beside each one and you will see a lot of ideas coming up. Ask yourself as you go through the list how you can use it to promote your business:

Articles
business cards
coupons
contests
centers of influence
celebrities
courses
card decks
calendar listings
direct mail
demonstrations
endorsements
feature stories
gift certificates
invitation only events, joint ventures
newsletters
presentations
publicity
restroom ads
Recorded phone messages
Strategic alliances
Online videos
Podcasts
Blog posts
T-shirts
Tweets

How To Build Your Offline Business With Online Local Directories

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010 by The BuzzBooster Team!

by Bonnie Jo Davis

Every offline business wants more customers. That s why you hang signs in your window and outside your door, to attract people s attention and entice them to come in.

But if you are focusing solely on the people who walk past every day, you re missing out on the huge market that constantly looks for services online. There are 300 million internet searches performed every day and a whopping 3 billion of them are performed on a monthly basis! About half of these people are looking for local businesses to buy from. The question is whether or not they can find YOU.

This is why it s worth spending some time making sure you are listed in as many online local directories as possible. Don t restrict yourself to the people who are already walking down your street. Get yourself listed online in some of these directories and you can reel in people from further afield as well. Just imagine there are people out there who are driving around trying to find a business just like yours. If you re listed online they have the ability to find you immediately. And, if you have more than one location you can list them all so they can find the one nearest to where they are.

An offline business can list all the important information quite easily online. Your business name, address, phone number and location can all be listed. If someone searches for your kind of business online, they ll find you on search engines, online directories and local directories of all kinds. You can also make it easy for them to find you on social networking sites, which means you don t even have to have a website. Simply link to your Facebook or LinkedIn profile or whatever other social network you belong to.

In this way people can find you by using their computers or even their cell phones. Once they ve got your details they can find you with their mobile or GPS navigation devices. Could you imagine how many more customers you might get as a result of listing your business in these local directories?

You won t have to worry about customers finding incorrect information if you happen to change phone numbers or locations for some reason either. Quick changes are easy to make in order to keep your listing accurate. When you consider that most of these directories are free to use as well, you d be missing a trick if you didn t use them. The only reason you would pay to use some of them is if you wanted to have an enhanced listing to gain more visibility.

The majority of offline business owners know how important advertising is to keep their business going. But you don t want to spend more than necessary to get the results you want. These directories not only reduce PPC costs, they also reduce your overall advertising costs. So not only can you increase your revenue from being more visible to more customers, you can also do it for less cash.

What kind of savings are we talking about here? Well, think about the amount you spend on your print advertising every month. Whatever that amount might be, you ll be spending a lot less getting listed in hundreds of local directories online. These listings not only bring you direct traffic, they can also provide you with a way to brand your business on a consistent basis.

Having a website isn t necessary to enjoy all these benefits. But if you do have one you can get a one-way link back to that site further strengthening your position and credibility, especially with Google, with the search engines.

The best thing about being listed in every appropriate directory is that your customers can review your business online too. Monitor the feedback and respond to it quickly, making changes for the better as you do. As you gain more feedback and reviews you ll find you get ranked more highly in Google Places as well, so you ll be found even more often.

The only question that s left is why you haven t already started listing your business with all the online local directories?

© 2010 Davis Virtual Assistance. Publication rights granted so long as article and byline are reprinted intact, with all links made live.

Bonnie Jo Davis submits and manages offline business listings to local internet directories. She is a published author, expert in article marketing, and feels comfortable working in a virtual environment. If you need help getting your business into local directories visit http://local-map-listings.com/services-2/local-directory-submission for more information.

Success Through Failure

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010 by The BuzzBooster Team!

By Julio Garreaud- Business consulting for corporations.

This year thousand of biking professionals and aficionados watched with heart ache how Lance Armstrong started losing time daily through out the Tour of France stages. Weeks before the Tour I read several articles where Armstrong positively explained the superiority of his team, the coaching staff and his personal readiness to make a new attempt for the title.

There is quite a story behind the stunning results. Armstrong was disheartened to realize to what extent the younger cyclist participating in the 2010 Tour de France were capable of. The fans, the critics and the world witnessed also the defeat of the champion. Many of them heavily criticized Lance for the foolish decision to attempt to conquer the yellow jersey one more time

Now that is all over I look back and try to put myself on Lance’s position attempting to discover the WHY he decided to do it and what I come out with is that in order to do what he did takes a lot of courage, dedication, toughness and a huge desire to reach success. I truly believe that he was not so much interested on the yellow jersey at the end but rather test his ability to fulfill the expectation to succeed.

As a biker that loves the sport I can see the evolution of the bicycle and how the industry has created the sleekest and fastest bicycles in the world. Without a champion who could provide the resources, passion, design facilities and expertise, the great biking athletes would never have realized their dream.

How to Create an Irresistible Business

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Before you decide how you are going to market you business, you need to make sure your business is irresistible to people. We live in an environment where people have an attention span of 9 seconds- the same as a gold fish. They are overwhelmed and just don’t pay attention. In order for them to pay attention to your business, you need to become irresistible to your market. Here are 7 components that can turn your business into an irresistible business:
1.Give an irresistible promise.(it is not about you, it is about the end result for them)
2. Unveil your irresistible core story. (people will not stick if they don’t have a reason, a cause)
3. Find your unique voice. (How do you show the personality of your company)
4. Incorporate mystique. (add some mistery, tease your customers a little)
5. Become Uberpresent always. (this is when social media becomes crucial)
6. Define your rituals. (incorporate rituals, processes and pre-qualification rituals in your business).

7. Increase Trust.( if the other ones above are done right, the level of trust will increase naturally. Testimonials here help a lot).

You can listen to a full hour audio here: Irresistible business audio