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What Marketing Strategies Does Oprah Use?

By Charlie Cook | March 12, 2008

Should you emulate the marketing strategies of successful companies like Google, Apple, Starbucks, Sony, Dell, or Coca-Cola? It’s true that these companies have name recognition throughout the world, and this gives them tremendous clout in their markets. But following their lead is a waste of your time and money.

Every entrepreneur and small business owner wants to build their brand and their name recognition to increase sales. But approaching branding the way the biggest companies in the world do won’t work for you unless you have the same kind of world-class marketing strategies budget. Coca-Cola spends over two billion dollars a year building and maintaining their brand.

What can you do?

Spend your marketing dollars where it will make a real difference. You want prospects to remember you and think of you when they need your products and services; isn’t it important to get them to remember the name of your company? The answer is NO. In the small business world, prospects don’t remember or rely on company names; they remember people’s names.

For example – a prospect visits your web site and, if you’ve planned the site well, they fill in a form and email their contact information to you. Follow up with them up a couple of minutes later, and they’ll be impressed, but I guarantee you that 9 out of 10 won’t remember the name of your site.

What’s the most effective way to build your brand and grow your business? Use this link to get the details >>

The fact of the matter is people don’t remember company names until they’ve become a client or customer. I learned this again the other day when Ros, who is responsible for affiliate relations for my company, was calling potential joint venture partners. When Ros called on my behalf, she’d say, “Hi, I’m calling from Marketing For Success about…” The consistent response was a long pause by the person on the other end of the phone. So she changed her lead-in; she mentioned my name. “Hi, Charlie Cook asked me to give you a call about…”

There was no pause then. Most people said they knew me, (even though I’d personally never talked to any of them), and Ros was able to get the conversation going.

The simple secret of successful small business branding is; don’t waste money trying to build your company’s name recognition. The brand you want to promote is YOU and the problems you solve.

Marketing yourself as the brand doesn’t mean you can’t grow into a big business. Oprah, Martha Stewart and many others have proved that many times over.

Want to grow your business? Use this link >>

Why is promoting yourself as the brand more effective than promoting your company name? Your prospects relate to and remember people more readily than they do abstract concepts like companies.

Your prospects don’t buy from you because you have a great company name; they buy from you because they know you and trust you as a person and a professional. What’s the most effective way for entrepreneurs and small business owners to generate more business?

Help your prospects get to know and trust you.

If you think that marketing has to be impersonal to be professional, think again. If you want people to get to know you and trust you, they need to know you as a person, not just as someone trying to make a sale.

I’m not suggesting that you reveal the intimate details of your life to your prospects. But while you’re explaining how you can solve their problems, do share information and stories about yourself as well as about your business.

For example, if you’ve been a regular subscriber to this newsletter, I bet you know at least one personal fact about me, Charlie Cook. You probably know I’m obsessed with skiing, have a ski home in Vermont and during the rest of the year I bike or kayak daily. I’ve shared stories about my family – my son and his endearing habits, my skinflint Dad and his leaky boat – and more.

How can you establish yourself as the brand and grow your business? Use this link to get the details >>

Ready to put your marketing into high gear to grow your business with new and effective marketing strategies? It’s easier than you think when you leverage your expertise and experiences to become the brand the people associate with a certain level of expertise and service.

Charlie
Marketing Strategies That Get… Results

How to Avoid The B to B Holiday Slowdown

By Charlie Cook | December 14, 2006

Typically businesses that market to other businesses blame the slowdown in December on the holidays. Business owners and marketers will tell you that December is just slow, what with most of their prospects being preoccupied with the holidays.

Is this correct or is it nonsense?

Yes, it’s true at this time of year most people’s minds are focused on the holidays and many people are preoccupied with spending money on gifts, which is actually a good thing for B to B businesses smart enough to see this as an opportunity, not an obstacle.

Think about it, your prospects have a mindset to spend money, and like most people who never actually get the gifts they really want, are more than willing to spend money on themselves. They’re ripe and ready for you to market to them, though you just need to turn one obstacle into an opportunity.

The obstacle is they’re thinking about the holidays and Christmas. The opportunity – use the holidays and Christmas to market your products and services. For example, many people have wish lists for Christmas presents, why not ask them to create a wish list for their business. Ask them what they want and need to grow business next year and then list the products and services you sell.

With the right strategy – December can be your best month ever. Instead of seeing the holidays as a distraction, you can leverage them to increase your sales and profits.

– Charlie Cook
Marketing That Gets Results

6 Things to Do In 2006 To Grow Your Small Business and Improve Your Marketing

By Charlie Cook | January 2, 2006

HERE ARE SIX THINGS TO DO IN 2006 TO BE MORE SUCCESSFUL

1. Hire someone to do all the stuff you spend time on that keeps you from having enough time to work on improving your marketing. I use a bevy of Virtual Assistants, web designers and programmers to sort email, submit articles, build web pages and f.ree up my time to develop products and improve my own marketing.

