Spread the Good Word

PR is a do-it-yourself job when you use one of these 3 tactics.

Most marketing programs come with a healthy price tag. That is, with one exception: public relations.

Several PR tactics can be mastered by do-it-yourselfers. You can use them to reach and persuade customers at virtually no cost. Try any of the following three tactics to spread the good word about your business:

Meet the press through media relations.

When you think of PR, media relations is probably the tactic that often comes to mind. The goal is to gain coverage in print, broadcast and online media through interviews and articles. To build relationships with members of the press, first identify which medium your target audience looks to for information on your market. You'll find a searchable database of media outlets by clicking on "Media Links" at www.gebbieinc.com. Develop a list of editors and journalists and familiarize yourself with each publication, website or broadcast program you plan to pitch. This will ensure that your message is on target.

Next, send a press release or pitch letter to your target market's preferred media outlet. Follow up the release with phone calls to the targeted journalists. Don't be surprised if you're asked to send your materials again, since the media is deluged with press releases. You may not get placements on your first calls, but as you develop relationships with members of the press, you'll establish yourself as a resource and eventually win coverage.

Get local attention with community affairs.

For some types of businesses, building a positive company image and high visibility within the local community are primary PR goals. You can enhance your company's position through a community affairs campaign that supports key issues, philanthropic endeavors and community events. For example, companies targeting the Latino market often take visible roles in local Latino community life, from street fairs and festivals to charitable giving. This establishes them as caring community members, increases their visibility and name recognition, and yields positive PR.

The key to success in community affairs is to put your efforts into activities that will gain recognition from your primary target audience and garner local press coverage. When a Washington, DC landscaping company refurbished a rundown inner-city playground, it built tremendous word-of-mouth and earned coverage in local media and an entirely new level of name recognition in its principal market area. Get the idea?

Become a recognized expert with a radio press tour.

Would becoming known as an expert in your field propel you and your business forward? Setting up your own radio press tour is easier than you think, and it's a great way to spread your name and message while building sales. Once you're established as an "expert" you'll get ongoing requests for interviews and comments from print and online media. A little coverage generally breeds more.

Talk radio programming nationwide covers a broad range of topics, from gardening to child safety and business finance. What types of shows do your best prospects listen to, and what can you share that will interest them? Talk show producers are looking for guests that can present unique, compelling ideas and present them in a way that won't put their listeners to sleep. Choose a story angle or topic that lets you shine, then write a media alert. This is similar to a press release but concludes with your availability for interviews and how to book you.

Fax or e-mail the alert to targeted producers (again, visit gebbieinc.comfor a database of radio stations) along with a separate page with information they can use as a basis for your interview, such as "10 Tips for Back to School Safety," or "6 Ways to Save Money at Tax Time." Then follow up by telephone to pitch your story. Be persistent. You may need to send several alerts and tips sheets for a period of time before securing an interview. But once you give a great interview, you can bet the producers will want you back for more.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book, Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

4 Elements of a Winning Brand

When it comes to your image, are you hitting hard or striking out? Cover all your bases with these 4 critical elements of a winning brand.

What instantly springs to mind when customers hear your company name? If you're uncertain--or even worse, stuck with a less-than-stellar image--it's time to give your brand an overhaul. It's no coincidence that industry leaders in every category from soft drinks to spas toil endlessly to create some of the world's most recognized brands. But it doesn't have to cost millions or take years to put your company's branding efforts on track. Just follow these four guidelines to create a winning brand image.

1. Differentiate your brand.

Branding is all about sending a strong and consistent message. Every time a prospect or customer has contact with your company, whether it's by visiting your website or seeing a print ad, he or she has a branding experience. Fine-tuning your brand image is particularly critical if your business is in a highly competitive product or service arena--your brand will separate your company from the pack.

If it's been a while since you performed a competitive analysis, make time to take this important step in realigning your brand. Clip all your competitors' ads, review their PR coverage, research them online, and buy their products and services. Then decide what makes your product or service different. It's this point of differentiation that allows you to create an image that sticks in customers' minds.

2. Promise value.

Once you know what separates your product or service from its competitors, you can redefine your brand message so that it resonates with your best prospects. How well do you know and understand them? Researching and creating an accurate portrait of your targeted prospects is essential to focusing your branding efforts. Doing so will help you reach the audience that will be most receptive to the unique qualities of your products and services. Trying to be all things to all people results in a diluted and weak brand, whereas differentiation based on what your unique customers want, need and value most will result in strong branding and sales.

What does your product or service deliver that's valued most by your best customers? If you're unsure, put "listening posts" in place--from online message boards to printed satisfaction surveys--that monitor customers' perceptions of your brand and uncover unmet needs.

3. Be a market leader.

Delivering on this value proposition over the long term not only means your company will live up to its branding efforts, but it will also make you a marketplace leader. And performing like a leader means keeping your promises. Today, customers consider the "ownership experience" prior to making many purchases. They look at reviews, read in-depth information and pay attention to word-of-mouth in order to feel confident that the purchase and post-purchase experiences will live up to the expectations raised by brand marketing campaigns. Nothing torpedoes branding efforts faster than failing to live up to marketing claims. To be a true leader in your market niche, focus on improving your customers' experiences and interactions with your company.

4. Integrate your messages.

Every interaction a customer has with your brand must be uniform across all marketing channels. How consistently is your brand's message communicated? Do the messages of your various marketing programs conflict? For example, your online marketing--from website content to e-mail solicitations--should be fully integrated with your offline efforts, carrying a single, clear branding message and related design elements throughout.

To ensure your branding tuneup is a success, audit all your company's current marketing communications. Pay particular attention to sales tools, as these tend to become mismatched and disconnected from other marketing efforts over time. Realign them with your company's marketing tools and campaigns to create a stronger brand image.

