Sales and Marketing

How do you get your money�s worth for PR?

SBOCTeam — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:38:00 GMT

by PR_Boston

Business owners large and small are looking for ways to cut expenses. So the question arises: Do I need PR? Here are a few reasons why you should say yes and feel good about the expense.

PR is a cost effective alternative to advertising. Even though web ads can cost 25% of those in old-line media, advertising is expensive. And, there are so many ads you have to wonder which ones really stick. People are exposed to thousands of messages everyday: in the supermarket line, at the gas station, on websites-not to mention the ads on the radio, in the newspaper and on TV. We are faced with ad fatigue.

PR provides third party validation. When someone else-an independent person-- writes about you and places that article in a public place, it has intrinsic value. That's why companies want to be featured in the media whether it's in the town paper or on the Today Show. A good PR plan includes strategies for promoting your story to the right media.

Many people think PR is expensive. It doesn't have to be. If you're a small business consider working with a small PR firm. A small business owner is used to being the point person and could be frustrated dealing with a junior level executive at a large firm. Plus, small firms are cheaper.

In PR, unlike in advertising, spending less doesn't mean you get less. Cutting an ad budget means you lose your reach and frequency and that can undermine a good ad. But, cutting your PR budget and signing on with a smaller, more nimble firm can still result in an effective media placement. Similarly, opting for a black and white ad instead of color means you could fail to attract enough eyeballs to get the ad noticed. But working with a PR firm on a project basis as opposed to a costly monthly retainer can still get you featured on TV. In the end it comes down to how well your PR pro develops your message and leverages it with the media.

In today's economy, ROI is more critical than ever. While PR is never a guarantee, it can be a cost effective way to get you message to the right people, and if you can still throw some money behind advertising-that's even better.

Partner Up

SBOCTeam — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:44:00 GMT

Broadening your network of business contacts and seeking out additional referral partners is an excellent way to let your friends build your business for you. Just make sure you return the favor

By Max Berry

You can never have too many people in your corner. That goes double for a small business owner. Without the resources for a massive advertising campaign, an entrepreneur needs to rely on a little help from his friends to spread the word. Seeking out a fellow entrepreneur-or several-to help spread the word about your product or service can help you get new business the old fashioned way: through word of mouth.

The Power of Diversity
"Diversity is key," says Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of global business networking organization BNI (http://www.bni.com). "I mean diversity in every sense of the word. Most networks are clumpy, they're cluster-like, and they become insular." An entrepreneur may have the tendency to seek referral partnerships with small business owners solely from his or her own field. After all, how much help, for instance, could a Mary Kay consultant be to a film producer? As it turns out, quite a bit.

Misner recounts the story of a Mary Kay consultant visiting a client's home to perform a facial. When the client's husband, a film producer, came home disgruntled about something at work, his wife asked him what was wrong. A graphic designer he'd lined up for an important film project had just backed out and he found himself in the lurch. But the Mary Kay consultant, on hand to perform her own business, happened to be carrying the card of a graphic designer she knew. She gave it to her client's husband, who called the designer and struck up what turned into a long-term, and exceptionally lucrative, working relationship with the designer.

The story illustrates the reasoning behind Misner's belief that an entrepreneur should never rule out a helping-hand partnership with anyone. As he puts it, you never know "whose house someone might be in."

"A powerful network has people who are connectors, those who connect you to people you never would have met otherwise," says Misner. "The more connectors you have, the better off you are."

Help!
When looking to connect with a fellow entrepreneur, there is one key mistake every small business owner should steer clear of. "Too many people are looking to close a deal," says Misner. "It's a huge mistake to build a business that way." People, especially small business owners with their own bottom line to think about, often resent an unsolicited pitch, especially when the pitch is couched in a disingenuous affability.

