Thursday, February 12, 2009
A standard issue email marketing package – part 2
By Mike Lake
In part 1 of this series, we discussed the benefits of implementing an email campaign: It’s a very cost-effective means of communicating with your market and of positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry. All without pushing unwanted sales pitches on your audience. We suggested a few resources for getting underway and provided some guidance for your content. We left off with the thought that the topics of the email examples we recommended sounded very similar to Blog titles.
In fact, that is just one example of how email marketing can integrate so well with other forms of social media. After all, getting your content out to your email list is great, but getting that content out to the rest of the world is better, right? It brings people back to your site and hopefully builds your list and, therefore, the number of potential prospects for your product or service.
We’ve written a primer on getting started in blogging for your business, so feel free to read that post to get you started. The point here is that
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Saturday, February 07, 2009
Doing telemarketing right – part 2
By Mike Lake
In part one, we discussed qualifying the person you’re calling in order to determine if you have a prospect for your product or service. In my opinion, a mistake many salespeople make is trying to convince their prospect that they have the problem their product or service will fix, rather than spending the time finding people aware of their problem who genuinely want to fix it.
So, you’ve got someone on the other end of the phone who’s answered the qualifying question we discussed in part one in a manner that identifies a possible need for your product or service. At this point you might tell them a bit more about your product, but your emphasis should be on learning more about the problem they wish to solve and their level of interest in finding a solution like yours. Restrain yourself from going into the big pitch.
This article is much more focused on telemarketing as a means to set an appointment or take a next step of some sort. If you are selling a product directly over the phone, once you’ve found someone who admits wanting to solve the problem your product solves, it’s time to close and ask for payment. Simply put, it means asking a question, the answer to which provides you with a sign that they may buy. Typical questions of this sort include asking how many units the prospect wishes to own, what color, when she wants it delivered, etc. Talk less. Ask questions and close more.
Back to calling for an appointment: Let’s say, for example, you are an investment adviser. Your qualifying question (again, from part one) is…
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
A standard issue email marketing package – part 1
By Mike Lake
I’ve been talking to several small businesses lately about how to cost-effectively promote their product or service. I find myself recommending the same course of action to them, one that very few do with any regularity or strategy. What I recommend to them is email marketing, and I explain how to do it effectively and cheap. Let me share with you some of the advice I’ve been recommending in order to help you get started effectively using email marketing.
First, why use email marketing? Because it is a very cost-effective way of communicating with your prospects and clients. The more often you communicate to these important people, and do so with life-benefiting information, the more likely they will see you as a trusted expert and your product as one they should consider. Notice I didn’t just say, “the more often you email them a sales pitch about your product…”, because people don’t want to be solicited. We want to be given value. That is the key to effective email marketing.
As your fist step, you need a list of people to email. Hopefully, you’ve been keeping a database of names and email addresses of customers and the people who inquire about your product or service. Your list is key. If you have no such list, begin now by compiling one. Start by…
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
Making the economy work for YOU
By Mike Lake
I received a call yesterday from a reporter of a business publication doing a story on the effects of our economic times. His first question of me was how the economy is effecting creatives. I think he was somewhat surprised by my answer, which was that the effects exist, but not to the extent the doomsayers are proclaiming. In fact, for many, I hear that business is genuinely good. Granted, I’m not hanging out with recently laid-off Bank of America employees or Madoff investors. I truly feel bad for those who are being hurt by circumstances outside of their control, but my comments reflect the freelance individuals, salespeople and small business owners I interact with on a daily basis.
The reporter with whom I spoke yesterday was intrigued, and welcomed my contrarian outlook on the economy. I told him that companies are still spending money on marketing, and the good ones always will. I told him the creative freelancers I know continue to fill their days with paying work. I told him that Redlake’s most recent three clients are in or related to the real estate business(!) and have hired us to create strategic marketing strategies. They’re planning.
Last night I heard for the gazillionth time a popular and self-serving Washington cliche, and for the first time, it made an impact on me. “We want to get the economy working again.” Well, the fact is that the US economy IS working and has been steadily for the past 225 years. There are plenty of places around the world to remind us what a non-working economy looks and feels like! But, this is not a political discussion-for that let’s hang out sometime. Rather, this is my assurance to you that while the economy is in a downturn, there are LOTS of people making great money and the same can be done by anyone reading this.
Here’s how:
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009
How to lose customers – fast
By Mike Lake
Dear Mr. Cable Company Conglomerate CEO,
Yesterday, I was on an important business conference call. Ten minutes into the call, I was dropped. I immediately used my other line to dial back in and after 4 minutes I was dropped again. As I’ve become skilled at through years of experience, I rebooted my modem. I finally got back on the call and at the end, I complained about your company being the sole provider in this area for my cable, Internet and phone. One of the other conference attendees immediately exclaimed that he was about to sign up for your triple package. After my 3 minute rant about how abysmal your service is throughout every aspect of the organization I have touched – and I’ve got years of touching(!) – he thanked me and said he would use your competitor. Where he lives, he has options.
I realize that complicated technology sometimes goes awry. So, it is not your technology I dislike. Rather it your service. I have questions:
Why must I ALWAYS waste my time working my way up the ladder of service competence being transferred from one department to the next to the next to the next until I finally get to that really smart person who seems to hold all the answers? What’s her direct number?
Why do I need to…
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