Tag: Marketing

Joint Ventures – Why They Are So Important

Joint Ventures – Why They Are So Important

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

The number one thing that small business owners need to do is find joint venture partners. This can be done by going through referrals or by doing some research on the internet. You should also look at what type of business you are looking to partner with. There are many types of joint ventures. Some examples include:

* Product development

* Marketing

* Technology

* Manufacturing

* Distribution

These are just a few of the many different types of joint ventures that you can find.

After finding a joint venture partner, you should then discuss your ideas with them. The two of you should work together to come up with an idea that will benefit both of your businesses. This idea should be something that will not only benefit your company but will also be beneficial to the joint venture partner. If this is not the case, then it is time to look elsewhere for a joint venture partner.

After you have come up with an idea, you and your joint venture partner should decide who will do what. This way you will both know exactly how to run your business. After you have decided who will do what, you should go back to your business and get started.

There are many benefits to having a joint venture partner. One of the biggest benefits is that you will be able to grow your business without having to spend a lot of money. Another benefit is that you will be able expand your customer base. This will allow you to increase sales and profits. You will also be able to save money because you won’t have to pay as much for supplies and materials.

You should also look into joint ventures when you are trying to make more money. Joint ventures are great ways to make money because you can work together to make the project even better than either of you could have done alone.

You should also consider joint ventures when you are looking to cut costs. Joint ventures are a great way to cut costs because you will be able to use resources from both of your companies. This will also save money on advertising and marketing.

What Is a Drip Campaign and How Does It Work?

What Is a Drip Campaign and How Does It Work?

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

Many people wonder what a drip campaign is and how it works. This article will explain all about this method of marketing, as well as give some examples of when you would want to use this strategy.

First, what is a drip campaign? A drip campaign is a series of emails that you send out to your list over time. Each email has a specific topic and goal. The goal of each email is to get your subscribers to take action. You can either use an autoresponder or have a web page for this. If you are using a web page, you can track your conversions by having a link in the email that leads to the page.

Some examples of drip campaigns include:

  1. Sending out emails with tips and tricks about starting your own business
  2. Offering freebies to build your mailing list
  3. Sending out emails that offer new products or services
  4. Sending out emails to announce changes to your site or services
  5. Sending out emails to remind your subscribers of upcoming events
  6. Sending out emails that offer special discounts
  7. Sending out emails to announce a contest or sweepstakes
  8. Sending out emails to thank your subscribers

If you are just starting out, then you should start with one of the first ones listed above. They are very easy to set up and cost very little to run. If you are already running a business, then you can use more advanced strategies like #6 and #8 above.

The great thing about a drip campaign is that you can do it on a budget. You can also add links and graphics to make it more interesting. For example, if you are sending out emails to promote your new product, you could include a picture of your product in the email.

Another benefit of a drip campaign is that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get started. You can even start with a free service such as Constant Contact. It will allow you to send emails to your subscribers. Then, you can purchase a domain name and a hosting account and put together your website. You can also purchase an autoresponder if you want to automate your emails.

Overall, a drip campaign is a very powerful tool for getting your message out there. You can easily send out a series of emails over a period of time and you can track your conversions. Once you start using this method, you will be surprised at how effective it is.

If you would like to see what small incremental changes can do for your business, be sure to check out our free Simulator at https://impelonline.com/sim.

Email Marketing – Why It Works

Email Marketing – Why It Works

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

You’ve heard it before. You’ve seen it in action. You know that it works. And yet, you still don’t use them.

I have a confession to make. I’m not a huge fan of email marketing. The idea of sending out hundreds or even thousands of emails to my list scares me. I’m afraid that they will get lost in cyberspace and never see them. I worry about the amount of time it takes to write and send these messages. I worry about the cost. I worry that my list will unsubscribe from me.

It Works

But then, I read an article recently that made me realize why I should start using email campaigns again. The author talked about how he had used email campaigns to increase his sales by over 40%. He did this by creating an email campaign that was sent out on a weekly basis. This email campaign included articles, videos, and special offers.

As a result of this article, I decided to give email campaigns another try. I realized that I was missing something in my current marketing strategy. My marketing was going well. I had some great products, but I wasn’t getting any new customers. I was wondering why.