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Kim T. Gordon, author of Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business, at www.smallbusinessnow.com. Her new e-book, Big Marketing Ideas for Small Budgets, is available exclusively from Entrepreneur at www.smallbizbooks.com. Originally published in the August 2006 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine

Get to Know the Competition

A simple, 4-step competitive analysis will help you rise above the pack.

Contrary to what some may say, growing a business isn't a blood sport. It's not about killing the competition or winning at all costs. The fact is, successful competitors tend to meet on a more common ground, sometimes collaborating one day and bidding against each other the next. The key to winning market share is to differentiate your company by providing products, services or solutions that your best prospects will find more desirable than what's offered by your closest competitors.

Suppose you call a new prospect and she tells you she's buying from your competitor. Is that good or bad news? Believe it or not, that's good news because it means you've found a qualified prospect. Experienced marketers know it's always easier to fill a need than to create one. Someone who is already using the type of product or service you offer is a great prospect because he or she has a clearly defined need and can afford the purchase.

The job of convincing qualified prospects to buy from you instead of your competitors' is where the real work begins. Follow these four steps to complete a simple competitive analysis that will help you uncover the information you need to effectively differentiate your business from the competition based on your own unique selling points.

1. Do some detective work.

The first step in a competitive analysis is to gather your competitors' marketing tools and materials. Examine their web pages, print and broadcast advertising, and articles in which they've been featured. Request their brochures, sell sheets and any collateral materials. Depending on your industry, you may also be able to do some mystery shopping, which will allow you to experience what it's like to shop and buy from companies that sell similar products or services.

2. Evaluate "perceived" competitors.

Chances are, you have a lot more competitors than you think. In addition to real competitors, evaluate the marketing tools and materials of any businesses your prospects perceive as offering a similar set of products or services. For example, a custom cabinetmaker may believe he competes exclusively with other companies that build kitchen cabinets to order. But if his prospects think of the customized cabinetry offered by major home centers as competitive products, the cabinetmaker must evaluate the way the major chains market cabinetry in his local area.

3. Focus on the message.

Once you've gathered the materials, the next step is to analyze what's being communicated and how. Identify the key promises made by your broad field of competitors. And don't be surprised if you see a lot of "me too" marketing. There's so much out there that's mediocre or worse, you may find the majority of your competitors have similar messaging, with only a few front-runners showing strong points of differentiation.

After assessing the most effective messaging, look at the actual tools and materials themselves. What formats seem to work best overall? At this point, your competitive analysis will reveal whether your company is lacking any standard tools that prospects expect everyone in your industry to offer.

4. Find a unique spin.

Now comes the moment of truth. You've gathered all the materials and have learned the key message points of your real and perceived competitors. It all boils down to this: How does your company meet its customers' needs in a way that is both unique and compelling? To find the answer, consider not only the products or services you sell, but also how you operate, including any company-specific characteristics, such as a higher level of customer service or free next-day shipping. If you can't find a selling point based on your current product or service offering that will help you stand out from your competitors, use what you've learned in this competitive analysis to retool what you sell and how you sell it.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

Deep Insight Without Deep Pockets

Adopt these low-cost research tactics for a revealing look at what makes your customers buy.

"Understand your customer" is marketing's primary mantra. Smart entrepreneurs are always searching for new information on what makes their customers tick. This goes way beyond knowing simply who they are; it goes into how customers live, work, play and think. And the most-sought-after information--marketing's Holy Grail--is up-to-the-minute insight into how, what, when or where customers buy.

As a small-business owner, you may be operating on a tight research budget, which means that some of the primary research tools used by big businesses may be prohibitively expensive for you. For instance, focus groups in multiple cities or mall intercept studies that survey thousands of consumers may be out of your reach. But you have one healthy advantage over the marketers in big businesses with deeper pockets: you're closer to the customer than they can ever be.

Want to know how your customers think or behave? Just ask them. Here are three effective and low-cost ways to gain insight into your customers or clients.

1. Survey your customer list.

Does your in-house customer list include e-mail addresses? If not, it's time to update that database. One of my coaching clients, Media Specialists Inc., has just finished calling its 900 customers to update the company database with e-mail addresses. By augmenting its postal mail and telephone communications with e-mail, the company will save thousands of dollars a year and execute its campaigns more quickly.

Once you have a current list of customer e-mail addresses, you can take advantage of the new, low-cost online survey tools available to small businesses. In this age of "do not call lists" and voicemail, online surveys can be more effective than costly telephone surveys. And you don't need any background in research because the best of these online products provide professionally written survey templates. ListenUp! Survey from Constant Contact, for example, offers dozens of customizable surveys and lets you easily manage and clean your e-mail list. It also schedules and sends your surveys and interprets your results with comprehensible graphs and charts. Surveys can be sent to up to 2,500 customers as often as you like for about $30 a month.

2. Make your website interactive.

There are several smart ways to turn your website into an effective research tool. Add a box with a single polling question to your main page and regularly ask questions that engage visitors and provide important customer data for you. Simple "yes or no" or multiple-choice questions work best. Questions can range from opinions, such as a vote for the most popular new style of shoe, to behaviors, such as a multiple-choice question concerning how frequently visitors dine out.

To gather more in-depth information than a polling question can reveal, offer an incentive to complete a survey. For example, if you're a retailer, you can use your print advertising to direct customers to a coupon on your website, and when visitors select the coupon, ask them to complete the survey.

While not strictly research tools, blogs and message boards are effective mechanisms for gaining insight into the chief issues and concerns of your customers--or at least the most vocal ones. These interactive tools also build a sense of community and give visitors a compelling reason to return to your site. If you manage your own website, you can begin your search for polling, blogging, chat and forum software at WebBuilderZone.com.

