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School is in Session

November 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Today’s guest post is from the team at ALL Things CRM, a comprehensive and easy-to-understand resource where you can learn about all aspects of customer relationship management, and the best ways to achieve superior results for your business.

You have probably seen the acronym CRM floating around online, and might have seen the word contact management along with it, but thought little of either. For the business world, they are very important things to know about, and are easy to understand. CRM, or customer relationship management, is used to describe the methods in which a company manages it’s customer base. A comprehensive CRM system includes different elements for sales and marketing, and one of these important elements is contact management.

Today, companies interact with customers in a variety of ways: over the Internet through chat, over the phone, by e-mail, through social networking, and more. When a company uses multiple channels for customer service, information can get lost in the shuffle, leading to unhappy customers down the road. With CRM and contact management, you can easily organize that information, helping to make your business better and create happy, satisfied customers.

Every business in the world needs some type of contact management system, especially if they do their business primarily online or through e-mail. The reason for this is so that every e-mail will be saved, contact information will be up to date, and lists or groups can be made to make sure each customer receives the right information. Special marketing e-mails or newsletters can be sent at any time to this list of either previous clients or potential clients.

In order to get the most out of your CRM system or platform, make sure that contact management is part of the package. CRMs have many additional functions, too. They can keep track of inventory, record employee/customer interaction, and can even record a customer’s previous purchases and personal information. All this information is valuable to a company, as it is the needed information for future sales and customer service needs. CRM allows any business large, or small to interact with the customer quickly and efficiently through a variety of different ways.

Just as there are different versions of office management software, document management software, there are different versions of CRM and contact management, each with their own unique solutions. For instance, operational CRM handles marketing campaigns, while analytical CRM bases its operations on data received from customers. Sales intelligence CRM is like analytical CRM in that it shows what the customer behavior is allowing a company to up-sell, or to tailor their sales, but it is more of a direct marketing tool which offers sales alerts that sales staff can offer to customers.

Contact management programs also analyze and store statistics and responses to sales campaigns. With the right CRM in place, a company will interact with customers through several departments like sales, technical support and marketing, thus allowing for smoother transactions and storing of important customer information and histories.

Newer contact management programs also use <a href=“http://www.allthingscrm.com/social-networking-for-business”>social networking</a> sites like Twitter, Facebook and others to gauge customers sentiment toward a certain product, and to help a company interact with potential customers from social network sites.

Whichever system you choose, make sure it will be compatible with your existing services. There are many solutions that are based online, or “in the cloud,” that are easily accessed through just a web browser, and can be accessed on any mobile computing device as well. The advancement of technology has made it easier than ever to provide great customer service at a fraction of what it used to cost.

Categories: customer research · marketing strategy

How to Create an Irrisistable Offer

November 16, 2009 · 1 Comment

iStock_000003164931XSmall

Let’s get one thing straight.  You don’t sell products or services – you provide offerings. There’s a difference.  And the difference is so much bigger than semantics.  In fact, if you are struggling with what makes your company unique, then this distinction will really help.

Products are things. Services are actions. People are priceless.  But Offerings are Everything that’s Uniquely YOU.

Picture your offering being everything – the entire package that you offer to your customers – just as a butler would.  You are the butler, serving your customers and the offering is the unique combination of product, service and people presented in your unique way.  If each of us is unique, then by definition your company and it’s offerings are like no other.

6 Steps to your unique Irrisistable Offering

It’s one thing to talk about irrisitable offerings and quite another to actually create them.  Here’s an easy way to start from scratch and finish irrisistable at any price.