When you stop doing mundane time consuming tasks you’ll have more time for the fun and more rewarding ones. I’ve found some great virtual assistants with these resources.

International Association of Virtual Office Assistants
http://www.iavoa.com

The Virtual Business Group
http://www.virtualbizgroup.com

Canadian Virtual Assistant Connection
http://www.cvac.ca/

2. Listen to Your Prospects and Clients
Each time a prospect or client asks a question, write it down. Review these each week for new product ideas and for informational reports you could provide for free. You can use each client encounter to get ideas on how to even better serve your clients. Use these ideas and your clients will love you and your products and services.

3. Develop New Products by Thinking Outside of the Box
Set aside 10-20% of your time to develop new product and marketing ideas. Identify a problem your clients have and solve it with your products and services. When you do, even more clients will seek you out and you’ll sell more to existing clients. Need help thinking outside of the box? Here are some of my favorite books and sites.

How Customers Think: Essential insights into the mind of the market – Gerald Zlatman

Thinkertoys (A handbook of business creativity) – Michael Michalko

A Whack on the Side of the Head- How you can be more creative – Roger Von Oech

Weird Ideas that Work: 11 1/2 practices for Promoting, Managing and Sustaining Innovation – Robert Sutton

Why Didn’t I Think Of That? Think the unthinkable and achieve creative genius – Charles W. McCoy Jr.

Bill Myers Product Development Resource Center
http://www.bmyers.com/

4. Use Tracking Links to Test Every Variable of Your Marketing
When you make a change to your web site test everything from the words to the background color to where you put pictures on the page to find out whether it reduces or increases response. Using the test results you’ll know what works and what doesn’t.

My favorite testing tool is the ad tracker feature that comes with my shopping/ecommerce software.
https://www.marketingforsuccess.com/shopping.html

5. Get The Small Business Marketing Tools and Resources You Need to Succeed

Small Business Marketing Gold Special

Your Web Site Marketing Road Map

Your Marketing Plan

Your Marketing Message

A Marketing Mentor

6. Work Less and Earn More
Go away more often with your family and/or friends. Every time I take a couple of days off I come back with new ideas for growing my business and with a clear head get twice the work done in half the time. I use an automated online delivery system so I make just as much from product sales when I’m away anyways. You can too.
https://www.marketingforsuccess.com/shopping.html

Best Wishes for a Prosperous 2006,

Charlie Cook
Marketing For Success
www.marketingforsuccess.com
3 West End Avenue
Old Greenwich, CT 06870

/ Helping you get a better response, more clients
and more sales with your small business marketing //

What Santa Knows About Marketing

By Charlie Cook | December 18, 2005

What’s that ringing sound you hear at this time of year? It’s the sound of cash registers ringing up the sales generated by Santa Claus. Just because he’s old, overweight, long haired and unshaven and dresses funny, don’t overlook his marketing success. Santa is a marketing expert and you can become one, too, if you follow his marketing methods.

What’s that you say? You don’t believe in Santa Claus or you don’t celebrate Christmas? It’s true that Santa may be mostly mythical, but ask almost anybody who Santa is and what he does, and they’ll tell you. And there are millions of children who are convinced he’s real. So put your doubts about Santa aside for a moment and take a look at why he’s so good at marketing.

Knows How to Be Unique
Whether it is his trademark red suit, his unconventional transportation, his belly laugh or his occupation, Santa is different. He’s one of a kind, which makes him memorable.

Gets Free Publicity
He’s a master at getting free press. He’s mentioned in the media constantly during the winter holidays. Many songs, movies and books have been written about him.

Discover how to get free publicity for your business with your articles and on the radio. Editors and radio hosts are always looking for content they can use. Here’s the link to Opening Doors with Your Articles and
Getting Free Radio Publicity to grow your business.

Is Customer Focused
While everyone knows about Santa, his marketing isn’t focused on his credentials. He rarely talks about how long he’s been in business nor does he bore people with long discussions of his work processes. Instead, he makes a huge effort to learn what people want. It is estimated that each year over a million letters are sent to Santa.

Santa supplements this effort by appearing in thousands of shopping malls around the country, listening to an average of nine thousand children per mall. He does all this just to learn what his customers want.

Gives Something Away For Free
While most of the presents under the tree are from family, including the annual fruitcake from Aunt Bernice, typically at least one gift bears Santa’s name. How can you not love someone who gives so many presents away each year and whose only expectation is a couple of cookies and a glass of milk?

Knows What He Is Selling
Santa knows what he is selling, and its not just games and toys. Santa sells hope, whether it is for the latest video game, a warm sweater or happiness.

How can you market your business more like Santa Claus does his?

Learn the The 5 Principles of Highly Effective Marketing that make Santa a success. Santa didn’t write this marketing guide, but he could of. I wrote it to detail the marketing strategies that work for small business owners and entrepreneurs like Santa.