3. Create an off-line information pipeline.

Savvy entrepreneurs also get their information the old-fashioned way--by directly asking questions and listening carefully to the answers. Since you're close to your customers or clients, you have the ability to work with them individually or in small groups for the express purpose of better understanding their needs and the ways you can fill them. Whether you do your "digging" as part of a sales call or structure an informal roundtable with a select group of clients, the overriding goal is to focus on uncovering needs, expectations, areas of customer satisfaction and dislikes relating to your product or service. The key is to make this behavior consistent and ongoing, not just a knee-jerk reaction when sales are off or there's an unexplained disconnect between your message and the market.

Salespeople are your front line for customer and competitive information. Formalize the way you gather their input by structuring meetings between sales and marketing at least once a month. Ask salespeople to share their insights concerning customer reactions to promotions, products and services. And ask the marketing team to present its upcoming campaigns and new promotions to get a quick read from your salespeople on how these new marketing campaigns will be received by customers. When you combine these tactics for off-line listening with online studies you'll get a revealing snapshot of your actual customer that will inform all of your marketing decisions.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

Take Charge of Your Marketing

Don't wait until business dips to start marketing. Begin today using these 3 important principles to develop your core message.

One of the questions I'm asked most frequently is, "When is the best time to market?" The answer is simple: The best time to market is now and every day hereafter. In fact, marketing should be a year-round process. Even seasonal businesses must continually reach out to customers or risk having to rebuild their sales every year.

Since 1991, when I began coaching small businesses on marketing, I've had requests from countless entrepreneurs who never marketed, but were facing bankruptcy if they didn't bring in customers immediately. Sadly, these business owners might have built highly successful companies if only they'd put marketing programs in place. But they had to struggle to bring in customers without prospect databases, marketing tools or materials, often with little or no name recognition in the marketplace.

If this story seems a bit too familiar, it's time to take charge of your company's marketing and become proactive. Or if you're just starting your business, consider this a cautionary tale and begin marketing your company today.

Your first step is to identify what your marketing message should be. It's critical to create a benefit-oriented message that'll resonate with your prospects and then carry it through all your new tools, from your company brochure to advertising and PR.

Start by answering these three fundamental questions:

1. What are you really marketing?

Chances are there's a big difference between what you think you're selling and what your customers or clients want to buy. Suppose you own a porcelain refinishing business. You might think you're selling a two-stage, long-lasting finish for unsightly bathtubs. But while those might be important features of your service, what customers really look for are the benefits those features deliver. In this case, that would be a beautiful bathroom that sparkles like new.

Features are the characteristics of your product or service, while benefits tell customers what they'll get because of those features. As you build your new marketing message, lead with the benefits and explain them with features. For example, the porcelain refinisher might promise a beautiful bathtub that sparkles like new, thanks to a two-stage, long-lasting finish.

2. Who wants to buy what you market?

It's always easier for a marketer to fill a need than to create one. So for the shortest route to success, identify prospects who already want to buy what you sell and write a simple one or two-sentence target audience profile that describes them. You can look at your best, most profitable customers or at the customer base of your chief competitors, or draw at least preliminary conclusions from trends in the marketplace to identify a qualified target group.

This target audience profile will be valuable as you move forward with your marketing campaign. You'll use it to select the best-targeted media, from newspapers and magazines to radio, TV and websites. If you're marketing to consumers, describe them demographically, including their ages, genders and any other important characteristics, such as household income. And if you're marketing to business prospects, be sure to identify them based on all relevant criteria, including the types of businesses in which they work and their job titles.

3. Why will people want to buy from you?

Prospects who need what you market will be shopping--and probably buying--with your competitors. So to succeed, you must take market share away from someone else. What can you do or provide that'll add sufficient value to make buying from you more attractive than purchasing elsewhere? Whatever that something may be, embrace it and turn it into your competitive advantage. This may require a bit of creativity, such as bundling a group of features or products together to create a compelling package. Or if you're a retailer, you might need to change your hours of operation to make shopping more convenient. Or a small restaurant could add takeout services.

Take time today to answer these three important questions and formulate a core message that'll resonate with your best prospects. Then develop a family of materials and select media tactics that'll help you reach your prospects on an ongoing basis. Since it takes multiple contacts in most industries to move prospects through the sales cycle, be patient and persevere. You'll find that proactively building your business keeps it on a more economically even keel.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

4 Keys to Radio Advertising

From the buy to the spot, get expert advice on how to run a successful radio ad campaign.

In a single week, radio reaches more than 228 million Americans. That's 94 percent of everyone age 12 and older, according to Arbitron. So no matter what types of prospects you want to reach, radio advertising will help you do it. Plus, radio is mobile. Eighty percent of adults listen to radio in their cars, and a quarter of the population also listens while at work.

There's a lot that's new in radio. Many stations now stream their programming on the internet and reach additional local and even national audiences. What's more, if online listeners like what they hear in your streaming radio spot, they're just one click away from your website.

Radio provides an ideal advertising medium for small businesses, but running an effective campaign takes a bit of know-how. Just follow these four tips for navigating the radio waves.

1. Pinpoint Your Audience.

Every radio buy must begin with a clear understanding of the listeners you want to reach. Write a one-sentence target audience profile based on the demographics of your prospects. This should include their age, gender, where they live and other factors, such as household income. Then share this information with the sales reps from the stations you're considering. They'll tell you what percentage of their stations' listeners match these demographics and at what times of the day or during which programming you'll reach your best prospects.

There also may be qualitative characteristics of your ideal prospects you should consider when making your radio buy. A restaurant owner, for example, would look for a radio station whose listeners dine out frequently. The radio station sales reps have access to both qualitative and quantitative information concerning their listeners and should be able to give you customized proposals that include schedules with ratings breakdowns. They should also provide signal coverage maps that show precisely where their stations are heard.

2. Know What You're Buying.

The three most important elements when evaluating proposals are reach, frequency and cost-per-point. Reach is the number of your prospects that'll hear your marketing message. Frequency isn't the number of spots you run, but the average number of times your prospects will actually hear your message. Cost-per-point is the basis for evaluating cost effectiveness. CPP is what it'll cost to reach 1 percent of your target audience population, so it's the best way to compare the value of competing stations. Buy enough frequency to ensure your message is heard at least several times.