  1. Develop an a la carte menu with prices. List every product, service and value-added activity.  Don’t skip anythin g, you can edit later.  The products and services should be easy.  It’s those little unique things that matter, that you do for your customers that no one acknowledges or knows about that add value, but kill you because they are hidden from the customer.  So, if you follow-up every order with a personal phone call, list it.  If you spend time with customers on the phone helping them decide on what to buy, list it.  You get the picture.
  2. Create a “sampling” or starter package option for new customers. People want immediate gratification.  How will you give it to them.  Look through your a la carte list and start putting things together into packages. Give them something for very little investment that will allow them to sample your offering without a major commitment.  It’s a two way street.  You want to know they are a good customer, and they want to know that you give them what’s important to them.
  3. Give them an option to move up. If the sampling stage goes well – then give them more of the same with options to ramp up to more.  Go back to your list and choose more product, service or people.
  4. Give your offering fun names that clearly communicate the benefit. People can’t have an interest in something they don’t understand, and they won’t buy something that doesn’t clearly communicate a solution or the delivery of a want or desire.
  5. Make it a good value. It’s all about trading cash for what we want.  Put some time into doing the math and then communicating it clearly. Stay away from percentages – that’s too vague.  Stick with real numbers like $20 off, for example.
  6. Give it away. If you do the math and you understand how much profit you make on each customer – then don’t be afraid to give things away.  Instead of coupons, try gift certificates of real value e.g. $50.  Honor them – that means if people come in and buy less, so be it.  They got into the store, they had the experience – and that’s more value than you’d get from a $600 dollar ad.  Chances are really good that people will buy MORE than the certificate and in that case, it’s advertising that pays for itself.

You can build an irresistible offering no matter how long you’ve been in business — it’s not just for new companies or start-ups.   Building a new and irresistible offering can actually revitalize your bottom line.  This is an ideal time to create a new offer for the holiday season, for year end and for the beginning of a new year.

About the Author: Ivana Taylor is CEO of Third Force, a strategic firm that helps small businesses get and keep their ideal customer. She’s the co-author of the book “Excel for Marketing Managers” and proprietor of DIYMarketers, a site for in-house marketers. Her blog is Strategy Stew.

Categories: marketing strategy

CRM: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Application

November 9, 2009 · 1 Comment

customer services representativeToday’s guest post is from the team at ALL Things CRM, a comprehensive and easy-to-understand resource where you can learn about all aspects of customer relationship management, and the best ways to achieve superior results for your business.

Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is a crucial part of a successful business. This is a process that involves gathering information on a company’s customers in order to meet their needs more effectively and efficiently. The primary piece of information used is service or product history. That is, what has each specific customer purchased or utilized in the past. Additionally, what are the little things that said customer appreciates, what do they like and dislike and how did previous interactions go? All of this information is relatively easy to collect. Most customers are willing to complete simple feedback surveys, send a quick e-mail with suggestions or answer questions in a phone call. Once this data is collected it can also easily be stored in a database or attached to customer records in other ways. However, it is much more difficult to take that feedback and implement the suggestions or desires that the customers have relayed.

One of the best ways to apply the feedback is by simply making it available to those within the company who have contact with the customer. This means having the history of previous products and services readily available. Additionally, having easy access to notes from previous conversations or e-mails helps greatly in meeting the customer’s needs and makes each contact personal. It can also help prevent revisiting hot button issues, or at least prepare the customer service representative if a difficult situation may arise.

CRM is also immensely valuable when it comes to marketing and product development. Reviewing and implementing customer feedback regarding current products, as well as considering recommendations for future products or services, will help a company meet the needs of its current customers and anticipate those of potential customers. Some of the best product improvement or innovation comes from listening to feedback and responding accordingly. Additionally, such feedback will show areas of strength, and those that need to be improved upon or removed all together. This is true for both services and products.

Asking customers for feedback, listening to it, and even building databases of the feedback are all beneficial steps for any business. However, all of the feedback in the world will not do any good if it is not analyzed and implemented into plans for a company’s growth and improvement. There are many ways to use the feedback received, it is only a matter of determining the best way for your company. CRM allows companies more time to communicate with customers, and build stronger, longer lasting relationships along the way.

Categories: customer research · marketing strategy

How to Define, Create and Measure Customer Experience

November 6, 2009 · 1 Comment

iStock_000006875088XSmallIt’s very hip in marketing circles to talk about customer experience.  Nailing down the critical ingredients that comprise a customer experience, however,  can get tricky and make it difficult to craft a system that delivers a high-quality experience for your customer — every time.