Know your Audience

Then, I realized that I wasn’t giving my list what they wanted. I wasn’t providing them with enough information to keep them interested in what I had to offer. I knew that if I could get more people interested in what I had to sell, then I would be able to sell more of it.

I decided to create an email campaign that would provide my list with valuable content. I decided to create an email campaign every week that would provide my list with a few articles and other useful information.

What I found was that the email campaign really helped me to grow my business. The emails were sent out on a weekly basis, so I didn’t have to spend hours writing and sending them. I didn’t have to worry about people unsubscribing from my list. I didn’t have to pay for email lists. And best of all, I didn’t have to worry as much about what I had to offer. People kept coming back to my website because they liked the content that I was offering.

Now that I am using email campaigns, I am making more money than ever before. If you want to start making money online, then you need to start using email campaigns.

The Fundamentals of Marketing

1. Have something good to say – Market Dominating Position
2. Say it well – Compelling Offer
3. Say it often – Relational Value Marketing – Not everyone are NOW Buyers

If you would like to see what small incremental changes can do for your business, be sure to check out our free Simulator at https://impelonline.com/sim.

How To Increase Sales

How To Increase Sales

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

In today’s economy, small business owners need to find ways to increase their bottom line. In order to do this, you must be able to get your customers to spend more money than they have in the past. This is where marketing comes in. The key to making your customers spend more is by offering them a better value for their money.

Offers

One of the best ways to increase your sales is to offer something that your competitors don’t. By doing this, you will be able to increase your profits by up to 20%. It is also very important to offer your customers a better value than your competition. If you can do this, then you will be able to increase sales and increase your profit margin at the same time.

Better Products

Another way to increase your profits is to offer your customers a better product. You should be able to offer a better product than your competition. If you are unable to offer a better product than the other businesses in your area, then you will not be able to increase your sales. If you are able to offer a better product, then you will be able increase your sales.

More is Better

It is also important to be able to offer your customers more than your competition. This is why it is so important to offer your customers a higher quality product or service. Your customers will appreciate the fact that you are willing to go out of your way to provide them with a better product or service.

Promotions

When it comes to marketing, there are many different ways that you can use to increase your sales. One of the best ways to increase sales is to offer a special promotion. You should be able to come up with a promotion that will help you to increase your sales. When you are able to come up with a good promotion, you will be able to make your customers want to purchase from you.

If you are able to offer a special promotion, then you will be able make your customers want to buy from you. You should also be able to offer your customers a great price. You should be able to make your customers feel as if they are getting a great deal when they purchase from you.

Deals

You should also be able to make sure that your customers know that you are offering them a great deal. You need to inform your customers about your special promotion in a positive way. You should be able to tell your customers that you are offering them a special deal.

Conclusion

These are just a few ways that you can use to market your business. There are many other ways that you can use to promote your business. You should be able to use these ideas to increase your sales.

If you would like to see what small incremental changes can do for your business, be sure to check out our free Simulator at https://impelonline.com/sim.

Mind Your Own Business!

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

The concept of minding your own business means that while you are grinding away at your day job, you need to be investing in your future and minding your own business. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to walk away from that day job and mind your own business full time.

The best way to do this is through the acquisition of real estate.

Let’s take a quick look at where you are losing all your money… taxes. Taxes have been around since 1913 in the U.S. (earlier in England). While the original intention was to only tax the wealthiest of the population, obviously that’s trickled down to the masses, including those in poverty.

Now, keep in mind the more money you make, the more taxes you pay. However, the wealthy know a way of getting around this-form a corporation. Corporations offer tax benefits and protect you from lawsuits. To learn more about this, talk with one of our business coaches or your attorney.

We’ve all heard the golden rule of “Pay Yourself First”.

But, many of us don’t do it. Until you learn and put this rule into effect, you won’t have any chance of getting out of the rat race. What this rule does is force you to come up with more income to pay your expenses.

There are some key areas of finance you should learn about. Taking classes is one of the best ways to do this. Here are the basics you should learn:

Accounting

It pays to know how to read financial statements. For example, when acquiring businesses or assets, you need to see the company’s financial standing quickly.