To build a strong partnership, a small business owner must first build trust. And the only sure way to trust is through sincerity. "You have to find an opportunity to help someone in some simple way," says Misner. "And help doesn't mean ‘sell a product.' Help means ‘help.' When you meet a like-minded small business owner, talk to them. Ask questions. If rapport builds, ask them what the biggest challenges are in their line of work and, if possible, show them a route they may not have been aware of. Refer them to someone in your network who may be able to lend a hand. The broader and more diverse your network of referral partners becomes, the more readily you'll be able to do this-and the more likely your partners will be to refer someone to you if they find themselves in a similar position. As Misner likes to say, "Networking is more about farming than it is about hunting."

Come Prepared
"The problem is we don't teach networking in schools and colleges," says Misner. "[Schools] teach advertising [as if] every college graduate, in their first job, gets to run a multi-million dollar advertising campaign." Of course, few small business owners, let alone recent college graduates, get to do that. Instead, you need to rely on some basic, day-to-day practices to increase your chances of forming a valuable referral partnership.

Always carrying a business card is rule number one, but Misner recommends taking the practice one step further. Not only should you carry your own business cards, but also-remember the Mary Kay consultant-the cards of your referral partners. This is an instant means of spreading the word about the people in your network. Once you do so, they'll be more than happy to return the favor.

There are also established services, like Misner's own BNI, that will provide referrals for you and put you in touch with other entrepreneurs looking for referral partners. The Referral Institute (http://www.referralinstitute.com) is another organization that gets Misner's endorsement.

"You can network any time, anywhere, any place," he says. The key is to keep your eyes open for the right person and be ready to make contact. As Misner puts it, "Networking is a contact sport. You've got to get belly to belly."

Radical Sales And Marketing For Your Small Business

SBOCTeam — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:30:00 GMT

The meaning of the adjective radical is "not bound by traditional ways or beliefs." Here are the "must dos" of a seasoned business unit's radical salesperson and marketer.

By Profit_Repair

No stone goes unturned in your search for new leads and clients; no sales idea is too silly or stupid to try; you sell to everyone, every day, no matter what their size; you sell more than you market; you utilize yield management techniques; you just do not leave collateral, you collect a database for follow-up; you go down swinging and then get back up for another round; you are always in "selling mode;" you network, not just talk to people; you are "it," no one but you can make it happen; when you fail, you succeed by learning from it; you start your day with a goal and focus on its achievement; you look for ways to sell to prospects that others are not; you carry your business cards with you everywhere; wherever you go you see a future client; no matter how many no's they have given you, you write down phone numbers from passing businesses on the street; you see customer obstacles as an opportunity to get testimonial referrals from them by meeting their expectations; you work on the probability theory; you radiate confidence and bring direction to clients; you take ownership of your sales 100%; you are out finding new revenue generation that your competition never knew existed and selling to them before they do; you see doors of opportunities, not slammed ones in your face; you are asking for the sale every time, in all possible ways, with each client you communicate with; you are a relentless "door knocker" and grass roots marketer; you look at your sales reports for new business that purchased from you; you drive the desire and passion for each sale with every presentation; you fight tooth and nail to retain a client and make new ones every day when you come into work; you smile until it hurts just to go to bed and wake up to attack your business leads all over again tomorrow.

Are you ready for the challenge? Are you ready to become a radical salesperson and marketer for your business unit? Why not? Are you afraid to get a little emotional about your sales and marketing? Only emotional selling sells to clients on a regular basis with consistency. No one wants an order taker in their sales department; your product line is not that special to afford you that luxury. If you are not emotional about the product line that you represent, your sales will never reach full capacity.

Keep it (sales and marketing campaigns) simple (KIS theory) for the biggest bang with the fewest bucks! Oh, by the way, the above sentence is the longest sentence in this blog. Do you know the reason why? Because it is aggressive and unconventional and "not bound by traditional ways or beliefs," just like what a radical sales and marketer for your business unit needs to be.

Go be radical today!

http://theprofitrepairman.com/

Dedicated to the Mission!

Tom Marquardt, The Profit Repairman®
(239) 561-2591
(239) 561-3589 (fax)
tomm@theprofitrepairman.com
http://www.theprofitrepairman.com