- Part 57

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Is a Marketing Plan Vitally Important to a Small Business?

By Charlie Cook | December 15, 2005

“Is a marketing plan vitally important to a small business?”
– Tameca

Imagine for a minute you wanted to build a house. What’s the first thing you would do? You’d talk to a an architect would create the plan or blueprint for your home. Then with your plan in hand, you’d get a contractor to build your home.

Creating your business is similar. If you want to succeed you’re going to need a plan that will help reach your goals. Without it you might you’ll be lost and be destined to fail.

Yes, a marketing plan is vital to your small business if you want to succeed! If you’re ready to stop wasting time and start growing your business, use this marketing plan >
– Charlie Cook

It’s Easy to Steal On The Web But It’s Just As Easy To Get Caught…

By Charlie Cook | December 6, 2005

The web makes it easy for unscrupulous people to steal your content on the web its true but this same easy of access makes it easy to find people who do this. Take what happened today.

This morning I got a call from someone I’d never heard of. It turns out they had paid someone to write some marketing copy for them. When it was delivered they liked it so much they took notice. They noticed it was written in a different style and became curious. They’re curiosity inspired them to “Google” some of the copy.

What did they find? They found that the copy that they had just paid someone else to write had been stolen verbatim from this site and their copywriter and substituted her name. Being honest clients, they called me to let me know this “marketing communications” firm not only was selling my copy as their own, they were using it as their own on their web site.

A couple of emails and a phone call later and the president of the guilty firm, apologized, removed the stolen copy and promised to cease and desist from using my work illegally.

It’s true it may be easy to steal marketing copy on the web, but it’s just as easy to find the thieves. Of course its simpler to just ask for permission, provide attribution or hire a good copywriter to start with.
– 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

How Do I Find Ezines That Want My Articles?

By Charlie Cook | November 28, 2005

“I have bought a few of your books — my stumbling block is that I work in a highly specialized industry — pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing. I would like to create articles for e-zines..how do I find these highly specialized e-zines for the marketing managers and CEOs of these companies?”
Kelley

In ‘Opening Doors with Your Articles’ you’ll find a list of over 40 web sites looking for content you can use to distribute your articles. You’ll also learn how to ensure your articles get picked up, used and generate leads. Discover how get tons of free publicity for your business with this link >

You can also google: “articles health care” to build your own list of online and offline publications.
– Charlie Cook, The Small Business Marketing Guru

Will It Cost More To Attract A Flood of New Clients To My Business With My Marketing?

By Charlie Cook | November 23, 2005

This is one small business marketing question that always suprises me because I think the answer is so obvious but, well, obviously its not.

Imagine you lived in Houston and wanted to travel to New York. If you take the wrong road, one headed, let’s say, towards Las Vegas, you’re not going to make it to New York, no matter how hard you try.

If you’re on the wrong road with your marketing its not going to all of a sudden get you where you want to go. It’s just going to keep taking you further away from your destination, costing you in time and money.

Just like most men don’t like asking for directions when they are lost, most people resist getting advice from a marketing expert. They want to keep doing it on their own in hopes of a miracle. Are you waiting for a marketing miracle?

If you’re marketing isn’t getting where you want to go, wouldn’t you agree that the smartest thing to do is to stop what you are doing and get advice from someone knows the answers and who can point you in the right direction? Makes sense doesn’t it?

When you know how to market yourself and your business, you’ll actually spend the same or less time and money on marketing. The big difference is that you’ll see results from your efforts. Instead of generating one or two leads you’ll generate ten, twenty or a hundred and you’ll convert more of these into sales and cash you can put in the bank.

Want to spend less and make more? You can! Use this link to discover the secrets to small business marketing that attracts clients and helps you grow your business.
– Charlie Cook

Which Is More Important to Your Small Business: Marketing or Sales?

By Charlie Cook | November 6, 2005

Which is more important, small business marketing or small business sales?
What percent of sales should marketing bring in?

The marketing department of course thinks they are the most important. Or talk to a sales person and they think marketing is a bunch of silliness and that the real work is closing the deal, or selling. Who is right?

To grow your business you need both marketing and of course sales.

Your small business marketing creates the context for sales. Marketing gets your prospect’s attention, helps your prospect understand how your products and services can help them. The better your marketing, the easier it is to close the sale.

Imagine you were in sales and you had the choice between making cold calls all day long or making follow up calls to prospects who had already indicated an interest in your product and were ready to buy. Which would you want to do? Of course following up on hot leads is far preferable to making cold calls. You’d have a lot more success and sales.

No marketing and you’ll have to work hard to close a few sales.

With effective marketing you’ll generate a flood of leads and close a ton more sales.

So which is it, marketing or sales. To grow your small business you need both!
– Charlie Cook

Small Business Marketing Tricks and Treats to Use All Year Long…

By Charlie Cook | October 27, 2005

If marketing your business has you spooked, discover how a Halloween marketing strategy can pull in all the business clients you want.