Many grown adults do not know how to balance a balance sheet. But, in the long term, this knowledge will pay off for you and your business.

Investment Strategy

This skill will sharpen with experience. Talk to investors and observe how they play the game.

Market Behavior

Know the laws of Supply and Demand. No business owner can do without understanding these basic principles of the market. Bill Gates saw what people needed. Open your eyes to opportunities. Look at what sells and who buys.

Law

Do everything you can to grow your business within legal boundaries. Know your corporate, state, and accounting laws.

Once you know these areas of finances, you can make them work for you. The rich practically invent money. First, you have to know where to find a great deal. Let’s continue with real estate. Look for houses in trouble or find the court in your area that handles foreclosed, police impound, or other real estate situations. You can either renovate and sell or rent for residual income.

So, essentially there are two main types of investors:

  1. Those who buy pre-packaged investments
  2. Those who create their own investments

You know which are the most successful. To be one of those people, you need to know what to look for and how to respond.

You must:

  1. Find a good deal other people have missed.
  2. Raise the capital needed for the transaction.
  3. Put together a svelte team to execute the plan.

There is risk involved in every acquisition. The goal is not to avoid the risk, but to respond to the risk with confidence and a steady hand.

If you need help identifying potential money-makers, where to get the capital you need, and how to put together a smart team, try our GUIDED TOUR to gain access to our resources and tools.

Get Out of the Rat Race

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

We’ve all worked jobs we hated. We were underpaid, underappreciated, and bored out of our minds. We either quit these jobs or were fired for poor performance because we just gave up. Instead of taking that approach, you need to consider every job an opportunity to learn something new to apply down the line to find success.

When you give people the tools they need to develop unordinary solutions, you are enhancing their lives for the long run. You need to take this approach. What if one of your terrible jobs had been one with no pay at all, and you needed to come up with some ingenious ways of making money? I bet you could have found a diamond in that rough. This idea can also be used in your own company.

Now, I don’t recommend going into the next meeting declaring that no one will receive pay anymore. Still, you can tell them that their potential raises, bonuses, and other perks are now dependent on their creativity in ways to enhance business.

Let’s talk about a great concept called financial literacy. This certainly isn’t something they taught you in school, but it is still essential to know. So, what is financial literacy?

The old school way teaches people to be good employees and not employers. This mindset will never make you wealthy. It would be best if you focused on becoming a good employer. You also need to learn how to not only attain wealth but sustain wealth for generations. This is what financial literacy is all about.

So, how do you get out of the rat race and start working toward a wealthier future? You need to understand the difference between an asset and a liability. Take a look at your own life and you’ll probably find the following:

Assets

  • Real Estate
  • Stocks
  • Bonds
  • Intellectual Property

Liabilities

  • Mortgage
  • Consumer Loans
  • Credit Cards

You’ve probably been fooled into thinking things like your house, car, and entertainment system are assets. They aren’t! Assets should be continuing to MAKE you money. When you continue to struggle, you are not building wealth. If your primary income is from wages and each time you make more money, you pay taxes-you’re not really creating wealth either, are you?

So, if buying a house isn’t an asset (and it’s not because you spend about 30 years of your life paying it off), then what is. Here are some of the best assets to attain and when you can start actually to see wealth being created because of it:

Average time of holding on to an asset before selling it for a higher value:

One year

  • Stocks (Startups and small companies are good investments)
  • Bonds
  • Mutual funds

Seven years

  • Real estate
  • Notes (IOUs)
  • Royalties on intellectual property
  • Valuables that produce income or appreciate

So, here are the steps to getting out of the rat race and onto your journey of creating wealth:

  1. Understand the difference between an asset and a liability.
  2. Concentrate your efforts on buying income-earning assets.
  3. Focus on keeping liabilities and expenses at a minimum.
  4. Mind your own business.

If you need help getting out of the poor mindset and into the wealthy one, try our GUIDED TOUR and work with one of our experienced business coaches today.

We went through the first three, and next time we’ll talk about how to mind your own business to keep your eye on the prize.