3. Look for Special Sponsorships.

Radio stations are promotional engines, and there are at least two ways you can get on board. First, most stations offer the opportunity to sponsor news, weather reports or other types of regular programming. As a sponsor, you'll typically get additional mentions, such as with "billboards," which are announcements of your sponsorship that lead into special programming. Often, sponsorship will guarantee your spots air first in the commercial breaks, or pods, so you'll reach more listeners before they have a chance to switch stations or tune out during long breaks.

Radio stations also get involved in the community with special events. Look for sponsorship opportunities that include on-air mentions, as well as visibility at the events themselves. And be sure to seek out events that are well attended by your target audience and put your company in the spotlight.

4. Entertain the Audience.

Once you've evaluated the proposals from the radio stations and negotiated and finalized your buys, you'll need effective spots. Since radio spot production is rarely a do-it-yourself job, you'll most likely work with a local production company, agency or station. But you should understand a few basics to be an effective part of the team and keep them on track.

Great radio spots grab and hold attention, usually through humor. They may also use sounds, compelling music or unusual voices to grab attention. Your spots must tell stories or present situations your target audience can relate to. To keep your audience listening to your spots month after month, make them part of an ongoing campaign theme. Your audience will listen for the newest versions, helping extend your message more successfully than if you were to run unrelated spots. For maximum results, make your call to action--a URL or phone number--easy to remember and tie it in with your company name or message.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

Ad Choices Made Simple

Looking for answers on the best advertising media to use for your business? These four questions will point you in the right direction.

Every entrepreneur from New York to Los Angeles faces the same daily dilemma--a finite marketing budget and an infinite number of advertising options. After all, your customers are bombarded with hundreds of advertising messages each day. From the moment they wake up, they're exposed to advertising on television and the radio, in the morning newspaper, their favorite magazines and their e-mail inboxes, and on websites, outdoor billboards and subway signage. There are even ads on fruit in the supermarket, corporate signage on secluded nature trails and marketing pamphlets promoting products in dental and medical offices.

This flood of marketing messages will only continue to increase, and that leaves you with critical choices to make about how you'll reach your prospects and hold their attention. Since every business is different, there aren't pat answers regarding what'll work for everyone. What I can provide are four great questions. Answer these, and they'll point you toward the right media.

Question 1: Where do your prospects look first?

People who already know they want to buy what you market are your top-qualified prospects. They need what you offer and are actively shopping in what are called "marketing search corridors." Will your prospects use search engines, the Yellow Pages or both? Are they looking for you in trade magazines or in a particular section of the newspaper? Identify exactly where your best prospects look first when shopping for what you sell, and place your ads there.

Question 2: Which media touch your prospects most often?

Each of us is touched by media at various points throughout the day. The key is to discover the media with which your prospects have meaningful interactions. Find out which TV programs they watch and which radio stations they listen to, and at what time of day. If your customers read a newspaper, which one is it? And if you're targeting B2B prospects, identify the industry publications they rely on for information. Then construct an integrated marketing campaign using a mix of media that will consistently reach them during their daily routines.

Question 3: Where will your message be best remembered?

Putting your advertising message in the right context is critical to success. In fact, your prospects are probably touched by all kinds of media that would be completely inappropriate for you. When evaluating your media advertising options, look for opportunities to communicate with your prospects when they're in the right frame of mind.

For example, your customers may often dine in restaurants where they're exposed to the posters on the bathroom walls. But while this particular advertising form may reach your best prospects, if it's inappropriate for your message, you should discard it as a marketing option. On the flip side, a website your prospects turn to for information on a subject related to a product or service you market would reach them when they're in exactly the right frame of mind, making advertising on that site a good choice for you.

Question 4: Can you stick with it?

Effective advertising requires frequency for your message to be remembered and acted on. As you construct your list of advertising options, choose a mix of media you can stick with for the long haul. It's preferable to choose media in which you can afford to advertise frequently, rather than to advertise just a few times in a larger range of media. Start small with sufficient advertising frequency in a cohesive group of marketing vehicles. Then, as your company grows, you can expand into additional media.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

Are You a Smart Marketer?

Take this quick quiz to learn important tips for growing your business by marketing the smart way.

Polish your marketing smarts with this handy quiz. Just answer true or false to these eight questions, then read the answers for important insights that'll help you improve your marketing in the coming year.

1. On a small-business marketing budget, it's smarter to advertise a few times each in numerous print publications than to advertise often in just one or two.

False. Advertising with low frequency in numerous publications is like throwing your money away with both hands. Effective advertising requires frequency for your message to be remembered and acted on. It's much smarter to choose targeted publications that contain content that’s closely read by your core group of prospects and to buy larger-size ads with considerable frequency. In marketing terms, you should go for frequency first with the right prospects, even if that means using just one or two publications. Then expand your reach into other media as your budget grows.

2.When shopping for broadcast advertising on a tight budget, you should look for the media proposal that offers the greatest number of spots for your money.

False. Beware of any media outlet pitching a proposal based on a high number of spots. Chances are, many will be ROS (run of station) and can air during the middle of the night or during other less-desirable hours or programs when spots are typically free or sold at an extremely low cost. Instead, focus your buy on the programming that reaches your core target audience with appropriate content, and run your spots with sufficient frequency during those programs or hours.

3. Customers prefer to receive branded company information in editorial materials, both offline and online, rather than through ads.

True. A study conducted by Roper Public Affairs showed that most consumers preferred receiving information from companies through branded editorial content rather than ads. In fact, 85 percent said they preferred custom publications to ads, and 75 percent felt better informed after reading them. Branded content, generated by a company primarily for marketing purposes, may range from the company brochure you send following a customer’s inquiry to a specially branded custom publication, and offers an excellent opportunity to directly connect with and inform customers.