If you live in the U.S., at the end of October you’ll be preparing for a stream of young children to come to your door on Halloween. One by one or in groups of friends, they’ll ring the bell and shout, “Trick or Treat”.

To avoid having them actually play a trick on us, you bribe these youngsters with a selection of mini candy bars. You could offer them healthy treats like apples or small boxes of raisins or you could try something novel like telling them a favorite joke, but most young children are on a mission. They want to fill their plastic pumpkins and pillowcases with candy as quickly as possible.

You may not be a fan of sugar-based diets, but if you enjoy seeing all those undersized fairy godmothers and ghosts and goblins on Halloween, you’ll indulge them and dole out one candy bar after another. Your costumed customers know what they want. If they don’t get it from you, they’ll go next door.

This Halloween strategy can also help you grow your business. Want to get a steady stream of customers coming to your door? Want to avoid having potential clients go next door? Offer them a free treat! It works to get children ringing doorbells and talking to adults whom they barely know, and it will work for your business.

What kind of treats will bring in your prospects? Probably not Snickers Bars or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, delicious as these are. The answer depends on what you sell and what your prospects’ want. For example, if your prospects want to:

– Improve their finances – offer them a free guide or a workshop on ways to make more and save more money.

– Sell their home – give them a guide to maximizing their profits.

– Increase their physical mobility and avoid pain – give them tips on ways to improve their posture and strength.

– Get better results with their advertising – give them a guide to writing ads that get a better response.

If you know what your prospects want, you can pull them in like kids at Halloween with the right treat, free report or workshop. Using this strategy on the Internet, you can attract hundreds of qualified prospects each month to your business.

Over twenty thousand people currently subscribe to my weekly marketing newsletter. Each of them signed up in response to my offer of a free marketing guide. And this free marketing guide continues to attract over a thousand new subscribers each month.

Marketing Tricks to Avoid
Some companies think that tricking people into trying their services or products is a clever way to attract customers. phone companies and credit card companies offer low introductory rates that are subject to steep increases a few months later. Some small businesses make wild promises that their services and products don’t live up to.

No one likes to have tricks played on him or her at Halloween or any other time. Strong sales depend on trust. Violate trust and good will with marketing gimmickry, and you’ve lost your prospect for good – and probably several of the friends they tell about you as well.

Marketing Treats to Use
Offer prospects a treat to get them to contact you, to stay in touch, to visit your showroom and to thank them for making a purchase. Not sure what to give away to prompt prospects to contact you and visit your store?

In the 1930s, Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota built a reputation and their business by giving away a glass of ice water. Before cars were air-conditioned, the promise of a cold glass of water was enough to pull a steady stream of hot and thirsty travelers off the highway and into the store.

Today people are hungry for information and ideas that will solve their daily problems and simplify their lives. A Stamford, Connecticut financial firm used a series of f.ree workshops for wealthy investors to pull in prospects and quickly added mill0ns under management.

Make your free offer something your prospects won’t want to turn down, whether its a report, article, workshop, or educational CD. It doesn’t have to be big but it does need to target the interests of your market and be related to your products and services.

With the right freebie, you’ll attract prospects by the thousands and see your sales skyrocket.
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Speaking of freebies, don’t forget to sign-up for the free small business marketing guide with this link.
– Charlie Cook

What Is the Best Way to Reduce Advertising Costs?

By Charlie Cook | October 10, 2005

“Advertising is very expensive for newspapers. Is there a way I can cut this expense. I am advertising for students and teachers.” Lisa Yang Butler, San Gabriel Valley, CA

The best way to reduce advertising costs is to get a better response with your advertising. I.e. if ten times as many people respond each time you run an ad you won’t need to run it as often and you’ll end up saving money.

Learn how to write ads that get a better response with The 15 Second Marketing Guide.
– The Small Business Marketing Response Expert, 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 Involved In Increasing Web Sales?

By Charlie Cook | September 27, 2005

“I want to get more traffic to my web site, generate more leads and increase sales. If I sign up with you can you do it?” – J. Bollard

Creating a web site that sells is like building a spec house. You need an architect to create the plan, a contractor to build it and a realtor to market it.

In the case of your web site, I can work with you to develop the plan and the marketing copy for the site. Next you’ll need your web site designer to follow the plan and put the plan and copy in place. If you don’t have a web designer, I can recommend a few I’ve worked with.

Once your site is built to spec, you’ll need to market it to the search engines, sign up for pay-per-click advertising and use your articles to pull in traffic. I don’t do these tasks for any site except my own, but can refer you to a reputable firm.

In summary the three steps to creating a web site that sells are:
1. Plan & Write
2. Build
3. Attract Traffic

Discover how to improve your web marketing and increase your web sales with Creating Web Sites that Sell
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– Charlie Cook