Experience is More Than a Story

You may have noticed that whenever there are articles or case studies that reference customer experiences, they take the form of a story or a report on what happened and how it make the customer feel.  We aren’t often treated to the mechanics of how the company actually designed or created this experience.  In fact, we’re often left with the impression that these experiences are somehow magical and serendipitous.  Yet, we all know that cannot be the case.  World Class customer service happens by design and not by chance.

Five Decisions Your Company Makes That Drive Loyalty and Customer Experience

In her new book I Love You More Than My Dog, Jeanne Bliss outlines the five decisions “beloved” companies make that not only attract customers, but built insane loyalty and love for the company:

  1. Decide to believe and to trust customers and employees
  2. Decide with clarity and purpose on what you are in business to do
  3. Decide to be real, authentic and human
  4. Decide to be there for your customers when and where they need you
  5. Decide to say I’m sorry when you are wrong

If your company uses this route to create and design a system around customer experience, then measuring your customers’ experience with you becomes a lot easier.  Now that your experience measures have been narrowed down to these five decisions, you can create simple questions around each attribute and measure your customers’ quality of experience.  Of course, don’t forget to add the all-important Net Promoter Question (How likely are you to refer [company name] to a friend or family member].

Four Attributes That Make Up Customer Experience

There are four elements or attributes that make up customer experience:

  1. Feelings. When measuring customer experience, be sure to give customers specific feelings to rate or note specifically what they are feeling at different points of their experience.  Feelings are difficult for most people voice, so be sure to give them a list that they can choose from.  You will be amazed at what your customers come up with.
  2. Body Sensations: This is an unusual attribute to note, but it is a critical component of your customers’ experience.  Perhaps the best way to get to this attribute is through focus groups or through observations of your customers around your product or service.
  3. Attitudes:  Your customers’ attitudes around your product or service are really habits of thought.  For example, Southwest Airlines projects an overall attitude of “Fun” that they want to create for their customers.  Lands’ End works toward creating an attitude of care and empathy around how their customers experience their products in terms of ordering, receiving and returning what they’ve ordered.
  4. Thoughts:  What thoughts do your customers have when they are experiencing your product or service?  The immediate example that comes to mind is Apple Computers and the advertisements they have that feature the thoughts that Microsoft customers might have versus Apple Computer customers have.

Customer experience doesn’t have to be this nebulous, magical chemistry that your company creates.  You can literally define, design, create and measure how your customers experience your product or service.  Use these points as a jumping-off point to begin measuring your customers’ experience.  Create questions around them and start adjusting your process in  a way that improves that experience and you will see your bottom line improve.

About the Author: Ivana Taylor is CEO of Third Force, a strategic firm that helps small businesses get and keep their ideal customer. She’s the co-author of the book “Excel for Marketing Managers” and proprietor of DIYMarketers, a site for in-house marketers. Her blog is Strategy Stew.

Categories: marketing strategy

Double Opt In vs. Single Opt In: Which is Better for Building Your List?

November 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment

iStock_000001831388XSmallOne of the reasons we do surveys is to try and figure out what’s important to our customers – so we can do more of the good stuff, and less of the stuff that irritates them.  In this months guest post from Patti Renner, That Landing Page Lady, Patti shares some recent findings on how customers like to receive information.  There’s been a lot of discussion about whether it’s better to use a single opt-in (where the customer simply enters their e-mail) or double opt-in, where the customer enters their e-mail, wait for a confirming e-mail and then authorizes you to send them more information.  Read on – the results will surprise you.

You have a nice website… a beautifully crafted landing page… a tempting free white paper report… and you’re ready for people to start handing over their email addresses so you can start marketing directly to them.

Hey, it’s working! People are signing up. Your list is growing….But how good a list is it?

Traditional online marketing often focuses on identifying a specific audience, then building a brand-based relationship with those people. One way to do this is by developing a “list,” which is a group of names and emails of people who have expressed an interest in what you have to offer.