4. To yield the highest click-through rate on promotional e-mail, you should offer a percentage discount off your sales price.

False. Promotions that promise a specific dollar amount off a sales price enjoy 45 percent higher click-through rates than those offering a percent discount, according to a study from e-mail services provider Silverpop Systems Inc. It seems it’s more advantageous to offer $10 dollars off, for instance, than an equivalent percentage.

5. Since senior citizens rarely use the internet, marketers should direct their dollars to other ways of reaching this target audience.

False. According to Pew Internet and American Life Project data, 55 percent of all Americans aged 60 to 69 and 26 percent of 70- to 75-year-olds are online, so it's beneficial to make internet marketing a part of your media mix for this demographic. When marketing to this audience, it's important to build trust, such as by providing a phone number for assistance with online transactions. It's also best to stay away from the flashiest technology, since older consumers are less likely to upgrade their computers often and many of the latest design bells and whistles may go unseen or simply cause frustration.

6. The best way for retailers to increase sales from Latino shoppers is to offer frequent-shopper cards.

False. According to Advertising Age magazine, the results of a study by Unilever in four major markets found Hispanic shoppers highly resistant to using frequent-shopper cards because of concerns about privacy. Although more than half of those in the study had frequent-shopper cards, only 44 percent of cardholders used them. Entrepreneurs targeting Latinos should construct customer rewards programs that highlight privacy protections.

7. The best way to build positive word-of-mouth is to affect the media to which “advice givers” are exposed.

True. A BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey of more than 15,000 people revealed that “advice givers” don't always formulate their counsel on personal experience alone. Their sources may include articles on a product, newspaper inserts, internet advertising and more. To build word-of-mouth for your product or service, it's essential to identify where your influentials are getting their information about what you market and use advertising and PR tactics to shape their opinions.

8. When reaching and motivating B2B prospects, general media sources such as consumer magazines and TV are more effective than niche B2B media.

False. Executives report they're more engaged and involved with B2B media than with general magazines, television and newspapers, according to a study by Harris Interactive. The best way to reach your B2B prospects in the new year is through B2B magazines, trade shows, websites, conferences or seminars.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc.Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

Creating Ads That Ring Up Sales

Out with the old and in with ads that produce results. Just follow these four important rules.

If I asked you to watch two hours of primetime TV and pick the most effective ad spots, could you do it? Chances are, you could name the ones you found the most entertaining. But could you identify the commercials that had the power to move the audience--really motivate viewers to learn more about or buy what’s being advertised?

If you're a bit fuzzy on what it takes to create advertising that actually works, you'll be happy to know it's not your fault. There’s just so much ill-conceived advertising out there--throughout all marketing media. What makes it tough for entrepreneurs to understand how to create their own campaigns is the fact that so many of the big-budget ads from major advertisers are just plain bad. They're self-indulgent and cute, and although they may be creative, they probably sell very little.

The first duty of advertising is to make something happen. Any campaign worth its salt must produce a desired result. Rework your current ad campaign--or create a new one--that motivates prospects to take action by understanding these four important advertising rules.

Rule #1: Good advertising changes the customer's relationship with what's being marketed.

The first step to affecting the way your customers think is to make them look at what you offer in a new or different way. A good ad has the power to completely change the mind of the reader, viewer or listener, whether that applies to choosing the best tires to purchase for rainy locales or the qualifications of a political candidate. Your ads can open minds to possibilities by introducing a new type of service or revealing fresh discoveries or facts. Advertising that does a good job of educating audiences--such as in B2B trade publications--can demonstrate the advantages of a new product. And some advertising, such as direct mail, can allow you to tell a deeper story and create a strong, new connection with your customer.

Rule #2: Effective advertising tells prospects "why."

Good advertising makes it immediately clear why prospects should care about your marketing message. For best results, your ads must demonstrate a valuable, desirable benefit to your target audience. This benefit can be either tangible or intangible. For example, saving money is a tangible benefit while peace of mind may be intangible but equally desirable depending on your target audience and what you’re marketing. What benefits do your ads promise, and are your promises markedly different from those of your competitors? If not, you need to rethink your product or service offering from your customers’ point of view until the benefits you offer will help you stand out from your competitors.

Rule #3: The best ads ring true.

Broadcast ads on radio and TV work best when they present scenarios that feel real and true to the intended target audience. Prospects should be able to identify with the characters or situations presented and see themselves reflected in a positive light. Your offer should present a believable solution to fulfill a perceived need. Print advertising, out-of-home and online advertising, while less able to present real-life scenarios, still must offer reasonable solutions that meet the real needs of your target audience.

Rule #4: Successful advertising moves customers to the next level.

The bottom line is, marketing exists to support sales. If your current advertising doesn't produce, it's like having a slacker employee--your best option is to fire them. Before you design your next campaign, decide what you want your prospects to do in response to your advertising, and design each and every ad with that result in mind. Whether you want them to call for a free appointment, visit your website, go to your store or visit your trade show booth, be sure your call to action takes your prospects to the next level.

Finally, be prepared to track and measure the responses as they arrive. After all, you can't run an effective campaign unless you know what's worked in the past. Continually fine-tune your ad campaign to capitalize on the elements that make the phone or the cash register ring, and soon you'll have good ads that make all the right things happen.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc.Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

12 Months of Holiday Promotions

Year-round, holidays are great hooks for all types of marketing promotions, provided you think outside the box.

If you think holiday marketing begins just after Halloween and ends on New Year's Day, think again. For most small businesses, holidays from Father's Day to Administrative Professionals' Day provide terrific hooks on which to hang marketing promotions.

To get you thinking outside the gift box, here are 12 months of holidays to consider--plus creative ideas for using less traditional holidays to grab your customers' attention.

