Don’t panic!

Hundreds of companies are entering the New Year realizing that many of their old customers did not renew their contracts. Whether you just began starting a small business or had a hectic 2011, it is likely that you’ve lost a few clients along the way. This typically sets business owners into a…panic; especially if they didn’t notice they’d lost these clients until now. Once this happens, most business owners decide that they need to find interested clients—and fast. This then brings up the popular question: Is retargeting the right move?

For those who are unfamiliar, retargeting is a form of marketing that targets users who have already visited your website. This is typically done through banner ads on display networks. In other words, a retargeting campaign drops a “cookie,” or a text string stored by your browser, on website visitors, and then that company can retarget that specific person by showing them ads even after they leave the website. Many experts call these types of clients “window shoppers” because they saw your website, but kept moving. The mentality is that if they see it again, they may think differently. Consider a few of the pros and cons of retargeting:

Retargeting Pros
According to AdRoll, “2 percent of shoppers covert on the first visit to an online store, and retargeting brings back the other 98 percent.” For this reason, the idea of retargeting seems extremely appealing. The Internet can sometimes be overwhelming, and with the fast-paced lives of Americans, it’s easy to get sidetracked. Many genuinely do not get enough time looking at a website, and then quickly forget where it is or why it matters. Retargeting serves as a reminder for these types of shoppers.

Retargeting Cons
However, the statistics aren’t so high when it comes to every individual business. Some may see this type of marketing as a way of stalking a customer. You have no control over where your ads will show up, so customers may see your ads in odd places. This could very well annoy clients and give them a bad image of your company. For this reason, it is important to utilize retargeting correctly, and in some instances this means not retargeting at all.

Consider some retargeting best practices, and then decide whether or not this is a campaign that will work for your company. This will help make sure you fall under the “pros” and not the “cons” of this marketing strategy—you’re walking on a tightrope when retargeting, so make sure you have good balance.

How to Retarget Right in 2012

- Segment Your Audience – If you plan to slap together a retargeting campaign to everyone that’s ever visited your website, you will find yourself dealing with all those cons. It’s important to make sure that you know who you’re retargeting and tailor your ad to that audience. For example, you will not want to retarget people who have already made a purchase or signed up for a service your company offers. You will then want to split up your customers based on where they were searching on your website. If one group was looking for shirts and the other pants, have two separate retargeting campaigns.

- Burn Your Audience – Although the term doesn’t sound very kind, your audience will be thrilled if you “burn” them. This simply means that an audience member will be removed from the campaign if they have made a purchase or have not made a purchase after a certain amount of time. The rule of thumb is generally 30 days. If you continue to send these audience members retargeting ads, you’re sure to annoy people; therefore doing more damage than good.

- Control Your Numbers – It’s important not to be overbearing with the number of ads you put out when retargeting. As I stated before, retargeting is a slippery slope because it’s very easy to annoy people. For this reason, it’s extremely important that you keep your ads to a minimum. Most experts recommend 15 to 20 ads to each visitor throughout the month. This should help give your brand some recognition in a positive way.

In the end, retargeting can be a great campaign if done correctly. Many give it a bad name because so many companies get too excited and overbearing. The goal is not to cold call people via the Internet, but rather to serve as a reminder to people who were previously interested. If you can pull it off correctly, retargeting might be just what your visitors need at the start of the New Year. Visit Front Street to read a step by step guide to setting up a retargeting campaign when you’re ready.

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to workers compensation insurance. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including business proposal to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading business directory, Business.com.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Have you ever bought a product expecting one thing, but instead received something totally different. The quality is off and it’s not at all what you’d imagined. Chances are, you’ll never do business with them again.

Whether it’s a refund, a guarantee or just a voice on the phone, hounding down a company (especially one you’ve never done business with before,) is far from fun…Perkins had it right with his catchy tune he wrote and sang entitled “Honey Don’t”. To paraphrase the message in his song, we don’t like it when people promise to do one thing and then don’t follow through.

Has it ever happened in your business or organization, where you, as a business owner, department head or employee, say you are going to start an initiative and you don’t get around to it? Worse yet, you start an initiative, but don’t follow through. How about the granddaddy of them all: you say something like “ I’ll get back to you”, and you just flat don’t do it. Interestingly enough, when you stop to listen, you hear one of your employees making a promise to follow through with a customer’s special request and later does not.