When online marketing types say “The Money is in the List,” they’re really saying that it’s easier and more cost-effective to market and sell to the people who have requested information from you — usually with better results. Subscribing to your list (giving you their email information) is called the “opt-in.”

“Single opt in” means people simply signed up. One way or another, they gave you their email address and you have them on a list, ready to market to them.

“Double opt in” means that the people who gave you their email address received a confirmation email from you, asking them to confirm their email and request for information from you. It’s one more hoop for people to have to jump through, yet many online marketers seem attached to this concept.

Your list continues to grow. Like most conscientious marketing people, as you get into your campaign, you also start tracking the subscriber statistics from your contact-management service.

When you look at the numbers, you see that you have a nice click-through rate from your landing page where people sign up. But when you look at the same-day numbers of subscriptions, you notice you’re losing people when they’re asked to confirm their subscriptions via email. What the heck is going on here?!?

Can you afford to lose these people? Is there something you should be doing to keep them?

Confused? You’re not alone. The confirmation process — single opt in versus double opt in — is a constant source of debate.

After all, if the money is in the list, then does that mean you could be losing money (or future customers) simple because your prospects are not finishing the last step of the subscription process? On the other hand, how good a prospect are they if they don’t take five seconds to click through to finish the process!

All of this begs the question: Which is better… a bigger list (single opt in) or better list (double opt in)?

Which is right for you?

If your list is specifically for direct response marketing — asking people to take some sort of action at your suggestion — then the double opt in is the way to go. A better quality list is worth the wait.

Don’t take my word for it. Recently Daniel Levis in “The Total Package”  put single opt in versus double opt in to the test. Everyone seems to push the confirmation step as the best way to go, but he wanted real data to actually support the myth.

He found that of the 2,624 who signed on using a single opt in method, 0% converted into real customers (read: bought something) in a later mailing. Zero… nada… zilch.

That, compared to the 1,921 who took the time to double opt in. From that tighter list, he saw 41% more people who opened the later email… 46% more clicked through… and he got $773 in sales. $773 in sales from a smaller list of double opt ins — versus zero in sales from a larger list built by single opt ins.

Naturally, you get better results marketing to a better list. When you build that list online, it pays to go through that last golden hoop of double opt in confirmation.

Just a simple auto-responder email helps stack the deck in your favor, to weed out the less interested so you can focus on the people who actually want what you’ve got… to grow your online business better.

About the Author: Patti Kuhar Renner is known for her no-nonsense approach for effective marketing messages. A direct response copywriter, she specializes in helping small business perform better online. You can reach her atpatti@pattirenner.com.

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Categories: marketing strategy
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Search Engine Marketing Secret #1: Build Your Site With Search Marketing in Mind

November 2, 2009 · 2 Comments

iStock_000009672940XSmallIf you’ve already invested money in doing customer research on your web site, but you’re still not getting the results you want, you’ll want to tune into our on-going series with Leslie Caruthers, The Search Guru.  It may not be obvious at first, but your web site holds a wealth of data about your customers, who they are, what they like, where they’ve come from and so much more.

In my last article, we talked about what a critical ingredient search engine marketing was to your overall web strategy.  In this part of our series, I’m going to give you some insider tips on how to integrate search engine marketing into your web site and make a more powerful customer magnet.

The top 3 Search Marketing secrets:

1. Build your site in a search friendly way from the start – or get SEO friendly now.

This means working with a developer who really understands the search engines (not one who says they do, but one who REALLY does – they are rare). Or you hire a Search Marketing firm to partner with your web development company to add in the secret sauce Search Engine Optimization (SEO) knowledge.

Many developers don’t fully understand how search engines work and may have inadvertently made it more difficult for search engines to understand your site. Reversing this through search engine optimization on the site will make a huge difference for your business.

A few common problems:

  • Content Management System issues: most are not SEO friendly out of the box.
  • JavaScript navigation that isn’t crawlable
  • No h tags, or h tags used excessively/incorrectly
  • Duplicate content issues
  • Poor internal linking structure

Sign up for our newsletter for a free white paper on search engine friendly website design and share it with your designer and developers.