February

Valentine's Day is a bonanza for restaurateurs and jewelers, but other entrepreneurs also can use the day to tell customers they're appreciated. Show your company's love by sending letters with special rewards, such as money off a purchase, to your best customers or clients. Rewards at this holiday, rather than just at the more traditional times of year, will grab attention and be appreciated.

Also in February are Groundhog Day, Mardi Gras and Presidents Day. Want to be inventive? A professional services firm could enhance its client relations (and loosen an otherwise stiff image) by throwing a Mardi Gras-themed party, while an air conditioning and heating contractor could send a direct mail piece using Groundhog Day as a hook, offering customers a special discount on heating maintenance services to help them get through six more weeks of winter.

March

The two biggest holidays on my calendar in March are St. Patrick's Day and my birthday. Granted, my birthday may not be of any interest to your customers, but they'll definitely enjoy being appreciated on their own birthdays. Include a field in your customer database for birth dates, and depending on your type of business, send a gift, card or reward.

As for St. Patrick's Day, there are many fun tie-ins--from the color green to the luck of the Irish--you can develop into marketing hooks. And the first day of spring is March 21. Traditionally, this is the kick-off for major spring retail promotions.

April

Ah, April Fools' Day. Businesses large and small have used this day as an opportunity to draw public attention. In one well-publicized April Fools' hoax, Taco Bell placed ads in major newspapers announcing it had purchased the Liberty Bell to help reduce the federal deficit and was planning to move it to Irvine, California. Americans were furious. There were more than 400 TV mentions and thousands of newspaper and radio mentions worth millions in media coverage, though Taco Bell sent out a news release announcing the hoax just a few hours later. The smart promotional gambit resulted in a $500,000 sales increase for the company on April 1 and a $600,000 increase on April 2.

Easter will be celebrated on April 8 this year with traditional spring sales at most retailers. Earth Day is on April 22, and you don't have to be a green company to take on an environmentally friendly promotion, such as planting trees and letting your customers know about it. And let's not overlook Administrative Professionals’ Day (formerly known as Secretaries' Day) on April 25. This holiday is prompting small businesses to take action: The Vermont Teddy Bear Co., for instance, has added a page to its website to sell gifts for the occasion.

May

The two biggest holidays in May are Mother's Day on May 13 and Memorial Day on May 28. Small businesses in the hospitality, consumer services and retail categories typically realize the greatest gains from Mother's Day promotions. Husbands and daughters make the bulk of all Mother's Day purchases, and consumers spend more on this holiday than most others, including Father's Day. The most popular service given as a Mother's Day gift is a half-day spa treatment. To promote your Mother's Day offerings this year, consider using e-mail as a low-cost, high-return tactic to promote everything from jewelry to flowers.

June through September

While not the big spending holiday Mother's Day has become, Father's Day on June 17 is still a terrific hook for small businesses looking for an early summer boost. Since women make the most purchases for fathers and husbands, create promotions that appeal to their desire for convenient, easy shopping and cost savings.

Summer officially begins on June 21, but long before that, the season can provide a wonderful hook for specials or promotions that tie in to warm-weather vacations and fun. Campground owners, for example, can ramp up marketing campaigns that target families with RVs looking for affordable vacations.

Since the Fourth of July is a major retail marketing holiday, smaller businesses may want to stay out of the fray and concentrate promotional dollars on less-crowded holidays. If you offer products related to back-to-school promotions, August is your month. And retailers should plan a marketing push for Labor Day sales on September 3.

October

Trick or treat! Halloween is more popular than ever, with many adults attending costume parties and even sales of pet costumes seeing a dramatic upswing. For small nonprofits and fundraising organizations, Halloween provides a wonderful marketing opportunity. You can create a haunted event, get other local businesses involved as sponsors or partners, and sell tickets in multiple locations.

Halloween is also a smart hook for businesses promoting child safety products and services. You can win media coverage, including newspaper and radio interviews, by producing a fact sheet with safety tips along with a pitch letter to send to targeted editors and journalists.

November through January

November 1 officially marks the start of the holiday selling season, so why not put a new spin on Thanksgiving promotions? Instead of focusing on holiday decorations or falling retail prices, make an effort to help others while enhancing your company's image in the process. You can sponsor meals for the homeless. Or you and your staff can engage in a visible community improvement project. Work to enlist other businesses in your area, and share your story with the local media to aid your cause. Then you can proceed with your company's traditional winter sales promotions with a strong PR lift and community goodwill. And retailers can keep the momentum rolling into January with New Year's Day sales, followed by special promotions tied to the chilly weather.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

Write a Great Sales Letter

6 tips for composing a sales letter that’ll hit the right note with your customers

Postal mail is an essential channel for following up leads gen­erated by marketing communications or sales calls, and sales let­ters are among the most popular tools in a small-business owner’s arsenal. You can write and send them at little or no cost. And it seems there’s always the need for a good sales letter—whether it’s to follow up a phone conversation, a meeting, or a lead generated from marketing communications. However, because most small-business owners are not professional writers, sales letters can be challenging. It’s easy to go overboard and make your letter too hard sell or, on the flip side, produce a letter with “no teeth” that doesn’t present your company in the right light or move your prospect closer to making a buying decision.

Some people think writing a sales letter should be quick and simple, so they get frustrated after a short time and either give up or settle for a letter that’s simply mediocre. In reality, even the best professional writers expect to spend considerable time crafting an effective letter. But that doesn’t mean every time you send out a letter you should spend hours creating it. Instead, it’s important to have a group of polished sales letters on hand that can be easily modified to fit specific situations.

You can write a terrific sales letter. Start by taking a look at these six guidelines:

Tip #1: Personalize your letter.

Sales letters, though coming from your business, should always remain personal in nature. They should address the recipient by name and demonstrate how your company or product will meet his or her unique needs. Because the vast majority of sales letters are sent to follow up a previous con­nection, you should have sufficient information to thoroughly cus­tomize your “form” letter. Be careful with the salutation. Unless you’ve held a conversation with your prospect that puts you on a first-name basis, it’s best to adhere to a formal salutation using the recipient’s last name.