Is there a connection between what your employees do (or don’t do) and your management style? You can bet your next house payment that it does. We can’t expect our managers or employees to follow through on their commitments and responsibilities, when we don’t do so with our own.

For instance, we expect our employees to attend a training program or webinar and yet we don’t make the commitment to improve our own skill level in areas where it is needed. Let’s face it. The biggest room in the world for all of us, is the room for self improvement.

We shouldn’t expect our customers to do what we won’t do, i.e. pay our invoices on time when we don’t pay ours on time. Return our calls or emails when we don’t return our vendor’s calls or emails in a timely manner.

Some people call it “karma” some call it the “boomerang effect”. Whatever you call it, it exists and we are part of it.

So, how do we make our business or organization more successful? Do these two things:
1. Stop making promises you can’t keep.
2. Start following through with the promises you do make.

Once you start following these two principles, the people you work with and your customers will appreciate it and so will you.

Tom Borg is president of Tom Borg Consulting, LLC. He is a business consultant, speaker, coach and author. He helps companies and organization become more profitable by increasing their value and lowering their costs through the professional development of their managers and employees.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

What do most people who have been in business do? They copy what their competitors are doing or just do the same thing that previous business owners have do? The equivalent of the blind leading the blind.

To get your eyesight fixed and get your marketing on track you need to….If you take even a minute’s glance at the television, internet, or newspapers today, you can’t escape the doom and gloom that leaps out from every screen and page.

To believe the pundits, we are living in a dangerous world with disaster, catastrophe, and Armageddon around every corner. Such predictions appeal to our sense of the dramatic and no doubt increase our dependence on keeping tuned in to the doom-sayers. Such warnings remind us that there is a part of all of us that likes to feel safe and secure.

It’s the part that we call the Consolidator, where we feel happier putting up a protective wall, battening down the hatches, and finding a comfortable place to hide than sticking our neck up at the parapet.

But apart from moments of real threat, such an approach doesn’t serve any of us well. Instead of protecting us from the outside, all that happens is that we become prisoners behind our own walls. And when we do that, we miss the opportunities that life presents.

Taking a Risk: George Shearing’s Story

There is the story of the blind man who had been waiting at a busy road for some time hoping that someone would come along to guide him across to the other side. Although it was a busy road, there were moments when the traffic was light and sometimes when it was non-existent. Suddenly, the man felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Excuse me,” said the tapper, “I’m blind. Would you mind guiding me across the road?”

The first blind man had a moment’s hesitation before saying “Sure” and, waiting for what sounded like a lull in the traffic, took the arm of the second blind man and ventured out into the road with his white stick held aloft to both lanes of the road.

Step-by-step, the two men negotiated the route across the road, oblivious to the dangers of the road and eventually made it safely to the other side. The second blind man thanked the first, still unaware that he had also been blind and went on his way.

In case you’re wondering, this is a true story. The first blind man was the famous jazz pianist George Shearing who was born blind in London and yet, despite this, made his way safely across the Atlantic Ocean, to become a very popular and successful arranger and composer until his death earlier this year at the age of 91. When telling the road-crossing story later in his life, he reflected, ìWhat could I do? I took him across and it was the biggest thrill of my life.”

Taking a Risk: Ignoring the Doom-Sayers

The worst thing that you can do in a time of apparent crisis is to believe the doom-sayers and miss the opportunities that are available to you and your business. By all means, calculate the risks, and don’t step out when the road is busy with heavy traffic. But, pick your spot and pick your timing, and pick your companions, and together you can achieve your goals.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Ever seen an ad for an air fare special for one price? But by the time you sign up and get to the small print, you realize that your fare isn’t nearly as cheap.

How often does this leave a bad taste in your mouth?I opened my mail the other day and found some coupons sent to me by a well known department store.

“20% Off Your Next Purchase” screamed one coupon; “$20 Off Your Next Purchase” shouted the other.

“Hmmm, I do need some shoes” I thought. The hole that was burning in my pocket was quickly doused when I turned the coupon over, put on my reading glasses, dusted off my electron microscope and read the fine print.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, …………………….74, 75, 76 77. Seventy seven exclusions were listed on the back of this “coupon”! Yes, I did say 77. Besides the sheer number of things I can’t buy with this coupon there’s a host of unintended consequences that these coupons cause.