And don’t forget… While it is critical to rank well with the search engines, you must never forget it is the human customer that matters – search engines don’t buy your products, services or click on your advertisements; people do.

Next month, we’ll share secret #2 – keyphrase research: the foundation of any organic search marketing effort in the next post. You’re going to love keyphrase research – it’s like cracking open the skull of your prospect and watching them think!

This month’s opportunities:

Didn’t take on last month’s search marketing opportunities? Go back and start there – that’s your best bet – then move up to this list after that.

  1. Read the free white paper on usability and design from a search marketing perspective. You can get this singing up for our FREE monthly email newsletter at http://www.TheSearchGuru.com (right hand column).
  2. Bonus: read past blog posts: http://www.thesearchguru.com/blog/ and back issues of the newsletter here: http://www.thesearchguru.com/email-archive.asp to learn more.
  3. Register for Google Analytics if you haven’t yet: http://www.google.com/analytics/
  4. Register for Google Webmaster Tools http://www.thesearchguru.com/google-webmaster-tools.asp if you haven’t yet.
  5. Read through the Search Marketing Terms Glossary and catch up on basic terminology.
  6. Burning question or comment? Email me at Results@TheSearchGuru.com.

Leslie Carruthers is President of The Search Guru, a best practices full services Search Marketing firm creating breakthrough results for their clients since 2004. Leslie can be reached at 440-306-2418 or Results@TheSearchGuru.com.

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Categories: marketing strategy
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Cross Media Marketing is a Great Way to Get Customer Information

October 23, 2009 · 3 Comments

iStock_000003739214XSmallHave you ever considered using direct mail as a way of gathering demographic and psychographic information?  If not, then this is your opportunity to really get some bang for your marketing budget dollar.

With the advent of on-demand printing and publishing, we’ve been able to literally convert mass-marketing to a more personal one-to-one experience.  All it takes is a list, a database and some creativity and for a relatively small budget, you will be on your way to:

1. Getting more information about your list (email address, buying preferences, job title)

2. Learning  how to better communicate with your list (how would you like to be contacted?)

3. Drive list members to your website

4. Present them with a specific offer

5. Invite them to an event

6. Register for a conference or event, including break-out sessions, etc.

All of this can be yours by exploring “cross-media marketing.”  Don’t worry, this isn’t anything radically new.  What’s new is our ability to create a three-dimensional, relationship-building experience with our target audience by creating a single “themed” campaigned aimed at leading our list to water and then making them drink.

How Cross Media Works

A Cross Media campaign is powered by a database engine that will collect all kinds of information for you. First off, it will tell you who responded, and who didn’t. It will also track exactly how far each respondent goes into the pURL, and it will collect all of their responses to the questions you ask them on the pURL.

The database engine can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be, collecting information and using that information to trigger
subsequent events.

Cross Media campaigns utilize a variety of means of reaching your list members, and allow you to further qualify your list, and gain more information about its particular members. Your purpose is to learn as much as you can about your individual list members so that you can communicate with them on a meaningful and relevant level. This is the essence of 1:1marketing.

How to Start Your Own Cross Media Campaign

To run an effective Cross-Media Marketing campaign you will need three solid, experienced team-members.  First, you’ll need a marketing or product manager who knows your company, its strategy which information to collect and what you’re going to do with it.

Next you’ll need the one-two punch of a creative agency that has the capability and blend of solid creative ideas and design coupled with a technical team that can translate that creativity onto the web.

Finally, you will need a strong technical component to create this powerful list database that will be your money machine.  This technical team will be working closely with the design agency and if you find a design agency that has such a team – you are in luck.