Tip #2: Focus on benefits.

To be effective, your sales letter must focus on the benefits the reader will gain from engaging your services or buying your products. You’ll remember from the introduction to this book that benefits always answer the pros­pect’s question, “What’s in it for me?” And you’ll see in the follow­ing sample letters that the benefits—or what the prospect will gain—are always contained in the first paragraph of a good sales letter. Features, the characteristics of your company, its products or services, are used in the body of your letter to explain the ben­efits you promise. Then it’s best to restate your primary benefit in the final paragraph.

Tip #3: Make your letter outer-directed.

Resist the temptation to write about what “we offer” and instead focus on what “you’ll get.” Do you see the difference? No one wants to read a litany of what you do, how you do it, or what you provide. They do want to read about how what you do will make their lives or work easier or better. So all sales letters must be written from this perspective, eliminating most uses of the words “we” and “I,” and replacing them with “you.”

Tip #4: Take responsibility for the next step.

Smart marketers know it’s a mistake to expect prospects to take action on their own. Even with a strong call to action that contains an incentive, you should still retain control by telling your prospect what you plan to do next. In other words, give the prospect the opportunity to contact you, but don’t expect it. Always state exactly what action you plan to take and be sure to follow through.

Tip #5: Include a postscript.

This is one sales tactic that can be borrowed successfully from direct mail, although it’s not ap­propriate for every type of business. It’s often helpful to include a postscript because recipients tend to read the salutation, then skip to your P.S. before reading the body of your letter. So put your primary benefit or any special offer in your P.S. to motivate prospects to spend time with your letter.

Tip #6: Keep it clean.

Of course, I’m referring to your letter layout and design. In fact, you don’t need to do anything special at all in the way of design. Just keep it simple and professional, avoiding “loud” graphics, borders, and colors—unless they’re al­ready a part of your product or brand image (because you’re sell­ing children’s games or surfboards, for example). Your letter’s appearance must be consistent with professional one-to-one cor­respondence since anything over the top may scream “junk mail.” Use your business stationery and make judicious use of color and bullet styles. Avoid using many exclamation points, and stay away from copy written in all capital letters because it’s actually harder to read and seems to scream at the reader.

A great sales letter presents the benefits of your products or services and explains them with features. Plus, a good let­ter always strives to move the prospect further along in the sales cycle by stating clearly what the next step must be. Whether your goal is a one-to-one meeting, group sales presentation, or the opportunity to present a cost proposal, close for it in your letter and then follow through as promised.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company, National Marketing Federation Inc.Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.

10 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2007

An inside look at the latest marketing trends that’ll help you boost your business in the coming year.

Throughout 2006, I've been watching and interpreting the marketing stats and studies that impact small businesses to give you tips on staying one step ahead. Now, with 2007 fast approaching, let's look at a roundup of the hottest trends, from changes taking place among consumer audiences through what to watch for in traditional and online marketing. Here's the info you need on the most important trends and how to make the most of them to increase sales and grow your business in the New Year.

Consumer Trends

1. College Grads

If you're searching for the most effective way to reach this desirable prospect group, move your marketing dollars into online media. The internet is now the primary source of media and entertainment among college grads, whose top planned purchases upon graduation are professional clothing, travel/airline tickets, health insurance and furniture according to the “Y2M: eGrad College Graduate Survey”. Nearly 80 percent of respondents are online purchasers, making them ideal candidates for your online campaign.

2. Affluent Working Women

The big news is that this group is increasing in size, and the best way to reach them may be online. According to The Media Audit, affluent working women with family incomes of $75,000 or more are growing in number, and 94.3 percent access the internet during an average month. About half are now considered heavy users of the internet, while heavy use of radio, television, newspapers and direct mail has all declined within this group. To increase sales from this expanding audience, alter your media spending to place greater emphasis online.

3. Asian Population Growth

The southern region of the U.S. boasts the fastest Asian population growth rate (31 percent), followed by the Midwest (24 percent), the Northeast (23 percent) and the West (19 percent), according to an analysis of Census Bureau data in the “American Community Survey” by Kang & Lee Advertising. Asians represent a prospect group with higher than average household incomes and education levels. Can you offer a product or service that will appeal to this growing market?

4. Word-Of-Mouth

Want to build buzz? Lucid Marketing's study, "U.S. Adults: Word of Mouth Communications," found that women were more likely than men to share a positive experience with a business or recommend an enjoyable product; full-time employees made substantially more daily contacts than those not in the workforce; and people with household earnings of more than $100,000 were more likely to make recommendations than those earning less. So buzz marketers should direct efforts to these three "chatty" groups.

Trends in Traditional Media

5. Yellow Pages

According to a study from the Kelsey group, marketers targeting younger demographics should transition away from print. Only 28 percent of teens said they would turn to print Yellow Pages first to find a local business, product, or service, while 47 percent said their first choice would be search engines. And just 44 percent of respondents between the ages and 18 and 34 favored print Yellow Pages.

6. Simultaneous Media Usage

There's no longer such a thing as a captive media audience--consumers are frequently participating in more than one form of media at any one time. Seventy percent of web users, for instance, watch TV occasionally to regularly while online, according to BIGresearch’s “Simultaneous Media Survey.” It also found that nearly 65 percent watch TV while they read, and 51 percent of radio listeners read the newspaper while listening. The rise in multitasking among consumers mandates an integrated media approach and an increased emphasis on advertising within the most relevant and engaging content.