Anyone who has ever worked in a customer service business knows that customers rarely read the “fine- print”. Imagine a customer enjoying a day of shopping. He or she has walked around the store, perhaps gone to the fitting room to try some things on. They stand in line at the register and when it’s their turn to pay, the associate tells them they’re sorry, but you can’t use your coupon on this, this, this and this. Now your idea for gaining loyal customers has done nothing, but ticked them off.

To be effective, loyalty programs need to be simple to understand for your customers and employees.

I recently received the following email from Starbucks :

“We want to thank you for being such a great Starbucks customer. We’re so happy you’ve chosen us and are pleased that we can offer you some amazing benefits. Here’s what you’ll get:

• A personalized gold card.

• A free drink with every 15 stars you earn.

• We’ll add flavored syrup to your drink, or customize with soy milk, for free.

• Free refills on brewed coffee and tea every time you visit.

• A free handcrafted beverage on your birthday.”

Looking for the fine print? There isn’t any. This email is what a good loyalty program looks like. It’s easy to understand, makes me feel like I’m an important customer (they call me a “great customer”) and doesn’t leave me thinking “what’s the catch”?

The department store’s way of “thanking” their customers, however, creates more frustration than loyalty. And who do you think is on the receiving end of the customer’s frustration? The sales associate. Picture the poor sales associate who has to continually tell their customers “I’m sorry, you can’t use your coupon on that item”.

What has this great idea for a loyalty program gotten you? Aggravated customers, and employees who are tired of bearing the brunt of your bad idea. As for me; I bought my new pair of shoes……………….somewhere else.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

It’s a fact, men are chicken to ask for directions (well at least my dad was, when I was a kid).

And the result was, when I traveled, I’d get lost more often than not.

The question to ask yourself is, are you chicken in business and what…is it costing you.

Even an aircraft carrier must have a captain at the ship’s main controls to guide and direct its’ ocean journey.

Without a focused or alert captain, it will end up hopelessly lost or run aground.

It’s the captain who must decide which course to chart. If the aircraft carrier is off course, he or she must take the necessary action to get this sea going vessel back on course. Something else a competent captain of this ship must possess is patience. He or she knows that to make a 180 degree turn and to completely turn the ship around, it will take twelve nautical miles.

Keeping yourself focused and motivated in running your small business is critical. There is absolutely no doubt that a successful company depends on your ability to commit and follow through with a solid plan that is followed up with plenty of patience and persistence. It has often been said that “If you don’t have a plan you are planning to fail.”

Many people looking to make their business successful and profitable, act as if something will come knocking on their door with little or no work on their part. They wait for their “luck” to change.

Casey Stengel, the great New York Yankee manager, used to tell reporters who would marvel at his “good luck,” that it seemed, “the harder he worked the luckier he got!” In other words his hard work put the odds in his favor. His success was no fluke, but rather it was the result of working his plan with focus and plenty of patience.

If the strategy to run your business is not working, like the captain of the aircraft carrier, you must take action to correct it, and try another way. You must be willing to look at your path to business success as an ongoing journey and use patience to help you find the right combination of activities that will lead it to true success.

If you need help, be willing to ask for it. Successful friends and business acquaintances usually are willing to lend some advice or make some recommendations that can help you reach your business goals.

Books, articles, cds, mp3 downloads are available on how to run a successful small business.

Remember, the universe only helps those who take the initiative to take action. A little information, followed by action, followed by more information and more action, can eventually lead you to continued business success. They key is to believe in yourself and your ability to get into action to make things happen.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

It’s true in every aspect of life, if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably not going to get there. Which is why at a minimum every business, startup or established, needs to have a…

mission statement. A clear and concise statement of your purpose and direction.

Think of your mission statement as a…

statement of what you are committed to in your business. What do you stand for? When you think of it that way, a mission statement suddenly becomes much more pragmatic and real. Not only that, but it will guide your marketing strategy as you grow your business.

How to develop a strong but simple mission statement:
FedEx gets it there overnight. Brown delivers. Domino’s gets you a pizza in 30 minutes or less. Twitter messages are 140 characters. If I said “just do it” you would immediately think of Nike. These are all easy messages to remember and easy messages to build a promise around. Your message or conversation has to THAT easy.