Prepare for Lift Off!

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

Last time I gave you a laundry list of tips and tricks you can use to make your word-of-mouth program work for you. Hopefully, you’ve taken a look and decided which ones are the best fit for your company, products, services, and target customers, so you can put them to work in your word-of-mouth campaign.

We are going to wrap up this series on word-of-mouth, where we give you the specific steps to create a word-of-mouth campaign.

Now, let’s take a look at those steps:

  1. Seed the market. Find some way to get the product into the hands of key influencers.
  2. Provide a channel for the influencers to talk and get all fired up about your product.
  3. Offers lots of testimonials and other resources.
  4. Form an ongoing group that meets once a year in a resort and once a month by teleconference.
  5. Create fun events to bring users together and invite non-users. Saturn, Harley-Davidson, and Lexus have all been successful with this approach.
  6. Develop videos and clips on your Web site featuring enthusiastic customers talking with other enthusiastic customers.
  7. Create custom Videos for each potential customer.
  8. Hold seminars and workshops.
  9. Create a club with membership benefits.
  10. Pass out flyers.
  11. Tell friends.
  12. Offer special incentives and discounts for friends who tell their friends.
  13. Put the Internet to work.
  14. Do at least one outrageous thing to generate word-of-mouth.
  15. Empower employees to go the extra mile.
  16. Encourage networking and brainstorm ideas.
  17. Run special sales.
  18. Encourage referrals with the use of a strong referral program.
  19. Use a script to tell people exactly what to say in their word-of-mouth communication.

These are all amazing ways you can get the word out about your products and services and start a word-of-mouth campaign that takes on a life of its own. Before you can release your word-of-mouth campaign out into the world, you need to go through the checklist to make sure you’ve covered all the essentials.

Here’s your word-of-mouth campaign checklist:

  1. Are all of your communications sending the same simple message? If it can’t survive word-of-mouth, it’s not a compelling story.
  2. Is your product positioned as part of a category? Ex.”A dandruff shampoo that doesn’t dry your hair.”
  3. Are your examples outrageous enough to be shared?
  4. Do you enhance your materials with success stories from real people?
  5. Are you using experts effectively and in an objective manner?
  6. Have you created mechanisms so people can follow up on the word-of-mouth they hear, as well as simple ways of inquiring or ordering?
  7. Have you made the decision process easy for customers?
  8. Have you created events and mechanisms so that your prospects hear about your product once a year and it is easier to try or buy?

These are all essential elements to take. Keep in mind when taking a second or even third check over your word-of-mouth campaigns. I hope you’ve found this series on word-of-mouth to be a great resource and are getting ready to put it into action for your own products and services.

Remember, if you need help with anything in this series, try our GUIDED TOUR to access the best resources, tools, and business coaches you can find.

Put it to Work!

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

In the last post, we talked about conducting word-of-mouth research and then putting that research to work. Today we’re going to give you some great tried and true ways to use word-of-mouth when building and executing your campaign.

We’ve done it in a list form, so you can go through and highlight the ones you want to put into action. George Silverman offered these, which you can find in his amazing book The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing.

Here they are:

  • Give them something worth talking about
  • Cater to your initial customers shamelessly
  • Give them incentives to engage in word-of-mouth
  • Ask them to tell their friends
  • The customer is always right
  • Always tell the truth
  • Surprise the customers by giving them a little more than they expected
  • Give them a reason to buy, make them come back, and refuse service from anyone else other than you
  • Make eye contact, and smile, even through the telephone
  • Find ways to make doing business with you a little better: a warmer greeting, a cleaner floor, nicer lighting, a better shopping bag, extra matches, faster service, free delivery, lower prices, more selection.
  • Never be annoyed when a customer asks you to change a large bill even if he doesn’t buy anything.
  • The customer is your reason for being. Never take her for granted. If you do, she will never come back, and will go straight to your competition.
  • Always dust off items, but never let the customer see you doing it.
  • Never embarrass a customer, especially by making him feel ignorant.
  • Never answer a question coming from a desire to show how smart you are. Answer with a desire to help the customer make the best decision.
  • Never shout across the store, “How much are these condoms?” or anything about the personal items a customer is buying.
  • When you don’t know, say so. Do whatever you can to find out the answer.
  • Every customer is special. Try to remember their names.
  • Don’t allow known shoplifters into the store.
  • Don’t ever let two sales staff talk when a customer is waiting. The worst thing you can do is count your cash while a customer is waiting.
  • If you can suggest something better, they will be grateful. Always respect their choice.
  • Never pressure anyone into buying anything.
  • Never knowingly give bad advice. Just help people come to the right decision.
  • Personally visit the store of the competition or assign people to visit and report back to you.
  • Hire a shopping service to prepare periodic reports on how your people are treating your customers.
  • If you hear of a store where the management is insulting the customers, buy it, then put up the sign “Under New Management” outside. Then sell it later based on the increased sales.
  • One expert (in the drugstore’s case, a nurse or physician) who is convinced you are better brings hundreds of customers and their friends through word-of-mouth.
  • Always look for ways to make a stranger a customer.
  • People will walk several blocks to save a dollar, or see a smile, or be treated right.
  • Always run a sale promotion or an offbeat event. Make them come back to see what you are cooking up next.
  • Use the best sign-maker you can find and pay him more than anybody else.
  • If someone is mad at you, they will tell everyone who will listen for as long as they are angry, maybe even longer. So correct any dissatisfaction, and ask customers to send their friends.
  • Treat your employees and salespeople who sell to you the same way you treat your customers.
  • Have a zero error system. There may be terrible consequences, for example, if a mistake is made filling a prescription. Have people check each other’s work for safety.
  • Occasionally make intentional mistakes to see if people are checking.
  • Always measure your performance.
  • Always ask a customer to “come back soon”
  • If customers say they are moving away, offer to send them their favorite items by mail.
  • Tell jokes.

I know this is a lot of information to digest, so I’m going to wrap up this lesson and leave you with the homework of going through and looking at the tips and tricks you like best. Also, look for tips that fit your company, products, services, and target customers for the most effectiveness.

If you need help with this process, try our GUIDED TOUR and get all the help you need from our experienced business coaches.

Search & Implement

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

People only remember the extraordinary, strange, wild, surprising, and unusual. You need to make sure your ideas and marketing reflect these reactions. This does not mean you have to have a product or service that is completely out of the norm, in fact, this could easily drive customers away. You need to have a product or service that is high quality and easily marketable, then you need to market it as extraordinary and new.

As you research word-of-mouth, there are some questions you need to ask along the way:

What are the users willing to tell the non-users?

  • Exactly how do your customers describe your product?
  • What are the non-users willing to ask the users?
  • What are the things they need to know but are unwilling to ask?
  • What happens when these issues are raised?
  • Exactly what do your prospects have to know to trigger purchase?
  • Exactly how do your customers answer the objections, concerns, and qualms of your prospects?
  • How do your customers persuade their friends to use your product?
  • How do your customers suggest they initially get to know or try your product?
  • What warnings, safeguards, tips, and suggestions do your customers suggest to your prospects?
  • Are your sales messages, positioning, and important facts about your product getting through and surviving word of mouth?
  • What messages do you need to inject into the marketplace to turn the tide in your favor and how will you deliver them?

There are two main reasons why word of mouth research is so important:

  1. To get the real impression and feedback from customers
  2. To define word of mouth itself and the concept it creates

There is a simple formula that can help you conduct your word-of-mouth research. It is called the “2-2-2” model.

2-2-2- Model

What this breaks down to is:

  • 2 groups of customers
  • 2 focus groups of prospects
  • 2 mixed groups (enthusiasts & skeptics)

In these groups you need to ask the following questions:

  1. What would you tell a friend?
  2. How would you persuade a skeptic?
  3. What questions would you anticipate from a skeptic?
  4. How would you answer their objections?

The best way to conduct these groups is by teleconference. This ensures you will get a good variety of demographics for your customers and potential customers. It also allows people to feel safe and more able to express their true feelings. These teleconferences should not be conducted by you, but by an independent party to avoid adding pressure to the situation.