7. Newspapers

This past year, many of the websites of major newspapers have become the number-one portals in their geographic markets and are drawing a larger, younger and more affluent readership. The audience that reads a newspaper’s website but not its print version accounts for 2 to 15 percent of the Integrated Newspaper Audience, according to Scarborough Research, and that represents hundreds of thousands of readers for many newspapers in larger markets. They’re successfully attracting 18-to-34-year-olds to their sites, and the online readers are more upscale, which can make them a more desirable audience. If you're an advertiser in the "print" newspaper, you can negotiate for a combo rate to run online as well to reach these additional readers. And if advertising in the print newspaper is too expensive for your business, you may find more affordable rates online by drilling down past the main pages to place ads on content-rich, but less frequently visited web pages.

Hot Online Trends

8. Web Conferencing

As business travel becomes increasingly challenging due to increased security, advance check-in times and transportation delays, online workshops and meetings that require no travel are coming to the forefront. It’s more desirable than ever to demo your new product to a group or make a sales presentation without anyone ever leaving home. Participants can watch your presentation on their computer monitors and hear you live on their computer speakers or by phone. In fact, I'm now transitioning to this technology to deliver webinars, and you can, too.

9. Online Research

Whether you sell exclusively online or primarily through a brick-and-mortar site, online search will have a profound impact on your sales in 2007. When asked how often they researched products online before buying them in person or in a store, 87 percent of nearly 7,500 respondents to a BIGresearch “Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey” said they did so occasionally to regularly. And a comScore research study showed that 63 percent of searchers completed a purchase in offline retail stores following their search activity. So no matter whether you sell online, off-line or both, you need a great website with deep, persuasive content that keeps your prospects and customers shopping on your site or sends them to your store.

10. Local Search

Want to know where to invest your online marketing dollars in 2007? Aim for higher rankings in the top search engines. Sixty-two percent of searchers click on a link within the first page of results, according to a report from iProspect and Jupiter Research. To win higher rankings in natural search results, you can optimize your site by sprinkling the keyword phrases your best prospects will be searching for throughout all the pages of your site, in your page descriptions and in metatags. You should also secure links to your site from other high-ranking websites. But to guarantee you'll turn up in the top search results, invest in a paid search campaign. Local search campaigns are often the most affordable and will bring traffic from your immediate market area in the New Year.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company,National Marketing Federation Inc.Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available

The Fastest Route to Sales

4 quick ways to reach your hottest prospects

Transforming a cold prospect into a hot one who’s ready to buy can take considerable time, effort and marketing dollars. So why wait? To increase sales now, choose marketing tactics that will reach your hottest prospects and successfully convert them into customers or clients.
Tactics that reach hot prospects are vitally important to every effective marketing program because they balance out the longer-term efforts required to move cold and warm prospects through the sales cycle.

Who are these hot prospects? They’re people actively looking for what you market. They're pre-qualified, because they've gone through much of the preliminary decision-making process and know what they want--or at least have a general idea of what they're shopping for.
Here are four fast ways to reach hot prospects:

1. Online Search Engines

Where will your hottest prospects turn when they've made the decision to buy the type of product or service you offer? Close to 90 percent of shoppers now research their purchases online before buying in brick-and-mortar stores, according to a recent survey by Bigresearch. So even if you predominantly sell offline, a visible presence on search engines is an absolute must. To get noticed, it's important to turn up as close to the top of search results as possible--preferably on page one--since the majority of search users click on a link within the first results’ page.

For most small businesses, a local paid search campaign is the answer. A paid search campaign using local search terms can help you reach prospects in your area and put you near the top of search results--and it’s more affordable than bidding on keywords for national campaigns. Optimizing your website will also help you turn up higher in search results, but unlike paid search, there are no guarantees.

2. Print and Online Directories

For many entrepreneurs, ads in the local Yellow Pages command a significant portion of their marketing budgets. But as the popularity of online directories grows, it's possible to reduce your phone-directory expenses and reach more of your hottest prospects by moving some dollars out of print and into the same directories online. How you split your online and offline dollars should depend on the age of your prospects. A recent study by the Kelsey Group revealed a divide between younger and older consumers: Teens and younger adults prefer to search online, while the majority of respondents over 45 favor print Yellow Pages.

If you’re a B2B marketer, you can also rely on a range of other online and offline directories to reach your hottest prospects. Depending on what you market, your prospects may turn first to the ads and listings in anything from traditional industrial directories to creative sourcebooks.

3. Newspapers, Magazines and Specialized Media

Print media are highly successful “search corridor” tools. General media, such as major metropolitan daily newspapers, are split into sections to draw readers looking for a particular type of content. Search corridors--places people look when they've made the decision to buy something--will vary from day to day and section to section. And newspaper readers use and rely on these search corridors for information on sales, products and services.

Magazines are also terrific search corridor tools, with content tailored to fit every type of advertiser and shopper. Highly specialized publications, such as those that feature real estate or automotive listings, are 100 percent search corridor media, while more general publications often offer special shopper sections, generally in the back pages, where you can place smaller ads to reach well-qualified prospects.

4. Personal and Public Endorsements

Hot prospects will often seek out expert opinions. Of course, there are all kinds of experts, ranging from columnists and reviewers to bloggers or the neighbor next door. And whether you garner endorsements or referrals, they’re often the shortest route to sales, thanks to the credibility they carry.

To win B2B referrals, make a list of your best referral prospects--happy customers, respected business associates and well-connected friends--and contact them by phone to set up meetings. Be sure to add these referral sources to your prospect database and make contact on a regular basis. And supply them with tools and materials--from business cards and brochures to sales tools--that they can use to promote you. To get consumers talking to their friends and families about your product or service, you can build buzz quickly and cost-effectively by using your own website to create a strong community and facilitating interaction with a message board or blog of your own.

If product reviews and endorsements are your goal, identify all the websites, print media and broadcast sources your best prospects look to for guidance, and target them with an ongoing media-relations campaign. Send press releases, press kits and product samples, when appropriate, and always follow up by phone or e-mail for coverage that will stimulate sales.

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Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company, National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.