But don’t let the simplicity of this directive fool you. It is the hardest thing to achieve. To boil down the essence of your business into a few words, to convert complicated feelings and complex concepts into a few words is very difficult.

There are essentially three steps to developing a strong mission statement that succinctly tells your customers, employees and all others what you are all about.

Step 1: Brainstorm
Start brainstorming about inner conversations you are having about your business, conversations you are having with your employees, conversations your customers are having with you, in essence, all conversations around the circumstances surrounding your product or service. Harness the power of group brainstorming, they tend to be very productive.
Don’t take shortcuts, this is an important step, and anything and everything might be important. Let it all hang out!

Step 2: Make a collage
In this step, you will move the message from thoughts and words to objects. Take all the words you’ve collected when brainstorming and bring them together on a blank canvas (or white board). Supplement them with quotes relevant to your business. Cut out pictures or sayings that are pertinent. The idea is to get all your thoughts and feelings, and as many as you can get from your team and your customers and to put them physically in the same place (emphasis on physically), visually representing all abstract concepts.

Leave the board alone for a while and come back to it whenever you remember or find something new. This is the stewing process; let it take its time.

Step 3: Translate the collage into an abridged message
Now that you have everything you need visually available to you in the same place, the real work starts. You can start by eliminating duplicates. Next, narrow down your choices by matching questions to answers. Use features that your product or service offers as solutions. Be sure to note any physical objects that pop out – something that your customer can see, smell, touch, and relate to.

Be sure to follow the following guidelines:

• Keep it simple: The human mind best grasps concepts in a maximum of 7 parts (7 digits, 7 words, etc.) Your verbal message must adhere to this. Your visual message must similarly be easy to grasp and free of clutter. A basic web page with a clean design is the most engaging and pleasing to the eye. Good examples are Mint.com, Nimble, and 99Designs.

• Use straight talk: Don’t confuse your customers in a misguided attempt to show off. Your goal is to communicate and engage them in a conversation about your product or service, don’t turn them off by using technical jargon or demonstrating to them about how smart you are. Mint.com is again a good example at this; they make the scary and highly technical world of finance easy and fun, turning it almost into a game.

• Go 3-D: When FedEx delivers your package the next day, the FedEx message is physically attached to an important object – your package. You can create the same effect by using meaningful three-dimensional marketing. Make your message memorable, even outrageous. The book Outrageous Marketing has hundreds of creative examples of how you can differentiate your message from your competition (sending season ticket order forms in a box with a dressed up rubber chicken is particularly inspired).

• Do the unexpected: Use blogs, social media, and events to remain in contact with your customers. But try the unexpected too. Instead of emailing back, occasionally write a personal handwritten note to show your customers that they are important to you. Partner-up with a complementary brand, support a charity your customers care about – be in places that will surprise them and engage their interest.

When your business runs on a foundation of what you’re committed to – your mission statement, you will find that marketing messages become effortless, customers start referring more and your business becomes more profitable.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Archery is a lot like marketing.

You’ve only got one chance to make your mark. Getting it close doesn’t count for much.

But if you’re still missing the mark, and trying the same thing over and over, you’re doing the same thing I’ve see tons of small business owners do… Read More >>

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

There are two types of marketing used by small business owners, one that pushes prospects away and one that pulls them in like a magnet.

One that bleeds you dry and one that brings in bigger profits each month.

Do you know the difference?

A month ago, I was in Prague with my wife, at the start of a week of cycling.

We were enjoying touring the city except for one thing. Almost every time we’d pass a restaurant the hostess would be standing out front and short of grabbing us, would start in on their sales pitch, trying to entice us inside. It was, well… pushy and annoying.

Which is what PUSH marketing is all about. You do whatever you can to get the attention of anyone you can – regardless of whether they are hungry for your products or services.

The end result is – that yes a few people who hadn’t heard of you might learn about your services, but at the same time this push marketing strategy, ends up annoying most of your prospects and in fact pushing them away, literally killing your business – which I’m sure isn’t what you want.

What’s the alternative?

It’s called PULL marketing. You use ideas, tips, e-zines just like this one, and free samples to attract prospects and turn them into clients. Here’s how it can work.

A few days later on our cycling trip we found ourselves in the southern part of the Czech Republic at lunchtime. A local butcher’s shop had been suggested but I wasn’t sure.