What a Cross Media Marketing Campaign Looks Like

  1. Set an objective. For example, you have a list of 100,000 people that you want to whittle down to just your ideal customers.  Your budget has been cut, postage has gone up and you can’t afford to be mailing stuff that’s getting thrown away.
  2. Get your list. Let’s say our list has only addresses and no names.  To get to our ideal customer, it would help to have some names and some basic information that would qualify them for our offering.
  3. Send a simple mailing with a pURL (personalized URL). Since we have addresses and we want more information, we send a simple postcard to the address and since we don’t have a name the pURL is actually a “code.”
  4. The postcard is written to appeal to our ideal customer. The customer receives the postcard and goes to the web site. Once there, they have the opportunity to receive a “gift” in exchange for some more information; contact name, e-mail, and perhaps an answer to a question.  Don’t over-task the recipient, there will be opportunities for more touches later on.

At this point you have reduced the size of your list significantly and identified those people who have the most interest in your offer.  In addition to that, you’ve opened up a line of communication where you can ask them questions and they will answer in exchange for more goodies.

How to Get Started

Here are some resources to check out:

There are still wonderful opportunities to connect with your ideal customer without breaking the bank.  Consider a cross-media marketing campaign in your marketing plan this year.

About the Author: Ivana Taylor is CEO of Third Force, a strategic firm that helps small businesses get and keep their ideal customer.  She’s the co-author of the book “Excel for Marketing Managers” and proprietor ofDIYMarketers, a site for in-house marketers.  Her blog is Strategy Stew.

Categories: Branding · Newsletter · customer research · marketing strategy
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Take the TRAITS Survey and See What Really Drives Choice

October 21, 2009 · Leave a Comment

As marketers, the holy grail of any survey method or model would have to be something that could help us predict how a targeted audience would react given a particular offer.   Conjoint Analysis and its ability to flush out the offering-price combination that a given demographic would choose has always been a favorite tool for developing irresistible offerings.  Then there’s the recent focus on fMRI work as described by Martin Lindstrom in his business best seller “Buyology,” where he outlines the peculiarity with which our brains are wired and driven by deeply ingrained emotional drivers.  Or how about Dan Ariely, the brilliant economist who studies our tendency for irrational decision making?

Well, if the models I’ve mentioned above aren’t enough for you, now there is something called a “TRAITS” model that’s been introduced by a couple of professors from Duke University, Scott De Marchi and James T. Hamilton.

The TRAITS model stands for six attributes that these two social scientists uncovered as part of their studies around why people choose to do what they do and how they choose to do what they do.  They’ve written a new book about it called “You are What You Choose: The Habits of Mind That Really Determine How We Make Decisions.”

The six TRAITS attributes are:

  1. Time: Do you have a shorter term view or a longer-term view of life?  Scoring high on the “Time” trait means that you forgo short-term gain for long-term value.
  2. Risk:   A lower score on the risk attribute means that you are more risk averse, while a higher score means that you can tolerate more risk.
  3. Altruism: To what degree are your decisions driven by your focus on the welfare of others?  A low score means that you may simply have a lack of action or low interest in charitable activities and a high score means that you are “other centered.”
  4. Information:  If you are an information junkie, then you probably score high in information.  A lower score means that you do not seek out as much information to drive your decision-making.
  5. MeToo:  A high score on this attribute puts you in a sort of “status-seeker” category.   Think in terms of “keeping up with the Jones’.”  A low score means that you are more individualistic about your choices and not so influenced by what others are doing or not doing.
  6. Stickiness:  This attribute measures what role loyalty plays in how you decide.  A high score in this area points to being loyal to a brand or value while a low score means that you can switch easily to an alternative.  Think about being in a restaurant and having the waitress as “Is Pepsi ok?”  If you score high on Stickiness and love Coke, you might answer “NO!  Get me a Coke!”

What’s Your TRAITS profile?

Start your profile here: http://traits.time.questionpro.com.   At the end of each set of 5 questions, you will be re-directed to a “spotlight report” where you can see how your answers compare with other readers’.  Be sure to scroll down to the bottom to see your score for each attribute.  You might want to print or save each spotlight report for future reference.  If you have problems, you can take each of the TRAITS profiles separately: TIME, RISK, ALTUISM, INFORMATION, meTOO, STICKINESS.

