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| | The The CopyWriters Connection Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | Do Image Advertising and Personal Name Recognition Make People Respond? | Views: 318 | | Nov 14, 2005 11:42 am | | Do Image Advertising and Personal Name Recognition Make People Respond? | # | 
Steven Boaze | |
Have you ever asked associates in your field what
the response rates are to their advertising
dollar? If so, I can guess a common answer. How
about, "I have no idea, most of my business comes
from referrals and recommendations?"
Attracting a constant flow of customers who
contact you, and knowing as much as possible
about selling your product or service. The
problem? We're too often taught the wrong things
about business, in the wrong order.
Various courses teach rules and regulations, but
they fail to help people attract customers.
Company sales training programs focus on training
and staffing, but not on effective marketing.
"Getting your name out there" messages identify
businesses, but they don't call for customer
response. "Professional" ads enhance "image,"
while failing to make people respond. Cold
marketing is taught and suffers miserable
failures time and time again.
Is it any wonder that 75% of new businesses and
sales people fail within five years? Is it any
mystery why over 95% of all small business owners
and salespeople who manage to stick around make
less than $75K a year...and less than 1 % of
these make more than $125K a year? That
salespeople nationwide average less than $35K?
Most businesses and sales people are skilled
professionals who struggle for each and every
customer- Why? Because they've never had the kind
of "real world" training in marketing, psychology
and advertising needed to make people respond and
bring in business. Instead, there's a myth
floating in business minds that says, "Once you
get your name out there, people will seek you
out."
Pardon me, but that's a pile of horse hockey!
Yes, I'll admit - as I already did - having your
name recognized never hurts. But I must ask - as
I also did - does it really help?
Previously, I've mentioned about how name
recognition can get business, but only after long
periods of time and incredible amounts of money
are spent your time and, especially if you're in
business for yourself, your money.
If you want image marketing to be your primary
source for attracting business, be prepared to
spend thousands of dollars each year. A back-up
source of income from another job or a spouse
will come in handy...for three, four, even five
years or more!
Steven Boaze
Private Reply to Steven Boaze | | Nov 14, 2005 5:26 pm | | re: Do Image Advertising and Personal Name Recognition Make People Respond? | # | 
Simon Payn | | Hi Steven
Thank you for this post...it's on a topic close to my heart.
It upsets me to think of how many small businesses are wasting money (and perhaps going under) because they fail to grasp this. Such a waste of money...and time.
I'm planning to write a white paper for my own website on this topic.
Cheers
SimonPrivate Reply to Simon Payn | | Nov 15, 2005 2:00 am | | re: re: Do Image Advertising and Personal Name Recognition Make People Respond? | # | 
Donna Evans | | I can see where you are going here, that you need to pay attention to your marketing and continue to seek out customers. Do you have some suggestions on how best to approach marketing for a new business? We do a combination of direct mailers, teaching classes, promoting our website, and local networking, and quite frankly I am not that comfortable networking. We have avoided doing much as far as actual ads in newspapers or radio due to the expense.
Are there any recommended approaches for a new business?
Donna
http://www.gizmocreations.comPrivate Reply to Donna Evans | | Nov 15, 2005 7:17 pm | | re: re: re: Do Image Advertising and Personal Name Recognition Make People Respond? | # |
Simon Payn | | Hi Donna
Here are some ideas for you, in no particular order. Some might work, some might not. But they're all worth considering:
1) Decide how much you can afford to pay to obtain one sale. If, for example, an average sale is worth $2000 in profits, you could afford to pay $1000 in advertising to get that sale and still make money. (In other words, it's not about any particular form of advertising being expensive or cheap, it's about ROI).
2) Include a call to action on every single promotion you do. For example, set up a free email newsletter. Every time you go out and teach a class, make sure people sign up for the newsletter. In every ad you run, get people to visit your website to sign up (giving away a great free gift, such as info on what makes great landscape design, for example, will encourage more people to sign up). If you include this call to action...and it works...you can keep in contact with that prospect instead of them just being lost.
3) Make sure you get referrals and testimonials from your satisfied clients. Consider a program that will reward people who refer their friends to you. I'm sure referrals are a big part of how you get business...so if you can create a system that creates more referrals, you'll increase your business.
4) Consider Google pay per click advertising, targeted to your local area. That's possible now and will be very cheap. Get someone skilled who knows about Google - how to write effective ads and choose effective keywords. And get everyone who clicks on the ad to go to your website to sign up for your free newsletter and your free 'bribe' about landscape design.
5) Make sure you can track the effectiveness of each promotion you do. If you have a call to action (such as newsletter sign-ups) you will be able to monitor how effective each method is. Dump anything you don't consider effective and work on improving those that are effective. Make small, incremental improvements.
6) Make sure all your direct mail and ads have great copy in them. Learn how to write good sales copy...or hire someone who can. That will make everything more effective.
7) Form a strategic alliance with another, non-competing businesss. For example, if there's a company that provides gardening services but doesn't do any design, partner up with them and pay them a percentage of revenue for every customer they refer to you. In that way, you're getting business with no up-front marketing costs.
8) Change your website. At the moment, you are trying to run 2 businesses from one website. Split them into 2 and run them as separate enterprises. Make your home page text better so that readers are persuaded to act - either sign up for a newsletter or book a free consultation...or something. Hire a copywriter if you can afford to; learn yourself if you can't.
9) When you send direct mail, make sure you are sending it to a good list. People who are 'hot' for your services. And again, make sure there is a powerful call to action in there.
Phew! I hope this is of some help. Buy yourself a copy of Jay Abraham's Book, Getting Everying You Can Out of All You've Got. It's full of the kind of stuff I have been talking about.
Good luck
Simon
http://www.simonpayn.com
http://www.sixfigurecopy.com/?simon
Private Reply to Simon Payn | | Nov 15, 2005 11:22 pm | | re: re: re: re: Do Image Advertising and Personal Name Recognition Make People Respond? | # |
Donna Evans | | Hi Simon,
Those are good ideas, some we have thought of, some we have not. We have thought of splitting the website; it is an issue we keep going back and forth on. It is also an issue of time. We have basically just two employees which makes it tough to actually do the work and the promoting. But that's how most small businesses start out.
I will probably pick up a copy of that book. I have looked at numerous books. Most of them really don't tell me anything I don't already know.
Thanks again,
Donna
http://www.gizmocreations.comPrivate Reply to Donna Evans | | |
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