Pulling the Trigger – Making Your Business Smoking Hot in 2007

How Can I Increase Business? A client once came to me having agonized for six months over a brochure. Helplessly, the manager, (a professional engineer), thrust the paper towards me, as he confided that he’d been dragged in from the field to make this happen. The poor little thing was all bloody with red-lined marks (the brochure, not the client), but no one had actually finished the copy, and all were afraid that it might not be just the thing they needed to bring in new business.

What went wrong, and how can you make your business smoking hot in 2007? The number one answer is by pulling the trigger. Define all you need to do. Start with one thing, add another and repeat what works.

Please understand that no business ever lived or died through one single marketing effort. A single postcard, letter or brochure is not a make or break marketing effort. It is but a whisper in the wind.

Remember, lather, rinse, repeat? A marketing effort is like that. You have to repeat it.

Understand the elements or parts that go into a marketing effort. Here a just a few:

1. Website(s)
2. Business Cards
3. Proposals and Contracts
4. Bios
5. Company Mission Statements
6. Brochures
7. Portfolio
8. Testimonials
9. Direct Mail
10. Postcards
11. Video
12. Advertisements
13. Speeches
14. Press Releases
15. Media Articles
16. Branding efforts
17. Awards and Contests
18. Sponsorship
19. Case studies, Article and Reprints
20. Promotions, Events, Offerings
21. Strategic Alliances
22. In person Contact
23. Database Creation and Management
24. Events and Event Participation: Seasonal, Charitable, Vendor Related, Professional, Local and National

Then, you have to use the tools you have created. Invest in an Overall Business and Marketing Plan, and make sure it is very specific and complete with action steps to accomplish each item.

Ask, who are your customers? Then create a buyer or client profile - my typical buyer or client is [age], profession(s), and will want or need this service or product for this reason. We solve this problem for them and it creates this growth for them. Why will they are should they buy this from you? What do you do to show trustworthiness and competence? How do you deliver long or short term value?

What are all the ways you can reach your clients? What are you currently doing? Not doing? Promote your business and follow up through websites, brochures, cards, portfolios and case studies. Promote through in person meetings only when you are ready with all the materials and answers as to the unique problem you solve.

Make consistent contact with your target client and follow up using several means of contact a minimum of four times a year. Use a combination of direct mail, brochures, cards, tips/lists/surveys, articles of interest, in person visits, project and business tours/open houses and personal notes. Don’t forget to include special offers and tie-ins to new products or services, with new items for purchase to complement your offerings.

Create your own media campaign through press releases, article reprints, tip sheets and surveys. Write articles and seek publication.

Build third party relationships with other professionals, vendors, suppliers, and related specialized professions. Be highly visible and go where your clients go; get involved in organizations for business and recreation. Be active in your community in the groups they and you find valuable.

Devise a month by month marketing schedule. Learn how to objectively test your efforts and measure your results. Scrap what does not work and replace it with something that more than likely will, because you have analyzed and fixed what went wrong. Celebrate what works and repeat it. And never, ever give up.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com

McKerns Development creates, writes and places press specifically promoting your goals for your business, writing feature stories generating high readership and interest in magazines and the press and promoting mutually identified goals. McKerns Development utilizes Media contacts and relationships with editors and writers in major publications, local and national, and to-the-industry specific publications. Press Releases, PR and feature stories are both written and placed, and publication is secured. McKerns Development offers Strategic Business Development with services delivered in packages, so that the business owner can see deliverables, cost and benefits of each. Available by contract, teaming or freelance. www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment

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