Upon entering the shop, the owner asked what we’d like to try. I pointed to the wurst (sausage) in the deli case and the owner sliced off a sample that was almost a meal in itself. After a bite I decided to get it for lunch. It wasn’t even that I loved it, but after the size of the free sample I’d been provided, I felt obligated to buy something.

Do you see the difference between PUSH and PULL marketing?

It’s not complicated, but 96% of businesses don’t have an effective PULL marketing strategy, a way of attracting a steady stream of new clients. Which means they are missing out on a huge number of clients, sales and profits.

Think about it for a second. If your marketing actually attracted 10-20% more clients each month, how much more could you be making. For many businesses the amount is the difference between bankruptcy and profitability.

So how can you set up a simple way to PULL more clients in and grow your business with less effort?

Use this link to find the answer >>

To your success,

Charlie

P.S. Would you like to have my marketing team working on your online marketing to set up your client attraction (pull marketing) system?

We currently have two slots left to work with established U.S. or Canadian service providers. To find out if you qualify >>

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

If you’ve ever started your car search online, you know how troubling it can be.

So when it comes time to finally treat yourself to a new car, you’re not sure if you should start looking online or just stop by a few dealerships…

Article marketing is effective because it allows you an opportunity to share some information about your company in a non-threatening way. What this means is that an article is not the same thing as a sales letter so it’s, of course, met with a different perspective.

For example, someone who is reading a sales letter is going to be way more apprehensive then a person who’s just browsing for information.

Let’s look at the car lot for example. When you step onto the car lot, of course you know that someone is going to try to sell you a car. Now, you’re on high alert. Your guard is up.

But, if you’re online looking at information on your dream car, your guard is down because you’re just looking for information in a casual setting.

As you begin to find the information you are looking for you may be asked to put your information in to receive a call from a salesman. But you’ll be much more likely to do this because your guard has been brought down and now, you’re interested in finding out more information about this car.

See how that works? It is very similar with article marketing. You take a look at the article because the information that’s in the article is something that you were looking for. You have read through the information and at the end of the article there is a link for additional information. Now you will click on this link and chances are it will direct you to a sales page but since your guard is down you will be more open to receiving the information that’s on the sales page.

The person who posted the article has just increased the likelihood of you becoming a customer.

Article marketing is highly effective at driving targeted traffic to your website when done the right way.

It is effective because the person who is reviewing the information no longer feels on guard and will more readily and actively seek more information on the topic, product or subject matter.

It is for this reason as well as others that article marketing is an effective strategy that if used well can produce favorable results.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..

Last week I attended a business meeting in St. John’s Seminary, a business retreat in Plymouth, MI.

As soon as I walked into the massive and beautiful foyer, I could see this facility was impressive.

All the details of elegance were present. Granite floors, stain glass windows and up tone decorating. The staff was highly trained and very personal.

You could just feel the professional difference. I wondered to myself, “Who wouldn’t want to hold their business meeting at St John’s Seminary?”

One of the best ways to distinguish your business from your competitors, is to create an environment where your customers can feel the difference when they communicate with one of your employees on the phone, through an email, or face to face when they walk in the door.

It has been said that the company’s attitude starts at the top and filters its’ way down to the frontline personnel. That means that the president and his management team’s behavior is ultimately the main factor on how the employees treat their customers. If the employees receive respect, then they will do the same for the people they serve.

What we are talking about are the values of an organization that are supported by daily actions.
Charles Kettering, a former president and leader of General Motors Corporation, once said, “Take away my buildings and we will be back tomorrow to rebuild them. If you take away my people there will be grass growing here tomorrow.” Kettering knew the value of his people and it was this kind of mindset that helped to grow General Motors into an industry giant.

How about in your company?

When it comes to truly leading your organization, are you and your management team walking the talk? Do your employees love coming to work? Do they brag about their company to friends and relatives? Do they feel like their efforts truly make a difference in the lives of the people they serve? If you answered affirmatively to those questions, you are doing a lot of things right. If there is room for improvement, then it must start with the people at the top.

A 360 assessment is one of the tools that can assist you in getting a clearer picture of how well you and your management team are leading your organization. When done properly, it can help identify the areas that need to be developed.

So, set the pace for your company and create an environment where your customers can feel the difference of respect.

©2012All Rights Reserved by Charlie Cook or Blog Post Author..