Here’s the link to get your copy of The 5 Principles of Highly Effective Marketing manual.

1. Clarify how you and your firm are unique, and what it is that separates you from the crowd. You don’t need to put on a red suit or slide down chimneys. Define yourself by the problems you solve, the expertise you provide and what your customers say about you.

2. Get free publicity for your business, not just during holidays but all year round. Sometimes imaginative stunts like appearing in a sleigh help.

3. Ask your prospects what they want and then provide services and products that give them what they’ve asked for. The better you understand their concerns, the better services or products you’ll provide.

4. Give something away for free. It could be an article, a report, a book or a workshop. Use your free offer to prompt people to contact you and demonstrate your expertise. It works for Santa and it can work for you.

5. Know what you are selling. Your products and services bring in the money, but what do they stand for? What do they represent to your clients? Sell your prospects on achieving their objectives and dreams and deliver with tangible results they can appreciate.

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, market like Santa and you too, can have many happy clients this and every season, without having to squeeze down a single sooty chimney.
– Happy holidays, Charlie Cook

When Is The Right Time To Fix Your Marketing to Grow Your Small Business?

By Charlie Cook | December 6, 2005

Last week I attended a concert in NYC by the legendary Bonnie Raitt . Each time I see her perform live I’m amazed that someone who I already thought was superb has gotten even better.

If you aren’t familiar with Bonnie Raitt she spent the first 15 or so years of her career making slow and steady progress in the music world despite being an alcoholic. She has talent and it even shown through the haze of her heavy drinking.

Eighteen years ago she got off the bottle and her career took off. Her many accomplishments include a Grammy. You’d think she could rest on her laurels, but no, each year she looks for new ideas and ways to become an even better performer. I’ve seen her a half dozen times over the last 34 years and last night her performance set a new standard of excellence.

As Bonnie said “Each day gives you a chance to change.”

Whether you are just starting out marketing your small business or you made a million last year. Each day gives you a chance to improve your products, your services and your marketing. If you’re not bringing in a steady stream of business or doubling your lead generation each year, you could be.

What are you waiting for?

Each day gives you a chance stop wasting time and money on old tired ideas that aren’t working and to finally discover what tens of thousands of subscribers and clients have. There is a better way to market your small business.

I can’t sing and I can’t make music like Bonnie Raitt, but I can help you get a better response and a lot more clients with your marketing so you can succeed with your business.

Why not make today the day you change your marketing and start getting all the clients you want? All you need to do is use the marketing ideas , tools and resources you’ll find on this site.
– Charlie Cook

Are Small Business Owners Just In It For The Money?

By Charlie Cook | September 27, 2005

Apparently not! Based on a recent gallup study, 47% would continue working even if they won $10 million in the lottery.

So if its not money which motivates small business owners to market their businesses, what is it?

Is your primary interest in helping others?
Is it beating the competition, playing the game?

What motivates you to succeed in business and then once you’ve made your first million or ten million, to keep on growing your business?

Pitch in with your answers.

– Charlie Cook

What’s the Fastest Way to Build Your Small Business?

By Charlie Cook | September 13, 2005

If you want to grow your business quickly there is one thing you’ll need in abundance, more prospects. Sounds obvious but few small businesses have a reliable or cost effective system for generating a steady stream of leads and clients.

Here’s the fundamental small business equation. More prospects, more people who know what you offer and how you can help them, equals more business profits.

Each month you want to contact more qualified prospects than you did last month. Do this and I guarantee you’ll have more clients and more income.

How can you get started? Use the lead generation tools available on this site to start building your database of qualified prospects and converting them to clients.
– Charlie Cook

Is All This Marketing Information Free?

By Charlie Cook | May 24, 2005

“Is this all free? If so, how come? What’s in it for you?” – Neva

Yes, the marketing blog, the marketing guide “7 Steps to Attract More Clients and Grow Your Business” the marketing articles on this site and my marketing newsletter “More Business” are all free.

Why?

I want to help you grow your business. My goal is to help as many marketers and business owners improve their marketing so they’ll be more successful.

What’s in it for me?

Every time I share an idea with you that helps you attract more attention, improve the response to your marketing efforts and get more clients I’ve shown you how I can help you. Each time you read an idea of mine, try it and find out that it works I consider it a success. Why?

At some point you’ll get serious about your marketing and want more than just a tip here and there, you’ll want a better marketing message or better networking strategy, you’ll want to create a marketing plan that helps you build your business, or you’ll want an online lead generation strategy that works to increase your sales. Or you may want to work with me directly to show you how to grow your business .

When you do get serious about growing your business, if you enjoyed my free marketing guide and weekly marketing tips, there is a good chance you seek out the marketing resources I provide.

Does this give to get marketing strategy work?

Each month I have more subscribers to my marketing ezine, more sales of my marketing manuals and more marketing coaching clients. The more ideas I share, the more my readers buy my marketing manuals. – Charlie Cook