Resource of Marketing & Advertising

Personal marketing makes it easier to sell, by building relationships nurtured on awareness, value and trust. Make your relationships more fruitful by making them personal. Use these powerful yet simple tips from the book, Secrets of Power Marketing; Canada’s first guide to personal marketing for non-marketers.

Say thank you

Everyone wants to hear ‘thank you’. The easiest way to say thank you is verbally, but the most powerful and memorable is with a hand written note. We receive so few hand written notes that we read them first and value them because we know you took the time to write it personally. Say thank you to your clients for the opportunity to work with them. Say thank you for considering you - even if they did not hire you. There are so many opportunities to say thank you; thanks for the lead, information, invitation, advice, idea, introduction, publishing your article,…

Say Congratulations

The cousin to ‘thank you’ is ‘congratulations’. Congrats on becoming president of the association, getting the new job, appearing in the paper, completing a successful project, volunteering for a charity, winning the award, being nominated, expanding the business, opening a new office,.. This is a great way to make first contact with a prospect or key influencer.

Send postcards

Open your mail. What do you find? - bills, junk, flyers, post card. What do you read first? I read the post card to see whom it is from? When you travel, (on business or vacation), send post cards to your important clients and prospects. Keep your message simple and sign your full name clearly. Even when you don’t travel use post cards to stay in touch, say thank you or congratulations. You could use postcards of a local attraction or print your own customized cards. I keep a supply of Canadian flag post cards handy.

Send books

Most receive and throw away a lot of business cards. But when we receive a book we keep it and put in on a shelf. We might even read it or at least glance at it. If you wrote a book give it away - it is your best brochure. If you have not yet written a book you can still give books as a gift. Give a book that supports your message or one that you know your prospect will love. Check with the authors - they might give you a deal if you buy a bunch.

Build relationships with your clients and prospects.

It is a common case that a lot of students find difficulties in Algebra. There is an old stories that students from high school to college are finding that algebra is the most haunting subject. Many of them got low grades in Algebra or even worse, failed the subject.

However, algebra is an important subject. You must understand that algebra has a big portion in SAT, which will determine the college you will go to. Off course you need a professional Algebra help to make you learn algebra more effectively and Tutor Vista is your perfect choice. Tutor Vista is the best online tutorial service and Online algebra tutor is one of their flagship services. It provides the comprehensive and effective Algebra tutoring system that will help you get the proper basic knowledge in algebra that is suitable for your level of study. By subscribing their service, it is like you have your own personal algebra tutor that will help you learning algebra in more fun and effective ways.

Tutor Vista’s Algebra tutorials are designed for the most effective learning process. It will give you the basic knowledge and in depth understanding on Algebra concepts. Even from the Algebra 2 help menu, you can get free online algebra help. You can get the best solution in solving all type of Algebra problems here.

Without a powerful headline, your message stands little chance of being noticed in an increasingly competitive marketplace. If your headline doesn’t capture attention and pull prospects into your sales copy, than your marketing effort is a total waste of energy and resources.

Nothing is more important to getting your message noticed than your headlines. If you’re not allocating a sizable percentage of your time and creative effort to the headline used on each page of your website, you could be losing out on a large chunk of business.

Top copywriters understand this concept well. They know how essential it is to capture attention by literally stopping pre-occupied prospects in their tracks.

Here are five good reasons why your site headlines deserve greater emphasis and attention: Read More »

How often have you felt the frustration of General Halftrack because the speaker didn’t “get to the point?” Worse, have people listening to your presentations been exasperated because they didn’t know where you were taking them, didn’t know what was your point?

An audience, whether it is one person or many, wants speakers to provide maximum relevant information, delivered in minimum time and in the clearest possible terms, centered on the needs and concerns of the audience.

Time is the defining aspect of any presentation. Few audiences have the time for a full exposition of a subject. Presenters must reduce and translate the salient data into an easily and quickly understood message.

The 3-1-2 System, the heart of my presentation skills workshop, enables presenters to organize their thoughts in the optimum manner to implant their message in the collective mind of the audience, and to Get to the Point.