The real power behind these TRAITS is in your ability to literally segment your markets and design your messages around what’s really important to these people.  Use these TRAITS as an enhancement to your existing demographics and watch your marketing results improve.

About the Author: Ivana Taylor is CEO of Third Force, a strategic firm that helps small businesses get and keep their ideal customer.  She’s the co-author of the book “Excel for Marketing Managers” and proprietor of DIYMarketers, a site for in-house marketers.  Her blog is Strategy Stew.

Categories: marketing strategy
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4 New Ways to Use Twitter to Find New Opportunities

September 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment

iStock_000005038298XSmallToday’s guest post is by  Stephani McKee from Whistletree Conferencing.  Whistletree provides free and toll free (800) conferencing as well as podcasting  and webinar service.

Here we sit in Lincoln, Ne. We are clearly landlocked, at times it feels both literally and figuratively. Opportunities often feel like they are out there, but an airplane ride with a long layover away. However, Twitter has brought the ocean of opportunity right to our door!

I meet people all of the time that say, “Twitter, I just don’t get it.” As I said, I describe Twitter as an ocean of opportunity. Just cast in your line and you will get a bite. However, the way to find the most success with Twitter is to be open to what you catch!

For instance, Whistletree provides Free and Toll Free (800) conferencing, podcasting and webinar services. In the beginning, many of our customers were involved in network marketing and direct sales. For us, perhaps like many other small businesses in this economic climate, our advertising budget was nearly non-existent, making it difficult to expand into new markets.

Interestingly, Twitter has made networking on a global basis, as easy as a 140 character tweet. The best part is, it’s free! Through contacts made on Twitter, we have been able to expand our market to coaches, authors, small and mid-sized businesses, the music producing industry and anyone that hosts and participates in conference calls or teleseminars!

To be clear, Twitter is an incredible marketing tool. No doubt. We have found many, many new contacts and customers that are looking for Free and Toll Free Conferencing (800), as well as webinar. The key to Twitter success is that we don’t spend our time hyper-focused marketing ourselves.

Instead, we see incredible value in the simplest of tweets. If you are open to everything, you will not believe what you will learn. The knowledge you gain and the contacts you make will change your business and your life, forever. Keep in mind, every minnow knows a whale…

Here are some surprises I’ve found along the way:

Learn from the Experts:

Experts in every field are on Twitter, sharing bits and pieces of their wealth of information. Follow these people, read what they blog. I promise, it will change the way you think.

Stay Ahead of the News:

When Michael Jackson died, the story became the number one trending topic BEFORE the information hit the news. Imagine that, breaking news in real-time. I encourage you to watch the trending topics that appear on the right hand side of your Twitter homepage.

You will notice the trending topics change throughout the day depending on who is on and what they are tweeting about. It is like taking a global poll minute by minute of what the world is talking about. See a topic that interests you, click on it and join the conversation. Not only will you learn a lot, you will meet some incredible new people.

The Search Feature:

Twitter has evolved this feature, and it is now easily accessed on the right hand column of your Twitter homepage. I use this feature frequently to keep my finger on the pulse of what people are saying about my industry. I search by pertinent keywords: teleseminar, conferencing, free conferencing, podcasting services, webinar… you get the picture. This is a way to find people that are specifically interested in what you have to offer. Follow them. When appropriate, strike a conversation with them.

Keep in mind, however, Twitter is exactly like a live social event, done through tweets. You would never go to an event and go from person to person saying, “Nice to meet you, you should check out Whistletree.” “Nice to meet you you should check out Whistletree.” “Nice to meet you, you should check out Whistletree.” That would be socially unacceptable.

It is the same on Twitter. When you go to an event you search for people with whom you have something in common. You then strike up a conversation about that common interest. When the time is right, you may insert what you do, etc. etc. Use Twitter the same way!

