Archive for July, 2011
July 31st, 2011 | 
Author: The Internet has changed how people do their business. Even small business owners are able to reach global market inexpensively nowadays, selling anything from apparel, collectibles, to computer software, service and coaching.
The core of every business is sales. Many of the strategies to increase sales offline are applicable online, but not all of them. On the Internet, everybody can effort to fail fast and learn from it. Better still, after years of testing and tracking what works online, people can just learn from other people’s experience and cut the learning curve tremendously.
Here are 5 of the surefire ways to increase sales:
1. Establish a sound affiliate program
If it is just another affiliate program, then don’t expect to have different results. Focus on building a sound affiliate program, with the tools and materials to support affiliates to promote a program easily. After all, affiliates work like clockwork and should be seen as a team. Provide them with the right promotion tools and they will more likely promote the program.
Give the customers an option to join the affiliate program after purchase. Satisfied customers are one of the best marketing for any business. Spread the good words through word of mouth. Best of all, they are paid just for doing that.
2. Follow-up after first purchase
The hardest task in any business is acquiring the first sale. Make sure that capturing customers’ name and email addresses are the least information gathered from a sale. With that information in hand, follow-up with existing customers, probably through an automated mechanism like timely autoresponder.
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The world of PR is benefiting from dramatic changes in the way media coverage is being delivered electronically to your computer desktop or PDA of choice. Perhaps the nuisance of ink on your fingers is being replaced by a bad case of “BlackBerry thumb” — but nevertheless getting your media coverage electronically has never been easier or more mobile.
These changes now drive the development of new tools from content providers, and new software programs to help better manage and analyze media coverage. The automation occurring at the database level and through the real-time delivery of organizational news, to internal and external stakeholders, is now almost taken for granted. And the holy grail of PR — to automate media analysis and measurement — is already under way; but where should software stop to make way for human analysis?.
Media analysis programs can save countless hours quantifying and sorting media coverage in an unlimited number of ways, including by circulation, region, ad equivalency, company programs and services, and competitive brands. However, do you really want a computer program qualifying how each story affects your organization? It’s a gamble with little upside.
Just Say No
The automation of tone and sentiment has already been incorporated into some software programs, but how accurate can it be? Every story, across every medium, will have a dramatically different meaning or impact for various organizations and their stakeholders. Behind the news emerge both winner and losers.
For instance, if a negative story breaks about a strike at one bottling plant it will be a boon for its competitors. The ability to determine which companies are negatively affected by the news is very limited. Furthermore, understanding the actual tone or possible ongoing bias of the reporter on an issue is impossible to automate. News is as much about delivering the facts, as it is provoking a reaction or emotion from the reader. Media analysis solutions can certainly help decipher the facts, but the rest should be left to a team of communications professionals.
Too Subjective?
The argument against toning media coverage has often been it is too subjective — if the news can be interpreted differently by each individual, won’t this skew the results in the end? True enough — but this can easily be solved with the introduction of a tone standardized ‘scorecard’ that is consistently applied to each story.
These scorecards can really vary, depending on the type of analysis you want to deliver in the end. Many organizations will chose to tone stories by ranking them as positive, neutral or negative.
The use of these 3 words alone is where subjectivity problems can creep in. Along with team brainstorming and training sessions on how tone can be applied, one quick fix is to use the C.B.S. Scorecard instead:
Use Critical (in place of Negative.)
Use Balanced (in place of Neutral)
Use Supportive (in place Positive)
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Posted in Public Relations | 
Tags: media analysis, media monitoring, public relations, reporting | 
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Business groups like the Chamber of Commerce provide many excellent marketing opportunities. The members of these types of business groups are all business owners and many of them will fit into your sweet-spot profile. What better way to get to know the decision makers in these businesses?
Maximize Your Exposure in Business Groups
Don’t simply join a business group and remain a passive bystander. To get the most out of your business group experience you need to get involved. Here are some tips:
When you join one of these business groups immediately make yourself known to the Executive Director, the office staff and the officers, as well as the people on the board.
Volunteer for a committee. This is an excellent way to meet and really get to know some of the local small business owners.
Speak at the meetings and events.
Exhibit and take out a little table at the next expo or event held by the business group. These are usually inexpensive and are a low risk proposition.
Send a direct mail to the business group members on the master list introducing them to your company and your services.
Invite the whole business group membership to seminars or events you are holding.
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There are a lot of excuses floating around about why people don’t buy. Maybe you’ve heard some of them: it’s too expensive, it’s not at the top of my “must have” list right now, or even when a deals too good to be true… it’s too good to be true. Customer objections are more easily overcome than you might imagine. Let’s take a look at 3 simple ways to wipe out those objections.
1. It’s Too Expensive.
Don’t be fooled! Most of your customers can get the money to buy the product… it’s not a matter of having enough. Let’s face it… what they’re really saying is that they can get a better deal somewhere else, or a deal that gives them a better value for their buck.
Now, don’t give in to the temptation to drop your prices to “rock bottom” just because you hear them say it’s too expensive. There are ways to wipe out these objections without wiping out your profits!
Make it look like a better deal. I mean, take a really good look at your product. How can you increase the perceived value? Maybe you can add a manual, a CD, or a downloadable book full of information about the product. Let them think they are getting more for their buck, and the deal seems a lot sweeter to them.
Think about this… we all expect to pay more when we visit a specialist. Sure, Wal-Mart is great if we’re looking for a generic product, but when we want something from someone who knows what they’re talking about we head for a market “specialist”… and expect to pay a little more as part of the deal.
How can you become a specialist who demands respect, and can get away with slightly higher prices?
” Find niches within your market to address. Hey, if you look closesly you’ll discover groups within your market that stand out… businessness men and women, young mothers, retirees, etc.
” Dig in, do a little research and figure out exactly how your product relates to the special needs of these niche groups.
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