Most people prepare their presentations using a 1-2-3 Method, drafting in the order of how they will deliver - (1) Opening, (2) Body and (3) Conclusion. This is the method to organize our thoughts we have been taught since elementary school.

Unfortunately, this system leads to various false starts, because the presenter is attempting to place the ten gallons of knowledge he or she hass on the subject into the eight-ounce glass of the presentation.

It is definitely not flexible, and forces the presenter to make changes on the fly. This results in time-pressed presentations lacking coherence. The traditional system of organizing our thoughts is simply not geared to 21st century presentations.

Let’s see how the 3-1-2 system can help you “Get to the point.”

Place the 30-60 second Bottom Line of your message on a 3×5card. This phrase should result in the intersection of the audience’s needs and your objective goes on this card, which you mark with a 3.

Insert in front of this phrase words that signal the close of Your presentation, such as: “So, in conclusion” or “Let me leave you with this thought.” You now have the words with which you will close with “punch.”

This is your closing argument, to borrow a trial lawyer’s technique. This phrase can also provide you with a a mini-presentation when you find that the allotted time for your presentation has been sharply reduced at the last minute.

Next, take another 3×5 card, mark it with a 1 and write an opening phrase that will cause the audience to listen because you have hit a psychological “hot button” that sends the signal “This will benefit you,” or “This will keep you out of trouble.” A startling statistic or an apt quotation from a well-known (to the audience) figure could also be in this opening as an attention-getter.

You might wish to include your “3 card” conclusion in your opening statement, and then inform the audience that you will now proceed to prove the validity of your conclusion.

The audience now knows where you are going, and can, in effect, open “files” on their mental desktops in order to absorb this information. Audience members will know at the outset just what is your point. They won’t have to wait.

Remember that a business presentation is not a mystery novel. You want your audience to know “who shot John” right away, and then proceed to show the evidence. Above all, you want your audience to be alerted to the fact that you know what their material or psychological needs/problems are, and are prepared to provide information that addresses these concerns.

We can get so many things on television. Yeah we know about that. Just mention about movies, sport match, music shows and other entertainments. Well, we can also get information from educating program, news or talk shows. Seems television is a magic box where we can get anything from watching television. No cost required. That’s the point:). Nowadays there are so many channels and cable TVs over there but not all of them are suitable for us, isn’t it?

We can visit mytvoptions.com to know the best cable TVs, DishTV or DirecTV. Many reference on the best TV providers from cable, satellite and Direct TV can be found on this site. On mytvoptions.com you can choose the most suitable features that we need such as high definition channels, DVR, sport channels, and so on. Also we can enjoy local channels from many kinds of options such as DirectTV options, satellite and cable.

Since they can save so much money and get the most suitable, I believe that there are so many people feel satisfy with this site. Therefore, now it is the time for you to choose whether you want to get Satellite Directv or cable TV. Good luck for everyone!

Did you know that by simply participating in various forums and posting your various views and ideas, can potentially bring new growth and life to your online business?

Let’s look at some of the positive aspects that forum participation can bring to your business.

1. We are all looking for traffic to our websites and if we can get it for free with little effort, that’s even better. Did you know that when you sign up as a new member at a forum, you can usually create a “signature” line that will be attached to every post that you make in a forum? This signature line can contain your website address, and as other members read your post, this will provide another route for potential customers to find your website.

2. One of the worst things about trying to advertise on the Internet is the lack of trust between website owners and customers. Everyone is afraid of being scammed. A good way of building trust with potential prospects is by giving them a chance to get to know you, and by letting some of your knowledge, honesty and integrity show in the post that you make at a forum.

3. Most webmasters on the Internet exchange links with other like sites, because exchanging links will boost your link popularity. It’s a proven fact that you get higher search engine rankings when your site has a high PR due to your link popularity. But did you know it’s even better if you have a link pointing to your site that isn’t reciprocated? Every post that you make in a forum will create a one way link pointing to your website. If you make 1000 post in a year, you have potentially created 1000 back links pointing to your site. As the search engines crawl the Internet and detect all these links pointing to your site, your website is going to move toward the top of the search engine listings.