Twitter Is So Much More Than Business:

Because I have been open to everything, I have had a rich experience with Twitter. I have found incredible recipes, I have followed the birth of a baby, I have reminisced about my childhood, I have learned how to write and publish an ebook, I have been interviewed for a podcast and so much more. I can’t wait to see where my Twitter journey continues to take me…

The icing on the cake is Whistletree has grown our business by an average of 20% month over month. Yes, you read that correctly. Due to the contacts made on Twitter, with 140 character tweets that are free, our business has expanded in ways we could have never imagined. What an incredible ROI!

What are you waiting for? Jump into the Twitter Ocean of Opportunity!

Categories: marketing strategy

Search Marketing Partnership Promise: You’ll Create Breakthrough Results for Your Business.

September 11, 2009 · 1 Comment

iStock_000007719390XSmallAre you leaving sales on the table?

People are increasingly looking for products and services online. In fact, many consumers think that a search engine IS the Internet, which isn’t surprising, since 14.8 billion searches were performed in the US alone in April 2009.

Each time one of those searches is performed in a major search engine, there are two possible outcomes:

  1. The searcher finds you or
  2. The searcher finds your competitor

I know which one I want to happen – how about you?

Today, SEO is a basic part of doing business online –  and, given what we’ve just discussed about the power of search engines, you can see why. Now let’s set some agreements in this partnership.

What is important for websites now?

It’s all about visibility and how to be found. Search engines control national and global marketing access, and your products and services are mainly exposed by your websites. If you aren’t on the first few pages – then no one will find you.

Bottom line: how often does your website enable a profitable interaction for your business?

We’re talking about macro conversions (the reason we have a website):

  1. Lead generation – a prospect raises his or her hand and asks to talk with you. This applies to you if you are a service business, or if your sale is complex or at a price point where it won’t happen without a micro conversation first.
  2. Sale – This applies to you if you are an ecommerce website and prospects enter their credit card number on the site to make a purchase. Your end goal is a sale.
  3. Education – This applies to you if you are a non-profit or not-for-profit and exist to educate and inform.

You know your website is working for you when one or more of these take place:

  1. More traffic
  2. Higher conversion rates
  3. Money being made or
  4. Money being saved

The benefits of a search engine-friendly website – why we’re taking this on.

When we talk about the search engines, we mean Google, Yahoo!, Ask and Bing, primarily. There are thousands more, but these are the big players that have market share worth pursuing.

A search engine friendly site:

  1. Drives targeted traffic to your site
  2. Prequalifies potential customers
  3. Boosts conversions / sales
  4. Is a low cost marketing tool
  5. Is your best sales rep
  6. Builds your brand

Next month, we’ll share the top 3 search marketing secrets!

This month’s opportunities:

Knowledge is power – this month, you’ll be filling any gaps in your basic search marketing understanding.

  1. Read through the Search Marketing Terms Glossary
  2. A few quick reads:
    1. What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Opimization (SEO) and What Can It Do For You?
    2. Why do you need SEO?
    3. How do you make SEO work for you?
  3. Read current search engine optimization stats
  4. Key difference between a B2B and B2C marketing for search
  5. Read the free white paper on usability and design from a search marketing perspective. You can get this singing up for our FREE monthly email newsletter at http://www.TheSearchGuru.com (right hand column).
  6. Register for Google Analytics if you haven’t yet: http://www.google.com/analytics/
  7. Register for Google Webmaster Tools http://www.thesearchguru.com/google-webmaster-tools.asp if you haven’t yet.
  8. Can’t wait until the next post for the 3 secrets? Read those here: The three secret steps to dominating in Google
  9. Bonus: read past blog posts: http://www.thesearchguru.com/blog/ and back issues of the newsletter here: http://www.thesearchguru.com/email-archive.asp to learn more.
  10. Burning question or comment? Email me at Results@TheSearchGuru.com.

Today’s guest post is by Leslie Carruthers.  Leslie is President of  The Search Guru, a best practices full services Search Marketing firm creating breakthrough results for their clients since 2004. Leslie can be reached at 440-306-2418 or Results@TheSearchGuru.com.

Categories: Branding · marketing strategy