We are going to transition a bit and talk about how to construct a word-of-mouth campaign. First, we will talk a look at the essential ingredients you need to put together a campaign. These ingredients are:

  • A superior product.
  • A way of reaching key influencers in your marketplace.
  • A cadre of experts willing to bat for you.
  • A large number of enthusiastic consumers.
  • A way of reaching the right prospects.
  • One or more compelling stories that people will want to tell to illustrate your product’s superiority.
  • A way to substantiate, prove, or back up your claims and how the product will work in the real world.
  • A way for people to have direct, low-risk experience, a demo, sample, or free trial.
  • A way of reducing overall risk, an ironclad guarantee.

Once you have those ingredients ready to use, you should consider the situations in which your company can benefit from a strong word-of-mouth program. Some of these situations are:

  • When there are credibility problems
  • When there are breakthroughs.
  • When there are marginal improvements.
  • Where the product must be tried in large numbers or over time.
  • Where there is a high risk in trying the product.
  • With older or mature products that have a new story that people tend to ignore.
  • With unfair competitive practices such as spreading rumors or telling lies about your product.
  • When there are governmental or other restrictions on what you may say or claim directly.

While most of the word-of-mouth tactics are positive for your word-of-mouth program, there are a few products to avoid using in this program. They are:

  • Products where a seminar would not provide meaningful added value.
  • Products that cannot be tried and where there is no consensus among experts.
  • Products that are clearly inferior, without having a compensating superiority for similar products.
  • Products that are so personal or emotional that rational discussion is irrelevant to the decision.
  • Products where the decision value is so small (low price/low volume) the medium will not be cost-effective.

This wraps up this post on word-of-mouth research and how that research can be used when putting together your word-of-mouth campaign. If you need help with the research and a plan to use the results of that research, try our GUIDED TOUR to get all the help you need with our top-notch resources and tools.

Science of the Memes

Posted on by Daron Stenvold

Today I’d like to discuss the science of memes and how spreading ideas around and through society is ingrained in humans.

Memes

This refers to types of ideas that spread the fastest through society, why they spread fast and how that affects consumerism. You can use this same information to create a lasting positive impression about your company, products, and services. People are more likely to try a new product or service when they feel protected and reassured by the masses.

It’s been determined that spreading ideas is essential to the survival of a society. There are five main situations where this occurs. They are:

  • Crisis
  • Mission
  • Problem
  • Danger
  • Opportunity

Think of evangelism. This is a prime example of people spreading the word and convincing people to jump on board and start to spread the word themselves. To do this effectively, you need to incorporate a few key things that always catch people’s eye:

  • Sex
  • News
  • Unique Results
  • The Unusual
  • Helping Others
  • Secrets

Next, we are going to switch gears a little and talk about viral marketing. While traditional marketing can be used to your advantage, the reality is viral and online marketing is the king of the castle. You can spread the word online like the plague if you know what to do. Here are some simple steps to do this:

  • Find an interesting idea
  • Make it easy for people to experience or trial
  • Spread the idea while people who are in close contact with others
  • Take advantage of existing communication methods
  • Develop the way of trying your product in such a way that it automatically draws more try-ers
  • Some great places to use viral marketing are:
  • Geocities
  • Ebay
  • Roger Wilco
  • ICQ
  • AOL Instant Messenger
  • MSN Instant Messenger
  • Winamp
  • Hotmail
  • “Tell A Friend” Buttons
  • E-Greeting Cards

There are six things everyone should be doing to benefit from word of mouth on the Internet:

  • Put WOM components on your website.
  • Assign people to monitor your viral marketing.
  • Place testimonials in different places on your website to walk a customer through the purchasing cycle.
  • Set up an email marketing campaign.
  • Stay up to date on what products and services the experts in your industry are recommending.
  • Use your website to demonstrate the great ways people are using or finding success with your products and services.

Here are other non-viral Internet opportunities to explore:

  • iPhone’s
  • Handheld PC’s
  • Blackberry’s
  • And other well connected electronic devices

This wraps up the lesson on traditional and viral marketing. If you need help putting together any of the plans or successes in this lesson, try our GUIDED TOUR to get all the help you need to put these plans into action.