4. Running a business on the Internet can be a very lonely occupation. There is very little interaction with other people and this can be devastating to some. By participating in forums, you will meet other people who have online businesses and who have a lot in common with you. It’s sometimes comforting to know that there are others who share your occupational frustrations, and will be there to support you if you need them.

5. It’s a proven fact that two minds are better than one. Everyone goes through learning curves on the Internet. Whether that learning curve involves starting out, building websites, search engine optimization, or the millions of other things that you must be prepared to do on the Internet to establish your business, there is someone in your favorite forum that has been there and done that. These people will be more than happy to give you free consultations.

Good luck for US ^_^

Hey, living in Charlottesville doesn’t mean you don’t have access to all the great things that Richmond has to offer. Sure, Cook & Wiley has their offices in Richmond, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t also the leading Charlottesville court reporters. While you will have to drive out to Richmond to make use of their Richmond video conferencing and Richmond conference rooms, you can have anybody you’re trying to video conference with from Charlottesville that’s in Richmond go there and let them use the great setup that Cook & Wiley offers to all their clients.

Living west of Richmond doesn’t preclude you from enjoying all the great services that Cook & Wiley can offer, so when you’re in need of a court reporter in Charlottesville, don’t forget that Cook & Wiley is here for you.

One often-overlooked asset of your business is the testimonials you receive from happy, satisfied customers. Most businesses receive favorable customer comments and testimonials, but few translate these powerful marketing weapons into additional sales.

Testimonials work because customer comments are more credible than your words. When you say something about your business, your words are viewed as claims. But when your customer says them, their words are viewed as truth.

When a customer says something nice about you, your business, or one of your employees, how you respond is critical. Customer testimonials come in many forms, including conversations, emails and letters. Few testimonials are ready-to-use, however. Most can benefit from a little effort before you can put them to work.

Although you may receive testimonial letters that include permission to use the customer’s words and name, in most cases you’re best off contacting the customer, verifying the quote and asking permission to use their words and their name.

This is especially true if you are going to quote from a conversation or an email. Customers will appreciate your integrity. More important, verifying gives you a chance to clean up the customer’s grammar and also improve upon the customer’s original quote. For example, when verifying (or rewording) their comments, you might also ask: “Were there other aspects of buying from us that you might care to comment on?”

Simply showing an interest in the customer’s words is often enough to open the testimonial floodgates.

Here are five ways to get the most from your testimonials:

1. 3-ring binders. Letters and emails tend to get lost. One of the best ways to prevent this is to immediately place the original in transparent sleeves stores in a 3-ring binder.

2. Bulletin board. Hang copies on a bulletin board - or better - frame and display them behind glass in a prominent location in your place of business. Use a colored background to highlight the most recent letter you’ve received.

3. Computer file. Save excerpts from customer letters in a special computer file. Enter just the most relevant words along with the customer’s name and city. (Excerpting focuses on the most important parts of the letter.)

4. Copies and printouts. Copy customer letters and insert them in your press kits and customer presentation folders. Format your customer testimonial file and include printouts with proposals.

5. Newsletter and website. Include customer testimonials in your newsletters and on your website. When appropriate, place testimonials next to descriptions of specific products or services.

Whenever possible, include photographs with your testimonials. Many car dealers, for example, photograph customers taking delivery of their new car. Since this is generally a happy time for customers, displays of these photographs project a positive image.

Even better, create posters for display at the point of sale. Simply create a collage of customer comments and photographs professionally typeset and laid out.

Use testimonials as the basis for your firms’ advertising. Nothing beats ads written in your customer’s own words. The ads inevitably attract attention and communicate with credibility unavailable in any other way. Create a variety of ads, reflecting the different marketing segments your business serves.

Thank your customers for their support and time. However, avoid paying customers. This could detract from the credibility of their words. Feel free, however, to show your appreciation with gift certificates or coupons worth savings or discounts.